WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Somewhere in the multiverse, there is an alternate dimension where I know nothing of tech news 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:08.000 and only report on recent developments in nearby clouds. 00:00:08.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Look, that one shaped like a graphics card. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:17.000 Intel's hot new Meteor Lake CPUs might actually perform worse on single core tasks, 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:24.000 with lower instructions per clock, or IPC, than their predecessors from the 14th and 13th gen lineups. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.000 And that's... That's just not right. 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:31.000 These benchmarks come from hardware tester David Huang, 00:00:31.000 --> 00:00:37.000 who compared the Core Ultra 7 155H to Apple's M2 Pro and M3 Pro, 00:00:37.000 --> 00:00:41.000 AMD's Ryzen 7 7840U and 7840HS, 00:00:41.000 --> 00:00:49.000 and Intel's own Core i7-13700H by testing a single core using the spec CPU benchmark, 00:00:49.000 --> 00:00:55.000 and after some quick maths. He concluded that the 155H was at the bottom, 00:00:55.000 --> 00:00:58.000 though it was at least within striking distance of the two Ryzen chips. 00:00:58.000 --> 00:01:05.000 Huang notes that the comparison between the 155H and the 13700H might be somewhat distorted, 00:01:05.000 --> 00:01:11.000 because the 155H uses LP DDR5 memory instead of regular DDR5 memory. 00:01:11.000 --> 00:01:17.000 But that increased margin of error wouldn't account for the gap in performance between the two chips. 00:01:17.000 --> 00:01:21.000 It's a bit like if I lost a race and blamed it on the fact that the winner was clean shaven, 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.000 and thus more aerodynamic. This brings the memories back. 00:01:25.000 --> 00:01:31.000 Yet not clean shaven. To be clear, IPC isn't the only metric to measure a chip's performance, 00:01:31.000 --> 00:01:34.000 and it doesn't mean that these chips haven't improved at all, 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:42.000 especially given recent BIOS updates. But it might indicate that Intel made significant compromises when optimizing its chips for AI acceleration 00:01:42.000 --> 00:01:48.000 and beefing up its integrated GPU. Turns out there just wasn't enough beef to go around. 00:01:48.000 --> 00:01:53.000 Where's the beef? A hacking group believed to have ties to the Iranian government 00:01:53.000 --> 00:01:59.000 has targeted local American water utilities in a series of brazen cyber attacks. 00:01:59.000 --> 00:02:03.000 One target was the Alequipa Water and Sewer Authority, 00:02:03.000 --> 00:02:07.000 which is responsible for the needs of around 22,000 Pennsylvania residents. 00:02:07.000 --> 00:02:13.000 Hackers shut off a remote monitoring device that regulates water pressure at one pumping station. 00:02:13.000 --> 00:02:17.000 Luckily, an alarm alerted the station's crew, and they switched over to manual operation. 00:02:17.000 --> 00:02:20.000 Also, luckily, the systems hackers accessed 00:02:20.000 --> 00:02:23.000 wouldn't have allowed them to control the chemicals used in drinking water 00:02:23.000 --> 00:02:26.000 and, you know, poison the water supply. 00:02:26.000 --> 00:02:31.000 So that's good. The problem is that small public utilities are typically underfunded 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:36.000 and understandably ill-prepared to deal with sophisticated international cyber criminals. 00:02:36.000 --> 00:02:40.000 Even worse, these attacks weren't actually all that sophisticated. 00:02:40.000 --> 00:02:43.000 Experts believe the hackers probably broke into these systems 00:02:43.000 --> 00:02:47.000 through remote devices that were still using the default password. 00:02:47.000 --> 00:02:51.000 Many of these utilities are also struggling to deal with the far more pervasive problem 00:02:51.000 --> 00:02:55.000 of preventing leaching from decades-old lead-service lines. 00:02:55.000 --> 00:02:58.000 Yeah, remember that? Keep forgetting about that story. 00:02:58.000 --> 00:03:03.000 They're putting something in the water. So, when you think about it, who are the real terrorists? 00:03:03.000 --> 00:03:06.000 International cyber criminals or elderly plumbers? 00:03:08.000 --> 00:03:13.000 That's what I thought. On Tuesday, SpaceX launched the first Starlink satellites 00:03:13.000 --> 00:03:16.000 with the ability to communicate directly with cell phones. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:22.000 These satellites will be used to provide text messaging and, eventually, voice and data services to T-Mobile US customers. 00:03:22.000 --> 00:03:28.000 SpaceX will also be working with providers in Australia, Canada, Japan, and New Zealand. 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:32.000 A primary goal is to reduce dead zones and provide consistent service 00:03:32.000 --> 00:03:36.000 even in rural and remote areas, which is yet another nail in the coffin 00:03:36.000 --> 00:03:42.000 for Cabin in the Woods horror movies. Somebody please call the police. My suspension of disbelief is evaporating. 00:03:42.000 --> 00:03:48.000 It's been a good year for SpaceX. They seriously expanded their total number of successful launches in 2023 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:53.000 with a record 96 missions compared to just 61 in 2022. 00:03:53.000 --> 00:03:59.000 The company likewise closed out the year with two back-to-back launches in one night on December 28. 00:03:59.000 --> 00:04:06.000 Get your tickets now. It's in the past. Sadly, they also lost their oldest reusable rocket, booster 1058, 00:04:06.000 --> 00:04:10.000 which tipped and fell during transport through rough seas 00:04:10.000 --> 00:04:13.000 after completing its 19th successful mission. 00:04:13.000 --> 00:04:15.000 You can finally vote, and now this happens. 00:04:17.000 --> 00:04:25.000 It's just getting on the dating scene. In a tweet mourning the loss, SpaceX VP of launch, Kiko Donchev noted that 00:04:25.000 --> 00:04:31.000 the design flaw that led to 1058's demise was fixed in later models with self-leveling legs, 00:04:31.000 --> 00:04:34.000 but 1058 was never retrofitted due to age. 00:04:34.000 --> 00:04:42.000 It's an end we should all aspire to. A long life of service and adventure only to trip and die by brutal belly flop. 00:04:42.000 --> 00:04:46.000 Is this how I'm gonna go? I wish I could survive on QuickBits alone. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:50.000 Sadly, QuickBits are devoid of nutrition and mildly poisonous. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:55.000 Please enjoy. An entire legal industry has been spawned to help independent Amazon sellers 00:04:55.000 --> 00:04:58.000 get their accounts reinstated on the platform. 00:04:58.000 --> 00:05:02.000 Amazon generally withholds any money when a seller's account is suspended 00:05:02.000 --> 00:05:09.000 and, according to many sellers, the company will often also withhold the reason for suspending the account. 00:05:09.000 --> 00:05:12.000 Get your money, you don't get to know why. We're banning you, why? 00:05:12.000 --> 00:05:16.000 Shut up, get out of here. And if that weren't enough for sellers to deal with, 00:05:16.000 --> 00:05:24.000 Amazon's new AI review summaries will helpfully highlight complaints made by a very small number of buyers. 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:30.000 For example, according to the AI, customers say this particular shelf is a great addition to their bathroom 00:05:30.000 --> 00:05:33.000 and also a complete waste of money. 00:05:33.000 --> 00:05:37.000 Frankly, that sounds a bit too much like my parents discussing renovations. 00:05:37.000 --> 00:05:46.000 Because they have a rebranding problem, Microsoft is rebranding Edge on the Google Play Store and Apple App Store as Microsoft Edge AI Browser. 00:05:46.000 --> 00:05:48.000 It needs a theme song. 00:05:50.000 --> 00:05:55.000 Let's browse. That sounds like the title of a gritty action movie, at least grammatically. 00:05:55.000 --> 00:06:01.000 The Edge mobile app's description now heavily focuses on its GPT-4 and Dolly 3-powered features 00:06:01.000 --> 00:06:04.000 and mentions AI a total of seven times. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:09.000 Notably, if you look up Edge on the Microsoft desktop store, you won't find any of this new branding. 00:06:09.000 --> 00:06:15.000 Probably because most people who use Edge on desktop do so because either it came pre-installed on their computer 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:18.000 or they're not on speaking terms with Chrome right now. 00:06:18.000 --> 00:06:25.000 It's a little awkward. Has blocked another two states, Montana and North Carolina, 00:06:25.000 --> 00:06:31.000 in response to the passage of age verification laws that the website's parent company, ILO, 00:06:31.000 --> 00:06:38.000 says endanger privacy by requiring citizens to hand over their government-issued IDs to random internet smut peddlers. 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:42.000 This is clearly going to affect a lot of people in North Carolina, 00:06:42.000 --> 00:06:45.000 but it's unclear as of yet how it will affect Montana, 00:06:45.000 --> 00:06:50.000 which I am given to understand is primarily populated by flags and cattle. 00:06:58.000 --> 00:07:03.000 A woman in Delaware is crediting her Apple Watch with saving her life and that of her cat 00:07:03.000 --> 00:07:08.000 after a broken heater started leaking carbon monoxide in her apartment. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:13.000 Natalie Nesatka had a sudden dizzy spell and found herself unable to stand, 00:07:13.000 --> 00:07:18.000 so she activated her watch's SOS feature, summoning emergency services in the nick of time. 00:07:18.000 --> 00:07:22.000 While we're glad Natalie's okay and this is obviously great PR for Apple, 00:07:22.000 --> 00:07:26.000 if you don't have an extra few hundred dollars just lying around to buy a new watch, 00:07:26.000 --> 00:07:29.000 you could also just shell out for a carbon monoxide detector. 00:07:29.000 --> 00:07:32.000 Seriously, they're only like thirty dollars and your cats will thank you. 00:07:32.000 --> 00:07:36.000 At least they should thank you, but what can you expect from a carnivorous squirrel that poops in a box? 00:07:36.000 --> 00:07:43.000 They will eat you when you die. And we've got new hyper detailed photos of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io 00:07:43.000 --> 00:07:48.000 after NASA's Juno spacecraft passed within 930 miles of the moon 00:07:48.000 --> 00:07:51.000 during its 57th flyby of the gas giant. 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:56.000 This is the closest any mission has flown to Io's surface in 23 years 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:01.000 since NASA's Galileo craft passed within 112 miles of Io's southern pole. 00:08:01.000 --> 00:08:06.000 The images have been called beautiful and magnificent by astronomers 00:08:06.000 --> 00:08:11.000 and like a macro shot of a dramatically lit chocolate truffle by me just now. 00:08:11.000 --> 00:08:16.000 Now, not to be dramatic, but it would also be lit 00:08:16.000 --> 00:08:19.000 if you came back on Friday for more tech news. 00:08:19.000 --> 00:08:22.000 I promise I won't make jokes like that.