EdTech Situation Room by Jason Neiffer and Wes Fryer

Welcome to episode 77 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 13, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google's recent announcement to discontinue web store apps, the importance of the open web, and the upcoming net neutrality vote by the FCC. Additional topics included the prevalence of email tracking and whether or not this surveillance is something to be concerned about, the upcoming shutdown of Storify, Google Assistant coming to older Android devices, and a recent PBS Frontline Special ("Putin's Revenge") as well as Guardian article about the weaponization of the web by Russia. Geeks of the week included a recent article about going anonymous online with the Tor browser (Jason) and the expensive, hybrid human/digital assistant "Fin" (Wes). Please check out all our shownotes (including articles we did not have time to address in this week's show) on http://edtechsr.com/links and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtechSR for updates.

Welcome to episode 76 of the EdTech Situation Room from December 6, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the viability of antivirus software on client computers and the prospects for brain implants (mind-computer interfaces) as described by a current neurosurgeon. Additional topics included Windows 10 ARM laptops, the public health risks posed by Facebook and Google, digital distractions, and Amazon Prime video finally coming to AppleTV. Google-related topics included the current spat over selling products on Amazon.com, which is leading to the blocking of YouTube on Amazon streaming devices, YouTube's redoubled efforts to address child exploitation online, and the need for AI / machine learning consultants to help companies utilize these technologies to support their business practices. The prospects for privacy in the United State being further eroded by a Supreme Court case focusing on the need for a warrant for cell phone location data and the best selling products during CyberMonday rounded out the show. Geeks of the week included Android battery management strategies, the Windows re-imaging tool Ninite, a science fiction book written by a neuroscientist, and Amazon's new "Transcribe" service for audio and video files stored on the Amazon Cloud. Please check out all our shownotes (including articles we did not have time to address in this week's show) on http://edtechsr.com/links and follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtechSR for updates.

Welcome to episode 75 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 29, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed rumors on other edtech podcasts that they are "a bit nerdy," recent Apple security issues with the default root user account, and YouTube with respect to protecting kids and restricting content. Additional topics included the state of email in 2017 and useful apps / email workflow strategies, the amazingly fast new FireFox browser from Mozilla, exciting new announcements for more Android apps on Chromebooks, and the continued march of automation via AI, especially involving trucking. Geeks of the week included the upcoming December 15-31 "Ditch that Textook Digital Summit" (from Wes) and Google Voice (from Jason.) Refer to our podcast shownotes for all referenced news articles and links. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain most weeks on Wednesday night. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links

Welcome to episode 74 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 24, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed recent news articles addressing Apple's MacBook in our post-PC computing environment, net neutrality and the FCC's upcoming plan to roll it back, as well as various security news reports from the past two weeks. These included WikiLeaks release of CIA cyber weapon source code, the reported impersonation of Kaspersky by CIA hackers, Uber's $100,000 cover-up of a large cyber breach, and the dangers posed by a WiFi Pineapple. The 10th birthday of the Amazon Kindle was also discussed, including its history of iterative design and function improvements. Geeks of the week included What's App (from Wes) and fakespot.com (from Jason), a helpful website to identify fake product reviews on Amazon, Yelp, TripAdvisor and the Apple App Store. Refer to our podcast shownotes for all referenced news articles and links. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain most weeks on Wednesday night. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links

Welcome to episode 73 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 8, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed how to run Windows software on newer Chromebooks using CodeWeavers' CrossOver, recent congressional testimony by Silicon Valley leaders, and Twitter's expanded 280 character limit. Additional topics included the EPA's recent approval to release genetically modified mosquitoes in 20 U.S. states and the rise of global "Net States." Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links

Welcome to episode 72 of the EdTech Situation Room from November 1, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed the unfortunate limitations of USB-C cables, the slowing of Moore's law and the growing importance of AI for smartphone sales and function, and iPhone X pre-order sales numbers. Additional topics included survey results about Americans' opinions of Google, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft, the U.S Congressional hearings with representatives of Facebook, Twitter and Google, the need to address online anonymity in light of U.S. Presidential election revelations, and the ways social media is used today to divide our nation rather than unify us. Samsung's opening of its codebase for the Galaxy S5 has led to some remarkable DIY hacking projects, and Facebook may start requiring publisher to pay to make articles visible in user news feeds. All these topics and more were discussed in this week's episodes. Jason's geek of the week was a collection of Google related IFTTT recipes and a helpful beginner's guide to IFTTT. Wes' geek of the week was Screen Cloud, a Google services connected digital signage platform which is extremely robust and awesome. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links

Welcome to episode 71 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 25, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Microsoft's play to offer its universe of applications (including the Edge web browser and the Cortana assistant) on Android phones, upgrade woes with iOS 11, and Coda's efforts to create a new document format merging word processing documents and spreadsheets. Security articles included a shout out to Nicole Perlroth's September 11th interview on cybersecurity on the World Affairs Council podcast, Facebook security issues and the Facebook privacy checkup, and new attacks including "BadRabbit ransomware" and "The Reaper Botnet." Jason Snell's recent article hoping for / predicting a forthcoming Mac Mini update, the incredible learning speed and accomplishments of AlphaGo Zero, SeeSaw's addition of "Activities" to its classroom app, and new/updated clear solar cells were also discussed. Jason finished out the week's articles talking about "containers on Chromebooks." Geeks of the week included discounted Amazon Echos on Woot, the BBEDIT text editor for batch-editing documents, and Storyspheres from Google. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay updated, and join us LIVE for a future show at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain. Check all our shownotes on http://edtechsr.com/links

Welcome to episode 70 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 18, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Google's new "Advanced Protection" security mode, hacker threats in several US states to parents of students, Microsoft Windows 10 "Creator Updates," and reports that our solar system has a mysterious "Super Earth" 9th planet well beyond the orbit of Neptune. Additional topics included several updates to Google Earth and Google Maps mashups, recent Amazon advertising mistakes, the importance of media literacy education, and the emerging narrative of how Russian operatives appear to have subverted democracy in the U.S. 2016 Presidential election using Facebook targeted ads. "Speed round" article topics included a new Russian cryptocurrency, Netflix' push for original movie and show content, Equifax hack blame falling on "one IT guy," RSA encryption hacks, the cost of product placement advertisements, Eli Pariser's "Filter Bubble," and the secrets of Yahoo search. Geeks of the week included a $10 "FIDO U2F Security Key" and the weather website and app "Dark Sky." Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!

Welcome to episode 69 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 11, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Twitter's plans to double the character limit to 280, Microsoft giving up on Windows Phone, Google's Investment in Neverware, and the emerging details about Russian election hacking and Russian company Kaspersky. Additional topics include the role of social media in distributing news today, "what happens in an Internet minute in 2017," and podcast hosting services going offline (Opinion and AudioBoom). Gene therapy for Leukemia, Dropbox innovation, Tim Cook's surprising comment about AR computing hardware, and Facebook's new VR headset rounded out the week's articles. Geeks of the week included Facebook Messenger Lite and Podiant for podcast hosting. Teachable Machine from Google was also shared by Ben Wilkoff in the chat room. Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!

Welcome to episode 68 of the EdTech Situation Room from October 4, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed today's exciting Google event and product announcements, with (as always) an eye toward the educational implications of the news. Discussed Google product announcements included the new Pixel2 smartphone, Pixelbuds supporting real-time translation in 40 languages, the updated Pixelbook, the Google Clip Camera, and new Google Home products including the Home Max and Home Mini. Geeks of the week included the Chromebook Comparison Chart from Zipso (from Jason), an update on the cross-platform video projection option Via Connect Pro, and Google Maps Treks (from Wes). Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!

Welcome to episode 67 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 27, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed prison time given to a Volkswagon engineer who wrote the emissions test dodging car code, updates to Google Slides, Team Drives for G Suite users, and G Suite's new File Stream app for offline file access. Additional topics included the recent war of words between Donald Trump and Mark Zuckerberg, Doug Belshaw's post about why he deleted all his past Twitter likes/favorites as well as most of his tweets, and an alleged $5 million purchase by Mexico of Israeli technology which permits monitoring of anyone's cell phone location, text messages and phone calls by just using their phone number or phone IMEI number. (This article prompted Wes' tin foil hat for part of the show.) The possible risks of biometric smartphone security was discussed, along with a slew of new product announcements from Amazon bring the menu of Alexa-powered devices to eight. (Wes is still not ready to purchase any of them for home use, however.) It's Happy Birthday time for Google, and apparently time for the U.S. Congress to fire the current chairman of the FCC,Ajit Pai. Geeks of the week included Gazelle (a smartphone reseller to consider using when upgrading), the free iPad app "TextingStory Chat Story Maker," and the upcoming "Google Camp OKC" $25 PD event on Saturday, November 4, 2017 in Oklahoma City (@googlecampOKC). Please follow us on Twitter @edtechSR for updates, and reach out to us if you listen to the show! If a particular article or topic is especially thought provoking or interesting to you, please let us know. The EdTech Situation Room is produced live each week (almost) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain time. Thanks for tuning in. Stay safe and stay savvy!

Welcome to episode 66 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 19, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed Facebook's struggles to define standards for censoring advertisers, Facebook "Pixel" tracking, expanded T-Mobile data caps, recommended action steps for Equifax hack victims, and the CCleaner anti-malware software hack. Additional topics included tips G Suite admins can take to prevent phishing attacks, a great free Chrome extension which can help that effort (Password Alert), iOS 11 updates, tvOS updates, and Google's forthcoming event featuring an expected Pixel 2 smartphone announcement. A speed round of CRISPR and genomics headlines rounded out the show, with geeks of the week including a new 2D to 3D facial modeling program and useful wireless device mirroring solutions: The Via Connect Pro and Microsoft Wireless Display Adapter 2. Check out the shownotes for links to all these articles, which are also listed on http://edtechsr.com/links. Be sure to follow us on Twitter http://twitter.com/edtech @edtechSR and tune in (usually) on Wednesday nights at 9 pm central, 8 pm mountain, or 2 am GMT. Until next time, stay safe and stay savvy!

Welcome to episode 65 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 13, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed this week's Apple Event product announcements, the huge Equifax hack and what victims can do about it, new headlines fitting in the broader topic of "This Week In Justified Paranoia," and the prospects of a Parkinson's Disease cure via gene pattern identification powered by 23andMe. Geeks of the week included a new screencasting software program (recordit.co) and Apple Today events at Apple retail stores including "Teacher Tuesdays" and Apple Store learning field trips. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.

Welcome to episode 64 of the EdTech Situation Room from September 6, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed rumors of Apple's September 12th event and expected iPhone updates, enhanced Android app performance on Chromebooks, Gimlet Media's significant funding round supporting podcasting, and the recent NY Times article about ethics and teacher product promotion. Additional topics addressed included Apple's newly announced support for network neutrality, pacemakers at risk for hacks, and social media file vulnerabilities for hackers to exploit. Geeks of the week included Manoush Zomorodi's new book, "Bored and Brilliant: How Spacing Out Can Unlock Your Most Productive and Creative Self," Google File Stream for G-Suite, Plow for socially filtered web news, and Hop as a new/transformative email client. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.

Welcome to episode 63 of the EdTech Situation Room from August 30, 2017, where technology news meets educational analysis. This week Jason Neiffer (@techsavvyteach) and Wes Fryer (@wfryer) discussed iPhone 9 rumors, Apple's recent Emmy Award, CRISPR and human DNA embryo editing ("DNA surgery"), fake news surrounding Hurricane Harvey, and Google’s forthcoming Chromebook Pixel laptop. Additional topics included the newly announced collaboration between Amazon’s Alexa and Microsoft’s Cortana and YouTube updates removing black bars on vertical videos. Geeks of the week included the Blue Yeti Mic and a $26 HDMI to Component Video converter with the power to rescuccitate a HDMI-disabled flatscreen TV. Check out the podcast shownotes for links to a post about that incident and all the referenced articles / resources from the show. Follow us on Twitter @edtechSR to stay up to date about upcoming shows. Please try to join us LIVE online if you can, normally on Wednesday nights at 10 pm Eastern / 9 pm Central / 8 pm Mountain / 7 pm Pacific.