We’re back! Mark was out last Friday, and we’re back in the saddle with hot news. Since, the hiatus the court is going to force Elon Musk to trial in his will-I-won’t-I takeover of Twitter. Either way, it’s Thursday and I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s non-Elon stories: an EU Justice commissioner gets his iPhone hacked, Manchester City spies on its fans using scarves, and scientists say, “play all the video games you want.” You can listen to me and Mark Starling point and laugh at all things tech every Thursday at 643 am ET live on the radio or the iHeartRadio app.

BREAKING: Google has joined Amazon and will provide home security camera footage to law enforcement without a warrant. Google and Amazon claim that they’ll only provide video if LEO state the seizure is for an emergency. Google says they haven’t done this, yet. Amazon has handed over video to law enforcement a dozen times this year. Read on for full details.

EU STAFF REPORTS IPHONE HACK

Yesterday, Reuters reported EU Justice Commissioner, Didier Reyders, and some of his staff had their phones infiltrated with Pegasus. You may remember us reporting on the Israeli spyware program being used to track down a Dubai princess. The commissioner sent a memo to EU leadership after Apple had notified him that his phone was hacked. Pegasus left behind a telltale sign of evidence indicating that it was installed on his device. Pegasus is used by nation states and government entities to spy on individuals. The program can left contact lists, call logs, messages, and browsing history. No word on who the perpetrator is. It may be impossible to track who made the hack.

Here’s how to protect yourself from spyware programs like Pegasus:

1. Reboot often. Spyware programs typically load themselves and need to stay “resident” in the background after being activated. These program are rarely in the startup sequence of your device.
2. Disable iMessage. Many spyware programs activate by so-called zero-click methods. iPhones can render some webpages automatically and this is a way spyware programs can be installed. I know, this is painful. iMessage is probably the most powerful and convenient messaging tool with bots and other programs built in. That means there are more ways of getting on to your device.
3. Disable FaceTime. Yeah, this also painful. I’ve gotten used to actually using FaceTime, but again its another way spyware program can get in.
4. Don’t click on links from unknown texters. The real answer is never click on links, but my wife and friends are always sending me links.
5. Use a paid for VPN for your online communications. Most people wouldn’t resort to this, but it is a significant step in protecting yourself and masking your traffic online.

These tips and more are available from…the Russians.

WHO NEEDS A POLICE STATE WHEN YOUR FAVORITE TEAM SPIES ON YOU

We live in the era of the smart everything. Yesterday, Manchester City Football Club announced the development of a new smart scarf featuring a biometric sensor and the Club’s colors. The biometric sensor is an EmotiBit used to measure the attitude, emotional state, and stress levels of Manchester City fans during a match. The Club wants to understand their fans’ state during a match. I’d think it would be pretty easily to tell a fan’s state by looking at the score, their faces, and alcohol consumption. Manchester City has given a select few fans the device now, with places to distribute the scarves globally next year. They’ll also be giving scarves to select New York City FC (Manchester City’s sister club) this year as well. No details on how much these scarves will cost. The technology is being developed in partnership with Cisco systems.

SCIENTISTS: PLAY ALL THE VIDEO GAMES YOU WANT

This is a story that hits close to home and which I think doesn’t match anecdotal observation. So, yes, I’m dubious about it. An Oxford Internet Institute study on 39,000 gamers concludes that the amount of time gamers spend playing has no impact on their well-being. This year’s new study contradicts their own 2020 study on the topic. The report states that if players choose to spend their time playing games versus being compelled to, the player’s wellbeing is better off. I disagree on this after witnessing the amount of Minecraft my oldest plays and some of the shifts in her behavior. An excessive amount of time in the environment can impact anxiousness and social surrounding behaviors. Also, therapists are beginning to anecdotally agree on the impact Minecraft has on certain behaviors. I think a study is needed on that. Minecraft wasn’t in this study, but these titles were:

• Animal Crossing: New Horizons
• Apex Legends
• Eve Online
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gran Turismo Sport
• The Crew 2

Make sure you listen to our next episode of The Cloud on August 1st, Crypto: Is It the Future of Money? We’ll be having a blockchain expert on to talk about cryptocurrencies and the hype behind them.

Happy Thursday! Last Friday, as me and my friends were basking in the glow of Blerdcon, someone looking down at their phone blurted out, “yo! Elon Musk is backing out of the Twitter deal. Like everyone didn’t see that coming.” It’s true. Either way, it’s Thursday and I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: Elon, Elon, Elon, the head of Tesla’s AI is out, and the James Webb Space Telescope delivers its first pictures. You can listen to me and Mark Starling point and laugh at all things tech every Thursday at 643 am ET live on the radio or the iHeartRadio app.

MUSK BACKS OUT OF TWITTER DEAL, SURPRISES NO ONE

We’ve covered Elon Musk’s shenanigans a lot on First News 570 and this week’s top tech news is par for the course. Last Friday, Elon Musk announced he’s backing out of his alleged purchase of Twitter. The $44 billion deal collapsed with Musk saying he wasn’t satisfied with Twitter’s method for reporting bots and him complaining management hasn’t kept running the company at an optimum level. Twitter shares closed at $36 per share yesterday, down from the $54 per share take over price. Elon Musk was teasing the idea of him backing out of the Twitter deal shortly after announcing his takeover plans. He took the same product he was going to purchase and complained about how crappy management was, their lack of feature innovation, and proving how many bots operate the platform. My friends in the room all agreed it was simply a, “d*ck move by Elon, to show how big his b*lls are.” And here we are.

TESLA HEAD OF AI LEAVING

One of the key developers of Tesla’s Autopilot feature is leaving the company. Andrej Karpathy has decided to leave the company after taking a sabbatical this Spring. He was set to come back to Tesla this month, and is instead heading out. This news happens just after Tesla laid off 200 employees working on the Autopilot project. He wants to move on to new horizons combining AI and education.

JWST DELIVERS STUNNING PICTURES OF THE COSMOS

After 10 years of development and delays, the James Webb Space Telescope delivered its first set of images this past Monday. The JWST is the world’s largest orbiting observatory and sports a light focusing mirror that’s 3 times the size of the Hubble Space Telescope. The first image from the JWST featured an updated image of the same cluster of galaxy first shot by the Hubble Space Telescope. The image blows your mind away, and makes you question, “what is all of this for?” The marquee shot features an innumerable count of galaxies in the distance. The JWST uses upgraded infrared sensors that allows the telescope to see further in the past than ever before. Amazing.

Hi guys! It’s another unofficial start of the weekend and I want to thank you for being a part of this journey. I’ve been Mark Starling’s Thursday technology analyst since 2015 and it’s been fun. Since then, First News 570 listeners and others have been steady readers of this Thursday post, and have warmly consumed the other content. I’m grateful for your readership and listenership. I’m looking forward to continuing this ride as long as you have me.

Take care of yourself, and watch your health. Live your life now, and be around those people who are important to you and who find you important.

Have a great weekend.

It’s Blerdcon Thursday, y’all. It’s time for the Top Tech News of the Week! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. It’s another week, without Elon dominating the headlines. This week’s top tech stories: the US government announces new post-Quantum encryption, Rivian finally delivers its trucks, and Meta open sources bold language translation AI. You can listen to me and Mark Starling point and laugh at all things tech every Thursday at 643 am ET live on the radio or the iHeartRadio app.

RIVIAN FINALLY DELIVERS

The electric truck company, Rivian, has finally started delivering its highly anticipated trucks and SUVs. The company was known for delivering Amazon’s electric delivery vehicles and finally deliver 4,401 vehicles last quarter. That number pales in comparison to the 254 thousand Teslas, or the sales leader, GM’s, 578 thousand cars last quarter. But it is something considering they are niche electric vehicle maker. GM only sold 7,700 plug-in electric cars last quarter, so Rivian is competing in that segment. Rivian will need to deliver more than 18,000 vehicles this year to meet its annual goal.

META OPEN SOURCES AI TRANSLATION TECHNOLOGY

Yesterday, Meta open sourced a language translator that’s capable of translating over 200 languages. The software, NLLB-200, is an AI service trained on more than 50 billion parameters. Meta is boasting translations for many languages not well supported by other services like Google’s. They claim NLLB-200 translates over 50 African languages not normally supported elsewhere. NLLB-200 is more than 44% accurate compared with other tools. The company is providing up to $200,000 in grants to help non-profits adopt the technology. They’ve teamed up with Wikimedia to translate Wikipedia using NLLB-200. Facebook’s head of AI says that, “No Language [will be] Left Behind.”

US GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES NEW ENCRYPTION STANDARDS

Quantum computing has cryptologists and governments scared. Quantum computing uses weird aspects of how subatomic particles behave in space and time to make increasingly complex predictions. Many theorists predict Quantum will make today’s encryption look like Little Orphan Annie Decoder Rings. The US National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has announced four new encryption standards that should thwart quantum hackers. The new post-quantum-computing algorithms have cool names: CRYSTALS-Kyber, CRYSTALS-Dilithium, FALCON, and SPHINCS+. Current encryption uses mathematical properties of multiplying large, prime numbers to generate unique keys for encrypting values. In 2019, a team broke a 795-bit key (a very, very large number) and it has people concerned.

I don’t usually get into entertainment news, but I think it’s a remarkable achievement. Stranger Things Season 4 is Netflix’s second show to get over 1 billion watch hours. I think Sabrina and I are the ones who actually put them over since we started the season 1 day before the billionth hour was watched. As of yesterday, 1.15 billion hours of human mental space was dedicated to watching Stranger Things 4. The most popular show is Squid Game, which I have never seen. Not even a minute.

Speaking of watch hours…thanks for listening to The Cloud. Our second episode about AI and its impact on communities of color has gotten some great feedback. Our next episode will explore crypto and if it’s the future of money. Please listen, subscribe, and leave feedback for The Cloud on your local podcast listening station. It helps.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Subscribe on Spotify.

If you come to this weekend’s Blerdcon, please stop by and say hi.

It’s Thursday, y’all. It’s time for the Top Tech News of the Week! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. It’s another week, without Elon dominating the headlines. This week’s top tech stories: a shirtless Canadian hacker pleads guilty in Florida, a new Atari collection is released in time for its 50th anniversary, and AirBnb bans party houses forever. You can listen to me and Mark Starling point and laugh at all things tech every Thursday at 643 am ET live on the radio or the iHeartRadio app.

SHIRTLESS CANADIAN NABBED IN RUSSIAN CYBER TAKEDOWN

Yesterday, Sebastien Vachon-Desjardins plead guilty in Florida court for being an affiliate hacker with the Russian cyber gang, NetWalker. Desjardins is an ex-IT employee who was a hacker for the group from April to December, 2020. NetWalker had extorted $40 million from Canadian, US, and other global companies during 2020 including $1.14 million from a US university working on a COVID-19 vaccine. Desjardins was arrested in Canada and extradited to the United States after US cyber authorities broke up the gang and lifted details of affiliates from the gang’s files. Desjardins was found holding $27 million in BitCoin across various accounts. There have been high profile hacks made in the last 3 years, but there have also been some high profile arrests and takedowns made by the US government. For bad guys seeking to hide cash in BTC or the blockchain anonymously that’s becoming increasingly difficult to do. Yes, Desjardins is pretty fit, and…cut.

GAME CONSOLES GET ATARI CLASSICS ON 50TH ANNIVERARY

How old am I? My first video game console was an Atari something that played Pong and a three other titles using a switch. No cartridges. Atari is working with retro game archivists, Digital Eclipse, to release Atari 50, a 90 title gaming collection for the Switch, PlayStation, XBOX, PC, and Atari VCS. The collection will span games from the 2600, Jaguar, and Lynx. The Atari 7200 was noticeably absent from the list. You can expect Atari 50 this November just in time for Christmas.

AIRBNB BANS PARTY HOUSES PERMANENTLY

AirBnb announced it will be banning so-called party houses permanently. The company prevented AirBnb guests from renting a house to host a disruptive event or party in 2020 to halt COVID-19’s spread. AirBnb hosts have applauded the move saying party houses were an issue with their neighbors and maintenance. AirBnb suspended 6,600 users last year after violating the party ban. No more open-invites or event styled gatherings are allowed in AirBnbs anymore, even though mega mansion home owners can list properties that can sleep move than 16 people.

Tomorrow’s episode of The Cloud features AI and its impact on communities. We chat with Morgan State University’s founding member of the Center for Equitable AI and Machine Learning, Dr. Kofi Nyarko and Progressive Heuristics CEO, Gabriella Waters. You can subscribe to The Cloud on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and El Goog’s Podcasts. iHeartRadio will be coming soon.

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