The Hacker Shuffle

The Hacker Shuffle

Author: J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado October 31, 2025 Duration: 31:44

On this episode of Pop Tech Jam, El Kaiser and J.D.  discuss — among many other things — electronic playing-card shufflers, Oreos, A.I. slop, robot hands and “Peacemaker.” Listen in on PTJ 387!

• How Hacked Card Shufflers Allegedly Enabled a Mob-Fueled Poker Scam That Rocked the NBA (Wired)

• Real Estate Is Entering Its AI Slop Era (Wired)

• Phony AI-Created Receipts Become Real Problem for Businesses (PYMTS.com)

• OpenAI reportedly developing new generative music tool (Tech Crunch)

• Oreo-maker Mondelez to use new generative AI tool to slash marketing costs (Reuters)

• The ‘Hands Problem’ Holding Back the Humanoid Revolution (The Wall Street Journal)

• Robot umpires approved for MLB in 2026 as part of challenge system (CNN)

• Trump and Xi will ‘consummate’ TikTok deal on Thursday, treasury secretary says (TechCrunch)

• TikTok may not be Chinese-owned anymore, but there still is a privacy problem (Brookings)

• Exclusive: US Department of Energy forms $1 billion supercomputer and AI partnership with AMD (Reuters)

• Apple Newsroom announcements

• Apple Readies Its First Ever Touch-Screen MacBook (Bloomberg)

• What’s Next for iPad Pro? A Vapor Chamber Like the One on the iPhone 17 Pro (Bloomberg)

• Ads likely coming to Apple Maps in 2026 (Apple Insider)

• New MacBook Pro Nears Mass Production, But Four Bigger Upgrades Expected Next Year (MacRumors)

• Apple Shelves Vision Headset Revamp to Prioritize Meta-Like AI Glasses (Bloomberg)

• Google’s “G” gets a brighter look. (Google blog)

• Podcasts and News Fact Sheet (Pew Research Center)


Tune into POP | TECH | JAM for a weekly conversation that feels like grabbing a coffee with friends who are just as obsessed with the latest streaming series as they are with the inner workings of a new gadget. Hosts J.D. Biersdorfer and Pedro Rafael Rosado steer this independent audio magazine, blending sharp commentary on movies and television with insightful, accessible discussions about the technology shaping how we experience all that culture. Each episode is a deliberate mash-up, finding the unexpected connections between a trending app and a classic film, or how a breakthrough in tech might influence the next must-watch show. You'll hear thoughtful reviews, dig into news that matters across these intertwined worlds, and get a sense of the genuine curiosity and rapport the hosts bring to every topic. This podcast thrives on that energetic mix, creating a space that’s both informative and engaging without ever taking itself too seriously. It’s less a formal broadcast and more of a dynamic, ongoing jam session-hence the name-where pop culture and digital life collide in entertaining and thought-provoking ways.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 170

POP | TECH | JAM
Podcast Episodes
PTJ 248: Knock, Knock [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 37:58
Who’s there? It’s this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam, with ideas for coping with the current state of the world. From SEC hackers to Nest’s new indoor/outdoor security system to Equifax still doing harm to its customers…
PTJ 247: Hello, Epic Equifail! Goodbye, Cassini! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 41:21
As the scale of the epic security fail at the Equifax credit bureau comes into focus, El Kaiser and J.D. throwback to Episode 159 and a previous conversation about freezing your credit to ice out identity thieves. Among…
PTJ 246: What’s the Frequency, Siri? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:49
After a two-week summer vacation, El Kaiser and J.D. return to the studio to catch up on the week’s technology news: Facebook ‘fesses up to a chunk of Russian ad buys during the election, Amazon looks to expand its corpo…
PTJ 245: Blasts From the Past [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 30:24
You have your good history and you have your bad history — and both kinds are mashed up here this week on Pop Tech Jam. The violent protests in Charlottesville last weekend were amplified in all directions thanks to soci…
PTJ 244: Across the Universe [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:54
Whether it be The Defenders kicking butt across the New York City zone of the Marvel Universe or NASA’s assorted spacecraft exploring the real universe, this week’s episode of Pop Tech Jam has you covered. El Kaiser and…
PTJ 243: Sound and Fury [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 31:08
After a discussion about the stirring audio mix used to back the film Dunkirk, El Kaiser and J.D. make a lot of noise about this week’s technology news — including new government regulation around the world. However, if…
PTJ 242: So Long, Old Paint? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 29:36
Close Encounters of the Third Kind is coming back for a 40th-anniversary run, but a couple of old standbys are getting boxed up for the software attic. El Kaiser and J.D. take a stroll through the week’s headlines and ta…
PTJ 241: Glass Houses [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 28:20
After a two-week hiatus, El Kaiser and J.D. are back with the tech news of the week — including Amazon’s latest experiments for making money and Google Glass finally finding a home of sorts. And how about that Doctor Who…
PTJ 240: Hall Monitor [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 39:02
It’s almost like we needed the Justice League to come sort things out with all the disruptions erupting all over the technology scene this week. So, you ask, what happened? Yet another ransomware attack spread rapidly wo…
PTJ 239: Leak Week [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 36:38
June is Internet Safety Month, but it hasn’t been very safe for the personal information of 198 million people, which got exposed by sloppy data handling. The notoriously private Apple got trolled as well when a top-secr…