WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 I typed tech news into the AI TechLink script generator, 00:00:05.320 --> 00:00:10.100 but I got all this TikTok news instead. I mean, I guess it sounds kind of, 00:00:10.100 --> 00:00:13.380 I don't know, I think it misheard me. After the US Supreme Court upheld 00:00:13.380 --> 00:00:19.240 the TikTok ban law last week, TikTok took its own apps and services offline 00:00:19.240 --> 00:00:23.480 in the US on Saturday night, serving users a pop-up explaining 00:00:23.480 --> 00:00:28.280 that a law banning TikTok means that you can't use it. 00:00:28.280 --> 00:00:32.400 It's very helpful. I'm sure some people needed that clearly laid out. But by the following morning, 00:00:32.400 --> 00:00:37.720 TikTok said they were restoring service thanks to the now inaugurated US president 00:00:37.720 --> 00:00:42.040 and freshly minted meme coin peddler, Donald Trump. 00:00:42.040 --> 00:00:47.120 It's not concerning. It's actually hilarious and so based. 00:00:47.120 --> 00:00:51.240 The president assured TikTok that their service providers won't be punished, 00:00:51.240 --> 00:00:55.760 but someone should probably tell that to Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson 00:00:55.760 --> 00:00:59.800 and to Republican senators who promised to uphold the law 00:00:59.800 --> 00:01:05.640 and sue those same service providers. The legal murkiness here is probably why TikTok 00:01:05.640 --> 00:01:09.680 is still not re-listed on Google or Apple's app stores, 00:01:09.680 --> 00:01:14.840 with Apple publishing a specific support document about the situation saying it is obligated 00:01:14.840 --> 00:01:18.980 to follow the laws in the jurisdictions where it operates. 00:01:18.980 --> 00:01:26.140 But I'm assuming Tim Cook forgot to add. And to add a few extra fees on top because fuck you. 00:01:26.140 --> 00:01:29.380 Even if TikTok isn't back on the app stores yet, 00:01:29.380 --> 00:01:33.060 it is online. But the same can't be said for other apps 00:01:33.060 --> 00:01:38.100 owned by the same parent company Bite Dance, including mobile editing app CapCut, 00:01:38.100 --> 00:01:42.340 which is just fine with Instagram who published a CapCut competitor on the weekend 00:01:42.340 --> 00:01:46.940 called Edits. Worst of all, Gacha game Marvel Snap, 00:01:46.940 --> 00:01:50.140 which is published by Bite Dance, is still offline. 00:01:50.140 --> 00:01:54.300 And before you finish writing that comment telling me that it's not a Gacha game, 00:01:54.300 --> 00:01:57.460 I haven't played it, so I wouldn't know, but it is. 00:01:57.460 --> 00:02:00.860 So what the heck just happened? Why can't we ban TikTok? 00:02:00.860 --> 00:02:05.580 Well, one analyst told the Associated Press that by abruptly shutting off service, 00:02:05.580 --> 00:02:10.280 TikTok proved how unpopular the ban was among its users. 00:02:12.220 --> 00:02:15.460 Which was a big surprise. We thought they'd be completely on board. 00:02:15.460 --> 00:02:18.740 But it doesn't seem like TikTok is getting off Scott free. 00:02:18.740 --> 00:02:23.820 Trump says he wants an American entity to own 50% of TikTok. 00:02:23.820 --> 00:02:28.700 And after all this kerfuffle, representatives of Bite Dance and the Chinese government have indicated 00:02:28.700 --> 00:02:34.900 they are open to discuss this idea. So now we still have TikTok and Red Note, 00:02:34.900 --> 00:02:40.220 the other Chinese app paying US influencers to promote it as a TikTok replacement. 00:02:40.220 --> 00:02:43.540 And as a bonus, we also have new TikTok style 00:02:43.540 --> 00:02:47.160 doomscrolly video feeds on Blue Sky and Twitter. 00:02:47.160 --> 00:02:52.500 But we don't need the TikTok replacements now. Can we roll those back? 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:55.880 Now, at the risk of sounding political, 00:02:55.880 --> 00:03:01.420 I just think it's worth pointing out how many big tech CEOs were at Trump's inauguration. 00:03:01.420 --> 00:03:05.020 Mark Zuckerberg, Jeff Bezos, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, 00:03:05.020 --> 00:03:10.060 and of course, Elon Musk, and even TikTok CEO, Shu Ziu. 00:03:10.060 --> 00:03:15.640 This doesn't usually happen. And following Trump into a church service afterwards 00:03:15.640 --> 00:03:20.860 is also a bit unusual and uncomfortable. I mean, the sensation of your skin burning 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:25.100 underneath your suit cannot be pleasant. Oh, okay, I think the AI thought about it some more. 00:03:25.100 --> 00:03:29.060 And now it wants to give me some non-TikTok tech news. 00:03:29.060 --> 00:03:34.900 Well, if the AI says so, okay. If you're in the market for a Ryzen X3D CPU, beware. 00:03:34.900 --> 00:03:38.420 Fake versions of the Ryzen 7 9800 X3D 00:03:38.420 --> 00:03:42.380 are reportedly on the rise. And while that's nothing new, 00:03:42.380 --> 00:03:48.380 there's nothing worse than installing a new chip only to find out its secret sauce is cheese whiz. 00:03:48.380 --> 00:03:51.980 But when it comes to robots, China's tech is a lot more impressive, 00:03:51.980 --> 00:03:56.100 especially when it comes to running fast. So this spring, the country is set to hold 00:03:56.100 --> 00:04:00.700 the world's first human slash robot marathon in Beijing, 00:04:00.700 --> 00:04:05.740 which the South China Morning Post describes as part of efforts to combat the challenges 00:04:05.740 --> 00:04:09.780 of an aging society and a falling birth rate. 00:04:09.780 --> 00:04:13.700 I don't know how a robot marathon will help with that, 00:04:13.700 --> 00:04:17.620 but I mean, distract the sad people with fast robots. 00:04:17.620 --> 00:04:21.460 Hey, I hope it works. 3D printer manufacturer Bamboo Lab 00:04:21.460 --> 00:04:24.500 was criticized this week for locking down its 3D printers, 00:04:24.500 --> 00:04:29.140 blocking or making it very difficult to control them through third-party software. 00:04:29.140 --> 00:04:33.820 Some frustrated users soon managed to extract the authentication certificate 00:04:33.820 --> 00:04:37.740 for the Bamboo Connect app. And whether that had anything to do with it 00:04:37.740 --> 00:04:43.140 or not, Bamboo Lab actually backtracked, or maybe they'd say they clarified 00:04:43.140 --> 00:04:48.380 that their recent update will not block third-party software, but rather ensure it continues to work 00:04:48.380 --> 00:04:51.980 while enhancing security. So you won't be hacked 00:04:51.980 --> 00:04:57.620 while making all those 3D printed guns. The chief of Europol, the EU's primary law enforcement 00:04:57.620 --> 00:05:02.540 agency, told the Financial Times today that big tech has a responsibility 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:05.840 to give the police access to criminals' encrypted messages, 00:05:05.840 --> 00:05:11.620 which the criminals use to remain anonymous. But if they're anonymous, how do you know they're criminals? 00:05:13.060 --> 00:05:16.820 Just kidding, this is a complicated issue, but given that government backdoors 00:05:16.820 --> 00:05:20.140 led to Chinese hackers basically having unfettered access 00:05:20.140 --> 00:05:23.300 to America's communications networks, and they're still in there, 00:05:23.300 --> 00:05:26.940 I'm just wondering what the real responsible thing to do is. 00:05:26.940 --> 00:05:30.660 And last week, somebody slapped Doom into a PDF. 00:05:30.660 --> 00:05:35.780 This week, it's Microsoft Word. Yep, software engineer Vojcik Gry 00:05:35.780 --> 00:05:38.780 was apparently inspired by Doom PDF 00:05:38.780 --> 00:05:41.860 to set up a VBA macro to display the game's frames 00:05:41.860 --> 00:05:44.940 as .bmp files in the document. 00:05:44.980 --> 00:05:50.220 It appears to run smoother than the PDF version, so give it a shot if you're looking to confuse 00:05:50.220 --> 00:05:54.700 your company's activity tracking software. This guy must be so productive. 00:05:54.700 --> 00:05:57.940 And if you wanna be extra productive, come back here on Wednesday. 00:05:57.940 --> 00:06:03.380 We'll get you back up to speed on all the tech news so you can go back to working and won't be distracted 00:06:03.380 --> 00:06:07.380 because, I mean, why would you check Reddit? You already know everything.