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Show of 08-12-2017

Tech Talk

August 12, 2017

Email and Forum Questions

  • Email from Jean: Dr Shurtz. You speak often about Philips Hue and Alexa and how they work together. I need simplification as I am intrigued by smart home technology. I need a back to the basics explanation about practical possibilities. I am an Amazon prime member but missed the half-price sale on Alexa as I would definitely have been interested if I had seen that.  How did you receive that info. I love to discover the secrets of the technology that I have in my possession and not been aware of until you mention them. Feel like a kid an a candy store! Thanks. Jean
  • Tech Talk Responds: You three smart home ecosystems: Google Home, Apple Home Kit, and Amazon Alexa. Many smart devices now work this Alexa (lights, webcams, thermostats, smoke alarms, door locks, etc.) and the list keeps growing. If you get one of these devices you will need to enable the skill using the Alexa app. Then you will need to ask Alexa to scan for active devices. These devices can be groups for easy controls. Some of the prominent devices that support Alexa are Nest, Phillips Hue, WeMo. Here are a few options and their prices.
    • Lifx Color 1000 smart bulbs ($59.88). They don’t need a hub.
    • Philips Hue White LED bulbs starter kit ($69.99). This kit includes the hub.
    • Ecobee4 smart thermostate ($249.00)
    • August Smark Lock ($199.99)
    • SkyBell HD Wi-Fi Video Doorbell ($169.65). This includes free online video storage.
    • Nest Cam Indoor ($194.00)
    • Belkin WeMo Mini Wi-Fi Smart Plug ($34.99)
    • Lutron Caseta In-Wall Wireless Smart Swirtch ($159.90)
    • Nest Protect Smoke and CO2 detector ($119.00)
    • Lutron Serena Remote Controlled Shades ($349.00)
  • You simply need to enable the associated Alexa skill using the Alexa app on your phone. Then you need to tell Alexa to scan for smart home devices. You will just need to say, “Alexa, discover new devices.” You can group the devices for easy control. This may require some experimentation, but it is fun. The skill description will tell you what command to use to activate the device.
  • Lilly in Fairfax: Dear Doc and Jim. I have a Widows Laptop and leave it plugged continuously. A friend suggested that this may damage the battery. What do you recommend? Enjoy the podcast. Lilly in Fairfax
  • Tech Talk Responds: The short answer is that unplugging it won’t make all that much difference. What will shorten battery life is temperature. If the battery gets hot, it will shorten the battery life. Thus the best thing to do, if you are able, is to remove the battery while you are at home and keep it somewhere cool.
  • If it is a Li-ion battery, then they do not like to be completely discharged, so make sure you charge them regularly. Lithium-ion batteries should not be frequently discharged fully and recharged (“deep-cycled”), but this may be necessary after about every 30th recharge to recalibrate any electronic charge monitor (e.g. a battery meter). This allows the charge monitoring electronics to more accurate.
  • Email from Jim in Michigan: I live in an area with poor cell coverage. I have to be outside receive a call. How can I boost my cell phone reception when I am in the house. Enjoy the podcast. Jim in Michigan
  • Tech Talk Responds: You have three options: Wi-Fi calling, Microcell, and Cellular Signal Amplifier.
  • WiFi-Calling — If you have Internet access, your best bet is Wi-Fi calling. Wi-Fi calling allows your smartphone to make calls and send text messages over a Wi-Fi network. When your phone is on Wi-Fi and has a poor cellular signal, it will connect to the Wi-Fi network and your phone calls and text will be sent and arrive over the Wi-Fi network. When you leave the Wi-Fi network, your phones and calls will be sent over the cellular network as usual.
  • If you have an iPhone 5c or any newer iPhone, you can use Wi-Fi calling. It’s also built into many modern Android phones. This is the best solution if your phone and cellular carrier supports it. In the US, AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, and Vodafone support Wi-Fi calling.
  • To enable Wi-Fi calling on an iPhone, head to Settings > Phone > Wi-Fi Calling. To enable Wi-Fi calling on an Android phone, head to Settings > Wireless and Networks > More > Wi-Fi Calling.
  • Femtocell or Microcell — A second option is to create your own cellular connection. A femtocell, or microcell, is a small, low-power cellular base station that connects to the cellular network via your broadband Internet connection. Essentially, it is a small cellular signal tower that will provide a signal in and near your home. It connects the larger mobile network over your Internet connection. This makes it ideal for situations where you do not even have a signal bar of coverage you can boost at home. The only “catch” is that your Internet connection must have a high enough download speed. Different carriers require different minimum speeds, but you should be fine as long as you have a solid broadband connection. As with boosters and repeaters, a femtocell may be available at a steep discount from your carrier in areas they know they have poor cellular service. For instance, a Samsung Network Extender for Verizon is $249.Unfortunately, these are carrier specific.
  • Signal Booster — A third option is a signal booster may also be an option for you. zBoost Microcell supports virtually every cell provider and has many different models and options to choose from depending on the size of the house. They even have an optional antenna you can install on your roof (or in the attic) to give cell coverage everywhere around your house. It is the best choice, and cheaper than most carriers will offer you. You can get a zBoost for around $200 on Amazon. You will need some cellular signal strength to amplify.
  • Email from Feroze in Fredericksburg: Dear Doc and Jim. I have a Nikon DSLR that takes beautiful pictures. Unfortunately, they are hard to share and post immediately to Facebook. I am being left out by iPhone photographers and posters. How can I transfers my pictures to my iPhone easily. Enjoy the show live in Fredericksburg
  • Tech Talk Responds: One of the handiest features you’ll find on newer digital cameras is built-in Wi-Fi connectivity that allows you to transfer files to a computer on your local network or to a nearby smartphone via an ad-hoc Wi-Fi network. If you have an older camera (or newer one that simply did not ship with the feature), do not worry—you are not out in the cold. A Wi-Fi SD card can add Wi-Fi connectivity to any camera you have, as long as it has an SD card slot.
  • Eye-Fi Mobi Pro ($50) is a good option. Download the appropriate software for your smart device. There are verisons for iOS, Android, and Windows phones. Run the application and then plug in the registration code from the physical card that came with the packaging of your Eye-Fi. Once you have entered it, click “Install Profile”.
  • You’ll be returned to the Keenai application where it will instruction you to place the Eye-Fi card into your camera and turn it on. Do so now. Take a few pictures to power the card and activate the Wi-Fi radio. Then open up the Wi-Fi settings on your phone or tablet. There, look for a new Wi-Fi network with a name that starts with “Eye-Fi”. Select it. You shouldn’t be asked for a password but if you are, the password is always the registration code off the card that came with your Eye-Fi card.
  • Now that you’ve established a direct connection between the Eye-Fi card in your camera and your mobile device, transferring photos is as simple as taking the photos while connected to the card and then looking in the Keenai app.
  • We recommend you enable selective transfer. Without it, your Eye-Fi card will just chug along in the background, attempting to transfer as many photos as it can from your camera to your mobile device.
  • Unfortunately, you can’t toggle on the selective upload function of the Eye-Fi Mobi Pro using the mobile application—you must use the desktop application. To do so, download the Eye-Fi card management software. Like the mobile software, the desktop software is also branded “Keenai”. Install the software and run it. After installation is complete, open up the “Options” menu again. You’ll see your Eye-Fi card listed. Click on the arrow under the “Advanced” column and then activate the toggle for “Selective Transfer.” Don’t change any other advanced settings. Click “Save” at the bottom of the Settings window.

Profiles in IT: Daniel Stewart Butterfield

  • Daniel Stewart Butterfield is best known for being a co-founder of the photo-sharing website Flickr and team messaging application Slack.
  • Butterfield was born in Lund, British Columbia in 1973 and grew up for the first three years of his life in a log cabin without running water.
  • His family moved to Victoria when Butterfield was five years old.
  • A few years later, the Butterfields got a computer, which Stewart fell in love with. When he was a kid, he taught himself how to code.
  • Butterfield was educated at St. Michaels University School in Victoria, British Columbia and made money in university designing websites.
  • He received a B.A. degree in philosophy from the University of Victoria in 1996.
  • Butterfield went on to earn a Master of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge in 1998, specializing in the philosophy of biology, cognitive science, and the mind.
  • In 2000, Butterfield worked with a friend to build a startup called Gradfinder.com.
  • Butterfield and Classon were able to sell Gradfinder.com for what Butterfield describes as a healthy profit to Highwired.
  • After the acquisition, Butterfield worked as a freelance web designer.
  • In 2002, he co-founded Ludicorp with Caterina Fake and Jason Classon.
  • Ludicorp developed a massively multiplayer online role-playing game called Game Neverending. The game did not launch because of lackluster user response.
  • The company pivoted and started a photo-sharing website called Flickr.
  • In March 2005 Ludicorp was acquired by Yahoo!, where Butterfield continued as the General Manager of Flickr until he left Yahoo on July 12, 2008.
  • In 2009 Butterfield cofounded a new company called Tiny Speck.
  • Tiny Speck launched the massively multiplayer game Glitch, on September 27, 2011.
  • Glitch was later closed due to its failure to attract sufficient VC support.
  • In August 2013, Butterfield announced the release of Slack, an instant-message-based team communication tool built by Tiny Speck while working on Glitch.
  • After its public release in February 2014, the tool grew at a weekly rate of 5 to 10 percent, with more than 120,000 daily users registered by August 2014.
  • By August 2014, Slack earned US$1.5M and raised US$60M in venture capital.
  • By December 2015, Slack had raised US$340 million in venture capital and had more than 2 million daily active users, of which 570,000 were paid customers.
  • In less than two years Slack grew to over 1.25 million daily active users, 370,000+ paid seats, 230+ employees, and $35 million in annual recurring revenue.
  • Slack was named Inc. Magazine’s 2015 company of the year.
  • Butterfield was married to Caterina Fake, his Flickr co-founder, from 2001 to 2007. They have one daughter together, who was born in 2007.
  • Butterfields net worth was $1.97B in 2017.

Tips for photographing the total solar eclipse

  • You will need a pair of solar filter glasses. These are specialized lenses that block out 99.99 percent of the Sun’s light. You will need to wear them in order to spot the Sun in the sky and also to watch as the Moon starts to cover the solar disc. The American Astronomical Society has a list of approved manufacturers of solar filter glasses on their sites (https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/solar-filters).
  • Once your eyes are safe, there are four basic things you’re going to want to use to photograph the eclipse:
    • DSLR camera or a camera with full manual controls
    • A telephoto lens (we’re using a 70 to 200 millimeter zoom lens)
    • A tripod
    • A solar filter for your lens
  • Take a few test shots of the sun before the eclipse starts to adjust the exposure. For instance, with an f/2.8, your exposure would be ¼ second for Outer Corona, 1/30 second for mid-corona, and 1/1000 second for inner Corona. There are many excellent exposure guides on the Internet. For example: (https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/tips-and-solutions/how-photograph-solar-eclipse.
  • With the Sun in your camera’s sights, you’ll need to make slight adjustments throughout the length of the eclipse. For one thing, you will have to periodically adjust the position of your camera and tripod to account for the Earth’s rotation and the Sun’s movement across the sky.
  • LOOK at the eclipse. Enjoy it with your own (protected) eyes. As amazing as it would be to get a great photograph, I promise you that you will have a lifetime of regrets if you miss the whole show because you are hyper-focused on photographing the event. Besides, I’ve been told it looks much more amazing to the eyes than it does to the camera.
  • Be present!

Tricks used by Web Ads to Bypass Blockers

  • Internet users may choose to block unwanted content , such as intrusive and misbehaving ads, but some advertising companies do not to accept that choice.
  • Instart Logic describes itself as a content delivery service and much of that content happens to be advertising.
  • The company’s technology disguises third-party network requests so they appear to be first-party network requests. This allows ad services used by website publishers to place cookies and serve ads that would otherwise by blocked by the browser’s same-origin security model.
  • In response, uBlock Origin content blocker updated its uBO-Extra add-on software on August 9th 2017 to prevent Instart Logic’s code from bypassing uBlock Origin.
  • The adblocking technology became more of an issue for mobile devices when Apple introduced support for a Content Blocking API in its Safari browser.
  • Facebook last year took steps to disable content blocking on its network, and companies like Instart Logic, PageFair, Sourcepoint, and Uponit aim to provide similar anti-blocking capabilities to other online publishers.
  • Uponit provides publishing clients with JavaScipt code that attempts to bypass content blocking. Their JavaScript detects blocked ad calls, fully recreates them (and communicates them to their servers through a secure, undetectable channel that bypasses ad blockers.
  • Instart Logic will even detect when the developer console opens, and cleanup everything then to hide what it does.
  • Ad blocking is becoming a real issue for legitimate quality website. If users are unwilling to pay for content, or even to see ads, there is no sustainable revenue model.
  • Expect the debate to continue. In the end, users expect well behaved ads that do not distract from the viewing experience.

Is the PowerGrid really Vulnerable?

  • The energy sector across multiple Western countries is under assault by hackers.
  • Security experts warn that industrial systems are wide open to potential exploit once hackers secure a foothold, using targeted phishing or similar tactics.
  • Multiple US energy companies were sent phishing emails as part of a campaign aimed at stealing credentials. This is part of a concerted effort to gather steal credentials, map networks and probe for weaknesses in Western energy sector firms in preparation for a possible future attack.
  • While nothing damaging has happened to date, the whole threat of attacks on the energy sector has ratcheted up.
    • In 2014, unknown attackers infected the industrial control system (ICS) of a German Steel Mill causing an unscheduled shutdown of a blast furnace that resulted in significant damage.
    • In 2015, Russian attackers, using a primarily open-source toolkit, manage to attack Ukrainian distribution companies interrupting the power to approximately 225,000 customers.
    • In 2016, malware used against the Ukrainian power grid was specifically designed to attack ICS (Industrial Control Systems) systems associated with power grids. Not only does it have the capability to delete data and disrupt IT systems, it also has the capability to physically damage ICS systems.
  • Up to date patching and the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to immediately identify suspicious network communications and incidents helps to harden the security that guards industrial control systems.
  • A report on the Industrial Control Systems (ICS) threat landscape last year by Kaspersky Lab found that 17,042 ICS components on 13,698 different hosts exposed to the internet likely belong to large organizations.
  • These include energy, transportation, aerospace, oil and gas, chemicals, automotive and manufacturing, food and service, governmental, financial and medical institutions.

Course of the Week: Introduction to Machine Learning by Andrew Ng

  • This course provides a broad introduction to machine learning, datamining, and statistical pattern recognition. Topics include:
    • Supervised learning (parametric/non-parametric algorithms, support vector machines, kernels, neural networks).
    • Unsupervised learning (clustering, dimensionality reduction, recommender systems, deep learning).
    • Best practices in machine learning (bias/variance theory; innovation process in machine learning and AI).
  • The course will also draw from numerous case studies and applications, so that you will also learn how to apply learning algorithms to building smart robots (perception, control), text understanding (web search, anti-spam), computer vision, medical informatics, audio, database mining, and other areas.
    • Course with Certificate: $79 USD
    • Course without Certificate: Free
  • Link to Course: https://www.coursera.org/learn/machine-learning