[00:00:19] Happy to have you along my fellow tech enthusiasts. I'm Sam Bushman. I've got Jay Hill with me and we keep an eye on tech so you don't have to. This broadcast is brought to you in part by NetworkProvidersInc.com. You've got a partner when it comes to IT. We're talking about IT strategy, IT security, IT backups, IT help desk, IT website development, AI training, the list goes on and on. Just think now.
[00:00:44] NetworkProvidersInc.com and think you've got a partner when it comes to IT. Really, it's outsourced IT but think about it as kind of a fractional IT executive at your fingertips and think about an IT expert on staff all the time. Yeah, that's what NPI does. NetworkProvidersInc.com. This is NPI TechGuys, NPITechGuys.com for the show site. Jay, welcome. Hey, Sam. How are you?
[00:01:15] I'm doing fantastic, sir. There's been a lot of cool tech things going on lately, man. Yeah, lots of cool stuff always happening. There's good countries and bad countries, Jay. And it not only regards to tech but everything else. So good countries. It's interesting. You know, I've been telling people America is one of the greatest countries on the face of the earth for 30 plus years, you know? Indeed.
[00:01:35] Indeed. And the mainstream press and the press around the world has told all these other people in different countries how horrible America is. America's awful. America's repressive. America's this. America's that. And a lot of people around the world started to believe those negative stories over the last 30, 40, 50 kind of years. But now they came for soccer. Or they came for football, I better say, right? Yeah, football. But they discovered America, Jay. Yeah.
[00:02:03] And the reason that I'm bringing this up is because they're literally on Twitter. Well, that's called X now, I guess. Facebook, X, Instagram, Telegram, every method possible. YouTube. They're everywhere. And they're basically saying, man, this price is awesome.
[00:02:19] Yeah, they love it. In fact, I saw an article where people are, Kraft is even coming out with this package, this one quart bag with individual 3.3 whatever ounce ranch dressings in it because you can't get ranch dressing. Yeah, let's go.
[00:02:35] So they're discovering ranch dressing. They're discovering, you know, parking spots. You can park most places. They're discovering going into the store and going, oh, there's way too many options. I don't know what to choose. They're going aisles are wide. They're going, man, you can get a hot dog at Costco or Sam's Club and it's just panties. And man, you can go to the restroom and it doesn't cost any money and you can do all the, I mean, this place is just cool.
[00:03:00] Yeah. You know, it doesn't match sometimes the propaganda of the other, you know, the mainstream sometimes. I know this is a tech show, but the reason that I bring that up is they're even talking about America's high tech. They're going, you know, there's a lot of AI places. Things are automated. Things are doing really well. You can cruise around the country and go on a toll road and boom, it's just automated and it charges your toll pass or whatever. And I mean, they're even talking about some tech things and stuff. That's pretty surprising. The internet's all over the place. The internet's decently fast and free.
[00:03:29] Now I get compared to South Koreans, you know, Japan and some smaller countries. When I say smaller, I just mean they're not near spread out like the United States is or whatever. I mean, you know, we're not as fast as some of those places, but they're easier to connect. Right. Yeah. But people are surprised at how good the internet is all over America too. That's right. But you know, there's some countries that are really great for remote work, but in case you needed a reason to avoid Bali, here's another one. You can add something. Bali.
[00:03:59] Bali and tell the truth about America. And it's a study in tech contrast, Jay. Yeah, that's right. Bali is enforcing a policy that any kind of commercial activity done on their island will require a work visa. That means that any kind of compensation coming from anywhere in the world in any form is prohibited. They're cracking down on influencers because these people are the most visible, but they've said that this will also apply to remote tech workers, even people receiving freebies while on site.
[00:04:25] So that means you could be fined or post a photo of your cocktail or hosted event, you know, if you're promoting it at a trade show or anything else, you know, so just be careful because they're cracking down on it. So you don't go on vacation there and open your email, Sam. Just don't go on vacation there, period, Jay. I guess. I mean, what else can people expect if that's... I'm not trying to be rude and I'm not trying to black out that country or anything. I'm just saying, what are they thinking, Jay?
[00:04:54] And so the same thing is true in America. You know, these states that are allowing remote work and states that are not trying to double tax people if you work in one state, but yet your business is in another state and all this kind of stuff. So working out these agreements are important and that's why you see people fleeing California and fleeing New York and some of these, you know, liberal extreme states, Illinois and bailing to Texas and, you know, Tennessee or Florida or wherever.
[00:05:18] It's for these same reasons and people choose liberty and people choose lower taxes and people choose, you know, freedom to do what they want. Even the socialists, even the liberals, Jay, they might talk a good game publicly, but at the end of the day, when it comes down to it, they do what everybody else does. They move where there's freedom and where there's less expense and where it makes sense to do business, less red tape and less confusion. And so, hey, man, Bali, you guys keep doing what you're going to do and pretty soon you'll just isolate yourselves and you'll go down a rabbit hole of stupidity. I'm sure that.
[00:05:48] I'm telling you right now, come back and be the leader in the world of lower taxes and plenty of Internet, big drinks, too many choices. You go anywhere you want, park, you can drive, you can park, you can do, you know, like the picture of America. That's why I started out this way because that's the standard, Jay. Well, I'm sure that this was somebody's intention that backfired, a good intention or they were annoyed at some influencer or something. I've got one response. But I'm pretty sure this will get. Stoop. Stupid.
[00:06:18] Just dumb. Right. How do you guys think that's going to work well for anybody? And how are you going to. You think that's going to be. A lot of countries like this. If you're the person or the business, you think that's going to be fine? A lot of countries want the remote workers to spend cash and to, you know, live in these far-flung places and, you know, add to the economy and everything else. And I'm surprised that they're taking this route. But we'll see how it works out for them. It won't work out well. I'm telling you right now, write it down. Remember who warned you first.
[00:06:46] And the good news is the truth about liberty and freedom and what it takes to be free and prosperous and everything else is on the national stage, a.k.a. the World Cup, baby. That's right. And American 250. I thought that was interesting. And just think, Jay, with tech too, you could watch the World Cup anywhere, buddy. You pull up to a gas station, you're filling your tank, you're looking at the World Cup on your screen. Yeah. I mean, it's crazy. A lot of sites got ripped down in other countries and stuff for streaming the World Cup, I guess illegally streaming it.
[00:07:15] I don't understand why they would do that too. Listen, the whole purpose of the world. Oh, you know about broadcaster rights. I know about all that. But I'm just telling you, think about it from this point of view. The Olympics, the World Cup, all these things are designed to, in my opinion, level the playing field and bring people together in ways that they might not under a political or under a country flag kind of a way.
[00:07:39] You know, these sports, this entertainment, this national pastime or international now pastime kind of thing. It's really designed to bring people together, Jay. Why would you ever want to hinder that? I know there's big money. I get it. Money. But come on, man. You're making plenty of money anyway. If somebody decides to stream the World Cup from somewhere ever, who cares, man? Just be excited about that it's going just absolutely. I mean, you think viral is a term. This is like, what would be the term? It's like a pandemic.
[00:08:10] That's the wrong word because that relates to illness. But yes, your point's right. So does viral. Anyway, I'm just telling you it's on steroids, whatever you want to call it. It's just, why wouldn't you just ride that wave, Jay? I don't understand it. Oh, you got to crack down on it, man. You got to have a hold on. It's just like the NFL. It's so different. I mean, you know how they crack down on the MLB. You don't got to do anything like that. You got to be grateful people have such interest, and you got to say, man, my marketing goes everywhere. It's kind of like in the media.
[00:08:39] Sometimes they say, you know what? Even if it's a negative story, just get my name right, baby. Right. It's a little bit like that, you know? No press is bad press. All right. Well, then if we're going to say no press is bad press, I guess the next topic we're going to talk about is Trump, right? Well, you know, Trump has signed some executive orders. We've got a couple of these to talk about. About asking AI firms to share their most powerful models with the government up to 30 days before
[00:09:04] they release it so that voluntary checks could screen for cyber risks and no licensing required. Now, this is voluntary, so it's not a mandate. I don't know why you would sign an executive order to ask people to do stuff. I mean, I guess you could just go ask them, right? Yeah. You know what they call those, Jay? What? Paper Tigers? No, I don't know. Public Service Announcements. Oh, a PSA. Yeah. Just do a PSA if that's what you're going to do. Yeah, but you don't need to do an executive order, I think, to ask people to voluntarily do something. And I agree.
[00:09:34] That's why I'm saying a PSA kind of spread the word. Yeah. Now, we're all interested in security. We're all interested in safety. No one wants to, you know, let the hackers take over the world and cause trouble and wreak havoc and all that kind of stuff. But look, 30 days isn't enough time for them to get to the bottom of complicated stuff anyway. That's true. That's very true. And I know they'll be like, no, listen, they can run their AI and create problems and we can run our AI and create solutions. And all you've done is accelerated the race. You can't even get a passport in 30 days. You got to get your mic there, buddy. Oh, is my mic messing up? Yep. Sorry about that.
[00:10:04] You've got to get, look, this race is just, all the AI does is magnify it. The bad guys are going to use it for bad. The good guys are going to use it for good. And it's just going to accelerate. The stakes are just getting higher. That's all. Yeah. You can't even get a passport in 30 days. I don't know they're going to get much done. Well, that's why I'm saying is, I mean, I appreciate the idea. The other problem is trusting government in the first place. I mean, if government has been the kind arbiter of peace and patience and stability and level
[00:10:32] the playing field and doing what's right, then I wouldn't mind letting the government get an eye on it. But what we find is the government usually creates winners and losers depending on who's in power and you find out they use it and then there's a big scandal relating to it and everything else, right? I don't know what that's all about. I understand what Donald's trying to do, but I don't know that he's going about it the right way. It reminds me of the years ago, the way the internet used to work out. All right. Quick pause. We'll talk in seconds. This is TechWatch.
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[00:12:52] All right. Back with you live. Sam and Jay. Keep an eye on tech so you don't have to. Brought to you by networkprovidersinc.com. So President Trump signed this executive order. I guess it's voluntary, though. Hey, he wants the AI companies to give the government the preview of kind of the new rollout models before everybody else gets them in an effort to create safety and security and stability. And like I say, if government had been historically known for doing it right, I wouldn't have a problem with it. But the problem is government doesn't do it right. Usually you see scandal and this and that and the other.
[00:13:19] And I also think 30 days, that's just a foot in the door. Pretty soon the camel's nose will be all the way under the tent if you're not very careful. 30 days isn't enough time to do a whole lot. And the AI races, AI is just magnifying things. These races between the white hats and the black hats, if you will, really is just it's just going to be magnified by AI. That's all. But Trump also had a different executive order that he signed to Jay. I guess boots two different executive orders boosting quantum computing. That's right.
[00:13:49] He signed two executive orders requiring federal agencies to adopt quantum resistant encryption by 2031. Guarding against the future with these attacks that are harvest now decrypt later. People are saving a lot of stuff, even things that are encrypted and saying, hey, as soon as we get quantum computing or something, we'll be able to break this. We'll be able to go backwards and kind of open up all this stuff that we couldn't look into before.
[00:14:15] And so he's saying, hey, we need to use quantum, quantum resistant encryption, which they have now and be able to use that so that like start it now before the, you know, before quantum may be able to decode. First off, do we even know if quantum computing is going to be real? Well, I mean, yes, it is real, but it's not very significant bits, right? You can get 19 bits or 26 bits or when they give it to real.
[00:14:45] Hold on a minute. Real in terms of yes, it exists versus real as in it's everywhere in life. Yeah, it hasn't broken out like real. Hold on. Ubiquitous is real. You can do something in controlled conditions. It's not real. Or you can do something to a minimal amount isn't real. I mean, in that definition, then it wouldn't be real, right? Okay. And the reason I'm saying that is because if we're talking about everybody and their dog
[00:15:11] saving something so they can use quantum to decrypt it, we're not real yet. Well, we're not there, but yeah, I mean, it's real. It can happen. It's just not to the level. Okay. So can you apply it, Jay? Can I apply quantum computing to this encrypted thing that you're saving if you're Joe Blow? Joe Blow? No, because they don't even have access to it. That's what I'm talking about. So I'm not here to argue the point. Is the technology real? Yes, it is. And they've proven it. I'm not playing games with words.
[00:15:40] What I'm trying to get people to understand is it isn't here yet at all. And it won't be here for a while either. Because even if they get it, do we have the computing power for it? Do we have the chips? Do we have the infrastructure? Do we have the bandwidth? Do we have the power centers? Do we have the... We're not even close, Jay. I'm sure that's what people said about AI back in the third quarter of 2023. And I still say that about AI. Well, I think Joe Blow has access to that now for sure. Yeah, they do.
[00:16:08] But not like, say, government or big business does. No. So anyway, all I'm telling you is that if you think tomorrow you're going to decrypt something that you've been holding for 20 years and you think you're going to decrypt it tomorrow because the quantum folks are here, you're not right. It's not true. Yeah, but if you're, you know, a big nation state or something like that... Yeah, now your mic went all the way gone, Jay. If you're a big nation state, can you still hear me or no? Hardly. Okay. I'm not sure. You'll have to continue.
[00:16:38] Anyway, in the meantime, while you work on that, though, so I'm just, I'm not here to argue about quantum computing if it exists. We know it exists. I'm just saying it's one thing to prove something in a lab. It's one thing to prove something in minimal use and say, yes, it does work. Now we've got to improve it. It's kind of like the old computers and now we've got miniature computers and stuff. I mean, there's progress. Eventually, it's going to happen. I don't disagree with any of that. I'm just telling you that right now, quantum computing in the hands of the people who think they want to hold on to something to get it decrypted,
[00:17:07] but BitRot will probably get rid of it before they can decrypt it. That's all I'm saying. That may be true. Kind of saying. So anyway, very interesting, interesting tidbit. But President Trump is signing orders related to this. And President Trump has kind of been, he's got a new nickname, Jay. You know what it is? No. The high-tech president. Who's naming him that? Me. Okay. And why is he the high-tech president?
[00:17:34] Because he's done more relating to legislative reality, executive order-wise and everything else, relating to AI, the new frontier, if you will. He is the one that created the space program, right? The, like the Space Force or what space program are you mean? Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah, the government space program. I guess that was his first term maybe. Did he do that? Yeah. Is that when that was? That's right. Yep. And so anyway, all I'm telling you is that he's kind of getting the nickname in my mind, the high-tech president.
[00:18:05] He's related to tech more than almost any other president in our lifetimes. Yeah, that's probably true. And I think it's cool. I'm not, this is not a negative name or a, you know, anything like that. I'm just telling you that he's really taken on some of these issues that others, I mean, people laughed at him when he created the Space Force or the space program. People kind of went, whatever. Now they're starting to go, oh, man, we're sure glad he did that, right? I am. Yeah, I think a lot of people said that about Obama, too, because he had a lot of his campaigning and stuff done online and internet and things like that.
[00:18:35] Yeah. Anyway, very, very interesting. I know. Interesting indeed. So Carnival is in the news, Jay. This is what? The cruise people? Yeah, Carnival Cruise Lines. And they've had a data breach. One of the world's largest cruise line operators. And they had a cyber attack. This was back in April. Hackers from the group Shiny Hunters claimed responsibility for a social engineering attack.
[00:19:01] They deceived an employee, granted access to the company's IT system. They got names, data bursts, email addresses, phone numbers, physical addresses, government-issue ID numbers, including driver's license, passports. Anyway, it affects 6 million people. So, you know, if you're in there, they're probably offering free credit reporting or whatever. But, you know, if you've taken a Carnival cruise recently, you might be in this list, and you should check it out.
[00:19:30] What are they going to do with this information, Jay? I kind of find this interesting. And, you know, I used to care about a lot of these breaches. And don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that it doesn't matter at all. But I kind of look at it and say, what are they even going to do with that? Well, I think there's a lot of things they're going to do with it. Number one, they're going to try to do password reuse. So if they have a username and a password, they're going to just try that everywhere. They're going to try that on your Facebook account. Yeah, but to what end, though? If I know that I've been breached and I go change everything, what are you going to get, a little bit of money that the banks are going to try to claw back?
[00:19:59] Or whatever, get a little bit of this and that? I guess what I'm saying is that if people know that they've been breached in this narrow... I'm not saying it's not a lot of people or whatever, but I'm just saying... I mean, it's six million passengers, but yet that's a narrow scope. You know if you went on Carnival recently, you can prove that your name was part of the hack because by law they've got to tell you that it was done, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I guess I'm just saying, how much are they really going to get away with in the end, do you think? Yeah.
[00:20:26] You know, I don't know because I think a lot of these kind of attacks are one step at a time. You know, they get a little foothold, they get this information, they pivot somewhere else, they laterally move through a network or they use a piece here and a piece there that they gather to... For example, let's say that Sam Bushman, they get your information and then they go to your corporation and because they have a password or they have some more information about you,
[00:20:54] they could call the HR department and convince them that you are who you are because they have your driver's license number and, you know, then get you to switch your payroll to a different account or whatever. I think there's a lot of stuff they can do with it and the less information they have, the better, the more information they have, the worse. All right. I don't know. I'm just saying I don't disagree with what you're saying. I guess I'm just saying nowadays it seems like we alert when people have been hacked so well. Most people have two-factor or multi-factor on different things.
[00:21:24] So even if you have a password, it's going to be very hard. I'm not saying you won't get through some people. And I'm not saying you can't get, but people are going to have their banks help them solve it. They're going to have the government be on the prowl to help solve it. They're going to have this big ocean line company or whatever. I don't know what you call it, but big entertainment, whatever, carnival company, you know, working on it, trying to mitigate this and everything else. I'm just saying how far are they really going to get with how many accounts? You really wonder. Yeah. I mean, I hope not far. I hope that that's the case, but we'll have to see.
[00:21:54] And I think it's worth noting. I mean, if you've been in youth carnival or whatever, you know, perk your ears up and keep a lookout and make sure that your stuff's safe. Check your credit score and your credit report and stuff. So the other thing is that these guys have taken responsibility for this. What's this? The shiny hunter group or whatever? Yes, they have. They're trying to make a name for themselves. Why would you take responsibility for it and be like, yep, we did it. Bragging rights, man.
[00:22:19] And this is the third major cyber incident for carnival in six years. I mean, they get hacked all the time. To their chagrin, I'm sure. Now they say they're working with law enforcement. They're taking steps to, you know, mitigate the breach. They're not making steps or doing anything else. They've been hacked over and over, Jay. Yeah. I mean, it's social engineering. So what are you going to do? People, they call, they, the human on the other end is kind of the weak link.
[00:22:49] That's not a lot you can patch for, right? It's a lot you can train for. Yeah. And there's companies out there that help with that. It's a lot that you can start to even have AI watch for. That's true. And I think that's going to happen. I don't think that that's happening yet. I'm sure there's some trial stuff for that, but I do see. Well, hey, throw quantum computing at it, man. Fix it. Come on. Well, there is going to be, with even live agents, that are going to have AI listening with them.
[00:23:18] Not only to pull up the information at their fingertips before they even need it, or as the callers talk about it. Yeah, so AI might start going when you're starting to talk and you shouldn't. AI's going to start going, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Well, yeah, it might throw up a warning and say, hey, whoa, you know, verify this credentials or make sure you're, you know, you probably shouldn't say that yet. Yeah, you're out of order here. Or you're, you know, whatever. You're breaching protocol or whatever the case may be. Anyway, I think it's important. I don't mean to mock it, ladies and gentlemen. I'm just saying we've got to get ahead of this right now.
[00:23:46] I mean, when you think about it, of all the big companies that have been hacked, it's usually big businesses hacked. And when they do, I mean, I think almost everybody in the world has already been hacked more than once, whether they know it or not. Probably. Probably. And so, you know, what you got to do is watch your credit. What you've got to do is pay attention to kind of think what you'd call it. All your, you know, banking and all your this and that. But see, now I have, you know, chat DBD going, hey, man, we can access your bank now.
[00:24:15] Do you want to just connect up? I'm like, no, thanks. It can monitor your credit. We're going headlong into this, even though we know there's massive concerns. It's just crazy a little bit to me. Slow down, people. AI is cool. But we need to remain in control. I'm Sam Bushman. We keep an eye on tech so you don't have to. NetworkProvidersInc.com. Hey, make it a great tech day, will you? Thanks.