Join Nathan Mumm and Mike Gorday as they toast to the latest tech trends and a drop of whiskey wisdom. This week's Tech Time Radio is a roller coaster ride through Amazon's smart shopping revolution and the looming shadow of AWS layoffs. We also cast an eye over the digital horizon at smart traffic signs teaching us good manners on the road and TikTok's dance to outpace the big players in social media.
Feel the pulse of innovation with us as we examine Apple's foray into AI with ReALM, a move set to redefine our interactions with technology. We're not just talking to our devices anymore; they're becoming a part of the conversation. And with guest Gwen Way, a shieldmaiden of cybersecurity, we unravel the deceptive charm of social engineers preying on the healthcare sector's IT desks. Plus, we're stirring the pot on the AI Cooking Assistant from Kickstarter, a gadget ready to transform your kitchen escapades.
As the final bytes of info stream through, we reflect on the transition from gas pedal to electric hum with the rise of e-bikes.
Episode 200: Starts at :30
Episode 200: Welcome fellow tech enthusiasts to the radio show, where we blend bits and bytes into a delightful digital cocktail with a little whiskey on the side!
This week on TechTime with Nathan Mumm®, keep your eyes peeled for new traffic signs designed to catch distracted drivers red-handed. Meanwhile, TikTok isn't just about short videos anymore; they're setting their sights on the photo-sharing throne, challenging Instagram with a new app. And in the high-stakes race for AI dominance, Apple isn't holding back. They're stepping up to the plate with ReALM, promising to be a game-changer in the realm of artificial intelligence. Stay tuned as we delve into these stories. Gwen Way is back with a new Gadgets and Gear item that makes Gordan Ramsey silent.
Stay tuned, dear listeners, as we unravel the mysteries of code, circuits, and whiskey. So grab your VR headset, adjust your tinfoil hat, and join us—it's TechTime Radio, and I am your Host, Nathan Mumm. #TechTimeRadio Join us weekly on TechTime Radio with Nathan Mumm, the show that makes you go "Humm" Technology news of the week for April 7th - April 13th, 2024
--- [Now on Today's Show]
--- [Top Stories in Technology]
--- [Pick of the Day - Whiskey Tasting Reveal]
The Distillarium Cask & Spin Triticale | 116 Proof | Price: $48 / 750ml
--- [Gadgets and Gear with Gwen Way]
Gwen shares with us the AI Cooking assistant
--- [This Week in Technology]
April 6, 1992 - Microsoft Releases Windows 3.1
--- [Marc's Whiskey Mumble]
Marc Gregoire's review of this week's whiskey
--- [Technology Fail of the Week]
This week’s “Technology Fail” comes to us from the UK as an e-bike exploded at Sutton train station during rush hour on 21st of March 2024
--- [Mike's Mesmerizing Moment brought to us by StoriCoffee®]
Question: Would you own an e-bike?
--- [Nathan Nugget]
Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit AWS
--- [Pick of the Day Whiskey Review]
The Distillarium Cask & Spin Triticale | 116 Proof | Price: $48 / 750ml
Mike: Thumbs Down
Nathan: Thumbs Up
Join Nathan Mumm and Mike Gorday as they toast to the latest tech trends and a drop of whiskey wisdom. This week's Tech Time Radio is a roller coaster ride through Amazon's smart shopping revolution and the looming shadow of AWS layoffs. We also cast an eye over the digital horizon at smart traffic signs teaching us good manners on the road and TikTok's dance to outpace the big players in social media.
Feel the pulse of innovation with us as we examine Apple's foray into AI with ReALM, a move set to redefine our interactions with technology. We're not just talking to our devices anymore; they're becoming a part of the conversation. And with guest Gwen Way, a shieldmaiden of cybersecurity, we unravel the deceptive charm of social engineers preying on the healthcare sector's IT desks. Plus, we're stirring the pot on the AI Cooking Assistant from Kickstarter, a gadget ready to transform your kitchen escapades.
As the final bytes of info stream through, we reflect on the transition from gas pedal to electric hum with the rise of e-bikes.
Episode 200: Starts at :30
Episode 200: Welcome fellow tech enthusiasts to the radio show, where we blend bits and bytes into a delightful digital cocktail with a little whiskey on the side!
This week on TechTime with Nathan Mumm®, keep your eyes peeled for new traffic signs designed to catch distracted drivers red-handed. Meanwhile, TikTok isn't just about short videos anymore; they're setting their sights on the photo-sharing throne, challenging Instagram with a new app. And in the high-stakes race for AI dominance, Apple isn't holding back. They're stepping up to the plate with ReALM, promising to be a game-changer in the realm of artificial intelligence. Stay tuned as we delve into these stories. Gwen Way is back with a new Gadgets and Gear item that makes Gordan Ramsey silent.
Stay tuned, dear listeners, as we unravel the mysteries of code, circuits, and whiskey. So grab your VR headset, adjust your tinfoil hat, and join us—it's TechTime Radio, and I am your Host, Nathan Mumm. #TechTimeRadio Join us weekly on TechTime Radio with Nathan Mumm, the show that makes you go "Humm" Technology news of the week for April 7th - April 13th, 2024
--- [Now on Today's Show]
--- [Top Stories in Technology]
--- [Pick of the Day - Whiskey Tasting Reveal]
The Distillarium Cask & Spin Triticale | 116 Proof | Price: $48 / 750ml
--- [Gadgets and Gear with Gwen Way]
Gwen shares with us the AI Cooking assistant
--- [This Week in Technology]
April 6, 1992 - Microsoft Releases Windows 3.1
--- [Marc's Whiskey Mumble]
Marc Gregoire's review of this week's whiskey
--- [Technology Fail of the Week]
This week’s “Technology Fail” comes to us from the UK as an e-bike exploded at Sutton train station during rush hour on 21st of March 2024
--- [Mike's Mesmerizing Moment brought to us by StoriCoffee®]
Question: Would you own an e-bike?
--- [Nathan Nugget]
Amazon is cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit AWS
--- [Pick of the Day Whiskey Review]
The Distillarium Cask & Spin Triticale | 116 Proof | Price: $48 / 750ml
Mike: Thumbs Down
Nathan: Thumbs Up
Broadcasting across the nation, from the East Coast to the West, keeping you up to date on technology while enjoying a little whiskey on the side, with leading edge topics, along with special guests to navigate technology in a segmented, stylized radio program. The information that will make you go mmmm. Pull up a seat, raise a glass with our hosts as we spend the next hour talking about technology for the common person. Welcome to Tech Time Radio with Nathan Mumm.
Nathan Mumm:Welcome to Tech Time with Nathan Mumm. The show that makes you go technology news of the week. The show for the everyday person talking about technology, broadcasting across the nation with insightful segments on subjects weeks ahead of the mainstream media. We welcome our radio audience of 35 million listeners to an hour of insightful technology news. I'm Nathan Mumm, your host and technologist, with over 30 years of technology expertise. Our co-host, here on my left, mike Rodea, is in studio. He's an award-winning author and our human behavior expert. Now, of course, we are live streaming during our show on five of the most popular platforms, including YouTube, twitchtv X, facebook and LinkedIn. We encourage you to visit us online at techtimeradiocom and become a Patreon supporter at patreoncom. Forward slash techtimeradio. We are friends from different backgrounds but bring the best technology show possible weekly for our family, friends and fans to enjoy. We're glad to have Odi ODR producer at the control panel today. Welcome everyone. Let's start today's show.
Speaker 1:Now on today's show.
Nathan Mumm:Today on Tech Time with Nathan Wim, we bring the latest buzz from the tech world straight to your ears.
Mike Gorday:You can't even get your name right. Nathan, mum, no, nathan.
Nathan Mumm:Mum your name right Nathan Mumm. No, nathan Mumm Registered trademark. There you go, we bring the latest buzz from the tech world straight to your ears. Today's lineup is brimming with the innovation and industry shakeups. First, amazon just walked out on their technology and is taking a backseat as they introduce the smart dash cart, redefining the convenience in grocery store shopping. But that's not all smooth sailing. Amazon is also scaling back with job cuts announced in its cloud computing giant, aws.
Nathan Mumm:On the roads, keep your eyes peeled for new traffic signs designed to catch distracted drivers, red-handed. Meanwhile, tiktok isn't just about short videos anymore. They're setting their sights on the photo-sh sharing throne, challenging Instagram with a new app, and will watch out YouTube as they look to take them on. Next, and in a high stakes race for AI dominance, apple is holding back no longer. They have stepped up to the plate with REALM, which is also known as Realm. That promises to be a game changer in the realm of artificial intelligence. So stay tuned as we dive into the stories. Of course, gwenway is back with a new gadget and gear that will make Gordon Ramsay silent. In addition, we have our standard features, including Mike's mesmerizing moment, our technology fail of the week and a possible Nathan nugget and, of course, our pick of the day, whiskey tasting, to see if our selected whiskey pick today gets zero, one or two thumbs up at the end of the show. Now it's time for the latest headlines in the world of technology.
Speaker 1:Here are our top technology stories of the week.
Nathan Mumm:All right Story. Number one in the race to control AI dominancy, apple steps up to the place with REALM, also known as Realm, but most people and the way Apple announced it is it's R-E-A-L-M.
Speaker 2:That's Realm.
Nathan Mumm:Well, I know they want it to be kind of a mixture of the deal, but there you go. So we're now going to go to David Larson with more on the story.
Speaker 2:Apple AI researchers recently published a paper highlighting plans to supercharge Siri with nifty AI capabilities. Apple has been relatively quiet and rather slow hopping onto the AI bandwagon compared to its competitors like Microsoft. This has proven to be beneficial, as Microsoft is the world's most valuable company, with over $3 trillion in market capitalization, but Apple is about to enter the market with re-ALM. What are your thoughts back in the studio?
Nathan Mumm:All right. So, according to tech experts, Apple's LLM, which is their, of course, their large language model. We talk about that a lot on this show.
Speaker 2:Yeah, that's essentially the big database.
Nathan Mumm:Right, that's the big database for.
Mike Gorday:AIs to search through. So we all know how I feel about AI mostly.
Nathan Mumm:Well for the new listeners that are joining in. How do you feel about AI Mike?
Mike Gorday:It really bothers me Okay. But, I have to say that it writes your scripts better than you do.
Nathan Mumm:Oh, there you go. Wow, funny, funny, funny.
Gwen Way:All right.
Nathan Mumm:Well, according to Apple's LLM, it's reportedly outperforming ChatGPT4, and Sam Altman is already upset and says that it kind of sucks his current version that he has out there and that they have a brand-new, better version just waiting to be released.
Mike Gorday:So does it suck Well.
Nathan Mumm:It's not as good as the reference resolution, as language modeling. That is the official term for Siri's new capability of using AI to process on-screen content. Now additional R-E-A-L-M will reportedly ship with the Just call it Realm.
Mike Gorday:Everybody wants it to be Realm. Apple wants it to be Realm, you know, it wants it to be Realm. Okay, okay, just call it Realm.
Nathan Mumm:Okay. Additionally, realm will reportedly ship with the capability of converting conversational on-screen and text formats to large language models. Per a research paper that was released just two weeks ago, based on their findings, apple's smallest AI model showcased the similar performances when compared to OpenAI's ChatGPT-4. According to the researchers, they ran a benchmark of Apple's new AI tool set against OpenAI's 3.5 and their four models. Based on their finding, apple's smallest AI module, which would be in like your phone, showcased a similar performance as OpenAI's GPT-4. Essentially, the smaller model will enable the units to be shipped on Apple's possibly iOS 18, with an update in the soon-to-be-launched new lines of iPhones. So now? So Apple's been very quiet, right, about AI. They kept on calling it everything other than AI. Now they're coming on out saying, okay, we're going to get into the AI race. They're going to use Siri, which makes sense, right? You ask Siri for directions, you ask it for this. It's going to go into their language model. So I can now have a conversation, kind of like I do my Alexa device. Alexa's really good about this.
Mike Gorday:You can have kind of Alexa, do this, alexa, do this? Alexa turn off the lights. Alexa turn on the TV, yeah. But you can't say hey, alexa, how's it going, and have a conversation. No, you have to ask it a question and some of the questions, or most of the questions, I ask Alexa. She's like I don't know that one.
Nathan Mumm:Okay, well, you know what?
Mike Gorday:I'm sure they're going to have to get up into the game too. Game too, because you know zuckerberg is gonna be crying after he hears our fourth story today.
Nathan Mumm:Oh no, he's gonna be a little bit upset. We don't want zuckerberg crying. Uh, do we really care too much about it? Not really okay, all right, go. How about go to story number two? Okay, well, buckle up. Okay, especially especially you. Well, why especially me?
Mike Gorday:new traffic signs might catch you looking at your phone and other things.
Nathan Mumm:Oh Okay, explain a little bit about that. Well, guess what?
Mike Gorday:Going on right here in Seattle's King County. Okay, they are testing new smart signs that use infrared signals to detect unsafe driver behavior. Okay, such as holding a cell phone or not wearing a seatbelt.
Nathan Mumm:I don't know if it's like eating a burger or whatever. So they have technology for cell phone looking and seatbelts, yeah.
Mike Gorday:Oh boy, and you know, like those things on the side of the road that tell you if you're speeding. Yeah, it does that too. Okay, it tells you if you're speeding also. Yeah, if you're speeding, it does that too. Okay, it tells you if you're speeding also. Yeah. So officials say the signs don't take photographs or collect personal information which I'm not sure how that's going to work out quite yet.
Nathan Mumm:So they're never going to take a photo of my license plate when I drive by it, because they already have those photo devices. They already have those already. Yeah, okay.
Mike Gorday:So the traffic lab is a Seattle Times project that is investigating the region's transportation issues to explore the policies and politics that determine how we get around and how billions of dollars of public money is being spent. If you use your phone while you're driving, don't buckle your seatbelt or speed, Just know this road signs will be watching and collecting. It sounds like this is a data collection thing. Okay, but our source wasn't quite clear, because it does say hey, if your phone's out, you might get a message that say put your phone down On the big little bleeping sign on the side, I guess which, if you're looking at your phone, you're not looking at the sign.
Mike Gorday:So I don't know how that, unless it has something like-.
Nathan Mumm:So that is true so if I'm texting on my phone, it should have somebody like yell at you, yell at you. Or like zap you into your car.
Mike Gorday:No no, no. Can you imagine that we use all these AI things now to yell at you in different voices? Okay, okay.
Nathan Mumm:It'd be like put your phone down. Like the old lady that's on the old. Get off my lawn. Get off the lawn lady. Okay, all right, that's on the old Get off my lawn. Get off the lawn, lady. Okay.
Mike Gorday:All right. So technically they may be sensing, sending infrared signals into your car to detect the unsafe behavior and then issuing a stern warning. Each sign promises to detect such unsafe behavior and adapt to target specific behaviors, so I guess they'll somehow know it's you driving by how?
Nathan Mumm:would they know that I don't know Without having personal information?
Mike Gorday:I can imagine you driving by every road sign and be put your seatbelt on, nathan.
Nathan Mumm:Are you saying that I have a problem putting my seatbelt on?
Mike Gorday:You admittedly have a problem putting yourself in it. I do.
Nathan Mumm:Sometimes I need to do a better job of putting my seatbelt on, because that's very important in today's world to make sure you're safe.
Mike Gorday:I wonder what it will do with smoking in your car. I wonder if that's a thing, is it smoking?
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, I think you can smoke in your car, right Anything that you do in your car.
Mike Gorday:That's not driving. Is actually distracted driving Eating, drinking.
Nathan Mumm:How about those listening devices to everything?
Mike Gorday:Playing.
Nathan Mumm:Monopoly. How about those new cars, all the new cars from 2020 plus that are spying on you that we did the?
Mike Gorday:story on that. Your insurance, yeah, this is whatever. I hate that stuff. Okay, all right. Technology has become an increasingly favored tool for combating speeding and reckless driving. The Washington legislature has expanded local cities' authority to use traffic cameras in and around school zones, bus lanes, intersections and other areas deemed uniquely unsafe. Seattle recently agreed to roll out the cameras to catch people. Drag racing Surveillance because yeah, that's apparently a problem here in the Pacific Northwest which I was really kind of in awe about.
Nathan Mumm:No, I used to do that back in high school.
Mike Gorday:Well, I think they do it everywhere, but there's no straight roads here.
Nathan Mumm:You used to race cars from the flats of Everett to Marysville where I was going, there's no straight roads. Yeah, you would get up to 90, 100. I'm going to get my good old Chevy Monte Carlo.
Mike Gorday:Oh yeah, Listen to you talking about your. Hot.
Nathan Mumm:Wheels collection. You remember the Monte Carlo? I had a boat. Yeah, I remember the Monte Carlo 1979.
Mike Gorday:Monte Carlo Was it an SS.
Nathan Mumm:It was not no, I only had the 305. Then it wasn't worth my time. I only had the 305, not the 350.
Mike Gorday:Surveillance concerns remain real, so traffic cameras are strictly limited in what information they can provide. Smart signs do not have cameras.
Speaker 2:Okay.
Mike Gorday:And the county coalition promises no personal information can be gleaned from the radio act technology. There is no enforcement component right now, so drivers won't be ticketed, they're just simply going to be warned.
Nathan Mumm:Okay, so now hang on. There has to be some type of positive type of deal, because they're just going to tell you negative stuff. That doesn't fit into our Apparently.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, if the sign detects that drivers are focused, buckled up and not speeding, it will smash a uh flash of the smiley face oh, okay, there you go and reward them, and before it reinforces you, I get power points.
Nathan Mumm:I don't know, I get like 500 of those and I can then go and in in by a traffic cone.
Ody:Isn't that kind of hoping that you get sort of uh, what do you call it?
Mike Gorday:It's behavioral modification, but what's the word for it? Reinforcement.
Ody:Yeah, positive reinforcement Positive reinforcement.
Nathan Mumm:See, that would work on me.
Mike Gorday:This can work to an extent.
Nathan Mumm:Those speeding signs, the I love it because it comes on with a little siren when you go too quick.
Mike Gorday:It flashes at it, and then it does a siren little thing. So that uses things like social cues to make you speed down. But the problem is another cognitive problem, which is called situational blindness and awareness or alarm fatigue. So you'll get tired of seeing it and it won't make that much difference. So initially I think probably what will happen is that this will create some sort of nudge, which is what this uses as nudge psychology, and then the nexus will go down.
Nathan Mumm:And then it'll go down again, because everybody will start ignoring it, alright. Well, that was a positive story. I'm excited about that.
Mike Gorday:No, you're not.
Nathan Mumm:You are so not. I just got to make sure that if I'm only driving with my one leg and I'm looking at my phone and I have no seatbelt, You're going to find how many messages they
Mike Gorday:can flash at you at one time.
Nathan Mumm:You're going to be like driving with your Wear your seatbelt and make sure you're not a distracted driver.
Ody:Okay, Odie, do you have a story PSA? Yeah you have a psa, psa from. That's my psa um.
Nathan Mumm:You know those walkout amazon stores yeah, they're just that's all fake, that's all fake, that's all fake, it's all fake?
Ody:well, it's not. You know, I thought it was some high-tech thing and I thought that was really cool. It's not. It's just a bunch of people outsourced in india that are constantly watching your every move through all the mini cameras inside the store that then tally everything that you put away or grab and then they send it to you. That's why it takes so long to get a receipt.
Nathan Mumm:So you're telling me which has been, if it were like Busted or Truth and Loss.
Mike Gorday:When this came out, they said that this had all this high-tech stuff going on.
Nathan Mumm:That's how Amazon sold it and essentially it was a bunch of people in. India that were watching you on closed-circuit TVs cameras and then they would decide with that great technology what they needed to be done. So essentially it was more cost-effective to hire India people to do this type of stuff than actually develop a technology that really knew what you were doing?
Ody:Apparently not, though, because now they're rolling out these smart shopping carts.
Nathan Mumm:Okay, yeah.
Ody:So they're going to replace all the walkout no more walkout, they're going to be slower.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, so all the walkouts have stopped Right, so we can no longer have that technology, because the India people revolted.
Ody:Right, I got, you Did they.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, that was kind of how.
Ody:That's how it leaked, that's how it leaked and they got upset and instead they're going to have smart shopping carts, which I don't know if you've seen at the Whole Foods, but you kind of just sign in. Yeah, they check, they're dumb.
Mike Gorday:They have a scale, they're. So this is like Amazon.
Nathan Mumm:Just think of this as a captive audience. When you grab one of those carts, they could just pump you with Amazon Prime promos by the 30 minutes that you're shopping there, that you're going to go home and you're going to want to watch everything.
Mike Gorday:You're going to watch the report of the rain. Well, they had this thing. You want to watch this, you want to watch that. All their ads. They had this thing and they were testing out in one of the grocery stores that I went into. Yeah, and you use the cart and it has a scanner on the cart and a weight on. That's the same thing she's talking, yeah and then you just pay at the cart.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, yeah, that's the same thing. They have the same thing here yeah, okay, that's dumb.
Mike Gorday:How's that dumb? Because if, if I, if I'm going to, if I'm going to, what Think?
Speaker 2:about it.
Mike Gorday:Just think about it for a moment. If you put stuff in your cart and you don't scan it, or you put something under the cart that you don't scan and then you walk out with the cart.
Ody:Listen, theft is already a thing. Okay, that's another reason that the poison is strong. You're just going to shoot it down.
Mike Gorday:We already have the walkout lanes. They have the self-checkout.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, is already a thing, okay that's another reason that they're pushing the store. You're just going to shoot it down.
Ody:I think it's done.
Nathan Mumm:We already have the walkout lanes. They have the self-checkout. Yeah, I told you.
Speaker 2:I saw someone at Steaks. He was waiting in line more than five minutes.
Nathan Mumm:We all know that, and he said screw it, it's free, he just walks right on out he had.
Mike Gorday:I used to have a buddy who would go in for lunch at a local Safeway and he would get all this stuff, and then he would actually go through and pay for the soda. Yeah, and that's it. Jeez, at least he was paying for something. The bare minimum, but I didn't find this to be a really helpful thing for my shopping experience.
Nathan Mumm:All right. So, as a consumer, are you excited about smart cards?
Ody:You know, I've seen them at the Whole Foods and I just don't trust it.
Nathan Mumm:You don't trust them.
Speaker 2:I don't trust them.
Ody:I don't want to go through the hassle Because you have to scan, you have to sign in, essentially, yeah.
Nathan Mumm:And you have to put your credit card in. Yeah, or't have to put it in a database checkout or you can already can already log in with your amazon prime account. So if you already have an amazon account, yeah, go, and you can log it.
Mike Gorday:By the way, that's, that's freaking weird how they just know the image of my palm yeah and that oh, you saw that too, huh yeah, my sister hates that a lot of people are freaking. A lot of people freak out about stuff.
Ody:I that I still did it because you know that sounds cool, but I don't trust that. Now what are they going to do with the image of my palm? What are they going to do with that?
Nathan Mumm:Some will hack into it.
Mike Gorday:You're buying a lot of stuff on the dark web that you don't know about?
Nathan Mumm:That's right All right.
Mike Gorday:Well, here you go.
Nathan Mumm:Story number four, let's talk about TikTok. Confirmed that it has a working on an app specifically to take out everything remaining in meta.
Speaker 8:All right, so let's go and take a look to our correspondent and see what he has to think about this. Tiktok is preparing to launch a new photo-sharing app to compete with Instagram. Recently, tiktok users have received pop-up notifications that their existing photo posts will be shared on the new app, which will be called TikTok Notes. The news comes as TikTok faces a number of obstacles, including a potential ban in the US, but that has not stopped TikTok, as it is now the social media leader in the world with 46% of the market share, passing Meta last month. Ok Tech Timers, who picked TikTok to overtake Meta this year in the prediction show.
Mike Gorday:I think we both did.
Nathan Mumm:I think we all did. Oh, did you get that question? I said that they would actually take it.
Ody:I said no.
Nathan Mumm:You said no, yeah, uh-oh.
Ody:Which I didn't know that they were doing all this. I wasn't cheating.
Nathan Mumm:Well, they're not cheating. Essentially, TikTok now is coming on out with TikTok Notes, as they just talked about there. Tiktok Notes is essentially Instagram, but no longer on the meta platform.
Ody:I am so thankful that they're doing that, because literally meta everyone, they all just copy each other.
Mike Gorday:Yeah.
Ody:So I'm glad that they're finally coming out with this.
Nathan Mumm:Well, you know what? Tiktok is not starting there and the company ByteDance is specifically working on a player that would be able to load more videos and longer videos that you could categorize up to 30 minutes, maybe up to two hours. That would look pretty much like YouTube and be able to compete in that space. As they're working on code right now, you know what. Now TikTok's also experimenting with text posts to compete with this company called XnThreads. So ByteDance has said every social media company out there we now own it.
Ody:I congratulate them. I'm ready for it.
Mike Gorday:I'm ready to be on there just spending all my time, all your time on TikTok, all my time on it. You're just going to become a TikToker. Huh Well, it's no.
Nathan Mumm:See, now you're going to have Facebook and you're going to have TikTok. You're going to have two alternatives, yeah, so guess what?
Mike Gorday:Facebook better step up the game. I think Facebook or slash meta has run it yeah.
Nathan Mumm:I do. I think they're in trouble. All right, there you go. Well, that is our top technology stories of the week Moving on. Gwenway is up with our gadgets and gear segment with a product that needs some help coming to the market. She's excited about what makes this product unique. You can only find that out next when Gwen Ray joins us. You're listening to Tech Time with Nathan Mumm. See you after this commercial break.
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Nathan Mumm:Welcome back to Tech Time with Nathan Mummar. Our weekly show covers the top technology subjects without any political agenda. Verify the facts and we do it with a sense of humor, in less than 60 minutes and, of course, with a little whiskey on the side. Today, mark Gregoire, our whiskey connoisseur, is not in the facts, and we do it with a sense of humor, in less than 60 minutes and, of course, with a little whiskey on the side. Today, mark Gregoire, our whiskey connoisseur, is not in the studio, so Odie is filling in his spot for our whiskey Odie. What has Mark chosen for us today?
Ody:Wherever you are, Mark, screw you first of all, and then oh wow, we're right off the bat.
Mike Gorday:This is the producer, the Mark.
Nathan Mumm:Mumbles is. You didn't see her face? No, I have a witness. She did not like this.
Ody:No, Well, I'm not saying anything yet. You were like ah.
Gwen Way:I think as soon as you said you liked it.
Mike Gorday:We were all like uh-oh.
Ody:Yeah.
Mike Gorday:This is the Distillerium.
Ody:Cask and Spin Triticale batch one Okay, from the website directly. This is a whiskey with a story, when every sip captures the spirit of the rodeo spin. Our journey begins with locally grown triticale grain, known for its robust and distinctive flavor. Ignite your senses with a dance of rich caramel and a crackle of spice. Cask and spin the intricate footwork of a reigning horse performance, daring you to savor the untamed spirit of the American West in every sip.
Mike Gorday:I think it's useful for somebody who has been spinning on horses to drink this one.
Nathan Mumm:What's the proof of this? How much does it cost?
Ody:Okay, listen, so it's four years old.
Nathan Mumm:It's a 116 proof.
Ody:The mash bill is 95% triticale and 5% malted barley Goes for $48. And it's from Yakima Okay, which I was excited for, a local whiskey.
Nathan Mumm:Well, have you tasted Woodinville whiskey?
Ody:No Sorry.
Mike Gorday:They're not Tennessee bourbons.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, there's something about the whole idea of Kentucky and Tennessee, where they actually make this stuff and they've been doing it.
Mike Gorday:They're almost Canada stuff, oh Canadian stuff.
Nathan Mumm:Wow, no, no, no. You know what I mean. We're near the border, so we make really good wines up here and we make some good coffee.
Ody:We got the apples. I mean I understand that, yeah, because we have good apples?
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, I don't know if we're good wine people. I'm not sure about this.
Ody:I do like this though. Yeah, you like it.
Mike Gorday:I do, I think it has. Yeah, maybe, but your face almost completely fell off your skull when you took a sip.
Nathan Mumm:It did look like she was like oh, that was the worst thing I've tasted.
Mike Gorday:Is it triticale or triticale?
Ody:I don't know. Okay, I'm reading it as it is. It's triticale maybe.
Nathan Mumm:Maybe triticale.
Mike Gorday:I'll say triticale, that sounds better than triticale. Okay, I'll say Triticale.
Ody:There you go, anyway don't forget to like and subscribe. Leave a comment down below.
Nathan Mumm:Okay.
Ody:We're waiting to hear what y'all think about it.
Nathan Mumm:All right, there you go. This is local Yakima, so if you're in the Pacific Northwest and you've tasted this before, let us know you would like to find the location, because I'm sure it's a local Yakima winery slash distillery that's available to purchase those items also. Well, with our first whiskey tasting completed, let's move on to our feature segment. Today we have Gwen Wei joining the show. She's an expert in cybersecurity during the day and a game board geek in the evenings, as well as a producer of the Tech Time Radio show itself. We have our gadgets and gear gal, ready. Let's start our Comcast video stream now.
Speaker 1:What's new in our gadgets and gear.
Nathan Mumm:All right, gwen. Welcome to the show.
Gwen Way:Always happy to be here All right.
Nathan Mumm:So before we dive into the gadget, yesterday at the production meeting there was a story you pitched. You pitched like eight of them. Like the great person, gwen always produces the most of the pitch stories that she does, and you know what, if you look at the percentage of them, we don't always use them, but they are always the best, and when you're not there, like if you miss a night, then all of a sudden we're all scrambling around saying where's Gwen? This was a story you talked about regarding the US Department of Health and Human Services. Hhs warns that hackers are now using social engineering tactics to target IT help desks across the health care and public health sector. You said that you had a specific incident that you're actually working on or that you worked with. Tell us a little bit about what's going on here and how people can protect themselves in this space.
Gwen Way:We've actually seen quite a bit of this kind of social engineering, and especially in healthcare situations. One of the easiest things for a hacker to do is pretend to be a doctor who is trying to save lives and locked out of their account, and they'll call IT and just shout at the IT person until they reset the account with a password that that hacker can then use.
Nathan Mumm:Well, that makes sense. So you say you're a doctor, you got to. I'm out of my account. I have this person here. They're a patient I need to be here. They do this on TV all the time they do yeah. So then all of a sudden you just get that password because the poor, the poor help desk guy doesn't want someone to die or anything like that. So all of a sudden he gives it away and boom.
Mike Gorday:Most likely the poor help desk guy doesn't want to get in trouble.
Nathan Mumm:Yes, he does not, because he just wants to do his job, help people go home and play video games. I mean, that's 90% of what IT people want to do. They want to help people.
Mike Gorday:They want to help, yes, by nature. I don't understand that concept, because where I work they seem to not want to help people. They want to make it hard for you to do your job, but you work for a state company right. Yeah, okay, it's not a work for a government agency.
Nathan Mumm:What did they take away today? What did they take away?
Mike Gorday:They didn't take it away today, okay, but they disallow Siri on our phones.
Nathan Mumm:Okay, so you can't have your phone, can't have Siri on it.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, and I don't know why.
Nathan Mumm:There's no reason for it. I don't know why either. Okay, but okay. Well, there you go All right, all right.
Gwen Way:You can't have Furbies in government agencies, still to this day.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, although of all the apps you're talking about to be safe with you know what, siri's pretty safe. I mean you got a lot of other stuff out there that I'd be worrying about, but clearly your IT team made a good decision.
Mike Gorday:I don't know, we kind of live in the dark ages when it comes to IT.
Nathan Mumm:So that must be a struggle for you being on our technology show and then having to hear the IT stuff 30, sometimes just shake your head, or what happens to you I rage a lot, oh yeah. Yeah, okay, yeah it's hard.
Mike Gorday:It's hard when I have to try and deal with something that is clearly something that modern-day technology can handle, and it won't Okay All right.
Nathan Mumm:Well, Gwen, thank you so much for letting us know about that. Let's move on to our gadget. All right? So what do we have for our listeners today?
Gwen Way:So this goes back to the root of Kickstarter. For me, I think a lot of the things that we've been focusing on are produced by larger companies that actually have backing already and are just looking for additional crowdsourced backing, but this is legitimately a programmer sitting in his kitchen with a problem that he wanted to solve. The device is called AI Cooking Assistant. As I stated, it's on Kickstarter and it is pretty much exactly what it says it is. This is something that will display recipes, help you find recipes, read recipes out to you, if it's easier, while you're cooking, and just generally provide you information in the kitchen that you might like to have.
Nathan Mumm:So tell me. So I saw this video and I was like, oh man. But after I did a little bit more research because it's very, what do you want to say? Rudimentary? I mean it's very.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, you were all about the optics of the whole thing.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Mike Gorday:It's just an undeveloped technology.
Nathan Mumm:So this guy has an idea and he is a developer and he definitely tells the developer. But as I started, I actually did a little bit more Google search on this guy and he is just kind of a nerdy guy that's coming up with an idea and he's hoping to get enough funding for this product so he can actually make it. He's very comfortable and confident.
Nathan Mumm:He can use AI whether that's a free version of ChatGPT 3.5 or a paid version of one of the other large language models to create what he's looking to do. And he had last night, three backers, right, so he's. He's a little bit on the beginning of this, but he has. He has a dream and if it comes to fruition and he actually gets enough backers, I think this is actually something that could be really good. So tell us a little bit more. How many backers is there now? How much does this cost? Where do you want to go? And a little bit about this, gwen.
Gwen Way:Sure. So we're still sitting at about three backers, but we have until May the 3rd. So if anybody else wants to help make this gentleman's dream come true, hop on that. One of the things that I really appreciate about this. You know, I've got a Google Home device in my own kitchen that I use for similar things, but of course, being a Google device, it's gathering all kinds of information on me. This gentleman's device doesn't really do that, because what's he going to do without any information about what you're cooking? So it's a little safer, a little less big brothery, which I think is a very good thing.
Mike Gorday:Well, also, I hope it will actually display a menu, because I do the same thing when I'm in the kitchen I'm trying to cook something and I Google something. Oh my God, Just trying to find the recipe is like digging through hours and hours of stuff.
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, there is.
Mike Gorday:And you have like two years worth of life story that you have just written. Yeah, In fact they started putting little touch buttons that say jump to recipe because there's all this stupid stuff that goes with it. Yeah, recipe.
Nathan Mumm:There's a lot of recipe sites out there where people comment. Yeah, there's comments on it. They tell you how of recipe sites out there where people comment and then it becomes a full forum.
Mike Gorday:They tell you how awesome it is and they tell you why it's awesome. They tell you where it came from. I'm like no, just tell me how to heat this up so I can eat.
Gwen Way:Tell us more, gwen it specifically focuses on the recipe, so it takes a lot of that out of it. The AI right now is being programmed to go to sites and just pull the recipe out specifically so that you don't have to listen to. You know this woman talk about her grandmother's dog, who taught her grandmother how to cook potatoes, or whatever. So this is a much more positive experience in general and I think I think it's a good product. Honestly, it's a brilliant idea.
Gwen Way:This gentleman is out of modesto california okay so he's in the us, um, normally with a first project, and especially a first project for somebody who has not, who doesn't have corporate packing.
Nathan Mumm:That's what I will say. I mean, he filmed it on his kitchen counter, right.
Gwen Way:Exactly. You kind of want to be a little careful with that, but nine times out of 10, those are the ones that end up being the coolest products and the most out of the box. That's correct so that's kind of why I wanted to pull this one forward. Obviously, do your due diligence, just like Nathan did, where he looked into the guy, making sure that he's not a scam artist.
Nathan Mumm:He's really just a programmer who wanted to do something nice, and so he's a nerdy guy that wants to find recipes and help people to find recipes in a little tablet.
Nathan Mumm:Now what's really great about Kickstarter is it's an all or nothing platform, right? So if you go and you fund it and let's say they only get 100 people and he doesn't reach the funding that he needs to do his project, you get all that money back. So you're not in jeopardy of something where they say they're going to do something and they don't. This isn't a company that's overseas or they have a real flashy video that comes on out and collects money, and I've gotten two or three Kickstarter events and always put it on your credit card, because you can call up your credit card and get a full refund on Kickstarter, even though they say they don't because you still haven't delivered the product. So the key is, if you put it on your credit card not your bank card, your ACH payment, none of those type of stuff but put it on a credit card, you can go and get refunded.
Nathan Mumm:This guy, though, is legit. I mean this guy is, if he's going to make this product, he's probably really going to make this product. He had a phone and a camera, and he kind of showed how the object linking did stuff. So I mean he, he has a dream, and and Gwen has absolutely fallen for this product, and what is the product again, and where can they find it for everybody else?
Gwen Way:It's called AI Cooking Assistant. It's available on Kickstarter. You can just search by that. There are two sizes there's a seven inch that you can get now for $399 and a 10 inch screen for $499.
Nathan Mumm:I'll probably go with 10 inch if I'm going to do that right, oh yeah. I want those couple extra inches. Exactly Now does it make you a better cook? That is the question.
Gwen Way:I don't know that it'll make you a better cook, but it is certainly less likely to let you burn things if it's reading the instructions to you out loud and you're not having to look away from the food to read them.
Nathan Mumm:That's actually kind of a benefit because anybody can find not having to look away from the food to read that's actually kind of a benefit looking at having, because anybody can find a recipe there. And then you got to go back to it. So it says now put in two cups. And you do say next or something like that Now put in, so it talks to you.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, so it would talk to me what do you need those extra inches for?
Nathan Mumm:The screen extra inches on the screen itself. Okay, all right, wow, it's on the screen itself. Okay, all right, wow, wow, wow, okay, gwen, any other things that you want to talk about to help this guy get his funding? Let me ask you this have you funded him yet?
Gwen Way:I have not, but it is happening in about 30 minutes. I am getting a new credit card and I'm just waiting for it to come.
Nathan Mumm:Okay, Okay, all right. So I am excited I did get a product that we had on episode 6 of our show yeah finally yeah, finally came, and so I haven't got it out of the box yet, but I'm going to do a review of that next week. It's called the Quill Fighting Device.
Nathan Mumm:I thought you said it was pretty bad well, so I have not played with it yet. I've opened it up and took a look at it, so we'll do that and have that available. Okay, gwen, thank you so much for coming on the show. It's always a pleasure to have you talk about new gadgets, and we will see you in three weeks, but I'll see you next week on our production meeting.
Gwen Way:Sounds good.
Nathan Mumm:Thanks, Gwen. All right, that ends our gadgets and gear segment with Gwen. Up next we have this Week in Technology, so now would be a great time to enjoy a little whiskey on the side, as we're going to be doing so during the break. You're listening to Tech Time Radio with Nathan Mumm.
Speaker 2:See you in a few minutes. Join the fun and grab tickets to GeekFest West, the three-day geek festival extravaganza of fun and entertainment that will take place on the third weekend in July. Learn more at geekfestcom. Geekfest will feature diverse activities, including a film festival vendor hall. And now let's look back at this week in technology.
Nathan Mumm:All right, we're going to the way back machine. Here we got April 6, 1992. Microsoft releases Windows 3.1. Now Microsoft Corporation released the operating system Windows 3.1 as a system that provided IBM and IBM-compatible PCs with a graphical user interface Through Windows was not, though, the first such interface for PCs. It was the mainstay of the Intel product to be used. The retail price was $149. And replacing the previous DOS command interface with the Windows system, however, Microsoft created a program similar to what the Macintosh operating system was offering, and was then later sued by Apple for copyright infringements. Microsoft, though, did prevail in the lawsuit. Now, Windows 3.1 added multimedia extensions allowing support for sound cards Not that PC speaker any longer. You could have a sound card. It had MIDI and CD audio. You could have a sound card. It had MIDI and CD audio.
Nathan Mumm:You could have a Super VGA monitor that did 800 by 600 screen of resolution and the increased speed of the modem would then support 9600 watts per second, I remember that 9600. Instead of that 1200 and the 2400 screaming Alright. Also Instead of that 1,200 and the 2,400.
Speaker 2:That's right, 2,400.
Nathan Mumm:Screaming All right. It also abandoned into the real mode a virtual environment dating back into the 8086 CPU. It provided the scalability fonts and created the three-finger salute, control, alt, delete, prompting the users to avoid inadvertent reboots. It also refined which is probably the most important thing ever it created the concept of having the user be able to cut and paste between applications. How often do you use cut and?
Mike Gorday:paste. Oh, I use it all the time Control-C, control-v.
Nathan Mumm:I mean, it is like the staple. This was the first time that it was available for people to use. Well, that was this Week in Technology. If you ever want to watch some Tech Time history with over 200 weekly broadcasts this is episode 200, spanning four plus years of videos, podcasts and blog information you can visit techtimeradiocom to watch our older shows. We're going to take a commercial break, but when we return, we have the Mark Mumble Whiskey Review.
Speaker 7:See you in a second. Hello, my Whiskey Review. See you in a second. That is smooth, fresh and elegant at StoryCoffeecom. That's S-T-O-R-I-Coffeecom. Today you can get your first bag free when you subscribe at StoryCoffeecom with code TECHTIME.
Speaker 1:That's S-T-O-R-I-Coffeecom, the segment we've been waiting all week for Mark's Whiskey Mumble.
Mike Gorday:All right, mark, not a pessimist.
Gwen Way:All right, what do we got?
Ody:Do you want to know what today's day is?
Nathan Mumm:What is today's day and Mark's day.
Ody:Do you want to guess?
Nathan Mumm:No, it's an animal, it's an animal. Yeah, it's an animal. Is it National Pigs Day?
Ody:No, no, no, it's an animal. Yeah, it's an animal Is it National Pigs Day?
Nathan Mumm:No, no, no.
Ody:It's an imaginary animal.
Nathan Mumm:Oh, it's an imaginary unicorn day.
Ody:Oh, oh, you cheated. No, I didn't, you just said imaginary animal.
Mike Gorday:That's the first thing that everybody talks about is freaking unicorns, yeah.
Ody:And it kind of goes in with our whiskey. Okay, that's not a lie, but yeah. So today is National Unicorn Day. So today is a day to celebrate the most popular mythical creature ever. Okay why? Because if we do not take time out to celebrate a beautiful horned, rainbow printed mythical creature, then we are most definitely missing out in life. The unicorn is an icon of color, of childlike splendor and magic. This sounds like something right up Nathan's and especially Mike's alley to delve into the magnificence of unicorns.
Mike Gorday:Okay, why is it my alley? You know what?
Nathan Mumm:I mean I put them with.
Mike Gorday:He really copied and pasted a lot of this stuff because I know he didn't come up with that on his own.
Ody:Oh.
Mike Gorday:I have a magical day every day. That's right.
Ody:Right. And what better way to celebrate Tech Times 200's episode than with unicorn whiskey?
Nathan Mumm:Oh, okay, is this unicorn whiskey?
Ody:No, but that's what he's calling it.
Mike Gorday:Well, it might be unicorn whiskey, because it's gross.
Ody:In the whiskey world a unicorn bottle is something rare and usually expensive for the Distillery-M Cask and Spin Triticale. It is not expensive but it is fairly unique. It is made with 95% Triticale grain and Triticale is a hybrid of wheat and rye. That explains so much.
Mike Gorday:What's a wheat and rye.
Ody:Wheat and rye whiskey Okay, and first bred in the laboratories during the late 19th century in Scotland and Germany. Only recently has it been developed into a commercially visible crop Mark found this whiskey to be quite different and exciting. It comes on initially with a wave of delicious warm spices, dried fig and a hint of black tea, reminding Mark of a rye dried fig and a hint of black tea, reminding Mark of a rye.
Ody:Just as those flavors hit their peak, it then transitions to a soft, delicate, sugary and caramel sweetness remnants of a wheat whiskey. When Mark is looking for something a little different and with the flavors he loves, this is what he reaches for Mark and I are on the same palate.
Nathan Mumm:Wow, that's unusual I know I am liking this. I said unusual. I know I know I am liking this. I said it was pretty good, all right.
Mike Gorday:Well, it might be because you're like her, you're just liking the after effects.
Nathan Mumm:No, no, no, I mean it's 116. Yeah, I mean, it's got some kick, it's got some kick.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, no kidding, it's got a horse, kick that.
Nathan Mumm:Mark, thanks for that mumble. Of course, Whiskey and Technology. What a great pairing. Just like Jose Canseco and Mark McGuire, the Oakland A's Bash Brothers back in the 80s and 90s. You remember them.
Mike Gorday:No, you don't remember the Bash Brothers. No, not at all.
Nathan Mumm:Baseball. Do you remember the Bash Brothers?
Ody:Does Mike look like he likes baseball?
Nathan Mumm:I don't. He used to play baseball.
Mike Gorday:You used to play baseball. You used to play baseball, yeah.
Ody:What position did?
Speaker 1:you play. I was a pitcher, really Wow.
Nathan Mumm:You were the starter Pitcher and second base Okay, okay. You know why you play second base. I played second base. You know why you play second base? Why? Because you don't have an arm enough to throw. That's not why I played it.
Mike Gorday:Why did you play it? I played it because that was my position, okay.
Nathan Mumm:All right, okay, well, all right, let's now move to our technology fail. We are out of time. Congratulations, you're a failure.
Speaker 8:Oh.
Speaker 1:I failed. Did I yes, did I yes.
Speaker 9:Did I.
Nathan Mumm:Yes, all right, here goes. Our technology fail. What do you do when your e-bike becomes a pillar of fire and smoke?
Mike Gorday:Well, you say goodbye to that e-bike. You know what?
Nathan Mumm:We've talked about this. This is our 200th episode. We've talked about this all the way back in, like episode five and six. So clearly, e-bikes and batteries have been around for quite a while now, but guess what happens? Over in the UK, fire crews were called to an e-bike fire at a railroad station, described as a ferocious blaze that could have had a trajectory and tragic consequences.
Gwen Way:That would be tragic, buddy.
Nathan Mumm:Now. The bike exploded at Sutton Train Station during the rush hour on the 21st of March. Station officer Miguel McLachlan. That's Nigel McLaughlin, nigel McLaughlin, mclaughlin, okay, mclaughlin Said that the owners had man. My eyes are a little blurry. I think it must be that.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, probably had bought the e-bike from an online marketplace four months previously with no apparent issues since.
Nathan Mumm:The incident only serves to highlight that it's very important to get these products from a reputable street high-end seller so you do not have to worry about what happens. If an item is brought from an online marketplace, there is more risk it will be sold without the correct battery and charger, which can lead to a devastating fire. E-bike and e-scooter fires are the fastest growing fire risk in London. Statistics indicate that they've had at least 40 this year. Note to the consumers if you purchase an e-bike, spend a few bucks more on a tested and verified company that has been in the industry a number of years before you get that discount e-bike. Otherwise it just might go up in smoke.
Mike Gorday:Though you know it was really cool watching it explode.
Nathan Mumm:It was really cool. So you can just go and look at e-bike explosion. I mean that sucker. You can tell it was not altered footage, it was absolutely from a street cam in the subway area that it has, because it starts the fire and then it just blows and the smoke goes and you got sparks and stuff flying out all over everywhere. Well, we're going to head out to our last commercial break. When we return, we have Mike's mesmerizing moment brought to us by story cause, the, and a possible Nathan nugget of the week and, of course, our pick of the day. So sit back, raise a glass. You're listening to tech time radio with Nathan mum how to see a man about a dog.
Mike Gorday:It combines darkly comic short stories, powerful poems and pulp fiction prose to create a heartbreaking and hilarious journey readers will not soon forget. Read how to See a man About a Dog. Collected writings for free with Kindle. Unlimited E-book available on Kindle. Print copies available on Amazon, the Book Pository and more.
Nathan Mumm:This is Mike's Mesmerizing Moment, presented by Story Coffee. Visit storycoffeecom. All right, Mike, here's your Mesmerizing Moment question of the day. Now, I know that you like motorcycles. You had a motorcycle right, I did have a motorcycle and e-bikes are coming out. My son just bought an e-bike. He just bought it from a neighbor next door.
Mike Gorday:Is it the same neighbor? Yeah, so say, you know who it is so it's a nice guy.
Nathan Mumm:Literally, it's a guy I want my bike back. Yeah, you bought your bike from me too, so essentially would you buy yourself an e-bike, since you're a motorcycle driver with all the new technologies there today. Let's not talk about the low-end e-bike that we just talked about in our technology fail that blew up, but one of these higher-end e-bikes would you drive around that?
Speaker 2:around the town.
Nathan Mumm:Why would you not? Or why would you?
Mike Gorday:Well, for one, we talk about the batteries exploding.
Speaker 2:Okay, right, so don't need to have that happen.
Mike Gorday:I already lost a bike in a fire, I don't need to have another one. Okay, that's valid For another. It's just like why I don't own an electric car. Okay, you know, the infrastructure really isn't there. It doesn't allow me to how far can an e-bike drive this?
Nathan Mumm:is like 36 miles in telecharge.
Mike Gorday:That's the one that he got, yeah okay, that's 36 miles, so I want something that's going to take me at least 100 miles. Okay, I'm sure there's higher end e-bikes that can probably get you up to 100. I've never even thought about it, but just asking me that question is no no. I'm not going to, I wouldn't buy one.
Nathan Mumm:Okay, odie, would you buy an e-bike?
Ody:Well, yeah, I would.
Mike Gorday:Okay, would you?
Ody:Yeah, if I lived in the city, which I kind of do, I would Okay, you know, mike lives out in I don't want to say the boonies, but it's not pretty far.
Mike Gorday:Each boonie is enough.
Ody:Yeah, when your commute here is pretty far, it doesn't make sense to have an e-bike. But, me that lives closer to Seattle. That makes sense.
Mike Gorday:If you're tooling around in the city, it makes it easier to park.
Ody:Better than a car. You save on gas, you can park it just up on the sidewalk.
Mike Gorday:Is it something you can charge at these charging stations?
Nathan Mumm:No, that's specifically cars. You'd have to do it at home. That's specifically cars. You'd have to do it at home. There you go, but you know what? You could probably come up with an adapter that plugs into that car and you could put it up on Kickstarter, and then we could fund the Mike.
Speaker 2:Mesmerizing idea.
Nathan Mumm:All right, let's now move to the Nathan Nugget. This is your Nugget of the Week, All right? So sometimes my nuggets are informal and sometimes they're rants.
Mike Gorday:You're always ranting, it's always a rant.
Nathan Mumm:So my rant is going to be today specifically to a company. Now we talked about Amazon.
Mike Gorday:The Amazon Watch? No, what do they call those? What do they call those Amazon Go stores, right?
Nathan Mumm:Yeah, we talked about the Amazon store.
Ody:Yeah, the Just. Walk Out the Just.
Nathan Mumm:Walk Out stores. So now big blastering news all over the areas. Amazon is essentially laying off a part of their AWS cloud computing unit. Now, at the same time I looked at this this morning there are over 10,000 open jobs at Amazon right now that you can apply for.
Mike Gorday:Probably in their fulfillment centers.
Nathan Mumm:They're all over the platform, from fulfillment centers to C-level suite individuals that you can apply for online at Amazoncom forward slash careers. You can go and take a look at everything that's available. But then they are laying off engineers, and Amazon said Wednesday it's cutting hundreds of jobs in its cloud computing unit. Aws is part of a strategic shift. The company will trim a few hundred roles on the team that overlook technologies for physical stores. Maybe the people that were supervising people over in India.
Nathan Mumm:A move that comes just days after Amazon said it was ditching its just walkout technology in its US grocery stores. In addition to the physical stores technology team, Amazon said it's cutting several hundred roles in the AWS sales, marketing and global service organizations. Most of these cuts are related to business changes in AWS's training and certification programs as well as sales operations. The tech giant said that it was also making cuts elsewhere, so it can invest in other business priorities. Yeah.
Mike Gorday:Now this is something I've had a problem with. Is it going to replace it? Ai replace it?
Nathan Mumm:So wouldn't you spend, as a company, time relocating those individuals within your organization so they can find a job. That's sufficient.
Mike Gorday:Are you kidding? What do you smoke?
Nathan Mumm:Because I want some of that, Okay, Well, I'm just saying that wouldn't it make sense that you find a place within your organization to move them into? I'll tell you, I worked at a company Microsoft and they laid off a lot of people during the 90s and the early 2000s, but they would spend a lot of time in their HR department. I give them a lot of credit. That's why I don't pick on them as much as other people say I should on stuff that they do. But they would actually spend time if they were shutting down a division or changing a division's focus that they would actually internally look for jobs for this individual to apply for. They had a whole process. You would go in. What's that?
Mike Gorday:This is corporate America.
Nathan Mumm:Where you get laid off by email Google.
Mike Gorday:And where you get laid off by email Google and where you get laid off before Christmas Wizards of the Coast, you know there's—.
Nathan Mumm:But shouldn't you spend, as a company, the time and due diligence of trying to find these people?
Mike Gorday:It would be nice to believe that the company is actually a caring individual, which is what people want to do. Yeah, it's not true.
Nathan Mumm:I just really—it just really gets me upset when I see so many open jobs.
Mike Gorday:If you want to call me a pessimist, you can call me a pessimist about that, because I really dislike how corporations are run and how we deal with them and allow them to do the things that they do, okay, well that was my little nugget.
Nathan Mumm:I'm going to rant. I'll rant about it for like hours. So we got our post-show wrap-up. So we get to hear Mike talk about Amazon and corporate greed. We're going to be excited about that. All right, Now let's go to our pick of the day Whiskey Tasting.
Speaker 1:And now our pick of the day for our whiskey tastings.
Nathan Mumm:Let's see what bubbles to the top? All right, mark. What are we tasting for our whiskey tasting?
Ody:We are tasting the Dicerulium Cask and Spin Triticale as a classification aged four years, with 116 proof, 95% triticale and 5% malted barley in the mash bill going for $48.
Nathan Mumm:$48.
Mike Gorday:Oh, there it is $48.
Nathan Mumm:Woo under $50. Yeah, under $50. That's why you like it.
Mike Gorday:Well, I don't know, I'm giving it a thumbs down. It tastes like unicorn pee.
Nathan Mumm:Really For Unicorn Day? You do not like it Really.
Mike Gorday:No, okay, well, if you were filling in for.
Nathan Mumm:Mark, what would you say?
Ody:I'm just giving it a thumbs up because he's given it a thumbs up and I've liked what I've tasted so far. The beginning I did not like, you know, I did not like I saw your face when you drank.
Mike Gorday:It was sour, tasty it was all over the board.
Ody:I did not like it, but as I went throughout the show, getting a little bit more buzzed.
Mike Gorday:Yeah, you're buzzed right now. That's why you're giving it a thumbs up. Let's just be clear. I liked it from the beginning. Let's just be clear If it was about how I feel I'd probably give it a thumbs up too Under $50.
Nathan Mumm:Unique taste, nice taste. I could sip this. Absolutely taken care of, all right. Well, we want to thank all of our listeners that were a part of our show today. Remember you can always go to our website at techtimeradiocom, click on the Be A Caller and ask us a question on technology in our TalkBack recording system. It was an honor to be the host of today's show. Remember, the science of tomorrow starts with the technology of today. See you next week. Bye-bye.
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