Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
– When what’s said is unclear to me (or I’m unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (” “) verbatim.
|- Editor’s comments are delimited by < >

For a couple of months, the audio of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro and outro music was by Pentatonix.

Both Glenn and Paul were in the studio today.

Glenn thanked new and continuing members of KVMR. If you’re not yet a member, you can call the office number at 530-265-9073 and make a contribution.

The local organization animalplace.org is a place to adopt all sorts of animals, and in particular, ones who were displaced by the recent fires, but no dogs or cats.

Wireless communications like wi-fi have been with us in some form for about 20 years, Paul said. Security protocols for wi-fi have changed over the years, too. Originally, there was no security. Then came WEP (wired equivalent privacy). It was cracked some time ago and is no longer in general use. The more secure WPA followed, but it’s had a long-standing flaw in its implementation that has been brought to the media’s attention recently. It’s been shown to be subject to the ‘man in the middle attack‘. With this exploit it’s not possible to determine the passwords used on the wireless network but it is possible to snoop on the wireless data itself. The snooper has to be within range of the wireless (radio) signal to accomplish this.
<New Wi-Fi Crack can Intercept Your Data: What You Need to Know
Keep Your Wi-Fi off KRACK
This is suppose to be the research paper that exposed the vulnerability>

Nobody needs to worry, but everybody needs to be aware of the threat, Paul said. He went on to warn users of potential scams enticing people to download supposed fixes for the problem. It’s a great opportunity to play on people’s fears and get them to download malware. Instead, do some Google searches specific to your particular hardware to find the recommended remedy. If you have Apple equipment, be sure to get your advice from the apple.com domain (like support.apple.com) rather than discussion groups devoted to Apple products.

After addressing the problem with your phone, the next step is to see if there is an upgrade to your wireless router. Not all routers can be fixed. Paul said. The defects may be in the hardware. He asked listeners for any feedback about solutions they’ve found for their particular situation. He said you may be out of luck if your equipment is no longer manufactured. He went on to say that when you buy equipment the law says it’s supposed to be supported for up to 7 years after it’s taken off the market, but what ‘support’ means isn’t well defined.

Also, consider using wired a connection instead of wi-fi. It’s a lot less trouble, a lot more secure, there’s less interference and it’s faster. You can then just turn off the router’s wi-fi.

Paul has come across the word ‘nonce’. It’s a single serialized number that’s used for mathematical calculations. It sounded like he was describing a seed number for a random number generator. When equipment is reset, it may go back to 0 but the nonce makes it start at a different number, which makes it more difficult to steal the wireless data.

Glenn told listeners to note the model number of their router and check with the manufacturer for upgrades. Paul said that if your router is within its warranty period, call tech support. If you do a search for “linksys 800 number” (assuming you have a Linksys router) you’ll likely get a bunch of search results that go to some 3rd party, not Linksys, who will then try to sell you what you don’t need.

When you think you have reached the website of for your hardware, check the address bar for the green portion to the left. It’s a validation that the name of the site corresponds with the name in the certificate. It doesn’t mean you’ve reached the correct website, it means that “your information is encrypted and certified to be the property of a site that calls itself” by the name in the address bar.

Buzz, the KVMR engineer, called. He said the WPA exploit really doesn’t matter for most people unless you’re using the wi-fi to access some other equipment in your house. If you’re only accessing the internet, look in the address bar to be sure you’re using https not http. That way you data is encrypted using something other than WPA. The exploit takes advantage of poorly configured websites and can change a https connection to one that’s merely http, leaving your data unencrypted. Pay attention to your address bar to be sure it says https. If you use wi-fi to access in-home equipment, you’re not using https. The data is not encrypted and can be seen as plain text by this exploit. Paul said if you have visiting guests who want to use your wi-fi, create a guest network for them so they don’t have access to your primary network. Not all routers are capable of doing this.

Sheree called about scareware. How does it get on your computer and does that mean your anti-virus failed?

There are 2 flavors of scareware, software that gets on your computer and a scare web page that looks like your computer generated it. The 2nd type can appear when you mistype a popular URL (like facebook.com), which can then proceed to scare you into downloading malware. An anti-virus can’t deal with the 2nd type. Google can catch web pages of the 2nd type and mark them in red. A scare page may be difficult to close because its control buttons are made not to work. In this case use Control+Alt+Delete (Option+Apple+Escape on a Mac) and close your browser. <I’ve had success by just closing the tab.> Also, be sure you’re running the latest version of the browser. In Firefox go to ‘Help’ -> ‘About Firefox’ to check for updates.

Glenn got an email yesterday from Nick. He asked for the “best method of getting emergency audible phone text email without spam on mobile devices and landlines.” This relates to the recent fires and to the fact that many people turn their phones off at night to avoid spam phone calls. Glenn said he doesn’t get spam calls at night and keeps his phone on. Paul said that Android and Apple have a ‘do not disturb’ (dnd) setting that mutes all but emergency calls. Search for the word: dnd.

Glenn did a quick search for “amber alerts on cellphones” and found that for Android the dnd options are under settings -> more options (under the wireless network section) -> scroll down to ‘cell broadcast settings’

Jonathan called. He has a late 2012 Mac Book Pro. About a month ago the wi-fi reception had gotten worse and wondered if the wireless card inside can go bad.
– As more people use wi-fi you may be subject to interference. But he said he’s been having the problem at work and at home. At home there are no other users nearby.
– Wireless cards can indeed go bad and they are pretty easy to replace.
– It can cost a lot if you buy from Apple.
– On some Macs it’s painfully difficult to replace.
– Upgrade to the latest operating system, High Sierra. However, he’d rather not because he’s afraid some of his software would stop working.
– Update but not upgrade the operating system to maintain software compatibility. Go up to the Apple logo -> check for updates. It may offer Sierra but somehow (he didn’t say how) just do an update.
– Check places like Ebay for used (parted) wireless cards.

He also asked Paul for his opinion of the latest operating system.
– “There’s a lot more going on under the hood than on the surface.” There are a more features for software developers to use, like biometrics.
– Paul said it can speed things up a little.
– Older Adobe products have trouble running on the new operating system.

Glenn read some questions from Marilyn. Is there a way to make PC laptop, running Win10, open and close document files without delay. They take time to fade in and fade out, she said. Since she didn’t say what program she is using, the guys couldn’t help her.

She also asked if there’s a way to hook up on a network 3 separate computers each running a different operating system — XP, Win7 & Win10. Paul said they will join a network fairly naturally. Ideally, use a cable rather than wi-fi. Each shouldn’t care about the others if you just want to use the internet. If you want to share file between them, make sure XP has the latest patches and strong passwords. If you add a Mac to the network, they can talk to each other as long as the PCs have file sharing turned on.

Peter Wilson called. He tuned in late and asked about the security issue already discussed earlier in the show. The guys referred him to the archive of this show.

Paul added that if your router is older than about 6 months, consider replacing it with a newer one. They are pretty cheap. Be sure the new router is upgradeable. If you choose to upgrade your router, be sure the upgrade specifically states it’s for the WPA exploit.

Paul also said it’s worth looking at dd-wrt, the Linux router project.

The Flea Market is on tomorrow from 1 to 2pm.

Last Updated 1:06 AM 10-26-2017

Pascale of YubaNet.Com & Steve Baker, KVMR Program Director in studio about fires

HTTPS now in Common Use for CMS etc.

IOSs slows down previous & older iPhones? No.

Antivirus used for snooping?

Additional notes

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
– When what’s said is unclear to me (or I’m unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (” “) verbatim.
– Editor’s comments are delimited by < >

For a couple of months, the audio of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro music was by Pentatonix.

Both Paul and Glenn were in the studio today.

For the first 14 minutes or so, KVMR program director Steve Baker and Pascale Fusshoeller of yubanet.com talked about the fire situation in northern Calif. There were no important warnings. Listen to the audio if you need details. The more notable items in the report include…
– Fire fighters are working hard to contain the Lobo fire. The head of the fire is in the Deer Creek drainage and is headed toward Lake Wild Wood. A north wind is expected this afternoon that may whip up that fire.
– Stay inside to avoid smoke and set your air conditioning to recirculate the air, not to bring in air from the outside.
– Put out water for the wildlife in your neighborhood.

1

Glenn got a new tablet from Fry’s in Sacramento. Called Naxa Core it comes from China and was only $35. It has a 7″ screen with a front & back cameras and a 30 day return policy. It comes with Android 6.1, which I believe is Marshmallow. The guys were wondering if it has GPS.

Paul has a Nexus tablet he bought in 2013. It’s still “working like a champ”. He recalled that there’s a an app that can scan a tablet and determine its features. He couldn’t remember the name of the app and did a search for it at the Google Play Store. Google the words: playstore android hardware diagnostic.

This time he found an app called “phonetester”. It’s presumably the one he has on his Nexus, but there were a bunch of others in his search results.
<This might be the app>

When he searched previously, he ran across an article that said Android has a built-in hardware diagnostic test. It’s mostly used by customer support for those times you call in with a problem.

Some of the hardware you might expect to find in an Android tablet:
– An accelerometer, which measures changes in motion.
– An inclinometer, which indicates the angle at which the tablet is held.
– A magnetometer tells you which way is north.
– A GPS chip picks up signals from navigation satellites so you can tell your location on earth.
– At least one if not more temperature sensors. The tablet needs to know if it’s over heating.
– A barometer to tell you the atmospheric pressure. It’s usually pretty accurate because the GPS provides altitude info, which is used to apply a correction to the barometer.|
– A light meter (lux meter), which may work in conjunction with the camera lens.
– All tablets have a speaker.
– Most have a microphone. The accuracy is usually pretty good for doing sound level checks — within a few percent of a professional unit used by sound engineers.

Glenn encountered a problem with his new tablet. He wasn’t able to use the apps until he truned on the location services. Paul explained that location services can help with things like Google searches. If you search for fish & chips, for example, you don’t have to say where you are, Google will already know that and complete the search for your particular location.

Glenn knows someone with a Samsung phone who discovered that saying “hey, Google” activated voice input. When he went into the settings for that option, he was told the microphone will always be on if he wanted to take advantage of that feature. That led to a realization that the phone is always listening. The same is true with the iPhone if you want to be able to summon Siri with a voice command. Paul said he has that option turned off and instead touches a button to manually activate voice input.

Glenn invited listeners to email their questions or comments. Send email to zen at kvmr dot org.

Google & other places are beginning to insist that websites be secure. Chrome and to some extent other browsers pop up a warning if you’re filling in a form on a website that’s not secure. You have a secure connection if the address in the address bar starts with https rather than http.

Paul recently changed the way the Zen Tech site works. People going to http://zen.kvmr.org were supposed to be automatically redirected to using https://zen.kvmr.org. He didn’t set it up right and the Zen Tech site wasn’t working right until some time yesterday (Tue).

WordPress, the software running the Zen Tech site and large proportion of the blogs on the web, is expected to start enforcing the use of secure connections.

The patent for the use of secure certificates has run out. Issuers of the certificates used to charge for their service and in return went to the trouble to insure those applying for them are who they say they are — that https://secure.kvmr.org was really going to be used by KVMR. Free or low-grade certificates are available now where this check is not made, but they still insure that the data between your browser and a website is encrypted. Unless you’re doing something like a financial transaction or revealing personal information, the authentication hardly matters, only the data encryption.

Paul noted that those who administer websites shouldn’t use the login name ‘admin’. It’s been commonly used for many years and is now one of the first things hackers try when they want to break into a site.

Bongo called with a complaint. He said that many websites like the US government, the VA, AARP and a few other places don’t properly warn Apple users that their devices aren’t supported. He’s found that after a long session of filling out forms, it’s only at the end that he’s told Apple devices are not supported. He wants them to say that at the beginning. Paul suggested hitting the submit button before filling out a form. That may generate the error message to keep you from wasting your time.

Bongo also said he’s irritated with the requirement that location services be turned on. He doesn’t know why people use Google instead of DuckDuckGo, which doesn’t require your location. Paul said that it’s not the websites but the browser that wants the location service turned on. Going back to Glenn’s tablet problem, he suggested Glenn use a different browser like Firefox or Opera. While Paul was talking, Glenn turned off location services and had success using Firefox.

James called. He’s been aware that Paul has promoted the Firefox browser and Thunderbird mail programs in the past, and he wanted to know how he feels about them now.

Paul said he still likes Firefox. He’s been avoiding Chrome because “it tends to store your information, save it and present it to others is a very insecure way”. He’s found Firefox to be very compatible and have few problems. Website designers try to stay compatible with Internet Explorer and secondly with Firefox. He quickly caught his error and said he was looking at a 2004 browser rankings The current worldwide ranking has Chrome as the most popular followed by Firefox, Safari and Internet Explorer trailing.

Glenn managed to inventory the hardware on the tablet. <He didn’t say which app he used>. It looks like his new tablet doesn’t have GPS — the app kept searching without a result.

Glenn noted that Paul’s Nexus tablet has wireless charging. Paul said it uses the Qi standard. <Mentioned during the 11-26-14 show>. He said the price for the Nexus at that time was $240. He had tried some cheap tables by Pandawill for $99 but found they were of poor quality.

Paul said the latest version of Google maps has an option in the upper left to download a rectangle of maps for offline usage. It’s useful for people who go for a period of time unconnected to the web. The maps are cached for 29 days. It’s assumed you’ll get back online within that time. Obviously, it won’t show traffic and current events.

Glenn thanked those who have become supporting members of KVMR.

Glenn reminded us that the Flea Market will be on tomorrow (10-12-17) at 1pm.

Paul warned listeners not to use Kaspersky anti-virus. The Israelis tried to subvert the product to make it snoop on those who use the program. And it was found that the Russians had already done just that.
<Kaspersky Labs Accused of Working for Russian Spies>

Last Updated 12:32 AM 10-12-2017

/a

High Sierra OSX– Worth it?

OS 11 for as low as iPhone 6?! Back Down to 10.2.2?

Nothing new only forgotten..

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
– When what’s said is unclear to me (or I’m unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (” “) verbatim.
– Editor’s comments are delimited by < >

For a couple of months, the audio of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro & outro music was by Pentatonix.

Both Glenn and Paul were in the studio.

If you’d like to talk to the guys during a Zen Tech show, call 530-265-9555 or send email to zen at kvmr dot org.

Paul started off by saying how years ago NASA had a problem with ballpoint pens not working in the near-zero gravity of an orbiting spacecraft. Gravity is needed to keep the ink flowing. The Russians solved the problem by using pencils, as he heard the story.

Comparing a video tour of the International Space Station and the Mir Station showed that the Russians tended toward the simplest solutions. Even the Sputnik satellite was set to advertise its success by broadcasting its beeps at 108 FM, so it could be widely heard. And, using tubes for the FM transmitter rather than the newly available transistors reflected the Russian’s reliance on long established technology.

Glenn challenged Pauls recollection of NASA’s solution to the ballpoint pen problem. When Paul was unable to remember, Glenn said it was the pressurized ink cartridge.

Repeating what he said on the last show (9-13-17), Glenn said he helped some friends transfer data from old computers running Windows 7 to more modern Dell hardware. He used Windows Easy Transfer, which worked wonderfully. The applications were not transferred, however, but he got a report of what was left behind. For reasons given in previous shows, Norton 365 was not reinstalled on the new machines. Avast, security software often touted on this show was used instead.

Trying to manually move an application to a different machine is usually unsuccessful because many components are left behind, Paul said. It’s best to reinstall an application from the original media (often a CD). There used to be a program called App Mover, but it didn’t do a good job and the app that was moved often ended up being unstable.

Imaging the drive to back it up may not be a good idea, Paul said. The image may carry the seeds of a problem that may not show up until later, when you’ll need the disk image to solve it. Using something like Easy Transfer is a good option to backup the user profile.

In Windows, most backup strategies rely on the user profile, which is under C:\users (on XP it’s under C:\Documents and Settings). If you manually try to copy the files, you’ll run into trouble because you’ll be copying the files that Windows is using while your trying to copy them. Easy Transfer is designed to avoid this problem.

Glenn said he had all of the machines on a local network when he did the transfers. Paul said using a cable instead of wi-fi is better. With wi-fi you may get interruptions that you may not even notice, after which the transfer may not be resumed.

There are an increasing number of wireless networks, Paul said. 2.4 gigahertz is the standard radio frequency of wi-fi routers, which gives you 11 channels. Most routers aren’t capable of switching channels (frequency hopping) and most devices can’t follow the change if it occurs.

There are some apps that show you what the wi-fi environment is like. For the PC there’s one called Net Snoop. For Android there’s Wi-Fi Survey. The droid app shows you the 11 channels and a graph of the signal strength. It’s unusual to find a channel that’s not being used, so pick one with the least number of users on it.
< Though I didn’t find an app with the exact name Wifisurvey, there are a bunch of similar apps. Google the words: site:play.google.com, and append to that some variation of wifisurvey, wifi survey, wi-fi survey, etc.>

The price of routers has come down a lot. Paul suggested getting a dual band router, which transmits on both 2.4 and 5.8 gigahertz. A lot of the newer equipment can use the 5.8 gigaherts band. There are hundreds of channels available on 5.8. The down side of 5.8 is that higher frequencies are much more line-of-sight and the signal dissipates quicker (a more limited range). But the shorter range also means less interference.

Some modern routers have programmable QoS (quality of service). It allows you to specify a minimum speed for a particular port on your router. So if, for instance, you’re streaming video, you can make sure you don’t get pauses.

Paul mentioned a couple of open source projects that have custom compiled Linux kernels <firmware> to use in your router to give it more functionality than it used to have. He warned that if you’re satisfied with how your router works, don’t mess with it. Paul installed one version of the firmware in a router and the bandwidth actually came down. I turned out that the [old] CPU in the router couldn’t keep up with the demand.
<He named the projects as dd-wrt.org and openwrt.org. dd-wrt.org didn’t seem to go anywhere and I think the correct URL is www.dd-wrt.com>

Over the years, wireless router standards have evolved from the original 802.11 to 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n. Paul said he wouldn’t “use any router that didn’t have the letter ‘n’ on it somewhere”. “It’s more resistant to interference and the range is higher”.

The cheapest router Paul has seen is a no-name router from China for $20. “You can’t go wrong with that”, he said. He’s never had to send a no-name router back, which he bought from Amazon.

The guys talked a little about the new operating system for the Mac called OS High Sierra (version 10.1.3). It came out yesterday and Paul just had a chance to read a review of it. It has a new file system called WWDC that’s more suited to solid state drives (SSD). All of the Macs sold now have a solid state drive, which speeds file accesses by about 10%.

Glenn noted that prices have come down on solid state storage. He was looking at an external 3.0 USB drive that also has a micro USB connection so you can plug it into an Android device. It’s a 128 gig duo for $34 from Fry’s. Paul said that its OTG designation means it will appear as storage unit rather than a device (like a camera) when you plug it into an Android.

The Lightning port on the Mac is able to connect to various devices & networks, when you buy the proper adapters, Paul said. And there are docking stations for the Mac that can provide various ports, but he’s not sure how good they are. You can get one for about $99.

Lorraine called. She wanted to know how to transfer calendar data between a Mac and an Android phone. Paul said there’s an app you can put on the droid that lets you sign in to your iCloud account. He looked up one called ‘Sync for iCloud‘.

Paul read that remains of a Viking chieftain had been found in an embellished tomb and it was long assumed it was a male. It turned out to be female. He also noted that, in Celtic culture, the poorer people were often buried in a bog. The bogs tend to preserve the bodies because of their acidity.

Glenn said he downloaded, but didn’t yet install, IOS 11 to his iPad. He’s read about some wonderful features it has — pictures taking up less space and an improved filing system.

Glenn went on to say this is the one time, and he can’t guaranty that tomorrow it won’t go away, that if you backup your iPad or iPhone onto your computer (computer only, not iCloud) prior to upgrading to the new IOS, you will be able to revert to the old IOS if you don’t like the new one. The other condition is that Apple continues to support the older IOS.

Glenn mentioned that people used to jailbreak their iPhones to make them more functional. It’s not being done much now in part because Apple has improved the IOS so there’s less need to. <On a previous show, Paul said the iPhone can’t be jailbroken anymore (after IOS 9.3).> Glenn addedhat those who did jailbreak their iPhones, were not able to restore an older version of the IOS, and they could end up with a useless phone (they ‘brick‘ their phone.) When experimenting, be sure you can go back to your starting point — i.e. undo what you did.

The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on KVMR are those of the speaker only and not necessarily those of KVMR management, staff or underwriters.

Glenn took apart an old iPhone of his, some months back. He’s still not been able to reassemble it. Paul said to be sure you that have the tools you need when you start a project. And there’s a lamp to can get inexpensively from China that has a magnifying lens surrounded by a light to, do work on small items.

Glenn thanked those who have become supporting members of KVMR and reminded listeners that they can become contributing members of KVMR by calling the office number 530-265-9073. Or call the studio when the DJ is not talking on the air at 530-265-9555

Norman called. He has a DVR with a 6 terabyte hard drive for a security system. He wanted to know if was possible to use a flash drive with it. Yes, but it would be very expensive, Paul said. And there would be little advantage because the rate at which the video is written to the drive is pretty low to begin with.

Expanding on his comment above (Nothing new only forgotten), Paul treated us with some items from the past. It has recently been found that [ancient] Greeks probably knew about steam engines, Paul said. There was a Greek called Hero with a rotating steam device and it’s thought he attached it to a carriage about 2000 years ago and “had it go places”. There is a computer called the Antikythera mechanism that calculated planetary motion.

Last Updated 12:17 AM 9-28-2017

Paule In-Studio. Glenn will Call In

It’s Recovery Month – a 12 month a year issue

A Bit About VPN & http://www.purevpn.com

iPhone X and commodity/Consumerism, and why Good Design is Like Pornography!
(you know what it is when you see it but cannot easily define it)
Jony Ive & Dieter Rams, * ‘Originality’ apropos Emulating things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Rams

The EquiFax Fiasco & what to (try) to Do
Irma, Harvey and the Red Cross and What to Do– Due Diligence.

Milo Yiannopoulos and the role of agent provocateurs (is that the correct plural form?!)

Additional notes

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
– When what’s said is unclear to me (or I’m unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (” “) verbatim.
– Editor’s comments are delimited by < >

For a couple of months, the audio of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro & outro music was by Pentatonix.

Paul was in the studio. Glenn called in.

Reading from today’s show notes (above), Paul said that this is National Recovery Month, and gave a link to a government website for substance use and mental health disorders.

Since the law has changed to allow internet usage information to be logged and sold, virtual private networks (VPN) are a way to keep your browsing habits private. Normally, a provider such as AT&T or Comcast, for example, can gather the info about what sites you visit. If your connection to a website is secure (the URL starts with https, not http) the content of your transactions will remain private, only the destination information can be logged.

A VPN may be built into an operating system or added as a separate program. It will encrypt the data exchanged between you and the website before sending it over the public internet (Comcast, AT&T, etc.). A drawback is that the VPN company itself can gather & sell your info. <Do some research before picking the company.>

Paul has been experimenting with Pure VPN It’s based in Hong Kong and has about 100+ peer points around the world. You can pick any of those locations and make it appear your connection is originating from there.
<For example, the BBC makes some of its content available only to citizens of the UK. You can use a VPN to make it look like you are located in Britain when trying to access it.>

In checking out Pure VPN, Paul googled the words: purevpn issues. He found some bad reviews, saying that the service doesn’t keep the DNS lookups private. <DNS is domain name service, which converts the name of a website into numbers that are needed to connect to it>. As a consequence, AT&T (if that’s your provider) is able see who you’re connecting to while using Pure VPN. The data itself is still being encrypted and remains private.

Paul said that the iPhone 10 has just come out with IOS version 11. He noted that there is no iPhone 9. He then talked a bit about design.
<Apple Unveils iPhone X and 8 Models as It Upgrades TV Set-Top Box
The Samsung S8 came out recently, too. I don’t think it was ever mentioned on the show…
The Samsung Galaxy S8 has 27 features the iPhone lacks>

Jony Ive has been the iPhone’s designer for a long time. He followed in the tradition of a German designer named Dieter Rams, who also worked for Apple. Rams formulated 10 principles of good design. <See the Wikipedia article link at the top of this page>. Paul listed the principles and made some related remarks.

Equifax had data from about 140 million accounts stolen. You may be in their database even if you think you have nothing to do with them, Paul said. Paul made a connection, which wasn’t clear to me, between Equifax and Milo Yiannopoulos. He said, both Equifax and Milo Yiannopoulos (link above) have appeared on Facebook and elsewhere with basically false and misleading statements.

Paul said he’s seen numerous sites that ask you to fill in your data to get money back from Equifax, but they are really scams. There is a reliable site you can go to, and he posted the link to it at the top of this page.
<An NBC article on the Equifax hack.
A how to freeze your credit: here and here>

Glenn, who had called in, said he was disturbed to learn that Equifax knew about the breach for a month before making it public. In that time, some managers from Equifax divested their company stock.

Glenn also said that if you go to the Equifax to check if your info was compromised, the terms and conditions state that you give up your right to sue them later. <I also heard this, but then later heard Equifax changed their terms to rescind the waiver. Their website seems to reflect this. Paul’s follow-up statement seemed to concur>.

Glenn said you can also freeze your account to prevent anyone from getting credit in your name. In some states it won’t cost you anything, in others it’s $10 at each of the 3 big credit-reporting agencies. You can still continue using the credit card as before.

Paul mentioned Lifelock, which is a service that’s suppose to protect your identity. But they got sued for failing to do that, Paul said.

The disclaimer:
The views and opinions expressed on KVMR are those of the speaker only and not necessarily those of KVMR management, staff or underwriters

Paul said you’re entitled to an annual review of your credit status. You’ll also be able to see if anyone has made credit inquiries. Also, when your card is stolen or lost, report it right away, because the credit card companies will try to find a way to make you liable for unauthorized charges.

Another solution is not to have a credit card, Paul said. But that doesn’t mean the credit reporting agencies don’t have info about you. They gather the info from all sort of places — bank accounts & cash transactions.

Paul said he’s head that it is possible to change your social security number. But it can be a difficult process. Paul said he has used a fake social security number in those places where it’s only function is to identify him. <Like a password or an optional security question. Obviously, don’t do this where it’s used for things like tax reporting or Medicare etc.>

Glenn found a couple of computers for a friend. They were Windows 7 machines made by Dell with 2 terabyte hard drives, Intel core I5 processors and 8 gig of RAM. They cost less than $230 each from Ebay. They had a 90 day warranty but Ebay offered a 3 year warranty for an additional $21.

He used the transfer facility that comes with Win7 to transfer the data from the old machines. He said to use the Start Button & search for Easy Transfer. There are 3 ways to connect the machines — a local network, a special cable or flash drive.

It took 2 To 3 Hours to do the transfer over the local network. One machine had about 60 gig the other about 90 gig of data to transfer. Applications like Word or Quicken were not transferred. Glenn had trouble finding out how to print some of the reports on what was transferred and what wasn’t. He could see the report on the screen but couldn’t find the file associated with it. He said he’ll do more sleuthing on how to do that.

XP doesn’t have the Easy Transfer software but it can be downloaded and installed, Paul said. The Mac has something similar called Migration Assistant. He seemed to say that it does transfers from a Windows machine to the Mac.

While he was talking, Glenn found how to print the reports he talked about earlier. He had to look at the bottom of Internet Explorer where it says “‘this is blocked content. Do you want to allow it’ went you’re opening appinfo.html.” The file was on the C: drive in a hidden folder.

An .html file on the machine is treated with some suspicion because it’s possible to have some malicious content, more so than what’s on the internet, Paul said. That’s why Glenn was asked to unblock it.

The guys talked briefly about how Microsoft went about getting people to upgrade to Windows 10. It was suggested before that people use the GWX Control Panel to manage their upgrade options. <See the notes for the 5-11-16 show.>

If you want to contact the guys, email at zen at kvmr dot org.

“The Red Cross is not all it should be,” practice due diligence, Paul said. He didn’t say you shouldn’t donate to the Red Cross, but do some research for the best way to help the victums of the recent hurricanes.

Glenn invited people to tune in to the Flea Market show tomorrow at 1pm.

Last Updated 12:55 AM 9-14-2017

Notifications of new show notes and edits are tweeted at: twitter.com/ddhart.
– They’re tagged with #Zentech.
– When what’s said is unclear to me (or I’m unfamiliar with a topic) I tend to quote (” “) verbatim.
– Editor’s comments are delimited by < >

For a couple of months, the audio of today’s show is here. Recent shows are here.

The intro & outro music was by Pentatonix.

This time it was Paul with co-host Mikail Graham who were in the studio. Glenn was the one who called in.

Steve Baker came to the mic and talked to Pascal, a reporter from YubaNet about the Ponderosa fire in Butte County. She said officials found and arrested a local guy from Oroville who allegedly started the fire. It started because of carelessness with a campfire. 10 house & 20 outbuildings are lost, more loss is expected. The fire covers 2500 acres. 1200 people have been evacuated and 400 are sheltering in place. An optimistic estimate of containment is on Sep 6, Steve added.

Pascal said there is a new fire of 5 or 6 acres near Placerville. She used satellite pictures to pinpoint its location at Highway 49 &∓ Diamond Springs. The highway hasn’t been closed yet, but that may change if the fire expands.

Listeners were reminded that campfires must never be left unattended and are thoroughly extinguished before leaving. And there are areas where campfires are not permitted, like the South Yuba River Canyon and in state parks. BLM allows only a cooking stove on their lands and only if you have a camping permit. Also, be aware that discharging firearms can set a fire. Bullets carry enough kinetic energy to convert to heat when entering a substance like a tree, or set off sparks when hitting something hard like a rock. The Mariposa fire resulted from target shooting.

Paul noted that drones should not be flown near wildfires. They can interfere with flight operations of the tanker aircraft. And if you’re caught, there is a significant fine and jail time, Pascal added. Paul said his drone just received a software update that’s supposed to keep it from flying in restricted airspace.

Pascal is amazed by the satellite pictures coming from GOES-16, even though it hasn’t been declared fully operational. The pictures are animated and show the progress of the fires. Yubanet has links to the fire news on their home page.

Paul had some equipment set up when he was in Oregon for the solar eclipse. He said he’ll put a link on the Zen Tech site to the video he shot. You can also go to his Facebook page. To find eclipse images, google the words: eclipse 2017, then click on ‘images’

He briefly mentioned the Mavic Pro Quadcopter made by the Chinese company DJI that he got for around $1000. He had a $60 quadcopter before, but the more expensive ones are more stable and easier to fly.

If you’d like to talk to the guys during the show, call 530-265-9555.

On Sep 12 at about 10am, Apple is expected to announce the new iPhone 7S, 7s Plus and the iPhone 8, which is rumored to start at $999 for the base model. <You’ll find little more about it in the 8-23-17 show notes>. It’s rumored that there’s a 4K Apple TV coming, though Apple is having some trouble “getting their movies locked in to be able to show them and sell them”.

Mikail has seen some of the “views” of the AR Kit <actually ARCore> by Google, which is not yet released. One of the apps for it is called Giphfy. It allows you to create a video and overlay on it items in your house. So suppose someone is house sitting for you, you can designate that it’s ok for them to eat the bananas but not the chocolate in your kitchen. Presumably, they will be able to point a smartphone camera at the kitchen and next to the items is a note or a thumbs up/thumbs down indicator, on their screen.

Ikea has an app that lets you measure your room. Then for example, as you shop for a chair using the app, it will place an image of the chair into the image of your room to see how it will look.

While looking up ‘giphfy’, Paul found giphy.com, the largest database of animated GIFs. These are short videos of a few seconds each that usually repeat in a loop. This is an old format dating from the 1990s that are becoming popular again.

Lorraine called to thank the guys for the help she received on a recent show.

Lora called. She has a 2009 iMac whose display got progressively worse and is now showing stripes. She’s talked to some techs who thought it might be the video card or possibly the display.
– Mikail is almost certain the problem is with the graphics processor.
– You may find some people on Ebay who can service it.
– Take a picture of your screen to better communicate your problem with a technician.
– If you send it in for repair you’ll be paying for the shipping and about $149 for the repair.
– Mikail suggested a shop in Sacramento run by Ed Barnes:
Computer Hub on J str
916-441-1880
2612 J St Ste 8
Sacramento, CA 95816-4345
saccityhub.com

Lora was thinking of getting a newer iMac but thought her old version 5 of Adobe Creative Suite won’t run on it. She doesn’t want to get a new version because Adobe only offers it on a rental basis, where you pay for a subscription and run it on the internet. Mikail said version 5 sort of runs on the newer Sierra operating system. It’s a little buggy but there may be some workarounds.

Her other thought is to buy a refurbished 2015 Mac that can run Creative Suite 5. Paul told her to carefully check out what she’s buying with regards to the warranty, and if there is anything at all wrong with it, send it back. Paul suggested powermax.com and macofalltrades.com for refurbished Macs.

And another concern is that the newer Macs don’t have CD drives to read her Creative Suite disk. Mikail said she can get an external CD drive for about $30. Be sure to get one that’s “M disk” compatible. It can take disks that last a 100 years.

Listeners were invited to write to the guys with their questions or comments at zen at kvmr dot org.

Lorraine called again and related her experience at having bought a $200 version of Apple Care at Mikail’s suggestion. When she had to take in her Mac Book Pro for service, which she bought some 3 years ago, she got a new replacement.

Mikail explained that when you buy a new Apple product you can get Apple Care for the computers and Apple Care Plus for the IOS mobile devices. For the computers, you can wait up to 1 year to buy Apple Care for $200 to $300, depending on where you buy it. You can buy it cheaper from a third party than you can from Apple — check Ebay. Apple Care for a Mac Book Pro costs $350 from Apple but about $230 elsewhere.

Mikail told about the experience he had where he needed his laptop serviced and thru Apple Care he got a quick replacement.

Mikail said if you’re buying a used Mac, for example, get the serial number and go to “manage my device” on Apple’s site and you’ll be told if it’s stolen as well as other info.

You can listen to Glenn host the Flea Market tomorrow.

Changelog:
added link to Paul’s Facebook page

Last Updated 5:01 PM 8-31-2017

∓p