2023 Daily Tech News Show


1			TITLE: There's No Place Like Mastodon	Guest:

2			Stories subject to change up until showtime
3
4		tm	This tenth year of Daily Tech News Show is made possible by its listeners. Thanks to all of you including Carmine Bailey Vince Power Rodrigo Smith-Zapata
5			Coming up on DTNS Microsoft's building an AI chip, Amazon wants to make it easier to hear dialogue in TV shows and Annalee Newitz explains why mastodon feels like home.	Twitch Chat Pop-out Window
6			play the opening music here....
7			Today's date	--== START OF DTNS ==--
8			This is the Daily Tech News for... Tuesday April 18th, 2023. In LA, I'm Tom Merritt
9
10			From Studio Redwood, I'm Sarah Lane
11
12			And I'm the show's Producer Roger Chang
13			Introduce Guest
14			Annalee Newitz - Author of the novel "The Terraformers" and host of "Our Opinions Are Correct" podcast
15
16
17	:01	TM	Apple opened its first retail store in India, Here are the rest of the Quick Hits.	https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/17/apple-opens-its-first-retail-store-in-india-but-customer-challenges-persist/
18			play the news segue music here....
19			Quick Hits	Quick Hits:
20		sl	Adobe Lightroom now offers new AI masking categories for its “Select People” tool, with three additional Adaptive Presets for portraits — Darken Beard darkens someone's existing beard, Polished Portrait smooths skin and improves lighting, and Enhance Clothing helps an outfit pop with contrast, saturation, and texture. Lightroom already offers options to automatically whiten teeth, darken eyebrows, and adjust hair texture. The AI Mask categories are rolling out across Mac, Windows, Lightroom Classic, and Adobe Camera Raw, and the Adaptive Presets are available on iOS, Android, and Lightroom on the web.	https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23687862/adobe-lightroom-update-adaptive-presets-beard-ai-features
21		tm	We've got good news and bad news for China's tech sector. First the bad news: China's National Bureau of Statistics reported that in Q1, semiconductor output fell almost 15% on the year and smartphone production fell 13.8%. Now some good news, the government shows more signs of easing its crackdown on tech companies, as Reuters reports regulators are expected to reduce the fine against Ant Group from the equivalent of more than a billion dollars to somewhere around $700 million. Back to bad news, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission published a report identifying Chinese fast fashion companies Shein and Temu as risks to trade, product safety and intellectual property rights among other concerns, making them the next target after TikTok for US scrutiny. And we finish with good news for China. With the auto show beginning in Shanghai, Reuters notes that sales of electric vehicles from China's BYD are up 69% on the year to pass Volkswagen and Toyota in Chinese marketshare.	https://finance.yahoo.com/news/drop-china-chip-tech-output-072336442.html
22			--	https://www.reuters.com/technology/china-expected-lower-fine-ant-group-about-700-mln-sources-say-2023-04-18/
23			--	https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/18/shein-temu-us-scrutiny/
24			--	https://www.reuters.com/business/autos-transportation/chinas-electric-car-drive-led-by-byd-leaves-global-brands-behind-2023-04-17/
25		sl	Netflix continues to show signs it is serious about gaming. Joseph Staten, co-creator of Halo and Destiny, is now creative director for a AAA multiplatform original game at Netflix. Netflix previously said it has 16 titles in development in house, and around 70 in development with third parties. That may be Netflix's future but a part of its past is ending. Netflix announced its DVD by mail service will end September 29th this year.	https://www.polygon.com/23686464/netflix-games-joseph-station-halo-destiny
26			--	https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/netflix-shutting-down-dvd-business-1235182150/
27		tm	Reddit says it plans to start charging companies for access to its API, though it hasn't announced pricing yet. The new premium price point will be "for third parties who require additional capabilities, higher usage limits, and broader usage rights." Smaller developers will still have open access, "for reasonable and appropriate use cases." Founder and CEO Steve Huffman told the New York Times that the company doesn't "need to give all of that value to some of the largest companies in the world for free.” Reddit conversations are helpful for training LLMs, but can obviously also be used to create competititors. Reddit, which was founded in 2005, is said to be mulling an IPO later this year.	https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/18/technology/reddit-ai-openai-google.html
28			--	https://www.redditinc.com/blog/2023apiupdates
29		sl	Sonos announced a new service aimed at businesses called Sonos Pro. This supports all S2-compatible hardware, including its Ikea Symfonisk line, and provides a web portal to remotely control what content is playing at different locations, as well as basic troubleshooting like rebooting. It also includes Sonos Backgrounds, which features royalty-free music that's cleared for playing in commercial settings. Sonos Pro costs $35 per business location.	https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23686771/sonos-pro-commercial-audio-service-price-features
30			play the news segue music here....
31			Let's talk a little more about...	Top Stories:
32	:05		SEGMENT A
33
34		tm	The increase in use of the many flavors of AI, from machine learning to Large Language Models, is great news for Nvidia. Trendforce suggests OpenAI needs more than 30,000 Nvidia A100 GPUs for ChatGPT. And The Verge notes an Nvidia H100 selling for $40,000 on eBay. Google, Meta and Apple all design their own AI chips for their own use. And Amazon makes some available in AWS alongside Nvidia chips. So it shouldn't be a huge surprise that the Information's sources say Microsoft is speeding up plans to build its own AI chips. Project Athena hopes to make its chips available to folks inside Microsoft as well as to its partner, OpenAI as early as next year. At the very least it will save Microsoft money and it's possible, though not assured, that it could offer access to the chips in Microsoft Azure. To be clear Azure does offer access to AI models, they just run on Nvidia chips now. Should Microsoft - or any of the others- challenge Nvidia in this space?	https://www.trendforce.com/presscenter/news/20230301-11584.html
35			---	https://www.reuters.com/technology/amazon-cranks-up-ai-competition-against-microsoft-google-with-new-cloud-tools-2023-04-13/
36			---	https://www.theinformation.com/articles/microsoft-readies-ai-chip-as-machine-learning-costs-surge
37			---	https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23687912/microsoft-athena-ai-chips-nvidia
38
39
40
41	:10		SEGMENT B
42
43		sl	It can be hard to understand voices and dialogue in TV shows and movies for a lot of people. You can turn on captions or crank up the volume. And some folks have settings in their speakers that can help. Amazon wants to help in a way that gives its Prime Video service a competitive advantage. You can now turn on "Dialogue Boost" in select english-language versions of Prime originals. Amazon has used some algorithms-- probably some machine learning (they just say "AI" )-- to identify parts of shows where the dialogue might be hard to hear and then adapts the playback to make talking easier to hear. This is more precise than applying the same filter to a whole show or movie, like a speaker would have to do. Is this the best way to make audio more accessible?	https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23686792/amazon-prime-video-dialogue-boost-speech-ai
44				https://www.aboutamazon.com/news/entertainment/prime-video-dialogue-boost
45			NOTES - Dialogue Boost option in dropdown menu for subtitles - Dialogue Boost has a medium and high option. - details and info page will indicate if dialogue boost is available. - Launching on Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, and Harlem, as well as movies including The Big Sick, Beautiful Boy, and Being the Ricardos
46
47			play the "Bluesy vibes" segue music here....
48		tm	Feeling social? Get in touch with the DTNS audience on the socials. @dtnsshow on Twitter and Mastodon (mstdn.social) @dailytechnewsshow on TikTok and @dtnspix on Instagram
49			PAUSE PAUSE PAUSE
50			More Discussion Stories	Discussion Story:
51	:17		SEGMENT D
52
53		tm	A lot of folks are looking for new homes for their social media. BeReal, Substack Notes and more. The Verge has a great article up from Ellis Hamburger who worked at Snapchat until last year. I'm way oversimplifying an excellent read, but one of the things Hamburger points out is that when a social network adds digital advertising, priorities change and a lot of the problems social media has, stem from that. One company hoping to avoid this pitfall is Bluesky, a decentralized social protocol begun in Twitter and now fully independent of it. The Verge's Alex Heath has an interview with Bluesky CEO Jay Graber, who says he isn't ready to talk business models, and they've only let in around 20,000 users so far. One of the most prominent alternatives though is Mastodon, which recently passed an average of a billion posts a month and growing. Annalee wrote a column for New Scientist called "How I found a new home online at Mastodon, after giving up on Twitter." Why do you feel so at home on Mastodon?	https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23672769/social-media-inevitable-death-monetization-growth-hacks
54			---	https://www.theverge.com/23686778/bluesky-ceo-jay-graber-interview-decentralized-social-media-twitter-mastodon
55			---	https://fediverse.observer/stats
56			---	https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25834340-300-how-i-found-a-new-home-online-at-mastodon-after-giving-up-on-twitter/
57			---	https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2023/apr/18/mastodon-users-twitter-elon-musk-social-media
58			-0- you make the argument that the decentrailsed aspect of the platform is more of psychological roadblock to finding a home there. -0- You use the comparison between email and the Mastodon "fediverse". -0-
59
60			--
61			--
62			--
63			--
64
65		tm	If you're not already subscribed, follow the Know A Little More podcast which has an episode on Mastodon coming this Thursday.	http://knowalittlemore.com
66	:24	sl	Kicker - OPTIONAL	Kicker:
67			As part of a 3-year project to modernize airport check-in, Alaska Airlines is removing the check-in kiosk. The airline wants you to check in at home or on your smartphone. In place of the kiosk is a single-function, iPad-based bag tag station. As a flyer, you scan your boarding pass for a bag tag, with automatic bag drops that use biometric data to authenticate travelers. Alaska Air started the test in Palm Springs and is now ready for a wider rollout, but says things happen and agents will still be available on site for assistance.	https://techcrunch.com/2023/04/18/alaska-airlines-does-away-with-check-in-kiosks/
68
69
70
71
72		tm	Let's check out the mailbag
73			[PLAY MAILBAG SOUND]
74	:28	sl	Mailbag (feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com)
75			Thor writes "If its of interest id like to share why i am enjoying BeReal. I moved away from my home town [[of Høyjord]] several years ago and havent kept in contact with my childhood friends. Although I suddenly found that they where posting on BeReal! It has been loveley seeing how their respective farms are going. Its such a contrast to my daily work as a software Dev in Oslo."
76
77
78
79
80	:29		Thanks to...	Today’s guest:
81			Annalee Newitz	Annalee Newitz https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250228062/theterraformers http://techsploitation.com https://www.ouropinionsarecorrect.com @Annaleen @annaleen@wandering.shop	ouropinionsarecorrect.com	https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250228062/theterraformers	Annalee Newitz - The Terraformers and OOAC: Silicon Valley vs Science Fiction
82
83
84
85			GUEST PLUG 15 SECONDS MAX
86
87
88		sl	A special thanks to Colin who is one of our top lifetime supporters for DTNS. Thanks for all the years of support Colin!
89
90
91
92		tm	Patrons! Stick around for the extended show, Good Day Internet--- There are no end of leaks about the new Google Pixel, the next Samsung phone and whatever Apple is going to do next. Lots of you say you don't want to hear rumors and yet rumors are one of the most popular pieces of content on the interent. Why do we care so much? Should we care?
93			play the end theme music here....
94		sl	You can also catch the show live M-F at 4:00 PM eastern/20-hundred UTC find out more at dailytechnewsshow.com/live. We'll be back tomorrow with:	Next guest:
95		sl	Scott Johnson	Scott Johnson http://frogpants.com https://frogpants.substack.com @scottjohnson @scottjohnson@mastodon.sdf.org
96
97
98
99
100		tm
101				Show Links: http://dailytechnewsshow.com/ntx http://knowalittlemore.com http://dtns.bigcartel.com http://www.dailytechnewsshow.com/support http://dtns.tv/wiki http://sarahlane.com https://twitter.com/sarahlane https://medium.com/@sarahlane https://havesuchagoodday.com http://tomsnewbook.com http://swordandlaser.com/store http://frogpants.com/currentgeek http://www.cordkillers.com http://awordpodcast.com
102
103
104			GDI CONTENT - Quiz/game/content?	GDI Content:
105			Bloomberg's Mark Gurman has a good track record. Sometimes his stories are about obvious things like "there will be a new iPhone in the autumn." Sometimes they're insider tips like when he new AR headset will be announced. And sometimes even though his tip was right, things change and the AR headset does not get announced. But he usually has that info ahead of time too. The latest from Gurman is that Apple's purported mixed reality headset will run adapted versions of iPad apps. So things like Safari, FaceTime, Apple TV, Books, Freeform, Pages, Keynote, iMovies etc. Apple is still expected to announce the headset at the Worldwide Developers Conference June 5th, though it may not release it until later this year. We can talk about these leaks. But I'd also like o talk about leaks. What's the line between chasing after rumors and getting inside info on what's going to happen? When is it better to ignore the leaks and rumors and just wait for the official announcement?	https://www.theverge.com/2023/4/18/23688309/apples-vr-ar-headset-mixed-reality-apps-ipad
106			ALSO: dubiago — 04/15/2023 4:27 AM I don't get the Nicholas Cage / Pedro Pascal meme going about. They're in a car, looking at one another. Pascal is laughing. It's weird.
107
108
109
110			END OF DTNS SHOW NOTES	--== END OF DTNS SHOW NOTES ==--
111
112			Tell Audience to VOTE on TITLES
113			TITLES (we do Titles after GDI) - Maybe Quiz/game	Submitted
114		DTNS	There's No Place Like Mastodon	chaosasl
115		GDI	The Leak Shall Inherit the Earth	batfink_2001
116
117			Twitch Moderator view for subscriptions and bits	https://www.twitch.tv/popout/moderator/gooddayinternet/activity_feed
118			Patreon notifications	https://www.patreon.com/notifications
119
120			Feedback Notes:
121			popping in Sarah audio towards end?
122
123
124
125			Friday: Read the list of Credits
126			ROTATING PROMOS
127			Know A Little More is Tom's podcast to do deep dives into individual topics. And it's coming back this Thursday better than ever. If you have not yet sampled the show, go get subscribed right now. The first episode in the relaunch is about RSS, its rocky history and how it ended up being the underpinning of podcasting. Don't miss it. Subscribe by Thursday at knowalittlemore.com	Subscribe to Know A Little More: http://knowalittlemore.com
128			We love to hear from our supporters. So if you have some time please fill out our lastest survey. Let us know what about DTNS is working for you and what isn't. Just visit https://dailytechnewsshow.com/survey/	Take the DTNS survey: https://dailytechnewsshow.com/survey
129			What do YOU want to hear us talk about on the show? One way to let us know is in our subreddit. Submit stories and vote on them at dailytechnewsshow.reddit.com	News from you: http://dailytechnewsshow.reddit.com
130			Join in the conversation in our Discord which you can join by linking to a Patreon account at patreon.com/dtns	Join the Discord: https://www.patreon.com/dtns
131			Have a thought about something on the show but don't know our email address? Here it is! Email us feedback@dailytechnewsshow.com
132			Help us expand our listernership! Do you have ideas about guests from other podcasts/shows we should have on the show? Let us know! Check out our guest survey and put in your recommendations at dailytechnewsshow.com/survey/	dailytechnewsshow.com/survey/
133			Watch Tom's new show Tom's Top Five, where Tom will break down the top five things you need to know about technology. Everything from online services and AI to security and tech legislation. You can catch it at youtube dot com slash daily tech news show!	Check out Tom’s Top Five: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLHN12N7TXUyeSz1XWNVjwDvdzpAycENQi
134
135