Spam Nightmare; Amazon Gadgets; Elon's Tech; Xbox Series X

Now, I'm angry

As I mentioned some weeks ago, spam calls are on the rise. To be more exact: They’re exploding. I bounce back and forth from my landline (why do we still have this) to my cellphone like one of those metal pinballs, answering fake and spam calls or rushing to block or just pickup and hang up quickly.

Verizon is only identifying 1-in-10 as actual spam and the names and area codes are growing more clever. I think the spammers and robo-callers are using some of my real-world phone activities to generate fake numbers that I will actually pick up.

Case in point: The other day I was packing groceries when my Apple Watch began to vibrate. I saw my parents’ area code. It wasn’t one of their numbers, but it could have been my sister or brother or someone near them (they live hundreds of miles away). I was in a public place so answering Dick Tracy style, on my watch, was out of the question. I jammed my hand into my pocket to retrieve my phone and answer quickly. If one of my elderly parents was sick or in trouble, I needed to know asap.

*Click"

“This is an important call,” said the robo announcer on the call. I slapped the hang-up button and almost threw the phone at the self- checkout register.

Now they’d gone too far. The spammers know I call that area code at least once a week, and now they’re gonna use it to mess with me and try to steal my private info and more.

I don’t know what the carriers, the FCC, and the FTC are doing, but they have clearly dropped the ball and allowed the robo calls and spammers to grow at the least opportune time, when we are all most vulnerable.

The investigation, technology, enforcement, and fines all need to grow ASAP on these calls. FCC Commissioner Aji Pai spends a lot of time on twitter yucking it up (to be fair, I’ve yucked it up with him, there, too), What’s he doing about this, huh? Seriously, it might make sense for a lot of us to contact him here and voice our displeasure.

Can you tell I’m pissed?

Microsoft has $7.5B to burn on Bethesda

If you have any question about how tech companies have faired in the pandemic, just take a look at Microsoft’s latest blockbuster gaming acquisition. It recently bought Zenimax Media, the studio that owns Bethesda and a slew of major game titles (The Elder Scrolls, Fallout) for $7.5B IN CASH

Elon Musk’s battery breakthrough

Elon promised a huge battery breakthrough (he literally called it “Battery Day”), one that would help end his company’s reliance on third-party battery partners, but he prefaced the big unveil with a series of buzzkill tweets which warned that “The machine that makes the machine is vastly harder than the machine itself,” and that we would not see the fruits of this breakthrough until 2022.

The actual event was heavy on tech detail and low on pizazz. A big takeaway is that, if the lower-cost high-yield batteries do come to fruition, they’ll help Elon Musk deliver a $25,000 Tesla.

In the meantime, the Bill Gates-backed QuantumSpace claims it’s already blown past Musk and Tesla. Guess battery tech is the new hot space.

And there’s California’s plan.

WFH Realities

Count Apple CEO Tim Cook as a WFH convert. He’s not saying the tens of thousands of Apple Employees won’t eventually return to the still spanking-new Apple Park campus, but he has learned that some jobs do get done more efficiently virtually. At least that’s what he told an interviewer during a recent conference.

I think there are still differing opinions about the power of WFH. For those with the wherewithal to juggle a job, kids, and home schooling tasks, maybe it’s great. However, I worry about the millions who don’t have support at home or the money for quality technology. They could also enjoy the benefits of WFH if they ever get the financial- and people-support they need.

Space Trash

Been reading this story about all the incredible amount of junk currently orbiting the earth, sometimes forcing astronauts to shelter in place on the ISS and hope for the best. This story also taught me that some people are having their ashes launched into space.

Amazon Echoes

Amazon didn’t hold an in-person product event this year, but that didn’t stop it from introducing a bunch of new Alexa-enabled hardware and one service. Most notable might be the new orb-like Echo sphere (better speakers, more pleasing shape), the Echo Show that can spin around to follow you, and Luna, a cloud-based game streaming service.

I do have some thoughts about some next-gen voice AI technology Amazon is cooking up for future Alexa.

Quibi swirling down

A few months ago I signed up for the free Quibi trial and watched a few of its snackable shows. The new “Punked” with chance the Rapper was amusing, if predictable, and the Sophie Turner mystery/thriller Survive was not survivable. This was in April and May, just as the Pandemic was solidifying its horrific hold on society and the opportunity and need to watch mobile video on my smartphone was diminishing.

Now Quibi is struggling and, according to a new report, looking for some sort of strategic help or even exit. As I noted on Twitter, Quibi’s business and strategic trajectory has been on triple-time compared to the normal startup. Some responded that Quibi was on 2020 time. How right they are.

Xbox Series X and Series S preorders

Microsoft Xbox Series X and Series S went on pre-order last week. I hear things didn’t go smoothly. I have no immediate plans to buy this console or the upcoming PlayStation 5. I did, however, run a Twitter poll to find out what other people planned on doing. Unsurprisingly, the more powerful Series X is the much more popular option. But it was also notable that slightly more people plan to buy the PlayStation 5.

The TikTok saga is far from over. China may scuttle the whole thing but at least you can still download it (for now).

Help me, I’m a BTS fan

Stay Safe

Wear a Mask

See you soon.

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