Hi, TTN readers! It’s another Thursday! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: Elon turns down Twitter board seat, Tim Cook goes off on data industrial complex, and Ethereum researcher goes to North Korea; returns to jail. 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 by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

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All proceeds will go to aid the citizens of Ukraine.

ELON TAKES BOARD SEAT THEN GIVETH IT AWAY

It’s been a whirlwind week in the Twitterverse. After announcing a 10% stake in Twitter and getting a board seat to boot, Elon Musk has since turned down the board seat being content with owning 10% of the company. Huh, what? Immediately after last week’s news, Elon Musk…took to Twitter, and proceeded to berate the company. He was in rarer form than usual and suggested removing the ‘W’ from its name and dropping the ‘ER’. Yeah. Furthermore, his fight with the SEC continues as he actually made the 10% purchase in mid-March, only to announce the buy this month. Which means the value of his new shares jumped 30% on the day he announced the buy giving him $156 million in value. He’s being sued by another Twitter shareholder in a class action because he had inside information. You just can’t with this guy.

ETHEREUM CRYPTO RESEARCHER JAILED FOR NORTH KOREAN TALK

Virgil Griffith was sentenced to more than 5 years in prison and fined $100,000 for violating US sanctions against North Korea. He was a researcher who worked for Ethereum Foundation, sponsors of the Ethereum cryptocurrency project. He flew to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang to give a talk on cryptocurrency. He violated the US International Emergency Economic Powers Act by traveling to the Pyongyang Blockchain and Cryptocurrency Conference after being denied the trip by the US State Department. Griffith understood he was breaking the law by sharing how North Korea could evade US sanctions through the US of cryptocurrency. A quote from his presentation, “The most important feature of blockchains is that they are open. And the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] can’t be kept out no matter what the USA or the UN says,” Griffith said during the presentation, according to prosecutors.” End quote.

TIM COOK CLAPS BACK AT DATA COLLECTORS

It’s been no secret Apple has been restricting and blocking access to user data. The company has increased its privacy safeguards and have forced app developers to ask users for more detailed permission to use their data. Apple’s CEO, Tim Cook, took to the stage at the International Association of Privacy Professionals and railed against companies that comprise the “data industrial complex”. His complaint with companies centers around the idea of sideloading. Sideloading happens when a seemingly useful app, like a COVID-19 contact tracer, loads another piece of code that surveils the user’s info. Tim Cook has said that privacy is, “one of the most essential battles of our time.” He’s right.

Hi, TTN readers! It’s another Thursday! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: First News on 570 mints an NFT, Apple and Meta get phished by social engineers, Musk forces Twitter to release Edit button, and a new AI generates pictures and makes edits. 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 by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

Get the first First News on 570 NFT

Y’all thought we were joking, but now you can purchase First News on 570’s first NFT. Purchasers will get an authentic download of the April 7, 2022 show, and only 5 listeners will be able to listen to the best technology segment on radio. Listeners can purchase the NFT from Rarible and use any of the supported wallets.

For all of my tech heads in the audience, it was minted using Ethereum and signed using my Coinbase wallet.

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APPLE AND META GET PHISHED BY FAKE LAW ENFORCEMENT

For the last 16 years, I have been required to take IT Security and Awareness training to protect various government and private health systems. Phishing is a type of social engineering hacking attack used to steal data, credentials, and other information by posing as IT or official people needing information. Last week, Apple and Meta reported being exploited by phishing attacks from hackers pretending to be law enforcement officials. The companies were giving data to hackers as part of false Emergency Information Requests. Technology and data companies often provide information to law enforcement under subpoena, but EIRs are usually life and death situations and don’t require a subpoena. The companies admitted to the exploits in which users’ personally identifiable information had been shared including email and physical addresses.

TWITTER ANNOUNCES EDIT BUTTON AFTER MUSKY STOCK PURCHASE

If there’s been an outspoken Twitter user it has been Elon Musk. Musk, my generation’s Howard Hughes – love him or hate him, has been targeted by the SEC for his use of the platform before major company moves, used the platform to troll tax policies, and frequently polls users on how he thinks the platform should refresh itself. Twitter users have been asking for an edit button for years, but have rebuffed the feature citing users prefer other functions over it. Well, since Elon Musk’s 9.2% stock purchase. The purchase makes Musk Twitter’s largest shareholder. Twitter has announced development of an ‘Edit’ button which will be tested on its subscription service. The Musk poll cited 73% of 4 million users wanted the feature, and it looks like its happening. Tech commentator Stephanie Humphries doesn’t think the stock purchase is the “flex” it seems en pixel, and it does seem as if Elon Musk fancies himself as a new age Carl Icahn. Without the class.

I don’t think this is gonna be the flex @twitter thinks it is…what y’all think??? 👀
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Check @cnet bio for the full story
.#Repost @cnet
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A day after it was revealed that Elon Musk has taken a large stake in Twitter, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO… https://t.co/WGtPbQEzBU pic.twitter.com/6g4Z2ZRolE

— Stephanie Humphrey (@TechLifeSteph) April 5, 2022

ARTISTS CRY FOUL AS AI CREATES PICTURES AND MAKES EDITS

Yesterday, OpenAI, the AI company which has said some of its technologies are too dangerous for human consumption, announced an update to its DALL-E image generation tool. DALL-E is a mashup of Salvadore Dali and WALL-E the lovable robot. DALL-E is able to take text as input and create a new image from the phrasing. According to OpenAI, DALL-E.2 creates realistic images that combine concepts and attributes with style. It uses a new technique called diffusion which takes random dots and gradually makes a pattern with the dots as it “recognizes” specific aspects of an image. DALL-E.2 isn’t commercially available, but researchers can join a waitlist to get access. I’ve already requested access. Why? Because I bend the knee to our robot overlords.

The Latest Companies Quitting Russia

Intel has announced it is suspending operations in Russia.

Twitter is moving to curb the content Russian leaders post on the platform.

It’s Thursday again, TTN readers! It’s a new week, and I’ll be home alone this weekend! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: WingStop sells NFT chicken wings in metaverse, Facebook paid for hit contracts on TikTok, and Dyson has announced new air purifying headphones. 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 by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

WINGSTOP FILES TRADEMARK TO SELL DIGITAL CHICKEN WINGS

Stop the world, I want to get off. NFTs have jumped the proverbial shark. Earlier this month, WingStop filed a trademark to sell digital chicken wings at their met averse locations. According to WingStop, “the filing signifies an exciting step to serve the world flavor in a virtual space.” That word, flavor. What do virtual chicken wings taste like. The first thing my 11-year old asked was, “are virtual chicken wings, consumable?” It was at that moment I asked my 11 and 14 year old girls to come up with something we can hock in the NFT metaverse. To which they replied, “why? NFTs are stupid?” Where did I go wrong, I thought this whole virtual world was theirs. Well, WingStop isn’t the only company selling NFT products. McDonald’s and Panera are offering NFTs that can be purchased for real world redeemable products. We’ll see what happens next.

FACEBOOK PAID POLITICAL FIRM TO MALIGN TIKTOK

Yup. Yesterday, the Washington Post reported Facebook hiring a political firm called Targeted Victory to use traditional political campaign tactics to turn public opinion negatively for TikTok. The firm used editorial comment in media, elevated detractors, and planted false data swaying people to believe the app is improperly abusing information from young Americans (probably true) and that the app is generally a bad option for people. Facebook hired the firm after it was trying to overcome the Cambridge Analytica scandal as well as the ‘Facebook caused mental anguish’ scandal. Meanwhile, Facebook or Meta, has reported that it has lost users for the first time in its 18 year history. TikTok has acquired many more young users on its platform as the Big Blue apps users have grown older. Remember, Facebook was originally only available for college students, and then opened up to other users. Those colleges students are now in their 30s and 40s and have more important things to do.

DYSON ANNOUNCES NEW AIR PURIFYING HEADPHONES

I had to end this week’s top tech news on a funny note. I love gadgets and gadget makers. Someone is always trying to come up with some creative way to get people to wear tech and Dyson tickled my fancy. The Dyson Zone is the vacuum company’s first foray in wearable technology. The headphones specs don’t matter, what does is that the headphones come with an over-the-mouth air purification system. Dyson says the headphones are great for rising air pollution. Each pair comes with a fan and air filters that suck in air from the ear cups, purifies air, and channels clean air in the nose and mouth. You’ll probably look ridiculous, but will breathing free. The headphones are expected to be expensive and go on sale in the fall.

Happy Thursday, TTN readers! Kiss me, I’m Irish! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: Apple prevents upgrades for Mac Studios, video game history has come under threat, and hide your wife, hide your kids, and lock your digital stuff. 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 by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

APPLE LOCKS OUT USER UPGRADES ON NEW MAC STUDIO

Apple has been crushing it these last few years. Every iPhone, iPad, aWatch, and iMachine have delivered crushing revenues for the company. With every new success it appears Apple is more and more inclined to lock out users from doing…anything. The latest Mac Studio desktop computer has impressive specs. Apple’s new M1 chip delivers spectacular performance. All of that performance needs storage to make things run and Apple has always been stingy with disk storage. The latest Mac Studio ships with a removable solid state drive. Fans rejoiced thinking they could cheaply upgrade the machine by buying a drive with greater storage off the shelf. #Nope! The SSD in new Mac Studios are software locked to the machine. Meaning that you will have to go to Apple for more space and pay hundred more than an off the shelf drive.

PRESERVATIONISTS AND LAWYERS FIGHT OVER VIDEO GAME HISTORY

Right now, you can download emulators for your favorite old school consoles of lore and download ROMs (read only memory) files of your favorite old games. If you wanted to play Sonic the Hedgehog, there’s an app and ROMs for you to download. If you wanted to play Super Mario Brothers 3, there’s an app and ROMs you can download. Preservationists at the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment and the Video Game History Foundation are battling over the legality of preserving digital games for the masses. What’s at issue is Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology used to prevent erroneous copies from leaking to would be players. The law is well established for making copies of copyrighted work for non-commercial and research purposes like displaying games at museums. This is usually called fair use. The problem is that Section 1201 of Copyright Law prevents people from circumventing piracy protection measures and is illegal to do so. Therefore, preservationists are running afoul of the law for every cracked CD or hacked digital download they preserve. Preservations are fighting back and testing the law so that people can view and enjoy games in a control setting for posterity.

COMMENTARY: US FEARFUL OF RUSSIAN CYBER ATTACKS

It hasn’t happened yet, but the signs are there. The US government has called for an increased cyber security precautions and for people and institutions to lock their digital doors by raising the alarm of potential cyber attacks from Russia. Russia of course is saying the US if Russophobic, but Russian cyber operators are some of the best in the world and well equipped. Russia has used Ukraine as a testing ground for its cyberwarfare operations by knocking out power inside the country and we’ve attacks on the Colonial Pipeline company’s operations, and the NotPetya attach causing $10 billion of damage.

On a sad note, Stephen Wilhite, creator of the GIF image, died yesterday. He was 74 years old and had died of COVID. GIFs were created for the old and venerable CompuServe network and is now used everywhere for animations, emojis, memes, and everywhere. He’s the authority on settling the longstanding controversy of how to pronounce GIF. He says it’s pronounced JIF.

Happy Thursday, TTN readers! Kiss me, I’m Irish! I’m on with  Mark Starling, John, and the First News 570 crew. This week’s top tech stories: Read a brief commentary on the impact of technology on the Ukraine-Russian War, Kaspersky Wants to Remain Neutral, and the James Webb Space Telescope sends its first images. 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 by tuning into WWNC on the iHeartRadio app.

Yes, it’s March which means betting. This year, gambling experts are predicting $3.1 billion will be bet on March Madness, which is down from 2019’s $9.1 billion shifting hands. Experts are also saying that this year’s betting may represent the largest “legal betting” on the tournament. The number may actually trend downward due to the onslaught of legal sports book apps on the market. There’s just something exciting about getting in on a little wager without the middleman.

Behold, the bracket built using data science.

Anyway, onto this week’s real stories.

WHO WATCHES THE WATCHMEN

Kaspersky, the Russian computer antivirus company has planned to open a data center in Switzerland to demonstrate they’re not a Russia spy factory. Kaspersky makes antivirus software that used to run everywhere, including the US government. Last year, the Biden administration banned the use of Kaspersky products at US government agencies accusing the company of being a Russian spy organization. Monday, the Dutch stopped using their products. And then, Germany. And so on. CEO, Eugene Kaspersky, is moving to Switzerland because of its policy of neutrality and data privacy laws. Kaspersky has over 400 million users. They have proclaimed they are not agents of Russian intelligence.

COMMENTARY: THE IMPACT OF TECHNOLOGY ON THE WAR ON UKRAINE

The war in Ukraine is a tragedy and humanitarian crisis. The Ukrainian government and its people have been very strategic and savvy with their use of technology. Ukrainian president, Volodomyr Zelenskyy, a former actor who played Ukraine’s president on TV; has used the immediacy of mobile photo and video, social channels, and cryptocurrency networks effectively in pushing Russia into isolation. At times pleading, at other times graphic the Ukrainian government has put on a PR campaign that would envy many organizations. Live streams and TikTok were used to spread propaganda fronting Russian soldiers who were against the war and want to go home. Influencers have gone from frivolous topics like fashion and NFTs to showing bombs falling outside of their window. Americans have seen wars televised after the first and second Iraq Wars, and the war in Afghanistan. Those projections of war were polished coming from embedded journalists carrying high def cameras. Americans have never seen war from the first person, and for the first the true tragedy and loss of life is capture using a device all of us carry around for granted. I don’t think a more effective campaign of communicating your aims has been made since the Civil Rights era. Currently, it’s not possible to trade rubles for dollars, and Russia is losing its grip on containing information that doesn’t ride the party line.

JAMES WEBB SENDS FIRST IMAGES

After a long delay and much fanfare, NASA shared the first images coming from the James Webb Space Telescope. The James Webb uses new technology to capture imagery on the infrared spectrum and can look farther at dimmer objects than the Hubble telescope. The mission launched on Christmas Day, 2021 and the second phase of the mission involved aligning the two sets of mirrors used for gazing into space. The telescope’s mirrors are a collection of many smaller mirrors that need to be in proper position for making clear photos. That day came yesterday and it’s an exciting time to view distant space.

Thanks for checking out Top Tech Stories of the week on First News 570. I truly enjoy providing insight for our audience. You can always get the Top Tech Stories by signing up for the newsletter.

Also, be on the lookout for a new podcast, The Cloud. Digital Technology. Decoded.