PTJ 267: Facebork

March 20, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

As The Social Network once again finds itself in the hot seat over user privacy, El Kaiser and J.D. ponder the big picture and Facebook’s effect on civic affairs. After the weekly roundup of tech news, this week’s episode also features some very special guests — and not all of them are chatbots. Fasten your seatbelt and climb aboard Episode 267!

Links to Stories in This Week’s News Segment

How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions (The New York Times)
Here’s how Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to get data for 50 million users (Recode)
Suspending Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group from Facebook (Facebook)
Pursuing Forensic Audits to Investigate Cambridge Analytica Claims (Facebook)
Whistleblower: Facebook Suspended Me for Exposing Cambridge Analytica (The Daily Beast)
Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia link, explained (Vox)
U.S. and British lawmakers demand answers from Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (The Washington Post)
Facebook may have violated FTC privacy deal, say former federal officials, triggering risk of massive fines (The Washington Post)
Massachusetts AG to investigate Facebook, Cambridge Analytica (CNN)
Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios (TechCrunch)
YouTube suggested conspiracy videos to children using its Kids app (Business Insider)
YouTube didn’t tell Wikipedia about its plans for Wikipedia (The Verge)
YouTube Will Link Directly to Wikipedia to Fight Conspiracy Theories (Wired)
The @Wikimedia Foundation statement about the recent @YouTube announcement (via Twitter)
Apple to Host March 27 Event in Chicago: ‘Creative New Ideas for Teachers and Students‘ (Mac Rumors)
NBC News plans online streaming service to attract younger viewers (Reuters)
Twitter working on Snap Discover competitor with location-based snaps (CNBC)
Snapchat’s Stock Sinks After Rihanna Denounces Domestic Violence Ad (NPR)
The real world as your playground: Build real-world games with Google Maps APIs (Google Geo Developers Blog)
Google is opening up Maps so game developers can create the next Pokémon Go (The Verge)
Financial Services: New restricted financial products policy / June 2018 (Google)
Google banning cryptocurrency-related advertising (CBNC)
Stephen Hawking: Tributes pour in for ‘inspirational’ physicist (BBC News)
Stephen Hawking’s Star Trek Cameo Remains Historic—and Delightful (Vanity Fair)
Stephen Hawking leaves behind ‘breathtaking’ final multiverse theory (The Daily Telegraph)

Chatbots

What can your Assistant do? (Google)
Google Assistant chatbots (Google)
Alexa bots (Amazon)
Cyber Argument chatbot script app for fights between Alexa and Google Assistant (Google)
See Bots Chat (YouTube)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 266: Brought to You By the Letters “P” and “S”

March 13, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

A preview peep of the new Android P operating system has arrived for developers and Microsoft is adding an “S” mode to the next version of Windows 10. El Kaiser and J.D. also discuss other letters in the news this week, including SEC and OMG, as in “OMG, why is the Amazon Alexa laughing by itself???” You can hear all this and more (including a discussion of software vs. treeware for news consumption) on this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam!

Links to Stories Discussed on This Week’s Episode

Previewing Android P (Android Developers Blog)
Android P Features and APIs (Android Developers Blog)
Android P DP1: New nav bar button enables app rotation even w/ auto-rotate disabled (9to5Google)
Windows 10 in S Mode coming soon to all editions of Windows 10 (Windows Experience Blog)
AI Platform for Windows Developers (Windows Developer Blog)
Researchers Bypassed Windows Password Locks With Cortana Voice Commands (Motherboard)
Snap is laying off about 100 engineers (CNBC)
Statement on Potentially Unlawful Online Platforms for Trading Digital Assets (SEC.gov)
Amazon launches a low-cost version of Prime for Medicaid recipients (TechCrunch)
Amazon Alexa devices are creepily laughing at their owners for no reason (Consequence of Sound)

Consuming News

For Two Months, I Got My News From Print Newspapers. Here’s What I Learned. (The New York Times)
The Information Diet: A Case for Conscious Consumption by Clay Johnson (O’Reilly Media)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 265: Just Over the Ridge

March 5, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

Congratulations to the sound team on Dunkirk for the Oscars — we here at Pop Tech Jam had a feeling you were going to win!

But now that we know who won the 2018 Academy Awards, life is still full of burning questions: Who am I? What is my place in the universe? Why do the Klingons on Star Trek: Discovery look so different from the Klingons in the rest of the canonical series? This week, El Kaiser and J.D. discuss The Klingon Question after tackling the technology news of the moment. naDev ‘oH Qap!

Links to Stories Discussed on This Week’s Episode

Twitter Health Metrics Proposal Submission (Twitter blog)
Introducing Uber Health, Removing Transportation as a Barrier to Care (Uber Newsroom)
Google launches Slack competitor Hangouts Chat (Reuters)
ESRB defends “fun” loot boxes as it starts labeling all “in-game purchases” (Ars Technica)
Amazon acquiring Ring to help with Key delivery system (CNBC)
Updates to YouTube Live streaming (YouTube blog)
Google Clips review: a smart camera that doesn’t make the grade (The Verge)
Google Clips camera review: The AI-powered camera takes photos and video (The Washington Post)
Samsung’s Galaxy S9 is official: Fingerprint sensor finally in the right place (Android Police)
Built for the Way We Communicate Today: Samsung Galaxy S9 and S9+ (Samsung Pressroom)
Apple Turns Up Audio Ambition With High-End Headphones (Bloomberg)
T-Mobile and Sprint name first 5G cities, as race to build next-gen network intensifies (GeekWire)
5G Cell Service Is Coming. Who Decides Where It Goes? (The New York Times)
PayPal Settles FTC Charges that Venmo Failed to Disclose Information to Consumers (Federal Trade Commission)
Amazon’s Battle to Bring Conversational AI Into Your Home (WIRED)
‘Alexa, How Can Podcasters Make Money From Voice Assistants?’ (The Wall Street Journal)

Star Trek Continuity

Klingon Head Ridges Will Finally Be Explained on Star Trek: Discovery, with Science (io9)
Star Trek: Discovery’s Klingons may look unfamiliar for a reason (Polygon)
The Klingon Forehead Problem (Ex Astris Scientia)
The Evolution of Klingon Foreheads (Ex Astris Scientia)
Klingon augment virus (Memory Alpha Wiki)
Alex Kurtzman Explains Star Trek: Discovery’s Klingons (io9)
Does continuity matter for Star Trek: Discovery?
(The Verge)
Star Trek: Discovery’s Changes To Klingon Canon Are The Worst Part Of A Great Show (ScreenRant)
The “Wand Order Problem” (The Harry Potter Lexicon)
Mistakes in the Harry Potter books (Harry Potter Wiki)

The independent audio magazine devoted to mashing up pop culture, technology and more. J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado are your hosts. It's an Internet Radio revolution!