Media & Entertainment

The YouTubers Union, a very homegrown movement from the looks of their website, has joined forces with IG Metall, a 125-year-old German labor union with roots in fighting for metal workers, to take on Alphabet. The two entities have joined forces to create FairTube, which has a list of demands from the people who create content for YouTube. I'm a card-carrying member of SAG-AFTRA and the AFM because (back in the day) I was forced to join the unions to "have" a career. Times have changed significantly, and the power of individuals to organize has increased exponentially. I'm surprised that YouTubers have not organized themselves in a better, more modern way to approach this. Continue Reading →

Samsung just announced the Galaxy Note10 and Note10+, available for pre-order at 12:01amET on August 8 and in stores on August 23. I got my hands on them earlier this week, and they are… awesome!! Here’s everything you need to know about Samsung’s newest phones. Continue Reading →

Apple contractors are listening to snippets of private conversations though Siri. Should you worry? Shelly Palmer speaks with Sukanya Krishnan and Kerry Drew about it on Fox 5 New York's Good Day Wake Up. Original Airdate: July 30, 2019 Continue Reading →

If Libra and Calibra are successful, Facebook will have control of information (Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram), weaponized information (a virtual military), and currency (Libra). I’m pretty sure that makes Facebook the largest government on earth. Continue Reading →

Techlash has been brewing for years. No one should be surprised that “Break up big tech!” is a major talking point for many 2020 presidential hopefuls. But how, exactly, would this be accomplished? And, what would the world look like in the aftermath? Continue Reading →

The lawsuit filed against Amazon’s Alexa Voice Services this past Tuesday fascinates me. It alleges that Amazon is recording children who use Alexa without parental consent. Excuse me? Mom or Dad bought the Echo, put it in the house, and taught the kids to talk to it. How much more parental consent do you need? That said, there is more to the story. Continue Reading →

Apple officially unveiled a slew of new hardware and software at its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) on Monday in San Jose. Here’s everything you need to know. Continue Reading →

I was checking out my Twitter feed the other day and I came upon a tweet from Richard Dawkins. He is one of my favorite writers and I’ve been following him for years. The tweet was a link to an article, but was it true? Time to find out. But how much time? Continue Reading →

In a rare show of bipartisan unity this past Wednesday, Republicans and Democrats on the House Oversight Committee expressed concerns over the rapid spread of facial recognition software used by technology companies. This should make you stop and think very long and hard about what your elected leaders do not understand about the world we live in. Continue Reading →

Cumulus Media confirmed that New York City's iconic FM radio station 95.5 PLJ will sign off for the last time on Friday, May 31. Clearly, there was no longer a profitable business to be made using FM radio broadcasting technology to aggregate and monetize the PLJ audience. Radio stations change ownership all the time and, as you know, media M&A has become a blood sport in the past 24 months. Still, this particular sign-off signals something significant. Continue Reading →