Listens

Playlist of posts listened to, or scrobbled

🎧 ‘The Daily’: The Data Harvesters” | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: The Data Harvesters by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com
A young Canadian data expert came up with a plan to harvest people’s personal data off Facebook, and to use that information to influence their voting.



On today’s episode:
• Matthew Rosenberg, a New York Times reporter in Washington.
Background reading:
• Consultants for the Trump campaign exploited the Facebook data of 50 million people.
• Cambridge Analytica offered to entrap politicians through seduction or bribery.
• How researchers use Facebook “likes” to sway your thinking.
A fantastic overview of the background for the Facebook/Cambridge Analytica story.

🎧 ‘The Daily’: Putin’s Grip on Russia | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Putin’s Grip on Russia by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com

President Vladimir V. Putin has been elected to a fourth term, drawing support from more than three-quarters of voters. How is the most powerful man in Russia staying that way?



On today’s episode:
• Steven Lee Myers, a former Moscow bureau chief of The New York Times who covered Vladimir V. Putin’s rise to power and who is the author of “The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin.”

Background reading:
• The long-serving Russian leader has become a model for the modern autocrat.
• Russian voters gave Mr. Putin their resounding approval for a fourth term on Sunday.
A great, but brief overview of Vladimir Putin and his backstory leading up to his present position.

🎧 This Week in Google 450 I Just Swallowed a Pollywog | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Google 450 I Just Swallowed a Pollywog by Leo Laporte, Stacey Higginbotham, Mike Elgan from TWiT.tv
Oracle vs Google, Google vs Apple

Google owes Oracle $8.8 Billion Dollars. Apple and Google fight over the classroom. Should everyone stop using Facebook? Should everybody stop using Twitter? Should everybody start using Google Plus?
  • Stacey's Thing: Nest Hello Doorbell and Nest X Yale Lock
  • Mike's Stuff: Lenovo Mirage Camera with Daydream
  • Jeff's Number in Absentia: 5.5 GB


🎧 This Week in Tech 659 A Game of Hold My Beer | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Tech 659 A Game of Hold My Beer by Leo Laporte, Harry McCracken, Denise Howell, Iain Thomson from TWiT.tv

More revelations in the Facebook / Cambridge Analytica scandal. Congress sneaks the CLOUD Act into the omnibus spending bill. Craigslist takes down personal ads in first of many unintended consequences of SESTA/FOSTA Act. Uber may be at fault for self-driving death. Child porn in the Bitcoin blockchain.

🎧 This Week in Google 449 Grackles, Nuthatches, and Swifts, Oh My! | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Google 449 Grackles, Nuthatches, and Swifts, Oh My! | TWiT.TV by Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham from TWiT.tv

Facebook and the Cambridge Analytica scandal. Google News Initiative will fight fake journalism. Uber self-driving car not at fault for killing pedestrian. Congress passes SESTSA/FOSTA. The city that banned bitcoin mining.

  • Jeff's Number: Amazon is #2
  • Stacey's Thing: Alexa Kids Court
  • Leo's Tool: Samsung My BP Lab

🎧 This Week in Tech 658 The Matador Defense | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Tech 658 The Matador Defense by Leo Laporte, Georgia Dow, Greg Ferro, Jason Hiner from TWiT.tv

Controversial RyzenFall AMD flaws revealed. Leo gives up Facebook for good over Cambridge Analytica scandal. Broadcom gives up its Qualcomm takeover. Apple announces an education-themed event on March 27th. Farewell Adrian Lamo. Theranos officially charged with fraud. Bitcoin mining will drain the world's energy.

👓 ‘The Daily’: Trump and the F.B.I. | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Trump and the F.B.I. by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com
President Trump called the firing of Andrew G. McCabe, the deputy F.B.I. director, a “great day for democracy.” Mr. McCabe said his dismissal was for political reasons.

I’d only heard partisan sniping and about Tweets prior to this. Nice to have some history and better detail to hang on to here.

👓 ‘The Daily’: Women We Overlooked | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Women We Overlooked by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com
Obituaries in The New York Times have been long dominated by white men. We’re adding the stories of remarkable women like Ida B. Wells, who took on racism in the South.

Some nice pieces of history here that I’m sad to say I hadn’t heard about and didn’t know they were as egregious as I had thought. I knew about lynchings in general, but didn’t know that they rose to a level as high as the one described here.

👓 ‘The Daily’: ‘The Gunshine State’ | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: ‘The Gunshine State’ by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com
Florida is a friendly place for gun owners, and the N.R.A. and lawmakers have often blocked proposed restrictions. What changed after the Parkland shooting?

👓 ‘The Daily’: Rex Tillerson’s Firing and North Korea | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Rex Tillerson’s Firing and North Korea by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com
Mr. Tillerson’s push for nuclear talks put him at odds with his boss. He has been replaced as secretary of state just as President Trump prepares to meet Kim Jong-un.

👓 ‘The Daily’: Refusing to Stay Silent | The New York Times

Listened to ‘The Daily’: Refusing to Stay Silent by Michael Barbaro from nytimes.com
Venezuela placed the opposition leader Leopoldo López under house arrest, hoping to keep him quiet. But he continues to speak out. Here’s Part 2 of his story.

🎧 This Week in Google 448 Raspberry Pi Day | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Google 448 Raspberry Pi Day by Leo Laporte, Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham from TWiT.tv

Google Plus Codes, Amazon space iguanas, "The Meat Sweats," Elon at SXSW, flying taxis and drone deliveries, Netflix "Patches," and more!

  • Leo's Pick: Samsung Galsxy S9
  • Stacey's Thing: Laurastar Smart Iron
  • Jeff's Number: Google removed 3.2b bad ads in '17

🎧 Ta-Nehisi Coates | The Atlantic Interview

Listened to Ta-Nehisi Coates by Jeffrey Goldberg from The Atlantic Interview
The growing prominence of The Atlantic's national correspondent Ta-Nehisi Coates means that he's often asked to comment on matters on which he lacks expertise, but he demurs. In a conversation with The Atlantic's editor in chief Jeffrey Goldberg, recorded in front of an audience at South by Southwest in Austin, Coates explains why he isn't interested in interviewing Donald Trump, why he cannot use Twitter ever again, and how his complicated feelings about America inflect his writing for Captain America.

As ever, an interesting conversation on The Atlantic Interview.

🎧 This Week in Tech 657 DadGum Cell Phone | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Tech 657 DadGum Cell Phone by Leo Laporte, Ant Pruitt, Ben Johnson, Dan Patterson from TWiT.tv

SXSW features killer robots and killer barbeque. Alexa's spontaneous laugh makes us afraid of an AI takeover. Amazon wants to take over your checking account. Can blockchain reinvent fintech? Android users more loyal than iOS users. Is AI really all that smart? Apple hires M. Night Shyamalan. Millennials love Apple more than anything. Mario takes over Google Maps. Facebook asks if pedophilia is ok. On Twitter, fake news spreads faster than the truth. China's new Department of PreCrime.

🎧 This Week in Google 447 Geothermal It!!! | TWiT.TV

Listened to This Week in Google 447 Geothermal It!!! by Jeff Jarvis, Stacey Higginbotham, Jason Howell from TWiT.tv

Android P Developer Preview gets its release. Google sells Zagat to The Infatuation. How the Defense Department is working with Google to train AI to analyze drone footage. Why Google might be working on hypersonic drilling. Facebook is trying to determine the difference between satire and fake news. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey asks for help in addressing the effects social media has on the world. The Amazon Echo is laughing at its owners, literally.