DTNS 2282 – Trust Us, We’re Apple

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comMarques Brownlee is on the show today. We’ll touch on iOS backdoors, sapphire screens and opinions on the Tesla 3.

MP3

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

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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:  Marques Brownlee, aka MKBHD, web video producer

Headlines

ZDNet reports Jonathan Zdziarski gave a talk at the HOPE/X conference Friday called “Identifying Backdoors, Attack Points, and Surveillance Mechanisms in iOS Devices.” in which he did that. Zdziarski identified undocumented services that access user data with no reasonable explanation. He said, “Your device is almost always at risk of spilling all data, since it’s almost always authenticated, even while locked.” Even so, he wrote on his blog “DON’T PANIC,” noting that these are not security vulnerabilities. He wants Apple to explain and disclose the services and correct the problem. He wrote on his blog, “I want these services off my phone. They don’t belong there.”

TechCrunch reports Facebook launched a read it later feature for its website and iOS and Android apps, called Save. It lets you save links from News Feed and certain Facebook Pages to a list where you can view them later. In the news Feed the save button is in the drop-down menu accessed from the arrow in the top right of each story. On Pages it’s next to the like button. You can access your saved list in the Web homepage’s left sidebar list of bookmarks, and the More apps list on mobile.  

Ars Technica reports Verizon is getting symmetrical, increasing upload speeds on its FiOS service to match download speeds with no increase in current charges. New customers get the service right away and the increases will roll out to existing customers throughout the autumn. Customers who enroll in Verizon’s new rewards program will get first access. 

The Next Web passes along a report from the China Internet Network Information Center shows Chinese users accessing the Internet by mobile grew 83.4 percent as of June 2014, passing the percentage of users who access the internet by PCs (80.9 percent) for the first time. Overall number of Internet users in China is growing although not as fast as before. 46.9% of China uses the Internet up 1.1% from the end of 2013. Shopping and messaging are two of the most popular activities. 

Engadget reports the Sainsbury supermarket chain in the UK is powering its store in Cannock, West Midlands entirely with bio-methane gas generated from waste foods. Sainsbury’s gives any food from its stores that can’t be used by charities or fed to animals to waste specialists Biffa, which uses microbes to turn it into gas. The program generates enough energy to power 2500 homes and will come completely off the grid for its day-to-day energy consumption. 

News From You

AllanAV posted a link to Comcast’s page on OpenSecrets which details how much money Comcast has donated to US politicians in the first half of 2014. The number is $2 million across all parties. In a comment on his post AllanAV wrote, “As anyone can see both parties are in bed with Comcast. So no matter if you are republican or democrat lets stand together and defend OUR internet!”

metalfreak submitted an InternetNews.com story that ICANN has suspended Domain Registry of America aka Brandon Gray Internet Services aka NameJuice. The registrar is forbidden from registering any new domain names or accepting any inbound transfers until 17 October 2014. ICANN accuses Brandon Gray’s resellers subjecting Registered Name Holders to false advertising, deceptive practices, or deceptive notices. ICANN would also like an explanation of how the company mined WHOIS records to send unsolicited marketing messages to domain name holders.

KAPT_Kipper pointed out the Register article about a study in the journal Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, that found California’s 2008 law banning handheld use of cell phones while driving, had no affect on the rate of accidents. The study accounted for seasonal driving differences, weather, gas prices and other factors. The authors believe that even a small amount changing their behavior as a result of the law should have caused a change. Possible explanation could be that hands free cell phone use is just as dangerous, drivers switched to equally dangerous behaviors or that cell phone use is not dangerous to drivers.

Hurmoth posted the Verge story that the city of Seoul, South Korea plans to not only ban Uber but come out with its own GPS_based app by the end of the year for use with existing taxis. 

Discussion Section: 

 http://www.zdnet.com/forensic-scientist-identifies-suspicious-back-doors-running-on-every-ios-device-7000031795/

http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/iOS_Backdoors_Attack_Points_Surveillance_Mechanisms.pdf

https://www.apple.com/legal/more-resources/law-enforcement/

http://www.zdziarski.com/blog/?p=3441

http://arstechnica.com/security/2014/07/undocumented-ios-functions-allow-monitoring-of-personal-data-expert-says/

http://appleinsider.com/articles/14/07/21/apples-ios-dishing-out-a-lot-of-data-behind-our-backs-security-researcher-charges

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1742287614000036

The Iphone 6 VID 🙂 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b7ANcWQEUI8

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/autos/tesla-go-down-market-mainstream-model-3-n158931

http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregorymcneal/2014/07/16/a-35000-tesla-model-iii-is-coming-in-2017/

 Pick of the Day: If This, Then That via James Eriksen

This is a great way to automate social networks and web services to make your life easier. The three uses cases I set up so far?

# Text-message when it’s going to rain tomorrow, or when severe weather is coming my way. [It’s Texas.]

# Repost Instagram pics to Twitter.

# Repost a new Blogger entry to Twitter.

Lots of pre-made ‘recipes’ to choose from, easily tailored for your use. iOS, Android, and just about anything running a web-browser. [Jennie checked this site out and was SUPER intrigued by the recipe entitled ‘YO IFTTT, get me out of this meeting’]

Tomorrow’s guest: Molly Wood, of the paper of record! 

DTNS 2281 – Sane Plane Game

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comDarren Kitchen is back and we’ve got a well-reasoned arguments why low-flying drones could cause serious problems. Also a stolen ID database that sort of doxxes hackers and normals alike, and Kindle’s devious all-you-can-eat ebook service. And Len Peralta illustrates something out of that gumbo of tech news.

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

DTNS 2280 – Finnish Him!

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comBreki Tomasson joins us to talk about Microsoft’s Satya Nadella swinging the ax at Nokia X Android phones, Xbox Entertainment Studios and 18,000 employees.

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

Presenting Tech Republic’s Five Apps Show

For awhile Tech Republic has a had a great blog called ‘five apps’ that gets experts in various fields to contribute picks for five great apps to help business and productivity. Jason Hiner, Editor-in-Chief of Tech Republic was nice enough to ask me to present a video version of these excellent posts in a new video show called, you guessed it, “Five Apps.”

I’ve been working hard along with Bill Detwiler from Tech republic and Joe Koonce my camera/lighting/allotherthings guy to get these together!

Look for apps that every new Android user should install, apps to keep CXOs ahead of the pack, and overlooked, but really cool calendar apps, and more at Techrepublic.com.

You can find the shows as they’re released weekly on the Five Apps blog.

DTNS 2279 – Tesla Sells S3X

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comNicole Lee joins us to chat about G+ reversing the real name policy and where this weird social network fits in the landscape of the Internet. Also more on IBM and Apple making friends.

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

Shecky’s Lines For Week 6

Hot off the presses we have the Week 6 Lines:

 

Also Shecky is running a special promo: Get a 25% bonus on all DOGECOIN Deposits into your account. More Info on this promo can be found at your local Cantina.

DTNS 2278 – iBM

Logo by Mustafa Anabtawi thepolarcat.comAnnie Gaus is on the show and we’ll talk about what Comcast’s customer service rep. call means in the light of monopolies and net neutrality. Plus a little insight into the Uber and Lyft fights, and IBM and Apple partner up.

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:  Annie Gaus, technology journalist

Headlines

GigaOm reports Google’s Chris Evans announced Project Zero today, a team of security pros hired by Google to look for vulnerabilities in non-Google software. Any software depended on by a lot of people is fair game. Ben Hawkes, Tavis Ormandy, and Brit Ian are apparently on the team, and GeoHotz is the first Intern, but they’re also hiring.

Bloomberg reports Microsoft is planning its biggest round of layoffs in five years as part of the integration of Nokia’s handset division. Bloomberg’s sources say the reductions will probably be in engineering, marketing and areas of overlap with Nokia. Microsoft’s biggest round of job cuts ever happened in 2009 when they let go 5800 people. 

The Verge reports Microsoft is beginning to distribute Windows Phone 8.1 to existing Lumia devices. 8.1 includes the Cortana digital assistant, new customizable Live Tile layouts, a new keyboard and more.

The Next Web reports Samsung, Google and ARM have teamed up to develop an Internet-of-Things wireless networking protocol called Thread. Sound familiar? That’s because the other day Samsung and Intel were among several companies proposing the Open Interconnect Consortium as a new standard for Internet of Things. Thread isn’t an application protocol or a connectivity platform; it’s a networking protocol that has been built upon open standards. A current version of Thread is already in use by Nest thermostats.  

The Next Web reports Apple has announced a new service in Japan that lets customers add cash to their iTunes account in store. ‘iTunes Pass’ lets users purchase credit in-store for the iTunes Store, App Store, and iBookstore, and have that money immediately applied to the Apple ID account instead of needing to receive a gift card and enter a redemption code.

Well now we know why Babak Parviz left Google for Amazon. His work on Google smart contacts must have been done. Engadget reports Google has licensed its smart eyewear to healthcare specialist Novartis, which will develop new products. The first will be lenses that measure glucose levels in tear fluid to help diabetics. The second will restore focus on near objects so farsighted people can have contacts. Google will develop the electronics and Novart’s Alcon will supply the medical knowledge. 

Ars Technica reports the US FCC extended the deadline for submitting comments on its Open Internet Guidelines. You now have until Friday July 18 at midnight. The FCC website suffered under the strain of last-minute commenters, prompting the extension. People can also get their views into the official record by e-mailing openinternet@fcc.gov. At the same time, TechCrunch reports 13 senators sent a letter to FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler requesting Internet service be classified as a common carrier under Title II of the telecommunications act.

Reuters reports Japanese messaging app Line intends to go it alone rather than look to get acquired. Reuters source says Line applied for an initial public offering (IPO) valued at over 1 trillion yen ($9.85 billion) around two weeks ago at the Tokyo Stock. The company recorded 14.6 billion yen in revenue in January-March – a more than threefold increase on the year. The app has more than 480 million downloads.

Microsoft’s team showed off a new deep learning AI this morning in Redmond called Project Adam. Rather than trying to have a better algorithm than other efforts like Google Brain, Adam optimizes data handling and fine-tuning communication between machines. The system is based on technology developed at the University of Wisconsin, called Hogwild that for asynchronous processing across the chips within a single machine. Microsoft’s Trishul Chilimbi and team have made it work across an entire network of machines. . So far it has only been deployed through an internal app that recognizes objects based on a photo. It can even identify specific dog breeds. Microsoft is till developing the research and has no consumer plans for the system yet. Microsoft claims it uses 30x fewer machines with double the accuracy of other deep learning systems.

The Next Web reports Mozilla announced the release of mozjpeg version 2.0, a JPEG encoder capable of reducing the size of both baseline and progressive JPEG images by 5%. Images make up a lot of the bandwith used by web pages. Facebook is testing mozjpeg 2.0 on Facebook.com. In fact, the company gave Mozilla $60,000 to help develop the technology.

ReCode reports Intel benefited from an improved PC market to beat analyst estimates in its quarterly earnings. Intel reported earnings of $2.8 billion, or 55 cents per share, on sales of $13.8 billion for the three months ending in June. Desktop chip unit sales were up 8 percent from a year ago and average selling prices increased 2 percent as well. Notebook processor unit sales increased 9 percent. Intel’s mobile unit posted revenue of $51 million, down 83 percent year-on-year and off 67 percent from the first quarter.

TechCrunch reports Yahoo reported Q2 revenue of 1.04 billion and non-GAAP earnings per share of $0.37. Revenue including TAC was $1.08. Analysts had expected the company to earn $0.38 on revenue of ex-TAC $1.08 billion. Yahoo sold 24% more ads in the quarter than the year prior, which was strong, but saw its price per ad fall by 24% as well.

Apple and IBM announced a partnership today on CNBC, putting IBM made-for-business apps on iOS devices. IBM said it would create a class of more than 100 business applications exclusively for iPhones and iPads to run on Apple’s iOS platform. In return, IBM will sell Apple’s products filled with 100 industry-specific apps to its clients worldwide. Some of the services IBM will provide via iOS include device management, security, analytics and mobile integration. 

News From You

normgregory and tm204 both submitted articles from Ars Technica and Hollywood Reporter about Dish’s victory over Fox in the Hoper lawsuit. Fox had asked for a preliminary injunction and pointed to the Supreme Court’s determination that Aereo was a public performance claiming, Dish’slingbox-like service in the Dish hopper was the same thing. On Monday, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that a district court didn’t abuse discretion by denying Fox’s motion for a preliminary injunction. The underlying case, Fox et al v. Dish et al, will continue to move towards a trial set to begin in federal court in Los Angeles on January 13, 2015.

habichuelacondulce posted the Mashable article on leaked Windows screenshots appearing on mydigitallife.info showing the restored Start menus. The size and format of the menu is the same as what Microsoft showed off at the Build conference in April, but the tiles themselves are different. The watermark on the images reads “Windows 8.1 Pro,” and ‘confidential’ However The forum where the screenshot appeared says it’s from Build 6.4.9788 of Windows 9.

michsineath submitted the GeekWire story that Transportation startups like UberX, Lyft, and Sidecar will finally be able to legally operate in Seattle. The City Council there voted 8-1 to approve a new law providing a regulatory framework for Transportation Network Companies. The 150 vehicle cap has been removed, insurance requirements adjusted and 200 taxi licenses added over the next four years. 

Discussion Section: 

http://motherboard.vice.com/read/comcast-investigating-customer-service-call-from-hell

http://corporate.comcast.com/comcast-voices/comcast-statement-regarding-customer-service-call

 Pick of the Day: FB Purity

Dan White in mostly rainy Bristol, UK has our pick of the day: Hi Tom, I’ve been following the comments about Facebook and the annoying way that they mess with your news feed, changing the order and stuffing unwanted junk in to annoy you. I’d like to recommend a free browser plug in called “FB purity“. I like to think of it as what Facebook would look like if they didn’t hate their users! It’s compatible with Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari, Opera and Maxton.

It has an awesome collection of features, including:
Force news feed onto chronological order. Block in line video playback. Hide or block posts based on keywords or phrases (handy for those Game of Thrones spoiler posting idiot friends) Revert news feed to single column. Stop external links from being tracked by Facebook. Block applications directly from your news feed. Receive an alert if someone de-friends you. And lots more.

Naturally Facebook hates this idea and regularly tweaks their code to overcome some features, even claiming that it is “unsafe” (well they would, wouldn’t they!). However, the plug in is inevitably updated almost immediately to restore sanity to your experience.

I don’t work for or have any connection to the FB Purity coders. I just think it’s an awesome plug in, and apparently about 160,000 other people agree with me.

EXTRA Message: TVsEgon has posted tons of Nerdtacular pics to a dropbox. You can find the link in the subreddit or the show notes!

Forced lowercase i in title is standards-compliant thanks to a suggestion from biocow.