Tech Brew Ride Home - Mon. 07/22 – The Big Outage Weekend

Episode Date: July 22, 2024

Wait, did any news happen this weekend? IT people don’t know about it cause they’re still digging out from the CrowdStrike thing. But why is everybody pointing fingers at Microsoft? Samsung jumps on the Google Messages bandwagon. Japan wants AI startups. And what do you do when you need 22 thousand football player avatars real quick? AI of course! Links: CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor also linked to Linux kernel panics and crashes (The Register) Microsoft’s global sprawl comes under fire after historic outage (Washington Post) Blue Screens Everywhere Are Latest Tech Woe for Microsoft (WSJ) Samsung going all in on Google Messages in US, stops pre-installing Samsung Messages on Galaxy phones (9to5Google) Japan’s copyright rules draw AI groups — and alarm from creators (FT) How AI Brought 11,000 College Football Players to Digital Life in Three Months (WSJ) Review: CMF Phone 1 (Wired) 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 Monday, July 22nd, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. Wait, did any news happen this weekend? IT people don't know about it because they're still digging out from the CrowdStrike thing.

But why is everybody pointing fingers at Microsoft? Samsung jumps on the Google Messages bandwagon. Japan wants AI startups. And what do you do when you need 22,000 football player avatars real quick? AI, of course. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Well, aside from other news this weekend, everything this weekend was about the ongoing outage after that CrowdStrike update. Just a small sampling of the chaos, Delta had to cancel 4,500 flights, 1,000 flights canceled on Sunday alone. We now have a fuller picture of what actually happened. CrowdStrike says a sensor configuration update to

Windows systems triggered a logic error that resulted in a system crash and blue screens of death on impacted systems. Quoting the register, CrowdStrike on Sunday teased a rapid recovery tool for the mess it made. Together with customers, we tested a new technique to accelerate impacted system remediation. The security vendor stated on LinkedIn, adding, quote, we're in the process of operationalizing and opt-in to this technique. We're making progress by the minute, end quote. That progress will likely be of great interest, as Microsoft VEP for Enterprise and OS

security David Weston on Saturday estimated that 8.5 million Windows machines had been laid low by the problem. That's less than 1% of all Windows devices in operation, though a lot of the ones affected obviously were in critical environments. Microsoft also created a repair tool that runs from a bootable USB storage device along with instructions for use. Those instructions were modified on Sunday to require a full wipe of the USB device, quote, so it doesn't err out when used in the recovery process. Crowdstrike published technical details of the incident. It has also offered guidance on how to recover Windows machines encrypted with Bitlocker, end quote. Now, again, we're fairly certain that this whole mess was CrowdStrike's fault. But even though,

once again, only around 1% of Windows computers were affected, it's been somewhat surprising the degree to which this is all bouncing back at Microsoft. Searches for Microsoft outage, outranked CrowdStrike outage on Google consistently from Friday morning through Saturday morning, quoting the Washington Post. The episode is resurfacing concerns that Microsoft's grip over global systems is opening up federal agencies and businesses to unnecessary risk, raising questions about whether the power of one of the world's most sophisticated political operators should be curtailed. These incidents reveal how concentration can create fragile systems. Federal Trade Commission Chair Lena Kahn, a Democrat whose agency is looking into consolidation among cloud

computing services, said in a Friday post on X, the impact of today's outages was defined by the reach of crowd strike, not the reach of Microsoft, said Microsoft spokeswoman Kate Frischman. Microsoft's email, cloud storage, and video conferencing products have long been workplace staples nationwide, including within the federal government for which the company is a major supplier. But prominent security lapses, coupled with mounting regulatory concerns about the tech giants' power in our economy, are testing the company's oftentimes friendly relationships in Washington. The pervasiveness of Microsoft software and government IT systems re-entered the spotlight earlier this year after major hacks exposed federal officials' emails, prompting lawmakers on Capitol Hill

to haul in the company's president, Brad Smith, to testify. A scathing report by the federal government's Cyber Safety Review Board found that a cascade of avoidable errors and a security culture, quote, that requires an overhaul contributed to the events. The flare-up is already fooling calls for the federal government to diversify the pool of vendors that conduct its daily operations, serving as a potential boon to Microsoft's competitors. The outage, quote, is the result. It's of a software monopoly that has become a single point of failure for too much of the global economy, said George Rackis, executive director of NextGen Competition, whose group advocates for more stringent antitrust enforcement. He accused Microsoft of squelching competition by locking in customers

and called for it to be, quote, broken up. Spence Pernell, director of technology policy at the Reason Foundation Libertarian Think Tank, said that while government officials often ironically complain about tech monopolies, quote, they help prop up Microsoft's hold on government contracting through vendor lock-in, end quote. Then there's this wrinkle. Microsoft says it cannot wall off its OS due to a 2009 deal with the European Commission to give security software makers the same level of access to Windows that Microsoft gets, quoting the journal. Security issues have long been Microsoft's Achilles' heel, as computers and servers running

its software have been the target of repeated hacks by criminal groups, as well as state-sponsored actors in Russia and China. top company executives have been brought in front of Congress to explain why Windows is so vulnerable. Ironically, CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz raised the issue publicly in January. What you're seeing here is systemic failures by Microsoft putting not only their customers at risk, but the U.S. government at risk, he said, on CNBC after Microsoft disclosed a Russian hack of systems used by its senior leadership. Two months later, a report by the Department of Homeland Security's Cyber Safety Review Board

found that, quote, Microsoft's security culture was inadequate and required. requires an overhaul, particularly in the light of the company's centrality in the technology ecosystem, end quote. Security professionals critical of the company's practices say, as Microsoft pivoted to cloud computing, it has neglected the development of its more traditional products such as Windows and its email and corporate directory service products, all of which have been the targets of attacks. That neglect has made security software, like the kind provided by Crowdstrike, more necessary, the professionals said. If they have a security first culture, it would either be safer for products like these to exist or these products wouldn't be needed at all,

said Dustin Childs, a former Microsoft cybersecurity specialist, who is currently the head of threat awareness at cybersecurity firm Trend Micro, which competes with Windows Defender and CrowdStrike. CrowdStrike's bug was so devastating because its security software called Falcon runs at the most central level of Windows, the kernel. So when an update to Falcon caused it to crash, it also took out the brains of the operating system. That is when the blue screen of death appeared. In 2020, Apple told developers that its MacOS operating system would no longer grant them kernel-level access. That change was a pain for Apple's partners, but it also meant that a blue-screen style problem couldn't happen on Macs, said Patrick Wardle, the chief executive of Mac Security Maker

W. What it meant was a lot of third-party developers, ourselves included, had to rewrite our security software, he said. A Microsoft spokesman said it cannot legally wall off its operating system in the same way Apple does because of an understanding it reached with the European Commission following a complaint. In 2009, Microsoft agreed it would give makers of security software the same level of access to Windows that Microsoft gets, end quote. Samsung has begun telling U.S. users that Samsung Messages will no longer come pre-installed on the Galaxy Flip 6, Fold6, and other newer models in favor of Google messages. According 9 to 5, Google.

The Samsung Messages app was a staple of Galaxy smartphones for years, but Samsung's started to phase it out with the Galaxy S-22 series in 2022. That was in line with Google's push with RCS as the Google Messages app better supports RCS, though Samsung Messages does support it as well. In 2022, Samsung made Google Messages the default SMS-RCS app on Galaxy devices, but still pre-installed its own app as an option for users. Now Samsung is taking the next step. Samsung's notice doesn't mention whether or not this applies globally, but are you U.S. Galaxy Z-Fold 6 was without Samsung messages installed. Michelle Rahman says that European and Canadian devices still include it.

Max also noted that RCS was enabled by default on his Galaxy Z-Flipp 6 in the Google Messages app. The Samsung Messages app remains available for download through the Galaxy Store, though Samsung says, quote, some features will be excluded, end quote. From the file of nation states jacking for position in the new AI era, the Financial Times has a look at how Japan has been luring some AI companies to set up shop over there with copyright laws that critics say allow widespread use of copyrighted images and other materials alarming creators. While Japan lacks its own homegrown AI giants, some tech companies are drawn to the market

for another reason. The country's copyright law, which critics say allows widespread use of copyrighted images and other materials for commercial purposes to train AI models without seeking permission. There are many reasons AI companies are attracted to Japan, including the need for its companies to rapidly develop their digital capabilities and the country's declining population, which is very open to AI, said Utaka Matsuo, a professor at Tokyo University and the chair of the government's AI Council. One other attraction is that AI companies are permitted to learn from information without infringing copyright laws, he added. Japan's open-armed approach to AI stands out at a time when other places such as the EU, US, and China are

are developing stricter rules over how tech companies train their AI models. Leaders in the creative industries have also voiced concerns about their work being used by AI companies without permission or a fee. The outcry from its domestic creative industry comes even as Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kashida has spearheaded efforts at the G7 and other international meetings to tackle what he has called the dark side of AI, calling for international guidelines to govern the use of the emerging technology to reduce the risk of disinformation. Regulations are said to, be prone to hindering innovation, but it is necessary to set firm rules that are transparent in order to create an environment where users feel it is safe to use generative AI,

since it is a technology that has such an immense societal impact, said Taki Matsumoto, Minister for Internal Affairs and Communications. Beyond the copyright rules, some AI executives say Japan is an attractive market for other reasons, from the opportunities and private companies and public institutions, the support from the government and the ability to stand out from what is becoming a crowded field in the U.S. In order to attract tech startups, Kashita's government is using subsidies, such as offering government-funded computing power to some key companies, including Sakana. It is the same kind of strategy, albeit at a much lower level that it used to convince global

chipmakers such as Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing company to manufacture in Japan, end quote. More AI stuff, you might be aware that with the recent changes to rules that allow college athletes to profit from their play in college, the gaming company EA, secured the rights for player likenesses for EA Sports College Football 25. But you know, there are a lot of college football players like a lot, around 11,000. So guess what? In order to create 3D avatars at scale, guess what they're turning to, quoting the Wall Street Journal. For its long-running Madden NFL series, EA developers travel the country to make three-dimensional scans of professional players. But that wasn't financially or logistically feasible for

EA Sports College Football 25. There are about six times as many players in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's top-tier football bowl subdivision as there are in the National Football League. In addition, colleges don't set their rosters until the late spring, and they often change significantly, as some players go pro and others matriculate. So EA collected photos of the athletes' heads from their schools and then used its AI to create their video game doppelgangers in seconds. The technology isn't generative AI that creates new images such as OpenAI's Dali, but rather a kind that takes data from photos and creates full 3D avatars, end quote. When the initial results apparently fell short of

expectations, artists were brought in to make enhancements. These adjustments were then fed back into the AI program, enabling it to learn from its mistakes. Although the digital versions aren't as detailed as those in Madden, this marks the first instance where EA has successfully integrated replicas of real players into its college football game. For the 134 college football stadiums featured in the game, EA employed additional in-house technology to incorporate specific details like Notre Dame's touchdown Jesus mural and the waterfalls at Arkansas State.

The project scale was so immense that the team hit the maximum capacity of a Google Sheets spreadsheet 10 million cells while managing all the collected data. EA foresees long-term value in its AI technology, intending to release new installments of the college game annually. Moreover, some athletes are expected to transition into its mass. Adden NFL series, potentially making their 3D avatars continuously relevant. To participate, players were offered $600 each, along with a deluxe copy of the game retailing at $99.99, which

includes extra content. According to an EA spokesman, more players opted in than the company could accommodate in the game, end quote. Finally, today I thought I'd follow up with a review of nothing's CMF phone one. Remember that $199 phone that seemed to be more feature pack than anyone would expect at the price. Well, this Wired Review says it is great, giving it a nine out of ten rating, but do make note of the fact that there's no NFC support and spotty US band support. Quote, CMF's design language for the phone one is its first win. This device is far more visually interesting than any other $199 handset in the U.S. The industrial look comes alive when you embrace the $35-swappable back covers. Use the included screwdriver to pop off the screws, and you can

change the back to a different color. My choice was orange. Part of the fun is the accessory point, a little wheel at the right corner of the phone. Remove this thumb screw, and you can affix other accessories like a lanyard, kickstand, or wallet. My favorite of the lot is the kickstand, and I dare say it doubles as a fidget spinner of sorts, functional fun and nifty. CMF is even encouraging customers to 3D print accessories for it. But all these design tricks, while unique, aren't what makes the CMF phone one so special. No, that's the actual hardware, build, and specs. Instantly, my first impression after booting it up was its speed. In the time I spent with it, I don't think I noticed any lag or stutters, which is rare on a $199 smartphone. That's thanks to

the Media Tech Dimensity 7300 inside with 8 gigs of RAM, but it also has a lot to do with the optimizations between the hardware and software, which is nothing OS. It's still Android, but nothing's layer on top offers a specific aesthetic with some tweaks like the completely monochromatic theme on the home screen. Okay, so no lag. Next, the battery life impressed. I made this my primary devices I traveled to Paris to cover Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event, and I went to bed some nights indifferent about plugging my phone in after seeing it had 50% left. That's with navigation, music streaming via Bluetooth, messaging, and snapping picks. I've managed to push the 5,000-m-amp our battery with heavy usage and bring it down to 30% at the end of a day, but with average use,

I was regularly getting two days out of it. I cannot say the same about the $1,100 Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6. CmF is selling this phone in the U.S. under a beta program, so you need to sign up and be accepted before you can buy it. Even then, ban support is limited. It works best on T-Mobile, though not all 5G bands are supported, meaning you may see spotty service. I used it on AT&T, and while CMF says 5G isn't supported, I happily saw 5G on my status bar. I was able to text and make calls with zero problems. You can try using it on Verizon, but CMF doesn't recommend it due to limited bans and no CDMA support. I swapped to an internal SIM in Paris and enjoyed a mix of 4G and 5G with no network problems or speed issues. Ultimately, it's the sheer fact that I use this phone for more than a week with no problems in the U.S.

and then traveled with it to another country and managed to cover an event, slacking people, taking pictures, and navigating. without so much as a stutter that makes the CMF phone one unrivaled for its segment. The U.S. is starved for good, cheap phones, and CMF is paving the way for that to change. If it was super easy to repair and had NFC, this would be a perfect 10 out of 10, end quote. Nothing more for you today. Nothing phone. I wonder if I could get nothing to sponsor the end of shows when I say, Nothing more for you today?

Probably not, right? Talk to you tomorrow.