Tech Brew Ride Home - Fri. 09/24 – China: No, Really. No Crypto.

Episode Date: September 24, 2021

China really, really, really wants you to know it’s serious about its Crypto crackdown. Google brought some Pixel-only features to everybody. Leaks ahead of next week’s Amazon event. New York passes a law on gig worker pay. And of course, the weekend longreads suggestions. Sponsors: UrbanCatalyst.com/techmeme Blockchain.com Links: China’s central bank says all cryptocurrency-related activities are illegal, vows harsh crackdown (CNBC) Google Brings More Pixel-Exclusive Features to All Android Phones (Gizmodo) Amazon Working on Large Wall Echo, Sound Bar and New Auto Device (Bloomberg) New York City Council Passes Sweeping Food Delivery Protections (Bloomberg) Weekend Longreads Suggestions: Would-Be NFT Millionaires Throw Darts And Hit Duds (Bloomberg) FILE NOT FOUND (The Verge) How Apple built the iPhone 13’s Cinematic Mode (TechCrunch) How to move Google Authenticator to your new iPhone (Apple Insider) Nirvana in Bloom (The Ringer) Nirvana’s “Nevermind” (New Yorker) My Time with Kurt Cobain (New Yorker) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On April 4th, 2023, around 2 in the morning, a man was found stabbed multiple times on a sidewalk in downtown San Francisco. Hey, who did this to you? What happened next turned the story into a political firestorm. Reports have identified the victim as Bob Lee, the founder of Cash App. From Bloomberg Podcasts, this is Foundering, the Killing of Bob Lee, beginning April 16. Welcome to the Tech meme right home for Friday, September 24th, 2021. I'm Brian McCullough. Today, China really, really, really wants you to know it's serious about its crypto crackdown. Google brought some pixel-only features to everybody, leaks ahead of next week's Amazon event,

New York passes a law on gig worker pay, and of course, the weekend long-rate suggestions. Here's what you miss today in the world of tech. China continues to be like, you don't think we're serious? We're telling you we're serious. What part of this makes you think we're not serious? China's central bank says all cryptocurrency-related activities are prohibited and overseas crypto exchanges providing services in mainland China are illegal. Now, in theory, this was sort of always the case. There's been an official ban on trading cryptocurrencies in China for years. It's the crackdown on mining that is only months old. Still, the crypto markets are down this morning on the news, quoting CNBC,

In a Q&A posted to its website, the People's Bank of China said services offering trading, order-matching token issuance and derivatives for virtual currencies are strictly prohibited. Overseas crypto exchanges providing services in mainland China are also illegal, the PBOC said. Quote, overseas virtual currency exchanges that use the internet to offer services to domestic residents is also considered illegal financial activity. The central bank said, according to a CNBC translation of the comments, workers at foreign crypto exchanges will be investigated, it added. The PBOC said it has also improved its system to step up monitoring of crypto-related transactions and root out speculative investing.

Quote, financial institutions and non-bank payment institutions cannot offer services to activities and operations related to virtual currencies. The central bank said, reiterating past comments. The price of Bitcoin sank over 6.5% in 24 hours, last trading at around $41,000, according to coin metrics data at mid-morning Friday Eastern Time. Ethereum, the second largest digital asset fell 9% to around $2,800, end quote. What a quick other angle to this potentially? Remember, China is planning to launch an official digital currency of its own, so maybe they're clearing the decks of any competition, quoting Cam McDonald on Twitter. I had a tweet calling this over six months ago. As China gets closer to the launch of their CBDC, all others will be outlawed. Then,

exchanges will be forced to incorporate the digital yuan as a stable if they want to run in China. And the CCP will get all the insight of the users, end quote. Google yesterday announced a range of features for Android, Google TV, Assistant, and Geyboard, including some that were previously pixel exclusives, quoting Gizmodo. The pixel features rolling out soon to Android phones include the heads-up ability in digital well-being, which alerts you if it detects your walking and using your phone, and whether you're using a One Plus smartphone or a Samsung device, you'll have access to the password-protected locked folder available in Google Photos.

Gboard users across all devices will get more copy and paste capabilities, including a few that were only for the pixel. You can already access images and links in the clipboard, and Gboard will eventually start to extract phone numbers, email addresses, and links into separate items as you copy them. Gboard will also store recent screenshots in the clipboard, which was a feature announced at Google I.O. earlier this year. And all versions of Gboard will get the pixels' smart composed feature for every

device running Android 11 and up. The beta also gave us a glimpse at the varying nearby share permissions, now available to everyone else. Nearby share lets you choose to send photos or links to everyone with an Android phone within your vicinity, select contacts, or no one at all. I'd advise you to choose the latter two options if you don't want any random picks popping up on your phone. After all, we've seen what's happened to Apple's airdrop users in the past. Google TV, users are getting a helpful little feature that will make it easier to find something to watch without looking for the remote. Google has built remote control features directly into Android inside the Google TV app. There's also a quick tile so you can easily pull down your

notification shade to enter remote control mode. The ability had been discovered by 9 to 5 Google just a few days ago, end quote. There is a whole Amazon event scheduled for Tuesday of next week, I believe. But ahead of that, some rumors of Amazon gadgetry that may or may not feature next week, quoting Bloomberg, Amazon is developing a bevy of new devices and services as it delves into additional markets, including a larger Echo with a wall-mountable screen, a TV soundbar, more advanced car technology, and wearable gear. The Tech Giant is working on the initiatives at its Lab 126 division, which created hit products like the original Echo and the Alexa voice assistant. The Seattle-based company is holding a launch event on September 28 for new devices and services,

and some of these product details could be announced at that time. Other products may be launched next year or beyond or get scrapped if they don't show enough promise. The company is planning a large Alexa-controlled echo with a roughly 15-inch display, code-named Hoya, that can either be mounted on a wall or placed on a table with a stand, according to internal documents and people familiar with the matter. The device is designed to be a smart home control panel for activating appliances, lights, and locks. It could also serve as a window into the status of inbound Amazon packages, and the product will have a user interface that can show widgets for weather, timers, calendar appointments, and photos. Amazon is designing the device to appeal to users in the kitchen, letting them view recipes or watch cooking how-to videos.

Like other Amazon products, it will also run third-party video streaming apps such as Netflix. Outside of its Alexa division, Amazon has been working on a home robot codenamed Vesta for, several years, but that product is less of a sure thing. The robot has drawn concerns over its viability from staff, including co-founder and chairman Jeff Bezos, one of the people with knowledge of the matter said. The robot, which uses the Alexa interface, was conceived as a security tool, but that focus has shifted as Amazon's ring lineup, which began as a smart doorbell, solidifies its role as the company's main security offering. Amazon announced a ring-branded flying security camera drone last year, and now it's harder to tell where the robot fits in. Some inside

Amazon have questioned the usefulness of an Alexa with a screen that followed users around. If the device does ultimately launch, it's likely to be a low volume item with a high price. Some early versions are expected to cost around $1,000. Amazon has also eyed a soundbar for TVs, a long horizontal device for beaming sound across the room. The company had originally planned to release it in 2021, but it's now unlikely to meet that shipping timeline. Amazon, however, often announces new products months ahead of their release. The company is also planning a larger push into the automotive space. Amazon is working on a second-generation model of its Echo Auto Technology co-named Marion. The current product, which has been panned by some consumers, pairs with a smartphone over Bluetooth and lets you access

Alexa through a car's speakers using the device's microphones. The updated version will have a new design and may be able to charge a user's device with inductive technology, end quote. New York City has passed bills establishing minimum pay and worker protections for app-based couriers, including those working for Grubhub, Uber, and DoorDash, quoting Bloomberg. The sweeping measures would require restaurants to grant couriers access to bathrooms, set a minimum per-trip payment, and a guarantee that couriers receive full tips, and allow the workers to set limits on their routes. The apps will also be required to pay couriers at least once a week,

offer payment options that don't require a bank account and will be prohibited from charging fees to workers to receive earnings. The slate of legislation is one of the most comprehensive efforts in the U.S. to regulate the industry after the pandemic-induced boom in food delivery, expose vulnerabilities for the restaurants and workers that keep the apps running. The dichotomy came into stark focus last month after Hurricane Ida's torrential storms triggered historic deadly flooding across New York. Images of delivery workers carrying on through the downpour and not always receiving better pay prompted outrage. Delivery workers have worked tirelessly throughout this pandemic risking their lives, their livelihood, said

Councilwoman Carlina Rivera, a prime sponsor of the bills. They have almost single-handedly sustained our restaurant industry. We all saw those photos of waste deep water that they were waiting through to bring people their food and medication, end quote. In New York City, an estimated 65,000 food delivery drivers were deemed essential workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. These workers classified as independent contractors don't have access to benefits such as minimum wage or overtime, which prompted a push from worker advocates to bolster protections over the last year, end quote. Time for the weekend long read suggestions. And first up, in the interest of keeping you updated on the state of the NFT madness, even if there are no real headlines that I can share with you for a normal segment. Like everything in crypto, we're getting up and down cycles that move in weeks,

not years. The metabolism of the NFT space is insane. If you walk away for 30 minutes, you've missed I don't know, everything. We had an original NFT boom, if you'll recall earlier this year, then a sort of NFT winner during the summer, then earlier this month, another boom, and now things are maybe flagging again a bit. But what was really interesting in this piece that I'm going to share first was its dissection of the actual contours of the market. TLDR, it's extremely top-heavy, quoting Bloomberg. One of the most prevalent investing outcomes is getting stuck with something nobody else wants. In the 90 days through Monday, roughly 1.9 million assets were sold on the largest marketplace, OpenC, but about three quarters never saw another transaction. For those that do find

buyers, the market is dominated by high profile, high value works. The most actively traded three percent of collections accounted for 97 percent of all dollar volume. The market's more liquid corners have managed to ride the bullish wave, though even then the returns have been far from even. Among those with at least 100 transactions, 42 percent, saw their average dollar price drop while 39% doubled in value or more. Grumbles over disappearing liquidity got louder when Bitcoin crashed as much as 17% on September 7th. Since then, NFT prices have also slipped along with volume. Lute for adventurers, among the hottest collections at the time, has seen its floor price or the cost of its cheapest piece nearly cut in half.

Relative to the record high, it's down 54%. You've got a new NFT drop recently that's been happening every two hours, said. Romanoo, there's just no way you can have that many collections maintain value, end quote. Next, this got a lot of buzz and snark earlier this week. The Verge pointed out that teachers are increasingly finding that many students, brought up with search features on their computers or smartphones, are unfamiliar with things like directories and folders. Quote, Catherine Garland, an astrophysicist, started seeing the problem in 2017. She was teaching an engineering course, and her students were using simulation software to model turbines for jet engines.

She'd laid out the assignment clearly, but student after student was calling her over for help. They were all getting the same error message. The program couldn't find their files. Garland thought it would be an easy fix. She asked each student where they'd saved their project. Could they be on the desktop, perhaps in the shared drive? But over and over, she was met with confusion. What are you talking about?

Multiple students inquired. Not only did they not know where their files were saved, they didn't understand the question. Gradually, Garland came to the same realization that many of her fellow educators have reached in the past four years. The concept of file folders and directories essential to previous generation's understanding of computers is gibberish to many modern students. Professors have varied recollections of when they first saw the disconnect, but their estimates, even the most tentative ones, are surprisingly similar. It's been an issue for four years or so, starting for many educators around the fall of 2017, end quote.

Folks should be getting their iPhone 13s delivered starting today, and in light of that, check out this feature article from TechCrunch about how Apple built the iPhone 13's headline feature, cinematic mode, quote, The first thing that the team did was go speak to some of the best cinematographers and camera operators in the world. They also went to movies and watched examples of films through time. In doing this, certain trends emerge, says Manzari. It was obvious that focus and focus changes were fundamental storytelling tools and that we, as a cross- functional team needed to understand precisely how and when they were used. They then worked

closely with directors of photography, camera operators, and first ACs, whose responsibilities include focus pooling, observing them on set and asking questions. It was also just really inspiring to be able to talk to cinematographers about why they use shallow depth of field and what purpose it serves in the storytelling. And the thing that we walked away with is, and this is actually a quite timeless insight, you need to guide the viewer's attention, end quote. Also a heads up, though, I'm not going to quote from it. I've also got a link that is very much something you will find useful if you're getting an iPhone today. If you, like me, have gone over to the two-factor authentication world, then the biggest risk you have when getting a new phone

is potentially getting locked out of your stuff because you're locked out of your authenticator apps. So, from Apple Insider, a guide to smoothly transitioning your Google authenticator to a new phone. Useful if you've got one coming right now. And finally today, literally today, is the 30th anniversary of the release of Nirvana's seminal album, Nevermind. In my recollection, I was, what, 13 at the time, I remember hearing about this new band that lots of people were talking about for a couple weeks. But then I have this very clear memory of hearing them, well, seeing them for the first time, because the smells like teen spirit video, which I believe was released a few weeks later after the album release was, again, I believe, the first buzzworthy video.

Or what did MTV used to call it? A buzzbin video? I can't really remember. And it's one of those things. You know how people talk about you have this moment when you see something new and your mind is blown? And somehow you know in the moment that everything in this very specific part of your world will be different from this moment going forward. It was extremely like that. I've got a piece from The Ringer describing what it was like to see Nirvana play a show in Boston the night before the record came out, literally the night before they became the most famous band on the planet. I also have a cool interactive piece from the New Yorker that if you're too young to know, gives you a primer about what the Nirvana hype was all about, how it happened, what it was like, quote. There's a sort of bittersweet aftermath to this story. Nevermind has since been absorbed into the rock cannon, just as kids a couple years, young, younger and older than me at school had wildly different opinions about whether Cobain was a saint

or a sellout, every generation has their own version of the Nirvana legend. Nowadays, Cobain has become a fashionable reference point for musicians across genres from pop to hip-hop, who want their music to seem brooding and emotional. Dr. Dre and Jay-Z today express admiration for the cultural rebellion that Cobain represented, describing his music as powerful enough to have briefly stopped hip-hop's ascendancy, end quote. Which is so, so true, because I was a hip-hop kid more than a rock kid back in the day. I ignored all the hair rock bands and frankly didn't even like Guns and Roses that much at the time. My big album this month, 30 years ago, was the low-end theory from Tribe called Quest, not Nevermind. And I maybe listened to that more than Nevermind, at least in

1991, though, I'm sure that flipped later on eventually. But still, I can remember being in college and encountering a freshman for the first time who never knew who Kurt Cobain was. He was so ubiquitous that that seemed inconceivable to me at the time. And to that end, finally, there is a piece from the New Yorker that I hope you'll read if you read nothing else I've shared with you this week. It's called My Time with Kurt Cobain, and it's about a rock journalist who befriended Cobain by writing the book on him. Quote, The second night I shared the manuscript with him

was a repeat of the first. Me and a guy reading the book I wrote about him in a generic little hotel room, punctuated by the rustle of paper and the occasional grunt of appreciation or soft chuckle. He told me it was illuminating to read about his entire life in chronological order.

Very few people have that luxury. Sometimes he'd take a break and we'd stand together by the window overlooking Fourth Avenue in downtown Seattle and talk, eat cookies, or look down the street, where little gangs of homeless kids swarmed around taxis stopped at red lights, trying to wrangle a few bucks out of the cabbies. During those breaks, we didn't speak about the book. Instead, we talked about people we knew in common, music we were listening to, or politics.

Sometimes we just stare out the window at the city without saying anything at all, end quote. I've said before that I try to fight against getting old by assuming that there's always new good stuff that I don't know about. there are probably musical artists as important to current generations as Kurt Cobain was to mine. I'm just not aware of them, and that's fine. They're not for me. But at the same time, I kind of think pop stars aren't as important to society as they were in the last decades of the 20th century, which is why I found that last New Yorker piece so fascinating. It's a snapshot of a different era, not only an era before smartphones and the internet, but also at time when media itself was basically the same beast that had been for 30 years, from roughly 1964 to 1994. Pop stars, especially

rap and rock stars, were the most important figures in society in a lot of ways. Nowadays, the folks with the same cultural footprint, I would argue, are entrepreneurs. Say what you want about different generations, and we kind of did obliquely just a minute ago about Gen Ziers, not even knowing what file directories do, but Gen X, my generation, we are the bridge generation, I think. We were the first generation to live with modern tech as we know it, but we were also the last generation to be cognizant of what society was like before modern tech. So read that piece about a time when there were actual rock stars roaming the earth, and they actually mattered. I, in fact, just got my iPhone 13 unboxed. That camera bump really is significantly

bigger. Anyway, I'm going to hold the second half of the hashtag World Cup of Entrepreneurs episode until next weekend. I'm not going to put it up tomorrow because this past Wednesday, Chris did a Twitter space with Justin Hendricks and Paul Barrett about the recent Facebook controversies. Since that has been so much in the news lately, I figured it would be better to get that out now. Quick note about that episode, though, I haven't heard it because I wasn't on it. Wednesday was my wedding anniversary, and you know how it is working, parents. I didn't see my wife all day. The kids don't go to bed till eight. So if I had gone on a Twitter space at nine, my wife and I could literally not have had even five minutes to ourselves

on our anniversary day. And I agreed with Lisa that that was unacceptable. So Chris covered for me, which my wife and I both thank him for. And I look forward to listening to that episode along with all of you on Saturday. And on Sunday, I will do a quick five-minute announce episode about the launch of the Ride Home Rolling Fund, how startups listening to me right now can pitch me, how you can get us on your cap table and how that might be of benefit to you. Also, I will explain how you can send startups our way, and I'll share Kerry with you. You can participate in the upside if you do so. I promise this will be the last that you will hear about the fund for a little while, but seriously, this can very much be a great.

crowd sourced seed fund, crowdsourced from the Mutant Podcast Army, the best collection of plugged-in technologists anywhere in one place. Thank you very much for being that for us. Talk to you on Monday.