WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.120 Google is preparing to launch a high-end laptop project called Chromebook X. 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:08.720 It's like Malcolm X, except for the everything about it except the X. 00:00:10.080 --> 00:00:15.120 I'm Riley, this is TechLinked, and this branding is similar to some Microsoft products, 00:00:15.120 --> 00:00:21.360 like the Xbox Series X and the Surface Pro X tablet, X being arguably the coolest letter 00:00:21.360 --> 00:00:26.720 in the alphabet. Z is up there. W? No. At least they didn't go with Ultra, not a letter. 00:00:26.720 --> 00:00:31.920 Now, however, the Chromebook X program will allow Chrome OS devices from third-party manufacturers 00:00:31.920 --> 00:00:36.880 that meet elevated hardware requirements to receive additional features and special branding 00:00:36.880 --> 00:00:42.320 marking them as a Chromebook X. Although I'm not sure how many laptop companies will be eager to 00:00:42.320 --> 00:00:47.200 brand their products as a perfectly acceptable laptop for children and seniors, but better. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:51.920 The X stands for extra adequate. Extra just okay. 00:00:51.920 --> 00:00:58.320 Also somewhat confusing is Google's apparent plans to equip these Chromebook X's with AMD 00:00:58.320 --> 00:01:05.280 Zen 2 Plus or Zen 3 chips, as well as Intel 12th Gen Bria and Nyssa N-Series CPUs, 00:01:05.280 --> 00:01:09.760 which are on the mid to low end of the power spectrum. Not exactly chips you'd expect in 00:01:09.760 --> 00:01:14.320 a laptop with such a cool letter in its name. But Google is more about software, 00:01:14.320 --> 00:01:19.120 so the Chromebook X's special features include, apparently, live caption for calls, 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:25.840 a portrait blur option, and voice isolation tech. Mind, these are less special features than they are 00:01:25.840 --> 00:01:30.160 regular features that a standard Chromebook can't run without f**king straight through the bed. 00:01:35.440 --> 00:01:40.800 Twitch is replacing its mature content toggle that allows users to enable and disable adult 00:01:40.800 --> 00:01:45.760 material with a more informative system of content classification labels. Now, instead of 00:01:45.760 --> 00:01:51.200 simply marking the stream as mature, streamers can specify the exact kind of depravity they 00:01:51.200 --> 00:01:56.320 intend to broadcast, be it mature rated video games, intoxication, violence, sexual themes, 00:01:56.320 --> 00:02:04.960 profanity, gambling, conversation, going outside. Question, if you manage to hit every single 00:02:04.960 --> 00:02:09.520 content warning in one stream, do you get a prize like in Bingo? Streamers that fail to correctly 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:14.640 label their streams will not be banned, but will receive an email warning. After multiple warnings, 00:02:14.640 --> 00:02:19.760 their channel may be locked for a period of days or weeks. If you get a bingo in front of an audience 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:25.360 of under-supervised 12-year-olds, the punishment is an extended opportunity to touch grass. Ah, 00:02:25.360 --> 00:02:29.920 there it is. The change is an interesting quality of life measure, coming at a time when Twitch 00:02:29.920 --> 00:02:35.520 is losing several of its top streamers. The most viewed streamer, XQC, signed a $100 million 00:02:35.520 --> 00:02:42.320 non-exclusive deal with Quick. With Kick last week, and now, Hot Tub Queen Amaranth, who Kick 00:02:42.320 --> 00:02:46.640 paid an undisclosed amount to apparently begin streaming herself and her friends showering. 00:02:46.640 --> 00:02:51.280 Twitch actually lost another prominent streamer this week, not to Kick, but to Burnout. 00:02:51.280 --> 00:02:56.960 Former pro Fortnite player Turner Tiefew Tenney has retired at the age of 25 after eight years 00:02:56.960 --> 00:03:02.000 as a Twitch partner, citing the stress of daily, hours-long live streams. Many creators have 00:03:02.000 --> 00:03:06.880 criticized Twitch's high requirements to maintain status, contributing to a culture of burnout 00:03:06.880 --> 00:03:13.120 and overwork. XQC, the poster boy for just insane streaming schedules, celebrated his 00:03:13.120 --> 00:03:18.800 two-year deal with Kick by flirting with a band, immediately violating the DMCA policy by streaming 00:03:18.800 --> 00:03:33.920 The Dark Knight. And while most of the subreddits protesting Reddit's new API pricing have reopened, 00:03:34.000 --> 00:03:38.400 many are still registering their disapproval by labeling themselves as not safe for work, 00:03:38.400 --> 00:03:44.240 which adds an age gate on desktop, requires app login to view on mobile, and prevents ads from 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.560 being run on the subreddit. This follows an earlier wave of subreddits that transitioned into 00:03:48.560 --> 00:03:54.240 non-stop thirst traps featuring comedian John Oliver. Thankfully, fully pornographic John 00:03:54.240 --> 00:03:58.320 Oliver content has yet to emerge, but it's only a matter of time. Fortunately. 00:04:05.040 --> 00:04:11.360 The only thing more obstinate and self-important than a moderator is an admin. On Tuesday, shortly 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:18.080 after the users of rslash mildly interesting voted to set it to NSFW, the entire mod team was removed 00:04:18.080 --> 00:04:22.880 and locked out of their accounts, apparently by a Reddit-employed admin. Then, following 00:04:22.960 --> 00:04:29.920 report of the purge from The Verge, they were just as suddenly reinstated. Reddit refused to comment 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:35.200 on whether it was behind either the removal or the reinstatement, which I for one think is more 00:04:35.200 --> 00:04:42.160 than mildly interesting. Post that in rslash. Several other subreddits, including rslash 00:04:42.160 --> 00:04:48.640 interesting as f**k, rslash thanks I hate it, and rslash f**k like pro tips, all of which have 00:04:48.640 --> 00:04:53.520 over a million subscribers, are currently unmoderated, having been hit by similar purges, 00:04:53.520 --> 00:05:02.240 making their advice even worse. While Reddit hasn't confirmed that they are behind the removals, 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:06.240 they did threaten to remove mods that failed to comply last week. It's a bit like when your 00:05:06.240 --> 00:05:11.280 business partner takes a long, unexpected vacation to the Bahamas. Shortly after you told the entire 00:05:11.280 --> 00:05:16.560 Christmas party, you wanted him dead. Yet another protest strategy was employed by at least two 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:23.520 subreddits, rslash march against nazis and rslash political humor, which made all members moderators. 00:05:23.520 --> 00:05:30.000 In response to Reddit CEO Steve Huffman calling moderators landed gentry, who ignore the desires 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:35.840 of rank and file users. Oh, I don't like aristocracy, Mr. Huffman. How about anarchy? I mean, 00:05:35.840 --> 00:05:42.160 you're trying it right now. Let's use speds first among equals. A little bit of tech news in your 00:05:42.160 --> 00:05:47.440 life. A little bit of this guy by your side. That's right. Quick bits were inspired by Lou 00:05:47.440 --> 00:05:54.560 Bega, which is why there's mambo number five of them. Please laugh. The FTC sued Amazon on 00:05:54.560 --> 00:06:00.400 Wednesday for making it trivial to subscribe to their prime service, but a labyrinthine process 00:06:00.400 --> 00:06:06.720 to cancel, presumably by forcing you to fight a minotaur if you don't want to pay $140 every year. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:15.040 The commission's lawsuit alleges Amazon knowingly tricked millions of Americans into signing up for 00:06:15.040 --> 00:06:19.760 their prime subscription using dark patterns, a term that describes manipulative, coercive, 00:06:19.760 --> 00:06:25.120 or deceptive user interface designs, and not the sequence of increasingly problematic behavior of 00:06:25.120 --> 00:06:30.560 flash star Ezra Miller. And they still released that movie, which is the real crime. If Twitter 00:06:30.960 --> 00:06:38.000 clips are any indication. EA has decided to split EA Games and EA Sports into two distinct units, 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:43.920 so now you have two corporate entities to hate instead of one. Also, EA Games is being rebranded 00:06:43.920 --> 00:06:49.920 as EA Entertainment, suggesting they intend to expand beyond games. Interpretive dance? Another 00:06:49.920 --> 00:06:55.360 flash movie? Meanwhile, EA Sports is expanding into the courtroom because they've been sued 00:06:55.360 --> 00:06:59.840 over their upcoming college football game. Is that the title? College Football Game? 00:07:02.240 --> 00:07:09.280 EA Sports, CFG. The plaintiff is the Brander Group, no E, which has deals to negotiate licensing 00:07:09.280 --> 00:07:14.800 contracts for several NCAA schools and therefore has an issue with EA Sports offering individual 00:07:14.800 --> 00:07:21.920 athletes a flat $500 fee and no royalties for their name, image, and likeness. In perpetuity? 00:07:22.880 --> 00:07:28.480 That's ridiculous. Wow. EA, you're not allowed to take advantage of college athletes. That's 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:34.000 the Brander Group's job. DP Review, an invaluable digital photography resource, was supposed to 00:07:34.000 --> 00:07:39.440 close in April as part of Amazon's careless cuts and mass layoffs earlier this year, but oddly, 00:07:39.440 --> 00:07:44.480 the site continued publishing, even after the deadline where the site was set to go read-only. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:49.680 It kept going and going, well past its supposed due date, just like the yogurt in the breakroom 00:07:50.640 --> 00:07:56.320 fridge. Apparently, this is because Amazon was instead approached by Gear Patrol, an independent 00:07:56.320 --> 00:08:02.080 tech review site which has officially acquired DP Review as of yesterday. DP Review's editor-in-chief 00:08:02.080 --> 00:08:06.640 released a statement saying that the site will continue to operate as it was before, with all 00:08:06.640 --> 00:08:12.320 editorial coverage and site features remaining the same and all historical content accessible. 00:08:12.560 --> 00:08:20.240 Former site editor Gannon... Gannon? Gannon! Former site editor Gannon Bergett is quoted as saying, 00:08:20.240 --> 00:08:24.480 you figure this sort of stuff out before shutting down an entire division of your company, 00:08:24.480 --> 00:08:32.320 not in hindsight after weeks of backlash, and also, quote, f**k Amazon, and also, quote, f**k Link, 00:08:32.320 --> 00:08:39.040 stop stopping my plans. Let me kidnap the princess! I'm shedding real tears for this kingdom. 00:08:39.040 --> 00:08:44.160 Marvel Studios is facing controversy for using AI to create the opening credit scene for their 00:08:44.160 --> 00:08:49.680 secret invasion miniseries, upsetting artists, people with taste, and possibly epileptics. 00:08:50.160 --> 00:08:55.600 I really need to smooth those out. Director and executive producer Ali Saleem told Polygon he 00:08:55.600 --> 00:09:00.080 doesn't really understand how AI works, and apparently also didn't understand that the 00:09:00.080 --> 00:09:06.160 Writers Guild of America is currently on strike to protect writers against AI, so maybe throwing AI 00:09:06.160 --> 00:09:10.160 into one of the most hotly anticipated projects in a massively popular cinematic universe was a bad 00:09:10.160 --> 00:09:16.000 idea? Who can say? Fortunately, the premiere episode has a lengthy cold open, so geeky artists got 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:21.120 to enjoy a solid eight minutes of the show before feeling angry and betrayed. That's like a minute 00:09:21.120 --> 00:09:27.280 more than I got to spend in heaven with Stacy Carlisle when I was in sixth grade. Jacob wrote 00:09:27.280 --> 00:09:40.400 that. I wish that was true. And Eve Online has added a new feature in the form of a free add-on 00:09:41.280 --> 00:09:46.880 of Microsoft Excel. Sounds weird, but it's right up their alley. After years of being called a 00:09:46.880 --> 00:09:52.080 glorified spreadsheet simulator, both by fans and detractors, Eve Online will be officially 00:09:52.080 --> 00:09:58.480 integrating Excel into its alleged Space Adventure game. Now players will be able to 00:09:58.480 --> 00:10:04.800 create custom reports, graphs, and charts to better calculate their fleet DPS and manage 00:10:04.800 --> 00:10:09.920 their in-universe corporate expense accounts without having to tab out of the game like they 00:10:09.920 --> 00:10:14.560 usually would. So immersion breaking. Eve Online fans were ecstatic when the partnership was 00:10:14.560 --> 00:10:19.360 announced, and I think the rest of us can just be happy for them. And we'll be happy too when 00:10:19.360 --> 00:10:24.080 you come back on Friday for another episode of Techlinked. I mean not like ecstatic, you're not 00:10:24.080 --> 00:10:28.720 exactly like an integrated spreadsheet, but you know there's no offense, but definitely pleased.