Trini TechCast

makeITsimpleTT

Two Trinis talking about tech. Hosted by Andre Charles @makeITsimpleTT and co-hosted by Akeem Deare @redbit_tech Tune in each week as we take you on a journey through the world of technology, from the heart of Trinidad and Tobago to the rest of the globe. Our podcast is your one-stop-shop for all things tech, providing insightful and thought-provoking discussions on both local and international topics. Join us as we explore the latest trends in the tech industry, from groundbreaking innovations to emerging technologies, and discover how they’re impacting our daily lives.

  1. 28 JAN

    EP146: OpenAI government partnership | How do ban social media under 12? | US TikTok is here!

    Okay, so Trinidad and Tobago just went big, partnering with OpenAI to pilot their "Education for Countries" program, making them the first in the Caribbean to officially embed AI tools like ChatGPT Edu into their education system and public service—a massive commitment to go "future-ready." Of course, the big question is always job security, and the government's angle seems to be managing that transformation by emphasizing the need to retool and upskill their workers, essentially saying you have to embrace the change or risk being left on the sidelines of the new digital era. Articles: https://newsday.co.tt/2026/01/23/trinidad-and-tobago-partners-with-openai-for-education-programme/ https://openai.com/index/edu-for-countries/ Okay, first up, we have to talk about the latest headlines from Trinidad and Tobago, which are wild—everything from social media bans for kids under 12 to a deep dive on poor work ethic at regional corporations. But honestly, who has time for all that when you're trying to remember the strict rules of JavaScript Object Notation, which, by the way, has very strong feelings about whether you should use round or square brackets. Article: https://newsday.co.tt/2026/01/20/pm-to-consider-social-media-ban-for-children-under-12/ Well, after years of regulatory drama, TikTok finally dodged a US ban by agreeing to a joint venture that shifts majority control, along with the all-important user data and algorithm, to American investors like Oracle and Silver Lake. Now the question is, did we just trade the possibility of foreign propaganda for a whole new flavor of content control under the new, politically-aligned American ownership? Articles: https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/23/heres-whats-you-should-know-about-the-us-tiktok-deal/ https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cq5yynydvgzo

    1h 5m

  2. 21 JAN

    EP145: FB Marketplace sting operation | TikTok threats for a school | Pay for Tesla Self Driving

    This story out of Trinidad is wild; what was supposed to be a standard Facebook Marketplace transaction turned into a lethal police sting operation, and now two men are dead. We really need to discuss the implications of using that level of force in a scenario that started with an online listing, because suddenly selling a used phone feels like an extreme sport. Article: https://www.guardian.co.tt/news/police-kill-two-in-facebook-marketplace-sting-operation-6.2.2493519.a1d7c0e5a3 Welcome back! It seems school administrators and police are on a digital tightrope, dealing with two major issues: the viral, often baseless TikTok threats that cause nationwide closures and panic, and the targeted harassment by accounts like 'Libs of TikTok' that are consistently followed by serious bomb threats against schools and teachers. You know things are getting complicated when the online threats are escalating to real-world crimes like arson and terroristic charges, all because some kids are posting very, *very* bad content. Article: https://trinidadexpress.com/newsextra/violent-tiktok-threats-target-rio-claro-east-secondary/article_ed372e75-4480-49a8-a08f-53f396fa22ea.html Well, folks, Elon is shaking things up by cutting off the $8,000 FSD purchase after February 14th, making the $99-a-month subscription the only game in town—a move that looks a little desperate given their competition. It's no coincidence this pivot lands right when courts and regulators are scrutinizing the "Full Self-Driving" name, suggesting they're trying to outrun both Waymo and a false advertising claim. Articles: https://www.cnbc.com/2026/01/14/musk-tesla-full-self-driving-subscription-fsd.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JWpB1wmqA6k

    1 hr

  3. 16 JAN

    EP144 (Re-release): Newsday closing down | Licensing office technology experience | Grok image generation abuse

    So, the big news is that Trinidad's Newsday newspaper is officially filing a petition to wind up its operations after 32 years, which is a major blow to the local media landscape. We've got to wonder what this means for the industry—losing a newspaper is never great, especially when the closure is being described with such formal, yet final, legal terms. Article: https://newsday.co.tt/2026/01/09/newsday-to-close-after-32-years-files-petition-to-wind-up-2/ The hosts dove into the Ministry of Works and Transport's new online validation system, noting it's a big step toward modernization by letting users check vehicle registration, view traffic citations, and track demerit points. However, they pointed out the slightly frustrating detail that this new digital document doesn't actually replace the certified paper copy, proving bureaucracy still loves its hard copies. Article: https://apps.mowt.gov.tt/vrv Can you believe the backlash against Grok after the AI started flooding X with non-consensual, sexualized deepfakes of women and, alarmingly, children? In a classic move, X's solution to this global safety crisis was just to put the image-generation feature behind a paywall, which critics pointed out just turned digital sexual abuse into a very shameful premium service. Article: https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/musks-grok-chatbot-restricts-image-generation-after-global-129050464

    1 hr

  4. 7 JAN

    EP143: Finally online immigration form! | Google pay feedback in T&T| The rise of vibe coding

    Welcome back to the show, where the big travel news is that Trinidad and Tobago have finally said goodbye to the tiny pen and the endless paper trail, moving their arrival and departure forms fully online. Honestly, it's about time we stopped wrestling with carbon copies in the airplane seat and embraced this glorious, long-overdue digital leap forward. Article: https://newsday.co.tt/2025/12/21/trinidad-and-tobagos-arrival-departure-forms-go-online/ So, the big news is First Citizens has finally launched Google Pay in Trinidad and Tobago, making them the first to bring this kind of contactless payment to credit card holders locally. Their CEO is clearly pushing hard on digital transformation, basically telling customers to put the physical wallet down and tap that phone, which signals a major shift toward modern payment systems for the country. Article: https://www.guardian.co.tt/business/first-citizens-rolls-out-google-pay-6.2.2463839.c6551f2906 Apparently, it’s still a struggle to track more than one user query over time in Search Console without resorting to some fancy regex, but the bigger issue might be AI. Everyone's building tools to generate complex SQL or SPARQL queries from natural language, but remember that time when some LLMs were just hallucinating article summaries by reading the URL? We're not quite out of the woods yet with these things. Article: https://data.stackexchange.com/stackoverflow/query/1926661#graph

    1h 14m

  5. 1 JAN

    EP 142 Predictions for 2026

    Intro: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=tj_8u2c_v_06cp8a&t=815 Andre's 1st prediction: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=1ipo7PoRRgVCjFBC&t=877 Andre's 2nd prediction: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=eICngbn9MK1T2g7k&t=964 Akeem's 1st prediction: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=fct6ake_kWg2p5kG&t=1012 Akeem's 2nd prediction: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=QOTARy8syE3AOrFv&t=1041 Akeem's 3rd prediction: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=xhF_Lwei_wTT3Z0p&t=1124 Andre's 3rd prediction: https://youtu.be/MZLfgk-_ROE?si=u-KYRcymGHjAr-hz&t=1163

    40 min

  6. 17/12/2025

    EP 141 We're closing off for the year

    Year in Recap

    1h 32m

  7. 28/11/2025

    EP140: Another MOU for AI | AI Deepfake laws in Denmark | Air Drop to Android!

    So, the big news this week is that Trinidad and Tobago is teaming up with the UAE to finally get serious about their digital future—because apparently, 'connected, efficient, and inclusive' isn't just something you hope for, it's something you sign a document for. We're thinking this MoU is the government's way of saying they're ready to make technology a catalyst for growth, or as we like to call it, 'Operation Get Everyone Online. Article: https://newsday.co.tt/2025/11/18/trinidad-and-tobago-signs-mou-with-uae-to-accelerate-digital-future/ So, Denmark is apparently stepping up to save our digital selves, proposing a law that basically says "hands off my face and voice, AI!" It looks like they’re trying to give every citizen copyright control over their own identity—because, you know, we have enough problems without a deepfake version of us running around committing digital crimes. Article: https://apnews.com/article/denmark-deepfakes-artificial-intelligence-ai-law-30ab245dbca6ec834d20738e27fb93c3 Can you believe Google finally cracked AirDrop with Quick Share, meaning Pixel 10 owners can swap files with iPhones, iPads, and Macs? Yeah, but the real issue is that, for now, you still have to set your AirDrop to 'Everyone for 10 minutes,' so much for seamless cross-platform sharing... for *everyone* Article: https://www.theverge.com/news/825228/iphone-airdrop-android-quick-share-pixel-10

    1h 18m

  8. 20/11/2025

    EP139: Payment upgrade for customs | Apple pocket sock!

    Well, it sounds like the payments industry has its hands full, dealing with everything from 'Oh no, not another regulation!' to trying to get the public to actually trust the new digital wallet they downloaded," one host might say. "And don't even get us started on the headache of legacy infrastructure and making sure all these global transactions actually talk to each other—it's a digital Wild West out there, folks. Article: https://www.facebook.com/PaymentInnovationTT/posts/pfbid0HzCMBXFqscw9TBbbcQWWxRh6WFptJjuUBysJ8t49hbyqxT7Y6EqdDP9yqEGsqTaDl?rdid=IX0IccUxADWzSUFG# Okay, so Apple released this new 'iPhone Pocket' with designer Issey Miyake—a strap inspired by a piece of cloth—and people are absolutely losing it over the fact that this thing costs up to $230. Seriously, it’s being called an insanely expensive sock and compared to Borat's swimwear, which really raises the question of whether this low-tech fashion accessory is worth its hefty price tag. Article: https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2025/11/introducing-iphone-pocket-a-beautiful-way-to-wear-and-carry-iphone/

    57 min
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About

Two Trinis talking about tech. Hosted by Andre Charles @makeITsimpleTT and co-hosted by Akeem Deare @redbit_tech Tune in each week as we take you on a journey through the world of technology, from the heart of Trinidad and Tobago to the rest of the globe. Our podcast is your one-stop-shop for all things tech, providing insightful and thought-provoking discussions on both local and international topics. Join us as we explore the latest trends in the tech industry, from groundbreaking innovations to emerging technologies, and discover how they’re impacting our daily lives.

Information

  • Creator
    makeITsimpleTT
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    148
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © makeITsimpleTT
  • Show Website
    Trini TechCast