Josh Ong joins us today to talk about the Secret app coming to Android, and the secret of Lenovo’s success selling PCs. Will the US government ruin it for them?

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Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Josh Ong, US Editor at The Next Web

Headlines

Dear Hackers, Please stop: Our top vote-getter on the subreddit was submitted by GoodDoc today. The BBC reports eBay is forcing users to change passwords after discovering a database had been attacked and accessed between late February and early March. The database contained encrypted passwords and non-financial data. EBay has seen no evidence of unauthorized use. The attackers achieved access by obtaining employee login credentials. This is probably NOT a ploy to get people to visit eBay for the first time in years, but may have that effect.

More stuff that need different accessories: This morning Apple did not announce that they had purchased Beats. Also, Google didn’t buy Twitch. But Apple did announce a TV service. Nah, kidding. That didn’t happen either. BUT 9to5Mac reports Apple did absolutely confirm that their WWDC keynote will happen Monday, June 2nd at 10 AM Pacific Time and last about two hours. Enough facts. 9to5Mac’s sources say in addition to the expected updates to iOS and OS X, sources say Apple is planning to unveil new hardware. You can think iWatch, I’ll count on retina MacBook Airs.

‘Wait, what? I’m totally not listening to Katy Perry!’The Verge reports Facebook’s app for iOS and Android can now recognize songs and TV shows and add it to your status. “Audio recognition” starts listening as soon as you start typing a status update, and adds it to your status. You opt-in to the feature by tapping a button inside the status window. The feature will roll out gradually over the coming weeks. And Josh, you posted about Facebook adding adding free downloads of anti-malware software to its abuse detection and prevention systems for users with infected devices. A popup notifies Windows users when they attempt to log in that they may be infected.

Psssst, you smell: The Next Web reports the anonymous posting app ‘Secret’ has been released for Android and is available worldwide. You can view a friend-only timeline, take advantage of new posting options like questions that support responses, and see how many of your friends are actually on the network. The friend view is exclusive to Android for now, though it should follow soon.

Better late than never. I guess: VentureBeat reports Microsoft confirmed an update to the Xbox One in June will add support for external hard drives 256 GB and larger, by the USB 3.0 port. The June update will also introduce real names as an option. Yes PS4 users, you’ve already had both of these features for awhile. Activate smugness.

That’s wicked smaht: Josh also posted on The Next Web about SmartThings making more announcements about its home platform. A new certification program will test devices for integration with the platform. New apps for iOS and Android make it easier to add new devices. Sounds like SmartThings wants to become an app store for the smart home. 

Another day, another hack: Reuters reports a sophisticated group attacked a U.S. public utility and compromised its control system network, although there is no evidence operations were affected. The U.S. Industrial Control Systems Cyber Emergency Response Team has worked with the utility to put in place mitigation measures against future attacks. 

News From You

tomgehrke submitted the computerworld report that developers from CERN, birthplace of the Web, have launched an encrypted email service called ProtonMail. The system is browser-based and encrypts messages in the browser before they ever reach a server. In other words, nobody tapping or attacking the server can get your encryption keys and read your messages. ProtonMail was conceived by PhD student Andy Yen led the group that included more than 40 people at one point, including 4 PhD physicists. ProtonMail is currently in public beta and the team is working on Android and iOS apps. 

spsheridan sent in the Ars Technica story that the US state of California has approved rules to allow testing of autonomous vehicles on public roads. The rules go into effect September 16, 2014. While testing has happened previously in the state it was not standardized. Now testers need to apply for a testing permit, certify the drivers with a training program, and secure $5 million in insurance. The permit must be renewed yearly. 

KAPT_Kipper pointed out the Register report that a developer in London claims he accidentally received keys to NBC Universal’s websites because of a username mixup on GitHub. Glenn Shoosmith has the username Glenn. Apparently someone at NBC Universal tried to add a user named Glen to a private repository and when Glenn Shoosmith’s name was autosuggested, they selected it without noticing. The private repository contained all kinds of config files as well as secure Amazon Web Services secret keys and access token to their servers according to Shoosmith. He didn’t touch any of the items and notified NBC of the mistake. His only sign of a response was when the NBC repository disappeared from his dropdown of choices in GitHub.

Discussion Section Links:  Secret, on Android

http://gigaom.com/2014/05/21/anonymous-app-secret-launches-on-android-and-expands-worldwide/

http://thenextweb.com/apps/2014/05/21/secret-launches-android-dedicated-friend-feed-availability-everywhere-world/

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/us-china-lenovo-cybercrime-idINBREA4K0JB20140521

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-21/lenovo-profit-trails-estimates-as-phone-marketing-costs-increase.html

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/uk-cybercrime-usa-china-media-idUKKBN0E107K20140521

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/21/us-lenovo-results-idUSBREA4K04D20140521?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

Pick of the day:  Mpix via Loren Lang

If you’re into photography at any level, you usually reach a point where you want a print that’s a step (or more) above what you can get from your desktop photo printer or the machine at […insert name of national chain store here…]. Enter professional photo labs. There are a number of web services but Mpix is the best one I’ve dealt with. You can get all sorts of products from them (photo books, calendars, cards, etc) as well as high quality prints. Their service can also include framing and retouching, all at a very reasonable price. FYI – Mpix is the lab that a lot of professional photographers use as their go-to fulfillment service. Note: I’m not affiliated with them in any way. I’m just a satisfied customer. Jennie also notes they have Android and iOs Apps with ‘Touch to Print’ functionality.

Thursday’s guest:  Todd Whitehead of Alpha Geek Radio

Lamarr Wilson joins us to talk Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Can it really replace a tablet AND a laptop? Also what are the chances Twitch YouTube alliance is real.

MP3

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Lamarr Wilson, Host of YouTube Weekly and Socially Awkward on Mashable 

Headlines

Erm …  don’t you mean ‘laptop’? Microsoft announced the Surface Pro 3 tablet today emphasizing, let me be clear, it’s only 9.1mm thick and 800 grams heavy. It also has a redesigned kickstand hinge that can hold almost any position up to a 150 degree angle. It also is bigger with a 12-inch screen and 2160 x 1440 resolution in a 3:2 aspect ratio. The new Surface Pro comes with a new stylus as well that is powered and connects by Bluetooth. MS also showed off a new type cover, too, with a redesigned trackpad and sturdier magnetic attachment. The new keyboard is $130. Five models of SurfacePro 3 range from $800 for one with a corei3, 64GB hard drive and 4 GB of RAM up to $1950 for a core i7 with 512GB hard drive and 8 GB of RAM. Pre-orders open on May 21, and retail availability begins on June 20 in the U.S. and to 26 additional markets by the end of August.

China h8s Windows 8: Reuters reports China’s Central Government Procurement Center issued a ban on installing Windows 8 on Chinese government computers, as part of a notice on the use of energy-saving products. The Xinhua news agency reported the ban was to ensure computer security after Microsoft ended support for Windows XP. Windows 7 is apparently still being installed according to Microsoft, which expressed surprise at the notice. Retaliation for pushing off XP? Retaliation for U.S. government accusations? Typo? Could be any of those.

No to Internet fast lanes? U.S. FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler testified before the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Communications and Technology Tuesday. The FCC has used section 706 of the telecommunications act to justify its role in preserving the so-called ‘virtuous cycle’ between users searching for free-flowing information and companies investing in better networks. Wheeler told the committee, “If there is something that interferes with that virtuous cycle — which I believe paid prioritization does — then we can move against it.” 

Google knows what you did last summer: CNET reports Google has introduced Google + Stories and Movies to the G+ social network. The feature automatically curates your photos and videos into so-called ’stories.’ The feature is especially designed for vacations to work as a travelogue. Users will find it on the desktop version of Google + under photos. The feature will come to the Android app later this week and iOS to follow soon.

Can I get a pizza with that update? Dan Rayburn at StreamingMedia.com reports Apple is negotiating paid interconnection deals with some of the largest ISPs in the U.S. in order to improve delivery of cloud-based services. Apple joins Microsoft, Google, Facebook, Pandora, eBay and other content owners who have created their own CDN-like delivery networks.

Snap that app: Skype announced an update to its Xbox One app finally enabling the Snap experience. Essentially, this means you can play a video game on part of the screen while conducting a Skype call at the same time on the rest of the screen. Previously, you could only Snap apps into Skype, now you can do the reverse and Snap Skype into other apps.

Math is hard: Remember all the way back to yesterday when reports circulated that Twitter was looking to buy music streaming site SoundCloud? According to The Verge, it appears the deal is dead, at least for now. The Wall Street Journal reports that Twitter was indeed interested in purchasing SoundCloud, but has backed out of talks because “the numbers didn’t add up.” SoundCloud had been negotiating with Twitter under a period of exclusivity, but now it sounds like the company is free to talk with anyone about a potential purchase.

News From You

tekkyn00b submitted a Russia Today article that California is attempting to limit what the US NSA can do in its state. A bill in the state legislature would require the federal government to get a warrant if it wants cooperation form any California state officials in searching residents cellphone and computer records. The bill passed the California Senate on Monday with only one opposing vote. Similar bills have been introduced in 8 states.

metalfreak sent in the Help Net Security report that May is already a record month for trojans targeting Linux, according to researchers at antivirus maker Dr. Web. Different variants of three trojans seemed to have been created by one entity and mostly carry out denial of service attacks. Another sign of Linux’s rising popularity.

spsheridan sent in the CNET story that officials from 19 countries joined forces to stop 100 alleged hackers associated with malware known as BlackShades. Officials’ searched 359 houses and confiscated more than 1,100 data storage devices, along with cash, firearms and drugs. Blackshades is a Remote Access Tool giving attackers control over a target’s computer. the FBI unsealed an indictment on Monday against two men it’s claiming developed BlackShades — Swedish national Alex Yucel and US citizen Michael Hogue.

Discussion Section Links:  Microsoft Surface Pro 3

http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2014/05/surface-pro-3-sports-12-inch-screen-is-just-9-1mm-thick/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/20/5734102/surface-pro-3-features-pricing-announcement

http://recode.net/2014/05/20/microsoft-unveils-12-inch-surface-pro-3/ http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/20/surface-pro-3-accessories/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/20/the-surface-pro-3-is-microsofts-answer-to-the-macbook-air-again/

http://www.engadget.com/2014/05/20/microsoft-surface-pro-3-hands-on/?ncid=rss_truncated

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/20/5734108/why-twitch-could-be-the-best-billion-google-ever-spends

http://techcrunch.com/2014/05/20/how-google-can-avoid-ruining-twitch/?ncid=rss

Pick of the day:  Arts & Letters Daily via Rich in Lovely Cleveland Today’s pick of the day comes Rich in Lovely Cleveland, (and it is also a long-time favorite of Producer Jennie’s) Rich says: “I had one pick of the day I wanted to share: Arts & Letters Daily. It’s a great place to go for really intriguing longform content, essays, book reviews and op-eds in general. I’ve long had an RSS feed for most of my more “literate” sources, but I enjoy the curation the site provides, while I don’t read every post they put up, in general I want to. The site could use a design overhaul, its barely better than a mediocre geocities site, but the content is excellent. I recommend for anyone that enjoys a good essay. 

Wednesday’s guest:  Josh Ong, US Editor at The Next Web

Iyaz Akhtar is on the show today. We’ll talk about why AT&T is genius for buying DirecTV, and what YouTube would do with Twitch. Also there’s a new big dinosaur.

MP3

Please SUBSCRIBE HERE.

Multiple versions (ogg, video etc.) from Archive.org.

A special thanks to all our Patreon supporters–without you, none of this would be possible.

If you enjoy the show, please consider supporting the show here at the low, low cost of a nickel a day on Patreon. Thank you!

Big thanks to Dan Lueders for the music and Martin Bell for the opening theme!

Big thanks to Mustafa A. from thepolarcat.com for the logo!

Thanks to our mods, Kylde, TomGehrke and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Iyaz Akhtar, senior associate editor at CNET.com, and podcaster on the GFQNetwork

Headlines

Variety reported Sunday that their sources say Google’s YouTube has reached a deal to buy online streaming video service Twitch for more than $1 billion. The all-cash offer is expected to be announced anytime. Twitch’s most popular video streams involve video games, including live gameplay and esports coverage. Twitch claims more than 45 million monthly users. It consumes 1.35% of all bandwidth in North America at peak times, just a little more than HBO Go.

Reuters reports Google acquired Divide, a company that helps corporations manage devices like smartphones that are owned by the employees. In a post on Divide’s website, the company said it would join Google’s Android team. Divide’s app separates a device owner’s own data from corporate data, making it easier for businesses to manage multiple types and brands of devices.

Intel CEO Brian Krzanich told Reuters at MakerFaire that Intel’s next-gen Broadwell processors will ship in time to be used in computers sold during the holiday season, though it might be tough for them to be in time for back-to-school rush. The chips were delayed because of setbacks in a new manufacturing process instituted last October.

Recode reports that “people familiar with both companies” tell them Twitter is considering a deal to buy Soundcloud. The Berlin-based SoundCloud has 250 million users who upload and share audio clips. Twitter launched a Music app last year but killed it in March. Soundcloud for its part might benefit from Twitter’s ad-selling experience.

The Telegraph reports Facebook has added an ask button to relationship status on profile pages. Users who leave their relationship status blank may receive inquiries about it from anyone who can see their profile. Facebook has been adding the Ask button to several elements of the profile section like employer and phone number. There is no way to to turn the ask button off.

Tom would never let Iyaz do dinosaur stories on TNT, but there’s nothing he can do about it now. Boing Boing passes along the discovery of the massive species of dinosaur. It’s just a tad bigger than Argentinasaur, the previous biggest species, but cooler than that, they found a whole herd of them!

News From You

spsheridan submitted the USA Today report that AT&T announced Sunday it plans to acquire DirecTV for $48.5 billion of stock and cash at $95 a share. As a comparison, Comcast is offering $45 billion to buy TWC. Kevin Smithen, an analyst at Macquarie called the deal financial engineering, pointing out the acquisition would bolster AT&T’s free cash flow. Although DirecTV makes money its subscriber growth has slowed. AT&T’s U-Verse TV service has 5.7 million subscribers DirecTV has 20.25 million subscribers in the US.

KAPT_Kipper submitted the 9to5 Mac writeup of Korea Times report that Apple and Samsung are in talks designed to end patent disputes between the two companies. FOSS patents Florian Mueller thinks a settlement could be reached “very soon.” Apple recently agreed to end disputes with Google and work together on patent reform.

metalfreak gave us the ITWorld story on the US Department of Justice obtaining Grand Jury indictments against five Chinese military officials for obtaining information on nuclear plant design, solar manufacturing and other secrets. China denied the allegations and called them, “made up.” Its the first time the US has filed charges of corporate cyber spying against specific officials of foreign governments.

And tekkyn00b posted the verge article on scientists proposing a particle collider that could turn an 80-year old theory on turning light into matter, into reality. The system would work by shooting high-energy photons into a field of other photons, turning some of the massless particles into an electron and positron, AKA matter with mass. 

Discussion Section Links:  DirectAT&T

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/18/us-directv-att-idUSBREA4B0W220140518?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

http://www.theverge.com/2014/5/19/5730854/att-can-bail-on-merger-if-directv-loses-nfl-sunday-ticket

http://recode.net/2014/05/19/att-says-it-wants-to-sell-web-tv-too/

http://recode.net/2014/05/18/att-starts-telling-washington-why-its-directv-deal-should-pass/

http://www.cnet.com/news/regulatory-approval-for-at-tdirectv-may-hinge-on-the-bundle/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://arstechnica.com/business/2014/05/with-comcast-time-warner-merger-looming-att-will-acquire-directtv/

Pick of the day: YouMail via Jake Lackey from Fresno, CA

Hey Tom,

I just wanted to suggest a Pick of the day of YouMail for Android and IOS. I have been using YouMail since my first Blackberry phone years ago and I’m pretty surprised i don’t ever hear anybody ever talking about this app. I didn’t want to have to pay the 2.99 a month for visual voice mail from Verizon and started using YouMail which is totally free. YouMail will automatically forward your voice mails to their service which you upload your contacts to and download the app for your phone. Then on our phone you can see a list of who called and play their message from the app, rather than having to play the messages 1 by 1 and wondering who called. You can skip around and only listen to the messages which you think are important. It even has a spam folder for the messages that you don’t ever want to listen to.
You can set up individual voice mail greetings from a list of suggested downloads from the site or use what they call “smart greeting” which will answer the voice mail with, “hello *insert name here*, *user* cant come to the phone right now please leave a message” like a personal assistant would. Most people who call are shocked that my voice mail knows who is calling me. You can also get transcript for your voice mails and save them as MP3′s and share them. which works great when the doctors office calls and i can just forward the message to my wife, who takes care of that stuff.

I am strictly an Android user and not 100% sure how well it works on iPhone but i know with Android it integrates with the call list and you can play the messages directly from the recent call list on your phone rather than actually opening the app.

You do have to sign up with YouMail at Youmail.com and get an account which is free then you can customize the many different ways you would like your voice mail to be handled. I have unlimited data and not sure how much data this uses on a regular basis but is one of first apps i always download no matter what phone i am using. There is a paid option for this which is only 5 dollars of month which is not required but gives you a ton for features as opposed to the 3 dollars for the Verizon version which gives you nothing extra.

I couldn’t explain everything about this app you will have to just check it out to see how convenient this is. I figured that there are quite a few of your listeners that will get lots of use out of it like i do.

Tuesday’s guest:  Lamarr Wilson