MacValley | The MacValley blog: March 2015

Monday, March 30, 2015

The Best Free Antivirus for 2015 | PCMag.com

The Best Free Antivirus for 2015 | PCMag.com: ""

(Via.)

Yes, I know this is primarily a Mac blog, but a lot of us deal with Windows in our personal lives, too.

So here are PC Magazine’s latest ratings of the best PC antivirus programs available for free.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up

Here's why Apple's iPad business is sinking

why would you buy an iPad when you can buy a big phone that does everything the tablet does, and more?

http://www.businessinsider.com/why-apple-ipad-business-is-sinking-2015-3

Apple has sneaked in an annoying new feature in its latest iPhone iOS update — but there's also an upside

Good video.

http://www.businessinsider.com/update-iphone-ios-82-storage-space-2015-3

Apple just invented an incredible technology that would help the iPhone further distance itself from every other smartphone

A better camera for future iPhones.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-iphone-6s-may-feature-camera-patent-for-digital-light-splitter-2015-3

Why Apple execs support the new Steve Jobs biography

http://fortune.com/video/2015/03/23/why-apple-execs-support-the-new-steve-jobs-biography/

10 of the bravest moves Steve Jobs made at Apple

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-10-bravest-moves-2015-3

8 times Steve Jobs was really nice

http://www.businessinsider.com/8-examples-of-steve-jobs-being-really-nice-2015-3

These toys could make your kids smarter

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/these-toys-will-make-your-kids-smarter-2015-03-11

Why a girl who was viciously bullied on Yik Yak now believes in the anonymous app's future

http://www.businessinsider.com/elizabeth-long-was-bullied-on-yik-yak-2015-3

What To Do When the IRS Needs to Verify Your Identity

It's surprisingly simple, according to this article.

http://lifehacker.com/what-to-do-when-the-irs-needs-to-verify-your-identity-1693069541

How to keep data miners from invading your privacy

Don't give out too much info and consider going anonymous with your emails

The only thing companies value more than money is market data.

Knowing what potential customers like and don't like - their needs, wants, hobbies and even addictions - helps companies market to them.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-to-keep-data-miners-from-invading-your-privacy-2015-03-25

Hackers may have had access to hundreds of hotels [and computers of their guests] without anyone knowing

This discovery involves a vulnerability that affects over 275 hotels globally and the Wi-Fi they provide to customers

Hotels are now scrambling to fix this huge security hole. But the problem is that many hotels aren't the most technologically savvy. This means they may not even understand the gravity of the problem.

http://www.businessinsider.com/hackers-hotels-wifi-2015-3

Think twice before pulling up personal information online from a hotel room or coffee shop

http://www.businessinsider.com/public-wifi-think-twice-before-accessing-personal-info-2015-3

Friday, March 27, 2015

Why Tom doesn't lust after the new MacBook

The new MacBook offers a glimpse into the next decade’s worth of innovation.

As far as I know, it’s the first to use the new USB-C 3.1 port. Mini-USB is here. Well, it’s always been here in the form of plugs and sockets since 2.0. USB 3.1 marks the change for your computer’s connection to peripherals.

That’s part of the problem. I only own peripherals with USB 2.0/3.0 plugs. Apple will take a nice piece of change offering premium priced USB 3.1 to 3.0/2.0 adaptors. The first generation of early adaptors will pay the premium and clutter their desks with these adaptors for USB peripherals, video adaptors, you name it.

I am sure that Belkin and others will bring out USB-C docks, similar to the existing Thunderbolt docks, to manage the cords on a desktop.

I will not purchase this first generation of the new MacBook because it is too slow at only 1.1 Ghz for my needs.

I also have a perfectly good MacBook Air and Mac Mini, which I expect it to remain their usefulness for some years to come. Apple’s policy of creeping forward with improvements to OS X each year means a salami slicing approach to aging hardware’s ability to run the latest version of OS X. Each year, the oldest piece of hardware to run the prior version of OS X gets cut off.

I didn’t buy an iPad until the 3rd generation came out with a Retina screen. Should I wait until the MacBook comes out with a 4K, 5K, or 8K screen?

All that’s speculation on my part. I do intend to go over to the Apple Store to check out the little wonder and the Apple Watch.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Intel & Micron's new 3D flash memory could mean cheaper, larger storage for Apple's Macs, iOS devices

Intel & Micron's new 3D flash memory could mean cheaper, larger storage for Apple's Macs, iOS devices: ""

(Via.)

And so we wait for a $100 10 TB SSD. Will the conventional hard drive go any bigger than 8 TB, or will we use RAID or JBOD to expand the size of our storage.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Launchbar, Quicksilver, Alfred or Butler? Comparing Mac launcher apps What about Chuck?

Launchbar, Quicksilver, Alfred or Butler? Comparing Mac launcher apps: ""

(Via.)

Joe Kissell looks at 4 different keyboard launcher apps. I wish he had looked at Chuck

Chuck does one thing, launch apps, and that’s it. It’s free, too.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Sunday, March 22, 2015

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Wrap-up

The inside story of how Apple’s new medical research platform was born

http://fusion.net/story/104983/the-inside-story-of-how-apples-new-biomedical-research-platform-was-born/

Apple has a lady problem: the new version of HealthKit still doesn’t track periods

How can an app that promises to let you “see your whole health picture” neglect to include one of the most important aspects of a woman’s health?

http://fusion.net/story/100781/apple-ios-update-new-version-of-healthkit-still-doesnt-track-periods/

10 facts about the Apple Watch that show Apple's obsessive attention to detail

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-the-apple-watch-was-made-2015-3

It doesn't matter how much Apple's TV service costs because cable is so bad people will sign up anyway

If Apple truly has "cracked" how to get all those channels and streaming services to you without a confusing, clunky interface, that'll solve the biggest problem cable subscribers have to deal with today.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-tv-user-interface-could-easily-smash-cable-2015-3

21 of the most expensive iPhone and iPad apps in the world

Some good and some bad - despite the high prices.

http://www.businessinsider.com/most-expensive-apps-for-iphone-and-ipad-2015-3

A little black box makes it easy to unlock almost any iPhone even when it's secured with your fingerprint

The main device used is called an IP-BOX. It works by "bruteforcing" iPhone passcodes, repeatedly guessing the password until it finds the right one.

When an IP-BOX is connected to an iPhone, it tries every passcode, from 0000 through to 9999. That could take over 100 hours, but it's a surefire way of getting into the phone.

Interesting pictures.

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-unlock-almost-any-iphone-2015-3

TIM COOK: The main problem that ruins technology companies is 'almost a disease'

Tim Cook said:
"There's this thing in technology, almost a disease, where the definition of success is making the most. How many clicks did you get, how many active users do you have, how many units did you sell? Everybody in technology seems to want big numbers. Steve never got carried away with that. He focused on making the best."

http://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-on-the-disease-that-ruins-technology-companies-2015-3

"The company is one of the most amazing inventions of humans, this abstract construct that's incredibly powerful. Even so, for me, it's about the products. It's about working together with really fun, smart, creative people and making wonderful things. It's not about the money. What a company is, then, is a group of people who can make more than just the next big thing. It's a talent, it's a capability, it's a culture, it's a point of view, and it's a way of working together to make the next thing, and the next one, and the next one."

-- Steve Jobs

http://www.businessinsider.com/steve-jobs-definition-company-2015-3

Here's why you should turn on two-factor authentication

http://www.imore.com/heres-why-you-should-turn-two-factor-authentication

Important:
There are a few really good reader comments that explain when you should NOT use two factor authentication.

Five Important Things to Know If You’ve Never Read Apple’s Privacy Policy

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2015/03/20/five-important-things-to-know-if-youve-never-read-apples-privacy-policy/

Epic Google snafu leaks hidden whois data for 280,000 domains

Google Apps has leaked hidden names, phone numbers, and more since mid-2013.

The 282,867 domains counted by Cisco Systems' researchers account for 94 percent of the addresses Google Apps has registered.

Google's breathtaking failure is a potent reminder why in most cases people do well to provide false information when registering for anything online.

http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/03/epic-google-snafu-leaks-hidden-whois-data-for-280000-domains/

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Mac OS X Isn’t Safe Anymore: The Crapware / Malware Epidemic Has Begun

Mac OS X Isn’t Safe Anymore: The Crapware / Malware Epidemic Has Begun: ""

(Via.)

This is an article from the How-To Geek site, which has some excellent advice about avoiding or destroying carper that comes with a downloaded app.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Wanna Type Faster? Meet a Buzzy New Keyboard | Good Sh*t | OZY

Wanna Type Faster? Meet a Buzzy New Keyboard | Good Sh*t | OZY: ""

(Via.)

How to Customize the Finder Toolbar in OS X Yosemite - The Mac Observer

How to Customize the Finder Toolbar in OS X Yosemite - The Mac Observer: ""

(Via.)

Sunday, March 15, 2015

10 insanely innovative, incredibly cool Raspberry Pi projects | PCWorld

10 insanely innovative, incredibly cool Raspberry Pi projects | PCWorld: ""

(Via.)

A lot of people have used the Mac for creative projects. Now here comes another small wonder, the Raspberry Pi computers.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Roundup

Apple patches FREAK vulnerability on Mountain Lion, Mavericks, Yosemite

http://arstechnica.com/apple/2015/03/apple-patches-freak-vulnerability-on-mountain-lion-mavericks-yosemite/

What The FREAK Is Going On?

There's been a lot of digital ink spilled on this over the last week or so, and I think it's time to weigh in on exactly what's going on with this vulnerability and its consequences.

There's been quite a lot of noise made about various browsers being vulnerable to this. But focusing on that is exactly backward, and here's why.

FREAK requires that someone be able to "get in the middle" of the connection, intercept the request, and then issue it with an "Export grade" (that is, very weak) cipher request. The server, if it accepts it, is then allowed to reply back to the client (which may not have included that in its list of proposals) and the client (if it accepts that) now completes the negotiation. The "man in the middle" now passively listens without interference, smug in the knowledge that it can then run that encryption through its cracking software and decrypt the transmission.

FREAK only works if the server is either misconfigured or is required to support weak ciphers intentionally. If the latter there is nothing to fix since the server is intentionally set up to serve clients in places where strong encryption is not permitted. If the former fix the damn server configuration!

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229922

Apple's MacBook Air: Once a darling, now a budget laptop

http://www.cnet.com/news/apples-macbook-air-once-a-darling-now-a-budget-laptop/

I lusted after the new MacBook, but here's why I won't buy one

http://www.cnet.com/news/apples-macbook-air-once-a-darling-now-a-budget-laptop/

5 everyday technologies Apple killed in the 12-inch MacBook

Apple's quest for ultra-thin simplicity in the new 12-inch MacBook has left a lot of technology in a shallow grave, replaced by a single Type-C port.

http://www.citeworld.com/article/2894446/consumerization/5-everyday-technologies-apple-killed-in-the-12-inch-macbook.html

Apple's new super-thin MacBook may be a bad deal now, but just wait

It's gorgeous, and people were going bonkers over this thing, even though it will sell for a hefty $1,300 or more starting April 10.

Still, I have three major concerns about the new MacBook:
    First, there's the price.
    Then there are the ports. Or, rather, the lack of ports.
    Finally, Apple did away with the MagSafe charger.

For now, the MacBook Air will remain the best laptop you can buy, just as the old plastic MacBook was when the Air originally launched in 2008. The new MacBook is a glimpse at the future, but you'll probably want to wait until the rest of the world catches up.

http://www.businessinsider.com/new-macbook-2015-3

London police are going to abandon their notebooks in favour of iPads

London's Metropolitan Police force wants to extend its trial of using iPads to fight crime.

Officers have responded positively to the iPads.

http://www.businessinsider.com/london-police-are-going-to-abandon-their-notebooks-in-favor-of-ipads-2015-3

There's a new Apple app you can't delete. And it'll be stuck on your phone as soon as you download the latest software update, iOS 8.2.

The Apple Watch App.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-has-installed-a-permanent-undeletable-apple-watch-advertisement-on-your-iphone-2015-3

Apple's most important announcements at its Apple Watch event

http://www.citeworld.com/article/2895036/mobile-byod/apples-most-important-announcements-at-its-apple-watch-event.html

Must-see video: Sex, luxury and the $10,000 Apple Watch

Scott Galloway makes the case for the Apple Watch Edition in 4 minutes and 52 seconds.

http://fortune.com/2015/03/12/must-see-video-sex-luxury-and-the-10000-apple-watch/

Scott Galloway starts talking about Apple at 11 minutes into this YouTube video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XCvwCcEP74Q&feature=youtu.be

Scott Galloway said "Luxury brands give you self expressive benefits. They signal something about you ...... The most powerful luxury brand in the world is Apple ...... Luxury is in the business of propagation ...... First year, Apple will be the biggest watch company in the world. Who does this hurt? Everybody."

With Its $10,000 Watch, Apple Has Lost Its Soul

With “Think different,” Apple was at the very least addressing itself to people who were not incumbent. (That status quo, unnamed in the ads, was of course Microsoft—which made serious machines preferred by people of business.) Apple made technology for people who wanted to change the world, not the people who ran it.

The Apple Watch prices grate. And they grate not because they’re so expensive, but because they’re gratuitously expensive.

Apple is manufacturing a $10,000 status symbol. Instead of telling users to pay up because they’ll get a better quality experience, it’s telling them to pay up because they can, and because a more expensive watch is …

I know which kind of consumer pays $10,000 just to have a nice watch which will be obsolete in a year. Not a misfit or a rebel.

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2015/03/with-its-10000-watch-apple-has-lost-its-soul/387316/

Reader Response to an article about the Apple Watch:
"If the government required you to wear a tracking device that also could listen in at any time, read all your mail, know your most intimate secrets...would you wait in line to get one?"

Apple doesn't want to talk about the real use for the Apple Watch

the best thing about the watch, according to the Apple employees who’ve been demoing it, was that it let them basically stop using their phone. Instead of fishing their phones out of their pockets every couple minutes, they could check incoming notifications on the watch and choose to ignore or respond to them.

http://www.theverge.com/2015/3/10/8183639/apple-watch-use-case-iphone-notification-marketing

The Apple Watch is just the beginning for wearables

The Wearables Revolution is built upon and therefore an extension of the App Revolution

The Apple Watch is just the first iteration of a wearables computing device with mainstream potential. There will be many others…

The Apple Watch is just the beginning of a multi-decade Wearables Revolution.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-apple-watch-is-just-the-beginning-for-wearables-2015-03-09

I, for one, am very excited about the upcoming Apple Watch. I mean, come on, the App Revolution on your wrist?

This Apple Watch is going to evolve like the iPhone has before it. Look out into the year 2020 when you'll be able to buy the new Apple Watch 6 Plus with a holographic projector and predictive capabilities that know what you want to know before you can even ask to see it. There's an unstoppable Wearables Revolution coming down the pike. The Apple Watch is just the beginning for wearables, indeed.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/five-things-to-take-away-from-the-apple-event-2015-03-10

3 reasons not to buy the Apple Watch

First-generation devices have fewer features
It’s a fitness — not a health-care — device
Apple may know more about you than you do

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/3-reasons-not-to-buy-the-apple-watch-2015-03-09

Apple Could Lead In Healthcare. Here's Why It Won't

the richest tech company on planet earth won’t allow millions of people around the planet to watch their own product announcement (which they broadcast live over the internet) simply because many people don’t use Apple's web browser.

The statement we absolutely have to avoid in healthcare is the one that Apple appears to not only embrace – but openly fosters:
Nurse: "We’re sorry Mrs. Jones, but your lab results and data from your hospital visit are only available on an Apple device using an Apple ‘app’ ".

http://www.forbes.com/sites/danmunro/2015/03/09/apple-could-lead-in-healthcare-heres-why-they-wont/

10 mind-blowing facts about the Apple Store

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-store-facts-2015-3

Neighbors And Fans Are Curious About Apple's Massive New HQ

In Silicon Valley, the world's largest Apple product is taking shape — a glass and concrete ring wider than the Pentagon.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/alltechconsidered/2015/03/09/389571195/an-exclusive-visit-to-apple-s-new-campus

Netflix Flip-Flops On Net-Neutrality

Netflix isn't "pleased" about the Federal Communications Commission's recent vote on net neutrality, which slapped strong new rules on Internet providers.

That's because what Netflix wanted was a way to continue ramming their costs down other people's throats -- particularly but not exclusively Verizon's and Comcast's.

They thought they could get that through their lobbying effort and getting their customers to advocate based on lies, but what they got is going to utterly derail the company down the road -- and they've just woken up to that.

So-called "unlimited" Internet at very high speeds but low prices only works if the actual presented load profile is reasonably-bursty and thus the average presented load is low and the presence of short delays (or, in the technical parlance, jitter) is acceptable and causes no material disruption in the user experience.

Essentially what Title II is going to do is destroy the consumer "all you care to eat" bandwidth model.

When that happens, my friends, Netflix' forward business prospects go straight down the toilet and so does the stock price.

http://www.market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=229902

CIA researchers have worked for nearly a decade to break the security protecting Apple (AAPL.O) phones and tablets, investigative news site The Intercept reported, citing documents obtained from NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Efforts to break into Apple products by government security researchers started as early as 2006, a year before Apple introduced its first iPhone and continued through the launch of the iPad in 2010 and beyond.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/10/us-apple-cybersecurity-idUSKBN0M610V20150310

A man was arrested for refusing to give his phone’s passcode to border agents

Alain Philippon, a Quebec man that had flown back to Canada’s Halifax International Airport after a trip to the Dominican Republic, was stopped and arrested by border agents after he refused to offer up his phone’s passcode.

Philippon, 38, faces a minimum fine of $1,000 and a maximum fine of $25,000 with possible jail time.

Here’s what the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) says on this issue:

Courts have generally accepted that telling the government a password or encryption key is “testimony.” A police officer cannot force or threaten you into giving up your password or unlocking your electronic devices. However, a judge or a grand jury may be able to force you to decrypt your devices in some circumstances.

Hanni Fakhoury, senior staff attorney at the EFF, told CNET that “the standards for search and seizure are relaxed” at the US borders, and agents don’t need a warrant, or even suspicion, to search your devices.

in the case of the Canadian border, where laws may be pushed back in favor of national security, the power to demand a person to offer up their password has “yet to be constitutionally tested

http://www.businessinsider.com/alain-philippon-arrested-for-refusing-to-give-phone-passcode-to-cbsa-agents-2015-3

Friday, March 13, 2015

Project Titan, SixtyEight & SG5: Inside Apple's top-secret electric car project

Project Titan, SixtyEight & SG5: Inside Apple's top-secret electric car project: ""

(Via.)

Wednesday, March 11, 2015

My take on the NEW MacBook - Terry White's Tech Blog

My take on the NEW MacBook - Terry White's Tech Blog: ""

(Via.)

Pay attention to Mr. White! He knows what he’s talking about.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

How Dick Tracy Invented the Apple Watch - The Daily Beast

How Dick Tracy Invented the Apple Watch - The Daily Beast: ""

(Via.)

Apple's 12-inch MacBook vs. Windows laptops: Fight! | PCWorld

Apple's 12-inch MacBook vs. Windows laptops: Fight! | PCWorld: ""

(Via.)

This compares ultra-thin Macbook to ultra-thin PCs. How do the tech specs compare? Is the revolutionary move to one USB-C 3.1 port and a combo analog port going to hurt or help Apple?

Can you turn one of these ultra-thin PCs into a Hackintosh? Have to watch Tony Mac for results in the user comments!

Tom Briant

Editior, Macvalley Blog

Why America's Internet Is So Shitty and Slow

Why America's Internet Is So Shitty and Slow: ""

(Via.)

Take the Pledge: I Will Not Have Sex With Anyone Who Wears an AppleWatch

Take the Pledge: I Will Not Have Sex With Anyone Who Wears an AppleWatch: ""

(Via.)

Arguably the silliest piece of fluff on the Intertubes about the Apple Watch. Read it and laugh.

Tom Briant

Editor, MacValley Blog

Thunderbolted: USB-C is our new connection overlord. Get used to it. | Macworld

Thunderbolted: USB-C is our new connection overlord. Get used to it. | Macworld: ""

(Via.)

Monday, March 9, 2015

Hands-on with the new 12-inch MacBook with Retina Display | The Verge

Hands-on with the new 12-inch MacBook with Retina Display | The Verge: ""

(Via.)

Saturday, March 7, 2015

What to Expect From the Apple Watch Event Monday | WIRED

What to Expect From the Apple Watch Event Monday | WIRED: ""

(Via.)

Senior Correspondent Arnold Woodworth's Weekly Web Roundup

The WIRED Guide for Upgrading Your Apple Gadgets

http://www.wired.com/2015/03/when-to-upgrade-apple-products/

I ditched my 16GB iPhone 6 for the 64GB version and I'm kicking myself for not doing it sooner

All 16 Gb filled up after taking only 37 photos.

I doubt I'll ever get to 64GB. I doubt I'll ever hit 40 or even 30GB of storage.

http://www.businessinsider.com/no-more-storage-on-iphone-6-16gb-2015-2

I made 2 tweaks to my sister's 2009 iMac and now it runs like a brand new machine

http://www.businessinsider.com/i-made-2-tweaks-to-my-sisters-2009-imac-and-now-it-runs-like-a-brand-new-machine-2015-3

How to make your old MacBook Pro run like new again

Cool video.

Looks like the guy missed a screw while putting it back together.

http://www.businessinsider.com/macbook-pro-refurbish-ram-solid-drive-computer-2015-2

Apple Pay stung by low-tech fraudsters

The Apple Pay system itself hasn't been penetrated by hackers. Rather, fraudsters are entering stolen card data into phones, which can then be used to make purchases without a physical card being present.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/apple-pay-stung-by-low-tech-fraudsters-2015-03-05-221031620

The fraud, however, isn’t in Apple Pay: it’s in the verification process by which banks allow a card added to an iPhone to be enrolled in Apple Pay. That process is entirely controlled by the banks.

What the fraud truly is? Identity theft involving a hole in bank security procedures that will rapidly close as training and other processes improve.

http://www.macworld.com/article/2893528/fraud-comes-to-headlines-about-apple-pay.html

"Apple Pay is great," says Gartner distinguished analyst Avivah Litan. "It’s the bank processes for identity-proofing that are weak."

In other words, Apple Pay fraud has nothing to do with Apple -- nor its encryption, nor its tokenization protocol -- and everything to do with the banks that provision payment cards/tokens.

"The problem for Apple," says Litan, "is that consumers see Apple Pay and the banks as one and the same entity."

http://www.darkreading.com/apple-pay-fraud-gives-us-a-new-reason-to-hate-data-breaches-and-ssns/d/d-id/1319339

An Apple spokesman said on Tuesday that the company plans to release a fix next week to mitigate the newly uncovered 'Freak' security flaw affecting Safari browsers on its iOS and OS X operating systems for mobile devices and Macs.

A group of nine researchers discovered that they could force web browsers to use a form of encryption that was intentionally weakened to comply with U.S. government regulations that ban American companies from exporting the strongest encryption standards, according to the paper.

Once they caused the site to use the weaker encryption standard, they were then able to break the encryption within a few hours. That could allow hackers to steal data and potentially launch attacks on the sites themselves by taking over elements on a page, the newspaper reported.

http://www.businessinsider.com/apple-plans-fix-for-newly-uncovered-freak-security-bug-2015-3

Should Apple and Google users freak out about the FREAK security flaw?

"This bug is the legacy of kind of the very first attempt to build backdoors into encryption systems," Green says. "Now we're having this renewed debate about encryption back doors. Fifteen years from now, are we going to be hearing about an unintended consequence of some encryption back door?"

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/should-apple-and-google-users-freak-out-about-the-freak-security-flaw-2015-03-05

Time for all Windows users to FREAK out over encryption bug

http://www.computerworld.com/article/2893370/time-for-all-windows-users-to-freak-out-over-encryption-bug.html

Apple’s OS X Gatekeeper Leaves Hole Open for Malware and Adware - Here’s How to Protect Your Mac

Apple introduced Gatekeeper in OS X Lion as a way to ensure users don't unintentionally run apps or installers from unknown sources. However, if someone is willing to personally (or professionally) identify themselves to Apple, then Gatekeeper will allow their signed apps to run on OS X, regardless of what those apps will do to your system. The reality is that this leaves too much room for malware and adware, including the example I found below.

For the purposes of Gatekeeper, Apple verifies the identity of the developer, but not their intent. It's up to you to ensure that the applications you install and run on your Mac come from the people you think they came from...

http://www.macobserver.com/tmo/article/apples-os-x-gatekeeper-leaves-hole-open-for-malware-heres-how-to-protect-yo

How to end your online password nightmare

All the password managers do the same basic thing, with different user interfaces, bell and whistles, and price points (head to PCMag or WSJ for a good overview).

They will suck up the passwords stored in your browser and elsewhere and keep them in a super-encrypted vault that is unlocked by one master password. Whenever you change a password or enter a new one, they'll remember those, too.

Since you'll have to remember only one master password, it will be easy for you to create unique and complex passwords for every site.

The author of this article uses 1Password.

http://www.businessinsider.com/password-managers-are-worth-it-2015-2

Protect yourself from tax identity theft

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/protect-yourself-from-tax-identity-theft-2015-03-03

Data Security Is Becoming the Sparkle in Bitcoin

As Bitcoin's price has declined over the last year, critics have been quick to declare the virtual currency dead. Bitcoin's true value, though, might be not in the currency itself but in the engine that makes it possible.

Underlying Bitcoin - created as a way to make payments directly, anonymously and outside government control - is the block chain, a decentralized database that is driven by cryptography.

Explaining how the block chain works can tangle the tongues of even those who are most enthusiastic about Bitcoin.

"Our entire system of contracts is based on a trusted third party," said Naveed Sherwani, the chief executive of PeerNova. But with the block chain, he added, "there is no third party anymore."

With the rise of the block chain has come a fundamental question: Should technology replace human discretion? Some experts, even those who study cryptocurrency, are skeptical.

"It's not just one human you're getting rid of, but the entire economic, legal and social structure that reinforces the idea of property," Professor Narayanan said.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/03/02/business/dealbook/data-security-is-becoming-the-sparkle-in-bitcoin.html?WT.z_mob_rel=1

The car of the future may ownerless as well as driverless

Since its launch in 2008, most of the public discussion about bitcoin has focused on its potential as a new digital currency that allows people to make online payments without going through banks or other financial middlemen.

But the past year has also seen growing interest in a host of non-currency applications for bitcoin's core technology. Innovators are devising all manner of ideas to "decentralize" commercial and social activity: "smart contracts" that function without lawyers; stock exchanges without central clearinghouses; financial record-keeping systems that can be verified without an auditor; even tamper-proof voting systems that automatically guarantee one-person-one-vote.

These ideas treat bitcoin's all-important "blockchain" ledger, a fully verifiable public database that's maintained by thousands of independent computers, as a "platform" on which to build secondary programs that strip out costly middlemen from people's exchanges.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-bitcoin-technology-could-power-driverless-cars-2015-03-03

Customers are fleeing Samsung for the iPhone

http://www.businessinsider.com/customers-are-fleeing-samsung-for-the-iphone-2015-3

How Samsung won and then lost the smartphone war

for all the criticism Samsung got along the way for copying Apple, it did prove that the world was hungry for something the iPhone didn’t have yet — smartphones with giant screens.

Samsung was the only company other than Apple making a profit in mobile, and it seemed to be closing in on Apple’s dominance, prompting The Wall Street Journal to publish its famous “Has Apple Lost Its Cool To Samsung?” headline in January 2013.

But it only took another year for things to come crashing down. Profits tumbled in 2014

Competition from new players like Xiaomi and a renewed Apple were central to the decline, but corporate turmoil at Samsung, including a rift between the company's South Korean headquarters and its suddenly successful US group, also played a major role.

“I think it’s always dangerous when you don’t know why you’ve won,” Thompson said in an interview. “One of the reasons Samsung succeeded is they pivoted in ways Nokia and others didn’t. They were able to leverage everything they already had, but weren’t able to sustain it because there wasn’t anything special about their phones. Samsung got crushed on the high end by Apple and the low end by Xiaomi in China.”

http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-rise-and-fall-2015-2

Why Samsung's most gorgeous Galaxy phones yet will leave you with mixed feelings

http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s-6-video-review-2015-3

How Samsung's new Galaxy S 6 phones compare against the iPhone and their biggest Android rivals

http://www.businessinsider.com/samsung-galaxy-s6-specs-vs-iphone-6-vs-htc-one-m9-2015-2

Curt Schilling destroys 2 dudes who were harassing his daughter on Twitter

http://www.businessinsider.com/curt-schilling-tweets-about-daughter-gabby-2015-3

A woman who was threatened with death (and worse) for a year explains how to protect against online harassment

http://www.businessinsider.com/zoe-quinn-gamergate-developer-how-to-protect-yourself-2015-3

13 podcasts that will make you smarter

http://www.businessinsider.com/podcasts-that-will-make-you-smarter-2015-3

Six reasons you should invest in the Wearables Revolution

Wearables are a can't-miss growth market. The same kids (and adults) today who take selfies with their smartphones to post on SnapChat and Facebook are going to be doing 10 times more of that, and most of it in real time using wearables.

anything that gets people posting more and easier and consuming more to and from the net is only going to grow exponentially.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/six-reasons-you-should-invest-in-the-wearables-revolution-2015-03-03