Last night, I gave the first interview on a new project I’m working on. It’s something that’s been brewing since last year and if you want a hint, head over to Instagram. I’m on with Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week was jam packed with tech news, but I could only pick three stories. REvil strikes again in largest hack-a-ransom, US states sue El Goog, and Audacity denies sending usage info to Russian firm. 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.

SECURITY SHOULD NOT BE OUTSOURCED AS LATEST HACK HITS THOUSANDS

As I was watching fireworks the Russian hacking group, REvil, launched an attack on remote monitoring software company, Kesaya. REvil exploited vulnerabilities in Kaseya’s systems and went on to compromise more than a thousand SMALL businesses worldwide. Small businesses. Read that. Instead of attacking large companies REvil has focused on spreading mayhem. A small COOP grocer was compromised. According to Kaseya CEO, Fred Viccolo, dental practices, architecture firms, plastic surgery centers, and libraries were amongst the organizations in the attack. Basically, companies who thought they were doing the right thing by implementing network management, but did it by outsourcing it. REvil is asking for a $70 million total ransom and analysts are reasoning that REvil themselves don’t want the spread to continue. A ransom this size and scope makes them a huge target. If the ransom is paid, REvil says they will publish a universal decryption key that can be used to restore systems. Others think this is simply a PR stunt.

OPEN SOURCE AUDIO SOFTWARE ACCUSED OF SENDING DATA TO RUSSIANS

I know a lot of composers, VO artists, and other creators who produce their own content. When news broke that the open source audio editing tool Audacity was being sold to Muse Group in April, fans of the free tool rejoiced because the company said that Audacity will be released more frequently. Instead, it’s become known that Audacity’s new terms and conditions was providing usage information to a Russian infrastructure company called WSM. Audacity had 100 million users at its height, that’s a lot of data to be feeding to the Russians. This deal was dirty from the start. Audacity’s founder, Dominic Mizzoni, had transferred the rights and trademark to Muse for a sum total of…$1.

STATES BRING LAWSUIT AGAINST EL GOOG

First Epic vs. Apple, now, 36 states and Washington, DC have filed a lawsuit against Google, alleging its abusive control over the Google Play Store. The lawsuit challenges Google on its required 30% commission payment developers must pay to Google on app purchases. And, having published apps for Google and Apple’s stores, Google doesn’t do a damn thing making that 30% commission worth it. Google is facing pressure on multiple fronts including a mounting DOJ probe about their ad search business. In response to public pressure Apple and Google have reduced their commissions to 15%. Grab the popcorn, between the FTC, DOJ, and Congress, Big Tech is going to have a doozy the rest of the year.

To close out this week’s top tech stories of the week. How about this? A leather case for your iPhone’s MagSafe charging puck. Yeah. If you’re a user of Apple products, you’re already a little ridiculous. But this thing takes the cake.

I’m really am trying to keep on it on the level, and this week we have some interesting stories.. I’m on with Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week, a real life flying car successfully concludes a test flight, Amazon has a beef with the new FTC chairperson, and FINRA fines Robinhood for record dollars. 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.

THE JETSON REJOICE AS FLYING CAR COMPLETES TEST FLIGHT

My first question is…who in the heck is buying flying cars right now? You’ll read in a moment. Professor Stefan Klein, inventor and creator of the AirCar, has successfully flown a 35-minutes test flight of the world’s first flying car between Nitra and Bratislava, Slovakia. The AirCar is a prototype that seats two passengers and has a 1,000 kilometer range at 2,500 feet. The car has clocked 40 hours in the air, and automakers are saying that the AirCar is part of the future. The AirCar doesn’t take off and land vertically so it requires a runway. There are…40,000 orders for the AirCar in the US according to Klein. And he’s hoping to convert 5% of those orders. Who’s ordering AirCars? My wife will be happy, she’s been wanting to see AirCar’s for the last 21 years.

FINRA ROBS FROM ROBINHOOD BY SLAPPING IT WITH RECORD FINE

Yesterday, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, FINRA, issued a record setting fine against Robinhood, not the fictional character, but the trading app of GameStop fame. FINRA claims that Robinhood regularly mislead its app’s users of trading terms, used flakey algorithms to certify users were able to trade on margin, failed to update its product, trading outages during trading hours, and regularly listed incorrect balances for users accounts. FINRA even cited the possibility of the death of Alex Kearns, a Robinhood user that committed suicide after finding a negative $730,000 balance in his account due to unintentional margin trades. Robinhood has agreed to pay the fine.

AMAZON WANTS FTC CHAIR TO RECUSE HERSELF BECAUSE SHE’S MEAN

After a spectacular show of bipartisanship with the Senate confirming Lina Khan as FTC Chairperson, Amazon has launched an offensive saying that the FTC Chair should recuse herself from investigating Amazon for antitrust offenses. In a 25-page petition, Amazon says that they disagree with Chairperson Khan’s views about the company and technology companies in general. Khan’s view is that current antitrust laws are outdated and don’t limit the limitless power today’s technology companies wield. Remember, Chairperson Khan was confirmed in record time. Both Democrats and Republicans have chosen Big Tech as their whipping boy.

So, last Friday was a shit show in the least. I keep on pushing on following on my mission despite the odds. I’m on with Mark Starling, Seth, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week, Sonic the Hedgehog turns 30, Chinese employees have to smile in order to work, and John McAfee was found dead in his prison cell. 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.

JOHN MCAFEE FOUND DEAD IN SPANISH PRISON CELL

Antivirus software pioneer, John McAfee, was found dead in his Spanish prison cell, yesterday. Local prison authorities say the cause of death was suicide. Hours early, Spain’s highest court had ruled in favor of a US extradition which would have sent him back to the United States under custody for tax evasion. McAfee lived a wild and crazy life. After making a fortune selling antivirus software, McAfee lived a life of foreign travel, guns on yachts, and underaged girls. He’s been charged in a handful of countries for complaints ranging from driving under the influence to murder. He was facing 30 years in US prison if were to be convicted of the charges he was facing stateside. His final quote is telling, but a good one, “My remaining assets are all seized. My friends evaporated through fear of association. I have nothing. Yet, I regret nothing.”

CANON WORKERS IN CHINESE MUST SMILE FIRST BEFORE ENTERING

We already know China is a police state which is building itself on social capital. The latest trend for Chinese companies is to force their employees to smile before entering. A Canon subsidiary, yes that Canon. Andre Agassi commercials Canon, has installed AI-powered cameras that will only let employees enter their offices and break rooms if they smile into the camera. Canon isn’t the only company using smile technology to goad its employees. The trend is catching on for other companies on Chinese soil. It’s one heck of a way to enforce morale. Until someone goes postal.

SONIC TURNS 30

Here’s a story that’ll make all of you GenXers smile. Sonic the Hedgehog turned 30 yesterday. That’s right, you are old. Sonic the Hedgehog of SEGA Genesis fame will be celebrated with a remixed former Wii title, Sonic Colors: Ultimate, two new cartoon series with one coming next year, a new game, and a new in 2022 movie featuring Tails. I don’t know who you are, but you can admit you saw that crappy movie Sonic the Hedgehog movie. It made $306 million. Don’t lie you saw it.