I don’t know about you, but I’ve spent the week readying up on NFTs. It’s Thursday and I’ve registered for a chance to fly to the Moon! It’s another week with Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. Last week we talked about China targeting US tech. This week, the US begins the process of revoking Chinese access to US telecommunications networks, I share some March Madness Tournament Tech, and seeking new pastures Facebook turns to newsletters. You can listen to Mark and I point and laugh while talking about the wild and crazy technology world every Thursday morning, LIVE at 6:43am Eastern.
MARCH MADNESS TECH KEEPS YOU SANE
It’s true, it’s true. March Madness is back, and it starts today! Even though I’ve watched two college basketball games in partiality, I’m always ready to throw $20 in a pool and pick teams. I’ve actually won twice! To keep you in the game, download the March Madness Live app to watch all of the games any time you want to. I keep this open during business hours this time of year. SportsLine (subscription needed) has played all of the games in the tournament 10,000 simulated times and have already selected a winner. SportsLine has picked 15 upsets in the second round, and has picked the upset winners successfully…four years in a row. If you’re a Paramount+ subscriber you can start watching the tournament with your subscription this Friday.
FACEBOOK IS GETTING INTO THE NEWSLETTER GAME
Yeah. Facebook is getting into what is basically a 30 year old market. Facebook has been giving the world algorithmic news feed for many years now, and soon they will be delivering algorithmic articles to your email. Facebook will be providing self-publishing tools, access to Facebook Pages to cross posts photo and video content, and…will be targeting smaller, independent writers instead of larger publishers. I feel good and bad about this. Independent writers, myself included, are always looking for ways to get more eyeballs on their content, but at the same time, the bulk of the ad dollars will still shift towards the big-blue app. Damned if you do. Damned if you don’t. Oh well, here’s how to get started.
CHINESE COMMUNICATIONS COMPANIES SUBPOENAED BY US
Yesterday, the US Department of Commerce has subpoenaed several Chinese communications companies to determine if they have been undermining US interests and are a national security risk. The Commerce Department didn’t name the companies in the statement, but information will be coming. As the Brits say, it’s about bloody time. It’s been no secret that Chinese companies have been engaging in hacks against US government organization and have launched cyber attacks against technology companies. In a similar move, the FCC has started procedures to revoke authorization for China Unicom Americas, Pacific Networks, and ComNet to provide US telecommunications services. And for real, it’s not like China allows US companies to just operate on their soil without providing all sorts of hacks and network blocks that go beyond CALEA in the US.