YouTube has decided to simplify ad controls on videos which is a fun and positive way to say
take ad controls away from creators. But it's also complicated, don't think too hard,
you might get a brain owie. I'm James Shrive, this is TechLink, and this is the YouTube support
page explaining that starting now, new uploads will only be able to toggle ads on or off rather
than where they show up and whether they're skippable and unskippable. Midroll ads are
unchanged, except that manually placed and automatic midrolls can both be enabled now before
they're mutually exclusive. We live in the best timeline.
YouTube is also changing the TV watching experience for people who miss that pre-TVO era.
When watching longer form content on television, all the ads will be grouped together. It seems
like Google intends for these changes to lead to more ads served to viewers and therefore
more revenue to Google. But it may just lead people to get up and go to the bath or more
the microwave when the commercials start just like the good old days. But Google's trying to
get more cash on another front as well. No, not their Chrome visual redesign, that won't help.
No, it's the Privacy Sandbox for the web feature. It allows websites to send targeted ads
based on your browser history, now that third party cookies are harder to come by. Although
Chrome isn't following Safari's lead and disabling those just yet,
Chromies will now see a misleading pop-up that does a poor job of explaining that you can actually
opt out of browser tracking, in that it doesn't explain it at all. Some users, most likely in
regions with stronger privacy laws, are informed they have a choice because Google understands
consent about as well as a frat house in an 80s movie. Valve has just received
radio certification in South Korea for a mysterious new device, as uncovered by a user
of Elon's favorite website slash letter. We can't be quite sure what the device is because the
description isn't unique. It's actually identical to those for the Quest 3 and Steam Deck,
though it could be a new VR headset. According to popular rumors, Valve has been testing a
standalone VR headset codenamed Deckood that's meant to compete with Quest headsets, and it
would make sense that this would be their next device. Back in 2021, Valve product designer Greg
Coomer was elated to be asked if the Steam Deck's custom APU would be used in a standalone headset
and said it would run very well in that environment. Gaming God Gabe Newell was quoted the next year,
saying the Steam Deck is a stepping stone to standalone VR. Near the end of that same year,
Coomer, I love it, revealed to Korean publication This Is Game that Valve is continuing to develop
VR headsets recently. So you might as well just give away your Valve Index at this point to clear
up space on your desk. Maybe send it to your favorite tech news show writer named Jacob or something.
Hey, just a thought. Speaking of leaks, a bunch of information has come out concerning
Meta's plans for its Quest headsets. Meta needs to win back consumers after Apple started edging
into their turf, with the Vision Pro by apparently making the upcoming Quest 3 accessories, like
this leaked headstrap and, consequently, some audio accessories, incompatible with the Quest 2.
But if expensive accessories that make the Quest 3 less of an affordable alternative to the Vision
Pro aren't enough to entice buyers, Meta may also have reversed its plans to discontinue the Meta
Quest Pro line. A report from South Korean outlet Mail and Business Newspaper claims Meta has partnered
with LG who will build various parts for a high-end headset rumored to be named
not the Meta Quest Pro 2, but the Meta Quest 4 Pro. That would seem to indicate it's less
like a second-gen Quest Pro and more like an upgraded Quest Non-Pro. Whatever it is,
it'll reportedly launch in 2025, by which point the VR hype that Apple has revived may have died
again. So frankly, I wouldn't worry about it. Quickfits only reach their true power when you
watch them at no speed. Don't do it. Two massive vulnerabilities allowing iOS devices to be infected
with malware by opening attachments in iMessage were discovered by researchers at the University
of Toronto's Citizen Lab. It's Citizen Lab. According to them, the bugs had already been
used to plant spyware on an iPhone belonging to a Washington DC-based civil society organization.
Fortunately, a security patch has already been released, so update your iPhone before someone
else hacks in there and finds that slash fiction you wrote about Riley and me. Let's be honest,
it's not your best work. Microsoft is partnering with startup Erloom in a devious plot to steal
all the world's precious carbon dioxide with up to 315,000 anti-American metric tons of CO2
captured over the next decade. Erloom will be building two new carbon capture facilities in
the United States, but they've already been collecting carbon on Microsoft's behalf through
a partner facility in Iceland. After greenhouse gases are kidnapped from the atmosphere, they'll
be bound to limestone and held in underground wells. The purpose of this global conspiracy?
Perhaps we'll never know. A Japanese rocket meant to blast off last month finally launched after
weather delays. In addition to delivering a space telescope into low earth orbit, the rocket
successfully sent a small rover on its way to moon. We're getting rid of that. Meanwhile,
NASA admitted their SLS mega rocket program meant to send humans to moon is unaffordable.
Great, now inflation is so bad even astronauts are going to be replaced by robots.
You can't afford to live on moon? The craters are getting tinier every year.
Nintendo has teamed up with Google to make a VR headset, more VR, at least according to
Leaker and Tatooine Moisture Farmer, Nash Weedle. Weedle who in fairness I'm crying
did actually predict Metroid Dread's release a year before the game's launch claims he's not
entirely sure how ghoul is involved, but it might involve a subsidiary that makes micro-LE
There's no ironclad proof that this is true, but earlier this year a redditor found a VR-related
patent filed by Nintendo. I'll finally be able to live my ultimate fantasy of stepping into the
shoes of an overweight shroom addicted Italian plumber. And Toyota has provided more information
on the unexpected shutdown of all 28 assembly lines at all 14 of their Japanese auto plants
caused by a computer error in late August. That computer error? Insufficient disk space
following system maintenance. The plants had backup servers, unfortunately those backups were
running on the same system as the main server and ran into the exact same error. There was some
speculation that Toyota may have been hacked, but no, they just needed to uninstall some steam
games. Baldur's Gate 3 or Starfield, guys, you can't have both. And you can't avoid coming back
on Monday after you've been playing either Baldur's Gate or Starfield for 45 hours. If this
gives me more tech news, it never stops. It just keeps going. I'm so tired.