Tag Archives: Amazon

PTJ 364: Yo! Can We Get a Little Help Here, Obi-Wan Kenobi?

June 2, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

June is here, and with it, the old-new adventures of a certain Jedi Master — and plenty of other fine programs to stream. El Kaiser and J.D. also mull recent tech news, and, for the audio-curious, El Kaiser discusses the digital audience interfaces he uses in his recording work. You can find it all here on PTJ 364!

OBI-101: Everything You Need to Know About Obi-Wan Kenobi (StarWars.com)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+)
Russian Doll (Netflix)
Elon Musk Is Right to Pay Far Less for Twitter, E xperts Say (Business Insider)
Twitter shareh old ers s ue Elon Musk and Twitter over chaotic deal (CNBC)
SEC looms over Musk-Twitter deal (The Hill)
Elon Musk to Workers: Spend 40 Hours in the Office, or Els e (The New York Times)
Twitter fined $150m in US for selling users’ data (BBC News)
Twitter to pay $150 million penalty for allegedly breaking its privacy promises – again (Federal Trade Commission)
PSVR 2 may release in early 2023 — ‘depending’ on game development (Laptop Mag)
Apple’s RealityOS for rumored headset appears in trademark application (The Verge)
What’s Coming in Apple (AAPL) iOS 16? Is iPhone 14 Getting an Always-On Screen? (Bloomberg)
Apple can’t dodge rival app store Cydia’s antitrust lawsuit (Reuters)
Google I/O 2022 Live Blog (CNet)
Google Translate Glass es (YouTube)
Google TV’s new app launches on the iOS App Store with the ability to use a mobile device as a remote (TechCrunch)
Google is combining Meet and Duo into a single app for voice and video calls (The Verge)
Sheryl Sandberg Is Leaving Facebook at a Perilous Moment (Bloomberg)
Amazon to pull Kindle out of China, other businesses to remain (Reuters)
Amazon is launching an invite-based ordering option, starting with the PS5 and Xbox Serie s X (TechCrunch)
This double-bladed lightsaber measures 6.5 feet long and costs $500 (The Verge)
“Star Wars” The Black Series Third Sister Reva Lightsaber (Hasbro)
RØDE AI-1
Focusrite Scarlett Solo
F ocusrite Scarlett 2i2

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 363: Bye, ’Pod

March 4, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

On this episode, El Kaiser and J.D. catch up after an unintentional hiatus to discuss current events — including Elon Musk’s fluctuating deal to buy Twitter, the rapid demise of CNN+ and Apple’s decision to retire the iPod after 21 years. Spin up PTJ 363 right here!

Hackers R eplac e Russian TV Schedules During ‘Victory Day’ With Anti-War Messages (InfoSecurity)
Anon ym ous Hacks 2 Russian Industrial Firms, Leak 112GB of Data for Ukraine (HackRead)
Why BBC Revived Shortwave Radio Dispatches in Ukraine (The New York Times)
BBC News la unches ‘dark web’ Tor mirror (BBC News)
Inside the Implosion of CNN+ (The New York Times)
Elon Musk says he might try to renegotiate $44B Twitter deal for less (The Washington Post)
Twitter CEO fires back at Elon Musk, who responds with poop emoji (MarketWatch)
Apple’s iPod Announcement
Farewell to the iPod (The New York Times)
Apple to discontinue the iPod after 21 years (BBC News)
The iPod is dead (TechCrunch)
Apple Together Brings Corporate Workers Into the Union Effort (WIRED)
Netflix Exploring Live Streaming For First Time; Unscripted & Comedy (Deadline)
The Week in Business: Crypto’s ‘Death Spiral’ (The New York Times)
Cryptocurrencies Melt Down in a ‘Perfect Storm’ of Fear and Panic (The New York Times)
Crypto crash: Stablecoin collapse sends tokens tumbling (BBC News)
E.U. Takes Aim at Social Media’s Harms With Landmark New Law (The New York Times)
The Digital Services Act package (European Commission)
Uber Eats Dabbles With Delivering Food Via Robots (Gizmodo)
Royal Mail wants fleet of 500 drones to carry mail to remote UK communities (BBC News)

‘The Batman’ Review: Robert Pattinson Goes Darker Than ‘Dark Knight’ (Variety)
The Book of Boba Fett (Disney+)

Set Your Schedule in Your Smartphone’s Free Calendar (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 356: Season’s Greetings!

August 11, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Like Clippy in a Microsoft Teams background, El Kaiser and J.D. are back after a somewhat inadvertent hiatus! The new season of Pop Tech Jam kicks off with El Kaiser’s thoughts on the most recent Suicide Squad reboot/remake/reimagining and includes J.D.’s usual roundup of technology and nerd news headlines — plus some tips for tidying your phone’s home screen and making the most of shortcut menus and widgets. Join us here on PTJ 356!

The S uicide Squad (2021 trailer)

T-Mobile Confirms It Was Hacked (VICE Motherboard)
U.S. Will Investigate Tesla’s Autopilot System Over Crashes With Emergency Vehicles (The New York Times)
Galaxy Unpacked 2021 (Samsung)
App Store Law Would Be a Direct Hit on Apple and Google (Bloomberg)

Microsoft Teams: Now you can invite Clippy to your next meeting (ZDNet)
Apple Readies New iPhones With Pro-Focused Camera, Video Updates (Bloomberg)
iPhone 13: Everything we know so far (Macworld)
Is Windows 11 the beginning of the end for Skype? (BBC News)
The Incredible Disappearing Return-to-Office Plans (Bloomberg)
Google planning Silicon Valley campus, hardware lab (CNBC)
Pay cut: Google employees who work from home could lose money (Reuters)
Amazon resumes mask mandate in warehouses amid rising Covid cases (CNBC)
When Amazon Customers Leave Negative Reviews, Some Sellers Hunt Them Down (The Wall Street Journal)
Here’s How Amazon Third-Party Sellers Reportedly Hound Customers Who Leave Bad Reviews (Gizmodo)
Expanded Protections for Children (Apple)
Apple FAQ on Expanded Protections for Children (Apple PDF)
Apple’s New ‘Child Safety’ Initiatives, and the Slippery Slope (Daring Fireball)
Apple defends new photo scanning child protection tech (BBC News)
Giving kids and teens a safer experience online (Google Keyword blog)
Google to Increase Privacy for Teenagers in Search and on YouTube (The New York Times)
Roku to release 23 more Quibi shows on Aug. 13 (CNET)
Safety brief: Don’t hide a WWII-era Panther tank in your basement (Task & Purpose)
Take Control of Your Home Screen (The New York Times)

Episode Links

PTJ 355: The Empire Hacks Back

June 7, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

In this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J.D. discuss the headlines from the world of tech, including the U.S. government’s own Bitcoin grab as it claws back the Colonial Pipeline ransom. El Kaiser would like Batman to have at least one nice day and J.D. ambles through the major announcements from this year’s Apple’s World Wide Developers Conference. Just push play to hear it all on PTJ 355!

Batman: Rebirth (DC Comics)
Justice Dept. says it recovered most of the ransom paid after the Colonial Pipeline cyber attack. (The New York Times)
Colonial Pipeline Cyber Attack: Hackers Used Compromised Password (Bloomberg)
Apple employees push back against returning to the office in internal letter (The Verge)
G7: Rich nations back deal to tax multinationals (BBC News)
G7 tax deal: Amazon, Google and Facebook respond (CNBC)
Google fined by France for abusing online advertising position (CNBC)
Facebook’s Marketplace Faces Antitrust Probes in EU, U.K. (WSJ)
In Response to Oversight Board, Trump Suspended for Two Years; Will Only Be Reinstated if Conditions Permit (About Facebook)
Apple pays out millions in compensation to student after iPhone repair facility shared her explicit personal images online (9to5Mac)
Jeff Bezos is going to space on first crewed flight of rocket (CNN)
Apple WWDC 2021 Keynote
iOS 15 Highlights (Apple Newsroom)
macOS Monterey Preview (Apple Newsroom)
watchOS 8 Announcement (Apple Newsroom)
iPadOS 15 Features (Apple Newsroom)

Episode Links

PTJ 354: Infrastructure, Weak

May 13, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

This month’s Colonial Pipeline hack, the massive bot farm lurking on Facebook last fall and Amazon’s constant battle with counterfeit products illustrate the huge vulnerabilities that exist in many U.S. companies as the world grows ever more digital. But in cheerier news, El Kaiser and J.D. also discuss the country’s broadband connectivity fund to help narrow the digital divide and kweliTV, a streaming service that highlights authentic Black stories. El Kaiser also shares his views on Marvel’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier and a new Android tablet from Samsung. Come join us here on PTJ 354!

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+)
Cyberattack Forces a Shutdown of a Top U.S. Pipeline (The New York Times)
Hacking group DarkSide responsible for Colonial Pipeline shutdown (CNBC)
FCC approves $7B broadband connectivity fund (CNET)
This is a map of America’s broadband problem (The Verge)
Sony Warns Tight PlayStation 5 Supply to Extend Into Next Year (Bloomberg)
Next-Gen PlayStation VR Is 4K Plus Eye-Tracking & Vibration (UploadVR)
Apple vs Epic Court Case Roundup (Kotaku)
Amazon blocked 10 billion counterfeit listings and spent $700M fighting fraud on its site last year (GeekWire)
Researchers Say They’ve Uncovered a Massive Facebook Bot Farm From the 2020 Election (Mother Jones)
Inside a Facebook bot farm that pumps out 200k+ political posts per month (Comparitech)
Facebook wants to make sure you’ve read the article you’re about to share (The Verge)
WhatsApp will gradually stop you calling or messaging contacts if you don’t agree to its new privacy policy (Business Insider)
WhatsApp FAQ
Dozens of state AGs asked Facebook to cancel plans for kids Instagram (Protocol)
She was tired of seeing Black stereotypes on TV. So she started her own streaming service. (CNN)
Samsung Galaxy Tab S7 / S7+
Apple iPad

Episode Links

PTJ 352: What the FLoC?

April 13, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer 1 Comment

New stuff! We finally have lots of new products to talk about! El Kaiser and JD discuss a flurry of hardware announcements from several tech companies, as well as Google’s new FLoC tracking system and the results of Amazon’s union vote. El Kaiser also shares his thoughts on HBO’s His Dark Materials series and JD has tips for home design before you actually move into the home. Join us here on PTJ 352!

His Dark Materials (HBO)
A Journey into the History of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials (Barnes & Noble)
Introducing the new Roku Express 4K+ and Roku Voice Remote Pro (Roku blog)
Roku announces new $40 Express 4K+ streamer, Voice Remote Pro (Ars Technica)
Spotify Launches Our Newest Exploration: A Limited Release of Car Thing, a Smart Player for Your Car (Spotify)
Car Thing (Spotify)
Introducing Surface Laptop 4 and new accessories for enhanced meeting experiences (Microsoft Devices Blog)
Microsoft announces new webcam and USB-C speaker for the work from home era (The Verge)
Siri Reveals Apple Event Planned for Tuesday, April 20 (MacRumors)
Apple Working on Combined TV Box, Speaker to Revive Home Efforts (Bloomberg)
Google Play Movies & TV app to shut down in June (9to5Google)
Google’s FLoC Is a Terrible Idea (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
Why Brave Disables FLoC (Brave browser)
Use the DuckDuckGo Extension to Block FLoC, Google’s New Tracking Method in Chrome (Spread Privacy)
DuckDuckGo’s Solution to Google’s Latest Privacy Controversy (Consumer Reports)
More than 500 Alphabet employees demand Google stop protecting harassers in open letter (The Verge)
After Working at Google, I’ll Never Let Myself Love a Job Again (The New York Times)
Sixty-Week Delay on Router Orders Shows Scale of Chip Crisis (Bloomberg)
This won’t be the last big campaign to unionize an Amazon facility (The Washington Post)
Phone app alerts users to look up while walking (BBC News)
How to Decorate Your New Home Before You Move (The New York Times)

Episode Links

PTJ 351: Going Places

March 30, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

After several weeks of unexpected hiatus, El Kaiser and JD return to catch up on the Justice League Snyder cut, NFTs, eco-friendly map directions, NASA’s Mars helicopter — and a whole bunch of Bluetooth headphones. Spin up Episode 351 right here!

Zack Snyder’s Justice League (HBO Max)
The Bloody Second Act of ‘Invincible’ and Robert Kirkman (The Ringer)
Redefining what a map can be with new information and AI (Google Keyword blog)
Google is making some big upgrades to directions in Google Maps (The Verge)
Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference is back in its all-online format (Apple)
WWDC 2021 (Apple)
Contentious Union Vote at Amazon Heads to a Count (The New York Times)
There’s Something Fishy About Amazon’s Anti-Union Twitter Army (Gizmodo)
Boston Dynamics introduces ‘Stretch’, new warehouse worker robot (Reuters)
SolarWinds hack got emails of top DHS officials (Associated Press)
Exclusive: Visa moves to allow payment settlements using cryptocurrency (Reuters)
Exclusive: PayPal launches crypto checkout service (Reuters)
Buy This NFT Column on the Blockchain! (The New York Times)
Another SpaceX spaceship prototype explodes, joining Starship graveyard in Texas after ‘exciting’ test (Click Orlando)
NASA Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Prepares for First Flight (NASA)
Mars Helicopter tech demo (NASA)
Paris’s Louvre Museum just put its entire collection online (Time Out)

El Kaiser’s Headphone Mega-Roundup

Episode Links

PTJ 349: Now, Voyagers

January 27, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

As the last week of January rolls in, so do the Internet themes and memes — including TikTok’s flirtation with sea shanties and the cold-weather fashion of Senator Bernie Sanders. El Kaiser and J.D. ponder the latest Web whimsy, as well as Google and Apple’s fight against the ongoing problems of the world, other tech news and fun things to do with your smartphone’s camera. Hear it all on PTJ 349!

Sea Shanty TikTok (TikTok)
The Music Theory of Tik Tok Sea Shanties (YouTube)
Everyone’s Singing Sea Shanties (or Are They Whaling Songs?) (The New York Times)
‘It’s just Bernie being Bernie’ — How a photo of Sanders wearing mittens at Inauguration Day went viral (CNBC)
Bernie Sanders / Sea Shanty Meme Mashup
“Star Trek: Discovery”
“Star Trek: Picard”
How we’re helping get vaccines to more people (Google blog)
Apple launches major new Racial Equity and Justice Initiative projects to challenge systemic racism, advance racial equity nationwide (Apple)
Propel Center Global HBCU Campus for Innovation
NBCUniversal is bringing its live events to Twitter users globally (CNBC)
Introducing Birdwatch, a community-based approach to misinformation (Twitter blog)
Increasing Transparency Around US 2020 Elections Ads (Facebook blog)
The Internet Is a Crime Scene, And After the Capitol Riots We Need Better Information Governance Rules for Treating It Like One. (Foreign Policy)
What the Biden administration means for Amazon (CNBC)
Google workers across the globe announce international union alliance to hold Alphabet accountable (The Verge)
Apple Elaborates on Potential for iPhone 12 and MagSafe Accessories to Interfere With Implantable Medical Devices (MacRumors)
Microsoft backtracks on Xbox Live Gold price hike (The Verge)
Clubhouse announces plans for creator payments and raises new funding led by Andreessen Horowitz (TechCrunch)
4 Ways to Do More With Your Smartphone Camera (The New York Times)

Episode Links

PTJ 348: Beer Me, Rosie

January 12, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

As 2021 starts off feeling like the surprise end-credit sequence to 2020, El Kaiser and J.D. discuss Twitter’s big move, the power of social-media companies and a little trade Vegas-based expo called the Consumer Electronics Show that’s having its first-ever all-virtual edition. All this, plus thoughts on “Wonder Woman 1984” and Apple’s beefy new over-the-ear headphones, right here on PTJ 348!

Wonder Woman 1984 (Trailer)
Twitter Permanently Bans Trump, Capping Online Revolt (The New York Times)
Permanent suspension of @realDon aldTrump (Twitter blog)
All the platforms that have banned or restricted Trump s o far (Axios)
Tr ump and T witter clash with White House preparing to blast big tech (The Washington Post)
Twitter Fall 7% Following Permanent Trump Ban (Bloomberg)
Merkel among EU leaders questioning Tw itter’s Trump ban (Politico)
Parler sues Amazon for cutting off its services (CNN)
Parler ban pushes r andom app ‘Parlor’ to top of app store charts (Mashable)
Eve ry Delete d Parler Post, Many With Users’ Location Data, Has Been Archived (Gizmodo)
He Created the Web. Now He’s Out to Remake the Digita l World. (The New York Times)
Google Stadia and GeForce Now are coming to LG TVs in 2021 (The Verge)
Amazon, Walmart Tell Consumers to Skip Retu rns of Unwanted Items (The Wall Street Journal)
What to expect from the first-ever vir tual CES (Ars Technica)
T he Verge: CES Expo Announcements
CES 2021 on CNet
Samsung’s CES 2021 robots will clean your house and pour you a glass of wi ne (CNET)
Apple AirPods Max
Sony WH-1000XM4 Wireless Noise-Canceling Hea dphones
Sony WH-1000XM3 Wireless Noise-Canceling Headphones

Episode Links

PTJ 345: At Last

October 19, 2020 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

What day is it? Does it matter? Time may be a flat circle that got hit by the Covid Truck for many people, but things have happened this month: Apple finally rolls out its four iPhone 12 models, Facebook finally bans Holocaust-denial content and and a House committee finally produces its report on Big Tech and monopoly. El Kaiser and J.D. muse upon it all, along with with a new set of headphones that gets the Rosado Review. Hear it all on PTJ 345!

• Six Russian GRU Officers Charged in Connection with Worldwide Deployment of Destructive Malware and Other Disruptive Actions in Cyberspace (United States Department of Justice)
• The Citizen Browser Project—Auditing the Algorithms of Disinformation (The Markup)
• Facebook says it rejected 2.2m ads for breaking political campaigning rules (The Guardian)
• Twitter, Responsibility, and Accountability (Stratechery by Ben Thompson)
• Apple Launches ‘Apple Music TV,’ a 24-Hour Music Video Livestream (Variety)
• Apple introduces iPhone 12 Pro an d iPhone 12 Pro Max with 5G (Apple Newsroom)
• Apple announces iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini: A new era for iPhone with 5G (Apple Newsroom)
• Apple introduces HomePod mini: A powerful smart speaker with amazing sound (Apple Newsroom)
• Removing Holocaust Denial Conten t (About Facebook)
• Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itse lf (The New Yorker)
• The new Nest Thermostat: more energy savings for more people (Google Nest)
• Amazon’s Latest Gimmicks Are Pushing the Limits of Privacy (WIRED)
• Amazon launches an AR app that works with new QR codes on its boxes (TechCrunch)
• The House Antitrust Report on Big Tech (The New York Times)
• Google’s merger with ITA helped it grow into the giant that the Justice Department is scrutinizing (The Washington Post)
• E U targets Big Tech with ‘hit list’ facing tougher rule s (Financial Times)
• Exclusive: TikTok rival Triller explores deal to go public – sources (Reuters)
• Disn ey reorganizes to focus on streaming, direct to consumer (CNBC)
• AKG K553 MKII Headphones

The independent audio magazine devoted to mashing up pop culture, technology and more. J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado are your hosts. It's an Internet Radio revolution!