Tag Archives: Twitter

An Announcement From Pop Tech Jam

November 28, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

Howdy, Jammers! Our apologies for the extended silence and lack of snark these past several months! We deeply regret not being able to pine for the Artemis I launch, offer our deep analysis of Andor and Wednesday and, most importantly, warm our hands over the tire fire that is now Twitter. Life got in the way of our little podcast endeavor, but we are not running for the escape pods just yet. Pedro and I are planning a reboot and return of the show in January and look forward to continuing the discussion in the new year.

Everyone have a safe and sane holiday season!

— JD

Episode Links, Podcast

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 361: Webb Slingers

January 24, 2022 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

As 2022 spins up, El Kaiser and J.D. check in on NASA’s big new fancy space telescope and other recent tech headlines. This week’s episode also features some thoughts on The Expanse and tips for adjusting your privacy settings in Android 12 and iOS 15. You can find it all here on PTJ 361!

“Spider-Man: No Way Home”: All the Box Office Records Broken (The Hollywood Reporter)
“The Book of Boba Fett” (StarWars.com)
“Book Of Boba Fett:” Every Star Wars Easter Egg & Reference In Episode 1 (ScreenRant)
“Star Wars: The Book of Boba Fett” Episode 1 Easter Eggs Explained (Den of Geek)
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope mission: Live updates (Space.com)
Where Is Webb? (NASA)
James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) on YouTube
Why the James Webb Space Telescope looks like that (Vox)

James Webb Telescope Arrives at Its Destination (The New York Times)
$130 billion wiped off crypto markets in 24 hours as bitcoin, ether drop to multi-month lows (CNBC)
D igital Services Act: regulat ing platforms for a safer online space for users (News | European Parliament)
MEPs adopt Digital Services Act with significant last-minute changes (EURACTIV.com)
How the U.S. Messed Up Its New 5G Rollout: ‘It Wasn’t Our Finest Hour’ (The Wall Street Journal)
Why Airlines Are Worried About 5G (The New York Times)
Apple Nears First Product Launch of 2022, With 5G iPhone SE and New iPad on Tap (Bloomberg)
CES 2022 News (The Verge)
Augmented Reality Theater Takes a Bow. In Your Kitchen. (The New York Times)
Robot vacuum cleaner escapes from Cambridge Travelodg e (BBC News)

PSA: You’ll miss 25 minutes of The Expanse’s final season if you don’t pause it (The Verge)
The story of the fight to archive the internet (TechRadar)
Internet Archive 25th Anniversary (Internet Archive)
The Internet Archive
How to Use Your Phone’s Privacy-Protection Tools (The New York Times)

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 350: Red Rover

February 9, 2021 J.D. Biersdorfer Leave a comment

After a seven-month commute through space, NASA’s Perseverance rover is due to arrive on Mars next week! So, some science to go with our science-fiction television on this week’s episode, as El Kaiser shares his thoughts regarding later seasons of The Expanse on Amazon Prime and WandaVision on Disney+ . And J.D. has a smattering of tech news, including reports that Twitter is looking at subscription possibilities, along with resources on how to find out when you and your family can get the Covid-19 vaccine. It’s all here on PTJ 350!

“The Expanse” (Amazon Prime)
“WandaVision” (Marvel/Disney+)
Twitter Mulls Subscription Product, Tipping For Generating Revenue (Bloomberg)
TikTok may let creators use their own product links in videos (Engadget)
Clubhouse is now blocked in China after a brief uncensored period (TechCrunch)
Clubhouse Is the Anti-Twitter (OneZero)
Sheryl Sandberg Downplayed Facebook’s Role In The Capitol Hill Siege—Justice Department Files Tell A Very Different Story (Forbes)
Top Apps Worldwide for January 2021 by Downloads (Sensor Tower)
Activists complain of weakened voting security standard (Associated Press)
Tesla buys $1.5 billion in bitcoin, plans to accept it as payment (CNBC)
Countdown to Mars (NASA)

How you’ll find accurate and timely information on COVID-19 vaccines (Google blog)
VaccineFinder.org
COVID-19 Vaccine (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
See How the Vaccine Rollout Is Going in Your State (The New York Times)
State-by-State Guide to COVID Vaccine Information (WebMD)
New York State Novel Coronavirus/Covid-19 Information
Covid-19: Vaccines (NYC Department of Health)
NYC Covid-19 Vaccine Finder

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 346: Pour One Out For Arecibo

December 7, 2020 J.D. Biersdorfer 2 Comments

After long, unintended absence, El Kaiser and J.D. are back to praise The Mandalorian, chew on the news, talk audio hardware and mourn the loss of the iconic radio telescope at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory. As 2020 continues its quest for Worst Year Ever (Modern Edition), we remind ourselves to stay flex in the Q-Zone. PTJ 346 is here for you.

Links to Stories on This Episode

“The Mandalorian” (Disney+)

U.S. and States Say Facebook Illegally Crushed Competition (The New York Times)
‘It’s Hard to Prove’: Why Antitrust Suits Against Facebook Face Hurdles (The New York Times)
More than 1,200 Google workers condemn firing of AI scientist Timnit Gebru (The Guardian)
Timnit Gebru’s team at Google is going public with their side of the story (The Verge)
Timnit Gebru’s actual paper may explain why Google ejected her (The Verge)
Timnit Gebru: Google staff rally behind fired AI researcher (BBC News)
The researcher, one of the company’s best-known Black female employees, said she was fired last week (The New York Times)
Police Drones Are Starting to Think for Themselves (The New York Times)
Drones Are Poised to Reshape Home Design (The Wall Street Journal)
Updating our rules against hateful conduct (Twitter)
Twitter expands hate speech rules (Engadget)
‘W onder Woman 1984′ Heading to HBO Max, Theaters Dec. 25 (The Hollywood Reporter)
Warner Bros Sets Entire 2021 Movie Slate To Debut On HBO Max Along With Cinemas In Seismic Windows Model Shakeup (Deadline)
AMC Boss Adam Aron Slams Warner Bros HBO Max 2021 Theatrical Window Concept: Studio Sacrificing “Considerable” Profit (Deadline)
Disney f aces digital dilemma despite streaming success (Financial Times)
Apple Preps Next Mac Chips With Aim t o Outclass Highest-End PCs (Bloomberg)
Salesforce buys Slack in a $27.7B megadeal (TechCrunch)
Are cibo Observatory (National Science Foundation)
Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory: Its loss is already being felt, and it feels very personal (CNN)
Puerto Rican scientists mourn loss of Arecibo Observatory’s iconic telescope (Space.com)

Shure Microphones

• Beta 87A

• Beta 87C

• MV 7

• S M7b

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!