Welcome to episode 132 of the EdTech Situation Room from April 24, 2019, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent headlines highlighting the dangers of USB-borne malware as well as “USB Killer” devices maliciously used on a college campus to destroy computers. The recent, courageous talk shared by Carole Cadwalladr on the TED stage calling for Facebook and Google executives to account for their platforms’ breaking of liberal democracy, pending FTC fines of Facebook and exciting commercial robots from Boston Dynamics were also discussed. On the Google front, enhancements to Google Sheets, an expended free tier for Google Play Music, and the arrival of a more robust YouTube app on the Amazon Fire Stick were highlighted. In Chrome news, HP’s 15 inch Chromebook and an exciting lineup of ChromeOS sessions at Google I/O in about a week were discussed. The ongoing controversy over mandatory cursive handwriting instruction in schools, changes to the Windows10 update process including further crippling of third party antivirus software, and exciting news in the world of podcasting were also addressed in the show. A lawsuit against Apple involving facial recognition gone bad in Apple Stores was also mentioned. Geeks of the Week included a great tip for recording audio in noisy classrooms, promising new software from an Apple developer (Agenda) for project management and personal notetaking, Google Chrome’s free remote desktop software options. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and join us LIVE on Wednesday nights if you can (normally) 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.
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- Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) – blog: blog.ncce.org
- Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
- Student used ‘USB Killer’ device to destroy $58,000 worth of college computers (The Verge; 17 April 2019)
- Good advice: No one, not even the Secret Service, should randomly plug in a strange USB stick (Tech Crunch; 8 April 2019)
- Carole Cadwalladr: Facebook’s role in Brexit — and the threat to democracy (TED Talks, April 2019)
- Facebook expects FTC fine could be as much as $5 billion (CNN, 24 April 2019)
- Boston Dynamics showcases new uses for SpotMini ahead of commercial production (TechCrunch, 19 April 2019)
- Google Sheets adds further enhanced tools for spreadsheet formatting (9 to 5 Google; 19 April 2019)
- Enjoy YouTube Music free on Google Home speakers (YouTube Blog, 18 April 2019)
- HP announces first 15-inch Chromebook, with backlit keys and number pad (Android Authority; 19 April 2019)
- Google I/O 2019 Schedule Unveils Numerous Chrome OS Sessions (ChromeUnboxed; 17 April 2019)
- Cursive Seemed to Go the Way of Quills and Parchment. Now It’s Coming Back (New York Times; 13 April 2019)
- Amazon and Google FINALLY end their years-long feud as firms reveal YouTube will be available on Fire Stick for the first time since 2017 (Daily Mail; 19 April 2019)
- Amazon and Google Are Making Music Free — And That Could Be a Big Headache for Spotify (Rolling Stone, 22 April 2019)
- Microsoft starts notifying Windows 7 users that it’s time to buy a new PC (MS Power User; 20 April 2019)
- Microsoft Makes Changes To WAAS Update Process; Gives End Users Additional Control (Windows Observer; 6 April 2019)
- McAfee joins Sophos, Avira, Avast—the latest Windows update breaks them all (Ars Technica; 19 April 2019)
- Ear Fodder: Here are all the winners of the 2019 Webby Awards (The Verge; 23 April 2019)
- Note to Self is Back! Note to Self is Back and We Start with The Big One: Kids and Screens
- Luminary Is Betting $100 Million That People Will Pay For Podcasts (Forbes; 22 April 2019)
- Teen’s $1B suit claims Apple’s facial recognition software led to false arrest (Fox News, 23 April 2019)
- Jason’s Geek of the Week: Great Tip for Recording Audio in a Noisy Classroom (via @jenniferlorton)
- Wes’ Geeks of the Week: Agenda Software for MacOS & iOS, Chrome Remote Desktop Extension and web portal
