Tech Brew Ride Home - Wed. 07/08 – Facebook Fails Its Own Audit

Episode Date: July 8, 2020

Facebook fails its own civil rights audit. Details of the new Thunderbolt 4 standard. Details on the new Snapdragon chip. Unpacking what might be in store for the newly announced Samsung Unpacked event. And not an interesting raise, so much as a hella interesting product launch. Sponsors: CodeWizardsHQ.com offer code RIDE DoubleUp.agency Links: Facebook Fails to Appease Organizers of Ad Boycott (NYTimes) Facebook Decisions Were ‘Setbacks for Civil Rights,’ Audit Finds (NYTimes) Exclusive: Apple is working on QR Code payments for Apple Pay, iOS 14 code reveals (9to5Mac) Thunderbolt 4: A supercharged port upgrade with 8K monitor support (Digital Trends) Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 865 Plus is its most powerful mobile chip, designed for gaming (The Verge) Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20 event confirmed for August 5th (The Verge) Twitter is working on a new subscription platform, hints job listing (The Verge) Android 11's official launch appears set for September 8th (Android Police) Mmhmm turns your boring Zoom call into a Weekend Update-style TV show (The Verge) 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 Wednesday, July 8th, 2020. I'm Brian McCullough today. Facebook fails its own civil rights audit. Details on the new Thunderbolt 4 standard. Details on the new Snapdragon chip. Unpacking what might be in store for the newly announced Samsung unpacked event.

And not an interesting raise so much as a hella interesting product launch. Here's what you missed today in the world of tech. Let's follow up with a big story from recent times that is sort of fizzling down. to the day new mon that I sort of expected. Remember the Facebook ad boycott? Remember how Mark Zuckerberg was going to meet with members of the boycott in person? Yeah, well, that happened yesterday. Cheryl Sandberg participated as well, and, well, quoting the New York Times. For more than an hour over Zoom, the duo, along with other Facebook executives, discussed the company's handling of hate speech with representatives from the Anti-Defamation League, the National Association for the advancement of colored people, color of change, and other groups. Those organizations have

recently helped push hundreds of companies such as Unilever and Best Buy to pause their advertising on Facebook to protest its handling of toxic speech and misinformation. The group said they discussed about 10 demands with Facebook's leaders on Tuesday to help prevent vitriol and hate from spreading on its site. Those included Facebook hiring a top executive with a civil rights background, submitting to regular independent audits, and updating its community standards, according to a statement from the Free Press Advocacy Group, whose co-chief executive Jessica Gonzalez was on the call. Mr. Zuckerberg and Ms. Sandberg agreed to hire a civil rights position, but they did not come to a resolution on most other requests, representatives of the group said. Instead, they said, the Facebook executives reverted to, quote,

spin and firing up its, quote, powerful PR machine. Quote, the company's leaders delivered the same old talking points to try to placate us without meeting our demands, Ms. Gonzalez said. other civil rights leaders called the meeting, quote, very disappointing and blasted Facebook for being, quote, functionally flawed. In a media call after the meeting, Rashad Robinson, head of color for change, said of Facebook's executives, quote, they showed up to the meeting expecting an A for attendance. Attending alone is not enough, end quote. So there's that. But also speaking of independent audits, there's also this. Back when previous controversies were swirling around Facebook in the wake of, I don't know, Cambridge Analytica, whatever the scandal. of the day was who can keep track. Facebook commissioned an independent audit on itself, looking at how

it handles things like civil rights generally, hate speech in particular. Well, in a crazy bit of timing, that audit is out and Facebook failed, quoting from a different New York Times piece. In the report, the auditors credited Facebook for making progress on some issues, including increasing hiring of in-house civil rights experts over the past two years. Mr. Zuckerberg had also personally committed to building products that, quote, advance racial justice, the report said. But the report was critical of Facebook's handling of speech, particularly speech from politicians and the effects on users. The auditor said Facebook had been too willing to exempt politicians from abiding by its rules, allowing them to spread misinformation, harmful and divisive rhetoric,

and even calls to violence. The auditors said their concerns had increased over the past nine months because of decisions made by Mr. Zuckerberg and Nick Clegg, Facebook's global head of policy and communications. Their concerns were exacerbated last fall when Mr. Zuckerberg delivered a speech at Georgetown University about his commitment to protecting free speech at all costs. Since then, the report noted Facebook had refused to take down inflammatory posts from President Trump and had allowed untruthful political ads to be circulated. Quote, elevating free expression is a good thing, but it should apply to everyone, the auditors

wrote. When it means that powerful politicians do not have to abide by the same rules that everyone else does, a hierarchy of speech is created that privileges certain voices over less powerful voices, end quote. They added, quote, the prioritization of free expression over all other values such as equality and non-discrimination is deeply troubling, end quote. In a series of recommendations, the auditors said Facebook needed to build a more robust civil rights infrastructure. They added that Facebook needed to be consistent in its policies and its enforcement, including, quote, more concrete action and specific commitments to take steps to address concerns about algorithmic bias or discrimination, end quote.

Code in the second developer beta of iOS 14 has revealed a hidden and unannounced feature in the wallet app that would allow for payments with QR codes using Apple Pay. Quoting 9 to 5 Mac, we've managed to access this hidden feature in iOS 14 Beta 2, and although it still doesn't work, we can clearly see an image showing how it will work. Users will point the iPhone camera at a QR code or a traditional barcode to pay bills and other things with a card registered with Apple Pay. The opposite would also work with users holding the iPhone in front of a scanner with a QR code generated by the wallet app. We can also say that there will be some kind of interaction with third-party apps as this code was found in a public system API. Apple hasn't

discussed this feature at WWDC 2020 and it's not finished yet so we don't know when Apple will make it available to users. It's important to note that this was not present in the first iOS 14 developer beta release last month, so it's definitely something Apple is still working on, end quote. Intel has detailed the new Thunderbolt 4 standard that is coming to laptops later this year. Among the goodies you can look forward to, USB4 compatibility, multi-monitor support, and data transfers up to 40 GBS, quoting digital trends. For multitaskers who use a laptop, laptop docked to two monitors at a desk. The multi-monitor support is arguably one of the biggest upgrades this year. The Thunderbolt 4 promises support for either two 4K UHD monitors or one 8K

panel. Intel's specifications will require that compatible PCs will be able to wake from sleep when connected to a Thunderbolt dock, can charge on at least one port, and can support direct memory access for added security. With hardware-based security and the ability to leverage Intel's virtualization technology for directed I.O. The Thunderbolt 4 ports will prevent physical DMA attacks by blocking peripheral devices from unauthorized system memory access. All computers supporting Thunderbolt 4 will also be USB4 compliant, Intel said. While Thunderbolt 4 will come integrated with laptops running Intel's Tiger Lake processors, the company will also launch its 8,000 series controllers to support the standard on desktops. Like Thunderbolt 3 before it,

the new Thunderbolt standard will support accessories like portable storage devices, desktop storage, external graphics, video interfaces, adapters, docks, hubs, power supplies, and monitors. Accessories can be daisy-chained as well, helping to minimize cable clutter, end quote. Coming to laptops later this year, look for the Thunderbolt 4 designation on the box. And Qualcomm has announced the Snapdragon 865 plus processor, a new chip that it says is designed to boost gaming, AI and graphics performance all by around 10%, which okay, maybe not that much, but it would still be nice, and what is even nicer, this is coming really soon. Expect to see this in new phones as early as Q3 of this year, quoting the verge. It's a similar refresh to last year's

Snapdragon 855 plus model, which offered improvements to CPU and GPU performance for gaming compared to the regular 855. It also means that Qualcomm isn't using the mid-year refresh to add the most anticipated upgrade to the Snapdragon 865, integrating the Snapdragon X-55 modem into the main chipset, instead of requiring a separate component with the phone, which takes up more space and can impact battery life. Unfortunately, it seems like that improvement will have to wait for Qualcomm's 2021 flagship at the earliest.

For the most part, the Snapdragon 855 plus tended to pop up. in gaming-focused Android phones like the Asus Raj Phone 2, the Nubia Red Magic 3, and the Black Shark 2, although it also was in more mainstream devices like the OnePlus 7T Pro 2. So far it looks like the Snapdragon 865 plus will continue that gaming emphasis with AIS announcing that its upcoming Rajphone 3 will feature the new chip while Lenovo says it'll appear in new Legion branded devices later this year, end quote. all of which means you probably shouldn't expect to see that chip in the new Galaxy Note 20 that we're all expecting. But speaking of Samsung and Galaxy Notes, Samsung just announced that its next Galaxy Unpacked event is set for August 5th.

I can't believe that it's been a full year since that last unpacked event here in Brooklyn at the Barclay Center. But obviously, they're not going to do anything like that. Now, the event will be held virtually. and yes, we can expect that this is where they will unveil a new Galaxy Note 20 lineup. We're expecting at least two new Note 20 models, the regular Note 20 and the Note 20 Ultra, as well as the Galaxy Folds successor, which again, geez, remember that? Remember foldable phones? I guess that whole thing really was a bust, a fad, just as everyone said it might be. But hey, Samsung's not giving up yet. In Dieter Bones processor newsletter this morning,

he took a look at the stakes for Samsung at this point in time. Quote, In addition to the Note 20 line, there are plenty of other Samsung devices that are due for an imminent release. There's the 5G version of the Galaxy Z flip folding phone, the Galaxy Z Fold 2, the Galaxy Watch 3 smartwatch, and also new earbuds that are bean-shaped.

If all these devices get announced, then it will be obvious that Samsung is hoping to make a splash with this event. Not to put too fine a point on it, but the company is broadcasting that intention quite clearly with a literal metallic paint splash on the invite. I get the feeling that Samsung is casting about for a halo device. Something else that image could resemble maybe? A halo device needs to impress everybody and draw people to the store,

but not necessarily be the thing those people buy and walk out with. Will that be the note 20, the Z flip, or the Z fold two? I doubt Samsung itself knows the answer to that. Why does Samsung need a halo device? Because Chinese phone makers are nipping at its heels for market share. if not outright winning in lots of regions. And Samsung has staked its reputation on innovation. You can find a phone with 90% of what you get in a flagship Samsung phone while spending hundreds less. So Samsung really needs to wow you with the other 10%, end quote.

Quick grab bag segment here because it's actually been a pretty newsy day. A job posting is suggesting that Twitter might be working on a new subscription platform under a team co-named Griffin. Quoting Tom Warren at the verge, Twitter is currently recruiting engineers to join the subscription team with employees collaborating closely with the company's payments team. The job posting notes potential Twitter subscriptions would be a first for the company, but it's not clear exactly how Twitter plans to implement a subscription service, end quote. Twitter, I frankly don't even care what your subscription plan ends up being. Take my money if it improves my Twitter experience.

But a suggestion for you, what if your subscription? and play made Twitter a little more like Clubhouse. If you've been on Clubhouse, then you know exactly what I mean. And also, a slide from YouTube video posted by Google for its Smart Home Summit suggests that Android 11 will be launching on September 8th, a date that would actually fit in with what we already know about Google's timelines. This is neither here nor there, but one of the newsletters that I read religiously every day is Matt Levine's Money Stuff newsletter from Bloomberg Opinion. If you're not hip to Matt Levine or Money Stuff, seek it out for absolute gems in thinking like the one I'm about to read to you. This is

from Matt's Monday newsletter, and he's talking about that whole Uber buying Postmates news, but also about the whole model of venture-back startups using piles of capital raises in an attempt to bulldoze their way to monopoly rent-taking. We've discussed this plenty of times before. There was a whole generation of startups where the only way their business model could ever work was if they actually got to a monopoly environment in their market. That's a hell of a business model because, quoting Matt, if you take that model too seriously, this would actually be a perfectly viable pitch to venture capitalist. Number one, we'll get into the crowded, miserable burrito delivery business. Number two, we'll grow our market share by charging customers less

and paying drivers more, losing a ton of money ourselves, but also causing our competitors to lose even more money than they already do. Number three, they'll hate that. Number four, eventually they'll pay us a few billion dollars to stop or to acquire us. Number five, all we need is a few hundred million dollars to subsidize our losses until the competitors give in and buy us. You can lose money every step of the way and never convince anyone that you'll ever make money and still exit with more money than you started with. Present profitability doesn't matter. Future profitability doesn't matter.

All that matters is harming the profitability of an even more lavishly funded money-losing venture-backed company. That is, if you believe this model, in the short term, it might be in your interest to acquire competitors and reduce the pain. But in the long term, when you do that, you are demonstrating that lose money until we get acquired at a premium is a viable business model, so you'll be encouraging other people to jump into the sector

without a plan to make money, and you'll have to keep buying them. You can't really believe the model. Venture capitalists might subsidize losses for 10 years, but not for 100. Eventually, there has to be some sort of endgame. Possibly, the end game is people come to their senses, the industry consolidates, and the remaining players find a way to make money. You can tell that as a good story, selling a valuable product at a fair price, or a bad one, making monopoly profits from precarious labor. possibly the end game is people come to their senses, all these companies shut down, and we go back to picking up our own burritos. Obviously, if you're invested in the space, you are telling the former story, not the latter, end quote. As I said, this is neither here nor there as a segment. It's not exactly a news item, but it is the best thing I've read in a while that so succinctly sums up a certain tendency of venture-backed entrepreneurship that held sway over the last decade or so.

I don't think that this model holds sway for new entrants today, but for the players that played this game, the game is still playing out. I'm thinking of the X but for X model of startups whose only strategy was to go for scale. That's the model that is in the endgame stage right now. And the end game seems to be very much a classic game of musical chairs. The venture backers of Postmates 100% played this strategy out right. They won. They got a good return out of the strategy. But for everyone else, if the music is stopping now and you don't have a chair, finally today I want to share with you a product launch that has gotten a lot of chatter online over the last 24 hours. X Evernote CEO Phil Libbon and his All-Turtles Digital Studio that Libbon founded after leaving Evernote have debuted, mm-hmm.

Yeah, that's the name, mm-hmm, MM-H-M-M. It's a Mac video conference tool that is in invite-only beta right now, but listen to how great this sounds, quoting the verge. Mm-hmm is a virtual camera that can be used with Zoom, Google Meet, YouTube, and other video streaming services. turn it on and the app transforms your room into a virtual stage. Like other video conferencing tools, Mm-hmm, offers a variety of still and animated virtual backgrounds

to enliven your conversations. But that's just the start. The real power of mm-hmm comes in the way it lets you easily manipulate slides, backgrounds, and your own image, either for fun or for business reasons. With a simple gesture on a trackpad, you can move your face around the screen, shrink or enlarge your image, or disappear completely.

You can also turn a grainy opaque blue and a touch modeled after Jedi holograms. You can post slides that appear over your shoulder and advance them with a tap. And you can team up with another Mm-hmm user to create a collaborative presentation with each of you able to manipulate images on the screen and advance the show. The app also allows you to create interactive presentations. A recorded Mm-hmm video can be played back as a movie, but the viewer can also click on slides to advance the presentation, toggle the presenter and their audio on and off or pause the presentation to zoom in on a notable slide.

The result is a product that could be equally of interest to YouTubers, salespeople, and friends who are goofing off during Zoom happy hours, end quote. Or it could be of interest to podcasters. Mm-hmm. Has raised $4.5 million led by Sequoia Capital. And hey, Phil, send me an invite, and we'll run our next listener call on episode using Mm-hmm. Once again, I'm running a bit behind today, but I do have a mystery that I want to throw out to the hive mind soon, maybe tomorrow. Y'all are always so good at solving mysteries for me. So talk to you tomorrow.