Stay ConnectedTechnology podcast that both experts and novices can enjoy.
Pop culture you love. Tech you dream about.
Shelly Palmer and Seth Everett cover topics that mean a lot to those in the tech space and those who just love tech.
Learn what’s new, what’s next, and what it means for you and your business.
Could Batman’s toys exist in the real world? Is Star Trek still science fiction, or has it become science fact?
Copyright: © 2021
In the aftermath of the horrific shooting in Uvalde, Texas, many questions were raised about the use of social media by the shooter. It raised questions in our episode about what kids under 18 do on social media, and how to see if they are getting themselves into trouble. As a parent, there are many tools on the market that can help people see what their kids do on their devices. Parents/guardians can also limit usage on specific apps, including social media, and devices altogether. Where is the line for parents, and is it more complicated than that? Also, can there be social media flags when a kid posts that he wants to shoot someone or anything closely related to that? This episode does NOT address the complicated gun issues. Finally, the episode wraps with a SPOILER-FREE review of the 1st three episodes of Star Wars: Obi-Wan Kenobi on Disney+. To say it is must-see would be an understatement.
Between Herbie the Love Bug and KITT from Knight Rider, we have been obsessed with self-driving cars. Tesla has produced Autopilot, while other cars have Adaptive Cruise Control. The debate about autonomous vehicles has focused on safety. Are these vehicles safer than a normal, human-driven vehicles? Still, if your car can “take over,” should you still be paying attention? There have been well-documented cases of crashes where the AI misjudged its situation but is it user error if the driver isn't paying attention? Shelly and Seth debate how far the technology is from being fully operational. Still, is this the next evolution of automotive travel? If Electric Vehicles are the future, do they have to drive themselves?
Politicians are coming to break up Big Tech (companies like Google and Facebook). There's a long history of vertically-integrated companies, but this move is so ill-conceived that it proves that our elected officials don't have a clue what's going on. Is putting the right ad in front of the right person at the right place at the right time criminal? How is that bad for anyone? The big issue is that this act doesn't frame the problem. In this episode, we frame what's being discussed and what the “real” issues are - and why they're nearly impossible to legislate.
Shelly just got back from Germany, and while he was flying back, crypto fell apart in a way that is testing the faith of the faithful. Today, we're not trying to explain WHY this happened or what to do now. (It's also important to remember that we're not offering financial advice and we are not licensed, financial advisors.) Instead, we're talking about understanding “the allure of cryptocurrency” and why so many people thought it was a “get rich quick” scheme. We also compare our current crypto craze to a few different similar “test, fail, and learn” examples through history. Plus: Shelly also talks about his time in Germany and everything he learned!
The thing that bothers Seth the most in life? Forgetting a password. We all have password managers, but when you need to enter passwords across fifty different devices, things become a bit more… complicated. (And annoying.) The good news: we're one step closer to a passwordless future! The FIDO Alliance is here to save us all a bunch of headaches. We talk about their plan for that blissful future. Before we get there, though, having strong passwords is still important. We offer tips on creating (and remembering) strong passwords to keep your accounts secure. Plus: if youre planning to see Doctor Strange (but havent yet), Seth makes an impassioned plea for some “Techstream homework.”
The biggest news story in the tech world over the past two weeks has been Elon Musk's desire to buy Twitter. The deal at first seemed impossible (or at the very least improbable), but now the deal is official: Twitter has accepted Elon's offer of $44 billion to buy the company. Now that the deal is done, it's time to make sense of things. Why does Elon Musk want to own Twitter? What does he want to do with the platform? We discuss what Elon buying Twitter means for both the company and its users. What will change? What will stay the same? Will we notice a difference? It's a “breaking news” edition of Techstream!
We've talked about what happens when major companies get hacked when Shelly gets hacked (both his crypto hack and getting spoofed this week!), when just about anyone gets hacked. No matter who we're talking about, though, one thing that always comes up is VPNs. Seth's kind of at a loss. He's heard everything from both ends of the spectrum: from employers having the ability to see EVERYTHING on his computer if he used a VPN to being able to completely mask where his computer is physically located. So… What is a VPN and what is the point of having one? To be honest or to be a liar? That's the topic of today's episode of Techstream. We talk about the benefits of VPNs, whether or not they can be used in Russia, and how VPNs affect ad sales and streaming services.
Play ball! The baseball season started, and it's the first season in 25 years that Seth isn't covering baseball. While the pace of play may have chased him away from the sport - at least for now - many others are still watching. When MLB resolved its lockout last month, they made two quiet announcements: they'd start streaming Friday night games on Apple TV and Sunday midday games on Peacock. Streaming is no longer complicated or restrictive as it once was. While technophobes exist, the process of watching these games couldn't be easier. The new issues: Apple TV's first broadcast crashed, and there are now more places than ever where your team's game may air. Today, we talk about the state of the baseball union: where things are, how to watch, and what you need to know… if you actually want to watch.
Shelly just got back from a week spent at NFT|LA, and he's got stories to share! He talks about the interactions he had and the panels he moderated, like being on-stage with The Jiho, the co-founder of Axie Infinity, on the same day of their massive hack. Shelly and Seth then discuss what, exactly, Axie Infinity is - and what's going to happen with all that stolen money. They also talk about the government regulation that is bearing down on the Web3 world and explain what, exactly, an NFT actually is (and what it represents).
We've talked a lot about the impact that social media apps like Instagram and TikTok have on kids. But now that the world has largely returned to in-person gatherings, the FOMO created by these apps is bigger than ever. Combine that with the fact that preteen girls and teenage girls have a reputation of not being the nicest people on the planet, and… well, it's a mess. There's no way in the world to keep kids off social media. The question becomes: What do you do now? These apps are offering life skills that 10-13-year-olds need to know: slang, vernacular, and unique idioms necessary to communicate and “fit in.” If you restrict your kids from accessing these apps, you're taking away the evolution of communication from your kids at the time when they are developing the social skills to communicate. We share the first-hand experiences we've seen with our kids and grandkids, as well as the learning experiences and teachable moments we've encountered because of these apps.
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