DTNS 2335 – Bending the Light Fantastic

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comAnthony Carboni is on the show and we’ll talk about the latest Invisibility Cloak out of the University Rochester that you could build yourself for $100. It’s continuously multidirectional clocking. what does that mean? Thank goodness Jaime Ruiz is along to help us understand.

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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Anthony Carboni, co-host of We Have Concerns and Jaime Ruiz, Tensor Stylist and Physicist

Headlines

CNET reports that Google may be next to face the wrath of Hollywood in the nude celebrity photo leak blame game. Martin “Mad Dog” Singer, (and yes we verified the nickname at the Lavely & Singer website) represents more than a dozen clients whose images were stolen from their iCloud accounts. So why go after Google? According to Singer, Google was too slow to remove the images from search results, YouTube and Blogspot. In a letter to Google execs, Singer claimed Google could be liable for more than 100 million dollars in damages. He also demanded Google remove the images from its sites, terminate user accounts that host the images and asked for data preservation on all alleged offenders for future litigation. Google claims it has removed tens of thousands of pictures — within hours of the requests being made.

Gigaom reports that Apple has a new tool for people who want to make sure they’re not buying a stolen iPhone. All you have to do is type the IMEI number of the phone you want to buy into the site, and if the device has Apple’s Activation Lock feature on, the site will confirm that, as well as give instructions for wiping the device before you, the legit password-holding owner sell it.

CNET reports Evernote CEO Phil Libin announced a few new features at the Evernote Developer’s Conference today. One, Work Chat lets you chat with other Evernote users from within the system including the ability to see who’s looking at a note and chat with them about it. Apparently the most requested feature from users. The other major feature is called Context which shows you info relevant to what you’re writing or saving. The could include past notes, notes from others or even news items. Both features will come to Android, iOS, Mac and Windows later this year. They also redesigned the Web interface and improved the scanner too.

The EFF notes that software called ComputerCOP, that has been distributed by local law enforcement for years, unfortunately acts like spyware. EFF says they observed the software’s keylogger transmitting to third party servers without encryption. The software maker also claims endorsement by the ACLU, which the ACLU denies. And the US Treasury Department has issued a Fraud Alert over ComputerCOP. At best the software is questionably marketed and badly written to the point it exposes user data to attackers. Law enforcement agencies should beware of the company and users should avoid installing it.

The Next Web reports Google unveiled code for an open source standard called Physical Web. The project attempts to make it easier for Internet of Things devices to talk to each other without the need of intermediaries like apps. Oversimplified, the idea is to assign every connected device with a URL, so that a device like a phone can get short amounts of info without needing a separate app. Examples might be temperature readings, bus arrivals, payments at vending machines and more. The initial release of the Physical Web includes an Android app that can detect URLs broadcast by devices, with an iOS app coming in the future.

TechCrunch reports Facebook has set up a formal review process for approving research. A panel of senior researchers in different subject matters like privacy, legal, research, policy, and engineering will determine if certain types of studies meets the guidelines. The prcoess does not change the way consent is obtained or provide for external auditors. A website at research.facebook.com will centralize all academic work done on the Facebook data set.

 

News From You

wto605 submitted the Reddit thread wherein Redit user cranbourne, who claims to be a Microsoft Dev, asserts that internal rumors at Microsoft say early testing revealed that if the next version of Windows had been called Windows 9 it would have caused bugs in a lot of software. Turns out version checking code often just looks for “Windows9” to decide if the OS is Windows 95 or 98.

loki74 submitted a Gigaom article on the continuing adventures of Robin Hood, who’s secret identity is US FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler. Wheeler was in Minnesota yesterday wagging a finger at “those who seek to block the competitive forces that can produce faster, cheaper, better broadband” and supporting the efforts of city and municipal governments to build their own broadband internet networks. Wheeler’s remarks come near the close of a public comment period about whether the FCC should overrule laws in 19 states that restrict cities from offering internet services.

Sunbun submitted the Android Central story that Roku is beta testing a new feature for the Roku 3 and Roku HDMI Streaming Stick to mirror screens from Android devices. Roku has step-by-step instructions on its site for how to launch the screen mirroring beta for Android devices.

And biocow passes along Elon Musk’s cryptic tweet yesterday, in which he wrote “About time to unveil the D and something else.” The D, might be Tesla’s Model D electric car, set to be revealed at the Paris Motor Show next week. And the ‘something else?’ The Verge wonders if it’s an all-electric bike or an advanced infotainment system, but Biocow suspects it may be the a version of the Hyperloop, possibly in a secret AREA somewhere deep in the Nevada desert. And apparently Musk told CNN Money that by next year the Tesla’s will be 90% self-driven.

Discussion Links:

http://www.reddit.com/r/DailyTechNewsShow/comments/2i0dvz/university_of_rochester_researchers_have_created/

http://www.geek.com/science/university-of-rochester-researchers-have-created-a-functional-multidirectional-invisibility-cloak-1605573/

http://www.engadget.com/2014/09/29/optical-lens-invisibility-cloak/

http://www.rochester.edu/newscenter/watch-rochester-cloak-uses-ordinary-lenses-to-hide-objects-across-continuous-range-of-angles-70592/

http://arxiv.org/abs/1409.4705

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtKBzwKfP8E

Pick of the Day: 2 wifi picks from Matthew Bowen

2 Wifi related picks, 1 hardware & 1 software:

Open-Mesh

AFFORDABLE wireless access points all controlled from a central web login. (Like Meraki) Access points start at $55 with very affordable POE injectors. Now pretty much anyone can afford to have a professional level wireless network with a single SSID and seamless handoffs from one AP to the next.
Instabridge
Available for Android, iOS, Windows, & Mac, Instabridge allows you share wireless networks without sharing the passwords. If you change the password in the app everyone you have shared that password with gets updated. They never see the password, so you can also revoke anyone at any time! It is also great for sharing public WiFi. First time to a bar or restaurant? If another Instabridge user has shared it then you can automatically connect. The devs are extremely responsive and are a joy to give feedback.”

Friday’s guests: Shannon Morse of hak5.org and Len Peralta, artprover

 

DTNS 2334 – Embedded ARM Dealers

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comNicole Lee joins us to talk about ARM’s new version of the mbed OS targeted at the Internet of Things. with OIA, AllSeen, Thread, Zigbee and more out there, will we ever have a unified platform?

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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Nicole Lee, senior editor of social + internet for Engadget

Headlines

Bloomberg Businessweek reports malware targeting the iOS and Android devices of Hong Kong demonstrators has been discovered. Security company Lacoon discovered an Android app purporting to help activists coordinate protests was malware. In tracing its activities Lacoon discovered malware designed to steal information from jailbroken iOS devices. The malicious programs can apparently access your contacts, text messages, call logs, pictures, and keychain.

Microsoft revealed an upcoming addition to Office, called Sway, which can automatically assemble and format presentations. Their called “sways” and are multimedia, animated, interactive presentations that live within a Web container—that can be created, published and viewed from any connected device with access to Microsoft’s OneDrive service. Sway can pull from any website including Facebook and Twitter. And since its Web-based it works across platforms including iOS and Android.

Bloomberg reports Johannes Caspar, Hamburg’s privacy watchdog ordered Google to limit how it combines user data. In 2012 Google changed its privacy policy to unify it and data collection across all its properties. The unification of that data collection is what worries Caspar because it could be misused to “compile detailed movement patterns, detect the social and financial status, and friendship, sexual orientation and the relationship status.” Caspar said users must have the ability to determine how their data is used.

TechCrunch reports Facebook’s VP of Product, Chris Cox posted on Facebook today, apologizing on behalf of the company for any hardship caused by Facebook’s real names policy. Controversy began when a single user flagged hundreds of Facebooks pages of drag queens for using fake names. The pattern wasn’t noticed among the thousands of reports for fake names Facebook deals with daily. Cox said Facebook will improve its tools for dealing with reports as well as provide more deliberate customer service to flagged accounts.

TechCrunch reports that the Windows 10 Technical Preview is now available as a free download for those who want to test drive the new OS, or help hunt bugs in early builds. You can either update a Windows installation or get an ISO to use on a virtual machine or other device. If you join the Windows Insider Program, you’ll be able to submit feedback through a dedicated app. The preview expires in mid-April of 2015. If you want to take the plunge, head to preview.windows.com.

Bloomberg reports that “people familiar with the plans” say Apple will add a gold color option to the latest version of the iPad, which rumors say might be unveiled at a rumored announcement rumored to take place October 21st. Apple oddly, declined to comment, but other Apple products have been gold so that makes this rumor GOLDEN.

GigaOm reports Verizon decided at the last minute not to begin throttling unlimited plan subscribers on its LTE network. The plan had been starting today that when the network was congested to knock the heaviest unlimited plan users down to 3G speeds. Verizon’s statement says after a few months of “dialogue” the company “decided not to move forward with the planned implementation of network optimization for 4G LTE customers on unlimited plans.”

News From You

KAPT_Kipper: Rule Brittania, Brittania rule the Wav Files, and MP3s and VOBs and, well, what I’m trying to say is UK copyright law has been amended and starting today subjects of Her Majesty are free to copy MP3s, CDs DVDs and live broadcasts for personal use, as well as enjoy broader fair use, parody and qiuotation rights. This means you are no longer a bandit filthy outlaw for copying music to your phone or cloud storage folder. You can also quote and parody the work of others without permission.

Don’t mind the gap. The screen gap that is. RunawaySnail submitted a 9 to 5 google report that early purchasers of the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 have complained of a small gap between the screen and the device case. GAPGATE!!!!! Today Android Central discovered that the Note 4 owners manual actually references the screen gap, calling it “”a necessary manufacturing feature”” and states that some rocking or vibration of parts may occur. The manual goes on to explain that “”friction between parts may cause this gap to expand slightly.”” GAPGATE OVER! The Galaxy Note 4 went on sale September 26 in Korea.

And Metalfreak sent us a PC World article about the Google Play store, which is attempting to add more transparency by making developers list a price range for in-app purchases in their app descriptions. The article includes a screen grab of EA’s FIFA 15 Ultimate Team with a range from 99 cents to $99.99. The Google Play store does not require developers to list exactly which items cost how much, so your next question, what the heck could be worth $100 in FIFA 15 Ultimate Team remains, for now, unanswered.

Discussion Links: Unify the internet of things!

http://www.engadget.com/2014/10/01/arm-mbed-device-platform/?ncid=rss_truncated

https://mbed.org/ecosystem/partners/

http://www.oracle.com/us/solutions/internetofthings/overview/index.html

http://www.contiki-os.org/

http://www.cnet.com/news/internet-of-things-promote-thread-protocol-at-google/#ftag=CAD590a51e

http://www.cnet.com/news/internet-of-things-gets-a-hand-from-arm-operating-system/

https://allseenalliance.org/

http://openinterconnect.org/

http://linuxgizmos.com/open-interconnect-consortium-takes-on-qualcomms-allseen/ 

Pick of the Day: G.I Joe Coffee Company via Scott Napier

G.I Joe Coffee Company is awesome. They sell fair trade, good quality coffee, but 20% of all proceeds go to support disabled veterans. I know you get tons of picks, but I figured I had to throw one in the mix since it is a cause near and dear to my heart (retired Army and 90% disabled myself).

Thursday’s guest: Anthony Carboni

 

S&L Podcast – #191 – Tom Merritt, Kindle Hater

From excitement about a new book in the Old Man’s War series, to a rising demand for SciFi, things are looking up on the laser side. We also find out that Tom doesn’t use a Kindle and Veronica’s opinion on spiders.     

Download here!

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Yorkshire Gold Tea    
Veronica: Hendricks Gin and Tonic    
    
QUICK BURNS
    
Joanna: Next Old Man’s War book from John Scalzi announced. 
The End of All Things

    
SporadicReviews: Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy optioned for TV!
    
Joe Informatico: FOX has committed to a put pilot* for a TV series based on the DC Comics (former Vertigo imprint) version of Lucifer, Lord of Hell. Lucifer first appeared in the Neil Gaiman-written Sandman comics before later featuring in his own Vertigo series. 

*I had to look this up. Apparently a “”put pilot”” means the network/channel agrees to air the pilot with substantial financial penalties to the development studio if they back out. This is generally a sure sign the network will pick up the pilot.   
    
SporadicReviews pointed out Pyr books in a blog post wrote: “We’ve recently heard from independent booksellers that their customers are hungry for science fiction again, despite the predominance of fantasy over these last several years. 
    
Paul: New Kindle Voyage looks cool.

PICKS
    
ShadowShow by Brad Strickland    

Book Discussion:     
Next time we’ll discuss The Steel Remains by Richard K. Morgan Post your thoughts to the thread and we’ll discuss more about them next time!    
    
Find more upcoming releases at swordandlaser.com/calendar    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD 
    
Good books that are driven distinctly by outstanding dialogue?    
What’s with the giant spiders?    
Peter V. Brett Calls Out DC Comics on Sexism    

BOOK OF THE MONTH DISCUSSION    
    
Kick Off Alif the Unseen by G. Willow Wilson
S&L Podcast – #112 – Interview with G. Willow Wilson! — Sword & Laser    

Wrap-Up    

Stories of Your Life and others by Ted Chiang    
SoYLaO: The Common Thread of the Stories (Mild Spoilers)  – Carolina 
    
ADDENDUMS    
    
Support our show on Patreon    

DTNS 2333 – Windows 8, Nein and 10

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comMolly Wood and Patrick Beja join me to discuss why Microsoft skipped Windows 9, and what windows 10 means for the future of the world’s most popular desktop OS.

MP3

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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Patrick Beja and Molly Wood!  

Headlines

Microsoft announced the next version of Windows will be called Windows 10 and be released sometime late in 2015. Windows 10 will be one platform and app store across phones, tablets, laptops and desktops. More info on universal apps will come at the BUILD conference in April. Among the new features, Microsoft confirmed the start menu will return in Windows 10 and tiled apps will be allowed to run in a windowed mode. A technical preview will be released starting tomorrow at preview.windows.com

Ebay announced Tuesday it will spin off Paypal into a separate publicly traded company in the second half of 2015. Carl Icahn has been encouraging the company to do so. So who’s in charge after the split? Ebay’s current CEO John Donahoe will step down. Dan Shulman recently of American Express, will take over as CEO of Paypal. And Devin Wenig who leads the EBay marketplace division will become CEO of eBay.

Engadget reports Apple has announced the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus will go on sale in China on October 17th. Apple received a license to sell the phones earlier Tuesday. Pre-orders for the iPhone in China will start October 10th. The phones will support TD-LTE and FDD-LTE, meaning 4G speeds on China Mobile, China Telecom and China Unicom.

Movie riddle: When is a sequel also a first? As you ponder all the possible answers to that question, The New York Times has theirs: Netflix and The Weinstein company are teaming up to make Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Green Legend, the first movie to have a major theatrical release and a Netflix release on the same day. The movie will only be released in IMAX theaters, not traditional theaters so it’s not the quite full Cordkillers dream come true, but Netflix’s chief content officer Ted Sarandos said he hoped this “will be a proof point that the sky doesn’t fall.” Said theater owners: “THE SKY IS FALLING!”

Spotted at Paris Fashion Week: The Apple Watch. Apple Insider reports that Apple design chief Jony Ive took his ‘Switzerland-terrorizing’ watch to Paris and introduced it to the likes of Vogue editor Anna Wintour and Chanel’s Karl Lagerfeld at hip, Parisian boutique Colette. Mere mortals were also briefly allowed to view the Apple Watch as well, making it the first time Apple’s wearable has been seen by the general public.

ReCode reports Intel-owned Basis announced a new watch called the Peak. The Peak counts your steps, measures your heart and does some smartwatch stuff like phone notifications using Bluetooth LE. It also claims 4 days of battery life and is waterproof. Its made of anodized aluminum ,with a Gorilla Glass 3 face and comes in matte black and brushed silver. The watch works with iOS and Android, starts at $200, and will ship starting in early November.

Reuters reports that outgoing US Attorney General Eric Holder expressed his concern about data encryption that allows you, the data’s owner to be the only one who can unlock it. In a speech to the Global Alliance Against Child Sexual Abuse Online, Holder said “It is fully possible to permit law enforcement to do its job while still adequately protecting personal privacy” and that quick access to phone data can help law enforcement officers find and protect victims, such as those targeted by kidnappers and sexual predators.

ReCode reports Reddit raised $50 million in funding which by itself isn’t huge news, but the interesting thing is that the round was led by Y Combinator president Sam Altman who plans to allocate 10% of the equity to Reddit users. How that equity would be distributed is yet to be determined but Altman said Reddit may dole out shares using a distributed accounting system, a la the bitcoin block chain.

 

 

 

News From You

metalfreak posted the liliputing article that Google’s Project Ara, the modular smartphone, will allow hot swapping of all modules except the CPU and screen. A custom version of Google L lets you swap out cameras, sensors, even the battery, without having to reboot. A working model of Project Ara will be shown off at a developer’s conference in December and the phone is expected to launch in early 2015.

mranthropology submitted the CNET article about Matchstick, a $25 HDMI streaming stick that powered by Firefox OS. The device is open on the software and hardware side. It’s compatible with many existing Chomrecast apps and hopes to have more apps from the Mozilla developers created by launch time. Backers of the Matchstick Kickstarter can get the stick at a discount.

MacBytes pointed out the Apple Insider story that Apple issued a patch late Monday to fix the Shellshock vulnerability in OS X. The update fixes the security flaw in bash for OS X Mavericks, Mountain Lion and Lion. Users would have to configure certain services for OS X to have been vulnerable, but now even those users have a fix.

Discussion Links:  

http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2014/09/30/microsoft-announces-windows-10/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/30/6873963/windows-10-continuum-touch-interface

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/preview-coming-soon

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/30/6874413/windows-10-whats-old-is-new-again

Pick of the Day: Archive.org via Allan Palmer

Like many of your listeners I am interested in the tech of podcasting itself, both as an aspiring podcaster and also out of technology interest. You host at archive.org. Not an obvious choice one hears about often. Could you use archive.org as a pick sometime and go through why you use it? Love the show. Keep going!

Wednesday’s guest: 

 

Cordkillers Ep. 38 – Tony Stark in a Cubicle

Should the FCC allow Internet cable services? Did Amazon have its House of Cards moment? Is Roku sleazy?

Download video

Download audio

CordKillers: Ep. 38 – Tony Stark in a Cubicle
Recorded: September 29, 2014
Guest: Roberto Villegas

Intro Video 

Primary Target

  • FCC Proposes Defining ‘Linear’ OVDs as MVPDs
  • -Multichannel news has ‘multiple sources’ who say FCC
    – Preparing NPRM define an online video provider that delivers a linear stream of programming as an –MVPD, similar to a cable or satellite operator.
    – Would have access to programming through access rules but also negotiate retrans fees.
    – The FCC tentatively concluded that an MVPD has to have control of both the content and the transmission path .
    – That killed Sky Angel which suspended service when Discovery pulled out
    – New rules would remove requirement for transmission path
    – NCTA argues transmission path necessary. Argues this would be “regulation of the Internet”

Signal Intelligence

Gear Up

  • As Roku grows, it’s moving towards pay-to-play for successful channels 
  • – Roku has 1800 channels. Open to anybody through an API and a few rules
    – Now calling popular channels and asking for revenue deals.
    – Sources told GigaOm’s Janko Roetgerrs they were pretty aggressive
    – Roku Stephen Shannon (Gm SVP content and services) says as revenue increases Roku has more sophisticated offerings which share revenue but increase promotion
    – Roku considers themselves an “Internet Services Company”
    – Margins on $50 boxes are not large

Front Lines

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

Hey guys,

I’ve loved your show since the FR days.

So you have been talking about spoilers recently, and I have a question for Tom. You mentioned on It’s Spoilerin Time that Brian’s spoilers for the season finale of The Leftovers did not affect your enjoyment of the episode. Then later you discussed Mum, one of the most pivotal episodes of The Shield (amazing show!), and I’m curious if you would have enjoyed that as much if you knew what was going to happen. It sounds like you experienced the gut-punch from this episode that Brian felt when he watched The Leftovers finale. Of course enjoying an episode and having that “Holy s–t!” feeling don’t have to be the same, but I think there are certain scenes that have such an impact, it’s better not to know what’s coming. [And there’s another scene that you will eventually experience with The Shield that will make this one seem tame.]

Oh, and fun fact for Brian: the writer, or at least co-writer of Mum was Kurt Sutter, the creator of Sons of Anarchy (another great show).

Thanks guys. You rock.

 Daryl

 

 Hey guys, it’s your boss. Though it is my first time contacting you, I have been a listener since the days of a show that I think was called “RameFrate”

Literally days away from breaking down and signing up for the service, I decided, on a whim, to connect a coax cable to an empty outlet behind my TV to see if any channels were able to be received. When I did a channel-scan, however, I was shocked to find that I am receiving almost 80 channels for free. Granted most of these are music, shopping, and crappy old movie channels, but I am getting all of the broadcast stations based in Memphis, Sundance, AMC, SEC network, NFL network, and Fox Sports 2, most in HD. When I researched this, I found that many cable providers send a few unscrambled QAM channels out over any active line. Apparently, as long as I continue receiving internet service, these channels are both legal and free. The only drawbacks that I have found are a lack of a channel guide and channels sometimes moving around. All that I really wanted was the local broadcast stations in order to watch local sports programming, so this has saved me from signing up for TV service. I hope that this will be helpful to some of your listeners in the same way that it was to me. Thanks for a great show!

 

Jared

 

 

Links

patreon.com/cordkillers
Dog House Systems Cordkiller box

DTNS 2332 – There’s always room for Ello

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comTodd Whitehead is on the show today. In light of Facebook’s new launch of Atlas to market to people across devices and even offline, we’ll talk about whether we’re OK being the product or not. Ello anyone?

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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Todd Whitehead of Alpha Geek Radio

Headlines

Facebook announced it’s relaunching its Atlas ad platform with a new interface and the ability to track people across devices and even bridge the gap between online ad impressions and offline purchases. Techcrunch reports Facebook is quick to remind us that Atlas isn’t an add network but meant to measure and verify ad impressions. Facebook calls it “people-based marketing.” Although it also assures us that the data is encrypted and not associated with individual people. So they in no way have little private dossiers about every single thing that you do in your life. Nope.

The Verge reports Cloudflare deployed universal SSL offering free SSL encryption to any site that opts in, including customers of Cloudflare’s free service. Cloudflare says “Yesterday, there were about 2 million sites active on the Internet that supported encrypted connections. By the end of the day today, we’ll have doubled that.”

The New York Times reports that all those folks waiting in line to buy iPhones so they could resell them in China may not have paid off as much as hoped. The iPhone 6 and 6 plus have not been approved for official sale in China yet. The Times tells anecdotes of falling prices on grey market iPhones and one wholesaler complaining they have way too many iPhone 6’s in stock. MacRumors reports a leaked internal memo indicates the iPhone may be approved for sale soon, hit stores October 7th and go on sale in China October 10th.

CNET reports that Microsoft will open a flagship retail store in New York City on Fifth Avenue, replacing a Fendi store. Back when Microsoft launched the original Surface back in 2012, the company opened a pop-up store in Times Square, and they do have some retail stores in the New York area, but this is their first permanent Manhattan location. No word on an opening date yet.

Ars Technica reports that Adobe is finally bringing Photoshop to Chromebook as part of its Creative Cloud offering. As such, the app will be accessed remotely not stored locally. This streaming Photoshop will run in a “”virtualized environment” but won’t have GPU support at launch. The network requirements are listed as “5 mbps/max latency 250,” and right now the program is in beta and only available to US education customers who subscribe to Adobe’s creative cloud.

Lenovo announced it will officially close its acquisition of IBM’s x86 server business on October 1st. CNET reports that will make Lenovo the third largest seller in the x86 server market. IBM will continue to provide maintenance support on the servers for a certain extended period time.

FireChat has become a popular tool for sharing information among students demonstrating in Hong Kong. The app allows communication in a mesh network using Bluetooth and Apple’s Multipeer Connectivity Framework when cell data or WiFi won’t work. TechinAsia reports student activist leader Joshua Wong posted a message urging people to download FireChat in anticipation of poor cellular network connectivity.

News From You

gullwingdmc passes along a 9 to 5 Mac report that Apple has removed an app called Launcher from its App Store for “misuse of widgets.” The app allowed users to create custom shortcuts to apps from Notification Center. Users who already upgraded to the pro version of the app through an in-app purchase will still be able to use the pro capabilities, but no one else will be able to purchase the upgrade. Apple said there is no chance that Launcher will be allowed back with the widget functionality still in place. So remember to treat your widgets with kindness and respect, people.

habichuelacondulce pointed out the Ars Technica article on research out of the University of Central Florida that indicated Google Glass is no safer than phones for texting while driving. However Glass users did regain control of their vehicles faster than phone users following traffic incidents. This adds to other studies that generally show the distraction of texting or calls is the danger not the form factor of the device upon which they are accessed.

diggsalot submitted the BGR report that Microsoft may make Windows 9 free at least for some customers. Among the many reports, Indonesian online publication Detik said earlier this week that President of Microsoft Indonesia Andreas Diantoro said Windows 9 would be free to existing Windows 8 users. Microsoft has an announcement about Windows scheduled for tomorrow Sept. 30.

Discussion Links:  The Product is YOU.

http://techcrunch.com/2014/09/28/facebook-atlas-relaunch/

http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/28/facebook-acquires-atlas/

http://atlassolutions.com/2014/09/29/meet-the-new-atlas/

http://techcrunch.com/2013/12/13/facebook-custom-audiences-measurement/

http://www.businessinsider.com/interview-with-ello-founder-paul-budnitz-on-how-his-social-network-will-make-money-2014-9

Pick of the Day: The Evoluent vertical mouse via Dave Popovich

Dave Popovich of Stuart, Florida writes: Wanted to share a product that has saved me lots of medical bills. Being a network administrator for 500 users in 9 locations, you can guess I spend a lot of time at my computer using my mouse. And that meant I would drive home after work, and massage my right forearm because of the dull ache of the carpal tunnel pain.

I don’t remember how I discovered this product, but it has really made a difference – the Evoluent vertical mouse at http://Evoluent.com. I have been using the regular size, right handed, wired versions for years now, at home and at work and have no more wrist pain! It works by turning your hand 90 degrees so you rest your arm on the outside bones and not the soft tissue of the inside arm. They also make smaller mice and left-handed mice!

Only caveats: with years of training to use a mouse one way, you are a bit less accurate at first using the vertical mouse. just takes a little practice. Also, the mouse has LOTS of extra buttons, which I found got in the way, but just go into the driver and set those trouble buttons to not do anything.

It really has changed my life and many vendors and computer service folks are very interested when they see it on my desk.

Tuesday’s guests: Patrick Beja and Molly Wood!  

DTNS 2331 – It’s a Fug

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comDarren Kitchen is back to follow up with what we should know about shellshock, plus some good news for a few drones out there. And Len Peralta illustrates the show, artprov style!

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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guests: Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta

Headlines

GigaOm reports good news for BlackBerry. But first the bad news. Handset sales were down 200,000 to 2.4 million and the company lost $207 million. HOWEVER that’s quite a bit less than the $965 million it dumped a year ago, not to mention it has $3.1 billion in the bank. Plus the Blackberry Passport has received 200,000 pre-orders.

SysAdmins the world over continue to deal with the shellshock vulnerability with patches out for most Linux distros, though not all of them complete. Consumers should be most concerned about devices with embedded systems like routers and webcams as well as OS X. Apple says most OS x users will not have the Unix services turned on that would allow attackers to take advantage of the vulnerability. However a patch is in the works. Bash maintainer Chet Ramey said on Twitter he had notified Apple of shellshock several times before it was made public. Apple uses an older version of Bash, v 3.2.51.(1) because the company avoids GPLv3-licensed software like Frankenstein’s monster avoids villagers with torches.

Reuters reports the European Aviation Safety Agency said Friday it will allow passengers to use portable electronic devices throughout the entire flight without being in airplane mode. EASA said This is the latest regulatory step toward enabling the ability to offer ‘gate-to-gate’ telecommunication or Wifi services.” Each airline will have to conduct a safety assessment before changing their policies.

TechCrunch reports Apple released iOS 8.0.2. The new update includes all original fixes promised in the earlier update, and fixes the cell reception issue with iPhone 6 and 6+, as well as a bug in the HealthKit app that delayed release of compatible apps, and a bug where third-party keyboards would default back to Apple’s keyboard when activated inside an app. Apple said in their apology that fewer than 40,000 devices were affected by the bad release which was pulled after an hour.

The tech press all decided to notice social network Ello today, possibly due to it being Friday. Engadget reports Ello is notching up 20,000 new users an hour despite being invite only. Ello is created by designers and artists, its CEO Paul Budnitz is founder of toy company Kidrobot. Its central premise is that it won’t turn you into a product to sell to advertisers. So no ads. The idea is to provide basic functions for free but more advanced functions, like multiple accounts managed from one login might cost you $2. Budnitz says “We’re not competing. We’re just building this thing that we really want to use.”

ZDNet reports that Amazon has officially acquired game-streaming service Twitch and its more than 55 million active monthly users, for $970 million. Amazon VP of games Mike Frazzini said the deal came together after Amazon met with Twitch leaders and decided their culture was “an awesome fit with Amazon’s culture.” To recap, Amazon now owns an incredibly popular live-streaming platform for less than one Instagram.

Re/code reports that Intel will pay up to $1.5 billion for a 20% stake in two mobile chipmakers with ties to the Chinese government. Intel will acquire the stake in Spreadtrum Communications and RDA Microelectronics through a deal with Tsinghua Unigroup in an attempt to catch up to rival Qualcomm in the mobile chip market.

 

News From You

habichuelcondulce pointed out Samsung announced its highest capacity SSD yet. The SM1715 can store 3.2 TB of data and is in production. The drive is made using Samsung’s 3D V-NAND technology, in which storage chips are placed on top of each other. The random read speed of the drive is 750,000 IOPS (input/output operations per second) and write speed is 130,000 IOPS. Price and ship dates were not announced. Hopefully it’s cheaper than the $20,000 LSI Nytro 3.2 TB SSD.

spsheridan shares a BBC report that the US Federal Bureau of Investigations is “very concerned” about Apple and Google’s plans to create file encryption systems to which the companies would have no access. The head of the FBI James Comey told reporters that lives could depend on continuing access to device data. The FBI is holding conversations with both companies. Apple and Google have not yet responded. “we have keys to all your houses… oops I wasn’t supposed to say that,” Comey is imagined to have said.

ancrod2 pointed out the Moscow Times article noting Russia’s Roskomnadzor agency, which supervises the media and communications, has notified Google, Facebook and Twitter that they must register as “organizers of inofrmation distribution” and therefore keep information about Russian users on servers located inside the country. The companies have until the end of the year to register or risk administrative sanctions.

Discussion Links:  Shellshock and Drones

http://seclists.org/oss-sec/2014/q3/741

http://www.imore.com/apple-working-quickly-protect-os-x-against-shellshock-exploit

http://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/146849/how-do-i-recompile-bash-to-avoid-shellshock-the-remote-exploit-cve-2014-6271-an/146851#146851

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/09/25/google-and-amazon-respond-to-shellshock-security-flaw/?mod=rss_Technology

https://gigaom.com/2014/09/26/companies-and-organizations-react-to-shellshock-flaw-with-patches-and-advice/

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/25/us-drones-exemptions-implications-idUSKCN0HK2RG20140925?feedType=RSS&feedName=technologyNews

http://www.cnet.com/news/faa-opens-the-door-for-movie-making-drones/#ftag=CAD590a51e

Pick of the Day: Teleprompter+ via Tom

Monday’s guest: Todd Whitehead of Alpha Geek Radio

DTNS 2330 – B*A*S*H

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comBreki Tomasson is on the show and while we will touch on a glaring omission from Healthkit, the main story is the bash vulnerability Shellshock. Thankfully Steve Gibson agreed to drop in and explain it to us!

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 and scottierowland on the subreddit

Show Notes

Today’s guest: Breki Tomasson, creator of the CSICon podcasting network and Steve Gibson, co-host of Security Now and head of the Gibson Research Corporation

Headlines

Last week a vulnerability in bash was reported to Red Hat by Unix expert Stephane Chazelas. The vulnerability was revealed late Wednesday. GigaOm has a good roundup of the details, but it essentially allows an environmental variable with an arbitrary name to carry a malicious function definition with trailing commands. That means it can get your server to execute code. It affects any OS that implements bash which includes Apache, most versions of Linux and Mac OS X. It also can include many routers, webcams and other embedded systems. Red Hat issued a partial patch and Akamai published some mitigation measures, but more fixes from more vendors are expected.

TechCrunch reports Apple says bent iPhone 6s are extremely rare and claims only nine people have complained to the company about it. Apple claims under normal use the problem rarely occurs and notes the new iPhones are built with steel/titanium inserts to reinforce stress locations. Apple also claims iPhone 6 models underwent testing to ensure they can endure bending, sitting, torsion and other kinds of stress.

Kotaku reports Valve released the Steam Music player for its desktop client. It’s not a streaming (or should we say steaming?) service just an in-game music player for your existing collection. So for instance if you want to be able to listen to Peter Gabriel’s Steam on the Steam Music Player, we now live in a world where that’s possible.

The PC is NOT DEAD! At least not in the US. NPD reports consumer retail PC sales grew 3% in the US from July 4th through Labor Day week. Last year sales declined 2.5% in that period. Chrome OS led the way increasing 37 percent over 2013 and Mac products rose 14 percent. Windows devices dropped 3%. Overall laptops rose 3.4% while desktop sales were essentially flat.

TechCrunch reports Apple apologized for the “great inconvenience” caused by its faulty iOS 8.0.1 update and claimed developers are working around the clock to prepare iOS 8.0.2 with a fix that will hopefully arrive in the next few days. Apple officially recommends rolling back iPhone 6 and 6 Plus from 8.0.1 to 8.

Reuters reports that European data privacy regulators gave Google guidelines on legally collecting and storing user data. Google came under privacy scrutiny from the European Union as well as six individual European countries after the company combined its privacy policies and data collection from sixty services into one, and giving users no way to opt out.

Apparently the EU feels a little warmer towards Facebook, because Reuters UK has two sources that say Facebook is about to win unconditional EU approval to purchase mobile messaging startup WhatsApp for $19 billion. European telecom companies like Deutsche Telekom and Telefonica want the EU to extract concessions from Facebook in light of WhatsApps plan to add free voice-call services later this year, but it looks like that may not happen. US regulators approved the deal in April.

 

 

News From You

BigJim1 submitted the ABCNews story on the successful arrival of India’s Mars Orbiter Mission and our subreddit users voted it up. The Indian Space and Research Organization is the first agency to be successful on a Mars mission in its first attempt. The orbiter program cost $75 million which Prime Minister Narendra Modi pointed out was less than it cost to make the movie Gravity. It’s also quite a bit less than the $671 million NASA spent on the Maven mission to Mars.

Kylde didn’t want us to miss the Technology Review report that Google X Lab’s head Astro Teller, speaking at the EmTech Conference on Tuesday, said Google aims to have a continuous ring of high-altitude balloons above the Southern Hemisphere within the next year. Project Loon as its called will provide LTE data service to cell phones on the ground at rates of 22 megabits per second to fixed antennas, and five megabits per second to mobile handsets. Teller said “if we can figure out a way to take the Internet to five billion people, that’s very valuable.”

Discussion Links:  Shellshock and a glaring Healthkit omission

http://www.troyhunt.com/2014/09/everything-you-need-to-know-about.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/09/25/us-cybersecurity-shellshock-idUSKCN0HK23Y20140925

http://lcamtuf.blogspot.com/2014/09/quick-notes-about-bash-bug-its-impact.html

http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/09/24/11

https://twitter.com/taviso/status/514887394294652929

https://gigaom.com/2014/09/25/the-critical-shellshock-flaw-affects-many-linux-and-apple-systems-heres-what-you-need-to-know/

http://www.wired.com/2014/09/internet-braces-crazy-shellshock-worm/

http://blog.erratasec.com/2014/09/bash-bug-as-big-as-heartbleed.html#.VCRaXildXA4

http://www.zdnet.com/first-attacks-using-shellshock-bash-bug-discovered-7000034044/

http://www.theverge.com/2014/9/25/6844021/apple-promised-an-expansive-health-app-so-why-cant-i-track

Pick of the Day: SpeedCrunch via Cody Olivier

My pick is SpeedCrunch. As a game programmer and CS graduate student, I need a quick, straight forward, and simple calculator with some power behind it. Enter SpeedCrunch. It is a calculator that is completely controlled by your keyboard ( similar to command-line ) which supports user defined variables, a multitude of math functions, and comes with a table of scientific constants. It shows history, lets you retrieve previously entered equations, and my favorite feature is as you type in an equation, it will have a little pop-up with the current answer to the equation. This is very useful when I am adding up a lot of numbers and want to see the current total. It works for Windows and OSX and has a portable Windows version. I also believe the program is open source for anyone who wants to modify or look at the code.

Friday’s guest: Darren Kitchen and Len Peralta