Tag: Technology

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Beating a dead horse…

OSX Yosemite

I do really like the iPhone / Yosemite personal hotspot tethering.

This stuff works remarkably well and most of the time, if I’ve got an LTE signal on the iPhone it’s faster than the Starbucks free internet.

It’s also private and less susceptible to “man in the middle” attacks and the like.

I’ve told my phone to only allow ONE connection at a time. So it’s either my iPad or my computer but not both.  Thus far I haven’t stumbled over that restriction making my life difficult.

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Since the phone “knows” the iPad and the computer I don’t have to worry about my phone hotspot being hijacked by someone else either.

I expect that as this kind of thing becomes more prevalent we’ll see fewer and fewer public WiFi hotspots. 

As I write this, I’m sitting in a Starbucks whose WiFi is down.

I’m not missing it at all, my phone is doing the job happily.

If I wanted something more private, I could hardwire my phone to the computer. At that point, someone would have to  be monitoring the cell signal to grab my private data. That’s not to say it’s impossible, it’s just a little harder and requires equipment that’s not readily available at BestBuy.

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I know I sound like a tinfoil hat wearing kind of guy with my privacy concerns; its always been of concern to me. We let so much data get out about us. 

Remember how back in the day Radio Shack wanted your Name, & Address when you bought something? Some of you may be way too young.

Back in the day, Radio Shack didn’t have cash registers. They had cash drawers and the employees had to be able to count back change. I know, I was one of those nerds working in a store asking for your name and address.

Oh we’d sell you stuff without you giving us that information. But we were required to ask, in fact we could be fired for not asking.

We would write all your items out by hand, then we’d add ‘em all up, look up the sales tax and total it. You’d hand us cash and we’d make change.

People used to get upset that we were asking for information that would put them on mailing lists, and it did!

Looking back on it I laugh.

Now days, we’re leaking private information all the time. Every web site where we create an account. Every news source that asks us to register so we can see the latest photo of a Kardashian, every phone call we make where we have to provide our social, phone number, security question answers, date of birth. etc is slowly bleeding information about almost every aspect of our lives from us.

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What was your first pets name?

Mothers maiden name? 

Where did you live in 1988?

All the information is essentially handing the keys to our life to people we don’t know and whom we have no reason to trust. Each additional data point we give out “for our safety” serves to make us less safe.

I haven’t come up with any solutions in my life about it. I have become more mindful and resistant to creation of pointless online accounts. By default, any location information is denied pending my specifically telling a device to share that information. 

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I think almost all websites ask your device for your location, again this is under the guise of trying to be helpful but does a newspaper really need to know where you’re reading it? 

This may well be a situation where the horse is out of the barn, the Djinn is out of the bottle, pandoras box is already open, I’m tilting at windmills,  or what have you.

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In fact I’m sure it is, but I can’t help at least trying to maintain some marginal control over my data. 

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I thought Flash was dead!

Imagine my surprise when I started getting notifications about my Flash being out of date over the weekend.

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It’s high time for someone to put a fork in Flash and killed this zombie application.

As I’ve documented I Hate Flash! I’ve hated it for years because it’s one of those applications got shoved down our throats when we all started Visiting Corporate websites.  

It’s like Java, which as a computer language / application I hate ALMOST as much as Flash.

For me the hatred came about because this shit was always in my face. There were weeks when no matter what I was trying to do, I had to be interrupted several times a day to upgrade Flash. Sometime there would be two upgrades in the same day!

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Problem was, I didn’t care to see the dancing logo I was trying to locate information on the companies website.

Because… Wait for it…

The company in question had downsized their phone support staff!

I wouldn’t have needed their web site if they’d maintained their workforce.

I was sitting here thinking about the Flash issue and decided to try an experiment.

What happens if I uninstall it?

How much of an impact will there be on my daily web usage?

As it turns out, over two days I’ve encountered one site that told me the required Flash Plugin was not found. That’s it! Even my favorite PORN sites are working fine.

This leads me to the conclusion that my world will spin on just fine without Flash installed today, and in all likelihood moving forward. 

Interesting that I’ve found another overpriced Adobe product that I don’t really need.

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This one’s weird…

Verizon

After 23 years with Verizon, having the same phone number and either dial-up or DSL service. This morning, I called and closed the account.

Strangely, I have mixed feelings about this. On the one hand I’d come to hate Verizon, on the other hand they’d become a fixture in my life.

Its like the smoker that hates smoking, but can’t quite stop themselves from lighting up in the morning. You know what you’re doing is a bad habit but you keep doing it anyway. Been there, done that!  When you finally do quit, it’s strange to not have the bad habit anymore.

Truth to tell, I’d kept the same phone number for so many years, so a friend would always be able to find me.

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He died in 2008 so it’s unlikely that he’ll be needing to call; if he did happen to call, I doubt that I could do much to help him.

Strange as it is to say, closing the landline account is oddly, letting go of the past. Hard to believe that a couple of thin pieces of copper can feel like an anchor to a place and time, yet the feeling is there. Now I’m feeling just a bit adrift. 

I’m sure that this is nothing more than a passing wave of nostalgia, like missing bakelite 78rpm records.

It’ll pass quickly.

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How much is too much?

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These days everything has passwords, sign-ins, PINS, & we all have multiple accounts, the invasion doubles when you try to keep your work and personal lives separated. 

Now there’s this weird trend, and it’s one I’m not sure I’m comfortable with.

After a long run of being able to view my YouTube subscriptions using Apple TV, they’ve recently changed things. My YouTube stuff has been reset with a recent release of the Apple TV firmware. Now when I ask to take a look at my subscriptions, My Apple TV tells me…

“Sign in, Get better video recommendations, watch your playlists and subscriptions, and find channels you love. On your phone, tablet, or computer, got to youtube.com/activate and enter: UISU-GWGB”

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Problem is that I ALREADY had signed in the old way, perhaps a year ago. You know where I gave them my ID and password and everything was working great. Now not only do I have to sign in again, but this new sign-in method will probably add another data point to my overall profile at Google. 

This is one of those situations where someone, somewhere is trying to link the string of pearls of my life together via my devices.

The problem is that I’m a human being, and that by most standards implies a certain amount of social interaction. Heck I might log into a device like an Apple TV to show a favorite video or selection of videos to friends at their house on their Apple TV, or Roku, or Chrome, or even their smart TV, instead of my own.

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Pushing this method of registration limits that interaction, forcing instead that sharing be done via a device with a browser.

YouTube isn’t the only one using this method. Several of the TV networks, HBO, Showtime, Cinemax, History, and even PBS have been using this register/activate this device at our website model for a while. In those cases they wanted you to register at your Cable/Dish provider, or directly with their website. 

The problem is that the major TV networks and PBS, can be provided over the air without a Cable provider. So the whole registration model makes no sense for them unless they provide a way to register you’re on an antenna.

But DUDE we’re trying to make your user experience better, this way your devices will be forever linked and we’ll push you things our systems determine that you’re likely to be happiest with.

In my life, I want to see the stuff I select and I don’t want content filtered by a computer, no matter how sophisticated it’s algorithms.

Aggregation

I am becoming more uncomfortable with linkages of this type.

At the risk of sounding like I’ve got a tinfoil hat on. The whole register / activate model doesn’t seem all that insidious until you consider what information this registration can collect. Here’s a short list just off the top of my head.

Number of device(s) you own

location (via IP) 

Type of device & manufacturer (via that funny code), your name, your account information (via Cable Provider or in this case Google.)

Socio Economic status (number of devices + your cable bill and premium channels vs. over the air only.)
NewImageYou could make a case for ability to detect approximate educational level and even number of adults or if there are children in the house and possibly the political affiliation of the home just from viewing habits. Nielsen has been doing this kind of thing for years and I’ll bet their algorithms are damn efficient.

Speed of your internet connection, when cross referenced against number of providers in your area, this can provide another data point in your social economic status. Do you have basic DSL or are you in a top tier FiOs or Cable plan?

 NewImageI personally don’t like people having that much information about me. This is Big Brother territory because it’s not only what I own, but what I’m interested in and likely to own.
 
For example, because I went to a site about gun safety sponsored by the NRA I get ads in Brietbart about concealed carry and holsters. Because I checked out a new WiFi device that’s not even released to the public yet, I’m getting ads on all my search pages about the that device. Because I happen to like Andrew Klavens snark on YouTube, my YouTube suggestions are all conspiracy theory videos.
 
This is the problem, because I am curious about a wide variety of subjects I end up having ads shoved down my throat long after I’ve decided a subject or product is of no interest.
 

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 I don’t like it and the only Way I can think of to opt out is to disconnect from the internet. For a wide variety of reasons that is no longer really a viable option in the country.
 
Maybe I should be wearing a tinfoil hat after all…
 
 
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OK I KNOW it’s Friday the 13th already!

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I swear I’m expecting Jason to go walking across my computer screen any minute!

I was working on a blog post minding my own business. I got up to get some coffee, then noticed the trash was full. In keeping with my effort to become more efficient and build good habits, I slipped on my shoes and took the trash out. While I was outside I did poo patrol and then came back in.

Then I made myself a cup of coffee and sat back down at my desk.

I swear I was only gone for 10 minutes 15 minute tops!

I tapped the mouse and the computer woke rrrrreeeeeaaaaaallllyyyy sllllllooooooowwwwwlllly

Hum. This can’t be good!

There is a message from my virus scan software saying that it’s on access scan is offline.

Hum. This is really not good.

I fire up the console application. Its scrolling like a mother!

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ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

ERROR File Not Found. Virus Scan application failed to load.
Warning
Fatal error Antivirus scanner failed to load, Virus database missing or corrupt

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So I think I know what happened… question is how do I fix it? First thought is to ask the AV program to check for updates.

NO JOY. The program posted that it had downloaded the latest version.

Try deleting the latest downloads? NO JOY couldn’t find them and the company web site was pretty much useless about this kind of error.

Delete the preferences, user settings, and anything that looks like new files associated with the AntiVirus program.

OK… Now the AntiVirus program is FUBAR!

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Uninstall / Reinstall

Uninstall works! No more errors and my computer is now running normally. Grab the installer from a network drive and install it.

NO JOY

AntiVirus program reports that this version is too old and cannot be updated via auto-updater. I’m instructed to download the latest version from their web site.

OK Navigate to their website, attempt to log-in.

You’ve entered an incorrect user ID or password. Please try again.

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I recheck the credentials I have stored. The date on the receipt matches the date stored in the credentials so what gives?

Sigh…

I normally wouldn’t really care all that much, but the way that this has happened is reminiscent of the way AntiVirus gets disabled in WinDOZE computers and It’s spooky to think that someone might have figured out how to do the same thing on a Mac.

Of course if someone had created some piece of malware that could mess with my system like that… I’d be really, really, pissed off.

I end up getting the password reset, and then I’m able to download the package…

It installs flawlessly and then updates the virus definitions.

GOOD, now we’re making progress.

All is right once again with my computer and gee whiz it only cost me 4 hours.

I’m doing a full system scan, just to be sure that I don’t have something nasty crawling around in my machine. Call me paranoid!

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At least I haven’t had the horrendous time suck a buddy had. His Windows 8 machine is still a smoldering pile of donkey doo. Since it’s a laptop maybe a steaming pile of cow poo is a more appropriate description.

Sorry man… I told ya last year you might be better off with a Mac instead of yet another Windows machine. I have sympathy for ya but have to say I told you so.

Oh, it appears that my antivirus problem was simply that the update data was glitched in transmission. I guess I need to figure out what files I need to wipe to force a complete virus database download if this happens in the future.

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OH who the HELL am I kidding? I’ve been using this AV software since 2008 and this is the FIRST time I’ve seen it do something like this. I’m going to call it a “One-Off” and not waste any more time on it.

I have better things to do with my time…

After all this isn’t a Windows System.