Iyaz Akhtar is back today and we’ll talk about the launch of Apple Pay, how it works in the real world, and what we bought with it.

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 headlines 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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Iyaz Akhtar, senior associate editor CNET, podcasting on The GFQ Network

Headlines

iOS8.1 came out today which brings back the camera roll, enables handoffs of text and phone calls to OSX Yosemite and enables Apple Pay. The payment system is set up in the Passbook settings and does not store credit card info but creates tokens that are used to identify the phone’s owner. Near-field Communication is used to transfer the token to a credit card terminal that then conducts the transaction entirely with the bank. Personal information is not stored on the phone. 220,000 locations in the US can now accept Apple Pay as well as many apps.

Android Police reports that a forthcoming update for the Gmail app in Android 5.0 Lollipop, will be able to handle email accounts from other providers like Yahoo and Outlook. Users will be able to swipe the screen between accounts or choose them from a dropdown menu once setup. The accounts will still be separate from the user’s Google account so no forwarding or Pop access setup will be necessary.

The Verge’s sources confirm a Forbes report that Microsoft will launch its own wearable fitness band within the next few weeks. In fact sources say it will be stocked in time for sale during the holidays. While it will tell time the device will focus on fitness tracking things like steps, heart rate, and calories burned. It will also supposedly support Windows Phone iOS and Android.

Gigaom reports that Spotify has announced a family plan option, offering up to four extra accounts at a 50% discount. The accounts are under one billing statement, but each family member gets their own Spotify account, so no more confusing muddling of your listening history, recommendations and playlists. Existing accounts can be linked under the new plan. Spotify says the new feature will roll out globally over the coming weeks. “Family” could mean co-workers, roommates and/or chatrealmers, right? When you listen, you’re family!

The BBC reports 40,000 esports fans filled Seoul’s World Cup stadium to watch the 2014 League of Legends World Championship this weekend between the Star Horn Royal Club from China and Samsung White..Thousands more around the world filled up movie theaters to watch the match. For the record Samsung White beat the Star Horn Royal Club to win one million dollars.

News From You

KAPT_Kipper passed along the Gigaom report that IBM is reportedly paying a company Global Foundries 1.5 Billion dollars, but NOT to acquire them. Instead Global Foundries would take over IBM’s commercial chip-making unit, which had been losing up to $1.5 a year. IBM missed sales and profit expectations for the most recent quarter and earned a profit of $3.68 per share, which was 14 percent below the $4.32 that had been expected.

metalfreak submitted the slashdot posting that OS X Yosemite sends a lot of data back to Apple and there does not seem to be a way to shut it off. A GitHub repository says it “provides a corpus of network communications automatically sent to Apple by OSX Yosemite.” Among the info sent is when the user selects “About this Mac” and search terms entered in Safari, no matter what search engine is selected as default. It’s unclear if all privacy options were selected in the OS and what the network communication might be used for.

evilninja01 tipped us off to a stopthecap.com posting claiming South Korea is about to get 10 Gbps broadband. Digital Trends reports Sk Broadband was set to unveil the service at the 2014 ITU Plenipotentiary Conference today. The service could transfer 1 GB of data on0.8 seconds. Of course there’s no word when the service will actually be available to customers. Bell Labs showed off 10 Gbps over copper wire in July. South Korea has an average Internet connection speed of 24.6Mbps, ahead of No. 2 Hong Kong with 15.7 Mbps. No wonder they’re so good at esports.

Erniev23 flagged us to a Guardian report that The Twelfth Doctor has a new mission: teach children to code. A new “Doctor Who” online game debuts Wednesday October 22nd on the CBBC website, and includes voice narration by Peter Capaldi, who portrays the current incarnation on television. The free web game is aimed at children 6-12, using puzzles based on programming concepts to help The Doctor rebuild a Dalek.

And another quick note from Metalfreak. Looks like the ChromeOS devs have changed their mind on EXT2/3/4 file support. NetworkingWorld reports the team changed its mind and plans to re-enable ext2/3/4 support in Files.app immediately. They say “It will come back, just like it was before, and we’re working to get it into the next stable channel release.”

Discussion Links: Apple Pay in the Wild

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/20/ios-8-1-with-apple-pay-now-available-heres-what-else-it-brings-to-your-iphone-and-ipad/?ncid=rss

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/columnist/2014/10/20/apple-pay/17612285/

http://blogs.wsj.com/riskandcompliance/2014/10/20/why-apple-pay-faces-lighter-compliance-than-paypal-google/

http://9to5mac.com/2014/10/20/ios-8-1-apple-pay-icloud-photo-library-continuity/

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-10-20/apple-pay-is-too-anonymous-for-panera-starbucks-and-other-retailers

Pick of the Day: Raspberry Pi w/ XMBC

I know I’m a little late on this, but I’m just catching up on the podcasts this week. I wouldn’t normally dredge up stories mentioned six days ago. However, I’ve been in search of the best HTPC solution for almost a decade. I’ve tried and owned everything, Roku, Apple TV, Google TV, Chromecast, and of course simply hooking my PC up to my TV. The BEST solution though came in unlikely package, it was a Raspberry Pi with XMBC. Obviously a PC is the best solution, but computers are big, loud, hot, and expensive and when it comes to the UI it can be a bit clunky. The Raspberry Pi w/ XMBC (RaspBMC is the official name) gives you all the power and ports you need in an affordable package. I’ve got a Panasonic Viera smart TV’s in the house, so you simply hook the Pi to the TV via HDMI, and it automatically integrates with the TV remote. It’s a little long winded but this video goes into all the details:

This is my first time writing in, but I just had to share this solution because I never hear it mentioned and it’s so incredibly brilliant. You can run 1080p video, with all the features of XMBC, all from an affordable Raspberry Pi that has such a tiny footprint. Hope you find this as interesting as I did.

Plug of the week: Exterminite!

DTNS artist in residence Len Peralta has a new comic out that’s burning up the charts on Amazon. It’s called Exterminite about a company that can go into your dreams and exterminate your nightmares. Check it out!

Tuesday’s guest: Patrick Beja, podcasteur extraordinaire

Len Peralta is a regular every Friday illustrating the show’s stories. His Friday ‘artprov’ is amazing. If you like his work you must check out his new comic ‘Exterminite.’

What if there was a company that could go into your dreams and kill your nightmares? EXTERMINITE is a mind-bending 5-part graphic novel series from Len Peralta, Mikey Neumann, and Kris Straub that will scare you out of your own pants, hilariously.

BUY EXTERMINITE AT AMAZON.COM

Here’s the first five pages free thanks to Len!

Or get a ZIP file.

Mary Jo Foley joins the show to talk about the future of Microsoft under Satya Nadella, particularly Windows. Can Microsoft survive without the Windows cash cow? And Len Peralta illustrates the show.

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 headlines 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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Mary-Jo Foley, All About Microsoft for ZDNet & Len Peralta, artist

Len has a new comic out that’s burning up the charts on Amazon. It’s called Exterminite about a company that can go into your dreams and exterminate your nightmares. Check it out!

Headlines

Fortune Magazine reports that the iPhone 6 and 6 plus went on sale in China today and there were long lines and throngs of people–just not at the Apple store. Turns out the actual Apple store was only selling unlocked phones at the full subsidized price. China’s three major mobile carriers had the discounted, subsidized phones, so that’s where the crowds were.

GigaOm notes Snapchat announced Friday it will begin putting ads in your snapchat feed. In the official blogpost Snapchat wrote: “It’s going to feel a little weird at first, but we’re taking the plunge.” The ads will appear under “Recent Updates,” the section of the app where people’s daily “Stories” show up.

Android Headlines passed along the WSJ report that Google’s BVp of engineering for Andoird, Hiroshi Lockheimer is now also in charge of ChromeOS. Sundar Pichai is in charge of Android, Chrome and Apps. Last month some Android apps were made available for ChomreOS and a hack made practically all of them run. Google has said the two operating systems will remain separate, but it sure looks as if they’re making it easier for them to merge.

PC Mag reports MasterCard and Zwipe announced a contactless payment card with an integrated fingerprint sensor. It’s the magic of TouchID with Google’s NFC Wallet Payment minus the phone. A ssuccessful live pilot was conducted with Norway’s Sparebanken DIN bank. The device is set to roll out internationally next year.

The Verge reports Facebook announced it has been searching anonymous posting sites for leaked passwords and proactively trying them on Facebook. If one works, that user’s password is reset and the user is notified.

The Washington Post reports US President Barack Obama has nominated a former Google executive to lead the US Patent and Trademark office. Michelle K. Lee has been deputy director of the Patent office since January, and has degrees from MIT in electrical engineering and computer science, so confirmation would represent a win for Silicon Valley over the pharmaceutical industry which had wanted the president to appoint one of its own. The position has been vacant for two years.

BusinessWeek reports Argentina launched its first domestically buil communicatiosn satellite Thursday. The ARSAT-1 was launched from French Guiana and will provide digital TV, cellphone service for Argentina, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay for 15 years. It will also improve phone and Internet connections in remote areas, including Antarctica.

Ars Technica reports Whisper CTO Chad DePue took to Hacker News to dispute Guardian claims that Whisper tracks its users even when geolocation has been turned off. DePue called many assertions laughable and ridiculous but did say the company wants to know “where a user is in a general sense for things like tracking time zone so when we send pushes we know not to send pushes at 3 in the morning.” Security researcher Moxie Marlinspike responded that DePue’s comments seemed to confirm Guardian reports and wrote, “if you haven’t designed something that gives you truly unlinkable anonymity, don’t claim to provide it.” The Guardian also responded with more information backing up its claims.

After being accused on Reddit of misrepresenting it’s hardware, the Anonabox router has been suspended by Kickstarter. Anonabox purported to create a simple to use Tor router that you could plug into any computer to provide instant anonymity, especially when used with the Tor browser. As we mentioned earlier this week, the device had not been audited.

News From You

TheGavW let us know about a BBC report that it will begin publishing a continually updating list of its own articles removed from Google searches under the European Union’s right to be forgotten ruling. In a meeting hosted by Google, BBC editorial head David Jordan said that the BBC felt some of its articles had been wrongly removed from the search index, including a blog post by its Economics Editor, which may have been requested for removal by a commenter on the article. An EU spokesman said this particular removal was “not a good judgement” by Google. In turn Google went and banged its head against the wall, saying “that’s what WE TOLD YOU.”

And finally, h82or8 sent us the Boing Boing report that James Comey, head of the FBI said in a speech on Thursday that the “post-Snowden pendulum” is too blame for Apple and Google offering properly-encrypted cellphones and its “gone too far.” He hinted that the administration might seek regulations and laws forcing technology companies to leave a backdoor open for spies on smart phones and other devices. Mr. Comey did not suggest ways to prevent hackers and foreign spies from using the same door.

Discussion Links:

http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-os-chief-myerson-on-the-future-of-one-windows-7000028286/

http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/

http://www.citeworld.com/article/2835278/development/universal-apps-is-the-future-of-windows-development.html

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/10/11/future-microsoft-depends-windows-free/

http://news.microsoft.com/2014/09/30/microsoft-unveils-the-future-of-windows/

Pick of the Day: Boxcryptor via Scott from Terrific Toronto and Terrific Tom from the internet:

Tom,

I love your shows, DTNS and Cordkillers are my top two.

I was listening to your story yesterday about the leaked Dropbox accounts and I was wondering if you have ever used or heard of Boxcryptor?

https://www.boxcryptor.com/

Its a 3rd party app that encrypts your files locally before sending them to what ever cloud storage service you use (DropBox, Google Drive, Box etc…) I use it on my windows 7 laptop, Blackberry 10 smartphone and Android tablet. I enjoy the piece of mind knowing that even if my cloud storage account is hacked, all my files are encrypted.

Monday’s guest: Iyaz Akhtar, senior associate editor CNET

Andrea Smith joins us as we review what Apple announced today from Retina iMac to iPad Air 2 and more.

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 headlines 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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Apple took an hour and 20 minutes this morning to let the press and its fans know the following: iOS8.1 is coming Monday and Apple Pay will launch with it. OS X Yosemite is available today along with a new iWorks Suite. WatchKit for devs is coming in November. The iPad Air 2 and iPad Mini 3 are available for preorders tomorrow, shipping next week. It’s 6.1 mm thin, adds TouchID an A8X processor, M* motion coprocessor, better cameras and silver, space grey and gold colors from $499 to $829. The iPad Mini 3 has TouchID and space grey, silver and gold as well. A new iMac ships today for $2499. It’s 27-inches with a 5120 x 2880 resolution display. And the Mac Mini got a spec bump and a price drop to $499.

One thing not announced in the 82 minutes of one-liners that were the Apple press conference today was a new multi-carrier SIM. TechCrunch notes the Apple website says LTE-equipped models of the iPad Air 2 have an Apple SIM that lets owners use short term plans across a variety of carriers in the US and UK. The list includes AT&T, T-Mobile, and Sprint in the US, and EE in the UK.

ReCode reports Facebook is adding a check-in feature for use during natural disasters, called Safety Check. The idea is to let friends and family know you are safe. If a diaster happens, Safety Check will send a push notification asking if a user is safe. Then the user can check a list of friends and family to see who else has checked in. The feature is active for all 1.3 billion users worldwide.

The Guardian reports anonymous messaging service Whisper is not as anonymous as they have claimed. The company continues to track location by IP address even if geolocation has been turned off. The Guardian claims all data since the launch of the service is stored, even though Whisper says it will only store data for a brief period. Whisper has shared user data with the US Department of Dense, FBI and MI5 and appears to have a lower legal threshold for doing so according to its terms of service. Whisper told the Guardian it “does not follow or track users.”

TechCrunch reports Osmo, an iPad game device not only raided $12 million in Series A funding but will be made available in 284 Apple stores in the US and Canada. The company was founded by Pramod Sharma, who helped build Google’s book-scanning machine, and Jérôme Scholler, who worked on Chrome for Android. The game includes a reflective cameras that attaches to the iPad, a stand, and game tiles in various shapes and letters. The game can recognize the tiles and incorporate them into the games.

The Verge reports Will. i. am unveiled a wrist device called the Puls. While it tells time it also can connect by 3G on its own to make calls and access online services. It mirrors an existing SIM card so you can use the same phone number as your cell phone. It can also pair with wearable batteries for extended life. It will be available in black, white, pink, blue, solid gold, and solid gold with diamonds. No pricing or release date was announced.

PC World reports Lenovo will create a new subsidiary company in order to attack the fast-growing consumer mobile device market in China. Lenovo didn’t use the word Xiaomi in its statement. Lenovo’s new company will focus on “close customer engagement” and have an “Internet-based business model.” But again. They did not use the word Xiaomi or anything that rhymed with it.

Remember how TwitPic was asked to change its name by Twitter, so it announced it was shutting down and then it said it found a buyer so it wouldn’t shut down? Well that was wrong. It couldn’t find a buyer and it is shutting down October 25th. Unless– I don’t know– You wanna buy it?

News From You:

gadgetvirtuoso and spheridan both submitted reports from Gizmodo and iMore that CBS launched an Internet-only service today called CBS All Access for $6 a month through CBS.com and the CBS mobile apps. Subscribers full seasons of 15 prime time series after they air as well as past seasons of 8 popular series. It also includes access to classic TV shows. Subscribers who are in one of 14 markets where CBS owns the local station can watch live streams. That includes New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, Dallas, San Francisco, Boston, Detroit, Minneapolis, Miami, Denver, Sacramento, Pittsburgh and Baltimore. One exception to the live stream is NFL games.

TheLazyOne pointed out a TorrentFreak report on a new study out of Australia that 74% of 12-7 year-olds do not download copyright-infringing materials online. That said, the ones doing the pirating are also spending more money. 69% pay to see movies at the cinema. Among the non-pirates, the figure is just 49%. And 46% of the scofflaws buy movies and TV shows from iTunes compared to 29% of the law-abiding crowd. Teens were the least likely to pirate with piracy rates increasing as Australians aged. Overall piracy rose from 25% of Australisn to 29%. The study was commissioned by the IP Awareness Foundation which counts the MPA, Foxtel and other key industry players among its members.

Discussion Links:

iOS 8.1 is coming on Monday, will bring Apple Pay and Continuity support

Apple releasing OS X Yosemite to the public today for free | Ars Technica

Apple’s iPad Air 2 Is Thinner, Faster, And Has Touch ID | TechCrunch

Apple reveals the 27-inch iMac with Retina Display starting at $2,499

Mac mini: Apple unveils an updated miniature Mac priced from $499 | The Verge

Microsoft’s next Build conference starts April 29th with Windows 10 on the agenda

AnandTech | An Introduction to Semiconductor Physics, Technology, and Industry

Mobile Technology Fact Sheet | Pew Research Center’s Internet & American Life Project

Tomorrow’s guest: Mary-Jo Foley, Microsoft watcher at ZDNet

Andrew Zarian joins us and we’ll debate how good the possibility of HBO’s announced over the top Internet service might be.

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 headlines 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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Andrew Zarian, founder of the GFQ Network

Headlines

CNET reports Google introduced three new Nexus devices today. The 8.9 inch Nexus 9 tablet by HTC, the Nexus 6 smartphone with a 5.93-inch display by Motorola and Asus’s Nexus Player, with Android TV. All run Lollipop, which is the new name for Android L. The Nexus 9 and Nexus Player start preorders October 17 – in stores November 3. Nexus 9 runs from $399 for 16GB up to $599 for 32GB with LTE The Nexus Player is $99 with an optional game controller for $40. You can preorder the Nexus 6 October 29 for sale in November. Sprint, US Cellular, AT&T and T-Mobile will have it in the US. Unlocked it runs $649 for 32GB and $699 for 64 GB.

So when will other phones are get Lollipop? Google says the Nexus 5 smartphone, Nexus 7 and Nexus 10 tablets and Google Play edition devices should get it in the coming weeks. Ars Technica reports HTC promised updates for some flagship phones within 90 days of Lolipop’s release. And Motorola says both the 2013 and 2014 Moto X, the 2013 and 2014 Moto G, the Moto E, and the Droid Ultra, Maxx, and Mini will all get it too though Motorola didn’t say when.

Usually I avoid Apple leaks especially the day before an announcement but this one has actual facts. Mark Gurman at 9to5 Mac discovered screenshots for the iOS 8.1 iPad user guide in iBooks included pictures of an iPad Air 2 and iPad mini 3. The screenshots indicated both new models had touch ID sensors and the iPad 2 has a new Burst mode for pictures. The designs pictured are nearly identical to current iPads.

ReCode reports HBO CEO Richard Plepler told investors at the Time Warner Inc. Investor meeting, “in 2015, we will launch a stand-alone, over-the-top, HBO service in the United States. We will work with our current partners. And, we will explore models with new partners.” Current partners are cablecos who also happen to be ISPs.

ReCode reports Netflix hit expectations for revenue in Q3 with $1.41 billion and 96 cents per share earnings. However they missed on subscriber expectations and the stock market is not happy. In a letter to investors, Reed Hastings wrote, “This quarter we over-forecasted membership growth.”

Ars Technica reports a new vulnerability in SSL version 3 called POODLE has been discovered that could be used to recover session cookies and impersonate users through a man in the middle attack. This is NOT OpenSSL so does not relate to Heartbeat. Modern browsers have switched to TLS not SSL v3 so most client-server interactions won’t be affected. HOWEVER, browsers have a nasty habit of falling back to SSLv3 when TLS fails or doesn’t exist, which mans attackers could use a link to trick a user into becoming vulnerable. What is to be done? Server operators should stop supporting SSLv3. GigaOm reports companies like Twitter, Cloudflare and others have done so. Users should turn off SSLv3 support in their browser. Go to zmap.io/sslv3/browsers.html for instructions. Mozilla and Google have announced they will remove support for SSLv3 from their client software. There is not a way to turn off SSLv3 in Safari or IE6. Hopefully Apple will fix Safari. IE6 on the other hand should be long dead anyway.

Venturebeat reports that Qualcomm will acquire CSR, maker of Bluetooth and GPS chips for $2.5 billion in cash. CSR is based in Cambridge, England; in addition to its chips, the company has branched out into cars, and the internet of things. CSR had previously turned down an acquisition offer from Microchip Technology, a maker of microcontrollers.

ZDNet’s Mary Jo Foley reports Microsoft and Docker have announced Docker container support will be included in the next release of Microsoft Windows’ Server, expected mid 2015. Docker container apps will run on Windows Server or Windows Server Next vm in Azure. Docker uses containers to enable apps to run across platforms, or have multiple apps run at once on one server, without needing a vm.

Ebay reported its 3rd quarter earnings, reported revenues of $4.4 billion, growing 12% from a year ago, and beating both Wall Street’s expectations and Ebay’s own estimates. PayPal is on track to process 1 billion mobile transactions in 2014, with mobile payments this quarter at $12 billion, up 72%.

News From You

ebridges13 submitted the Sploid post about the Aviation Week story on Lockheed Martin’s compact fusion reactor, which is safer and cleaner than nuclear fission. The CFR experiment T4 is about the size of a business jet engine. Up until now fusion reactors were massive in size and expense. Lockheed’s CFR uses plasma containment more efficiently such that for the same size it can generate 10 times more power than a typical fusion reactor. Before you get too excited Lockheed has yet to build a prototype and even then would be 5 years off from production.

MacBytes submitted The Verge Report writeup of the news that Facebook and Apple are offering a new employee benefit: both companies cover the costs of egg-freezing procedures up to $20,000 for individual employees. The procedure, known as oocyte cryopreservation, allows women to harvest healthy reproductive eggs during their most fertile years and freeze them for later. While the procedure is still relatively new, and doctors are still assessing its effectiveness it does indicate that Apple and Facebook are thinking about the needs of their current and possibly future female employees.

KAPT_Kipper submitted the VentureBeat article that Firefox 33 arrives today for Windows, Mac, Linux and Android. Among the new features is support for encoding and decoding OpenH264 sandboxed support through Cisco’s H.264 implementation. It works for WebRTC but not the video tag yet. There are also improvements to the search bar. The Android version has added a send to device option for video that works with Roku and Chromecast devices.

Discussion Links: HBO To Go?

http://recode.net/2014/10/15/hbo-says-its-going-to-start-selling-on-the-web-next-year/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/15/6982281/hbo-go-no-cable-streaming-netflix-worst-nightmare

http://www.timewarner.com/newsroom/press-releases/2014/10/15/hbo-chairman-and-ceo-richard-plepler-announces-hbo-to-offer-a

Pick of the Day: NoRoot Firewall via Loren Ahrens

I developed a problem with my android phone telling me, “Temporary server error, please try again later.” To isolate the app that is causing the problem I am using NoRoot Firewall. Every app that is calling home is easily identified. I’m surprised by a few and the will be uninstalling them now. Since it has been so easy and useful, I thought I’d share it.

Tomorrow’s guest: Andrea Smith, technology journalist

Dan Patterson and Jill Duffy join the show and we talk about the latest Dropbox hack (not hack) and where the line of security responsibility is between you and your services.

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 headlines 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, sebgonz and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests:  Dan Patterson, tech journalist and Jill Duffy, writer and software analyst at PC Mag.com 

Dan and Jill are also the hosts of the upcoming podcast The Signal – check out their site!

http://www.thesignalpodcast.com/

Headlines

TechCrunch noted that Dropbox confirmed 400 account credentials posted to pastebin were in fact for Dropbox accounts. Security chief Anton Mityagin dropbox was not hacked, these were users who had the same password at dropbox as other services. Most of the credentials had already been caught and deactivated and the rest have now been reset so none of the posted credentials are valid. Several hundred more credentials were posted later but Dropbox says those are not associated with Dropbox accounts.

The Next Web reports that Google’s same day delivery service is no longer free. It also got a name change. Google Shopping Express is now just Google Express and brings groceries and other purchases from various stores to your door at a convenient time. The service now costs $4.99 per order, though you can subscribe for $95 a year or $10 monthly, and get first dibs on delivery windows. Memberships can be shared with people in your house. Google also added new retailers, including Barnes&Noble and Nine West shoes and expanded from San Fracnisco, LA and New York to include Chicago, Boston, and Washington, DC.

PC Mag reports August SmartLocks will be coming to Apple store shelves this week for $249.99. The smart lock works in single cylinder deadbolts and lets you create virtual keys on smartphones. Keys can be given to friends through the app and even revoked when necessary. Physical keys work too.

Skype has a new mobile messaging service call Qik. Yeah remember they bought Qik then ignored Qik then shut down Qik. Well now the name is back. Users can share video clips up to 42 seconds which disappear after two weeks, but the sender can delete the video any time. There’s a also Qik Flix which are 5-second clips available on the Android and iPhone apps and coming to Windows phone “in the coming months.” Blocking other users is available for Android and Windows phone but NOT the iPhone App.

The Washington Post reports that the FCC is considering Aereo’s request to be classified as a ‘multi-channel video provider‘ — like a cable or satellite company — subject to all the rules and regulations. This means Aereo could start negotiating with the broadcast networks for ‘retransmission fees.’ Right now no Internet video providers are classified as MPVDs and are basically ignored by the networks. If Aereo gets classified as an MPVD it would have to pay more for content, but the networks would have to let them.

PC Mag reports iSight Partners announced a zero-day Windows vulnerability today that it says Russian attackers are using against US, European and Ukrainian government agencies, NATO, telecom companies and an unnamed US academic organization. The attacks are attributed to a group nicknamed “Sandworm Team” because of their frequent references to the book Dune. Security experts have been tracking the five-year-old group, referred to as “Quedach” by F-Secure, since late 2013.

Android police report on leaked Google ads featuring little Android characters with the slogan “Be Together, Not The Same.” It includes an animated version of the the Nexus 6 running Android L. The video comes with a link to a page on the Android site that isn’t yet live, but probably will be after the Nexus 6 is announced, which Forbes speculates may be as early as tomorrow.

News From You

AllanAv submitted the TechDirt story about a comment on the US FCC’s open Internet guidelines filed by VPN company Golden Frog. The company describes evidence that a wireless broadband provider actively blocked STRTTLS encryption, preventing a user from encrypting SMTP email traffic. Golden Frog described the provider as modifying messages in transit in one case from 250-STRATTTLS to 250-XXXXXXXA causing encryption not to be started.

tm204 passed along the Science Daily report that researchers at Nanyang Technological University have developed a battery that can be recharged to 70% capacity in 2 minutes and have a more than 20-year lifespan. NTU Singapore’s scientists replaced the graphite used for the anode (negative pole) in lithium-ion batteries with a new gel material made from titanium dioxide. Yeah the same stuff in your sunscreen. The nanostructure of titanium dixoxide helps speed up chemical reactions.

AllanAv posted the Wired story about the launch of Kickstarter funding for Anonabox. The $45 open-source router directs all data through Tor, hiding the user’s IP address. The box is tiny enough for two to fit in a pack of cigarettes. While not the first Tor in a box, the hope is that it strikes the best balance of cost, setup, size and security. The project is open source but has not been audited yet for security.

And finally, Bishma submitted the TechCrunch story that Dorian Nakamoto is suing Newsweek for writing an article claiming that he was the creator of Bitcoin. Nakamoto denied creating the crypto currency, and says he was “targeted and victimized by a reckless news organization.” Nakamoto has created a web page asking for donations to his legal case. And yes, in case you were wondering, you can donate by check, money order, credit card and yes, Bitcoin.

Discussion Links:

http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/14/dropbox-pastebin/?ncid=rss

https://blog.dropbox.com/2014/10/dropbox-wasnt-hacked/

http://blog.snapchat.com/post/99998266095/third-party-applications-and-the-snapchat-api

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/13/6958745/is-snapchats-api-too-easy-to-hack

Pick of the Day: Splashtop via Ken Shabby

On Monday’s show you discussed attaching pc’s to televisions and the problems controlling them with wireless mice/keyboards. My pick, Splashtop, is a free remote desktop app that makes controlling your computer with your mobile device easy. Splashtop consists of an app you install on your tablet and a streamer program you install on your mac or pc. Some features are:

You can control your old XP pc using new touch gestures on your tablet. No more trying to use a mouse while in a Lazy Boy. No more having the giant wireless keyboard laying around the living room.

If your mobile device doesn’t run Flash, you can still view Flash web pages by running them on your pc and streaming them to your mobile device.

Splashtop allows you to mute the sound on the pc and listen via your mobile device. This way you can plug in head phones watch without annoying anyone else in the room. It works like the Roku 3 remote with head phone jack.

Not sure how well it would work on a phone, unless you have really small fingers. It might be hard to control your computer on a smaller screen. Works fine on my Nexus 7 and would probably work even better on a 10 inch tablet.

Tomorrow’s guest: Andrew Zarian of the GFQ Network

Iyaz Akhtar is here for our first show from NYC. We’ll talk about whether a PC really belongs in every living room.

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Show Notes

Today’s guest:  Iyaz Akhtar, senior associate editor, cnet.com

Headlines

You know about the Snappening right? SnapSaved is a third party service that apparently got attacked and some snapchat images were stolen. Ars Technica reports that a spokesperson for SnapSaved says the database storing user info about the images was not breached, so no identities can be attached to the images. They say 500 MB of images were accessed. A freelance security researcher contacted Ars and offered to sell 12.9 GB of images and 320 user names though the two aren’t correlated. The usernames have been posted on Pastebin.

Recode reports that Apple will launch the iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus in 36 more countries, including China and India by the end of this month. Apple is on track to have their latest smartphones available in 115 countries by the end of the year, which the company says is its fastest global rollout ever.

On Friday, Standard & Poors downgraded Finland’s sovereign debt from AAA to AA+. Sanctions against Russia and an ageing population are mostly to blame but the decline of its two biggest industries, paper and and cell phones certainly doesn’t help. The Verge reports Finland Prime Minister Alexander Stubb told CNBC Monday, “One could say that the iPhone killed Nokia and the iPad killed the Finnish paper industry, but we’ll make a comeback.” You hear that Tim Cook. They’re Finished because of you. No not Finish well they are Finish but —— never mind.

The BBC reports Samsung claims it has found a way to make WiFi data travel at 4.6Gbps and operate in the 60 GHz band. Samsung researchers limited interferece and improved the antenna to allow signals to travel farther without getting lost. Samsung said it plans to include the technology in TVs, medical devices, phones and smart home appliances.

TechCrunch has an update on Facebook’s internet.org initiative which is working to bring free mobile internet to 4.4 billion offline people . One part of the plan involves working with mobile carriers to improve their networks. In a recent trial in Indonesia (the 4th biggest country for Facebook usage) internet.org says Facebook and Ericsson were able to help speed up Indonesian mobile network XL Axiata by 70%. Mark Zuckerberg was in Jakarta today meeting president-elect. Joko Widodo

News From You

KAPT_Kipper would like you to know that Netflix is now charging a premium to access 4k streaming. The ‘Platinum’ streaming plan requires 25mbps download speed and costs $11.99 a month–that’s compared to the company’s HD streaming plan at $8.99 a month. The premium plan also allows four separate users stream video at once on one account, compared to two on the typical HD subscription. Current 4K streamers will be grandfathered in to their current plan.

MacBytes pointed out The Verge article that Google is testing a new service that connects people searching for health condition information with doctors over video chat. A Reddit user posted a screenshot of the service online and Google confirmed the test to Engadget. Google has a service called Helpouts, a marketplace where “experts” can charge to give lessons and advice over video chat. The screenshot seemed to indicate charging could be a part of this new health service.

metalfreak pointed out the Slashdot posting about devs for Chrome OS dropping support for ext2/3/4 file system on external drives and SD card due to low usage. Since this is the main file system for Linux, that community is not pleased.

Discussion Links: 

http://www.theverge.com/2014/10/13/6969671/living-room-pc

http://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/wireless-touch-keyboard-k400r?crid=26

Pick of the Day:  Soundboard for iPad via Tom

http://www.ambrosiasw.com/utilities/soundboard-ipad/

Tomorrow’s guest: Dan Patterson, tech journalist and Jill Duffy, writer and software analyst at PC Mag.com