Tag Archives: European Union

PTJ 362: New Galaxies

February 15, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Samsung has kicked off the year in new phone hardware with updates to its Galaxy line — including a $1200 Ultra model that comes with five cameras, a stylus and a 6.8-inch screen. El Kaiser and JD ponder the possibilities, along in a roundup of other tech headlines and a preview of this year’s new crop of emoji (disco ball!) coming to iOS and Android. El Kaiser also continues his exploration of Marvel and DC Comics adaptations for the big and small screens. All this and more on PTJ 362!

Crypto apps soar in popularity after Super Bowl splurge (The Block)
Microsoft announces new app store principles, aligning with Open App Ma rkets Act (The Washington Post)
Open App Markets Act (Congress.gov)
Tinder to Eliminate Age-Based Pricing for Premium Features (PCMag)
New s From Tinder Newsroom
Making ‘Dinobabies’ Extinct: IBM’s Push for a Younger Work Force (The New York Times)
Everything you need to know from Samsung’s Galaxy Unpacked 2022 event (The Verge)
Apple unveils contactless payments via Tap to Pay on iPhone (Apple)
Apple debuts Tap to Pay feature for iPhone, here are the details (9to5Mac)
Apple’s ‘realityOS’ for Rumored AR/VR Headset Referenced in Source Code (MacRumors)
Peloton co-founder steps down after rough ride (AP News)
Amazon and Nike exploring Peloton takeover, reports say (BBC News)
For the first time in its history, Facebook is in decline. Has the tech giant begun to crumble? (The Guardian)
Meta SEC Form 10-K 2021
Meta says it may shut down Facebook and Instagram in Europe (CNBC)
We’re Fine Without Facebook, German and French Ministers Say (Bloomberg)
See All 37 New Emojis Coming to Your Phone in Apple’s iOS 15.4 Update (Business Insider)
Emoji Version 14.0 (Emojipedia)
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds (Paramount+)
Obi-Wan Kenobi (Disney+ Originals)
Peacemaker (HBO Originals)
DC Comics TV
Marvel Cinematic Universe
Martin Scorsese: I Said Marvel Movies Aren’t Cinema. Let Me Explain. (The New York Times)
Martin Scorsese’s fight against Marvel isn’t really about Marvel movies (Vox)
Tom Holland hits back at Martin Scorsese’s comments that Marvel films aren’t “cinema” (NME)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 360: All Hailing Frequencies Open

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

El Kaiser and J.D. are back with a new episode and the opportunity to praise the work of Nichelle Nichols, the trailblazing actress who portrayed Lt. Uhura on the original Star Trek as she retires from public life. Also in the mix: a discussion of recent headlines, including Big Tech’s increasingly warm seat in front of government regulators, and El Kaiser takes a listen to a new pair of Bowers & Wilkins Bluetooth headphones. All this and more on PTJ Episode 360 !

A New Tesla Safety Concern: Drivers Can Play Video Games in Moving Cars (The New York Times)
Instagram will bring back a chronological feed in 2022 (Engadget)
Instagram Chief Adam Mosseri Says Tech Companies Must Earn Liability Shield (Bloomberg)
What we learned at Congress’ much-anticipated summit of crypto execs (TheBlock)
House Hearing on Financial Innovation and Digital Currency (C-SPAN video)
Europe Pushes New Rules Turning Gig Workers Into Employees (The New York Times)
Epic v. Apple ruling put on hold after appeals court grants a stay (The Verge)
Kuo: Apple AR Headset to Feature Advanced Hand Gesture Controls and Object Detection (MacRumors)
Twitter Tests New, TikTok-Like Full-Screen Display for Explore (Social Media Today)
Roku, Google settle messy battle over YouTube distribution (Axios)
Verizon overrides users’ opt-out preferences in push to collect browsing history (Ars Technica)
Nichelle Nichols honored as she makes final Comic-Con appearance (TheGrio)
1977 NASA Recruitment film with Nichelle Nichols (YouTube)
Bowers & Wilkins PX7 Bluetooth 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

Episode Links

PTJ 344: Power Plays

September 25, 2020 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

Labor Day has been here and gone for weeks now, so El Kaiser and JD get back to business with a pile of news, including the new PlayStation and Xbox consoles arriving on November and recap of Apple’s September event. And because the year is only going to get more intense from here, this week’s episode also offers suggestions for science-fiction television entertainment to temporarily make you forget the current state of this world. Come on along for PTJ 344!

Nintendo Said to Boost Switch Production by Another 20% (Bloomberg)
PlayStation 5 preorders: Sony reveals release date and price (VentureBeat)
Microsoft reveals Xbox Series S specs, promises four times the processing power of Xbox One (The Verge)
Xbox Series X launches on November 10th for $499 (The Verge)
Microsoft is adding EA Play to Xbox Game Pass (Engadget)
Microsoft to acquire ZeniMax Media and its game publisher Bethesda Softworks (Microsoft)
Microsoft to acquire Elder Scrolls, Fallout, other hit games in $7.5B deal for Bethesda Softworks parent (GeekWire)
A closer look at Luna, Amazon’s cloud gaming service (Engadget)
Amazon Fire TV Stick and Fire TV Stick Lite announced, start at $30 (CNBC)
Amazon announces all-new Echo, Echo Dot, Echo Dot with Clock (CNBC)
Amazon Unveils Drone That Films Inside Your Home. What Could Go Wrong? (The New York Times)
Amazon Ring security drone and swiveling Echo Show push the boundaries of surveillance, agai n (The Washington Post)
Guitars Are Back, Baby! (The New York Times)
Windows 10 running Android apps via Your Phone is fully rolled out – and the feature will soon get even better (TechRadar)
The new Surface Duo (Microsoft)
Streaming service Quibi explores strategic options, including sale —WSJ (Reuters)
Mozilla shuts down Firefox Send file transfer service after malware abuse (CNet)
Google ‘formally’ bans stalkerware apps from the Play Store (ZDNet)
EU regulator orders Facebook to stop transferring user data to America (Seeking Alpha)
Twitter rolls out new security features to prevent Election Day chaos (The Verge)
Improved Account Security during the 2020 US Election (Twitter)
Facebook Moves to Limit Election Chaos in November (The New York Times)
New Steps to Protect the US Elections (Facebook Newsroom)
Facebook to pay users to quit the app as part of election study (Business Insider)
New Facebook and Instagram Research Initiative to Look at US 2020 Presidential Election (Facebook Newsroom)
The Washington Post’s Elizabeth Dwoskin (Twitter)
September 15th Apple Event (Apple)
Apple Event 2020: Here’s everything that was announced (CNBC)
Justice Dept. Plans to File Antitrust Charges Against Google in Coming Weeks (The New York Times)
“Star Trek: Discovery” Returns October 15 (Star Trek)
Baby Yoda has returned to redeem this terrible year in “The Mandalorian” season two trailer (Lainey Gossip)
‘She-Hulk’ Disney Plus Series Casts Tatiana Maslany in Lead Role (Variety)
Chadwick Boseman’s legacy can be continued (CNN)
It’s Hard to Make Dignity Interesting. Chadwick Boseman Found a Way. (The New York Times)
Dame Diana Rigg: Avengers, Bond and Game of Thrones actress dies at 82 (BBC News)

Science-Fiction TV Shows for Escaping Reality

“Doom Patrol” (HBO Max)
“Thunderbirds” (Amazon Prime)
“Doctor Who (BBC)
“Battlestar Galactica” (SYFY)
“Watchmen” (HBO)
“The Expanse” (SYFY)
“The Bionic Woman” (NBC)
The Best Sci-Fi TV Shows to Binge-Watch Right Now (TV Guide)
20 Sci-Fi Shows Like “Westworld” Totally Worth Watching (Men’s Health)
The Best Sci-Fi Shows on Netflix (Thrillist)
“Thunderbirds” (Nostalgia Central)
“The Expanse” Is the Best Science Fiction on TV (The Mary Sue)
“The Bionic Woman and Feminist Ethics: An Analysis of the 1970s Television Series” (Google Books)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint, Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 294: Location, Location, Location

December 10, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Of course, your apps are tracking you! El Kaiser told you that years ago, but The New York Times now fills in the details. J.D. rounds up the headlines from the past two weeks for discussion and also offers a (Hopefully) helpful Hint about recording your family’s history in audio and video this holiday season. Pull up a chair and join us for PTJ 294!

Links to News Stories on This Week’s Show

Your Apps Know Where You Were Last Night, and They’re Not Keeping It Secret (The New York Times)
Community Standards (Facebook)
Facebook’s Sexual Solicitation Policy is a Honeypot for Trolls (Electronic Frontier Foundation)
A better, more positive Tumblr (Tumblr)
Tumblr will ban all adult content on December 17th (The Verge)
AlphaFold: Using AI for scientific discovery (DeepMind)
Microsoft Putting Edge on Chromium Will Fundamentally Change the Web (Motherboard)
Justice Dept. investigating millions of fake anti-net neutrality comments: report (TheHill)
China bans many iPhone models in Qualcomm patent dispute (Axios)
Kuo: ‘All-new design’ AirPods in 2020, wireless charging model in first quarter 2019 (9to5Mac)
Apple Will Wait Until at Least 2020 to Release a 5G iPhone (Bloomberg)
Microsoft Is Worth as Much as Apple. How Did That Happen? (The New York Times)
Google acquires India-focused app Where is My Train (Android Authority)
EU questioning companies about Google’s search practices: report (TheHill)
Marriott Hacking Exposes Data of Up to 500 Million Guests (The New York Times)
AT&T details its streaming service plans as it weighs a sale of its Hulu stake (TechCrunch)
E Ink’s new digital paper lets you draw with almost no lag (The Next Web)
The U.S. Army Has A New Plan To Recruit Gamers (Kotaku)
Nasa’s Voyager 2 probe ‘leaves the Solar System’ (BBC News)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

Record and Share Your Family History in 5 Steps (The New York Times)
10 Types of Microphones (HowStuffWorks)
StoryCorps apps
Oral History Interviews (The American Folklife Center)
Conducting Oral Histories with Family Members (UCLA Library)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 291: Walk This Way

November 4, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

There’s been a lot of movement in the tech world the past week — Google employees got to their feet to protest the company’s treatment of women, Apple rolled out new hardware and Facebook got slapped officially with a big fine for misuse of customer data. El Kaiser and J.D. discuss the tech news from the past 10 days or so, and with the U.S. elections looming, also offer a few resources for voters. Roll on over to PTJ 291!

Links to News Stories Discussed This Week

Google staff walk out over women’s treatment (BBC News)
Google Walkout: Employees Stage Protest Over Handling of Sexual Harassment (The New York Times)
Google Faces Internal Backlash Over Handling of Sexual Harassment (The New York Times)
How Google Protected Andy Rubin, the ‘Father of Android’ (The New York Times)
Google sacks dozens over sexual harassment (BBC News)
Apple event: New iPads, Macs announced (CNN)
Tim Cook calls for strong US privacy law, rips “data-industrial complex” (Ars Technica)
Former Facebook security chief questions Apple’s privacy double standard in China (Apple Insider)
ICO issues maximum £500,000 fine to Facebook for failing to protect users’ personal information (ICO)
Facebook is building Lasso, a video music app to steal TikTok’s teens (TechCrunch)
This Thermometer Tells Your Temperature, Then Tells Firms Where to Advertise (The New York Times)
Google wants to improve your smart home with iRobot’s room maps (The Verge)
Twitter Q3 2018 earnings (CNBC)
FY19Q1 – Press Releases – Investor Relations (Microsoft)
Microsoft’s gaming revenue surges 44% in Q1 2019 (VentureBeat)
IBM to acquire Red Hat in deal valued at $34 billion (CNBC)
Portrait by AI program sells for $432,000 (BBC News)

GO VOTE

Vote411.org
John Oliver’s Plug for Vote411 Sparks Huge 2000 Percent Spike for Voter Information Site (San Francisco Chronicle)
Alexa can now talk about the midterm elections (VentureBeat)
Ballotpedia

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint, Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 281: The Jet Set

July 20, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

In this week’s show, J.D. and an overworked El Kaiser discuss the week’s news, including Google’s big fine and Amazon Prime Day’s big fail. There’s also an exciting turn of events for those wishing rocket jet-packs were real. J.D. also has a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint about making your Windows PC or Mac clean up after itself. Hear it all now on Episode 281!

Links to Stories Discussed on This Week’s Episode

E.U. Fines Google $5.1 Billion in Android Antitrust Case (The New York Times)
Antitrust: Commission fines Google €4.34 billion for illegal practices regarding Android mobile devices to strengthen dominance of Google’s search engine (European Commission Press release)
Android has created more choice, not less (Google Keyword blog)
Zuckerberg: The Recode interview (Recode audio)
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Recode Decode: Full transcript (Recode)
Zuckerberg clarifies: ‘I personally find Holocaust denial deeply offensive, and I absolutely didn’t intend to defend the intent of people who deny that.’ (Recode)
Amazon’s website crashed as soon as Prime Day began (The Verge)
Amazon’s Website Crashes on Prime Day (The Atlantic)
Amazon sells more than 100 million products on Prime Day event (Reuters)
Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket aces dramatic test launch (NBC News)
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos beats Bill Gates in new rich list (BBC News)
See What’s Next…On TV (Netflix blog)
Gravity Industries
Selfridges’ flying ‘Iron Man’ suit is now on sale to the public (The Daily Mail)
Samsung Plans to Launch Foldable-Screen Phone Early Next Year (The Wall Street Journal)

Reports of an unidentified flying man at #SelfridgesLondon have been confirmed. Introducing Gravity Industries, the world’s first jet suit, exclusively available at #Selfridges #takeongravity Gravity Industries Jet Suit pic.twitter.com/Jo9ilPkRWo

— Selfridges (@Selfridges) July 18, 2018

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

New Ways to Delete Old Files (The New York Times)
How to Free Up Space on Your Mac (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 279: The Long Arm of the Law

July 9, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

In that quiet time of the year between developer conferences and the back-to-school sales, product announcements are scarce — but the hazy, lazy days of summer are no vacation for the legal world! As El Kaiser and J.D. discover on this week’s episode, court rulings and decisions by lawmakers dominated the news this week, with a few bug revivals thrown in for good measure. J.D. also explores the new Windows 10 Timeline feature in Microsoft’s latest operating-system update, so beat the heat and find a cool place to settle in with Episode 279!

Links to News Stories on This Week’s Episode

EU lawmakers vote against tough line on copyright reform (Reuters)
Kim Dotcom loses latest appeal against US extradition (BBC News)
Yelp can’t be forced to take down libelous reviews, court rules (The Verge)
Why California Privacy Law Promises Chaos by 2020 (eWeek)
Third-party developers could have been reading your Gmail messages – here’s what to do about it (London Evening Standard)
Ensuring your security and privacy within Gmail (Google Blog)
New Facebook privacy mishap: A software bug that ‘unblocked’ people (Recode)
Letting People Know About a Blocking Bug (Facebook Newsroom)
Facebook’s Political Rule Blocks Ads for Bush’s Beans, Singers Named Clinton (Bloomberg)
Facebook Ads Offer Peek at Looming Supreme Court Fight (The New York Times)
Ugandans Aren’t Happy With New Tax for Using Social Media (Time)
Akamai Releases Summer 2018 State of the Internet Security Report (Akamai)
This password-stealing malware just added a new way to infect your PC (ZDNet)
Tech-support scammers revive bug that sends Chrome users into a panic (Ars Technica)
Samsung Note 9 Premium Smartphone to Debut on Aug. 9 (eWeek)
Amazon Takes a Page From Toys ‘R’ Us With a Holiday Catalog (Bloomberg)
An Archive of Radio Shack Catalogs

Windows 10 Timeline

Introducing Windows Timeline (Windows channel on YouTube)
Get help with timeline (Microsoft)
How to Use Timeline With Windows 10 (The New York Times)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint, Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 273: Still the Right Stuff

May 21, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Yanny or Laurel? El Kaiser was too busy mixing up podcasts to weigh in, and J.D. thought the whole thing was dumb and tuned into Queen Ida and the Bon Temps Zydeco Band instead — but The New York Times built a handy little tool to demonstrate how audio frequencies factor into the matter. Beyond all that, Episode 273 serves up the week’s tech news, pours one out for Tom Wolfe and contemplates the strange notion of secure and private email. Give a listen!

Links to Stories Discussed on This Week’s Episode

Senate votes to overturn Ajit Pai’s net neutrality repeal (Ars Technica)
Twitter is going to make third-party apps worse starting in August (The Verge)
Microsoft Plans Low-Cost Tablet Line to Rival iPad (Bloomberg)
Facebook adds Voice Posts, Stories archive, and new cloud storage features (The Verge)
Facebook lets advertisers target users based on sensitive interests (The Guardian)
Mark Zuckerberg to Meet European Parliament Members Over Facebook’s Data Use (The New York Times)
Jigsaw’s Project Shield Will Protect Campaigns From Online Attacks (Wired)
YouTube is going to charge more to see ad-free shows like ‘Cobra Kai’ (Recode)
Music on YouTube will now include expanded artist credits and link to official video (9to5Google)
Amazon Prime members get exclusive savings at Whole Foods (Amazon Press Room)
Scott Kelly: How Tom Wolfe Changed My Life (The New York Times)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

Finding Privacy for Email (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 270: On the Hook

May 3, 2018 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

California fires a shot across the bow of the FCC’s net neutrality repeal, Amazon’s Alexa has a new do-it-yourself project for users and even aquariums aren’t safe on the Internet of Things. El Kaiser and J.D. sort through the technology news of the past 10 days before discussing a great vacation destination for aviation and NASA nerds: The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virgina, home to the National Air & Space Museum’s big collection of airplanes and spacecraft. Jump into it all here in Episode 270 of Pop Tech Jam!

Links to Stories Mentioned On This Week’s Show