Podcast thumbnail for Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks episode The Email Got Me, featuring a phishing email graphic, Canvas and phishing text, and cybersecurity theme.

Season 2, Episode 15: The Email Got Me: Canvas, Phishing, and Social Engineering

, , / Education, Podcast

It was finals week. Students were trying to submit work, check grades, finish projects, and prepare for graduation. Then Canvas became part of a major cybersecurity story. In this episode of Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks, Mr. Fred uses the recent Canvas cybersecurity incident as a real-world teaching moment about phishing, social engineering, AI-assisted scams, and

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Mr. Fred and Dr. Hal Smith discussing whether kids should learn to code on Mr. Fred's Tech Talks Season 2 Episode 14

Season 2, Episode 14: Code, Curiosity, and the Courage to Keep Building

, , , , , , , , , / Interview, Podcast

When was the last time you talked to someone who has actually lived it? Not just read about it. Not just watched a tutorial. Someone who has written real software, built systems that tracked things in space, and then walked into a classroom to help the next generation figure it all out. That is who

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A digital planet for May the Fourth

Season 2, Episode 13: May the Fourth Be With the Builders: Star Wars, Coding, AI, and Future Tech

Podcast

Today is May the Fourth, and Mr. Fred is celebrating with a special episode of Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks. For Mr. Fred, Star Wars is more than lightsabers, space battles, and droids. It helped spark a lifelong interest in technology, imagination, computers, coding, teaching, and helping young people become builders. And May the Fourth is

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Image of a glowing tv

Season 2, Episode 12: How Netflix, YouTube & Spotify Know What You Want

, / Podcast

Recommendation Algorithms Explained Have you ever opened YouTube for one quick video… and suddenly an hour has passed? Or wondered how Spotify always seems to play the perfect next song? It’s not luck. And it’s not magic. It’s recommendation algorithms. In this episode of Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks, we break down how platforms like YouTube,

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An image of a database surrounded by a video game controller, hospital, and restaurant dinner plate.

Season 2, Episode 11: Databases: The Design Thinking Behind Every Game, Hospital, and Restaurant

/ Database, Podcast

If video games can remember your level, your gear, and your progress, what makes that possible? A database. In this episode of Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks, we explore one of the most important but often invisible technologies in our everyday lives. Databases quietly power everything from hospitals and pharmacies to restaurants, airlines, schools, and social

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Scrabble tiles that spell out the word DATA

Season 2, Episode 10: What Is Data? The Invisible Building Block Behind Everything You Do Online

/ Podcast

What is data, really? We hear the word everywhere. Data privacy. Data breaches. Big data. Data-driven decisions. It shows up in headlines, business meetings, school projects, and dinner table conversations. But if someone asked you to explain what data actually is, could you? Most people pause at that question. Not because they are not smart,

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Podcast graphic listing 4 AI tools

Season 2, Episode 8: Vibe Coding AI Tools – I Built the Same App 4 Times… Here’s What Happened

, , / Artificial Intelligence, Coding, Podcast

What Happens When AI Builds Your App for You? I set out to build a simple app for kids. Nothing overly complex. Just an idea: “Backyard Coding Adventures”An app that generates fun outdoor coding challenges based on age. But instead of writing the code myself… I decided to try something different. I tested what people

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A Hand holding a smartphone that is morphing

Shape-Shifting Apps: The Tech Mystery Hiding in Plain Sight

/ Artificial Intelligence, Blog, Cybersecurity, Education, Low Code

Whether you are a student in one of my college technology classes or a regular listener of Mr. Fred’s Tech Talks, you know I enjoy digging into topics that make you stop and think a little differently about technology. Today’s topic is one of those. It sounds like something out of a science fiction movie,

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