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)