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

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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)

“TikTok app icon on smartphone screen” (CC BY 2.0) by Ivan Radic