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
Happy New Year! Whether you rang in the new year with friends, family, Anderson Cooper, or The Matrix Resurrections, we've all completed another trip around the sun, which means… it's CES time! While some major exhibitors have pulled out the in-person show, CES will still go on as planned (albeit ending a day early). Whether you're going in-person or following along with the show online, there's one event you won't want to miss: the Shelly Palmer Innovation Series Summit, which will stream live on January 5, 2022, at 11 a.m. ET at shellypalmer.com/live. (Admission is free.) In this episode, Shelly runs down the guests he's lined up as well as the key insights you can expect to hear. If you want more information, visit ces.shellypalmer.com. We also share some memories about John Madden (and his namesake video game) and some updates on the future of NFL Sunday Ticket.
2021 was… not a great year, BUT starting Techstream was a highlight for both of us. In this episode, we look back at “the year that was,” and we talk a bit about supply chain issues and the ascension of TikTok as two of the big stories of the year. We also dive deep into the worlds of crypto and DeFi, and Shelly teases an upcoming platform to help everyone learn more about Web 3, crypto, blockchain, and more. Then, we chat about our favorite TV shows and movies from the year (with a starting lack of overlap!) and share a few things we're really looking forward to seeing in 2022.
Are you tired of Christmas? Seth sure is! Shelly Claus is here to restore some of his Christmas spirits. But first… COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc, and the lack of universal policies around postponements and rescheduling games in the NHL and NFL is aggravating fans and players alike. We vent some frustrations around that, then talk about the steps the CTA is taking to help make CES as safe and healthy of an in-person event as possible. Then… A recent TikTok “challenge” centered around school shootings terrorized students and led to widespread high alerts and increased police presence. We talk about TikTok being held accountable for the content uploaded to its platform, as well as what you should keep in mind about who actually “runs” TikTok. Lastly… Did you run out of time? Struggling with ideas on what to buy? We're here to save the day with some last-minute Christmas gifts and the biggest tech trends to help you save the holiday.
This past week offered Shelly and Seth a look at wars and conflicts both past and present. Seth attended (and covered) the 122nd Army-Navy game. He describes the emotion of the scene and the storied history of the game. Shelly's experience was more modern and less positive. He recaps his MetaMask wallet hack, offers tips on buying hardware wallets and using seed phrases, as well as how to properly and securely encrypt your files. The experience left Shelly feeling a little vulnerable and a little bit stupid, but also glad that it could serve as a learning experience. You cannot protect yourself from hackers and, at some point, you'll get hacked. You can't protect everything, but you can protect the important things.
As December hit, the markets crashed. COVID is back. We're supposed to be evolving from this, but there's another new variant. Should we worry? How do we react? Is it time to start doing things differently? As the old saying goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” News is entertainment now, and when you give something a name, you give news organizations something to do. We talk about the news coverage from the past week and wonder: Is Omicron more virulent? More contagious? More deadly? We also talk about the way the news media is reporting on Omicron, and why we should all trust the scientific method.
It's the "Black Friday" edition of Techstream. Before we talk about the holiday weekend… Seth just purchased his first electric vehicle, having (sort of) overcome his range anxiety. We talk about the state of electric vehicles and where they need to improve, and we try to shed some light on the current state of energy prices and where the U.S. power grid stands. Plus, Seth shares a "so funny it has to be true" story about a well-placed charging station. Black Friday sales are down… why? We talk about whether it's technology, the supply chain, the pandemic, or something else altogether. Shelly shares some "armchair research" about his local vendors and the tech he noticed on display at his local 5K turkey trot.
Over the past 18 months, many of us have moved (either part-time or full-time) to a work-from-home experience. Some of us got shiny new equipment from our employers, while the rest of us adapted (or upgraded) our current gear to implement our work into our home-use machines. If you fall into the latter group, though, things can get murky. Today, we wonder: Should we keep our personal computers separate from our work? We offer tips on how to separate business from pleasure with tips about your hardware and your software… and even how to ask your employer to supply you with the gear you need. Plus, we talk about Hulu and Disney changing the way we define bundles, and Shelly recaps his recent trip to Syracuse. As he says, "When everything is possible, you feel better about the world."
The lawyers in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial brought up a fascinating perspective on the admissible video. We're steering away from the political elements of this, but the lawyers' assertions around the computational photography used on the devices that captured the footage created enough doubt in the mind of the jury that what they're seeing isn't real. When you add in deepfakes, it's important to realize that we're living in a whole new world, one that will last far past the trial. When it comes to footage captured on an iPhone, can Apple guarantee the authenticity of the image? Is that even the issue? We talk about whether seeing is believing. Plus, Seth has a befuddling Twitch issue that leads to an important lesson and a wonderful teaching moment about the fallibility of algorithms
Given the state of things, we need some positivity around tech. CES 2022 could be exactly what we all need. This year is going to be a smaller show, but if you have reason to go, it's poised to be one of the best CES shows of all time. Content. Hardware. Software. Brands. They all come together to create the magic of CES. Maybe you're headed to Las Vegas this year for your first show… maybe you're headed for your twentieth show… or maybe you just don't know what the big deal about CES is. Whoever you are, we talk about what we're most excited about for this year's show, why you should care, and why it's worth paying attention to this year's show. Also, Seth has another subpar movie theater experience. Will he have a good one in 2021? Your guess is as good as ours!
We're setting aside our Facebook bashing for a week to instead focus on the company's strategic approach to the future that the metaverse presents. Today, we're answering all the questions posed by Facebook's rebrand. Is Facebook renaming itself, Meta, anything more than prestidigitation? Are people really deleting their Facebook accounts? What level of DC villain is Mark Zuckerberg? Also, Seth has begun exploring TikTok, so we take a little time for a surface-level dive into that world. How does its feed work? How can you get it to show you what you want? And why does Shelly love videos of woodworking so much?
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