TechTalk appearance: Ep 417: WordPress, PHP, Tweetbots and a Pi – Oh My!

SHOW SUMMARY: Radiothon this week!
News Update

• Salesforce backs off of Twitter
• FAA issues emergency Note 7 alert!
• Much love for WordPress, PHP and some Pi
• Cutting the cord with Jay
• Living la vida cloud-a?

Geek Trivia Answer
This week, we provide the answer to:

What happens if the name Hurricane Matthew if it gets retired?

Podcast Only Song of the Week
Whilk & Misky – “Smalltown Boy”

TechTalk appearance: Ep 416: Trust Doesn’t Scale

SHOW SUMMARY: What’s scarier? Evil clowns, politics these days, or exploding phones? We cast our vote in this rather disorganized show … listen in to find out!
News Update

• Cubs win number 1! 3 more to go …
• Galaxy Note 7 explodes on the scene! (No, really – it literally. Explodes. Flames and all.)
• First word on the Google Pixel (interview with Verizon to be coming soon)
• Verizon drone LTE coverage – could it be flying over a town near you soon?
• Maybe a little politics (again)

Geek Trivia Answer
This week, we provide the answer to:

What was the first year – and contest – that computerized vote calculation was used?

Podcast Only Song of the Week
Small Crimes by Nilufer Yanya

TechTalk appearance: Ep 415: Getting Ticky Wit’ It

SHOW SUMMARY: Robbie “Science FTW” Rigel joins us today for a great tech/science cross-over!
News Update

• All things old are new again – even Commodore 64 in Poland!
• Go commando with Google, and get rid of those folders!
• Exchange server makes us cry, but most new MS products are pretty OK.
• Hackers are attacking our voting machines!
• Review of The Tick: new, old, and animated! (Jay’s recommendation is to watch “Little Wooden Boy and the Belly of Love”)

Geek Trivia Answer
This week, we provide the answer to:

What was the original Google search index programming stack written in?

TechTalk appearance: Ep 414: Coolsites for Everyone! Also, Brexit happened

SHOW SUMMARY:
Cool sites of the Week

• KeeWeb – An online and downloadable password management app for you KeePass users! Just as deliciously free and open source as KeePass – but it works on anything with a web browser!
• OneTab browser extension – Creates an easy to manage extra browser tab you can send your open tabs to for later use … saves oodles of browser space (and CPU cycles)!

News Update

• Google apps come to your chrome book
• How will the Brexit impact technology – in the EU and here?
• All too much politics …

Geek Trivia Answer
This week, we provide the answer to:

What was the name of Oracle’s very first database product?

Podcast Only Song of the Week
Hearts on Fire by FMLYBND

TechTalk appearance: Ep 413: Prince Bows Out

SHOW SUMMARY:
News Update

• Google has a lot of info on you
• Jay’s words of wisdom: “Don’t pass out business cards at a funeral”
• Conglomeration recap – it’s not tabletop Diablo!

Cool sites of the Week

• Conglomeration – It’s never too early to start planning for next year!
• Roll for the Galaxy – If you love tabletop gaming and are looking for something just a little bit different, give this one a roll!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

“Kiss” by Prince

TechTalk appearance: Ep 412: Plumbing of the Gods

SHOW SUMMARY:
Gearing up for Conglomeration convention, sharing vacation tales, and talking tech … just another typical Saturday here on the TechTalk show!
News Update

• April Fools day recap – and how Google can get you fired
• Conglomeration is NEXT WEEKEND! Live action frogger, cosplay, board gaming … it’s not too late to join us!
• Writing, writers, and how tough both can be.
• Steampunk with zombies, anyone?

Cool sites of the Week

• Conglomeration.info – get more info about this year’s convention … or put it on your short list for next year!

Podcast Only Song of the Week
“Trip Switch” by Nothing but Thieves:

TechTalk appearance: Ep 411: Deadpooling my Memories

SHOW SUMMARY:
Along with a great review of the new Deadpool movie by Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon (hint: DON’T take your kids!), we get a tiny taste of the Conglomeration 2016 convention in Louisville, KY this April – with more detail promised in shows to come. It’s not too late to sign up, but you may want to lock in those hotel spots quick!
Go to conglomeration.info to find out more and get registered.
News Update

• Picasa is dead.
• Pandora may be dead.
• Set the date to 1/1/1970 on your iPhone? Yep, it’s dead now.
• Hillary Clinton uses AOL to promote her campaign. Didn’t that die years ago?

Geek Trivia Answer of the Week

What two space vehicles had the official OV designation, but never actually flew?

Cool sites of the Week

• Nikon NX-D – Sad about Picasa going away, and mainly looking for good editing features? Try one of the many free software solutions available for your camera; you just might be surprised at how functional they are. I’ve got a Nikon, so the NX-D is perfect for me, but you can use it for any camera, or grab the equivalent software from Canon or other manufacturers.
• Conglomeration Registration – You can use this link to register for Conglomeration 2016. Don’t forget to tell them who sent you!

Podcast Only Song of the Week
MC Frontalot “Indier Than Thou!”

TechTalk appearance: Ep 410: Kids Talk Tech – Olivia’s In The House!

SHOW SUMMARY:

The longest, most intense Kids Talk Tech … ‘evah! Listen to Olivia as she discusses history, video games, spelling bees, spelling apps (look out for the big SBC!), and more!

News Update

• Superbowl weekend coming up, and there’s lots of ways for us cord cutters to watch …
• Don’t brick that iPhone!
• Bernie’s Tinder supporter crowd is getting left-swiped right out of the election!
• Windows 8 support ending

Cool sites of the Week

• Frontier Heroes – Awesome history-based game for both iOS and Android!
• ColorHexa – Trying to figure out that web color?  Need the complementary for design? Check it out!
• Bootply – If you’re working with the bootstrap framework, or designing web or mobile apps at all, you’ll want to check this out – it’s a great place to play and test code without fear of breaking anything!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

A special song just for Olivia: “Monopoly Loser” by Alice on The Roof!

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 407 – YASWGF (Yet Another Star Wars Geek Fest)

SHOW SUMMARY:

News Items

• Google Voice FTW!
• Steam (Valve) down for users over XMas due to a security issue
• Netflix streaming gets better and faster
• Major movies hacked – Go to the dark side and watch them now!

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

What numerically based film was so influential on George Lucas that references to it have been in every Star Wars film ever created (including the latest one!)?

Coolsites of the Week

• Vimeo has a great selection of movies, including the answer to this week’s trivia above! (psst: look here – http://ift.tt/1RHWPrK )

Podcast Only Song of the Week
Christmas will Break Your Heart by LCD Soundsystem!

LISTEN HERE

Shooting the WISB Podcast lets me rant about Force Awakens

Just as they once did when Star Trek Into Darkness arrived in theaters many moons ago, Paul Weimer and Shaun Duke let me back on the Shooting the WISB podcast to share my mildly controversial opinions about Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The healthy debate was joined by Rachael Acks, Julia Rios and Mike R. Underwood, all of whom had more cogent and squee-worthy takes on Episode VII than myself. (Well, except Shaun, whose hate has made him powerful.)

You can listen to the complete Force Awakens Shooting the WISB rant-cast here.

(Oh, and if you want to go back and hear everything wrong with STID, that's here.)

Related articles

• Everything Episode VII Got Right
• 10 Best Moments from the "Star Wars" London Premiere
• Who is Kylo Ren? Meet Star Wars' Villain Played by Adam Driver
• 21 great Star Wars: The Force Awakens moments which only superfans will truly appreciate
• Star Wars Fans Are Already Making Fantastic Fan-Art and Hilarious Photo Edits

TechTalk appearance: Ep 406 – Google Grease

SHOW SUMMARY – Coding adventures, using Google to get what you want, and lots and lots of Star Wars Episode 7 talk with Dave and Jay!  Special bonus feature – Kids Talk Tech is back this week with Olivia discussing best sites for free (and fun) math games to play online!

News Items

• Samsung ordered to pay Apple $548M
• WordPress embraces the dark side (Javascript that is)
• Swift is opensourced, and IBM lets you program in it on their servers

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

What was the content of the very first SMS sent?

Coolsites of the Week

• Code Combat – Role playing, programming, swords, Python, heroes, Javascript … Coffescript too? You’re welcome!
• Math Playground – Play cool math games with (or against) your teacher, friends, or even a penguin!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

“Nice Guys” by Niga Higa!

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 404 – Pedro Domingos’ “The Master Algorithm”

SHOW SUMMARY – Pedro Domingos joins us for a fascinating discussion on machine learning and his new book “The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World.”  Tune in to hear us rap about self-programming computers, David Hume, reverse engineering the human brain, and more as we dig deep into what’s been called “the Bible of data-ism”!

 

News Items

• Microsoft OneDrive eliminates unlimited storage
• WRLR’s iOS/iPhone app is live and ready for download! Install today and listen to WRLR anytime, anywhere!
• Android and Apple Trojan apps
• PHP hacks

Alternatives to OneDrive

• DropBox – Use this link and we BOTH get an extra 500MB free!
• Google Drive – Tons of free storage, if you use their document formats
• Flickr – Pics only, but a full Terabyte offered for free, right out of the gate.

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

What software did you need to listen to the very first radio simulcast?

Coolsites of the Week

• The Master Algorithm – Available anywhere books are sold, and easy to find on Amazon.
• PedroDomingos.org – Find out more about Pedro and his other efforts.
• Machine Learning Classes on Coursera – You can really dive in and learn more here, directly from Dr. Domingos himself!
• PHP Code De-obfuscator – For all those times when you really, really need to know what that malicious code in your PHP headers means
• Stitcher – If you haven’t heard of this most excellent podcast finder and listening app for your phone yet, you’ve been missing out!  ::psst:: you can even get TechTalk on there

Podcast Only Song of the Week

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 403 – It’s A TechTalk Halloween (Again)!

SHOW SUMMARY – It’s Halloween!

News Items

• Apple does well this year – as in best. Year. EVAH!!!
• Still no WRLR Apple app, but only because Apple store (coming soon!)
• Getting the debate, getting weird

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

What was the first “survival horror” game for PC?

Coolsites of the Week

• Sex offender search mobile
• Halloween drink maker
• Digital Dudz!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

“Hell” by the Squirrel Nut Zippers!

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 401 – XFINITY Sports and Apps with Preston Smalley

SHOW SUMMARY – Preston Smalley takes a break from Comcast X1 app development to share what they are doing today, and how you can keep watching the Cubs (or Bears, or BlackHawks) WITHOUT risking your marriage!

News Items

• Holllly Cooowwwwww! Go Cubs!
• Back to the Future week is here!
• Twitter laying off folks

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

When did FORTRAN stop requiring all capital letters in it’s command structure?

Coolsites of the Week

• XFinity.com – Start here to find out what you’ve been missing!
• StudioXFinity.com – Get location and service information from the Chicago flagship, make an appointment, sign up for a demo, and more!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

My Roots by Sanchez

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 400 – Verizon’s Paul Ulreich

SHOW SUMMARY – Paul Ulreich from Verizon comes back on-air to discuss home automation, the new data plans, and more! IFTTT your lights? You got it!  Everything you never thought you could use your phone for, and then some

News Items

• Google drive is DOWN! (but find out why neither Mike nor Dave care)
• Have you backed up your data yet?
• Security chat

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

What Int’l treaty keeps our Mars rovers from exploring the newly discovered water areas?

Coolsite of the Week

• EBCD (Linux version, on USB) – You don’t realize how much you need this until you have it!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

New Dorp, New York by SBTRKT

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 398 – Mike’s Got That Schadenfreude Funk

SHOW SUMMARY

News Items

•  VW intentional software code avoids EPA regulations
• Canadian Minister of Education loses student data – 3.5M records
• More WRLR app talk – giving Mike another reason to hate Apple …
• But Apple’s XCode issues gives Mike a major case of the Schadenfreude

Jay “Geek Trivia” Garmon Trivia Answer

Who are the only 4 authors have won both Hugo and Nebula awards in the same year?

 

Podcast Only Song of the Week

Midnight to Monaco – Suicide

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 397 – How to be a Jerk with Emoji

SHOW SUMMARY

News Items

• Emoji can be used for communicating good, evil, happiness, pain – or for streamlining the process of being a complete jerk. Guess which usage I’m best at?  
• Mark Zuckerberg, live (not) and in studio (also not)!  Discusses the need for a “not like” button …
• Dave and I want to start a support group for people that have actually changed their opinion on social media, because of facts and reason. We’re expecting the participants to be rather lonely …

Cool Sites of the Week

• IMGflip – Easy-to-use meme maker, so you can attach fake statistics and other falsehoods to pictures and share them on social media too!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

You and Me by Disclosure (Flume Remix)!

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 396 – Wherein Stan Asks: “What Else You Got?”

SHOW SUMMARY

GEO awards high leads to tons of nostalgia and great memories about the origin of WRLR and TechTalk. Stack and Di.

News Items

• Fake women! (… on the Ashley Madison site, that is)
• Sad Puppies lose, Hugo Awards FTW!
• Lots of nostalgia and good vibes from the recent GEO’s!

Geek Trivia Answer

What were the only 3 websites linked to from the new Google Alphabet website? (Hint: One of them can only be found by looking at the source code)

Cool Sites of the Week

• ABC.XYZ – Google’s new Alphabet website
• WRLR.FM – The TechTalk show’s home station – if you haven’t been there in a while, check it out!

Podcast Only Song of the Week

Chet Faker’s take on “No Diggity!”

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 395 – Mike Miller and Learning to Love Win10!

SHOW SUMMARY

Returning guest Mike Miller joins us to break down the good, the bad, and the ugly of Windows 10.  Mike also tells us that if you’ve been waiting, it’s OK to upgrade now, but listen to the caveats he mentions first!

News Items

• Ashley Madison hack news and update
• Mike tries to say “problems with Spotify privacy policies” 5 times fast …
• Samsung flip phones are back!  (but only in China)

Cool Sites of the Week

• Check out MillerWriter.com for everything Mike Miller!  Links to his most recent books here:
  • Easy Computer Basics – Windows 10 Edition
  • My Google Chromebook
  • My Samsung Galaxy 6 for Seniors

Podcast Only Song of the Week

Brutal Hearts by Bedouin SoundClash

LISTEN HERE

TechTalk appearance: Ep 394 – Innovation and Technology in Education with JD Pirtle

SHOW SUMMARY

Special guest JD Pirtle from the Catherine Cook School in Chicago talks robotics, 3-D printing, robotics, using Raspberry Pi and playing with Minecraft – introducing innovative technologies in education from Pre-K on up!  Mike tries REALLY hard not to get too wonky, and JD keeps us on topic with great insights into how technology is enhancing and improving education for all the kids at Catherine Cook – even their youngest students.

News Items

• Android Stagefright exploit
• Cyberflashing, sexting, and a recap of Brett Favre’s penis related propaganda
• Windows 10 and P2P updates

Geek Trivia Answer from Jay Garmon

What two components on the original IBM home PC were actually logo’d with IBM?

Cool Sites of the Week

Follow-up on the things we discussed with our guest, JD Pirtle here:

• Catherine Cook Schools
• IDEA-TE Conference

And from the earlier segment of our show:

• Stagefright Detector – If you’re wondering if YOU’VE got stage fright (the malware, not the condition), wonder no more! Free download, highly rated.

Podcast Only Song of the Week

London Grammar’s “Wasting My Young Years”

LISTEN HERE