EdTechSR Ep 249 AirTag Dangers

Welcome to episode 249 (“AirTag Dangers”) of the EdTech Situation Room from February 16, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed “the technology correction” (the intersection of “Big Tech” / social media and regulation,) Microsoft, Google, Apple, Meta / Facebook, security, and miscellaneous topics relating to educational technology. Geeks of the Week included “5 Free Online Video Editors Without Watermarks or Other Hidden Limitations,” the “Search Smarter by Dorking” resource page by “Exposing the Invisible,” and the Google Chrome extension Tag-a-Doc. Check out our shownotes for links to all the articles we discussed, and subscribe to our Substack to receive all the links we discussed and also didn’t have time to talk about in this week’s show in your email inbox! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  5. Video version on YouTube
  6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  7. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Does banning extremists online work? It depends. (Re/Code; 3 February 2021)
  10. TikTok says it will strengthen policies in effort to prevent spread of hoaxes and dangerous challenges (CNN Business; 8 February 2022)
  11. TikTok is thinking about letting its creators charge subscription fees (The Verge; 20 January 2022)
  12. Facebook Has a Superuser-Supremacy Problem (The Atlantic, 10 Feb 2022)
  13. Windows 11’s first big update arrives with Android apps, taskbar changes, and more (The Verge; 15 February 2022)
  14. Chrome OS Flex brings the Chromebook experience to PC and Mac for free (Chrome Unboxed; 15 February 2022)
  15. Google Drive’s new filters that make search easier are rolling out to everyone (The Verge; 15 February 2022)
  16. Google Docs getting AI-generated summaries, collaborative email templates, and more (9 to 5 Google; 15 February 2022)
  17. Gmail’s redesign is rolling out now for regular Google Account users and here’s how to use it (Chrome Unboxed; 14 February 2022)
  18. YouTube video streaming now using A.I. that mastered chess and Go (Fortune, 11 Feb 2022)
  19. I Used Apple AirTags, Tiles and a GPS Tracker to Watch My Husband’s Every Move (The New York Times; 11 February 2022)
  20. An update on AirTag and unwanted tracking (Apple Newsroom; 10 February 2022)
  21. Apple launches AirTags and Find My detector app for Android, in effort to boost privacy (CNet; 13 December 2021)
  22. Facebook renames its News Feed to just ‘Feed’ (Yahoo Finance, 15 Feb 2022)
  23. Peter Thiel to Exit Meta’s Board to Support Trump-Aligned Candidates (The New York Times; 7 February 2022)
  24. No, that email from Equifax is not a scam. You are entitled to free credit monitoring for four years. (Washington Post, 11 Feb 2022)
  25. Senators: CIA has secret program that collects American data (Washington Post, 11 Feb 2022)
  26. The hacked account and suspicious donations behind the Canadian trucker protests (Grid News, 8 Feb 2022)
  27. Jason’s Geek of the Week: 5 Free Online Video Editors Without Watermarks or Other Hidden Limitations (Make Use Of; 11 February 2022)
  28. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Search Smarter by Dorking (Exposing the Invisible) and Tag-a-Doc

EdTechSR Ep 248 Rogan Spotify Kerfuffle

Welcome to episode 248 (“Rogan Spotify Kerfuffle”) of the EdTech Situation Room from February 9, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed technology-related news about Microsoft, Apple, The Technology Correction, Google, Security, and Privacy. In this episode, we especially focused on the issues raised with the Joe Rogan and Spotify situation, involving musical artists like Neil Young, who threatened and then removed all their music from Spotify’s library in protest of the platform’s support for Rogan and disinformation. Check out our shownotes for links to all the articles we discussed, and subscribe to our Substack to receive all the links we discussed and also didn’t have time to talk about in this week’s show in your email inbox! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  5. Video version on YouTube
  6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  7. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Microsoft Surface Laptop SE vs Chromebooks: A limited but capable competitor (About Chromebooks; 7 February 2022)
  10. Every M1 Mac is due for a 2022 refresh with faster M2 chip, new designs (MacWorld; 8 February 2022)
  11. Apple will introduce new iPhone, iPad on March 8 (ArsTechnica, 7 Feb 2022)
  12. Meta’s threat to close down Facebook and Instagram in Europe backfires as EU leaders embrace shutdown: ‘Life would be very good without’ (City AM; 9 February 2022)
  13. Facebook loses users for the first time in its history (The Washington Post; 2 February 2022)
  14. FB Stock (Google)
  15. The Spotify-Rogan saga highlights the distinction between publishers and platforms (Tech Crunch; 9 February 2021)
  16. Spotify to Pull Neil Young’s Music After Artist’s Objections to Joe Rogan (Hollywood Reporter, 26 Jan 2022)
  17. Spotify Publishes Content Guidelines in Response to Rogan Kerfluffle
  18. Everything you need to know about the bill that could blow up the app store (The Verge, 9 Feb 2021)
  19. LumaFusion, a popular video editor on iOS, is coming to Android in the ‘first half’ of 2022 (9 5o 5 Google; 9 February 2022)
  20. Galaxy Tab S8 Ultra’s massive screen makes it basically an Android laptop (CNet; 9 February 2022)
  21. Chrome OS 98 Offers A Screen Capture Update, A New Virtual Desk Shortcut, And More (Chrome Unboxed; 8 February 2022)
  22. Reports Of Declined Chromebook Shipments Disregard The Bigger Picture (Chrome Unboxed; 1 February 2022)
  23. Google still thinks 3 years of updates provide a ‘great experience’ ahead of cutting off Pixel 3 (9 to 5 Google; 25 January 2022)
  24. YouTube CEO: More Creators Are Making At Least $10K a Year (Hollywood Reporter, 25 Jan 2022)
  25. Google account hacks drop 50% for 150 million who got 2-factor login (CNet; 8 February 2022)
  26. Hacker Circulates Fake, Malware-Laden Windows 11 Installer (PC Magazine; 9 February 2022)
  27. Russia could cyberattack Ukraine — again — and disrupt the entire world (NPR, 29 Jan 2022)
  28. Phishing Simulation Study Shows Why These Attacks Remain Pervasive (Dark Reading, 7 Feb 2022)
  29. Lawmakers call on feds to drop Clearview AI facial recognition contracts (Verge, 9 Feb 2022)
  30. IRS stops requiring selfies after facial recognition system is widely panned (ArsTechnica, 7 Feb 2022)
  31. Health sites let ads track visitors without telling them (ArsTechnica, 7 Feb 2022)
  32. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Teach With Chrome Series by ⁦@GoogleForEdu⁩ (free online learning starts Feb 22! – “Coded Bias” Netflix documentaryControl-F Project
  33. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Vista Create

EdTechSR Ep 246 Metaverse Rising

Welcome to episode 246 (“Metaverse Rising”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 19, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed new Apple rumors about Mac Pro computers and a “portless” iPhone 14. New metaverse patents by WalMart and Meta (the company formerly known as Facebook) as well as the enormous challenges of moderating social media and the emerging metaverse specifically were highlighted. The Democratic bill to address surveillance capitalism by “banning online surveillance advertising” was discussed. A new study showing we’re spending a third of of our waking hours looking at our smartphone screens, A really fast ARM processor for Chromebooks, and fast new HP Chromebooks were also highlighted. The health and wellness app “Welltory” and the recent cyberattack against Albuquerque Public Schools were topics rounding out the show. Geeks of the Week included Podchaser.com, the Chrome extension OneTab and the amazing “Moonrise Podcast” from the Washington Post. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Please sign up for our NEW SubStack newsletter to receive all our show links each week in your inbox, including links we are not able to discuss on edtechsr.substack.com. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  5. Video version on YouTube
  6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  7. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Smaller Mac Pro with Apple Silicon to join Mac mini refresh in 2022 (Apple Insider; 2 January 2022)
  10. The iPhone 14 Is Unlikely to Be Portless, Here’s Why (Mac Rumors; 8 January 2022)
  11. Report: Apple Headset not an ‘all-day device,’ creating a metaverse ‘off limits’ (9 to 5 Mac; 9 January 2022)
  12. Walmart is getting serious about the metaverse (The Verge; 16 January 2022)
  13. How will Facebook keep its metaverse safe for users? (Financial Times, 12 Nov 2021)
  14. Facebook patents reveal how it intends to cash in on metaverse (Financial Times, 17 Jan 2022)
  15. The true cost of Amazon’s low prices (Recode, 13 Jan 2022)
  16. Democrats unveil bill to ban online ‘surveillance advertising’ (The Verge; 18 January 2021)
  17. We’re Spending a Third of Our Waking Hours Staring at Our Phones (PC Magazine; 12 January 2022)
  18. Mediatek’s New Kompanio 1380 ARM Processor Is Really, Really Fast [Video] (Chrome Unboxed; 19 January 2022)
  19. HP Unveils “Fortis” Brand For Blended Learning With Two Chromebooks In Tow (Chrome Unboxed; 18 January 2022)
  20. Welltory packs a lot of science into its app to measure your stress levels (TechCrunch, 8 Aug 2017)
  21. Albuquerque Schools Cancel Classes After Cyber Attack (Government Technology; 13 January 2022)
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: podchaser.com
  23. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: OneTab and Moonrise Podcast (Washington Post)

EdTechSR Ep 245 Roblox as Metaverse

Welcome to episode 245 (“Roblox as Metaverse”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 12, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed a recent explosive Guardian article about Roblox and child labor. Rumored Apple glasses which auto-adjust to a user’s prescription, Windows 11 post-install tips, a hotel chain which ransomware inspired to drop WindowsOS for ChromeOS, and a Google Street View mafia arrest story were also highlighted article topics. Improvements to Google File Stream for Google Drive, live translated captions in Google Meet, T-Mobile’s blocking of iCloud Private Relay, and the overwhelming seriousness of the LOG4J security vulneratibility were topics rounding out this weeks’ show. Geeks of the Week included the DD-WRT open source router firmware project, the Milkeshake web design app, and Infinite Painter software. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Please sign up for our NEW SubStack newsletter to receive all our show links each week in your inbox, including links we are not able to discuss on edtechsr.substack.com. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  5. Video version on YouTube
  6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  7. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. The trouble with Roblox, the video game empire built on child labour (The Guardian, 9 Jan 2022)
  10. “Tech Won’t Save Us” Podcast Episode: “How Roblox Exploits Children w/ Quintin Smith” https://pca.st/vk0h73a7
  11. Apple glasses could adjust lenses to match user’s prescription (Apple Insider; 11 January 2022)
  12. Windows 11 at First Glance: Here Are the First 10 Things You Should Do After Installing the New OS on Your PC (Tech Times; 4 January 2022)
  13. Windows 11 could soon run better on less powerful hardware (Tech Radar; 7 January 2022)
  14. Hotel chain converts Windows PCs to Chrome OS using CloudReady after ransomware attack (9to5 Google, 7 Jan 2022)
  15. A Google Street View car spotted a missing criminal and it led to an arrest (Mashable, 8 Jan 2022)
  16. G Suite File Stream Now Allows Personal Gmail Accounts To Sync Drive With Their PC Or Mac (Chrome Unboxed; 3 October 2020)
  17. Neverware CloudReady Download
  18. After ruining Android messaging, Google says iMessage is too powerful (ArsTechnica, 10 Jan 2022)
  19. Live Translated Captions Are Now Able In Google Meet To Reduce Language Proficiency Barriers (Chrome Unboxed; 12 January 2022)
  20. T-Mobile begins blocking iPhone users from enabling iCloud Private Relay in the US (9 to 5 Mac, 10 Jan 2022)
  21. The FTC Wants Companies to Find Log4j Fast. It Won’t Be Easy (Wired, 10 Jan 2022)
  22. CISA director says the LOG4J security flaw is the “most serious” she’s seen in her career (CNBC, 16 Dec 2021)
  23. White House to launch COVID test-ordering site ‘by this weekend,’ reports say (The Verge; 12 January 2022)
  24. Jason’s Geek of the Week: DD-WRT
  25. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Milkshake App (example) and: Infinite Painter (iOS & Google Play)

EdTechSR Ep 244 Join our SubStack

Welcome to episode 244 (“Join our SubStack”) of the EdTech Situation Room from January 5, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the case of two California teachers secretly recorded talking about LGBTQ student outreach, who used student laptop monitoring software to identify prospective club members. The DuckDuckGo privacy desktop web browser and Americans’ distrust of social media companies were also discussed. On the Google front, the new capability to host up to 500 meeting participants in a Google Meet videoconference for paying Google Workspace customers, changes to the “Your News Update” for the Google Assistant, and the potential dangers (according to the EFF) of the Google Chrome “Manifest V3” user tracking standard were highlighted. UBlock Origin as a free ad-blocking extension for Chrome and FireFox was extolled / recommend, and Google’s announced “major improvements” to Android were explored. Lastly, some tales of algorithmic poor choices by automated podcast advertisement selection programs were discussed. Geeks of the week included MapCrunch, James Webb space telescope links, and a good (but troubling) podcast about fascism in America by Vox Conversations. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Please sign up for our NEW SubStack newsletter to receive all our show links each week in your inbox, including links we are not able to discuss on edtechsr.substack.com. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. Subscribe to our EdTechSR Substack Newsletter!
  2. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  3. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  4. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  5. Video version on YouTube
  6. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  7. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  8. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  9. Two California teachers were secretly recorded speaking about LGBTQ student outreach. Now they’re fighting for their jobs (San Francisco Chronicle, 28 Dec 2021) – PDF version
  10. DuckDuckGo is working on a privacy-focused desktop browser (The Verge; 21 December 2021)
  11. Americans widely distrust Facebook, TikTok and Instagram with their data, poll finds (Washington Post, 22 Dec 2021 – gift link!)
  12. Host Google Meet meetings with up to 500 participants (Google Workspace Blog, 16 Nov 2021)
  13. Google Assistant gets rid of ‘Your News Update’ audio digest (9to5Google, 5 Nov 2021)
  14. Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 is Deceitful and Threatening (EFF, 9 Dec 2021)
  15. UBlock Origin for Chromefor FireFox
  16. Google Announces Major Improvements To Android Better Together At CES 2022 (Chrome Unboxed; 5 January 2022)
  17. Seriously, Affordable Chromebooks Are Getting Really Good [Video] (Chrome Unboxed; 19 June 2021)
  18. Podcasters Are Letting Software Pick Their Ads — It’s Already Going Awry (The Verge; 4 January 2022)
  19. Jason’s Geek of the Week: MapCrunch
  20. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: James Webb Telescope Wonder Links and Why fascism in America isn’t going away (Vox Conversations Podcast)

EdTechSR Ep 242 Birds Are Real

Welcome to episode 242 (“Birds Are Real”) of the EdTech Situation Room from December 15, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the Log4j security flaw, bluetooth security risks, Apple AirTags used in harmful ways, changes for LastPass as it becomes an independent company (sold by LogMeIn), Life360’s announced purchase of Tile and the possible privacy implications, and the fascinating (and admittedly false) Gen Z conspiracy theory “Birds Aren’t Real.” Adobe’s launch of “Creative Cloud Express” to replace Adobe Spark Post, Pixlr’s enhancements for stylus users, and a possible solution to solve the rural-urban digital divide were also discussed topics. The security (or insecurity) of a Chromebook post-ChromeOS updates, the “snooping detection” included in ChromeOS 98, and reasons to update to iOS 15.2 were security related articles rounding out this week’s show. Geeks of the Week included the National Geographic “Storytellers Summit” January 26-28, 2022, the Google Canvas web-based drawing platform (free!), and the New York Times Best of 2021 lists. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. NOTE WE WILL NOT HAVE A SHOW ON DECEMBER 22, but will be back on December 29th. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. ‘The Internet Is on Fire’ – Java framework security flaw / issue (Wired, 10 Dec 2021) – Daily Mail clickbait
  9. Kamala Harris is right to be wary of Bluetooth headphones (cNet; 8 December 2021)
  10. Apple AirTags become useful tool for Canadian carjackers (cNet; 8 December 2021)
  11. Apple releases Android app to help find sneaky AirTags (The Verge; 12 December 2021)
  12. LastPass working on a ‘delightful’ mobile app as it becomes an independent company (9 to 5 Google; 14 December 2021)
  13. Life360 makes millions selling location data, and it’s about to buy Tile (The Verge; 9 December 2021)
  14. Birds Aren’t Real, or Are They? Inside a Gen Z Conspiracy Theory (New York Times; 9 December 2021)
  15. Adobe launches Creative Cloud Express, a new app that simplifies its powerful editing tools (The Verge; 13 December 2021)
  16. Pixlr Photo Editing Web App Gains Pen Pressure, More Exciting Features For 2022 (Chrome Unboxed; 7 December 2021)
  17. How to solve the rural-urban digital divide (High Country News; 6 December 2021)
  18. How secure is a Chromebook after it stops getting Chrome OS updates? (About Chromebooks; 14 December 2021)
  19. Chrome OS 98 adds Chromebook snooping detection to watch your back (About Chromebooks; 8 December 2021)
  20. Here’s why you should update your iPhone to iOS 15.2 (9 to 5 Mac; 13 December 2021)
  21. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Storyteller’s Summit by National Geographic: Jan 26-28, 2022 and Google Canvas
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: New York Times Best of 2021

EdTechSR Ep 237 Fixing Social Media

Welcome to episode 237 (“Fixing Social Media”) of the EdTech Situation Room from November 3, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed an amazing Wall Street Journal article featuring 12 Internet and cultural visionaries on “How to Fix Social Media.” Other articles on the social media / “tech correction” topic included “Facebook’s Lost Generation,” Facebook’s name change to “Meta,” the impact of Zuckerberg’s dream to transform the web into a “Ready Player One” VR playground. The financial impact of Apple’s iPhone privacy changes, Google’s policy to remove under-18 photos from search results, the debut of MacOS Monterey, and reasons you do NOT need the new MacBook Pro were also topics of discussion. The long awaited (for Jason) arrival of MacOS M1 processor native Google Drive for Desktop, the death of iMovie Theater, Google’s facilitation of work/life separation on Android devices, and Google Calendar’s option to schedule “Focus Time” were also highlighted. The arrival of Adobe PhotoShop on the web for Chromebook users, powerful, web-based image editing tools, and Geeks of the Week including a new NASA astronaut bio video, a “Parent University” slideshow about online influencers, and the “Mindful Schools” website as “geeks of the week” rounded out this weeks’ show. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. How to Fix Social Media (Wall Street Journal, 29 Oct 2021)
  9. Facebook’s Lost Generation (The Verge; 25 October 2021)
  10. Facebook changes its company name to Meta (CNN; 29 October 2021)
  11. Mark Zuckerberg Sets Facebook on Long, Costly Path to Metaverse Reality (WSJ, 26 Oct 2021)
  12. Snap, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube lose nearly $10bn after iPhone privacy changes (Financial Times, 31 Oct 2021)
  13. You can now ask Google to remove images of under-18s from its search results (The Verge; 27 October 2021)
  14. macOS Monterey is now available to download (The Verge; 25 October 2021)
  15. You Don’t Need the New MacBook Pro (LifeHacker; 19 October 2021)
  16. Google Drive for desktop updated with full Apple M1 Mac support (9 5o 5 Google; 22 October 2021)
  17. iMovie no longer supports sharing to iMovie Theater (Apple Support)
  18. Google will make it easier to separate your work and personal life on Android (The Verge; 21 October 2021)
  19. Google Calendar will let you schedule ‘Focus time’ to work uninterrupted (9 to 5 Google; 20 October 2021)
  20. Adobe Photoshop officially comes to the web today w/ public beta, works on Chromebooks (9 5o 5 Google; 26 October 2021)
  21. Image Editing Tools on “Student Authors” page maintained by Wes
  22. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Meet Artemis Team Member Kayla Barron (3 min NASA video) and “Online Influencers and Social Media”
  23. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Mindful Schools

EdTechSR Ep 236 Shame on Canon

Welcome to episode 236 (“Shame on Canon”) of the EdTech Situation Room from October 20, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the biggest announcements from Apple’s Monday “Unleashed” event, The Apple Music Voice plan, Google’s Pixel 6 Event announcements, and the forthcoming launch of Chrome OS 94 with better human sounding voices. Other topics included MacOS’ forthcoming update to “Monterey” on October 25th, the Google Assistant’s updated code to stand up to profane users, and Canon’s distasteful choice to disable all-in-one scanning features for users when they run out of ink. A counter-point to last week’s article about a former Pentagon official declaring the US has already lost the AI race with China, the mental and physical health costs of TikTok, and Facebook’s concerns about Instagram losing youth marketshare were also discussed. Possibilities for “an effective social media regulator,” Facebook’s secret blacklist of prohibited people, organizations and topics, Donald Trump’s announced “Truth Social” platform, and some miscellaneous articles about drones saving dogs from volcanoes, Russian space snafus and the confused Missouri governor who thinks “view HTML source” is criminal hacking were final article topics rounding out the show. Geeks of the Week included SortMyList.com, a podcast about Charles Babbage by Steven B. Johnson, a whimsical videoconferencing platform in beta (ooo for web) and the New York Times’ new invite-only audio app experiment. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes:

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. The 8 biggest announcements from Apple’s Unleashed event (The Verge; 18 October 2021)
  9. Trying to Understand Why The Apple Music Voice Plan Exists (MacObserver, 20 Oct 2021)
  10. The biggest announcements from Google’s Pixel 6 event (The Verge; 19 October 2021)
  11. macOS Monterey is officially launching on October 25th (The Verge; 18 October 2021)
  12. Support For Chrome Apps On Chrome Os Has Been Extended Through 2025 (ChromeUnboxed; 15 October 2021)
  13. Chrome OS 94 Introduces More Human-Sounding Voices For Select-To-Speak (ChromeUnboxed; 15 October 2021)
  14. Google Assistant Is Tired Of Being Cursed Out, Asks Politely To Be Treated Better (ChromeUnboxed, 18 Oct 2021)
  15. Canon sued for disabling scanner when printers run out of ink (Bleeping Computer; 16 October 2021)
  16. Sorry former Pentagon expert, but China is nowhere near winning the AI race (The Next Web, 15 Oct 2021)
  17. Teen Girls Are Developing Tics. Doctors Say TikTok Could Be a Factor (Wall Street Journal; 19 October 2021)
  18. Instagram Struggles With Fears of Losing Its ‘Pipeline’: Young Users (NY Times, 16 Oct 2021)
  19. What would an effective social-media regulator look like? (Columbia Journalism Review, 13 Oct 2021)
  20. Revealed: Facebook’s Secret Blacklist Of “Dangerous Individuals And Organizations (The Intercept, 12 Oct 2021)
  21. Trump Plans to Regain Social Media Presence With New Company (Bloomberg, 20 Oct 2021)
  22. Confused governor says looking at webpage’s HTML is criminal hacking (Mashable, 14 Oct 2021)
  23. Drone operator will try to rescue dogs from Spanish volcano (Reuters, 19 Oct 2021)
  24. A Russian spaceship pushed the space station out of position again (Business Insider, 15 Oct 2021)
  25. Third-party health apps are vulnerable to hacks, report finds (The Verge; 18 October 2021)
  26. Jason’s Geek of the Week: sortmylist.com
  27. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Wes: Babbage and the Dancer (Or, Can You Fall in Love With a Robot?) (Wonderland Podcast, 16 Aug 2016) and ooo for Web and NYT Invite Only Audio app

EdTechSR Ep 235 TikTok is Huge

Welcome to episode 235 (“TikTok is Huge”) of the EdTech Situation Room from October 13, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Epic’s ongoing court battles over third party smartphone app payment processors with both Apple and Google, as well as upcoming tech events next week by Apple, Google and Samsung. Options for editing PDF files in a web browser (including on Chromebooks) included a new Acrobat extension from Adobe, the Squid app from the Google Play Store and DocHub. The incredible growth and reach of TikTok (which is somehow slipping under the radar now for would-be Congressional regulators and regulation advocates) was highlighted, along with the alleged futility of US military efforts to develop robust artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities relative to China. Lastly, an article highlighting the Internet ignorance of many U.S. citizens was discussed. Geeks of the Week included an eye opening article by a high school student who successfully prank hacked his school district (and provided a comprehensive analysis for his IT department to use afterward) and the bill cutting service, AskTrim.com. Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. Apple tries to block Epic’s court win before it takes effect on December 9 (ArsTechnica, 11 Oct 2021)
  9. Google countersues Epic Games for ‘willfully’ breaching Play Store contract w/ Fortnite stunt (9to5Google, 12 Oct 2021)
  10. Apple announces October 18th event after months of Mac rumors (The Verge; 12 October 2021)
  11. Pandemic-related supply issues send US PC market into decline (ArsTechnica, 11 Oct 2021)
  12. Google’s Pixel Fall Launch event: Here’s what to expect on October 19 (Digital Trends; 11 October 2021)
  13. Pixel 6 series will allegedly get 4 major Android updates alongside extended security patches (9 to 5 Google; 13 October 2021)
  14. Nokia T20 Android tablet launches under $250 w/ 3 years of updates promised (9 to 5 Google; 6 October 2021)
  15. Samsung announces Unpacked 2 event for Wednesday Oct 20th, right after Apple and Google (The Verge, 12 Oct 2021)
  16. Adobe Acrobat extension for Chrome, Edge gets a PDF editor (9 to 5 Google; 12 October 2021)
  17. Squid app for PDF editing and sketchnoting
  18. DocHub for PDF editing
  19. 1 Billion TikTok Users Understand What Congress Doesn’t (The Atlantic; 10 October 2021)
  20. U.S. Has Lost AI Race to China, According to Former Software Chief at Pentagon (Slate, 11 Oct 2021)
  21. Ex-Air Force Tech Boss Eviscerates Pentagon For Already Losing The AI Race Against China (The Drive, 13 Oct 2021)
  22. Americans Live on the Internet But Don’t Know Much About It (PC Magazine; 6 October 2021)
  23. Wes’ Geek of the Week: IoT Hacking and Rickrolling My High School District
  24. Jason’s Geek of the Week: www.asktrim.com
  25. Wes’ Pellet Grill and accessory recommendations: RecTeq RT-700 or GMG Jim Bowie, GMG Pizza Oven Insert and BBQhacks Griddle Attachment (Wes’ comparison video on different smoker options)

EdTechSR Ep 234 Regulate Facebook Please

Welcome to episode 234 (“Regulate Facebook Please”) of the EdTech Situation Room from October 6, 2021, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Microsoft news including how to update to Windows 11 without waiting in line, recommended preparatory steps to take BEFORE upgrading to Windows 11, and positive reviews of the new Surface Pro 8 computer. In Google news, the forthcoming Chromebook launcher with smaller icons and folders, the option to create meeting notes directly connected to a Google Calendar event, and YouTube Germany’s suspension of Russia Today’s (RT’s) misinformation plagued channel, were highlighted. Facebook’s mysterious global service outage from this week and the impact of the related WhatsApp’s outage on small businesses were also addressed. Several articles summarizing Frances Haugen’s testimony this week before Congress about the knowing malicious acts of Facebook to favor profits over safety or ethics were discussed. Google’s quest to imagine and invent “the next phase of online search” was the final article discussed in this weeks’ show. Geeks of the Week for Wes included the new app Audm for listening to longform audio versions of news articles, the Project N95 website for ordering COVID masks, and Hope Haley’s (an 8th grade YouTuber at Dr. Fryer’s school) YouTube channel. Jason’s Geek of the Week was the TMobile Google Drive Plan, free for subscribers. Please see our shownotes for links to all these articles and resources! Our show was live streamed and archived simultaneously on YouTube Live as well as our Facebook Live page via StreamYard.com, and compressed to a smaller video version (about 100MB) on AmazonS3 using Handbrake software. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights (normally) if you can at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific or 3 am UTC. All shownotes are available on http://edtechSR.com/links. Stay savvy and safe!

Shownotes

  1. EdTech Situation Room Listener Survey: wfryer.me/edtechsr
  2. Follow @edtechSR on Twitter!
  3. Audio podcast feed (Subscribe with iTunes or Stitcher)
  4. Video version on YouTube
  5. Check out our video podcast feed and subscribe to our YouTube Channel (episodes also in this YouTube playlist)
  6. Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – wesfryer.com/after
  8. How to upgrade to Windows 11 without waiting in line (The Verge; 4 October 2021)
  9. Planning to upgrade to Windows 11? A checklist before you do (The Verge; 4 October 2021)
  10. Microsoft Surface Pro 8 Review: The Best Of Both Worlds (The Verge; 5 October 2021)
  11. Smaller Icons And Folders Give The New Chromebook Launcher An Air Of Maturity (Chrome Unboxed; 5 October 2021)
  12. New Google Calendar shortcut lets you quickly create meeting notes in Docs (9 to 5 Google; 5 October 2021)
  13. YouTube deletes RT′s German YouTube channels after COVID misinformation strike (DW News, 28 Sept 2021)
  14. Facebook is back online after a massive outage that also took down Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Oculus (The Verge; 5 October 2021)
  15. Everything You Need To Know From The Facebook Whistleblower Hearing (The Verge; 5 October 2021)
  16. More than social media: The WhatsApp outage affected small businesses worldwide (NPR, 6 Oct 2021)
  17. 9 Horrifying Facts From the Facebook Whistleblower’s New 60 Minutes Interview (Gizmodo; 3 October 2021)
  18. [VIDEO] Facebook Whistleblower Frances Haugen: The 60 Minutes Interview (13.5 minutes)
  19. Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen tells lawmakers that meaningful reform is necessary ‘for our common good’ (Washington Post, 5 Oct 2021)
  20. Google Search’s Next Phase: Context Is King (The Verge; 29 September 2021)
  21. Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Audm – Listen to Longform Journalism You Don’t Have Time to Readshop.projectn95.orgHope Haley on YouTube
  22. Jason’s Geek of the Week: T-Mobile Google Drive Plan