2019 Daily Tech News Show


1	:00		TITLE: The Big Switcheroo - DTNS 3653	Guest:

2			Stories subject to change up until showtime
3			Coming up on DTNS Robots that can take orders, the final report on Uber's autonomous car death, and how Facebook pretended to care for your privacy in order to squash competitors	Twitch Chat
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5			Today's date
6			This is the Daily Tech News for Wednesday Nov 6th, 2019. In LA, I'm Tom Merritt
7			From studio redwood, I'm Sarah Lane
8			Scott Johnson
9			And I'm the show's Producer Roger Chang
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12			Get the wider conversation on our expanded show, Good Day Internet by becoming a member at patreon.com/dtns.
13	:31	TM	Let's start with a few tech things you should know...
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15			Quick Hits
16		sl	Apple has updated its privacy policy pages adding several technical white papers on how Safari, Photos, Location Services and Sign in with Apple work. Apple also updated new privacy and security features added to iOS 13, and macOS Catalina.	https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/06/apple-privacy-whitepapers/
17		scott	WhatsApp announced that it will roll out a global update for iOS and Android so that individuals can block other individuals, or everyone, from adding them to Groups. Unless a user specifically says anyone can add them to a group within their privacy settings, WhatsApp will now send a notification asking if it's ok before they get added. Previously users in India could select Nobody, Everybody or Contacts (but not specific contacts) to add them to Groups, but the feature was never rolled out globally.	https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/06/whatsapp-says-it-will-let-you-control-if-and-how-you-get-added-to-groups-for-real-this-time/
18		tm	The November Android security patch are out and this month marks the end of support for the first Google Pixel phone which launched in 2016. Google says the Pixel 1 will get one more update in December. Google promised three years of security updates for the Pixel 1 when it launched.	https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2019/11/rip-og-pixel-google-ends-support-after-just-three-years/
19		sl	JP Morgan analyzed Apple's 10-K filing and calculates that 31% of Apple's 2019 revenue came from retail, both in store and on its website. That's up from 29% last year and 28% the year before. JP Morgan points out that greater direct sales generally drive Apple Care sales, which increases Apple's service revenue.	https://www.imore.com/31-apples-revenue-year-came-directly-its-stores-and-its-website
20			Let's talk a little more about...
21	:34	scott	China issued official government guidelines Tuesday, restricting when children can play online video games. People younger than 18 years old may not play online games between 10 PM and 8 AM. AND they may only play online games for up to 90 minutes during the day on weekdays --and three hours on weekend days and holidays. There are also spending limits of 200 yuan a month ($22) for those 8 to 16 years old and 400 yuan a month for those 16 to 18 years old. Law enforcement will create a unified identification system to verify identity and age. China was the world's largest gaming market until his year when the US passed it. China halted approval for new games for nine months in 2018.	https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-50315960
22	:38	sl	AirBnB followed up on a tweet last weekend to announce four new features to discourage house parties, after the death of five people at an Airbnb-rented house party in Orinda, California. AirBnB will now verify 100% of its listings. A "Guest guarantee" will make sure a listing matches its online description. Guests will be provided a rental of greater or equal value if their reserved listing does not match the description or receive a full refund. A 24/7 "neighbor hotline" will be created, staffed by humans. And Airbnb will do manual reviews of high-risk listings.	https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/06/airbnb-is-pushing-major-safety-changes.html
23	:41	tm	The US National Transportation Safety Board released more than 400 pages of reports and supporting documents on the March 2018 crash of an autonomous Uber car that killed 49-year-old Elaine Herzberg in Tempe Arizona. Hertzberg was walking her bicycle across the road in a place not designed for pedestrians. The report says the car detected Herzberg and her bicycle before she entered the lane of traffic, 5.6 seconds before it hit her. The system initially classified her as a vehicle, then changed the classification several times. It did not predict that her path would cross the lane in front of the vehicle. Uber says it has made changes since and its new system would correctly identify such a situation and apply brakes more than 4 seconds before impact. As was previously reported, the safety driver was watching a video on her phone and did not see Herzberg in time. The report also notes that the Uber Advanced Technologies Group in Tempe didn't have a standalone safety division, a formal safety plan, standard operating procedures or a manager focused on preventing accidents. The report will be used to assign a cause for the crash and issue recommendations at a meeting on November 19.	https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-11-05/self-driving-uber-in-crash-wasn-t-programmed-to-spot-jaywalkers
24	:45	sl	Twitter is roliing out its new Topics feature, including more than 300 “topics” to follow such as sports, entertainment, and gaming. If you follow a topic you’ll see tweets from individual accounts that you don’t necessarily follow that are deemed to have credibility on these subjects. To decide what tweets go in a topic's feed, an algorithm scans for keywords related to a topic, checks to see if the tweet is from an account that normally tweets about the topic and then sees how many people are liking, retweeting or replying to a tweet. The feature is set to roll out globally on November 13th.	https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/6/20948547/twitter-topics-launch-sports-gaming-entertainment-test
25	:48	tm	The US Army Research Lab has developed software that lets robots understand verbal instructions, carry out a task on its own, and report back. Such robots could do reconnaissance, check for IEDs and other things done by robots now by remote control. The software can understand spoken commands and some gestures as well as take orders from a tablet. It can return data in the form of maps and images. It uses Deep Learning to identify objects and pulls from a knowledge base to help carry out orders. The combination allows it to handle orders like "go behind the building" and even ask followup questions like "You mean the building on the right?" before it can be deployed it will need to get faster and improve its reliability.	https://www.technologyreview.com/s/614686/the-us-army-is-creating-robots-that-can-follow-ordersand-ask-if-they-dont-understand/
26		topic reader	To get all the tech headlines each day in about 5 minutes subscribe to dailytechheadlines.com	http://dailytechheadlines.com/
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30			Discussion Story
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32	:51		Facebook API	https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/5/20950541/facebook-groups-api-developer-improper-user-data-access-disclosure
33			--	https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/5/20950541/facebook-groups-api-developer-improper-user-data-access-disclosure
34			Facebook platform partnerships head Konstantinos Papamiltiadis wrote in a blog post that around 100 developers accidentally had access to Facebook Group member data that was thought to have been cut off. In April 2018 Facebook changed its rules and began the process of restricting API Access to group members’ names, profile pictures and other data. Facebook thought it had locked down all access last year but in a security review found that some developers, primarily social media management and video streaming apps," mistakenly retained access to the data. Facebook says it has not found evidence that the data has been abused and the developers have been asked to delete the data. You can look at this as yet another Facebook error, or you can look at it as Facebook getting its act together and looking for issues before they cause issues. AND being transparent about it. But you should also consider a related story. Facebook didn't start restricting user data from developers in 2018. That had begun all the way back in 2012. Reuters reviewed sealed court documents from a a lawsuit filed in 2015 by Six4Three, the developer of a now-shuttered bikini photo app that lost access to Facebook user data. In internal emails, Facebook executives referred to a push to restrict user data as the “Switcharoo Plan.” A way to cut off competitors from Facebook user data while pitching it as improving privacy. The emails describe “three buckets: existing competitors, possible future competitors, [or] developers that we have alignment with on business models” as part of the project also called PS12N Developers in the last group - aligned with Facebook business-- were able to access user data by agreeing to make mobile advertising purchases or provide reciprocal user data under “Private Extended API Agreements.” The emails describe using an unrelated update to the Facebook login system as an excuse for the API deprecations. Facebook says the quotes were “taken out of context by someone with an agenda against Facebook.” According to TechCrunch Facebook executives told journalists in 2015 that the changes were being made to help build confidence in data privacy
35			Side note: California made a court filing demanding that Facebook respond to a subpoena relating to an 18-month-old probe into disclosure of Facebook user data to Cambridge Analytics and others. The filing said the social media giant was “failing to comply with lawfully issued subpoenas and interrogatories”	https://techcrunch.com/2019/11/06/california-attorney-general-investigation-cambridge-analytica/
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41		sl	Thanks to all those who participate in our subreddit. Submit stories and vote on them at dailytechnewsshow.reddit.com and join in the conversation in our Discord which you can link at patreon.com/dtns	http://dailytechnewsshow.reddit.com
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44		tm	Let's check out the mailbag
45	:58		Mailbag (feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com)
46			Ken had some ideas to defend your smart speaker against a laser tattack, hoping we get custom wake words someday would be one, and of course using voice training liek is offered aon many speakers. But his third way seems unassailable. 3) In the words of Starfleet captains, SHIELDS UP. Place a paper / cardboard / wood "shield", a book, paperweight, lamp, etc. between the speaker and window or even tiny lampshade around it to allow sound in and out but block laser light.
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51		sl	Shoutout to patrons at our Master and Grand Master levels including Dan Dorato-Hankins John Johnston Chris Smith
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56	:00	sl	Thanks to... Scott Johnson	frogpants.com
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65		tm	Plug tomorrow's guest: Justin Robert Young	Good Night Rob
66			END OF SHOW
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