Weekend Edition

Tech Freedom News – Weekend Edition 1 Oktapus phishing campaign hits Twilio and Signal Judge Smacks Elon’s Request for ALL the Twitter Account Data for the last 3 years… Google Maps to Label Abortion Clinics in Post-Roe US Fujitsu to Make Quantum Computers Available for Some in 2023 Meta is “ready” for Midterms WE 1-1: Oktapus Hits over 130 Companies Who was affected? Whose data was breached? About 10,000 individuals who use the Okta Single-Signon service, including nearly 2,000 accounts on Signal, according to Twilio, who handles the sms registration messages for new accounts. The Signal accounts were not directly breached, though some accounts were able to have new devices added through the Twilio breach. https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/26/23323036/phishing-scam-campaign-twilio-hack-companies WE 1-2: Judge Vastly Reduces Musk’s request for ALL Twitter Data from the last 3 years as discovery proceeds in his suit against Twitter. Judge McCormick gave a flat “No” to Elon’s request yesterday, giving him only ~9000 twitter accounts were fair game, rather than the whole enchillada. https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23322234/twitter-v-elon-musk-discovery-mdau-bot-data WE 1-3: Google Labels Confirmed Abortion Providers Whoa, nelly… Not only are they labeling Crisis Pregnacy Centers, but now trying to direct “birthing people” (let me roll my eyes a little further back into my skull…) who search for “abortions near me” to providers who will do the dastardly deed (ok, a serach engine actually giving people the answers they’re looking for is a good thing, but can we start somewhere else) rather than giving a balanced results list with both baby killing centers and crisis pregnancy centers listed… because, oh no, ~37% of Maps searches related to abortion directed individuals to institutions who might not gleefully want to kill the child. Sorry, I can’t be neutral about this one, no matter how hard I try. https://www.theverge.com/2022/8/25/23322025/abortion-providers-google-search-maps-label WE 1-4: Fujitsu Looking to Offer Computational Space on its 64-Qubit Quantum Computer Next Year Pretty cool stuff to see how quickly quantum tech is progressing, from Google’s first with 53 qubits in 2019, to IBM’s 127 qubit behemoth last year, to Fujitsu’s intent to produce a 1,000+ qubit piece of hardware in Q2 2027. Wow. https://www.pcmag.com/news/fujitsu-to-start-selling-quantum-computers-in-2023 WE 1-5: Meta Claims that it is “Ready” to Work on Election Integrity for 2022 Midterms Well, I feel better already. Oh wait, no I don’t… Facebook and its ilk have NO business meddling in anyone’s elections, as we know that Zuck did in 2020, sponsoring countless battleground state dropboxes and helping to push mail-in balloting. They need to be slapped with a massive reproof. One so big that even they wouldn’t dare to get involved with censorship, electioneering, and other nefarious bullshit ever again. That is treason. They aided and abetted felons who ought to be at least 6 feet underground already, and no longer breathing, if you follow my drift. This is no threat, just what real justice should have seen to already. This just makes my blood boil. https://gizmodo.com/facebook-meta-2022-midterms-misinformation-1849420151 The wrap-up… All in all an interesting week at the intersection between public life and Tech, no? Massive Phishing attack to a massive reduction in the scope of discovery in the Musk v Twitter suit, to Google showing its massive bias once again, to something a bit lighter in relation to Quantum computing, and then we wound up in a discussion about elections and Big Tech… that last phrase has two concepts in it that never belonged together… Elections and Big Tech… oh HELL NO! Anyway, this has been our first weekend edition, with a bit more contrversial content and perhaps a bit more of an edge than my typical monday-wednesday stuff. What did you think? Let me know in the comments below. Thank for Watching the Tech Freedom Weekend Edition.

WE 2-1: How to acquire and manage burner phones (make yourself in essence, untraceable) This is either for major privacy wonks or someone like a regime-disapproved journo. Why would you need one? To possibly cut costs if you only infrequently use your phone, or to protect yourself from government prying if you are a die-hard conservative and regularly conspireto overthrow the governement or something (just kidding, mostly, on that one). How do you go about obtaining one? Decide your price point and desired level of functionality, then purchase a phone that fits you and your needs, then decide on a prepaid carrier to work with, based on where you need to have coverage, etc. Pay in cash. Any card you use is trackable. How do you use it? Activate, pay in cash. Stay off of your apps, if the device is a “smart” one, and do not connect to any public wifi networks with that device. Once you are finished using it, factory reset it, and if it is worth anything, resell it or trade it in. Do you need one? I am privacy sensitive, but if I were really a hardcore privacy wonk, I wouldn’t make these videos, much less stream them, puttng my image and voice online. However, some may genuinely need them. I have a client who is a high profile attorney, and is an outspoken black conservative who is considering this method of keeping himself and his clients free of surveilance. He has had a phone tapped before, and does not want to deal with that again. He purchased one of my Liberated Phones to protect himself a bit more as he makes the switch away from Big Tech in his life, but even he questions the need for burner devices. https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-use-burner-phone/ WE 2-2: AI-Generated Art Piece wins prize at a state competition Colorado man uses the Midjourney Text-to-image generator to produce a digital art piece, which won first prize in its category in a state competition. Many are offended by this. Believing that he misled the udges as to the nature of how he produced the piece. An AI Text-to-image generator takes images, sometimes thousands, analyzes them, then, based on user prompts, generates an image. What the man did was curate the image pool that the AI drew from, and crafted the prompt to get it very close to what he desired to create, then finished it in photoshop after the AI did most of the work to produce the piece. I see both sides of the issue here… on one hand, artists who spend their whole lives honing their skill and talent are rightfully scared that, like the automotive factory worker of 40-50 years ago, their skill and benefit to society could be replaced by a machine which can potentially, eventually generate perfectly, technically flawless and even beautiful art pieces. They possibly fear oblivion and irrelevance, so they lash out, calling this unfair or misleading. Ad for the techie side of me, I think that this is guardedly cool. The fact that someone coded this now publically available AI system which can analyze the data contained in the images a user feeds it, then, in concert with a refined prompt, can produce almost exactly what the user envisioned, is amazing. This is a nontrivial thing, you guys. The fact that it won that competition speaks volumes to how far these systems have come in a relatively short time. This is also scary. I am conflicted about this story. What do you think? Should he have been more transparent about the nature of how he produced the piece? Was it right for him to enter the competition to begin with? Let me know in the comments… https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/1/23332684/ai-generated-artwork-wins-state-fair-competition-colorado WE 2-3: Washington State Guns for Being Named a Hydrogen Hub by the DOE. Big Tech is squrely behind this, as both Amazon and Microsoft are lobbying for this, and “leading the way” with hydrogen powered fleets and factories in the Evergreen State. The fact that Big Tech lives in WA and is very behind these efforts should give us pause. When was the last time that one of these giants actually did something good for the rest of us or the environment without massive government pressure, whether coercive, such as thorugh legal or legislative means, or simply offering mega tax breaks? I can’t think of any. What is this DOE (US Dept. of Energy) program? It set aside $8 Billion to encourage states to create infrastructure around Hydrogen to help move the country towards green energy. Hydrogen looks promising, but the problem is that the most common (and cheapest) option for producing the usable element is electrolysis, which requires abundant electricity to make work, and it has to be renewable electricity, so CA would be SOL on that. We use too much natural gas, which is allegedly not renewable… not gonna touch that one. Just keep this in mind as this becomes more mainstream, such as with vehicles like the Mirai from Toyota. https://www.geekwire.com/2022/how-washington-states-leaders-and-tech-giants-are-embracing-the-swiss-army-knife-of-clean-energy/ WE 2-4: Kid-Friendly Internet? This week, the CA legislature unanimously voted to give themselves more power to censor the internet for the rest of us. Sorry if that sounds like a cynical reading of this article, but this is what it boils down to. Once the governor signs it into law, it will require any person or business which operates a website which could conceivably serve a minor to change at least some of their sites to be more privacy-conscious, making the settings more accessible to limit data gathering, so that it is easier to prevent your child from being approached by some random adult in a DM, as well as restructure the language of their privacy policies to be more kid-friendly, even to the point of stripping out ad revenue for kid-users, both for websites and apps, even down to admitting where they use addiction fostering tools to encourage kids to pay more attention to the app or site. In principle, I agree with the notion of tech companies not being able to do nefarious things with our kids’ data (even Google, retailers, and news websites), however, this smells like ore gov’t overreach to me. The other issue is how do they enforce this? There has to be a way to get something like this done without the State shoving its way ever deeper into everyday life. This bill is far too ambiguous and ambitious, in my opinion. Ambiguity and ambition do not play well together often… https://www.wired.com/story/california-aadc-kids-privacy-age-checks/ WE 2-5: Good Guy Google? Google commits to donating another $20 Million to expand/ support IT/Computer Science eduaction in the US. So they will keep giving grants to organizations with whom they have already worked to further the cause of improving CS education in our country. This feels sublimely self-interested on Sundar’s part, sure there is a veneer of wanting the US to be strong in the field, but ultimately, it is cheaper for them to hire from overseas anyway… ultimately, this move is somewhat confusing to me. I have to admit that it is hard for me to see anything genuinely positive in the things that these tech giants do. https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/1/23331954/google-computer-science-funding-grants-sundar-pichai

Weekend Edition 3: Meta Losing Ground, Instagram Fined, and More WE 3-1: Instagram Fined $400 Million for Not Protecting Kids’ Data Regulators in Ireland slam Instagram with big fine due to findings from an investigation intio how they handle kids’ data, specifically relative to teens who were able to start business accounts, where they could publish their personal phone numbers and email addresses. Instagram claims that it has changed settings as of a year ago to help teens stay safer. Instagram will probably try to fight this decision (big shock there), and insist that they mended the error of their ways in the interim, as the investigation started in 2020. We’ll see how much of this fine sticks,a nd how much Instagram/Meta’s attorneys are able to argue away. This regularotry body has already opened and conducted over a dozen investigations into Meta’s portfolio of companies and platforms, including a record setting $225 Million fine for Whatsapp last year. As much as I hate government over reach, sometimes that is the only way to straighten out these transnational behemoths. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/06/tech/instagram-fine-teens-privacy/index.html WE 3-2: Google Gears Up for Midterm Misinformation Here we go again. Another week, another Tech Giant marching with jackbooted feet to the cadence of the Shadow Government… smh. Here are their plans: • highlight media articles and stories from particular locales and regions • Push info from election officials in terms of dates, methods, and times for voting • Highlight mainstream media sources on YouTube ◦ squashing dissenting opinions algorithmically ◦ no more videos talking about how the 2020 election was stolen They actually will remove posts, not just label them as harmful and limit reach and engagement opportunities, like Twitter and Meta. Full throated censorship. All I can say is get off of Google, stop using the search engine, degoogle your phone. Stop using YouTube directly, and see how long it takes for them to notice everyone ceasing to use their tools… how long until it hits them in the pocketbook enough for them to take notice? We don’t even NEED to call it a “boycott”, just stop using it as much as humanly possible. Watch what happens when all of their data collection dries up and the ad revenue goes through the floor. https://www.cnn.com/2022/09/01/tech/google-youtube-election-misinformation/index.html WE 3-3: Facebook’s 3rd party Login Button is No Longer Ubiquitous Across the Web Well, this is music to my ears. Dell has stopped using it… wow. Enough privacy concerns are aparently enough for Dell and others… Also there has been a decided shift in what users are doing, as they have absorbed the reality that Meta and its platforms and apps are far less safe and worthwhile than they once thought. Not just Dell, but Ford, Nike, Patagonia, and Twitch also have removed their login with Facebook buttons from their sites. Wow. Sounds like Facebook is about to join MySpace and other social media sites in irrelevance, perhaps. That would be welcome. Bring. It. On. Let’s all stop using these honeypot platforms and apps, shall we? I did, nearly a year ago, and I don’t miss them in the least. https://www.popsci.com/technology/facebooks-login-button-disappears/ WE 3-4: Has Your Phone Been Hacked? Let’s Check the Signs. Does it take a hacker? No. Even biometric locking can be foiled by a determined enough snoop, they could trigger a face ID scan or a fingerprint reading while you are asleep, and look through your phone… Know anyone who might think about pulling a stunt like this? Ok, before I get into this any further, let me put you at ease: if you are careful to only download and open files from sources you know, if you make sure that your apps are clean and are actually what they are supposed to be, then you should mostly be ok, here. What are the signs that perhaps you’ve been hacked? • Sudden drop in performance • sudden spike in battery usage • sudden spike in data usage • pop-ups that plague your phone all of the sudden • sudden drop in effective internet speed • oddball posts on social media or weird emails you wouldn’t nomrally send How can you defend yourself? • Keep your device as updated as you can • Use 2FA (I will opine on this as well) • Stop tapping every link you come across but didn’t ask for(messages from acquaintences, emails, ads, etc) Ok, these are good starting places, in terms of improving your digital hygiene, however, there was recently a breach in a major 2FA provider, so 2FA is not a sure thing in terms of protecting yourself and your phone from undesired attention. I would also add that if you stay away from Porn and Piracy, you’ll be safer overall. More or less, don’t do anything stupid online and you’ll be less likely to compromise your security and privacy. Don’t download apps that require ads and a ton of permissions in order to run, as it is often the “free” ad-based apps that will come with the worst payloads in terms of malware. https://www.foxnews.com/tech/hackers-in-phone-how-to-find-out WE 3-5: Kids Safety at School This article heavily calls for the use of AirTags or other smart tags/ tiles to track your kids at school, allegedly in case of emergency. If you care about your child’s privacy, please do not do this. They also strongly suggest packing a kiddie cell phone that has extremely limite functionality (only able to call 4 numbers or something like that) or a smart watch with similar functionality. The concept of intentionally putting trackers on your child that who knows who could access the data from those devices, other than you. Wouldn’t it be simpler to just homeschool your kids, so you can put your nerves at ease? I understand that that is a HUGE sacrifice, my wife and I are doing just that, now. Not due to anxiety, at least on my part, but to promote free thinking and belief in God in our boys. This way, we also do not have to worry about school shootings or shooters, bombings or bombers. It is that simple. https://www.foxnews.com/tech/tech-keeps-students-safe-school Here are links to my other rumble channels, please check them out and subscribe: Reviews and Tutorials and Other things: https://rumble.com/c/c-1710073 Weekly Devotions: https://rumble.com/c/c-1710083

Weekend Edition 4: Microsoft Screws up Security, Quantum Internet is Coming, and More… WE 4-1: Oopsie… MS Serves Bad Ads in Edge News Oh boy, Microsoft security screwed the pooch on this one...wait, those are two words that never belong in close proxiimity to each other, unless in a joke. At any rate, they served users a malicious ad in the news feed on Edge. Hmmm… was this really accidental? They are sure hustling to try to fix the issue, but can the browser really be trusted? https://www.makeuseof.com/microsoft-edge-adware-news-feed/ #badmicrosoft #edgesucks #hottakes #Weekendedition #TechFreedom WE 4-2: What Letter Does Russia Start With, Kids? Arrrrrrr… Microsoft unleashed the Russian Pirates, Boys & Girls! Not that they didn’t exist before… plenty of hackers over there, even notorious ones. As Microsoft vacated Russia over the Ukraine action, even abandoning its users in the country to fend for themselves, enthusiasts and businesses are either pirating Windows and other Microsoft products, or turning to Linux instead. Big surprise. NOT. Microsoft missed the ball on this one too, but then how could they not miss it, being as intimately in bed with all of the deep state nonsense as they always have been? They opened the windows on this one, lol… *gigglesnort* #smh, Microsoft, #smh https://www.makeuseof.com/russia-windows-piracy-linux-spike/ #Russia #russiarussiarussia #ingenuity #piracy #Linux #nowindows #noOSforyou #weekendedition #TechFreedom WE 4-3: Biden and Crypto… What Could Go Wrong? They promised guidelines for crypto regulation back in March… welp, here they are… They are gonna overreach more in the name of stopping criminals from using crypto to pay for things or to launder money… like Biden really wants to shut down money laundering. Give me a break. This is all about moving more of those operations in-house and keeping law-abiding citizens from being able to transact any amount away from their sanctioned avenues. The FED is not happy with us being able to do business outside of the Central Bank, so they are manipulating things to manouever us further down the road to a CBDC, and away from freedom. They want to be able to shut everything down, period. This is why we need a fully parallel economy, so that we can do business outside of their ability to control us. Gab and Torba are on the right track with their seeds of a parallel system. Let’s get on board with this, ASAP. https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/crypto/biden-administration-releases-framework-for-crypto-regulation/ #crypto #regulation #bidan #biggov #overreach #stupid #paralleleconomy #weekendedition #TechFreedom WE 4-4: Quantum Impact Sooner Than Later? Rigetti, an industry leader, out of Berkeley, CA has plans to deliver its 4th generation quantum machine, codenamed Ankaa next year, the basic chip will be an 84 Qubit processor. The company has been around for almost 10 years, and went public earlier this year, only to see its shares plummet in value in the last 7 months. This is partially due to external factors, but also largely due to their own investors getting tired of waiting on promises to be delivered. Is it the one to bring quantum advantage, when IBM is looking to produce quantum computers at least 4x larger and more powerful? Only time will tell. Personally, from what I’ve read, on a consumer level, I like the photonic quantum situations being developed by the likes of IonQ and Pasqal. On a global, or cloud-scale, these systems are currently so expensive and fiddly that I can understand where the author of the cnet article was coming from when they seemed a bit skeptical of the whole thing, specifically in relation to Rigetti. https://www.cnet.com/tech/computing/quantum-computings-impact-could-come-sooner-than-you-think/ #quantum #quantumcomputing #rigetti #expensive #infrastructure #cloud #future #weekendedition #TechFreedom WE 4-5: Well, There Goes The Internet… Gavin Newsom, as expected, rubber stamped the legislature’s latest unanimous effort to regulate the internet in the interest of ostensibly “protecting the kids” from ads and pedos. On its face, as I reported on a couple of weeks ago, when I covered the California Age Appropriate Design Code Act after it passed that week. Here is what it will do, when it goed into force in 2024: • no more websites twisting kids’ arms to provide personal info • can no longer use or sell kids’ personal info • no more collecting, storing, or selling geolocation data from kids • no more profiling kids As I said when I initially covered it, this sounds great on its face, except that it will require even more governement oversight and masses more power in the hands of bureaucrats and this sort of thing will inevitably wind up like the GDPR in the EU or prior law in California, in regards to privacy. This will wind up affecting every site on the internet, eventually, as while there are often different versions of sites for different countries, I can’t imagine this being doable on a state level with any kind of genuine benefit for the site operators. https://www.cnet.com/news/politics/california-governor-signs-kids-online-safety-act-into-law/ #CA #commiefornia #gavinnewsome #CAADCA #internetfreedom #biggov #overreach #weekendedition #TechFreedom

Musk & Twitter Hackers Ransom LAUSD Ungodly Surveillance of Anti-Porn Apps Next Silicon Valley Will Be in US Heartland Linux Tool to Defend Against Supply Chain Attacks #weekendedtition #TechFreedom #technews #currentevents #musk #twitter #lausdhacked #ungodlysurveillance #supplychain WE 5-1: What’s the latest in the saga? Musk tried to delay the trial again, but the judge smacked his attempt down, believing that Twiter would be irreparably harmed by any further delay. His latest delay tactic had to do with the whistleblower who came out recently. He had been the head of security for Twitter before he was let go in April. He claimed that Zatko’s (the whistleblower) revelations about the number of bots, spam, and the kind of security in place on Twitter seem to support Musk’s claims that Twitter lied to him in April. Of course, Twitter batted that aside, saying that all of these allegations are a “false narrative” wait, they cried “Fake news”? That is a laugh, being that they gatekeep for the American Uniparty as proudly as they do. Musk also subpoenaed Dorsey, among many other tech “luminaries”. All this while he quietly sold off another $6.9 Billion worth of his Tesla stock to support his takeover bid, just in case this lawsuit doesn’t free him of his commitment to purchase Twitter. This sounds like he knows that the judge is likely to side with Twitter and makes me wonder how much of this is really just theater. Time will tell. https://www.theverge.com/23026874/elon-musk-twitter-buyout-news-updates #weekendedition #tech #government #technews #bigtech #musk #twitter #TechFreedom WE 5-2: LA Unified School District Gets Hacked… Student Data at Risk You may have heard about this last month, as the attack actually occurred just as students were returning for the 2022-23 school year. Group called Vice Society is the likely culprit, and may have accessed some student names and other limited data, but it is not believed that they were able to get their hands on any other personally identifiable data. The district was able to recover the data from backups and it caused very limited disruption. However, the new wrinkle in the story is that there has now been a demand made of the district, though the district is not releasing those details now. CISA calls the group an “intrusion, exfiltration, and extortion hacking group”. This is the first time that a successful attack was carried out against LAUSD, but where there is one, there is bound to be more. If you can manage to get your kids out of school and homeschool them, it would be greatly beneficial to the privacy and mental/emotional stability of your children. https://www.theverge.com/2022/9/22/23366602/hacking-gang-la-school-district-ransom-vice-society #weekendedition #news #technews #privacy #security #LAUSD #hack #TechFreedom WE 5-3: Founder of AOL Believes that Silicon Valley Will Be Replaced by Midwestern Startups He has been working on an initiative with his VC fund, Revolution, to promote and fund new tech startups in Middle America, called Rise of the Rest, eponymous with his new book. Why does he believe that the hegemony of the coasts in Aerica will be broken? He has been criscrossing America for years, only stopped by the plandemic. He’s been putting his money where is mouth is on this as well, so maybe he is right. The writer of this Wired article is a bit skeptical that the status quo could shift that radically in the next 10 years, but seems open minded about it. There are deep concerns about funding, attracting talent, retaining talent, attracting customers and partners, not to mention media attention. Something tells me that the new media that has come up over the last 5 years or so, and holds far more sway than an establisment rag like Wired would want to admit to. I like the concept of investing in Middle America, even though I’m sitting out here in LA. I like the idea of Big Tech being split up, as the false unity that it has promoted over the last decade or two is completely unhelpful, as it only falls in line with the Uniparty’s interests in maintaining their own power over the rest of us. Let’s vote with our dollars to support companies who are legit in their constitutional stances, first in terms of 1A, then 2A stuff, and on down the Bill of Rights. https://www.wired.com/story/the-next-silicon-valley-will-be-in-the-us-heartlands/ #weekendedition #technews #bigtech #middleamerica #midwest #innovation #decentralization #TechFreedom WE 5-4: Ungodly Surveillance from Covenant Eyes and Accountable2You… I have used both of these apps over the years, I knew what I was getting into because I knew what it would take to break my porn issue (I haven’t used them in years, and I’m not saying that my issue is solved), but I didn’t have my activities sent to a pastor, but rather my uncle (whom I was close with at the time) my wife, and a mentor. That is how these apps are supposed to work. You visit some site that is questionable, then it logs that visit and sends it in a periodic email to your partners. Placing a pastor in that position, particularly if they are not close with you, is a recipe for shaming people, which will only dig a person’s hole deeper. Wired found that both of these apps actually violate Google’s policies on the PlayStore. This class of apps exploit the Accessibility API to do things as invasive as taking a screenshot per second for records’ sake, as well as reading the titles or installed apps, not just snooping on search activity or keystrokes. As someone who values privacy, if these things are not spelled out clearly somewhere where it is easy for a person to access and read before they sign up for the service, and each one has a monthly subscription for the honor of mining all of your usage data. Wired actually got Accountable2You suspended from the PlayStore due to their findings. I don’t think that when I was using these apps in the past, they were quite so invasive. It seems to me that they didn’t used to take screenshots or anything like that 6 or 7 years ago. Come on, you guys. Get your act together and stop with being legit spyware. https://www.wired.com/story/covenant-eyes-anti-porn-accountability-monitoring-apps/ #weekendedition #news #porn #accountability #shame #church #spyware #TechFreedom WE 5-5: Protect Yourself from Software Supply Chain Attacks with Wolfi from Chainguard This distro will examine every piece of software in your system to show you what may be weak or vulnerable so that you can correct the issue before you get your system hit with some attack, exploiting bad code somewhere in your stack. Even the feds have taken notice in this area, with the pResident issuing an executive order covering that over a year ago. The truth is that if you are a developer working on a project, you need to redo your foundation with secure code and a secure environment, so that as you add things in, you can see, using a tool like Wolfi, what is good and what isn’t. All so you make sure that your projects are as solid as possible, so that attacks like SolarWinds and NotPetya don’t hit you or your organization with any kind of effectiveness. Make sure that you know what code you are utilizing, rather than just grabbing bits and pieces from everywhere without making sure that they are clean. The illustration used is one of packing up things for longterm storage, if you don’t know what’s in the box, you could be in for a nasty surprise when you open it in the future. Most environments these days are containerized, more or less systems-in-a-box, and we trust these boxes to not be full of malicious code. This is a problem which Wolfi seeks to solve for you. It will inspect each container, down to source code, and give you a readout of what is in there. I’d love to see what an auditor would have to say about this, whether it would be as helpful in real life as this marketing piece seems to make it appear. https://www.wired.com/story/chainguard-wolfi-linux-distribution/ #weekendedition #security #auditing #wolfi #chainguard #TechFreedom Music: Pray by Anno Domini Beats

China Blames NSA for Hacking Them DALL-E’s AI Art Generator Now Available For Anyone To Use Zuck Says that Meta Will Be Freezing Hiring and Cutting Costs Newsome Overreaches Again Musk and Twitter Were Goofy, at First...

Apple to be forced to join the 2020s? Will He, Won’t He? More US Restrictions on Selling Silicon to China? YouTube to Push Narrative-Friendly Health Voices to Combat Wrongspeak AI Bill of Rights? WE 7-1: Will the EU Actually Force Apple to Abandon Lightning? Well, there are a couple of steps for them to make before a 2-year grace period begins on the legislation they just passed, but it looks like the EU will likely be requiring Apple to switch all its connectors starting at the end of 2024, in the interest of convenience and reducing e-waste. Is it good that government can do this sort of thing? On certain levels, yes. On others, such as freedom, no. Should companies be large enough to push governments around? I don’t think so. There needs to be a balance between big business and government, but what that should look like, I don’t know. What do you guys think? https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/4/23387425/european-parliament-iphone-usb-type-c-radio-equipment-directive-lightning-rip #weekendedition #apple #eu #byebyelightning #TechFreedom WE 7-2: Will He, Won’t He? I am tired of talking about Elon Musk and Twitter. The deal is still fraught with difficulties, largely thanks to Elon’s mouth and acerbic fingertips, but he is willing, all of the sudden, to move forward, as long as Twitter drops its lawsuit against him. Why all of the sudden? Is there something that would be made public in discovery that would embarrass him or Twitter even more? Not sure that that would be enough to deter him in the long run for this deal, but who knows? This is a puzzling move on his part, and we won’t know why for quite some time, likely. What do you guys think? Is the whole thing good, or bad? https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/4/23387592/elon-musk-twitter-deal-lawsuit-faq #weekendedition #musk #twitter #TechFreedom WE 7-3: No Silicon For You! US based integrated circuit manufacturers now have to apply for a license from the Commerce Department in order to sell chips and manufacturing equipment to Chinese businesses, as well as tightening bans on others. The reasoning behind these new rules is that the US is trying to hinder China’s ability to compete on the cyber stage, particularly in regard to their sabre rattling over Taiwan. This new set of rules via fiat (in the form of an executive order) dovetails nicely with the CHIPS & Scinece Act, passed a couple of months ago. Intel has broken ground on a new Fab plant in Ohio, untilizing the largesse afforded by the CHIPS Act. This is promising for onshoring these important jobs and manufacturing facilities, which speaks directly to a dream I have, but I won’t talk about that now. https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/7/23392860/biden-semiconductor-chips-intel-micron-china-ohio-science #weekendedition #CHIPSAct #Biden #executiveorders #lockoutchina #TechFreedom WE 7-4: YouTube to Push Pro-Narrative Health Videos *eyeroll* ughhhhh…. YouTube is at it again, and the gatekeepers at The Verge are breathlessly cheerleading for this tampering with information availabiltity. #smh… the problem is that when anyone pulls moves like this, they try to determine what the truth is FOR the public, rather than allowing the public, who are largely adults, mind you, use their own brains and discern truth for themselves. They commit the fallacy of reliance on authority, but the problem with the established authority is that it has been shown to be corrupt and not really interested in the best outcomes for the public, but rather for the bottom lines of the Big Pharma bosses that own them. So, to combat perceived fake news shared through personal health stories by individuals, they are generating “approved” health stories and pushing them through the algorithm. Any of you see problems with this? https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/7/23392802/youtube-personal-stories-health-misinformation #weekendedition #youtube #fakenews #health #gatekeeping #TechFreedom WE 7-5: New WH Guidelines on AI These are voluntary suggestions that the White House has released now, to hopefully curb the misuse of AI for surveillance and other privacy invasions. This is framed as a blueprint for future legislation around a Bill of Rights for AI use, here are the principles laid out: • That people should be protected from systems deemed “unsafe or ineffective;” • That people shouldn’t be discriminated against via algorithms and that AI-driven systems should be made and used “in an equitable way;” • That people should be kept safe “from abusive data practices” by safeguards built in to AI systems and have control over how data about them is used; • That people should be aware when an automated system is in use and be aware of how it could affect them; • That people should be able to opt out of such systems “where appropriate” and get help from a person instead of a computer. Ok, that is a chunk of word salad to parse, isn’t it? Well, let me point out some flaws here… Problem 1: What constitutes an unsafe or ineffective system? Who decides that? Problem 2: What is the defintion of “equity”? Who makes that decision? Problem 3: Who decides what is abusive? Who designs the safeguards? The last two look genuinely beneficial to me… even as a tech guy, I get irritated when I deal with robo-callers and automated phone systems, as they almost never understand me perfectly, and it winds up taking longer to get where I need to go in the system when I am stuck with one of them, vs just an old school push-button system, or being on hold until I can deal with a person. Well, then again, who decides when it is “appropriate” to have an opt-out from an AI / automated system? I can’t imagine a world where these things wind up in a form that is genuinely good for We the People, as so many in congress are controlled by lobbies who have direct ties to the big businesses which would roll out these sorts of solutions. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/04/tech/ai-bill-of-rights #weeekendedition #Biden #guidelines #AI #TechFreedom How would I sum this week up? Government tries to reign in Big Tech… Big Tech tries to set the record straight on health… Elon renews his offer to Twitter… EU looks to be forcing Apple to ditch the Lightning connector for their phones and tablets in favor of USB-C What could go wrong? Well, it looks like the admin, or Biden’s handlers, at least, are somewhat awake to the need to cut China off from our tech IP, but is it too little, too late? Probably. The thing that has me scratching my head on the China-Taiwan thing is why China hasn’t just pulled the trigger and invaded that tiny island nation yet. Sure, big old Uncle Sam is waiting to smack them away, but with as gutted as our military is, both in terms of numbers and readiness, how effective can we be in protecting our interests in Taipei? This makes it all feel a bit like a theater production, so the act pertaining to Russia and Ukraine has to wind down before the Chinese drama can really begin, so that the world has bandwidth to attend to and care about it. At this point, it seems like everyone is tapped out with the Ukraine propaganda that has been happening for the last 8 months now. Elon, dude, just make up your mind. Whatever you are doing with Twitter, just do it already and quit hogging the limelight already. YouTube and health advice…. Doesn’t everyone know better than to turn there already? Sure people still post health content (and lots of it), but this appeal to authority feels a bit late in coming, particularly since anyone remotely awake is not in a place where they would trust these “authorities” anyway. So much vagary in these guidelines… the language of the 5 principles is about as opaque and intentionally neutered that it could easily be twisted into something opposite of what it states, as it has to be sent through congress and its lobbyists. I don’t trust it any further than I can throw it. What a week, huh?

China Hobbled? Elon Investigated? TX and FL Social Media Laws Ok? 5G Affects Radar Based Altimeters? Robotaxis: Would You Trust One? WE 8-1: Biden Chip Ban Working Already? Analysts say yes… believe that latest rules will hobble China’s largely nascent domestic chip industry, which has been dependent on US tech to get it moving in the right direction. Not only are our chips themselves needing a license to export, but anything designed or made using US-built or developed tools also needs a license to sell to China at all. I would have to do some more digging to confirm one way or the other, whether my guess last week when I covered this story the first time was really just my bias against Biden coming through. Is this about trying to force the CCP to snap on us? Is that even a wise move? I don’t know, you guys. Was the expert that CNBC dug up legit? Has it even been long enough for anyone to pass judgment on it? Time will tell. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/10/12/us-chip-export-restrictions-could-hobble-chinas-semiconductor-goals.html #weelendedition #Bidenbans #nochipsforchina #isitworking #whoknows #TechFreedom WE 8-2: Are the feds Looking at Elon? Is Twitter just throwing shade and smoke, as Musk’s lawyer claims? He believes that it has to do with the Zatko situation that seems to support Elon’s original reasoning for trying to back out of the deal. Twitter is also claiming that Zatko destroyed a bunch of evidence as well, but he was not told to do that. More drama. I am so tired of this story, can we just finish it already? The judge did pause the proceedings when Musk’s side offered to pick up the deal as it was originally set, at a ridiculous $54.20/share. Twitter was always over-valued, in my opinion, particularly since it was only profitable at all for two years, from Q1 2018-Q1 2020, to my knowledge. That is a very brief window. Given that reality, Musk’s offer was a bit ridiculous from the get go. I know that net profits do not tell the whole story for a company or business, but come on, man. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/13/tech/elon-musk-investigation-twitter #weekendedition #musk #twitter #legalnonsense #drama #eyeroll #ohbrother #TechFreedom WE 8-3: Will the Texas Law constraining Social Media from Banning and Shadow-banning People Stand? Precedent says that it is likely to be overturned by the SCOTUS. The Texas Circuit Court upheld theirs, but the same level of court in Florida, where a similar bill was also signed into law, was struck down. Which court was correct? Is it in the government’s purview to interfere, here? Is it constitutional? On principle, I have to go with what will give us a smaller government, because the scariest phrase known to man, to paraphrase Reagan, is, “I’m from the government, and I’m here to help.” The government, and its overreach and excessive growth and overall size has been a theme through all of my Weekend Edition shows so far, hasn’t it? On that principle, I have to agree with the 11th Circuit on this, as much as I want Big Tech to hurt for the pain and suffering they have caused creators and users who do not toe the line for the last couple of years, at least. If I allow my feelings, and if we allow our feelings to govern our minds, then how are we any better than the regressive Left? Answer, as unfortunate as it seems to be, is that we would not be any better. We would be the same. We need to be the adults in the room, the mature people who can think, not just do what feels good RIGHT NOW, but consider carefully what the long term fruit of snap decisions might be, before we pass something. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/13/tech/texas-social-media-pause #weekendedition #socialmedia #Texas #Florida #longterm #longgame #TechFreedom WE 8-4: Is 5G Dangerous to Civil Aviation? There have been studies funded by both those supporting the rollout (the FCC) and those who are concerned about the safety (the FAA). The FCC is pushing for the rollout and downplays any link between the new tech and the problems with altimeters, however, the FCC study concluded that the C band 5G radio transmissions were too close to where these altimeters function, in terms of frequency. They found that it being less than 1 GHz between the top of the C band spectrum and the entirety of the radar altimeters’ function could cause dangerous interference with the systems in most civilian aircraft. Between January and May, there were 93 reports of faulty or failing radar altimeters, where, according to the article there would typically be a handful. All this stated, you know me well enough by now, that I am not into causing fear in my viewers, but this topic stood out to me, as I don’t necessarily trust 5G as a whole anyway, but I want to try to be fair. The FAA has created a reporting system for pilots and crews to state their experiences with 5G flying. Over 550 reports have been filed to date, and they have had a chance to process about half of those, of that half, about 80 incidents were impossible to rule out 5G interference as a factor in. That seems like pretty strong evidence, to me. The FAA made a deal with Verizon & AT&T to reimplement more mitigations for this issue, including not activating towers within a 1 mile radius of any airport, and after that, the incident reports have been reduced in volume. This speaks to a strong correlation, in my mind at any rate. https://spectrum.ieee.org/faa-5g #weekededition #FAA #FCC #flying #5G #TechFreedom WE 8-5: Robotaxis? Would You Ride in One? This article is an interview with the CEO of Motional, which is working with a group of partner-companies to roll out fleets of robotaxies. As dangerous as driving is for a normal, unimpaired human being, and with where I understand the self-driving/ autonomy tech to be right now, it is hard to wrap my head around a world where I would simply and gladly ride in a driverless vehicle. They are looking at a phased rollout, where first they would use their partnership with Hyundai to ship assisted vehicles to companies like Lyft and Uber, and for a time, until certain metrics were met and exceeded, there would still be a driver at the wheel for these vehicles. So as much as they are looking at a long game here, they are also looking at rolling out fleets first, first with partners like Lyft and Uber, then with car rental companies, until both the tech has matured, and we, like frogs in a slowly heated pot, are used to the feeling of not being in control of our vehicles, and will be more open to purchasing a car that is not designed to be driven by a person at all. Does that sound like a good future to you? This feels a bit dystopian to me, even as a tech guy. I used to dream of autopilot and taking concepts from SciFi and moving it into the here and now, but then the stark reality of surrendering something as basic as driving to a computer hit me, and how easily that could be tweaked by some joker in a government office building, or even worse, an actuary. *shudder shudder* Is that what you want? Maybe I just have control issues, but I don’t know… that just seems stupid in a particularly monumental way. You tell me. https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/13/inside-motionals-strategy-to-bring-robotaxis-to-market/ #weekendedition #selfdriving #lyft #uber #hyundai #motional #driverless #taxi #yikes #TechFreedom Wrap up: Ok, so from a very hopeful view on the high tech export rules for China, to more Musk-Twitter drama, to whether government should be big enough to tell companies what they should or should not censor online, to 5G and aviation, to whether driverless vehicles are a good idea at all… this week has been packed to the gills with some major stories. What do I think about the Biden chip ban? Time will tell whether this move will be a net help or a net hurt for us. In the short term, we may realize some benefits to this, in that China will have to work harder to catch up, but they have some relatively strong silicon there already, otherwise why is the Linux Kernel including support for their LoongArch RISC-V processors? Might it also be edging us ever closer to open conflict with Beijing? Again, time will tell. Twitter is claiming that Musk is being investigated by the SEC for some incorrect filings when he first fielded this insane offer to buy the platform, this after the judge granted a postponement of the trial because Musk decided to change his mind about renewing his initial offer at $54.20/ share. That never sat right with me from the get-go though, that valuation never made sense to me. What do you guys think? I’m not convinced that Musk is the saviour that some try to paint him as… not even convinced that he is really that much of a genius, just shrewd enough to figure out how to play with the government’s money to line his own pockets. Sorry if that offends you, but what proof do you have that he is either a goof guy or that he is really as smart as we are led to believe? Oooohhhh, I want to see social media giants levelled. The way that they have mostly destroyed so many voices for truth in the last few years…. However, on principle, and taking a few steps back to look at the bigger picture here, I think, I am unconvinced that these efforts in FL & TX are the right way to go about fixing the problem of censorship, particularly since big Tech was in cahoots with at least the Federal gov’t in relation to Convid and J6, at the very least, if not about information related to Q things as well. Why don’t we “silent majority” types simply stop using these platforms altogether anyway? Why keep feeding the beast with more attention and money? Let’s ditch all of those accounts. Likely the people you were interacting with on Fakebook and Twatter aren’t genuine friends anyway, so would it really be a loss to stop talking with them from time to time? I would wager that the answer is likely a No… for those of you who are surviving with your business on Meta, due to ads and analytics, that seems like more of a significant loss, but is it really? How is your reach in comparison with before? Are you getting as much attention on your posts and ads and stories? Is 5G dangerous? It would appear that to commercial and private aviation, at least, it can be. The C band transmissions appear to interfere with autopilot capabilities and even something as basic as an altimeter, which until the rollout for 5G started a couple of years ago, were reliable. The FCC and Big Mobile were wrangling for a fast rollout, but the FAA, has pressed for lengthened mitigations around airports to increase safety, at least for another 6 months or so. What the point of that short timeframe is, I’m not sure. However, it, along with a study they commissioned, and first hand accounts and reports from pilots and crews about their instruments and autopilot systems being thrown way off when they are around 5G signals. Another strike against 5G? You decide. Finally, about driverless taxis… nah, I’ll pass. Even when the tech is fully mature, I don’t see myself being comfortable in a vehicle that I cannot directly control in a physical way. Am I the only weird tech person who doesn’t like that idea? Who else controls that computer? Will we be able to drive as usual as well, or just be relegated to being passengers, taken for a ride by a computer? That doesn’t sit well with me. How about you? Oh my, what a week… China, Musk, Twitter, Social Media Censorship, and self-driving vehicles… so much to say, but that is a wrap for the week. Enjoy watching a bit of Dune 2000 again shortly, and by the way, on Sunday, we will be continuing our walk through Psalm 37. In other news, if you like the content, please feel free to subscribe and toss me a rumble. Also, feel free to leave me a comment or any questions you may have, and I will do my best to answer them all. Thanks for watching the Weekend Edition from Tech Freedom. The music is We Are All One, by Scott Music, and the game was Dune 2000, by Westwood Studios. Be Blessed until next time, and don’t forget, “Let’s go Brandon”.

Ebola’s Back, Let the Election Scare Commence! India Fines Google Elon to Fire 75% of Twitter Staff Snap Growth Slow? Texas Sues Google? WE 9-1: Ebola “Strikes” in Uganda Again… Just in Time for a US Midterm Scare The first reported case was on September 15, in Uganda, after a 24-year-old man was admitted to Mubende Regional Referral Hospital with fever and convulsions. It was found to be the Sudan strain, which has no vaccine. I am not downplaying the potential deadliness of Ebola. However, we seem to have a major illness outbreak about every 2 years, almost like clockwork… this article does not touch that reality, but does observe that Ebola has flared up repeatedly in Africa over the last 40 years. With the current outbreak, there have been as many deaths as recoveries, which is interesting, but not necessarily surprising, as it does generally have a 50% mortality/ survivability rate. For now, it is simply another african outbreak, and the Ugandan government seems to have a handle on it via contact tracing and quarrantines. https://www.wired.com/story/uganda-ebola-outbreak-vaccine/#intcid=_wired-verso-hp-trending_309a8033-e2fd-40e0-a89d-bc7da4f491dd_popular4-1 #weekendedition #Ebola #electionflu #scaretactics #realtalk #thinkaboutit #TechFreedom WE 9-2: India Stands Up to Google, Fines Them $162 million for Anti-competitive Practices Oh no, our corporate overlords are getting fined again! Another fine? Whatever will we do? Will they survive all of this legal scrutiny? How could they ever do anything wrong? Anti-trust? Anti-competitive? No Way… Indian competiton regulator slaps Google with fine for Android-related infractions. The fact that Google requires OEMs to not only preinstall the entire Google App Suite, but to place it prominently on all Android devices. They also found, after a 3.5 year investigation, that A) Google has squashed competition in the Search space, even to the point of denying market access to competitors B) Leveraged its position in the app store market to protect its search interests (and mine more data that way) C) Used its position to defacto push Chrome browser as the best option D) Used its position to stifle other video platforms via its stranglehold on the Android OS and app store ecosystem E) By forcing the preinstallation of its suite of mobile apps, specifically forcing maufacturers to sign license agreements about the Play Store, Google has hindered the growth of Android forks and other alternative mobile OSes by reducing the ability and incentive for handset manufacturers to branch out, even if they wanted to. According to the Indian watchdog, all of these things add up to this fine that they are leveraging now. Google is suing due to leaks that happened about a year ago, claiming that the watchdog “broke confidence”. Governments around the world are finally waking up to the dangers of Google. Halellujah! Amen. Let’s bring them down, boys. Remember the $4.3 billion fine in the EU? They lost their appeal, so will have to cough it up. Their hegemony needs to be shattered. We need our privacy and our rights to choose back. I could go into a diatribe on this, but you all know where I stand and what I have to offer, so I won’t. https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/20/india-fines-google-162-million-for-anti-competitive-practices-on-android/ #weekendedition #India #Google #antitrust #anticompetitive #fines #abouttime #TechFreedom WE 9-3: Elon to Cut 75% of Twitter Workforce? This article is very sympathetic to the platform as it is. They cite concerns over the stress levels of current staff, as well as moderation, safety, and security concerns which would not be served by such drastic cuts. The writer suggests that Musk was just talking to bankers or investors who might be helping him to acquire the company, and would only be interested in making sure that it is as profitable as possible, therefore deep staffing cuts would seems appealing to them. It looks like the drama might finally be at an end, though, as the deal looks set to close by next Friday. I look forward to talking about other things, frankly. This story dragged on for too long, IMO. https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/20/elon-musk-twitter-layoffs-wapo/ #weekendedition #musk #twitter #done #almostclosed #wewillsee #whitehat #bigquestions #TechFreedom WE 9-4: Snapchat Growth Slowing? No More Advertisers? During its Q3 earnings call, Snap Inc reported itsslwoest quarterly sales growth ever. Advvertisers are not spending as much on ads with the current economy, and once stockholders caught wind of this, shares tumbled 20% in late trading. This is not to say that they didn’t grow. They still grew by an eyewatering $1.13 Billion in Q3. Wow. Just wow. Snap is tightening their belt,soto speak, by cutting up to 20% of their workforce, people who aren’t contributing to either revenue, user, or AR growth. I used Snapchat a little bit a few years ago, but never really got into it. The 1 minute timelimit was too tough for me to live with (can’t imagine why, can you?)... We are so jaded as the public and as investors that when growth numbers aren’t where we want them to be, even if only by a small percentage, we run for the hills. Wow. I knew this, but it is stunning when a company misses their projections by one hundredth of a billion in expected growth, that so many would just give up on them. I also have to wonder how much of that was simply institutional whales and various funds (mutual and hedge) vs individual investors on a mom & pop retail level. https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-10-20/snap-reports-slowest-quarterly-sales-growth-ever-as-advertisers-retreat #weekendedition #snap #snapchat #growth #cuts #market #stonks #TechFreedom WE 9-5: Texas Sues Google Again? Another Alphabet lawsuit? However could our benevolent digital overlords do anything to infringe on our digital rights? I have never heard of such a thing… Google is always innocent. Oh wait, that is STRONG sarcasm… if a government is taking issue with their practices, it is because they have been utterly eggregious in flouting the laws and regulations around those practices. Either that, or they are trying to pander to their constituents, who are starting to wake up to the abuses… either way, it is a net positive. That is what my emotions say… I do still question the size of the government in general, as I talk about most weeks. What is going on here? Well, Texas is alleging that Google gathered biometric data on Texas citizens illicitly, through facial recognition, voiceprints, and other biometirc identifiers, without explicit consent from the users. Included in the number they are asking for is up to $25,000 per violation. There are potentially millions of people who would be party to this suit and could collect on it, should the courts agree with Paxton’s team. https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/texas-sues-google-for-allgedly-collecting-and-using-biometric-data-without-explicit-consent/ #weekendedition #Google #Alphabet #privacy #Texas #agpaxton #biggov #BigTech #TechFreedom

Google Takes a Tumble Meta is Flailing Amazon Investors Flee Microsoft Earnings Down by 14% Year-on-Year Apple to Switch to USB-C In Keeping with EU Mandates WE 10.1: Google Takes a Tumble after Poor Q3 Earnings Call Bad Numbers, All around, here. Everything is down, down, down. Don’t get me wrong, their revenue still increased, just not at the rate expected, at a paltry $69.1 Billion, with is only a 6% increase, year-on-year. Ad revenue only went up by 2.5%, vs last year’s unicorn-type growth of 43% from the previous year. Let’s talk a little context here, though... What was happening in 2020, during Q3? Oh yes, we were effectively shut down as a nation, due to the PLANdemic. Only $13.9 billion of the $69.1 billion revenue number was net income... That means that between investments, payroll, and various losses, they paid out $55.2 billion during Q3. Just like you, Big Tech is feeling the Ukraine-Biden crunch. You’ll see this come as a common refrain across most of tonight’s stories. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/tech/google-earnings #weekendedition #Google #BigTech #badday #badquarter #bidenflation #ukrainianidiocy #TechFreedom WE 10.2: Meta Flailing... Stock Down 25% Over Night How the mighty have fallen... It is now worth barely more than 1/4 of what it was at its zenith of $380/ share last summer, at ~$98/ share. That is an eye-watering plunge. Something tells me that unless Meta gets a huge infusion of dark cash, it won’t be much longer for this world. Good riddance, LifeLog. Good riddance. What caused this seemingly sudden turn of opinion? Let’s look back, all the way to 2016... The last time shares were this low in Facaebook. Well before Zuck’s weird obsession with VR started. All of this culminated in an overnight trip around the toilet bowl for the current valuation to lose about 25%. Sure, they are still making money, but they posted another YoY decline in Q3. https://techcrunch.com/2022/10/27/meta-stock-yikes/ #weekendedition #meta #facebook #sugarboyaintsosweet #dumbzuck #TechFreedom WE 10.3: Even Amazon is Feeling the Pinch Amazon shares plunge 15% after a less-then-stellar amount of growth YoY. They still had $127.1 billion in sales from July-September, still had growth, but saw international business go down, due to economic pressures of inflation and the Ukrainian conflict... Or taht is their excuse anyway. Investors are a fickle bunch, ain’t they? I mused about that last week as well... Makes me wonder how sustainable the current system is at all. I don’t want to give anyone a black pill that they haven’t already been playing with anyway, but if even Big Tech is not growing apace, then what does that mean for us little people under their boots that we placed on our throats? https://www.bbc.com/news/business-63421170 #weekendedition #amazon #salesdown #stockdown #economy #struggles #TechFreedom WE 10.4: Microsoft Hurting, Net Income Down 14% YoY They beat the analysts’ projections, but it was still a bad Q3. Revenues were up 11% YoY, mostly carried by Azure cloud Services, with a 35% increase in sales YoY. However Wondows OEM revenue was down 15% YoY, seemingly fueled by a sharp decrease in PC shipments, to the tune of 19.5% YoY. Xbox is also losing revenue, but only 3%. MSFT stock dipped by 2% in after hours trading after that earnings call. Their stock prices have fallen roughly 25% since the beginning of the year. I wonder how much impact the Linux community is having on the Windows license sales numbers... Unfortunately, not likely that much. Let’s change that. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/25/tech/microsoft-earnings #weekendedition #MSFT #microsoft #earnings #revenue #decreases #morestablethanmost #TechFreedom WE 10.5: Apple to Ditch Lightning Connector? Looks like they will bend the knee to the EU, though they are not happy about it... Whining about how they “think the the approach would have been better... To not have a government be that prescriptive”. They sound like a spoiled child, used to getting their way, and now throwing a little fit over the inconvenience that the EU is inflicting on them, the environment, and their customers. Give me a break. Bend over, Apple, it is time to take your medicine, and stop being so proprietary. Oh wait, Tim Cook probably does that frequently and enjoys it... That shifts the insult a bit *shudder* *shudder*. I dare you, call me homophobic. Call me intolerant. Call me a bigot. I am a Christian conservative who believes that everything in the Bible is there for a reason. Sin is sin. Sin is doing something that hurts you or another person, and homosexuality, no matter how monogamously it is practiced, degrades both partners far more than heterosexuality does. There are always a constellation of issues there, but I digress. I am pleased to see that even the mighty bastion of proprietary hardware and software on earth can be brought to heel if a large enough government says “boo”. Should government be big enough? Was this a good call by the EU? Time will tell. https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/26/tech/apple-usb-c-charging #weekendedition #Apple #EU #chargergate #USBC #nomorelightning #TechFreedom