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The turkeys are pissed this Thanksgiving they are seeking revenge.
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Smartphone Sanitizing: A Practical Guide
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Why Soft Skills Matter in Today’s Job Market
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Comcast to Unplug Motown
Comcast (CMCSA) will abandon Detroit. The mega-cableco will abandon Detroit if the Federal Communications Commission approves its acquisition of Time Warner Cable Inc. The cable giant filed a response (PDF) to parties objecting to the nation’s second-largest provider’s plan to acquire TWC arguing against claims that it would grow too big under the merger.
Under its purchase plan, Comcast will withdraw from some markets. It will continue to operate, as it does now, in 16 of 20 top markets. Comcast will operate in a different set of 16 markets, mostly on both coasts. Comcast lawyers stated, “Comcast will no longer have a presence in the Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, or Cleveland DMAs (designated market areas).”
MLive explains that companies like Dish Network, Netflix, and various TV networks have complained that the Comcast-Time-Warner merger. They argue that the new cableco would create a massive cable company with an anti-competitive advantage. Religious television programmer My Christian TV complained that the deal. They claimed it would make Comcast, “the only significant cable outlet in about 98 percent of all African-American communities in the country.” Comcast’s response:
Comcast has never served several markets with significant African-American populations such as St. Louis, Cleveland, and New Orleans, among many others, and after the Transaction, will no longer serve Detroit… Comcast estimates that after the transaction, it will serve markets that include approximately 78 percent of the country’s Hispanic households (not counting Puerto Rico in the denominator), though of course many of those households will not be Comcast customers.
GreatLand Connections Inc.
Bloomberg says the castaways in Detroit, Minneapolis, and elsewhere would belong to a new company. The new company would be called GreatLand Connections Inc. It would be created in what the companies call a tax-efficient spinoff. The new company’s debt would exceed industry averages — something that has raised concerns about service in those communities.
“We don’t have the answers we need,” said Ron Styka, an elected trustee with responsibility for cable-service oversight in Meridian Township, Michigan, a town served by Comcast about 80 miles west of Detroit. Municipal officials told Bloomberg they have questions about service. The questions include whether subscribers can keep Comcast e-mail addresses or if the cable-channel lineups may change.
GreatLand will start with $7.8 billion in debt, according to a securities filing. Bloomberg says that debt is equal to five times EBITDA, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. The debt ratio for Comcast is 1.99 times EBITDA and for New York-based Time Warner Cable it’s 3.07 times EBITDA, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. David Osberg, city administrator of Eagan, MN told Bloomberg. “It’s not clear whether GreatLand will be financially qualified,” to provide services.
The new company will buy management services from Charter Communications Inc. (CHTR) according to Bloomberg. Charter, which had sought to buy Time Warner Cable, would own a 33 percent interest in GreatLand and become the second-largest U.S. cable company with more than 8 million customers counting GreatLand’s and subscribers it gets in purchases and swaps with Comcast after the merger is completed.
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I worked a couple of jobs last year with Comcast and it always took them 3 or 4 months to provide service to business customers so many Detroiters may not be sad to see the cable giant go. The Philadelphia company last week acknowledged major customer service woes after a series of viral videos documented the experiences of exasperated customers.
Comcast CEO Neil Smit announced the hiring of a new head of customer service, and wrote in a blog post:
It may take a few years before we can honestly say that a great customer experience is something we’re known for. But that is our goal and our number one priority.
Related articles
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Patent Wars Are Pointless
The Business Insider has new data about the value of the patent wars. BI cites Florian Mueller, the founder of the FOSS Patents blog. He says patent litigation is a waste of resources. His research found that the patent wars cost companies millions of dollars in time and lawyer fees. Mr. Mueller analyzed 222 Android smartphone patent assertions. He found that 90% of those cases have gone absolutely nowhere.
According to BI Intelligence, Mr. Mueller’s data says that 49% of the assertions have failed thus far. Another 42% of assertions were dropped without a comprehensive settlement or a “comparably negative fate.” It turns out that only 9% of the patent assertions were able to establish liability. Even in that small sample, only 50% of those cases resulted in “lasting injunctive relief.” Mr. Mueller says that number would be even smaller if “the patents underlying Nokia’s German injunctions against HTC (2498) had come to judgment in the Federal Patent Court.”
In other words, based on patent cases brought to court by Apple (AAPL), Google (GOOG), Samsung (005930), Microsoft (MSFT), Nokia (NOK), Motorola (MSI), and a host of others, litigation is, more often than not, a serious waste of time and money for all parties involved.
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Back in 2012 Boston University estimated that patent shenanigans have cost the US economy $29 Billion annually, now there is evidence it is a total waste of time and money and only funds the lawyers.
Related articles
- Silicon Alley Insider: These Are The 11 Patents That Are Getting Android Into Trouble With Apple And Microsoft (AAPL, MSFT, GOOG) (businessinsider.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Superman Most Dangerous on Web
Superheroes are supposed to be our friends but sometimes a plot twist allows their arch-enemies to trick our heroes turn against us. This is also true on the intertubes. Attackers are using our superheroes to infect computers to scam people into visiting compromised sites and downloading dangerous software according to Santa Clara, California-based McAfee.
The security company scoured the web and identified the most dangerous superheroes online. The report, “Most Toxic Superhero 2014” estimates how likely the average user is to come across malware by searching for the name of any given superhero.
McAfee lined up 11 likely suspects. They gathered viable threat evidence from popular search engines like Google (GOOG), Yahoo (YHOO), and Microsoft (MSFT) Bing for spyware, adware, spam, phishing, viruses, and other malware. The company also searched each superhero’s name in conjunction with common phrases like “free torrent download” and “free app,” as seeding fake torrents is a common way for attackers to infect computers.
The most dangerous superheroes online by percent of his search traffic leading to unsafe sites are:
- Superman 16.5%
- Thor 16.35%
- Wonder Woman 15.7% (tied)
- Aquaman 15.7% (tied)
- X-Man Wolverine 15.1%
- Batman 14.2%
- Black Widow 13.85%
- Captain America 13.5%
- Green Lantern 11.25%
- Ghost Rider 10.83%
McAfee tells citizen do-gooders to protect themselves by:
Beware of clicking on third-party links. You should access content directly from the official websites of content providers.- Ensure you use web protection that will let you know of risky sites or links before you visit them. Stick to official news sites for breaking news.
- Don’t download videos from suspect sites. This should be common sense, but it bears repeating: don’t download anything from a website you don’t trust — especially video. Most news clips you’d want to see can easily be found on official video sites and don’t require you to download anything.
- “Free downloads” are by far the highest virus-prone search term. Anyone searching for videos or files to download should be careful not to unleash unsafe content such as malware onto their computers.
- Always use password protection on your phone and other mobile devices. If you don’t and your phone is lost or stolen, anyone who picks up the device could have access to your personal information online.
Don’t “log in” or provide other information: If anything asks for your information—credit card, email, home address, Facebook login, or other information—to grant access to an exclusive story, don’t give it out. Such requests are a common tactic for phishing that could lead to identity theft.- Search online using an Internet security program in the background. These tools protect users from malicious websites and browser exploits. A complimentary version of McAfee’s SiteAdvisor software can be downloaded at www.siteadvisor.com
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Whether you live in Metropolis or Gotham, do-gooders need not work very hard to avoid these scams. Avoid dark alleys where superhero websites tend to have the same flaws as any other unsafe page. Keep an eye out for typos and files that look suspicious. Run an Internet security program in the background (your antivirus or anti-malware program probably has one built-in). Lastly, check what other commenters say before downloading a torrent.
Related articles
- Mobile malware: Past and current rends, prevention strategies (cloudentr.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Don’t Drain iPhone 6 Batteries
If you are one of the 10 million who just got their brand new waterproof flex-iPhone 6, charged it in the microwave got your network and WiFi connectivity back and updated it again. There is another rumor surrounding the smartphone that was not-right. Many people still believe it’s always best for the life of the iPhone 6 battery to let it drain fully before charging it again.
No so fast. Caroline Moss at Business Insider explains that there was a time when cell-phones and most electronics ran on Nickel-Cadmium batteries. When a device uses a Nickel-Cadmium battery, you’d want to let your feature-phone fully drain before charging it again. Why? Nickel-Cadmium batteries, suffer from what’s known as “memory effect.” When they are charged and discharged hundreds of times, they start to lose the ability to charge up to 100%, draining your battery life significantly over time.
In 2006, Lithium-Ion batteries replaced most NiCd batteries. Ms. Moss says these new batteries can be found in all Apple (AAPL) devices and do not suffer from “memory effect” the way NiCd batteries do. Apple says on its website:
Lithium-ion polymer batteries have a high power density, and you can recharge a lithium-ion polymer battery whenever convenient, without requiring a full charge or discharge cycle.
Apple does recommend, however, that you should let the device go through at least one charge cycle each month to help keep the electrons moving (as opposed to a NiCd battery which needs to go through a full charge cycle every few days). Letting the device drain from 100% to fully shutting off at 0% helps to maintain the life of the battery.
Robin Lim at The Android Guy wrote that the typical modern lithium-ion battery you find in a mobile device should last for 500 charge and discharge cycles depending. Five hundred cycles should be enough to get you through two years.
Five hundred cycles is more than it sounds. A battery cycle means a full charge and discharge. So if you charge your battery before it is empty, it will not count as a full cycle. Ms. Kim claims that if you usually charge battery when it gets to 30%, it should be good for over 700 charges.
The battery does naturally degrade over time. While the battery is designed to last 500 cycles, it does not mean that the battery will maintain a 100% charge throughout the 500 cycles. It also does not mean that after 500 cycles, the battery will die. After 500 charge and discharge cycles, your battery would be at about 70% of its original battery life. Your phone will still report that it is 100% fully charged, but it will really be at about only 70%. Basically, your battery deteriorates about 30%, gradually, over the 500 charge and discharge cycles according to the article.
Ms.Lim offers tips to maintain LI-on batteries.
- Avoid letting the battery drain below 20-30%. Partial discharges are actually better for your battery. The old rule that you had to fully discharge your battery, does not apply to the Lithium-Ion and Lithium-Polymer used in smartphones today. Battery University tests have shown one full discharge your battery once results in more wear and tear than charging it twice when it hits 30%.
- Recharge often. Given that recharging at higher levels of remaining battery life results in less wear and tear, it makes sense to recharge frequently.
- Partial charge is okay. Plugging in the battery for your new iPhone 6 for even half an hour will keep your remaining battery level higher at the end of the day.
Calibrate once every month or two. The Android Guy says continuous partial discharges create a condition called digital memory. Your smartphone does not really measure battery life, but really just estimates the remaining charge. Partial discharges decrease the accuracy of the device’s battery gauge. So once every month, or every other month, let the battery discharge to the cut-off point and then recharge. Once fully charged, leave it plug to the wall charging for another two hours. The power gauge will be re-calibrated.
Related articles
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him at LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2014, AAPL, Apple, Battery, iPhone, Lithium-ion battery, Memory effect, Mobile, Nickel–cadmium battery
Internet of Things Full of Holes
The Internet of Things, is big and heading towards huge. The Internet of Things (IoT) is a system where unique identifiers are assigned to objects, animals, or people. These “Things” then transfer data over a network without requiring human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction. Whatis.com says IoT evolved from the convergence of wireless technologies, micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS), and the Internet.
Business Insider believes that the IoT will be the biggest thing since sliced bread. They claim there are 1.9 billion IoT devices today, and 9 billion by 2018, which roughly equal to the number of smartphones, smart TVs, tablets, wearable computers, and PCs combined. Gartner (IT) predicts that there will be 26 billion IoT devices by 2020. Based on a recent article in InfoSecurity Magazine is a very scary thing.
The InfoSecurity article says HP (HPQ) found 70% of the most common IoT devices have security vulnerabilities. HP used its Fortify On Demand testing service to uncover security flaws. HP detected flaws in IoT devices like TVs, webcams, home thermostats, remote power outlets, sprinkler controllers, hubs for controlling multiple devices, door locks, home alarms, scales, and garage door openers as well as their cloud and mobile app elements according to the new study.
HP then tested them with manual and automated tools and assessed their security rating according to the vendor neutral OWASP Internet of Things Top 10 list of vulnerability areas. The author concludes that the results raised significant concerns about user privacy and the potential for attackers to exploit the devices and their cloud and app elements. Some of the results are:
- A total of 250 security concerns were uncovered across all tested devices, which boils down to 25 on average per device,
- 90% of devices collected at least one piece of personal information via the device, the cloud, or its mobile application,
- 80% of devices studied allowed weak passwords like 1234 opening the door for WiFi-sniffing hackers,
- 80% raised privacy concerns about the sheer amount of personal data being collected,
- 70% of the devices analyzed failed to use encryption for communicating with the Internet and local network,
- 60% had cross-site scripting or other flaws in their web interface vulnerable to a range of issues such as the Heartbleed SSL vulnerability, persistent XSS (cross-site scripting), poor session management and weak default credentials,
- 60% didn’t use encryption when downloading software updates.
Mike Armistead, VP & General Manager, HP Fortify, explained that IoT opens avenues for attackers.
While the Internet of Things will connect and unify countless objects and systems, it also presents a significant challenge in fending off the adversary given the expanded attack surface … With the continued adoption of connected devices, it is more important than ever to build security into these products from the beginning to disrupt the adversary and avoid exposing consumers to serious threats.
HP urged device manufacturers to eliminate the “lower hanging fruit” of common vulnerabilities. They recommend manufacturers, “Implement security … so that security is automatically baked in to your product … Updates to your product’s software are extremely important.”
Antti Tikkanen, director of security response at F-Secure, told InfoSecurity said the problems HP uncovered in this report were just the tip of the iceberg for IoT security risks.
One problem that I see is that while people may be used to taking care of the security of their computers, they are used to having their toaster ‘just work’ and would not think of making sure the software is up-to-date and the firewall is configured correctly … At the same time, the criminals will definitely find ways to monetize the vulnerabilities. Your television may be mining for Bitcoins sooner than you think, and ransomware in your home automation system sounds surprisingly efficient for the bad guys.
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I covered the threats that IoT or “smart” devices presented back in 2012. I don’t know where HP (or the rest of the security community) has been.
The current generation of “smart” devices does not seem to have any security. Most likely the manufacturer did not consider basic security or worse calculated it was better to ignore the secure design in their rush to gain market share.
It is also annoying that HP did not reveal the details on the products they tested.
Related articles
- Internet of Everything Is Hackable (inventorspot.com)
Ralph Bach has been in IT long enough to know better and has blogged from his Bach Seat about IT, careers, and anything else that catches his attention since 2005. You can follow him on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter. Email the Bach Seat here.
Category: Uncategorized |
Tags: 2014, Bitcoin, Business Continuity, Cloud computing, CSS, Disaster recovery, Encryption, Gartner, Heartbleed, HP, HPQ, Internet of Things, IOT, Malware, Mobile, Network, Password, Ransomware, Security, Wi-Fi, Wireless