After a tumultuous year that saw the sad passing of actress and author Carrie Fisher (as well as Kenny Baker) the year 2017 has arrived. And so, coincidentally,  is Episode 217 of Pop Tech Jam.

On this week’s show, El Kaiser and J.D. discuss some early announcements out of the Consumer Electronics Show, what Facebook’s been up to lately and explore suggestions to the Twitter’s CEO about improving the bird-themed microblogging service.

J.D. also has a (Hopefully) Helpful Hint about watching the skies. While you’re looking up, raise a glass to the memories of the actors that brought Princess Leia and R2-D2 to life all those years ago. They will be with us, always.

Links to Stories in This Week’s Episode

* HBO moves up debut of Debbie Reynolds-Carrie Fisher documentary ‘Bright Lights’ to Jan. 7 (Los Angeles Times)

* Raising the IQ of today’s smart home (Lenovo blog)

* DISH and Amazon deliver Alexa voice control on Hopper DVR (Businesswire)

* Alexa, start the washer: Whirlpool makes it possible at CES (CNET)

* Seiki, Westinghouse Electronics and Element Electronics introduce the first line of 4K Ultra HD Smart TVs with Amazon Fire TV (PR Newswire)

* Facebook & Google dominate the list of 2016’s top apps (TechCrunch)

* Facebook developing Copyright ID system to stem music rights infringement (Billboard)

* Facebook doesn’t tell users everything it really knows about them (ProPublica)

* How does Facebook work with data providers? (Facebook)

* Luggage tag code unlocks your flights, identity to hackers (PCmag.com)

* Elon Musk’s SpaceX says it has found cause of rocket explosion and plans to fly again Sunday (The Washington Post)

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