1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,640 Welcome to TechLinked, the show chronicling my effort to absorb the world's tech news 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,960 so that when I die, scientists in the future can access my body's memories to find out 3 00:00:08,960 --> 00:00:16,080 what the hell was wrong with all of us. The internet was in chaos today after a serious Amazon Web Services outage. 4 00:00:16,080 --> 00:00:20,840 Banks, airlines, Reddit, Facebook, Fortnite, and a load of other services and platforms 5 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:26,720 were inaccessible, leaving many people unable to access their own funds, book crucial flights, 6 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:31,360 and provide crucial context for that weird ass Reddit comment they just posted. 7 00:00:31,360 --> 00:00:37,460 It's not what I meant. Overall, AWS serves about a third of the internet, and this outage even caused some 8 00:00:37,460 --> 00:00:41,000 technical issues at our office. And we're in Canada. 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:47,280 We have our own internet. Now this outage is going to cause Amazon to be out some money, too, as companies that 10 00:00:47,280 --> 00:00:52,360 missed out on business during the outage tried to collect repayment from Amazon, with some 11 00:00:52,360 --> 00:00:57,200 estimates of the financial damage reaching into the hundreds of billions of dollars. 12 00:00:57,200 --> 00:01:02,080 Amazon says the outage stems from a DNS issue in North Virginia, an issue which they say 13 00:01:02,080 --> 00:01:07,280 has been mitigated, but there are still ongoing errors, and Amazon says it is working to fully 14 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:10,880 restore service. I just hope Amazon can fix things soon. 15 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:19,920 Think of all those unposted thirst traps being lost like tears and rain. 16 00:01:19,920 --> 00:01:24,360 More research pointing to social media's harmful effects on teens has been conducted 17 00:01:24,360 --> 00:01:28,840 by social media parent company, Metta, who didn't tell anyone about it, and I guess 18 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:36,660 hoped everyone just keeps posting through the pain. This internal Metta study, reported on by Reuters, found that teens who reported feeling 19 00:01:36,660 --> 00:01:42,840 worse about their body after using Instagram tended to see about three times more content 20 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:48,560 that focused on body shapes or body parts that are usually sexualized, like the chest, 21 00:01:48,920 --> 00:01:52,380 buttocks, or thighs. This is elbow kink erasure. 22 00:01:52,380 --> 00:01:58,640 This and other content that people may disagree on the appropriateness of is categorized as 23 00:01:58,640 --> 00:02:05,880 people disagree content by Metta in both the most sensible and most stupid naming decision 24 00:02:05,880 --> 00:02:11,400 ever. They changed it to that from its former name, Teen Sensitive Content. 25 00:02:11,400 --> 00:02:14,760 Because what? Are teens a bunch of f***ing snowflakes? 26 00:02:14,760 --> 00:02:21,000 Get over it. Obviously, the study doesn't presume to draw a causal relationship between body dissatisfaction 27 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:24,920 and being served constant posts of perfect-looking people. 28 00:02:24,920 --> 00:02:30,840 This is science. But at least Metta is looking at these things and taking some actions, like giving parents 29 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,880 some controls over their teens' ability to chat with the company's AI characters, who 30 00:02:35,880 --> 00:02:41,080 have shown a willingness to, problematically, flirt with anything that moves. 31 00:02:41,080 --> 00:02:47,720 Xbox has blamed the price of the ROG Xbox Ally X handheld on ASUS, with Xbox President 32 00:02:47,720 --> 00:02:52,760 Sarah Bond telling Variety that Microsoft left the pricing up to ASUS, who apparently 33 00:02:52,760 --> 00:02:57,120 have more insight into what people want. 34 00:02:57,120 --> 00:03:00,520 There you have it. They priced it that way because it's what we wanted. 35 00:03:00,520 --> 00:03:03,520 We all want $1,000 handhelds. 36 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,920 And how does ASUS know what gamers want more than the gaming console company? 37 00:03:07,920 --> 00:03:10,960 Actually, this is Xbox. That makes sense. 38 00:03:10,960 --> 00:03:16,040 Despite their cluelessness, though, Bond reiterated that Xbox is committed to making next-gen 39 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,360 hardware, which she confirmed is in development. 40 00:03:19,360 --> 00:03:24,800 However, former corporate VP of Xbox and former president of Blizzard, Mike Ibarra, thinks 41 00:03:24,800 --> 00:03:31,480 they shouldn't bother. In a tweet, Ibarra wrote that only a moron would continue to make console hardware when 42 00:03:31,480 --> 00:03:39,440 the games all go or will go third-party. Ibarra also went after the This Is an Xbox ad campaign, saying that whoever came up with 43 00:03:39,440 --> 00:03:48,240 that clearly doesn't play games. I mean, pfft, imagine an RPG where any item with a blade is just called sword. 44 00:03:48,240 --> 00:03:55,240 How am I supposed to determine the power level? Now you'd think the quick bits are easier to absorb because they're small, but no. 45 00:03:55,240 --> 00:03:59,800 Each one makes me feel like I got a little bit electrocuted. 46 00:03:59,800 --> 00:04:09,040 Totally worth it, though. The scientists are counting on me. A United Airlines flight had its windshield shattered somewhere above Utah by space debris 47 00:04:09,760 --> 00:04:15,760 Maybe? Images of the damage show that the pilot got multiple cuts on their ARM, which is exactly 48 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:19,560 what aliens would do. Probes. Probed his ARM. 49 00:04:19,560 --> 00:04:26,360 But he managed to land safely. Apparently, the aircraft was too high up at the time of impact to have been hit by a bird 50 00:04:26,360 --> 00:04:34,160 of earthly origin anyway. And while hail and an unregistered weather balloon are being bandied about as possible 51 00:04:34,160 --> 00:04:38,760 culprits, space debris and meteorites are also being suggested. 52 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:42,840 Wait, so we still have just no idea? Have they looked at the plane yet? 53 00:04:42,840 --> 00:04:46,280 I'm pretty sure they think it's the weather balloon. 54 00:04:46,280 --> 00:04:52,960 Don't tell them that. So this is how the invasion kicks off, with the Zenos throwing their interstellar garbage 55 00:04:52,960 --> 00:04:58,880 at our passenger planes. We could be talking about alien technology here, folks, and that's what makes it tech 56 00:04:58,880 --> 00:05:07,200 news. Sure. Thousands of NSA and US government officials have had their personal data stolen by a group 57 00:05:07,200 --> 00:05:14,680 of hackers. The same group recently doxxed hundreds of DHS, ICE, FBI, and DOJ officials. 58 00:05:14,680 --> 00:05:19,360 Apparently, the data comes from the nearly one billion Salesforce records stolen earlier 59 00:05:19,360 --> 00:05:24,120 this year, and the group says they have data on more than 22,000 government officials. 60 00:05:24,120 --> 00:05:28,840 Previously, Salesforce told its clients it would not pay a ransom on the data, so it's 61 00:05:28,840 --> 00:05:33,760 everyone else's problem now. And it appears the hacker group is looking to do business elsewhere. 62 00:05:33,760 --> 00:05:39,720 However, upon the alleged doxxing of an NSA official, the group's server was taken offline. 63 00:05:39,720 --> 00:05:44,200 Maybe they've pissed off the US government, or maybe they got taken down along with Fortnite 64 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:48,040 and Snapchat and all the other important things. 65 00:05:48,040 --> 00:05:53,600 China has accused the US of carrying out cyber attacks against their national time center, 66 00:05:53,600 --> 00:06:01,040 potentially shattering the fabric of reality itself. Now, that might sound like the US is attacking the hyperbolic time chamber from Dragon Ball 67 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:07,440 Z or something, but the time center dictates China's standard time and is crucial for communications, 68 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:11,160 finance, transportation, power, and defense services throughout the country. 69 00:06:11,160 --> 00:06:17,360 You know, things that need time. Although the US embassy has not addressed China's allegations, China claims this is 70 00:06:17,360 --> 00:06:24,120 part of a years-long set of cyber attacks that saw US agencies use 42 types of special 71 00:06:24,120 --> 00:06:29,640 cyber attack weapons, which forced China to experience the horror of daylight savings 72 00:06:29,640 --> 00:06:38,120 time. Still, anyway. But the US better look out, or China might send an army of dancing unitary robots that 73 00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:43,000 will sashay their way to vengeance. 74 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:50,080 It is a little terrifying. Microsoft is denying any links between its data center complex in Querataro, Mexico, 75 00:06:50,080 --> 00:06:54,480 and local water shortages, power outages, and illnesses. 76 00:06:54,480 --> 00:06:58,440 While Microsoft claims they prioritize the needs of the community there, and Mexico's 77 00:06:58,480 --> 00:07:04,720 national power company attributes power outages to stray animals and lightning strikes, reports 78 00:07:04,720 --> 00:07:09,380 of issues have escalated in the last year since the data center opened. 79 00:07:09,380 --> 00:07:13,840 Even if the data center isn't directly responsible for these issues, it seems the Querataro 80 00:07:13,840 --> 00:07:19,000 region might not be the best spot for a data center anyway because of the regular droughts 81 00:07:19,000 --> 00:07:22,800 it experiences and lack of power infrastructure. 82 00:07:22,800 --> 00:07:28,800 Things you've said that you need. Some data centers have even resorted to running on gas generators. 83 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:33,960 Sure, Microsoft's statements here come off as unconvincing, but they said they didn't 84 00:07:33,960 --> 00:07:40,080 do it. So I'm going to blame the only other obvious offender that's left, El Chupacabra. 85 00:07:40,080 --> 00:07:47,520 They never proved it wasn't real. Kohler, the home goods company, has revealed the Dakota, a little camera that attaches to 86 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:51,800 your toilet bowl and snaps pictures of what's going on in there. 87 00:07:51,800 --> 00:07:56,760 The images of your bowl business will get scanned to tell you about your hydration level 88 00:07:56,760 --> 00:08:01,960 and gut health, okay? Don't worry though, the sensors are pointed down. 89 00:08:01,960 --> 00:08:06,800 Your data is end-to-end encrypted, and Kohler promises that with the Dakota, privacy comes 90 00:08:06,800 --> 00:08:12,520 first, which really does feel like it needs to be stated about a camera that close to 91 00:08:12,520 --> 00:08:18,520 your wrinkle star. And hey, why don't you get your wrinkle star back here for more tech news on Wednesday? 92 00:08:18,520 --> 00:08:21,880 It's going to be good. And no, I can't promise you that. 93 00:08:21,880 --> 00:08:26,080 I don't know what I'm going to be required to absorb into my body on any given day. 94 00:08:26,080 --> 00:08:28,000 And you might ask, Riley, what does that mean?