Last week’s massive denial-of-service attack (and resulting Internet outage) was big news all on its own, but toss in AT&T’s latest digital land grab and you have a jam-packed few days of tech news. After the weekly discussion of the recent headlines,  J.D. explores free or cheap word processors that cut down on toolbar clutter for minimal distraction when you’re probably already procrastinating that big writing deadline anyway. Come on along for this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam! (Also, El Kaiser gently suggests that you change all your default router and device passwords.)

Links to This Week’s News Stories

* AT&T to acquire Time Warner (AT&T)

* Regulatory microscope lies ahead for AT&T and Time Warner (New York Times)

* AT&T and Time Warner seek to mollify deal’s critics (New York Times)

* The last Time Warner deal was the worst deal in history. What is AT&T thinking? (ReCode)

* Hackers wrecked the Internet using DVRs and webcams (Popular Mechanics)

* Hacked cameras, DVRs powered today’s massive Internet outage (Krebs on Security)

* Chinese firm admits its hacked products were behind Friday’s DDOS attack (Computerworld)

* How hackers broke into John Podesta and Colin Powell’s Gmail accounts (Vice Motherboard)

* Google has quietly dropped ban on personally identifiable Web tracking (ProPublica.org)

* Jamboard — the whiteboard, reimagined for collaboration in the cloud (Google blog)

* Airbnb sues over new law regulating New York rentals (New York Times)

* PayPal enhances payment experience for Facebook and Messenger (PayPal)

* Google, Visa and Mastercard want to get rid of passwords (CNBC)

* The New York Times Company acquires The Wirecutter and The Sweethome (NYTCo)

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It’s been a loooong campaign and Election Day is just a few weeks away. If you want to beat the crowds, J.D. has a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint on how to see if your state allows early voting — and what you need to bring to the polls. Meanwhile El Kaiser has a few new headphones to inspect. In the week’s tech news Google checks facts and flights, Samsung is still scrambling to douse the Galaxy Note 7 fires, Facebook Messenger has some suggestions for your online discourse and there is a squadron of Taunting Drones buzzing drivers south of the border. Want to find out more? Just press Play.

Headphone Review Models

• Status Audio CB-1 Closed Black Studio Monitors

• thinksound On2 Monitor Series

Links to This Week’s News Stories

* Labeling fact-check articles in Google News (Google blog)

* Google Flights will now tell you when fares will increase, help you find cheaper tickets (TechCrunch)

* Netflix subscriptions boom around world, shares jump 20 percent (Reuters)

* 40 percent now say they won’t buy another Samsung phone (CNET)

* Apple could benefit from Samsung Galaxy Note 7 fiasco (Digital Trends)

* Samsung setting up Note 7 exchange booths at airports around the world (The Consumerist)

* DOT bans all Samsung Galaxy Note7 phones from airplanes (Transporation.gov)

* Survey: Google Pixel takes a bite out of Samsung’s declining consumer base (BrandingBrand.com)

* FTC says it may be unable to regulate Comcast, Google, and Verizon (Ars Technica)

* Facebook Messenger suggests what to talk about with “Conversation Topics” feature (TechCrunch)

* Hands on with Amazon’s Spotify competitor (Fast Company)

* Amazon launches all-new Prime Photos experience with Family Vault (Amazon)

* NASA space station cargo launches from Virginia on Orbital ATK resupply mission (NASA)

The crisp fall air has returned to the Northeast, as do memories of sipping apple cider in front of a roaring fire. Unfortunately for some, the only fire around was coming from their replacement Samsung Galaxy Note 7 smartphones…

On this week’s episode, El Kaiser and J.D. wrangle the week’s headlines, including the latest from the aforementioned Samsung Galaxy Note 7 Inferno, a new coat for Microsoft Paint and Sprint’s efforts to close the digital divide for low-income high-school students. El Kaiser discusses proper electronics safety and J.D. has a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint on how to find out what other household products might be problematic. Now, where are those marshmallows, Hershey bars and graham crackers?

Lithium-Ion Battery Information

• Battery University

• Why Lithium Batteries Keep Catching Fire

• How Lithium-Ion Batteries Work

Links to This Week’s News Stories

* Samsung will ask all global partners to stop sales and exchanges of Galaxy Note7 while further investigation takes place (Samsung)

* Samsung ends Galaxy Note 7 production as problems mount (NYTimes.com)

* U.S. pressed to disclose secret court’s order on Yahoo email search (Reuters)

* Amid breach talk, some Yahoo users finding it hard to exit (Associated Press)

* Yahoo Turned Off E-Mail Forwarding Just When People Might Want To Leave (Consumerist)

* Verizon won’t drop Yahoo but may seek lower price (Fortune)

* Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter provided data access for a surveillance product marketed to target activists of color (ACLU of Northern California)

* Comcast to pay $2.3M fine to resolve billing complaints (FCC)

* Introducing Workplace by Facebook (Facebook Newsroom)

* Here’s a first look at Microsoft’s new Paint app for Windows 10 (The Verge)

* Microsoft is updating Paint with new features and refreshed interface (Thurrott.com)

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“Hey, where’s all those Batmans going on 11th Avenue?” Mass Invasion maestro Janifer Cheng stops by on her way to the New York Comic Con extravaganza to share her thoughts on cosplay and other convention fun with El Kaiser and J.D. (who is moderating three panels at the expo this weekend herself). In the news segment, we discuss Google’s fancy new Pixel phones, Facebook’s Marketplace’s problems, and the fact that some nice people from the government want to talk to Yahoo about its “security” issues. Oh, and two other words: Luke Cage.

Want to know where we got these stories? Check out the links below:

* Google announces new hardware (Made by Google)

* Introducing Marketplace: Buy and Sell with Your Local Community (Facebook)

* Facebook Commerce Policy (Facebook)

* Sex. Drugs. Guns. Meet Facebook’s Marketplace (USA Today)

* Facebook says a ‘technical issue’ caused illegal listings (Business Insider)

* Microsoft pulls Band listings from its Store; admits no Band 3 this year (ZDNet)

* Apple will automatically download macOS Sierra on Macs starting today (The Verge)

* New California law allows test of autonomous shuttle with no driver (Reuters)

* Still Waiting to Hear From Yahoo (The New York Times)

* iTunes Spoken Editions lets you listen to your favorite websites (Tech Crunch)

* Dream Chaser: The Spacecraft That Will Transform Humanity’s Access to Space (Observer)

* The Hilarious Way Jessica Jones and Luke Cage Weighed In On Netflix’s Crash (CinemaBlend)

* Mission complete: Rosetta’s journey ends in daring descent to comet (ESA)

What’s your sign? It might not be what you think. Hey, don’t blame us, blame NASA. On this week’s episode the Dynamic Duo go through the week’s tech (and geek) news; J.D. fills us in on a certain bird-themed micro-blogging service that’s had quite a busy past few weeks; and El Kaiser gets his rant on.

After a week to process the big iPhone 7 announcement last week, technologist Don Donofrio returns to the show to discuss the good, the bad and the stuff Apple skipped this time around. In the news segment, El Kaiser and J.D. bring updates on the increasingly combustible Samsung Galaxy Note 7 situation, rumors of Google doing another 7-inch tablet and plenty of other non-Apple news from the geekosphere. Let’s roll the dice!

It’s September and you know what that means: Apple will hold forth a mighty media event in San Francisco to formally reveal its fall lineup of hardware and software. As today is Apple Event Eve, we here at Pop Tech Jam thought we’d pass the time with technologist Don Donofrio to speculate about what tomorrow’s announcements will bring. And on next week’s show, we’ll regroup to see how many things we guessed correctly. Feel free to play along at home, Jammers! And for those of you who care not for the Fruit-Themed Toymaker of Cupertino, we have news on Samsung’s exchange program for the overly combustible Galaxy Note 7 and the end of the Rosetta mission to good ol’ Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.

Labor Day is upon us and so is the annual U.S. Open tennis tournament. Laura M. Holson drops by to share her love of the game and ways to share the excitement through apps, streaming and other technology. Check out the U.S. Open’s official website, Twitter feed and mobile apps for Android and iOS. And don’t forget the podcasts, either. In the weekly news roundup, El Kaiser and J.D. serve up talk of Apple’s various legal woes of the past few days, Facebook’s whoopsie with its Trending Topics list and the fate of a certain noisy, nosy drone in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virgina.

What happens when you find a vital piece of history falling apart due to time and neglect?  If you’re Dr. Sue Black, OBE, you start a blogging and Twitter campaign to save it. That’s exactly what she did to keep Bletchley Park, Britain’s World War II codebreaking headquarters, from disappearing. Dr. Black chats with J.D. about her new book, Saving Bletchley Park: How #SocialMedia Saved the Home of the WWII Codebreakers. And, as  El Kaiser and J.D. find out while rolling through the recent tech headlines, it’s all about getting what you want — whether you’re a lucky Nexus owner looking for the new version of Android, Barbra Streisand telling Siri to properly pronounce her surname or NASA finally getting back in touch with a lost spacecraft. Sometimes, you just have to go for it.

Podcasting as we know it has been around for about a dozen years and is now enjoying something of a boom thanks to popular shows that have caught the listening public’s ear and reignited interest in the medium. So, what’s happening in the pod world these days? Audio producer and educator extraordinaire Jocelyn Gonzales joins El Kaiser and J.D. this week to discuss the state of the art and some of the many popular podcasts she currently produces, including Strings and Things, The MashUp Americans and Inside The New York Times Book Review. Listen for the segment right after El Kaiser and J.D. discuss two of Netflix’s recent streamers and the notable tech news of the week. (Two words: Pizza ATM!)