Tag Archives: NASA

PTJ 370: SPACE WARS AND MOON BASES

August 14, 2023 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

Which is better — paying big bucks for the in-theater movie experience, or waiting a couple months and watching the flick at home? Are streaming services jacking their monthly prices too high for the average consumer? What’s with all this renewed global interest in the Moon and what’s going on with our Mars missions? And: are we ready to see holiday merch for sale while we’re in Back to School shopping mode? El Kaiser and J.D. discuss all of these pressing topics — and more — on Episode 370 of Pop Tech Jam!

• “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem”
• Barbie’s So Big, Folks Made It Their First Theatrical Pandemic Movie (Gizmodo)
• ‘Sharknado’ Channels ‘Barbie’ as B-Movie Hit Gets New Poster, Trailer Ahead of 10th Anniversary Theatrical Release – Exclusive (The Hollywood Reporter)
• ‘Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny’ Set for Digital Home Release Aug. 29 (MediaPlay News)
• Hollywood calls time on golden era of cheap streaming (Financial Times)
• Mark Zuckerberg-Elon Musk Cage Fight Update: Speculation Grows That Tech Tycoons Could Slug It Out In Rome’s Ancient Colosseum (Deadline)
• Apple Plans Major ‘Watch X’ Overhaul for Device’s 10-Year Anniversary (Bloomberg)
• Forget Black Friday: The holiday shopping season starts now
(Axios)
• A Time Capsule of Human Creativity, Stored in the Sky (The New York Times)
• Moon Missions (NASA)
• Mars Sample Return Mission (NASA)

Announcement

An Announcement From Pop Tech Jam

November 28, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer 9 Comments

Howdy, Jammers! Our apologies for the extended silence and lack of snark these past several months! We deeply regret not being able to pine for the Artemis I launch, offer our deep analysis of Andor and Wednesday and, most importantly, warm our hands over the tire fire that is now Twitter. Life got in the way of our little podcast endeavor, but we are not running for the escape pods just yet. Pedro and I are planning a reboot and return of the show in January and look forward to continuing the discussion in the new year.

Everyone have a safe and sane holiday season!

— JD

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 361: Webb Slingers

January 24, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

As 2022 spins up, El Kaiser and J.D. check in on NASA’s big new fancy space telescope and other recent tech headlines. This week’s episode also features some thoughts on The Expanse and tips for adjusting your privacy settings in Android 12 and iOS 15. You can find it all here on PTJ 361!

“Spider-Man: No Way Home”: All the Box Office Records Broken (The Hollywood Reporter)
“The Book of Boba Fett” (StarWars.com)
“Book Of Boba Fett:” Every Star Wars Easter Egg & Reference In Episode 1 (ScreenRant)
“Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett” Episode 1 Easter Eggs Explained (Den of Geek)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope mission: Live updates (Space.com)
Where Is Webb? (NASA)
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on YouTube
Why the James Webb Space Telescope looks like that (Vox)

James Webb Telescope Arrives at Its Destination (The New York Times)
$130 billion wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours as bitcoin, ether drop to multi-month lows (CNBC)
D igital Services Act: regulat ing platforms for a safer online space for users (News | European Parliament)
MEPs adopt Digital Services Act with significant last-minute changes (EURACTIV.com)
How the U.S. Messed Up Its New 5G Rollout: ‘It Wasn’t Our Finest Hour’ (The Wall Street Journal)
Why Airlines Are Worried About 5G (The New York Times)
Apple Nears First Product Launch of 2022, With 5G iPhone SE and New iPad on Tap (Bloomberg)
CES 2022 News (The Verge)
Augmented Reality Theater Takes a Bow. In Your Kitchen. (The New York Times)
Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodg e (BBC News)

PSA: You’ll miss 25 minutes of The Expanse’s final season if you don’t pause it (The Verge)
The story of the fight to archive the internet (TechRadar)
Internet Archive 25th Anniversary (Internet Archive)
The Internet Archive
How to Use Your Phone’s Privacy-Protection Tools (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 360: All Hailing Frequencies Open

December 11, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

El Kaiser and J.D. are back with a new episode and the opportunity to praise the work of Nichelle Nichols, the trailblazing actress who portrayed Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek as she retires from public life. Also in the mix: a discussion of recent headlines, including Big Tech’s increasingly warm seat in front of government regulators, and El Kaiser takes a listen to a new pair of Bowers & Wilkins Bluetooth headphones. All this and more on PTJ Episode 360 !

A New Tesla Safety Concern: Drivers Can Play Video Games in Moving Cars (The New York Times)
Instagram will bring back a chronological feed in 2022 (Engadget)
Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri Says Tech Companies Must Earn Liability Shield (Bloomberg)
What we learned at Congress’ much-anticipated summit of crypto execs (TheBlock)
House Hearing on Financial Innovation and Digital Currency (C-SPAN video)
Europe Pushes New Rules Turning Gig Workers Into Employees (The New York Times)
Epic v. Apple ruling put on hold after appeals court grants a stay (The Verge)
Kuo: Apple AR Headset to Feature Advanced Hand Gesture Controls and Object Detection (MacRumors)
Twitter Tests New, TikTok-Like Full-Screen Display for Explore (Social Media Today)
Roku, Google settle messy battle over YouTube distribution (Axios)
Verizon overrides users’ opt-out preferences in push to collect browsing history (Ars Technica)
Nichelle Nichols honored as she makes final Comic-Con appearance (TheGrio)
1977 NASA Recruitment film with Nichelle Nichols (YouTube)
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Bluetooth headphones

Episode Links

PTJ 353: Deep Purple

April 23, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

On this week’s episode, El Kaiser and JD ponder the purple iPhone and Apple’s other pile of spring product announcements, as well as other headlines from around the tech world. And space nerds everywhere celebrated NASA’s historic week as the Ingenuity helicopter took its inaugural flight on Mars — and then another — all while bringing a little piece of American aviation history along for the ride.

Spin up PTJ 353 to hear it all!

Nobo dy officia l trailer (YouTube)
Spo tify Set to Ri val Apple Podcasts Subscriptions With New Service That Wo n’t Cha rge Content Creators (MacRumors)
Spot ify Is Launching Podcast Subscriptions, and Unlike Apple Won’t Take a Cut From Creators (Variety)
Ap ple A irDrop shares more than files (Technical University of Darmstadt)
Incor pora ting More Feedback Into News Feed Ranking (About Facebook)
How Fac ebook Failed To Prevent Stop The Steal (Buzzfeed)
Tesla’s A utopilot is ‘easily’ tricked into working without anyone in the driv er’s seat (The Verge)
U.S. age ncy still ‘gathering facts’ on Texas Tesla crash (Reuters)
CR Engin eers Sho w a Tesla Will Drive With No One in the Driver’s Seat (Consumer Reports)
Supr eme Cour t Slashes FTC’s Power to Seek Monetary Awards (Bloomberg)
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight (NASA)
NASA’s Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Logs Second Successful Flight (NASA)
NASA, SpaceX Officials Thrilled With Crew-2 Launch Success (NASA)
Mars helicopter Ingenuity carries piece of Wright brothers’ famous plane (Space.com)
Apple introduces new iPad Pro (Apple Newsroom)
All-new iMac features stunning design in a spectrum of vibrant colors (Apple Newsroom)
Apple introduces iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini in purple (Apple Newsroom)
Apple unveils the next generation of Apple TV 4K (Apple Newsroom)
Apple leads the next chapter of podcasting with Apple Podcasts Subscriptions (Apple Newsroom)
Apple introduces AirTag (Apple Newsroom)
Apple’s AirTag tracker respects privacy and foils stalking (Fast Company)

Episode Links

PTJ 351: Going Places

March 30, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

After several weeks of unexpected hiatus, El Kaiser and JD return to catch up on the Justice League Snyder cut, NFTs, eco-friendly map directions, NASA’s Mars helicopter — and a whole bunch of Bluetooth headphones. Spin up Episode 351 right here!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max)
The Bloody Second Act of ‘Invincible’ and Robert Kirkman (The Ringer)
Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI (Google Keyword blog)
Google is making some big upgrades to directions in Google Maps (The Verge)
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is back in its all-online format (Apple)
WWDC 2021 (Apple)
Contentious Union Vote at Amazon Heads to a Count (The New York Times)
There’s Something Fishy About Amazon’s Anti-Union Twitter Army (Gizmodo)
Boston Dynamics introduces ‘Stretch’, new warehouse worker robot (Reuters)
SolarWinds hack got emails of top DHS officials (Associated Press)
Exclusive: Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency (Reuters)
Exclusive: PayPal launches crypto checkout service (Reuters)
Buy This NFT Column on the Blockchain! (The New York Times)
Another SpaceX spaceship prototype explodes, joining Starship graveyard in Texas after ‘exciting’ test (Click Orlando)
NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight (NASA)
Mars Helicopter tech demo (NASA)
Paris’s Louvre Museum just put its entire collection online (Time Out)

El Kaiser’s Headphone Mega-Roundup

Episode Links

PTJ 350: Red Rover

February 9, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

After a seven-month commute through space, NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to arrive on Mars next week! So, some science to go with our science-fiction television on this week’s episode, as El Kaiser shares his thoughts regarding later seasons of The Expanse on Amazon Prime and WandaVision on Disney+ . And J.D. has a smattering of tech news, including reports that Twitter is looking at subscription possibilities, along with resources on how to find out when you and your family can get the Covid-19 vaccine. It’s all here on PTJ 350!

“The Expanse” (Amazon Prime)
“WandaVision” (Marvel/Disney+)
Twitter Mulls Subscription Product, Tipping For Generating Revenue (Bloomberg)
TikTok may let creators use their own product links in videos (Engadget)
Clubhouse is now blocked in China after a brief uncensored period (TechCrunch)
Clubhouse Is the Anti-Twitter (OneZero)
Sheryl Sandberg Downplayed Facebook’s Role In The Capitol Hill Siege—Justice Department Files Tell A Very Different Story (Forbes)
Top Apps Worldwide for January 2021 by Downloads (Sensor Tower)
Activists complain of weakened voting security standard (Associated Press)
Tesla buys $1.5 billion in bitcoin, plans to accept it as payment (CNBC)
Countdown to Mars (NASA)

How you’ll find accurate and timely information on COVID-19 vaccines (Google blog)
VaccineFinder.org
COVID-19 Vaccine (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
See How the Vaccine Rollout Is Going in Your State (The New York Times)
State-by-State Guide to COVID Vaccine Information (WebMD)
New York State Novel Coronavirus/Covid-19 Information
Covid-19: Vaccines (NYC Department of Health)
NYC Covid-19 Vaccine Finder

Episode Links

PTJ 342: Summer Grilling

August 4, 2020 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

The recent weather across much of North American isn’t the only thing that’s been a little toasty — TikTok, Big Tech and the kids who hacked Twitter last month are also feeling the heat. El Kaiser and J.D. take in the latest headlines from the technology world and also offer more tips for entertaining yourself in a partially closed pandemic city. Come join us here on PTJ 342!

Star Wars: The Clone Wars Returns On Disney+ (StarWars.com)
Star Wars: The Bad Batch is a new Clone Wars spinoff coming to Disney Plus in 2021 (The Verge)
Microsoft to continue discussions on potential TikTok purchase in the United States (Microsoft blog)
With TikTok, ‘Uncool’ Microsoft Aims for the Love of Tweens (The New York Times)
Florida Teenager Is Charged as ‘Mastermind’ of Twitter Hack (The New York Times)
Three Individuals Charged For Alleged Roles In Twitter Hack (Department of Justice)
Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google grilled on Capitol Hill over their market power (The Washington Post)
New Pixels—and new prices—are here (Google Keyword blog)
Google Pixel 4A Review: At $350, a Win for Those on a Budget (The New York Times)
A partnership with ADT for smarter home security (Google Keyword blog)
More Than 1,000 Companies Boycotted Facebook. Did It Work? (The New York Times)
Is Your Chip Card Secure? Much Depends on Where You Bank (Krebs on Security)
Instagram morphs into an information powerhouse (Axios)
‘An Incredible Day’: Splashdown Concludes NASA’s SpaceX Demo-2 (NASA)
NASA, ULA Launch Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover Mission to Red Planet (NASA)
The Official Guide to New York City (NYCgo.com)
Self-Guided Walking Tours of NYC (FreeToursByFoot.com)
Self-Guided Walking Tours (GPSMyCity.com)

Episode Links

PTJ 338: Flight CLUB

May 29, 2020 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Twitter’s act of adding fact-checking labels to a couple of presidential tweets set off a storm in the social-media world — almost at the same time real-life stormy weather caused officials to scrub the NASA-SpaceX launch to the International Space Station, the first on an United States rocket since 2011. El Kaiser and J.D. discuss it all ahead of America’s rescheduled return to space this weekend. Blast off with PTJ 338!

Trump signs executive order targeting Twitter after fact-checking row (BBC News)
Trump’s Order on Social Media Could Harm One Person in Particular: Donald Trump (The New York Times)
Trump’s Illiberal Internet Fairness Doctrine (National Review)
What journalists should know about Communications Decency Act Section 230 (Poynter)
Jack on Twitter
Defying Trump, Twitter Doubles Down on Labeling Tweets (The New York Times)
Facebook and Twitter clash over fact-checking as Trump threats intensify (CNN)
Appeals court ruling suggests little legal traction for Trump’s anti-Twitter campaign (POLITICO)
Twitter adds native “scheduled tweets” function (Twitter support)
Twitter, Facebook Win Appeal in Anticonservative-Bias Suit (Bloomberg)
Arizona sues Google for allegedly violating Android users’ location privacy (The Washington Post)
Microsoft launches Cortana app for Windows 10 without Amazon’s Alexa (VentureBeat)
Apple Buys Machine-Learning Startup to Improve Data Used in Siri (Bloomberg)
Apple acquires the full Fraggle Rock collection in first major licensing play (The Verge)
How Delivery Drones Are Being Used to Tackle COVID-19 (WeRobotics)
Drone drops off Isle of Mull coronavirus masks (BBC)
Visit Isle of Man (Isle of Man Government)

Spaaaaccce!

Space Out and Explore the Universe Without Leaving Home (The New York Times)
Launch America Overview (NASA)
NASA
SpaceX

Episode Links

PTJ 314: All Aboard the Claim Train!

July 29, 2019 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Pop Tech Jam returns from Summer Vacation Phase 1 to buckets of money from the Equifax data-breach settlement — or alleged buckets of money. While El Kaiser files his Equifax claim online, J.D. serves up the news of the week, including the Fortnite World Cup results, pocket air-conditioners and worrisome multimedia surveillance. And for those who dove headfirst into the Apollo 11 50th-anniversary coverage in July, J.D. has tips on where to find more archival material from that historic 1969 event — and the many other Apollo missions through the years.
Jump on PTJ 314 right here!

Links to Stories Discussed on This Week’s Show

Fortnite gives away $3 million to its first-ever solo world champion (CNN Business)
Equifax settlement guide: How to get the money, and what you need to know (The Washington Post)
Welcome To The Equifax Data Breach Settlement Website
Look Out for Fake Equifax Websites That Are Trying to Steal Your Data, FTC Warns (Gizmodo)
In Hong Kong Protests, Faces Become Weapons (The New York Times)
Apple Siri Eavesdropping Puts Millions Of Users At Risk (Forbes)
Apple Contractors Reportedly Overhear Sensitive Information and Sexy Times Thanks to Siri (Gizmodo)
Sony Unveils Wearable Air Conditioner Reon Pocket (Hypebeast)
Young Instagram Users Give Up Privacy in Search of Metrics (Bloomberg)
Europe’s top court sharpens guidance for sites using leaky social plug-ins (TechCrunch)
(Don’t) hold the phone: new features coming to Pixel 4 (Google blog)
Samsung shows off what its fixed Galaxy Fold will look like (CNET)
Remember the Motorola Razer, 15 Years Later (Gizmodo)
This is What Photoshop Was Like in 1988 (PetaPixel)

The NASA Apollo Mission Archives Online

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!