The Tech Jawn: Black Tech Enthusiasts Covering The Week's Tech News And How Tech Affects Black Culture

We’ve got something special in this week’s episode of The Tech Jawn. We interview Cherish Samuels, a unicorn of unicorns, as she is a Black, female, mechanical engineer.We talk about everything from her journey getting into engineering at a young age, for years being the only face on the job that looks like hers, and how she has transitioned into tech now working on Amazon Fresh, the automated checkout grocery store.We also talk about Cherish’s son’s unique name, her not changing her last name when she got married, and, people still thinking it's cool to touch black people's hair even after you tell them not to.Link to Show NotesThis Week's Special Guest: Cherish Samuels - https://www.linkedin.com/in/cherishsamuels/ Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Twitter grappled with nuisance spam from the Chinese State intended to obscure news of covid restriction protests happening in cities across the country.Even though Amazon Alexa devices are pretty popular the digital assistants are on pace to lose $10 billion this year because users just don’t buy products with them.The Department of Justice opens an investigation into a real estate tech company accused of collusion with landlords over rent prices.And the UK launches a market probe into Apple and Google’s mobile dominance with their respective browsers but this seems different than the old Internet Explorer saga.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is Taylor Swift really that big, or, is TicketMaster's and Live Nation’s monopoly on ticket sales and venues the cause for Swifties not being able to purchase tickets?Microsoft is eager to acquire gaming company, Activision Blizzard, for $68.7 billion, but, a new EU investigation has Microsoft Gaming’s CEO promising Call of Duty will remain on PlayStation.Bob Iger is returning, temporarily, as CEO of Disney replacing Bob Chapeck with a mandate to return to growth and handpick another CEO to take the helm within two years.And with the holiday season in full swing, we pick a few gift ideas that gadget geeks like us would probably enjoy.Link to Show NotesHoliday Gadget Gift Ideas mentioned in the show(We are Amazon affiliates and may make a commission on products purchased through our affiliate links)Anker Nano 3 30-Watt, USB-C, Fast Charger -- https://amzn.to/3OnrZYmSanDisk 2TB Extreme Portable SSD -- https://amzn.to/3VfPGE4VGAzer Magnetic Levitating Light Bulb Desk Lamp -- https://amzn.to/3hXoTOyApple AirTags 4-Pack -- https://amzn.to/3ADYgEGRazor Kishi V2 Mobile Gaming Controller -- Android https://amzn.to/3EQbaSw, iOS https://amzn.to/3XjlKZFApple Watch SE -- https://tinyurl.com/2gaype4x Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Google is set to pay nearly $400 million to settle lawsuits with 40 state's attornies general over location data it wasn’t supposed to be collecting.Regardless of how you feel about Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter, the new Twitter non-verified blue check mark, right now,  is creating confusion and making Twitter even less reliable.The FTX crypto exchange bankruptcy could setback cryptocurrency in general for years and usher in traditional finance-type regulation.And, even though the Tech Winter is getting colder with all of these big tech layoffs, the technology industry as a whole is still one of the best and strongest industries to get into.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Election misinformation safeguards in social media work fairly well unless the election lies come in foreign languages.Many of last week’s Twitter rumors have come to pass. Twitter did lay off nearly half of its employees hours before asking some of them to come back. Twitter Blue actually cost $8, not $20, but it’s been postponed until after the election. And Elon Musk is concerned that advertisers leaving the platform is an assault on free speech.And Meta made some big bets on the Metaverse and we ponder if the bets were the right ones, or if they are just several years too soon.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Be careful when having receipts emailed to you.  It looks like Square along with many other credit card processing companies is selling your contact information.The acquisition of Twitter by Elon Musk happened last week and the new owner isn’t wasting time making changes.  Verified accounts are rumored to cost 20 bucks a month, big companies are preemptively pulling advertising from the platform, 25% of Twitter’s workforce may be terminated, and, in brighter news, Vine is coming back.And, are subscriptions the future of the internet?Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Google’s vision for RCS hasn’t materialized, but, is it too soon to call it a failure?  Probably not.Netflix reported its third-quarter earnings, is launching an ad-supported tier in November, and, is putting the kibosh on password sharing in early 2023.The Republican National Committee is suing Google for sending campaign emails to spam even though Gmail filters reflect user reactions. And we discuss the new iPad 10th generation, M2 iPad Pro, and macOS Ventura’s Continuity Camera. Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kanye West, after having his Instagram and Twitter accounts restricted for antisemitic comments, agrees to buy the right-leaning social media platform Parler.TikTok has raised the age requirement for live streaming from 16 to 18 and is introducing adult-only streams.The website for the Biden administration's student loan relief program goes live in Beta on Friday.And big tech companies are appearing to get ready for an economic downturn with a bevy of hiring freezes and layoffs.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The Apple Watch’s fall and crash detection experience false positives everywhere from the emergency room to roller coasters.Meta has notified nearly 1 million Facebook users that their login information may have been compromised by apps downloaded from the App Store and Google Play.Alphabet announced new devices during its Pixel event last week including the Google Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Pro, and the Pixel Watch.And Kanye West had his Twitter and Instagram accounts restricted after posting a series of antisemitic posts and tweets on social media.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

James Earl Jones is retiring as the voice of Darth Vader but his menacing tones will live on through A.I. supplied by Ukrainian startup, Respeecher.  Apple reportedly won’t boost iPhone 14 Production because it appears that the new hotness is selling as Apple predicted it would.Square makes Tap to Pay on iPhone available to U.S. sellers.And will companies like Amazon urging employees to work remotely ultimately lead to overseas outsourcing?Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.