EdTechSR Ep 257 Elon Buys Twitter

Welcome to episode 257 (“Elon Buys Twitter”) of the EdTech Situation Room from April 27, 2022, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Elon Musk’s pending acquisition of Twitter, continued controversy over abusive uses of Apple’s AirTags, Apple’s new DIY phone repair service, and the updated Apple Studio Display webcam. On the Google Front, the trademark filing for the “Pixel Watch,” a new policy to remove search results “that dox you,” and the end of Ohio State University’s iPad 1:1 program were also discussed. BigTech bills moving through the US Congress, Ukrainian hacks of Russian IT infrastructure, and advanced drones in the Ukraine – Russian war were topics rounding out this week’s show. Geeks of the Week included Resilio File Sync, a video of a Chinese done warning on a residential balcony, and a new “Speed of Creativity” podcast. 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. Apple’s AirTags keep being tagged in domestic abuse cases (Digital Trends; 8 April 2022)
  10. Apple’s DIY repair service is now available in the US (The Verge; 27 April 2022)
  11. Here’s what the updated Apple Studio Display webcam looks like (The Verge; 27 April 2022)
  12. Google files trademark for ‘Pixel Watch’ ahead of device’s launch (9 to 5 Google; 22 April 2022)
  13. Google files trademark for Pixel Watch name (Verge, 22 April 2022)
  14. Google may now remove search results that dox you (The Verge; 27 April 2022)
  15. Ohio State University ends program to give iPads to new students (9 to 5 Mac; 27 April 2022)
  16. The Senate bill that has Big Tech scared (Wired, 9 April 2022)
  17. Chuck Schumer “Working Closely With Senator Klobuchar” to Whip Votes for Antitrust Bills (Intercept, 27 April 2022)
  18. Elon Musk and the $43 billion bid: all of the updates about his takeover of Twitter (The Verge)
  19. Trump says he won’t leave Truth Social, despite Musk’s Twitter takeover (The Verge; 25 April 2022)
  20. Elon Musk, Twitter’s next owner, provides his definition of “free speech” (ArsTechnica, 27 April 2022)
  21. Russia Is Being Hacked at an Unprecedented Scale (Wired, 27 April 2022)
  22. Ghost: The New Kamikaze Drone Ukraine Will Use to Battle Russia in Donbas (1945, 22 April 2022)
  23. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Resilio File Sync
  24. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Chinese Balcony Drone Threat and Podcast478: Updates and Classroom Favorites

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

EdTech Situation Room Episode 110

Welcome to episode 110 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 10, 2018, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) and special guest Jun Kim (@mpstechnology) discussed the past week’s technology news through an educational lens. Co-host Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) was on special assignment. Topics highlighted in this week’s show included the alleged hack of computer hardware by Chinese authorities affecting major tech companies including Apple and Amazon, which is very controversial and has been firmly denied by technology companies as well as government agencies. The dangers of connecting to open WiFi in public spaces, ways to avoid phishing scams in email, and the benefits of using password managers as well as a VPN or cell phone access point / phone tethering were also discussed. Robocalls on the rise, Google’s changes to third party data access for Gmail, the prospect of Google enforcing restrictive limitations on data sharing around the world because of country-specific laws, and Google’s Certification program for IT professionals were also discussed by Jun and Wes.  Briefly highlighted articles at the end of the show included the Google Pixel 3 and it’s touted capability to screen phone calls using an AI voice agent and Facebook’s challenges in moderating content worldwide. Geeks of the week included the COSN toolkit on protecting student data and FlowCrypt for sending encrypted email within Gmail. Check out edtechSR.com/links for all shownotes, including those listed below. 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. Note we will be starting earlier than usual occasionally to accommodate guest schedules in upcoming weeks, so please check Twitter for those updates.

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. Jun Kim (@mpstechnology) – Moore Public Schools, Oklahoma
  7. Wes Fryer (@wfryer) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. China Used a Tiny Chip in a Hack That Infiltrated U.S. Companies (Bloomberg, 4 Oct 2018)
  9. Risky Business Feature: Named source in “The Big Hack” has doubts about the story (Risky Biz Podcast, 9 Oct 2018)
  10. A U.S. telecommunications company finds fresh evidence of China hacking of tech hardware (Bloomberg, 9 Oct 2018)
  11. Sniffers and Snoopers and Hackers, Oh My! Protecting Yourself from the Risks of Public Wi-Fi (Ferpa Sherpa – Susan Bearden (@s_bearden), 20 Sept 2018)
  12. Firesheep should get your ATTENTION: Open Public Wifi Dangers are REAL (Wes Fryer, November 2010)
  13. How to Protect Yourself From a Phishing Attack by Hackers (Atlantic, 12 Sept 2018)
  14. LastPass Password Manager
  15. How robo-callers outwitted the government and completely wrecked the Do Not Call list (Washington Post, 11 Jan 2018)
  16. “All my friends are robocalls” episode of “Today Explained” podcast (on Twitter)
  17. Don’t force Google to Export Other Countries’ Laws (NYTimes, 10 Sept 2018)
  18. Google is shutting down Google+ after it exposed user data and neglected to tell anyone (8 Oct 2018)
  19. Google limits third-party access to Gmail and other account data (Engadget, 8 Oct 2018)
  20. Have I Been Pwned (good website to check your email addresses for security breaches)
  21. The Google IT Support Professional Certificate
  22. GSFE Admins – Google+ Community (@gsfeadmins)
  23. Beware of Phishing Cell Phone Calls: Don’t Share Personal Info with Strangers (Wes Fryer, 3 Oct 2018)
  24. Hiya: Caller ID, Call Blocker & Protection for a Better Phone Experience (via @pgeorge)
  25. TWIT Specials 326 Made by Google (4 Oct 2018)
  26. Google Assistant will screen spam calls on the Pixel 3 (Verge, 9 Oct 2018)
  27. Common Sense Media Privacy Evaluation Initiative (@cs_privacy)
  28. Ex-Facebook moderator sues Facebook over exposure to disturbing images (ARStechnia, 26 Sept 2018)
  29. Soldiers in Facebook’s War on Fake News Are Feeling Overrun (NYTimes, 9 Oct 2018)
  30. A dog lost part of her skull to cancer. So researchers printed her a 3D one (CNN, 25 Sept 2018)
  31. Jun’s Geek of the Week: COSN toolkit on protecting student data
  32. Wes’ Geek of the Week: FlowCrypt (encrypted email within Gmail)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 68

Welcome to episode 68 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed today’s exciting Google event and product announcements, with (as always) an eye toward the educational implications of the news. Discussed Google product announcements included the new Pixel2 smartphone, Pixelbuds supporting real-time translation in 40 languages, the updated Pixelbook, the Google Clip Camera, and new Google Home products including the Home Max and Home Mini. Geeks of the week included the Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso (from Jason), an update on the cross-platform video projection option Via Connect Pro, and Google Maps Treks (from Wes). Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. The 5 biggest announcements from Google’s Pixel 2 event (The Verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  9. Here’s everything Google announced today by (@TechCrunch, 4 Oct 2017)
  10. Behold The Pixel 2, Google’s New Flagship Android Phone (Wired, 4 Oct 2017)
  11. Google’s Pixelbook Is The First High-end Chromebook In Years (Verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  12. Up Close With Pixel Buds, Google’s Answer To Airpods (Verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  13. Google Clips: A mini camera from Google that costs $249 (9 to 5 Google, 4 Oct 2017)
  14. The Google Clips camera puts AI behind the lens (@verge, 4 Oct 2017)
  15. New Google Homes: Google Beefs Up Home Lineup With Home Max, Mini (PC Mag, 4 Oct 2017)
  16. VIDEO: A few new things made by Google (1 min)
  17. VIDEO: TWIT Live Specials 326 – Made By Google (2+ hours)
  18. Google Hardware Is No Longer A Hobby (The Verge, 4 October 2017)
  19. Geek of the Week from Jason: Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso
  20. Geeks of the Week from Wes: Via Connect Pro update,  Google Maps Treks (Example: Pyramids of Giza in Egypt!)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 63

Welcome to episode 63 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 30, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed iPhone 9 rumors, Apple’s recent Emmy Award, CRISPR and human DNA embryo editing (“DNA surgery”), fake news surrounding Hurricane Harvey, and Google’s forthcoming Chromebook Pixel laptop. Additional topics included the newly announced collaboration between Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana and YouTube updates removing black bars on vertical videos. Geeks of the week included the Blue Yeti Mic and a $26 HDMI to Component Video converter with the power to rescuccitate a HDMI-disabled flatscreen TV. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.

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) – blog: speedofcreativity.org
  8. Are you ready for $1,000 smartphones? (USA Today, 29 August 2017)
  9. Apple’s TV plans are still stuck in neutral (Recode, 29 August 2017)
  10. Apple wins technical Emmy award for Siri’s integration w/ Apple TV (9 to 5 Mac)
  11. Why Apple’s Sept. 12 iPhone event is its most important in years (Recode, 28 August 2017)
  12. Goodbye, home button: iPhone 8 may be more radical than thought (CNet, 30 August 2017)
  13. Inside The Lab Where Scientists Are Editing DNA In Human Embryos (NPR, 18 August 2017)
  14. Fake Photographs: Hurricane Harvey Edition (Snopes, August 2017)
  15. Rough Translation Podcast by NPR (more on Fake News)
  16. Google’s Upcoming Chromebook Pixel: How Much Would You Pay? (Chrome Unboxed, 27 August 2017)
  17. Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana are going to work together (Recode, 30 August 2017)
  18. An Alexa And Cortana Team-Up Won’t Get Far Without A Phone (Wired 30 August 2017)
  19. YouTube Update Gets Rid of Black Bars on Vertical Videos (PC Magazine, 29 August)
  20. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Yeti Mic: http://amzn.to/2wk8Ekt
  21. Wes’ Geek of the Week: Portta HDMI to YPbPr Component RGB ($26) s/o to Chromecast! ($35)

EdTech Situation Room Episode 24

Welcome to episode 24 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 5, 2016, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wesley Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the challenges of teaching civics in a heated election season and the affordances of social media during election debates. They also discussed some highlights from Google’s Pixel Phone event this week, including the Pixel phone, new wifi routers, a new Google Home device, and the role of AI (artificial intelligence) in Google’s corporate products and services evolution. The rumor of an October 27th MacBook laptop refresh was also discussed, along with some iPhone/Android phone comparisons. Wes shared an endorsement for the new movie “Snowden” and gave a shout out to ProPublica’s new article series, “BREAKING THE BLACK BOX: What Facebook Knows About You.” Jason and Wes also discussed their ISTE 2017 submitted proposal for a session titled, “Digital Citizenship in Our Surveillance State.” Geeks of the week included the importance of ordering OEM certified computer chargers and the free iOS composition apps, “MusiQuest – Music & Beat Maker” and “Sketch-a-Song Kids.” Check out past episode shownotes on https://edtechsr.com/links and be sure to follow @edtechSR for updates on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtechsr as well as on Facebook. If you listen to the show, please submit our listener survey using the shortened link http://wfryer.me/edtechsr which forwards to a Google Form. Your feedback and suggestions on the show are appreciated!

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)
  7. Wesley Fryer (@wfryer)
  8. Educators Are Afraid To Teach Civics? (FastCompany, 13 Aug 2016)
  9. Who will Be President? (Election Data analytics from the New York Times)
  10. Google’s Pixel event: all the news from the big announcement (The Verge, 4 October 2016)
  11. Mossberg: How Google’s bold moves shake up the tech industry (The Verge, 5 October 2016)
  12. Pixel Phone: “fully charges for 7 hours in 15 minutes”
  13. VIDEO: Google’s Pixel phone event in 10 minutes “From mobile first to AI first”
  14. Google’s new Wifi routers are here to take on Eero (Verge 4 Oct 2016)
  15. Eero Wifi
  16. OH… by the way… https://9to5mac.com/2016/10/05/2016-mac-keynote-date/ (new Macs coming Oct 27?)
  17. Twitter’s new, longer tweets have arrived (Verge, 19 Sept 2016)
  18. ISTE 2017 Proposal – Digital Citizenship in Our Surveillance State
  19. Digging Into Facebook’s File on You (@notetoself, 28 Sept 2016)
  20. BREAKING THE BLACK BOX: What Facebook Knows About You (@ProPublica, 28 Sept 2016)
  21. Movie: Snowden (IMDB)
  22. Wes’ Geek of the Week: iOS Music composition apps; MusiQuest – Music & Beat Maker” and Sketch-a-Song Kids” (more details in this article)
  23. Jason’s Geek of the Week: Purchase used OEM chargers and not third party chargers!  Example eBay Search.

 

Google by C.E. Kent, on Flickr
Google” (CC BY 2.0) by C.E. Kent