1
00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:07,680
Welcome back to Techlink, the show that isn't afraid to say stop. Don't Google

2
00:00:04,799 --> 00:00:12,719
that. Let Riley do it instead. YouTube has once again updated its adfriendly

3
00:00:10,240 --> 00:00:19,359
content guidelines, tweeting that strong profanity in the first 7 seconds is now

4
00:00:15,440 --> 00:00:22,000
eligible to earn full ad revenue.

5
00:00:19,359 --> 00:00:26,640
I should have swore in the intro. Oh, that would have been so cool. The

6
00:00:24,400 --> 00:00:30,560
new policy comes about 2 and 1/2 years after YouTube demonetized videos that

7
00:00:29,199 --> 00:00:35,680
started right out with non-motherapproved language from the

8
00:00:32,640 --> 00:00:38,079
get-go before responding to backlash and

9
00:00:35,680 --> 00:00:42,800
allowing limited ad revenue on those videos. YouTube referenced their prior

10
00:00:40,320 --> 00:00:47,360
flip-flops in the video update for this change and seemed to take credit for

11
00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:51,440
providing YouTubers with content. >> You may have even made a couple popular

12
00:00:49,200 --> 00:00:55,120
reaction videos based on that very policy update.

13
00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:59,760
>> Yeah. Uh, you're welcome. Now, swearing in the first 7 seconds won't limit your

14
00:00:57,360 --> 00:01:04,559
revenue at all. Although, the tweet said strong profanity is fine, while the

15
00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:10,240
actual support article says moderate. Uh, with stronger profanity putting you

16
00:01:07,360 --> 00:01:14,240
at risk of earning no revenue. Uh, hey, that's unclear. Well, now that YouTube's

17
00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:19,600
becoming a wretched hive of scum and villain, the platform is rolling out age

18
00:01:16,640 --> 00:01:25,040
estimation technology to a small set of users in the US after using it in other

19
00:01:22,320 --> 00:01:29,759
markets and seeing nothing explode so far. Starting on August 13th, if

20
00:01:27,759 --> 00:01:35,040
YouTube's machines think you're under 18, they'll activate protection measures

21
00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:39,360
like showing only non-personalized ads, enabling take a break and bedtime

22
00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:46,200
reminders you need your sleep, and recommending fewer videos that could be

23
00:01:41,759 --> 00:01:46,200
problematic if viewed in repetition.

24
00:01:46,479 --> 00:01:51,759
No Skibb. Under 18 creators will also

25
00:01:49,759 --> 00:01:56,479
have their ability to earn gifts restricted on vertical live streams,

26
00:01:54,560 --> 00:02:00,320
which as we all know is a much more dangerous aspect ratio. It's weird

27
00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:05,680
though. You can dispute the age estimation by uploading a credit card or

28
00:02:02,880 --> 00:02:10,800
a government ID. So, I guess you can preserve more privacy if you don't act

29
00:02:08,640 --> 00:02:14,959
like a 12-year-old online. It's not clear how long that will be the case

30
00:02:12,640 --> 00:02:19,120
though, as age checks are currently spreading across the internet faster

31
00:02:16,720 --> 00:02:23,760
than that hot new brain rot slang that just dropped. You know the one. I won't

32
00:02:21,200 --> 00:02:27,440
say it. I know what it is, though. Because Google is actually doing the

33
00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:33,040
same thing as YouTube, announcing that age assurance will roll out to a small

34
00:02:30,400 --> 00:02:37,680
set of US-based Google accounts over the next few weeks. Over in Australia, the

35
00:02:35,680 --> 00:02:42,160
government is nixing the exemption they were going to make for YouTube in the

36
00:02:39,599 --> 00:02:46,800
country's social media ban. So now, come December, accounts for users under 16

37
00:02:44,640 --> 00:02:50,879
will be illegal with Prime Minister Anthony Albanesey's announcing, "Right,

38
00:02:48,879 --> 00:02:54,640
I'm calling time on it." But should we really trust Australia with this when

39
00:02:52,959 --> 00:02:58,640
they can't even get an orbital class rocket to stay in the air for more than

40
00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:02,879
14 seconds? I mean, it's not even just the front that fell off. It's the whole

41
00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:06,640
thing. Australia, please send me more of your memes. I'm done with the front

42
00:03:04,319 --> 00:03:11,280
felloff thing for now. As Emma Roth writes at The Verge, for better or

43
00:03:08,560 --> 00:03:16,400
worse, age verification is happening. And now Spotify is threatening to delete

44
00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:20,400
UK users accounts if they fail the age verification test. But what if you're an

45
00:03:18,400 --> 00:03:25,440
adult and you just have the mind of a child? People are getting worked into a

46
00:03:22,560 --> 00:03:29,280
frenzy. Fears of the EU's upcoming official age-checking app only allowing

47
00:03:27,680 --> 00:03:34,640
users to install apps that were certified by Apple or Google did turn

48
00:03:31,920 --> 00:03:37,680
out to be unfounded. But still, it's kind of an uncomfortable situation to

49
00:03:36,400 --> 00:03:42,799
have a bunch of different age verification services amassing hordes of

50
00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:47,760
selfies and government IDs, especially in the wake of the women's dating safety

51
00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:52,000
app T, having thousands of those very things leaked before suffering another

52
00:03:50,080 --> 00:03:59,200
breach for good measure. Clearly just calling your app a safety app and being

53
00:03:55,040 --> 00:04:01,840
a safe app is not there, you know, it's

54
00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:08,560
different different like gamers these days. Ah, that's according to IGN's new

55
00:04:05,680 --> 00:04:14,159
expansive 2025 gaming trends report which shares some interesting insights

56
00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:16,079
into the games industry.biz.

57
00:04:14,159 --> 00:04:20,160
They uh they they helped them with the report. I didn't think this one through.

58
00:04:18,079 --> 00:04:25,440
So, what are the main takeaways? First off, Gen Z and Gen Alpha tend to see

59
00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:31,040
themselves less as gamers and more as players of a specific game. While Gen X

60
00:04:28,560 --> 00:04:36,000
or millennials might identify with Xbox, PlayStation or PC as their chosen

61
00:04:33,120 --> 00:04:40,800
platform, the youngans treat Roblox, Fortnite, or Minecraft as their

62
00:04:38,320 --> 00:04:48,160
platforms, which is exactly what gaming executives have wanted. So, congrats on

63
00:04:44,080 --> 00:04:50,720
making EA CEO Andrew Wilson very happy.

64
00:04:48,160 --> 00:04:55,440
The CEO of Roblox is also pretty happy because that game or platform thing was

65
00:04:53,600 --> 00:05:01,120
already beating Fortnite in daily concurrent users. But since May, it shot

66
00:04:57,919 --> 00:05:03,520
up from around 10 million to 25 million

67
00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:07,759
thanks to the usermade game Grow a Garden, which has become a viral

68
00:05:05,520 --> 00:05:14,000
sensation. Even the Associated Press reported on it with perhaps the busiest

69
00:05:10,240 --> 00:05:16,320
game screenshot I've ever seen. It's h

70
00:05:14,000 --> 00:05:21,199
it's like I can feel it. Like so many classic microtransaction traps, Grow a

71
00:05:18,960 --> 00:05:25,440
Garden is an idle game. So you buy seeds, plant them, wait for them to

72
00:05:23,360 --> 00:05:30,880
grow, and then collect them. And what makes this game super cool is remember

73
00:05:28,160 --> 00:05:34,919
your garden literally grows while you are offline. Star.

74
00:05:36,080 --> 00:05:44,800
Whoa. Literally. The report also found that 93% of Gen Alpha prefer to play

75
00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:49,199
games on mobile because their dads have to use the TV as soon as they get home

76
00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:54,080
to see whether the 7086ers are going to make it to championships this year. It's

77
00:05:51,120 --> 00:06:00,160
important. And Gen Z and Alpha also expect every song, TV show, and video

78
00:05:57,120 --> 00:06:03,120
game to be available to them instantly,

79
00:06:00,160 --> 00:06:07,520
which to be fair probably also applies to everyone uh because we have the

80
00:06:05,600 --> 00:06:12,560
internet now. You don't have to ship the files to my Steam account. And you don't

81
00:06:10,240 --> 00:06:17,039
have to let big tech read your emails either if you use our sponsor, Proton,

82
00:06:15,039 --> 00:06:21,039
the email provider that's not linked to big tech. So they have no interest in

83
00:06:19,120 --> 00:06:26,080
your personal data. Oh, you have X hobbies and Y interests. They literally

84
00:06:23,440 --> 00:06:30,560
don't care. See, Proton uses end-to-end zero access encryption, so only you can

85
00:06:28,639 --> 00:06:34,319
read your emails. Plus, they use advanced fishing protection, tracker

86
00:06:32,479 --> 00:06:37,840
blocking, and they even monitor the dark web to see if your email shows up

87
00:06:36,240 --> 00:06:41,199
because the dark web people shouldn't care about your personal info either.

88
00:06:39,520 --> 00:06:46,639
That's kind of weird. And if you're super serious about privacy, Proton lets

89
00:06:43,440 --> 00:06:48,160
you use unlimited email aliases, and you

90
00:06:46,639 --> 00:06:52,880
can connect to it through the tour network for another layer of anonymity.

91
00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:56,639
Wow, I wish Proton could also replace apps like Google Docs and MyVPN and

92
00:06:54,960 --> 00:07:01,039
password manager, too. That would be guess what? They can. So yeah, I guess

93
00:06:59,360 --> 00:07:04,720
you got to go and create an account for free, try it for a few months, and see

94
00:07:02,880 --> 00:07:09,280
how it feels to stick it to big tech now using our links in the description. I

95
00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:14,479
now of course you could Google these quick bits yourself, but I don't know. I

96
00:07:11,919 --> 00:07:19,680
mean, I'm pretty good at Googling like like do you know about Reddit? Reviews

97
00:07:16,160 --> 00:07:23,440
for AMD's new Ryzen Threadripper 9980X

98
00:07:19,680 --> 00:07:25,919
and 9970X are live. And overall, uh, it

99
00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:30,080
seems like enthusiasts are pretty happy with them as they deliver a solid jump

100
00:07:28,160 --> 00:07:33,919
in both performance and efficiency over their predecessors. Is that is that

101
00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:37,919
really there's not like a scandal about a horribly misleading graph or

102
00:07:36,319 --> 00:07:42,400
something? Just just new chips? They're they're they're good. Okay. Yeah. Um,

103
00:07:40,319 --> 00:07:50,160
okay. Feels weird. Micron has finally launched the 9650 NVMe, the world's

104
00:07:45,759 --> 00:07:53,039
first actual PCIe Gen 6 SSD, 3 and 1/2

105
00:07:50,160 --> 00:07:56,800
years after the PCIe6 spec was finalized, which was cool, but I guess

106
00:07:55,120 --> 00:08:00,960
no one knew what to do with it. Of course, this SSD is not for normal

107
00:07:58,879 --> 00:08:08,240
desktops. It's got capacities up to 30.72 terabytes, and it only comes in

108
00:08:04,160 --> 00:08:10,080
E1S and E3S form factors, which I'm not

109
00:08:08,240 --> 00:08:14,000
going to lie, I only just heard about today, but I'm sure they're good for

110
00:08:11,919 --> 00:08:18,319
servers. Some AI tools have gotten updates that are actually useful, which

111
00:08:16,479 --> 00:08:23,680
is kind of exciting. Adobe's new Photoshop beta finally features AI

112
00:08:20,720 --> 00:08:28,160
upscaling, so you can unblur old photos. And the new harmonize feature makes it

113
00:08:25,919 --> 00:08:32,479
perhaps a bit too easy to alter lighting, shadows, and color, so you can

114
00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:37,440
realistically add people and objects to photos, which will be fine, don't worry.

115
00:08:35,120 --> 00:08:42,080
Meanwhile, Chat GPT's new study mode will actually walk the user through the

116
00:08:39,680 --> 00:08:46,959
thinking process instead of just delivering an answer. And now, let's

117
00:08:44,720 --> 00:08:54,279
maybe, hey, let's make that the default for kids and most adults. Peacock

118
00:08:49,920 --> 00:08:54,279
feathers can emit laser beams.

119
00:08:55,680 --> 00:09:02,480
I'm sorry. Yeah, peacock feathers can be lasers. If you slather them in dye and

120
00:09:00,880 --> 00:09:07,440
energize them with a light source, they'll emit photons in the wavelength

121
00:09:05,279 --> 00:09:12,080
of lasers, according to an international group of researchers. So, no, peacocks

122
00:09:09,920 --> 00:09:16,160
aren't about to become pompous, strutting aven weapons platforms. But

123
00:09:14,480 --> 00:09:20,640
the headlines definitely made it sound like that, and I will hold that against

124
00:09:18,240 --> 00:09:25,120
them. And look, Microsoft made a hundred special editions of their newest Surface

125
00:09:23,040 --> 00:09:29,920
laptop to go along with the new Smurfs movie that is apparently coming out

126
00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:32,160
soon. It's the Smurface laptop. Don't

127
00:09:29,920 --> 00:09:35,519
look at me. Tom Warren posted that. What was I supposed to do? Ignore it? I know

128
00:09:34,000 --> 00:09:39,600
what you're supposed to do. Come back here on Friday for more tech news. Or

129
00:09:37,440 --> 00:09:45,680
else I'll be googling stuff all day for nothing except to learn about stuff just

130
00:09:41,839 --> 00:09:45,680
for me. And what's the point of