1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,040 Shall I compare thee to the tech news? Or is that not appropriate because you're a person and not an abstract concept? 2 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:10,720 You're both? Wow, I mean, they're happy for you. 3 00:00:10,720 --> 00:00:18,160 Microsoft plans to restart a nuclear power plant to feed its incredibly power-hungry AI data centers. 4 00:00:18,160 --> 00:00:22,080 The plant in question is the Three Mile Island facility in Pennsylvania, 5 00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:28,480 which is the subject of a Netflix documentary because it underwent a partial meltdown back in 1979 6 00:00:28,480 --> 00:00:32,240 in the worst nuclear power accident in US history. 7 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:39,760 On the one hand, it seems kind of dangerous. On the other hand, co-pilot keeps saying it's hungry and we still don't know what it eats. 8 00:00:39,760 --> 00:00:46,240 Okay, it's not actually nearly as bad as it sounds. Firstly, because the meltdown happened in TMI Unit 2, 9 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:51,280 which has been in the decommissioning process since 1979 and is mostly cleaned up already. 10 00:00:51,280 --> 00:00:56,640 TMI Unit 1 is an independent facility that wasn't impacted by the accident 11 00:00:56,640 --> 00:01:00,000 but was retired for economic reasons in 2019. 12 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:05,200 That's the facility that will be rebooted by Microsoft's partner Constellation Energy 13 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:11,600 as the Crane Clean Energy Center because the massive amounts of power required to run AI 14 00:01:11,600 --> 00:01:15,280 are leading tech giants to seek out clean sources of energy. 15 00:01:15,280 --> 00:01:19,840 The fact is that meltdowns are extremely rare. We've learned a lot about how to stop them. 16 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:23,840 And the only waste nuclear power plants create is water vapor 17 00:01:23,840 --> 00:01:31,120 and a tiny amount of radioactive material. Because if we're going to screw up society by creating an AI slot-powered dystopia, 18 00:01:31,120 --> 00:01:37,920 we might as well not screw up the planet doing so. I just hope the Three Mile Island plant doesn't need pieces like the control panel 19 00:01:37,920 --> 00:01:45,040 that's being removed for the sake of historical preservation. I hope this new plant on the Three Mile Island doesn't interfere with the salad dressing production. 20 00:01:46,080 --> 00:01:48,960 Totally different island. Oh. Way more miles involved. 21 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:57,760 It's a salad dressing joke, guys. AMD is continuing tech's proud tradition of just being the worst at naming things. 22 00:01:57,760 --> 00:02:01,200 AMD plans to take its Hawk Point laptop chips, 23 00:02:01,200 --> 00:02:05,360 which launched as the Ryzen 8040 series earlier this year, 24 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,960 and rebadged them as the Ryzen 200 series, 25 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:14,640 according to a Weibo post from a so-far-reliable leaker named Golden Pig Upgrade. 26 00:02:14,640 --> 00:02:19,040 This is an especially perplexing move coming after AMD already launched 27 00:02:19,120 --> 00:02:23,440 the Ryzen AI 300 series of laptop chips. 28 00:02:23,440 --> 00:02:29,840 But I guess having a product to confuse customers with, just before Intel launches their core 200 series processors, 29 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:33,120 is more important than adhering to traditional values of sequentialism. 30 00:02:33,120 --> 00:02:40,320 Speaking of fun branding, Golden Pig Upgrade also posted details about AMD's upcoming high-performance laptop chips, 31 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:47,280 codenamed Strix Halo. These will be branded as Ryzen AI Max 300, 32 00:02:47,360 --> 00:02:51,920 so named because they'll require one uranium rod's worth of power each to turn on. 33 00:02:51,920 --> 00:02:58,160 That's just what it costs. Qualcomm was reportedly considering the idea of acquiring certain parts of Intel a couple weeks 34 00:02:58,160 --> 00:03:05,040 ago, and according to the Wall Street Journal, Qualcomm actually approached Intel about a possible takeover. 35 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:08,720 The balls on these guys! I mean, Intel's been in a rough spot, 36 00:03:08,720 --> 00:03:12,320 but they've recently laid out very specific plans for recovery, 37 00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:16,320 and Qualcomm has been gunning for Intel's spot in mainstream laptops. 38 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:19,360 It's kind of like having your teenage brother ask you to be his Twitch mod 39 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:23,760 for a reasonable wage paid in Robux. Can I buy milk with that? 40 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:26,880 In game? Roblox milk? 41 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:32,160 It's also kind of intriguing because the day before the Journal's report, 42 00:03:32,160 --> 00:03:37,680 Qualcomm announced plans to lay off 226 workers in California in the coming months, 43 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,960 after laying off 1200 less than a year ago. 44 00:03:40,960 --> 00:03:44,720 Well, how else are you supposed to afford Pat Gelsinger? He takes a modest salary. 45 00:03:44,720 --> 00:03:47,600 He's a million bajillion dollars. He's a good man. 46 00:03:48,320 --> 00:03:53,120 He looks like it. Analysts speculate that the company's Snapdragon X series laptops 47 00:03:53,120 --> 00:03:59,200 underperforming may have something to do with this. Meanwhile, early impressions of Intel's Lunar Lake laptops 48 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:03,920 indicate they'll match or exceed the performance and battery life of Qualcomm's competitors. 49 00:04:03,920 --> 00:04:09,040 But Qualcomm wanted to shoot their shot. And hey, game recognized game. 50 00:04:09,040 --> 00:04:12,720 I probably didn't use that correctly. I don't even know what the game refers to. 51 00:04:12,720 --> 00:04:19,200 He's a rapper from California. They call me Riley the Kid, and I'm the quickest bit in the West. 52 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:22,240 None of that was accurate. They call you Riley the Rizzler. 53 00:04:23,440 --> 00:04:30,480 Microsoft has launched the Windows app, which is a Windows app that runs Windows and Windows apps. 54 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:36,400 I promise I'm not having a stroke. The Windows app is likewise available for iOS, macOS, and web browsers 55 00:04:36,400 --> 00:04:40,080 as a replacement for the Microsoft Remote Desktop app. 56 00:04:40,080 --> 00:04:47,680 Much like its predecessor, the Windows app allows users to connect remotely to another computer, which is using Windows. 57 00:04:47,680 --> 00:04:52,560 However, it also includes the option of connecting to a cloud-based Windows OS. 58 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:57,440 The app is currently in preview for Android, and you know what that means, the Windows phone is back. 59 00:04:57,920 --> 00:05:06,000 So not really though, you can pretend. Apple has finally launched their Apple Intelligence features to the public, sort of. 60 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,280 The iOS 18.1 public beta is out. 61 00:05:09,280 --> 00:05:12,720 But anyone can download it if they want and use the features, 62 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:18,080 or at least the features that are out. Now, many of the features won't be here until 2025. 63 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:24,480 But you can use the ones that are out now, as long as you have an iPhone 15 Pro or 15 Pro Max. 64 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:29,920 But that didn't stop Apple store geniuses from chanting AI at the iPhone launch. 65 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,920 In case you were wondering, my favorite replies to this tweet were, 66 00:05:36,000 --> 00:05:39,600 Am I an occult? And just put the phone in the bag, man. 67 00:05:39,600 --> 00:05:42,880 How excited are we? I just want, I just need a phone. 68 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:49,680 Sony is allegedly making two separate system on chips for the PlayStation 6 generation, 69 00:05:49,680 --> 00:05:56,000 leading to some speculation that there might be a handheld somewhere. 70 00:05:57,040 --> 00:06:01,040 The juice was squeezed by renowned leaker Kepler L2. 71 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:08,720 Kepler isn't sure if there will actually be a handheld, or if it'll be an Xbox Series X slash X2 console tier situation. 72 00:06:08,720 --> 00:06:12,080 But the leaker believes one of them will be affordable. 73 00:06:12,080 --> 00:06:17,520 Speaking of unaffordable, Sony has announced a highly limited PS5 Pro bundle, 74 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,440 featuring a PS1 colorway for the console's 30th anniversary. 75 00:06:21,440 --> 00:06:25,760 And that's actually available for the normal PS5 as well. Unlike the normal PS5 Pro, 76 00:06:25,760 --> 00:06:31,520 this bundle actually comes with a vertical stand and a matching $200 dual sense edge controller, 77 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,280 but still no disk drive. Why? Because f**k you. 78 00:06:35,280 --> 00:06:39,120 Anker has put out a recall for three lithium-ion power banks 79 00:06:39,120 --> 00:06:43,760 due to a manufacturing defect that may result in spontaneous combustion. 80 00:06:43,760 --> 00:06:46,800 While only a small number of these power banks were affected, 81 00:06:46,800 --> 00:06:51,440 batch manufactured between January 3rd and September 17th of this year, 82 00:06:51,440 --> 00:07:00,800 Anker also had to recall another power bank, and their A3302 speakerphone back in June for similar fire-related reasons. 83 00:07:01,760 --> 00:07:06,320 Check our news sources for the specific models, 84 00:07:06,320 --> 00:07:11,360 and users are advised to put the power banks in a safe, non-flammable location, 85 00:07:11,360 --> 00:07:16,080 and not to throw them away, unless you've got some kind of grudge against the garbage man. 86 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:26,000 And science is once again messing with forces it doesn't understand, 87 00:07:26,000 --> 00:07:31,680 as researchers discovered that light may be able to leave a cloud of atoms 88 00:07:31,680 --> 00:07:35,440 before it actually entered, said cloud. 89 00:07:35,440 --> 00:07:39,680 Huh? These alleged scientists made a bunch of atoms really cold, 90 00:07:39,680 --> 00:07:44,560 and then shot them with laser beams to excite them, and I don't like how sexy that sounds. 91 00:07:44,560 --> 00:07:48,720 But even worse, they found that when the laser light is at certain frequencies, 92 00:07:48,720 --> 00:07:54,160 atomic excitations can occur before the light enters the atomic cloud. 93 00:07:54,160 --> 00:07:57,280 Apparently, this doesn't break any physical laws, 94 00:07:57,280 --> 00:08:02,400 but that doesn't mean I like thinking about it, and not just because of all those sexed-up atoms. 95 00:08:02,400 --> 00:08:10,400 Did you write this? I expected a lot more about the time-breaking-to-time space continuum. 96 00:08:10,400 --> 00:08:15,360 No, sexy jokes. But you know what would be sexiest of all? 97 00:08:15,360 --> 00:08:18,800 If you come back on Monday for more tech news, I won't bring it up again, though. 98 00:08:18,800 --> 00:08:22,320 We can just pretend that this whole conversation didn't happen. 99 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,520 I'll just, okay? Don't make it weird.