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Show of 02-27-2016

Tech Talk

February 27, 2016

Email and Forum Questions
  • Email form Margaret: Dear Dr. Shurtz, It is the lovely time of the year when we spend hours figuring out what out bill is to the IRS. I’ve been a user of TT for years, the premier edition, b/c I have a house and some investment income. But, I am considering switching to H&R Block because their comparable software, Deluxe, is cheaper. I am hoping the learning curve will not be significant if I do this switch. Do you have familiarity with either or can you offer any suggestion on this? Is there a better approach? Any FREE options!!!! Love to learn of one of those. Most appreciated. Love this show. Margaret
  • Tech Talk Responds: PC Magazine rates both. I defer to them because I don’t actually do my own taxes anymore. PC Mag tends to have unbiased reviews.
    • Turbo Tax (4.5 stars). TurboTax Deluxe is PC Mag’s top pick for DIY tax filers thanks to its excellent user experience, voluminous, targeted help resources, and thorough coverage of the tax topics supported. 
    • H & R Block Deluxe (3.5 stars). H&R Block Deluxe is good at analyzing tax topics important to homeowners with W-2 income, dividend and investment income, and itemized deductions. But its onsite support and overall user experience can’t match that of TurboTax.
  • Email from Led by Brain: Dear Dr. Shurtz, I would be grateful if you can please share a resource that is respected and established that explains this in good detail.
  • I have to write about this for federal government proposals and need to master the essence of the best practices for IT managed services. I’d also like to learn who offers this, like the top 5 in the industry, esp. those who offer it to the public sector customer. Most Appreciated. Led by Brain, a long time listener.
  • Tech Talk Responds: I suggest you take a look at the International Association of Cloud & Managed Service Providers (MSP Alliance). It is a standards and certification organization for the Managed IT Services profession. MSP Alliance has been in existence for over 13 years and has over 25,000 members worldwide, with members in Western Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia/Pacific, and Central & Latin America. You might want to attend the MSP World Spring Conference from April 2-5, 2016 in Orlando, Florida. MSP World is hosted by those that have had actual real-world experiences and successes in the managed services. It is open to non-members. MSP Alliance website: http://mspalliance.com/
  • Email from Quality Woman: Dr Shurtz, You are the smartest IT man I know. I would enjoy hearing your opinion of Apple vs FBI? What happens if Apple continues to refuse to unlock the terrorist’s phone? Thanks, Quality Woman, a long time listener.
  • Tech Talk Responds: This is an interesting case that will probably go to the Supreme Court. The FBI is asking Apple to create something that does not exist and many feel that the FBI is overstepping the law. On another front, it is interesting to see the concessions that Apple has make to the Chinese government regarding privacy. It leads you to question their motivations. I will cover both in depth later in the show.
  • Email from Carl Tyler: Dear Dr. Shurtz: I haven’t seen any podcasts posted in a while. I really miss the Tech Talk Radio podcast. Loyal Podcast Listener, Carl Tyler
  • Tech Talk Responds: Carl, thanks the listening. The podcast are all posted now. There was some delay while I was travelling to India and Malaysia.
  • Email from Arnie in Colorado Springs: Hi Dr. Shurtz, This guy didn’t realize what could happen to his drone. Suppose you have your drone license now. Arnie in  Springs, CO
  • Tech Talk Responds: Arnie send a video of a wild goat knocking a drone down that had been following too close and low. That operator did not exercise good judgement and was harassing the goat. Not a good practice. As yet, I don’t have a drone license, but regulations may force me over the fence.
  • Email from Ian in Greenbelt: Dear Doc and Jim. Windows 10 has been out for a while. Should you upgrade? Or just keep current version of Windows 8. Love the show, Ian in Greenbelt, MD
  • Tech Talk Responds: My recommendation: upgrade to Windows 10. There’s no reason to avoid it, and every reason to move ahead with it, particularly with clean installs delivered on new machines. Windows 10 is a solid operating system and Windows 10 support will be provided for longer than any other version of Windows.
  • Before upgrading, backup your data. Make an image backup, an image of the entire machine. This will allow you to easily backtrack if something goes wrong.
  • Since you have Windows 8, Windows 10 may be just what you need. Most Windows 8 users are very happy with the upgrade. I recommend you back up and upgrade as soon as it’s convenient.
  • If you’re running Windows 7 and are happy, you can delay. Microsoft is offering free Windows 10 upgrades to owners of Windows 8 and 7 for a year after release. I would strongly consider upgrading before the clock runs out in July 2016.
  • Windows Vista or XP user and your machines supports it, I’d strongly recommend you upgrade. XP is unsupported, and no longer has security updates.
  • Windows 10 has received negative reviews regarding the upgrade process and privacy. Upgrading is a pain that that is a valid complaint that can be overcome by doing the install overnight. Privacy is another matter. However, I don’t think MS is spying on you. They are gathering operational information to improve Windows.
  • Email from Leslie in Oakton: Dear Tech Talk. When installing some software programs I purchased on the web, it says while installing to click on, say, Ask Jeeves for a search engine. This is “recommended” and also is the Ask Jeeves toolbar again recommended. I did not click those even though they were recommended. Can the seller that I purchased my software from cause the software to not run correctly because I didn’t install the search engine or toolbar that was recommended with the software? Love the show, Leslie
  • Tech Talk Responds: You did the right thing. If the software is truly optional, then saying “no” should have no impact on your ability to use the software you actually want. Software installations have become more and more aggressive in attempting to get you to install add-ons that are unrelated to the software you’ve actually purchased. When installing software, never choose the Default or “Express” option; always choose “Custom”, “Advanced”, or the equivalent. Watch carefully for offers of software unrelated to what you’re installing and make the choice not to install it.
  • I understood the motivation: the cost of developing and distributing software is high, and must be recouped somehow. A software distributor is offered additional revenue for including a toolbar or other application with their installation. Unfortunately, it could be malware or simply down your machine. Just avoid it, even when recommended.
Profiles in IT: Sundar Pichai
  • Sundar Pichai is the CEO of Google Inc. He was formerly Product Chief at Google.
  • He was born July 12, 1972, in Chennai, India, named officially as Pichai Sundarajan.
  • He spent his childhood in Chennai. His father was a senior electrical engineer in General Electric and managed a factory that made electrical components.
  • Sundar grew up in a two-room apartment on in Ashok Nagar, Chennai. He and his brother slept on the floor in the living room. Pichai’s family did not possess a telephone until he was 12 years old. The family didn’t own a television, or a car. The entire family of four was transported by scooter. He is an avid chess player.
  • Sundar completed his Class X at Jawahar Vidyalaya, Ashok Nagar Chennai and completed the Class XII from Vana Vani School located in the IIT, Chennai in 1993.
  • He had keen interest in Cricket and was the captain of his school cricket team.
  • In 1997 Pichai earned his BS from IIT Kharagpur in Metallurgical Engineering.
  • When received a scholarship to Stanford, his father took out a loan to buy his airline ticket to the US, which was more that his annual salary.
  • He received his M.S. from Stanford University in Material Sciences and Engineering.
  • He then earned an MBA from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, where he was named a Siebel Scholar and a Palmer Scholar, respectively.
  • After getting his MBA, Pichai worked in engineering and product management at Applied Materials and in management consulting at McKinsey & Company.
  • Pichai joined Google in 2004. He worked on popular products like Toolbar, and also others like Google Gears and Google Pack. 
  • It was the success of the Toolbar that helped Pichai rise in the ranks as Google noticed that it was significantly increasing the number of user searches. This eventually made Google believe that it should launch its own browser in 2008.
  • On November 19, 2009, Pichai gave a demonstration of Chrome OS and the Chromebook was released for trial and testing in 2011.
  • Many companies have tried to steal Sundar Pichai. Twitter was the one of them. In 2011, Google awarded Sundar Pichai $50 million to keep him from leaving. Many referred to Sundar Pichai as Larry Page’s right-hand man. 
  • That same year, he became SVP of Google Chrome and Apps, which includes the Chrome browser and operating system, Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Drive.
  • On March 13, 2013, Pichai added Android to the list of Google products he oversees.
  • He was rumored to be one of the contenders for the CEO position of MS in 2014. 
  • Pichai was announced as the next CEO of Google on August 10, 2015, after the formation of Alphabet Inc., the new holding company for the Google.
  • He believes that computing should be accessible to everyone. He is proud of the fact that Google search delivers the same results to everyone worldwide.
  • He is married to Anjali Pichai, an ITT classmate and has two children.
Apple vs FBI Case Revealed
  • The fight between Apple and the FBI over the security protections on the San Bernardino iPhone has raised significant legal issues. Apple filed a brief that contends that the government does not have the power to make these demands. They make broad policy claims about the dangers of create custom software or backdoors, but these are not relevant to the case.
  • Apple has agreed to turn over all iCloud backups to the police and has done so. However, the government reset the password and the phone stopped synchronizing with the iCloud. The unsynchronized data is what the government seeks. In fact, Apples stores on Chinese iCloud data in China on servers that the government has access to.
  • Base Legislation: All Writs Act. The All Writs Act, which is a piece of law that dates to the founding of the country in 1789. It was signed by George Washington. It allows courts to issue whatever legal orders they need to issue in order to do their jobs. The Supreme Court and all courts established by Act of Congress may issue all writs necessary or appropriate in aid of their respective jurisdictions and agreeable to the usages and principles of law. The problem is that All Writs Act is too broad. 
  • Apple Argument 1: Apple has to attack the basis of the All Writs order, and say that this request is illegal. And that brings us to the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CALEA). This is a 1994 statute that basically says telecom service providers and equipment-makers have to assist law enforcement with surveillance under proper conditions. 
    • Apple says the government could have passed a law called CALEA II that would have required tech companies to install back doors in their products.
    • Tech companies hated CALEA II and the Obama administration dropped it.
    • There’s a subsection in CALEA that says the government can’t force equipment manufacturers into specific designs.
    • The FBI is asking for a specific design here.
    • If Congress wanted the government to have this power, it would pass CALEA II.
    • So it’s illegal for the courts to give the government this power using All Writs Act.
  • Apple Argument 2: Apple referenced the US v. New York Telephone Co. Supreme Court case. The Supreme Court ruled that the government could use the All Writs Act to compel New York Telephone Company to install a device that recorded the phone numbers dialed on a pair of phones suspected of being used in criminal activity. The court used a three-part test: first, the phone company wasn’t “so far removed” from the case, second, the help required was “meager” and the phone company was a public utility, and lastly, the FBI had tried to do it on its own but couldn’t accomplish the surveillance without help. Apple’s responses to this are simple:
    • Apple says it is very much “so far removed” from the facts of this case. Apple has no connection to the data that may or may not exist on the phone.
    • Apple is not a public utility, and has no duty to serve the public in this way. 
    • Apple says that the help requested is not meager. It’s an unprecedented and oppressive burden. Apple says that this isn’t just clipping a pen register onto a couple of phones.
    • Apple contends that the government has other ways to unlock the phone, and needs to demonstrate that it can’t go on without Apple’s help. This is an implicit reference to the NSA.
  • Apple Argument 3: Finally they contend that is violated their First Amendment rights to free speech because code is speech and the government cannot demand speech you don’t want to give. The further contend that is violated their Fifth Amendment rights to due process to force them to do something against their beliefs.
  • Apple’s real concern: Apple cares about protecting the strength of the iOS software keys and the encryption that guards them. Signing a fake version of iOS that lets the government brute-force passcodes weakens those keys, and opens Apple up to a world in which the government requests endlessly customized version of the software, which would be an enormous burden and increase the chances that someone else will steal those keys and release their own hacked versions of iOS for nefarious purposes.
  • The Answer: The right answer is for Congress to write a new law that makes it very clear what Apple’s responsibilities are. It is easy to sketch out a legislative compromise where Congress will allow Apple to protect strong on-device encryption so long as every user is required to back their devices up to a server accessible to law enforcement.
Beware to Cheap Cables
  • You might not remember Benson Leung, the Google engineer that tasked himself with examining USB Type-C cables. He’s been diligently doing so for months, but he’s calling his tests to a halt after one went horribly wrong. 
  • Leung bought a USB 3.1 Type-C SuperSpeed cable from Surjtech on Amazon, and proceeded to check it using his Chromebook Pixel 2 and a pair of USB power delivery analyzers.
  • It turns out that two wires inside the cable were soldered sloppily to the wrong connectors, which resulted in high-voltage power being delivered to the wrong place. 
  • Further analysis showed that the advertised SuperSpeed cables were missing entirely, and a 10 k? resistor was used instead of the 56 k? resistor the spec calls for.
  • Needless to say, by the time the checks were done all of Leung’s testing equipment was fried. This cable has been removed from Amazon.
  • And that means, for the time being at least, no more safety checks are inbound.
  • What are your options? You could always buy branded cables from a reputable manufacturer, but that obviously comes at an expense. If you’d prefer something cheaper, Leung has tested a lot of cables already, so you can browse his Amazon reviews page if you’re in the market for a new one.