by ·0 Comments

Original Articles: MSNBC, CNBC, Business Insider, Washington Free Beacon

Well, this is a long time coming in my book.  Just wow.  We first learned that Hillary Clinton ran a private email server where she was corresponding with people about government matters while she was the Secretary of State in March (or so) of 2015.  It is now February 2016.  That is almost a full year of “What the hell were you doing FBI?!?”  I really don’t understand why this took so long to get any sort of meaningful announcement from the FBI.  A former inspector general was reported to have indicated in this New York Post article claims that Hillary “never set up an agency email address for her in the first place” – this would mean that any and all communication she was doing as the Secretary of State via email had to be on these insecure channels (namely her private email server).

Continue reading

by ·0 Comments

Recently I’ve heard of a few states (NY and CA, I’m looking in your direction) thinking about outright banning the sale of phones that are capable of encrypting phone contents.  Specifically they claim that the state (namely the police) should have the ability to decrypt and access all the contents of your personal mobile devices (because reasons).  Interestingly enough though, these two states have taken the stance of punishing the seller, not the user (this is a common theme in law).  That means that Apple, Google, and Microsoft (and all other cell phone manufacturers like LG, HTC, OnePlus; and all cell phone providers like Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint) would be unable to sell their equipment in NY and CA (or face stiff penalties of up to $2,500 in the case of CA).  These penalties would be retroactive (how is that even legal???) back to January 1st, 2016.  I don’t see how any of this makes any sense.

Look, I get it.  Law enforcement agencies exists to arrest and subsequently convict people of crimes (under the pretense of the greater public welfare and trust).  Law enforcement needs information to make their cases as air-tight as possible.  Law enforcement also understands that people have their lives on their phones.  Law enforcement therein made the (what I can only assume they thought to be) logical jump to say: we need complete and unrestricted access to cell phone contents.  I do not see how a cell phone (and it’s contents) are not protected by the 4th Amendment of the Constitution of the United States.  The police cannot just barge into your home (without a warrant) and root around for anything that might be suspected of being used in a crime.  Even more than that, even if they do get a warrant it has to be very specific (at least in theory; in practice lately this does not seem to be the case, but that isn’t really in the purview of this discussion) or else the results of the search can be entered as inadmissible.

Encryption is a natural backlash to a string of perceived slights from the public by law enforcement.  Encryption simply denies access to the information by anyone without the access code.  The Supreme Court has recently decided that the 5th Amendment applies to your access codes to your devices.  This means that if your phone is encrypted you cannot be legally coerced into providing your password.  Therefore, an encrypted device would be largely inaccessible to law enforcement.  I can see why they’d be bothered by this.  What I can’t see is how they have any legal basis to declare that encryption is inherently bad (unless in their hands).

Encryption is your final line of defense against people who would use your mobile phone and the data therein to build a case against you (even for something you may not have initially been suspected of).  You should be using it (and there are instructions later in this post about getting it done) for your own (and for your contacts) well being and protection.  It also has the handy ability to make your phone a paperweight upon being stolen (most devices encrypt the bootable partitions of the device, meaning you must enter the decryption code before the device will even start up, meaning you cannot even format it or recover the device without the code.

The funny part is these laws supposedly would apply to goods purchased outside of the state and shipped in as well, but not to goods you physically purchase in another state and then transport into the other state by hand.  This means you would not be able to buy an Apple phone in NY, or via Amazon shipped into NY, but you would be able to drive into NJ, buy the phone, then drive back.  Are they seriously trying to kill their own tax revenues by limiting technology sales?  That seems like a recipe for disaster.

All things considered: I am not surprised by NY claiming that encryption is evil and that police should have access to your data at all times.

I am, however, completely surprised (and taken aback) by CA making the same claim.  I wonder how Apple and Google feel about their headquarters states now?  It astounds me that a state so rife with technology can be so utterly left in the dark ages via their politics.

And if these states honestly expect Apple and Google to stop full device encryption then I think those states are definitely in for a rude awakening (assuming the bill even passes, which I doubt will happen).  Apple’s CEO Tim Cook challenged this anti-encryption mentality in early 2015 with his statements: ““history has shown us that sacrificing our right to privacy can have dire consequences.”  I am honestly surprised that the heads of Google and Microsoft haven’t come out with a similar statement or sentiment.  Regardless I have no doubt that any company would be willing to forgo the sales in a particular state (knowing full well that someone who wants their device would just go a state over to get it).

Whatever the case may end up being one thing is clear: 2016 is going to be an interesting year for encryption technology and end user rights.

For your information:

  1. iPhone
    1. Encrypt your iPhone device
    2. Encrypt your iOS backups
  2. Android
    1. Encrypt your Android device
  3. Windows Phone
    1. Encrypt your Windows Phone device

by ·0 Comments

8th Annual Crunchies Awards – San Francisco – February 5, 2015 | TechCrunch.

Normally I’m pretty neutral when it comes to Tech Awards by websites, but this year I am paying attention (mostly to vote in OnePlus as a recent company because I am in love with the OnePlus One phone I got).

As I was looking through the awards, I came across “Best Technology Achievement”.

On the list is, of course, “Apple Pay”.  I won’t doubt that Apple Pay is a pretty good thing.

But “Best Technology Achievement” ?  What the hell.  Google Wallet has been out for far longer and does it much better.  For all the Crunchies I’ve seen so far, Google Wallet wasn’t on the list in any of the previous years.  It’s truly maddening.

I’ll hear complaints of the following kind:

Apple Pay is more secure because TouchID!  Well, TouchID is broken and was pretty much immediately after being announced.  Google Wallet requires a PIN, which while only 4 characters, is still pretty good.

Device support is limited for Google Wallet! Well, yes, because Android devices aren’t limited to the flavor-of-the-month Apple device.  That being said, if you buy a $100 phone without NFC, you can’t use Google Wallet.  That’s a given.  In fairness, you’re not getting a $100 iPhone any time soon, so… That’s not really a fair comparison, is it?  Didn’t think so.

—

Google Wallet works damn near everywhere that has NFC enabled readers, which is becoming even more common.  And guess what?  If they don’t have NFC enabled readers you can go ahead and get the Google Wallet card which has the added benefit of being a physical card that you can swipe anywhere, thus preventing 3rd-parties from getting your real Credit Card number.

The only thing that Apple Pay has done better than Google Wallet is the damn advertisement.  Google Wallet isn’t really known outside the Android user-base.

It’s frustrating to see Apple getting credit where Google is; honestly though we’ve come to expect that.  Super frustrating, but exactly what is wrong with Technology “Awards” done by websites using 3rd-party entrant lists (Crunchies are user-submitted).

Go figure.

by ·0 Comments

On or about 12/9/2014, Microsoft released a Windows Update for all machines greater and equal to Windows 7, KB3004394.

If you have installed this update, I strongly recommend you remove it as soon as possible.

Through my own testing (and confirmation from various sites whose links I will post below) I can confirm two things:

1) Installing KB3004394 on a machine that has Media Center Extenders attached to it will break the extender functionality.
2) Installing KB3004394 on a Windows 7 machine -can- result in being unable to do any more Windows Updates.

Intrigued? Read on.

I installed KB3004394 on 12/9/2014, as part of my usual bi-weekly update schedule (and also because I was re-imaging my desktop).

I installed it on all my computers (1 Desktop, 2 Laptops, 1 Tablet, 1 HTPC) and on all of them running Windows 7 I started encountering major problems.

I installed it on my HTPC which has a Ceton Echo and an Xbox 360 as a Media Center Extender attached to it for the purposes of watching TV. After the update was installed, I found that upon starting the Extender, I would get the “Windows Media Center” screen and then nothing but a black display. I could still move about the menus (as indicated by the audio playing and what not) but you could not see anything. Uninstalling KB3004394 per these threads (One, Two) and all of a sudden my Extenders were working again.

I installed it on my Desktop which was just freshly rebuilt (I got in on a 480 GB SSD on Amazon!) and all of a sudden I could not install ANY other Windows updates because of error 800706F7.  Looking into the error code in Event Viewer and I saw that it was not able to communicate or properly secure the download of the new updates.  Thanks to my roommate Nick he found that a bunch of other people were having problems with KB3004394 preventing updates (One, Two, Three).  I uninstalled KB3004394 immediately and now my desktop updates properly.

It is very telling that Microsoft has already pulled KB3004394 from Windows Update — you cannot get it from there anymore.

That being said, they can’t fix it with Windows Update because you won’t be able to download any new updates.  You HAVE to manually uninstall KB3004394 to get it back.

Good grief.  Poor quality control and assurance at its finest.

by ·0 Comments

I don’t care if you landed a spacecraft on a comet, your shirt is sexist and ostracizing | The Verge.

—

I speak of course to the people who wrote this atrocious article on The Verge, which I regrettably linked to above so you don’t think I’m sort of insane person.

Matt Taylor, a scientist and engineer at the European Space Agency, is being harassed and harangued by the internet over his choice of clothing during the airing of the landing.  Congratulations on taking what should have been a day of celebration and science and instead making a grown man cry, feeling like his accomplishments will somehow be tarnished for eternity for what he chose to work that day (a shirt that designed and made for him by a woman, mind you).

Congratulations, you are what is wrong with this world.

You, who instead of celebrating a massive accomplishment, decide to attack him for, really, no good reason.

You people who probably feel that the true determination of professionalism is how much you spent on your suit, tie, and shoes (instead of, rightly, how much work you can get done and how well you did that work) are exactly what is wrong with society today.

You do not look at the body of work that someone has provided to a field.  You look and say, huh, I don’t like his shirt, RUIN HIS EXISTENCE.

I am sickened.  This was supposed to be a time of celebration for the scientific community.  Instead of spending time accomplishing science and working hard to further humanity, he is spending time apologizing and trying to do damage control OVER A SHIRT.  DO YOU REALIZE JUST HOW INSANE THIS SOUNDS?!

I am just at a loss.  It’s absurd.

Less than a week later, try to Google Matt Taylor.  Go ahead.  You know what Google recommends?   Not “Matt Taylor Philae”, not “Matt Taylor Rosetta”, not “Matt Taylor Comet”, not even “Matt Taylor Scientist”.  “Matt Taylor Shirt” is what Google recommends.  Do you realize just how ABSURD this is!?

There are plenty of things that need to be addressed about humanity, but PLEASE stop MANUFACTURING hatred over stupid shit!

It’s unbelievable.

And you’re holding us all back.

And you should be ASHAMED of yourself for dwarfing his scientific mastery  and accomplishments by a SHIRT.

Ugh.

And addressing the marvelous people at The Verge, “I don’t care if you wrote a shit-tier bait article, your site (and the article) is atrocious and you should feel bad.”

Alternatively, once you’ve landed something on a comet, you can complain.  Until then, shut the fuck up, leave the man alone, and let him get back to SCIENCE.

by ·0 Comments

Holy Shit We Landed a Spacecraft on a Comet | WIRED.

YAY SCIENCE!

Also, America take note: Europe is surpassing our space program.  Sure, we landed on the moon (YAY! MOON!) but the moon is a large body that has a relatively uniform and stable orbit.

They landed on a COMET.  A relatively small comet, at that.  Sure, they had some problems, like the landing grapple harpoons haven’t fired.  But it’s there! Doing SCIENCE.

Are you REALLY telling me that if an Armageddon scenario happens we’re gonna depend on Europe?  I think we can do better America.  I know we can do better.

Let’s get on that right away.

Update: If you haven’t seen this GIF, you really should look.  It shows just how much science and planning was put into getting that lander there.  Fans of Kerbal Space Program take note: this is what we simulate!

The Lander as It Travels Through the Solar System (GIF)

avZGG4q_460sa_v1

by ·0 Comments

Hey all!

It’s been a long time coming but the new site theme is setup, configured, and ready to go.

Hope you like it.  It’s simple and straightforward, which is exactly what I was looking for.  I also like the default color scheme – so I’m happy too!

Huzzah!

by ·0 Comments

POLICE: ‘Apple Will Become The Phone Of Choice For The Pedophile’ – Business Insider.

—

I think I have a better title: POLICE: We don’t know how the law or technology works, BUT PEDOPHILES ARE SCARY SO THIS IS BAD

Christ and hunter.

It should not be EASY for ANYONE to get complete access to someone’s personal information on any device, let alone a cell phone.

We let you pull the wool over our eyes once, “ZOMG TERRORISTS” is not enough justification, nor is “ZOMG SAFETY”.  Not anymore.

We’ve learned, and it’s about time.

I’m usually the first one to rag on Apple, but this is a VERY smart move and I applaud them for it.

That being said, how about those bendy iPhone 6+’s? (I can’t let it all be positive…)

by ·0 Comments

Link to DFS Framework posted for commentary here.

Let’s go on with some of the basic things:

Section 200.3 License, section (a):

License required.  No person shall, without a license obtained from the superintendent as provided in this Part, engage in any Virtual Currency Business Activity.

Orrrrr basically taking a form of currency which is free and open to all, and thereby locking it behind closed, controlled doors.  You’re clearly missing the point here NY.  Part of the reason we like Crypto Currency is that we DON’T need to ask your permission to have it or use it.  Crypto Currency is OURS, not YOURS.

Section 200.8 Capital Requirements, section (a):

Each Licensee shall maintain at all times such capital as the superintendent determines is sufficient to ensure the financial integrity of the Licensee and its ongoing operations. In determining the minimum amount of capital that must be maintained by a Licensee, the superintendent will consider a variety of factors

So now if I have $1000USD in Dogecoin, I need to have some percentage of that set aside in real USD before I can use it?  YOU’RE MISSING THE POINT.

There is so much more in this document which is just damningly ignorant about technology as a whole and Crypto Currency specifically.

It’s becoming increasingly apparent that government entities are afraid of crypto.  They should be.  It removes them from the process.

And if government doesn’t have a hand in our money, then what real power do they have anymore?

None that matters, anyway.

Hopefully this will get struck down as over-reaching.  Otherwise crypto development will leave NY (and the USA eventually) and go to more forward-thinking countries.  Stop trying to hold us back.  THIS IS THE FUTURE!