Tag Archives: Google Assistant

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)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint, Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 322: Disney, Plus…

November 22, 2019 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

On this week’s episode, El Kaiser and J.D. offer their initial impressions on The Mandalorian, the new Disney+ live-action show set in the Star Wars universe. After a quick trip through recent tech headlines, J.D. also supplies a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint about getting started with touch-screen drawing apps. Use the Force and punch the button for Episode 322!

Links to News Stories on This Week’s Show

“The Mandalorian” (Disney+)
An update on our political ads policy (Google Keyword blog)
Hey Google, play me the news (Google blog)
Spotify turns its personalization technology to podcasts with launch of Your Daily Podcasts (TechCrunch)
Uber Embraces Videotaping Rides, Raising Privacy Concerns (The New York Times)
Uber safety push includes plans to start audio recording rides in the U.S. (The Washington Post)
How Attackers Could Hijack Your Android Camera to Spy on You (Checkmarx)
U.S. approves first licenses for tech sales to Huawei (The Washington Post)
PayPal to acquire shopping and rewards platform Honey for $4B (TechCrunch)
Doorbell camera footage can be kept by police forever and shared with whomever they’d like (The Washington Post)
Amazon Announces New Fire TV Blaster, Giving Users Voice Control Over TVs and Cable Boxes (The Streamable)
Dead musicians are taking the stage again in hologram form. Is this the kind of encore we really want? (The Washington Post)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

Can You Draw This? Of Course You Can. (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 319: Secrets and Lies

October 14, 2019 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

El Kaiser and J.D. discuss the recent technology headlines, including Facebook’s wobbly Libra cryptocurrency, yet another iOS 13 update and political chaos around the globe. Also, there’s a giant Ouija board up in Salem, Massachusetts. And, leaving his beloved 3.5-mm headphone jack behind, El Kaiser takes a walk on the wireless side with a pair of Jabra Bluetooth earbuds.
Listen up here in PTJ 319!

High Schools to TikTok: We’re Catching Feelings (The New York Times)
Twitch is testing out watch parties, at long last (Polygon)
WAV audio files are now being used to hide malicious code (ZDNet)
Google Pixel 4: Android And Assistant Are Evolving (Forbes)
Hands-on with Pixel 4 and 4 XL: Google’s new phones only have minor differences (CNet)
The Reason Your Photos Are About to Get a Lot Better (The New York Times)
EBay, Visa, Mastercard, Stripe abandon Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency (CNBC)
Defiant Zuckerberg Says Facebook Won’t Police Political Speech (The New York Times)
Facebook’s Hands-Off Approach to Political Speech Gets Impeachment Test (The New York Times)
Elizabeth Warren targets Facebook’s ad policy — with a Facebook ad (CNN)
Why Facebook can’t stop politicians from lying (The Verge)
Facebook to Pay $40M in Proposed Settlement in Video Metrics Suit (Hollywood Reporter)
Google’s Pixel 4 hardware event: rumors, leaks, and what to expect (The Verge)
Kuo: iPhone SE 2 Launching in Q1 2020 with A13 at $399 Price (MacRumors)
Apple Adds Option to Delete Siri History and Opt Out of Sharing Audio Recordings in iOS 13.2 (MacRumors)
Is Amazon Watching You? Cloud Cam Footage Reviewed By Humans (Bloomberg)
Apple Removes App That Helps Hong Kong Protesters Track the Police (The New York Times)
Apple, Google Pull Hong Kong Protest Apps After China Uproar (Wall Street Journal)
Blizzard Boycott After Hearthstone Player Punished For Hong Kong Protest Support (BuzzFeed News)
World’s Largest Ouija Board Unveiled in Salem, Ma. (Geek.com)
Ouijazilla! (Talking Board Historical Society)
Jabra Elite 65t Bluetooth earbuds

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint, Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 315: Rise Up

August 7, 2019 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Hoverboard travel is here! In experimental trips across the English Channel, anyway. El Kaiser and J.D. take off through the week’s headlines, including more accusations of retaliatory workplace culture at Google, the move toward “pay with your face” forms of authentication and requirements for getting one of those new Apple Cards. J.D. also hosts a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint about getting more of that notepad program on your smartphone. PTJ 315 awaits!

Terminating Service for 8Chan (Cloudflare)
Apple is spending more than ever on R&D to fulfill the ‘Steve Jobs Doctrine’ (Patently Apple)
Amazon Gives Option to Disable Human Review of Alexa Recordings (Bloomberg)
Our hardware sustainability commitments (Google)
Google Employee Alleges Discrimination Against Pregnant Women in Viral Memo (VICE)
Apple Card Customer Agreement goes live on Goldman Sachs’ website ahead of August launch, warns about jailbreaking (9to5Mac)
Apple Card customer agreement (Goldman Sachs)
Half of all Google Chrome extensions have fewer than 16 installs (ZDNet)
Streaming media player growth slows, smart TVs step up (nScreenMedia)
As China turns towards facial recognition payments, are QR codes on their way out? (South China Morning Post)
For Many Diabetes Patients, Skin Patches and Phones Are Replacing Finger Pricks (The Wall Street Journal)
Flyboarding Frenchman crosses English Channel (BBC News)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

Collecting Your Thoughts Is Good. Organizing Them Is Even Better. (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 310: Apple-Picking Time

June 3, 2019 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

El Kaiser and J.D. were off binging Good Omens, but finished just in time for Apple’s 2019 edition of its World Wide Developers Conference. This week’s episode discusses the major announcements from the keynote — including a revamp of El Kaiser’s absolute favorite piece of Mac desktop hardware. Looming government regulation, verified Rotten Tomatoes reviews and a virus-riddled laptop celebrated as art are also in this week’s headlines. Listen in to Episode 310!

Links to Stories in This Week’s News Segment

“Good Omens” (Official Trailer | Prime Video)
How Amazon’s Good Omens series pays tribute to author Terry Pratchett (Polygon)
Robert Pattinson Is Officially ‘The Batman’ (Variety)

Apple’s WWDC Highlights: Death of iTunes and $6,000 Macs (The New York Times)
Why the iPhone 11 successor could be the phone to get (CNET)
Apple Suddenly Confirms Three New iPhones (Forbes)
Amazon could face heightened antitrust scrutiny under a new agreement between U.S. regulators (The Washington Post)
Google Is at the Center of a Storm Brewing Over Big Tech (The New York Times)
Twitter Is Running Lots More Ads, And Some Are Scammy Or Just Bad (BuzzFeed News)
Snapchat Employees Abused Data Access to Spy on Users (VICE)
An Update on How We Are Doing At Enforcing Our Community Standards (Facebook Newsroom)
Opinion | Nancy Pelosi and Fakebook’s Dirty Tricks (The New York Times)
IGTV Now Supports Landscape Videos (Instagram)
How Ireland became Europe’s data watchdog (BBC News)
What’s for dinner? Order it with Google (Google blog)
Amazon interested in buying Boost from T-Mobile, Sprint (Reuters)
Mobile carrier AT&T will now accept payments in crypto (The Block)
Amazon Is Working on a Device That Can Read Human Emotions (Bloomberg)
We’re introducing Verified Ratings and Reviews to Help You Make Your Viewing Decisions (Rotten Tomatoes)
Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass is coming to PC (Engadget)
Metadata is the biggest little problem plaguing the music industry (The Verge)
Auction for a laptop full of malware closes at $1.3 million (updated) (Engadget)

Apple World Wide Developers Conference 2019 Announcements

New iPod touch delivers even greater performance (Apple)
Apple previews iOS 13 (Apple)
The new iPadOS powers unique experiences designed for iPad (Apple)
Apple unveils powerful, all-new Mac Pro and groundbreaking Pro Display XDR (Apple)
watchOS 6 advances health and fitness capabilities for Apple Watch (Apple)
tvOS 13 powers the most personal cinematic experience ever (Apple)
Apple WWDC 2019 Keynote Video (Apple)
The Mac Pro Cheese Grater Is Back (And It Looks Powerful as Hell) (Gizmodo)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 267: Facebork

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

As The Social Network once again finds itself in the hot seat over user privacy, El Kaiser and J.D. ponder the big picture and Facebook’s effect on civic affairs. After the weekly roundup of tech news, this week’s episode also features some very special guests — and not all of them are chatbots. Fasten your seatbelt and climb aboard Episode 267!

Links to Stories in This Week’s News Segment

How Trump Consultants Exploited the Facebook Data of Millions (The New York Times)
Here’s how Facebook allowed Cambridge Analytica to get data for 50 million users (Recode)
Suspending Cambridge Analytica and SCL Group from Facebook (Facebook)
Pursuing Forensic Audits to Investigate Cambridge Analytica Claims (Facebook)
Whistleblower: Facebook Suspended Me for Exposing Cambridge Analytica (The Daily Beast)
Cambridge Analytica, the shady data firm that might be a key Trump-Russia link, explained (Vox)
U.S. and British lawmakers demand answers from Facebook chief executive Mark Zuckerberg (The Washington Post)
Facebook may have violated FTC privacy deal, say former federal officials, triggering risk of massive fines (The Washington Post)
Massachusetts AG to investigate Facebook, Cambridge Analytica (CNN)
Facebook and the endless string of worst-case scenarios (TechCrunch)
YouTube suggested conspiracy videos to children using its Kids app (Business Insider)
YouTube didn’t tell Wikipedia about its plans for Wikipedia (The Verge)
YouTube Will Link Directly to Wikipedia to Fight Conspiracy Theories (Wired)
The @Wikimedia Foundation statement about the recent @YouTube announcement (via Twitter)
Apple to Host March 27 Event in Chicago: ‘Creative New Ideas for Teachers and Students‘ (Mac Rumors)
NBC News plans online streaming service to attract younger viewers (Reuters)
Twitter working on Snap Discover competitor with location-based snaps (CNBC)
Snapchat’s Stock Sinks After Rihanna Denounces Domestic Violence Ad (NPR)
The real world as your playground: Build real-world games with Google Maps APIs (Google Geo Developers Blog)
Google is opening up Maps so game developers can create the next Pokémon Go (The Verge)
Financial Services: New restricted financial products policy / June 2018 (Google)
Google banning cryptocurrency-related advertising (CBNC)
Stephen Hawking: Tributes pour in for ‘inspirational’ physicist (BBC News)
Stephen Hawking’s Star Trek Cameo Remains Historic—and Delightful (Vanity Fair)
Stephen Hawking leaves behind ‘breathtaking’ final multiverse theory (The Daily Telegraph)

Chatbots

What can your Assistant do? (Google)
Google Assistant chatbots (Google)
Alexa bots (Amazon)
Cyber Argument chatbot script app for fights between Alexa and Google Assistant (Google)
See Bots Chat (YouTube)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint, Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 256: Age/Old Problems

December 24, 2017 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

As the tired old year of 2017 limps toward the exit, it seems fitting that age discrimination is in the news this week — both for smartphones and human job-seekers. El Kaiser and J.D. sort through two weeks’ worth of headlines, share their musings on Star Wars: The Last Jedi and offer up a warning about using browser extensions.

It’s been a crazy year in many ways, but Pop Tech Jam returns in early 2018, just in time to make fun of the weirdest products at the Consumer Electronics Show. Spin up Episode 256 here and look for us in a few weeks. Happy Holidaze, Jammers!

Links to Stories Discussed on This Week’s Episode

Apple Plans Combined iPhone, iPad & Mac Apps to Create One User (Bloomberg)
Apple responds to reports of worn batteries forcing iPhone CPU slowdowns (Apple Insider)
Facebook Job Ads Raise Concerns About Age Discrimination (The New York Times)
Facebook Is Also Helping Employers Keep Job Ads Away From Older People (Gizmodo)
How to use login verification (Twitter)
Web browsing comes to Amazon’s Fire TV ahead of YouTube ban (CNET)
The War Over Net Neutrality (Bloomberg)
New York AG to Sue FCC Over Net Neutrality Repeal (The Hill)
Netflix rips net neutrality repeal: ‘This is the beginning of a longer legal battle’ (The Hill)
Three U.S. men plead guilty to crimes tied to 2016 botnet attacks (Reuters)
How a Dorm Room Minecraft Scam Brought Down the Internet (Wired)
Twitter says Russians spent ~$1k on six Brexit-related ads (TechCrunch)
New to Office 365 in December—extending human ingenuity with everyday AI (Office Blogs)
Microsoft looks to make Bing results smarter with new AI-powered features and Reddit partnership (TechCrunch)
Google Assistant is coming to older Android phones and tablets (TechCrunch)
News Feed FYI: Fighting Engagement Bait on Facebook (Facebook)
Facebook plans to stop paying publishers to make news feed videos (Digiday)
Disney’s Buyout of Fox Officially Announced, Bringing Home X-Men, Deadpool, Fantastic Four (The Mary Sue)

(Hopefully) Helpful Hint

Protecting Your Data When Using Browser Extensions (The New York Times)
After Blowback, Firefox Will Move Mr. Robot Extension to Store (Gizmodo)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 235: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

May 20, 2017 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Journalist Laura M. Holson is back in the house this week with a discussion of how the cosmetics superstore Sephora is using technology and social interaction to sell beauty products. On the opposite side beauty, though, is the ugly — and last week’s massive global ransomware outbreak even got into fugly territory. El Kaiser and J.D. discuss the attack and the other notable news bits of recent days in this jam-packed episode of Pop Tech Jam.

Links to Stories Mentioned on This Week’s Show

In computer attacks, clues point to frequent culprit: North Korea (The New York Times)
Ransomware’s aftershocks feared as U.S. warns of complexity (The New York Times)
‘Accidental hero’ halts ransomware attack and warns: this is not over (The Guardian)
The WannaCry ransomware hackers made some real amateur mistakes (Wired)
The need for urgent collective action to keep people safe online: Lessons from last week’s cyberattack (Microsoft on the Issues)
HTC wants you to squeeze its new phone (The Verge)
Snap unveils new camera ads trying to stay ahead of Facebook (Bloomberg)
Instagram launches selfie filters, copying the last big Snapchat feature (TechCrunch)
Nintendo developing ‘The Legend of Zelda’ smartphone game (The Wall Street Journal)
Latest update brings new features to Google Home (AndroidHeadlines)
Apple plans laptop upgrades to take on Microsoft (Bloomberg)
The MP3 is officially dead, according to its creators (The Record : NPR)
Your MP3s are going to be just fine (The Washington Post)
How Sephora is thriving amid a retail crisis (The New York Times)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 208: Safety Patrol

October 15, 2016 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

The crisp fall air has returned to the Northeast, as do memories of sipping apple cider in front of a roaring fire. Unfortunately for some, the only fire around was coming from their replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones…

On this week’s episode, El Kaiser and J.D. wrangle the week’s headlines, including the latest from the aforementioned Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Inferno, a new coat for Microsoft Paint and Sprint’s efforts to close the digital divide for low-income high-school students. El Kaiser discusses proper electronics safety and J.D. has a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint on how to find out what other household products might be problematic. Now, where are those marshmallows, Hershey bars and graham crackers?

Lithium-Ion Battery Information

• Battery University
• Why Lithium Batteries Keep Catching Fire
• How Lithium-Ion Batteries Work

Links to This Week’s News Stories

Samsung will ask all global partners to stop sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7 while further investigation takes place (Samsung)
Samsung ends Galaxy Note 7 production as problems mount (NYTimes.com)
U.S. pressed to disclose secret court’s order on Yahoo email search (Reuters)
Amid breach talk, some Yahoo users finding it hard to exit (Associated Press)
Yahoo Turned Off E-Mail Forwarding Just When People Might Want To Leave (Consumerist)
Verizon won’t drop Yahoo but may seek lower price (Fortune)
Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter provided data access for a surveillance product marketed to target activists of color (ACLU of Northern California)
Comcast to pay $2.3M fine to resolve billing complaints (FCC)
Introducing Workplace by Facebook (Facebook Newsroom)
Here’s a first look at Microsoft’s new Paint app for Windows 10 (The Verge)
Microsoft is updating Paint with new features and refreshed interface (Thurrott.com)
Save the date for our Microsoft Event (Windows Experience blog)
Google Cast app to be renamed Google Home app (Variety)
Google Assistant is getting a sense of humor from ‘The Onion’ (Engadget)
Amazon eyes its own convenience stores in addition to drive-up grocery sites, WSJ reports (GeekWire)
Amazon’s secretive drive-up grocery store takes shape in Seattle neighborhood (GeekWire)
Five new Dropbox iOS features to help you work on the go (Dropbox blog)
Sprint provides free wireless devices and service to 1 million disadvantaged students (Sprint)

Episode Links, Podcast

PTJ 207: Show Time

October 4, 2016 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

“Hey, where’s all those Batmans going on 11th Avenue?” Mass Invasion maestro Janifer Cheng stops by on her way to the New York Comic Con extravaganza to share her thoughts on cosplay and other convention fun with El Kaiser and J.D. (who is moderating three panels at the expo this weekend herself). In the news segment, we discuss Google’s fancy new Pixel phones, Facebook’s Marketplace’s problems, and the fact that some nice people from the government want to talk to Yahoo about its “security” issues. Oh, and two other words: Luke Cage.

Want to know where we got these stories? Check out the links below:

Google announces new hardware (Made by Google)
Introducing Marketplace: Buy and Sell with Your Local Community (Facebook)
Facebook Commerce Policy (Facebook)
Sex. Drugs. Guns. Meet Facebook’s Marketplace (USA Today)
Facebook says a ‘technical issue’ caused illegal listings (Business Insider)
Microsoft pulls Band listings from its Store; admits no Band 3 this year (ZDNet)
Apple will automatically download macOS Sierra on Macs starting today (The Verge)
New California law allows test of autonomous shuttle with no driver (Reuters)
Still Waiting to Hear From Yahoo (The New York Times)
iTunes Spoken Editions lets you listen to your favorite websites (Tech Crunch)
Dream Chaser: The Spacecraft That Will Transform Humanity’s Access to Space (Observer)
The Hilarious Way Jessica Jones and Luke Cage Weighed In On Netflix’s Crash (CinemaBlend)
Mission complete: Rosetta’s journey ends in daring descent to comet (ESA)

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!