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

Facebook locks a bunch of users out of their accounts for not turning on Facebook Protect.  The problem was that Facebook’s email notification looked like a phishing scam which was largely ignored.The global chip shortage is getting real and it's getting worse.  First it was graphic cards that became impossible to buy.  Now some SUVs are shipping without the chips that control seat warmers.The toy company that first created transformers is now working on a moon rover, and yes, it actually transforms.And, is the digital divide literally killing us?  Studies show a link between internet access and Covid-19 deaths.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Instagram introduces Enhanced Tags which should make it easier for professional accounts and influencers to receive credit for their work. Apple Announces the M1 Ultra, the new Mac Studio, and the 5K Studio Display, and they all sound kind of awesome.And we interview Gary Joanis, Pharmaceutical Consultant for Viral Vaccines & Advanced Therapeutic Medicines for Sequoia Consulting Group, where we discuss the Covid-19 vaccine and try to dispel some of the misinformation.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Apple’s Privacy Update wiped out over a quarter trillion dollars in market cap from 4 of the big social media companies. Google is thinking about privacy too, but it ain’t going quite as hard as Apple.Michael Jordan and son’s NFT project Heir is doing “OK” out the gate but it did have to pull back from initial projections.YouTube is offering up $50,000 in cash to popular podcasts to convert from audio to video. Hey YouTube, holler at The Tech Jawn right fast. We got you.And we wrap up the show with streaming services talk. Disney Plus is adding an ads tier. NBC is pulling its day after air content off Hulu. And is a cable subscription starting to look like a better option when it comes to bundles?We’ve got all this and more in episode 25 of The Tech Jawn.Link To Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We kick off this week’s episode of The Tech Jawn with talk about TikTok and its new 10-minute time limit on videos.Is it time to move beyond passwords?   We discuss efforts to get rid of passwords completely and if everyone should be using password managers until we get to that day.A social media star with nearly 150,000 followers has been charged with armed robbery, after his very colorful sneakers worn while robbing convenience stores were recognized by the FBI in his viral TikTok videos.And big tech is playing a major role in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Google, Twitter, Facebook, and Elon Musk’s companies are doing what they can to help, but racism doesn’t take a break even in times of war.Link to Show Notes  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Some people are outraged that the New York Times has added ad tracking to Wordle, but, should they really be though?Privacy settings on your social media won’t protect you from snitching on yourself as authorities in Wisconsin use Facebook to identify suspects in acts of property damage after the Jacob Blake police shooting protests in Kenosha.And what is the proper protocol for online redemption? Who gets to determine your penance? Does the internet owe it to you to allow you back in its good graces after you’ve committed an offense?We discuss all this and we’ve got an awesome Spotlight in episode 23 of The Tech Jawn.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It was Superbowl weekend and although we weren’t blown away by many of the commercials we did notice that Google is putting real marketing behind Real Tone.A black couple opens the world’s first autonomous grocery store in Atlanta, and it even has delivery robots that keep your food hot or cold.TikTok missed the mark with its Black History Month event leaving black creators out of the conversation.And, the Netflix doc, “Tinder Swindler”, showcases how a prolific romance scammer finessed women out of millions.We’ve got all this and more in episode 22 of the Tech Jawn.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week’s episode of The Tech Jawn, we interview Ekow Sanni-Thomas, founder of Inside Voices, an online platform that helps job-seekers figure out how companies treat people of color by hearing from current employees.But, before we get to the interview we talk about how Atlanta is becoming quite the Tech Hub and why Yelp has only used its Racist Behavior consumer alert twice in 16 months.Link To Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It’s Black History Month and, for at least the second year in a row, Apple is highlighting black voices throughout the month of February. Meta might want to change some of its policies and controls in the Metaverse as it relates to sexual harassment. A 43-year-old British woman claims she was virtually groped by a gang of male avatars within a minute of logging in.Flexible Work from Anywhere policies might be a key to fixing Silicon Valley’s diversity problems.And Spotify might have a Joe Rogan problem as Rock and Roll Hall of Fame legends pull their catalogs from the platform because of Covid misinformation promoted on his show.Link to Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We kick this episode of The Tech Jawn off with a tech story or two, but, we’ve got a special guest interview for you this week.We chop it up with Shawn Gunn, co-founder and CEO PLLAY, an Artificial Intelligence-driven wagering and data analytics platform for video gamers. Shawn has also played a key role in helping multiple companies successfully exit, having raised over $50 million in venture funding and creating over $1 billion in exit value for investors.We cover everything from what it’s like starting a tech company with black and female founders to how venture capital is not always the route startups should look to when getting off the ground. Shawn gives an overview PLLAY and how his company is changing the game wagering in e-sports, and he leaves us with his view of where the metaverse is headed.Link to book Shawn mentioned during the interview: Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson Amazon Affiliate Link Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

There is a new game word game taking the internet by storm.  It’s called Wordle, It’s completely free, and, by design, it’s not a time suck.Is the next wave of watching sports a courtside VR experience?  With the Oculus Quest 2, you may be able to “be at the game” without actually being at the game.Rebundle, a black-owned, women-founded, haircare startup that creates plant-based hair extensions gets $1.4 million in pre-seed venture funding.  And, have NFTs jumped the shark?  We’ve got three different opinions from  3 different voices and we’re all probably kind of right.Link to our Show Notes Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.