Every Monday morning at 7:10 am, I am a guest contributor on CHOM 97.7 FM radio broadcasting out of Montreal (home base). It’s not a long segment – about 5 to 10 minutes every week – about everything that is happening in the world of technology and digital media. The good folks at CHOM 97.7 FM are posting these segments weekly on iHeart Radio, if you’re interested in hearing more of me blathering away. I’m really excited about this opportunity, because this is the radio station that I grew up on listening to, and it really is a fun treat to be invited to the Mornings Rock with Terry and Heather B. morning show. The segment is called, CTRL ALT Delete with Mitch Joel.

This week we discussed: 

• In need of some last minute tech gift ideas? There are many! Quality headphones, Bluetooth speakers, external batteries for the smartphone and more! Lots of great ideas for gifts, that people would never buy for themselves. 
• Uber self-driving cars were available for use last week in San Francisco… if you can believe it. Already, there’s some problems. The California Department of Motor Vehicles says that Uber needs a permit to test these vehicles. Uber says otherwise. So, the technology is here but the government is holding it back? Or, is Uber trying to defy legislation… yet again? 
• Poor Yahoo. Actually, poor Yahoo users. Just 3 months after disclosing that a 2014 hack stole details from over 500 million user accounts, the company says that there was another hack (this time, from 2013) which is believed to have affected over 1 billion accounts. This is a senstive time for users and for Yahoo. Yahoo is on the verge of being acquired by AOL/Verizon for around $4.8 billion, but this could either put the deal on ice or reduce the value of Yahoo (by a lot). Back in Canada, Yahoo is now facing a proposed Class Action Suit on behalf of Canadians with a proposed $50 million suit (a similar one is building momentum in the US).
• My buddy, Chris O’Neill, is the CEO of Evernote. He had a tough week. The note taking/saving company changed it privacy policy last week in a effort to take advantage of forthcoming machine learning features. The wording of the policy sounded like users would be allowing their data to shared with Evernote employees. Not good. Thankfully, Chris clarified the situation, and is in the process of re-wroking the privacy policy, but it speaks to challenges that all companies face when they must adapt to a new/different world. 
• App of the week: Houseparty.

Take a listen right here.