3rd. Wednesday in the Month!
Raspberry PI & KODI– oh and a Teeny Keyboard, Too!
Failed High Sierra Update?
Wordpress– How?!
SonOff WIFI Controlled Devices!
Symptoms of a Dead SMC/BIOS battery
Prime Tests

Recycle Road, SAC

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 Paul and Glenn were in the studio today.

Glenn started out by telling us about the cataract surgery he had about a year ago, which was followed by corrective surgery. He now has mono vision and doesn’t need reading glasses. One of his eyes is set for close-up vision, the other for further out. He can read well out to about 12″. Recently, he went to see the Thor movie in 3D but realized he’ll need glasses to get both eyes to focus at a distance.

Paul told us that the call letters ‘KVMR’ stand for Victoria Museum Radio. The ‘K’ means that it’s a West Coast station. After mentioning that KVMR has audio podcasts, he went on to talk more about podcasts, including videos.

Years ago he used to listen to Science Friday audio podcasts. Science Friday originated from The Canadian Broadcast Corp. They now produce video podcasts and Paul thinks they’re great. To find them, he said to search for the words: cbc science friday videocast.
< I’m not sure these are what Paul found, but they’re pretty good too — here and here>

He implied it was one of these videos that talked about cochlear implants. Earlier implants would regain about 30% of the hearing. The newer ones containing a microprocessor that increases the understanding of normal speech by 80%.

Paul mentioned that colorblind people have difficulty discerning the correct balance of red & green colors. Capuchin monkeys have been used in experiments where a virus is used to insert a gene into the eyes that restores the color receptors needed for the proper detection of color. Apparently it works in monkeys but hasn’t been tried in humans yet. He learned this from another Science Friday videocast, if I heard him correctly.

Paul said Youtube has a channel explaining how things are made. For example, use their search facility to find out how donuts holes are made using the search term: donuts how it’s made. I think the catch phrase is “how it’s made”.

Glenn said he likes the new operating system IOS 11 on his iPhone but isn’t thrilled with the keyboard on his iPad. He didn’t specifically say he upgraded the iPad to IOS 11, but I guess that’s implied.

He uses the feature that turns off notifications while he’s driving. The phone senses movement from driving to implement the feature. Glenn said use ‘Settings’ -> scroll down just a bit to “notifications control center do not disturb” to turn it on. Paul said version 8 of Android (named Oreo) also has this feature.

The guys talked about the new Firefox browser. Glenn said he doesn’t like the black tabs, with the only white tab representing the windows you’re looking at. That’s the only thing he’s noticed that’s new.

Paul said that around version 6 Firefox started putting out updates rapidly and versions jumped by whole numbers. It’s now up to about version 60 and has taken on a version name that he couldn’t remember. <I think it’s version 57 and is called Quantum.> It’s been completely rewritten under the hood but you don’t have to learn a lot of new stuff, he said.

Nobody makes 32bit CPUs anymore, they’re all 64bit now. Firefox used to be available in both versions but is now only for the 64bit machines. “32bit Firefox is still out there. It won’t work in XP. It won’t work in older Macs, which are 32bit. But if you have a new machine, which is 32bit, you can still get Firefox. It tends to rely on the underlying operating system. So if you got Windows 7, you’re going to get the latest Firefox even if it’s the older 32bit. Don’t worry about it,” Paul said.

<If you go to mozilla.org with your browser’s style sheets (CSS) turned off, you should see the links to the older Windows OS versions of Firefox, including XP. I’ve downloaded (but not yet installed v52.5 for XP). The actual 43.4meg .exe file is here.>

There are a couple of ways to upgrade, it will either do it automatically or you can go to the ‘Help’ menu -> ‘About Firefox’. “If it is not up in the 60 region and there is no button that says ‘update’ a couple of things could have happened. One is you are the unfortunate that has a machine that is too old to upgrade any further, especially if it says el1 or ec1, it means end of life or end or cycle. It means that you’re looking at version 40 something and it won’t go any higher. If you try and download it manually, it will not allow you to install it,” Paul said in his sometimes inscrutable manner. <He didn’t say what the second thing is.> <As I said, I haven’t tried to install v52.5, but suspect it will.>

When you go to install version 60 something, it will perform a clean install while saving your bookmarks and history, Paul said. It throws away the cache. To find out more about what’s going on, go to ‘Help’ -> ‘Trouble Shooting Information’. He said the new Firefox gained about 50% in speed and it works a lot better and it works with his plugins. <I heard some old plugins don’t work.>
<New Firefox Quantum Twice as Fast, 30% Less Memory:
Firefox 57 to Kill Many Addons: Tab Groups Alternative>

Glenn invited listeners to write with their questions and comments to zen at kvmr dot org.

Glenn said the old X10 and DSR home control units don’t work properly to dim LED light bulbs. There are control units called Sonoff that do work and the guys ordered some from Ebay. Soon after, the company disappeared and the guys have to apply for a refund. If you get into a similar situation with Ebay, go look at your order and on that page you can apply for a refund.

Paul found another source for the Sonoff switches. They plug into the wall outlet. Then you plug what you want to control into the switch. They have wi-fi and can be controlled directly by your mobile device. If you create an account, you can control them from anywhere you have an internet connection using a proxy server in China.
<Sonoff Wi-Fi Smart Light Switch,Works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home ,No Hub Required, Remote Control your Devices from Anywhere:>

For added security, Paul suggested creating a guest account on your in-house network that the switches will use. That will keep the switches separate from your normal network that you use for computers, mobiles, printers, etc.

A Sonoff unit has a programmable timer so you can set it to turn lights on an off according to a schedule. Paul uses one to switch his patio lights in this way. Glenn said they are about $23 on Ebay.

The Raspbery Pi and Arduino can talk to a Sonoff, too. Paul said they are great for kids to learn programming and build projects. There are knock-offs from China that are around $10, but you may have to download some software to get them to talk your computer.

Glenn noted that the only Sonoff units on Ebay at this time are the type that you have to put in-line in a wire (like an extension cord), not the type you plug into a wall socket. Be careful of the polarity (proper grounding) when you do the wiring. <See below.>

Arnie called. He had bad experience when he had a Mac Mini and did an upgrade only to find out that the software he’d been using no longer worked. So he recently bought a Dell PC and is looking for video editing software that’s easy to use but has a good compliment of features.
– Microsoft Movie Creator is free. It’s pretty simple to use and Paul’s had success with it. It supports .mov and .wmv files. BE SURE you download it from the Microsoft site.
– You might also consider getting VLC. It’s free and plays and converts many formats of audio and video.
– There’s also Adobe Premiere and a cut down version called Adobe Premiere Elements. But they might be more than you need.
– Use Youtube for videos of how to use these programs. Search for something like “how to slow a movie down” or “how to create subtitles”.
– Paul looked up Adobe Premiere Elements and found a cyber Monday deal for $60. Be sure you’re not buying the subscription version where you pay yearly to use the software online — get the downloadable version (or CD).
– Glenn said the cyber Monday deal expires today. The regular price is $99. The combo of Photoshop Elements and Adobe Premiere Elements package is $150.
<I CAN’T VOUCH FOR THIS SITE. If you have an older Windows OS check this out.>

Alan Stahler called with some info about the polarity of wires/plugs (mentioned above). The broad blade of a plug is neutral and it’s connected to the white wire. Short (narrow) blade goes with the black wire. The green wire goes to the ground. He also said that disabling (cutting off) the third prong off a plug is a bad idea, especially for outdoor use. It’s there to keep you from being electrocuted.

Bob called with a tip for people with Windows 10. He’s encountered a problem right after a Windows 10 upgrade. The problem is “the display resolution goes to 640 X 480 and the 1920 X 1080 is not available for you.” So the display was crappy. The fix was to do a restore to a restore point just before the upgrade. Apparently, when the upgrade installed the next time, his problem didn’t return. He suspected Microsoft had a bad upgrade package and replaced it, so his second try was fine.

Paul said some people have experienced failure during the upgrade to the latest version of the Apple operating system called High Sierra v11.13. Their machines “blacked out and went squitty”, he said. The solution he offered is that when starting, up hold down the Command key & R keys. That makes it use a recovery partition and you’ll have enough function to go online and use Safari and perform a disk check and reload the operating system.

Glenn said the Flea Market is back to it’s regular schedule and will be on tomorrow.

Last Updated 12:10 AM 11-30-2017

) turned off, you should see the links to the older Windows OS versions of Firefox, including XP. I’ve downloaded (but not yet installed v52.5 for XP). The actual 43.4meg .exe file is

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.

NOTE: there will be another Zen Tech show next Wednesday (11-29-17)

Both Glenn and Paul were in the studio today.

Glenn talked about upgrading his iPhone 6S to IOS 11 after doing a backup. For 2 weeks he kept putting off giving the final ok for the upgrade, but woke up this morning to find the upgrade had completed. He didn’t know why that happened without his permission. Paul thought that was “naughty” and added that to this day there are lawsuits pending by people who were upgraded from Win7 or Win8 to Win10 unwillingly.

Glenn said he likes IOS 11 so far. “When you push phone, everything is a little different and a little larger. The same thing on messages”. He said the fonts are bigger. And the copy, cut and paste is simpler than the previous IOS, which had different levels of how hard you ‘push’ for each function. Paul, who upgraded to IOS 11 previously, said the performance seems better and Glenn agreed.

Glenn wasn’t so happy with the upgrade to the High Sierra operating system on his Mac Mini. He said that yesterday it was running slowly. He thought it might be because he didn’t do a restart after the upgrade finished. Paul said he’s noticed something similar with other operating systems after they upgrade. The new system needs to do some maintenance before it starts running normally. Somewhere around version 10.12, the filing system was changed and there was a delay before the performance recovered, but then it improved over the previous OS.

Both Windows and the Mac do what’s called indexing, where a database of the files on the machine is built for quicker access in the future, Paul said. When you plug in another hard drive or a flash drive, an index is also built and is stored in a hidden file called .spotlight on the Mac and .index (so he thought) on Windows. The user can set whether a drive is indexed.

Paul talked about online or cloud backups. He said he doesn’t “trust” them. The internet connection speed is a fraction of the network speed that you have at home, which is a fraction of the speed of a local USB or hard drive. 16 gigs of data can take a very long time to backup online. Some people just manually backup the most critical files, not the entire drive. But then you don’t have the convenience of an automated backup system. <He didn’t explain what he meant by ‘trust’. Maybe it was a poorly chosen word.>

Paul said he uses Rsync to synchronize and do incremental backups. It has a graphical user interface. It’s available on all major platforms (PC, Linux, Android, Mac and others). He said it’s important to practice restoring your data. A backup is no good to you if you can’t restore it.

Years ago there was a backup program called Norton Ghost that would take a snapshot of your entire hard drive, which you could recreate later on another drive. The down side is that you could recreate the drive only on the machine from which the snapshot was taken. “That’s almost completely useless”, he said.

On the PC, the data that’s important is located under ‘Documents and Settings’ for the XP, and under ‘Users’ on later Windows systems. On the Mac go to ‘Mac Hard Drive’ -> ‘Users’ where you’ll find folders with names of those who have a login account on the machine. The data you’ll find in these places is what needs backing up. It will contain things like Word documents and photos but not the applications themselves, so keep track of where you keep your software programs. Paul mentioned another sync program called Free File Sync.
<I can’t vouch for this: Free Norton Ghost Alternatives to Create a Full Windows Image …:>

Increasingly, people are getting their applications from the internet. Paul mentioned that Turbo Tax is a 56meg download from intuit.com. If you lose a hard drive, you can just to Intuit and download it again.

Paul cautioned listeners that when they throw their laptops into a bag, be sure to first disconnect the peripherals (hard drives, USB sticks, etc.). Otherwise, the force of the bag on the connectors can damage them. The Mac has a magnetic connector that just slides off if there’s an unusual force put on it. Glenn said he had found an adapter that plugs into the lightning port of the iPhone that provides a similar magnetic connection. He’s been very happy with it.

Next, Paul talked about inductive charging (wireless charging). The standard that was developed a number of years ago is called Qi. <Discussed on the 11-16-14 show.> Of the iPhones, Glenn thought only the iPhone 10 has inductive charging.

The way it works is that there’s a coil in the phone an one on the your table that’s plugged in to the wall socket, and you place the phone on the coil to get the charge. Paul’s Nexus tablet <circa 2013> has the ability to charge inductively. It charges at low frequency (less than 60Hz, he thought) and the field doesn’t go very far. He has to position the tablet directly on the coil.

Alan Stahler, who hosts Soundings, came into the studio and raised some philosophical issues about how much we need computers. He facetiously questioned Glenn and Paul, what will you do when the bubble bursts and people throw away their computers. Paul noted that those of us from the pre-computer generation were more likely to have been educated in critical thinking. He thought it wasn’t being cultivated in this digital age, and without computers, the younger generations would be in trouble.

Paul said the 1st use of word ‘computer’ applied to women who computed trajectories of NASA missions. He’s seen a competition between someone using an abacus and someone using a calculator. The abacus user won.

Talk turned to multitasking and parallel processing. Paul described most modern processors as having at least 2 cores and at least 2 sets of hyper threads, giving you 4 jobs going on at once. There’s also a hardware arbitrator that decides who should be given what to do, and the jobs run in parallel.

The guys rambled on about how some people are tactile, others are visual and how we learn. On a previous occasion, the 3 guys discussed how dogs learn and how it’s possible to breed dogs not just for their appearance but also for their attributes (hunting skills or digging skills). Paul once asked a dog trainer how dogs are trained and got the reply that you don’t train the dog, you cultivate what it already has.

Glenn said Elon Musk <of Tesla> announced some new products. There are 2 different tractor trailers with a 500 mile range, recharge to 85% in 35 minutes or 100% in an hour and have a low drag coefficient. There’s also a roadster with a 600 mile range, accelerates 0 to 60 in 1.2 seconds and possibly an accessory to make it fly.

KVMR’s news director Paul Emery came into the studio. He was motivated by the question about our computers going away. He noted that neutron bombs can destroy silicon chips by inducing high currents in them. He’s heard that the highest levels of the US government have vacuum tube communication systems that don’t contain silicon chips. A neutron bomb may temporarily knock out a tube but it will return to a functional state. Alan said that a couple of decades ago a Soviet pilot defected with a fighter aircraft and it was discovered to have tube-based circuits.

Alan mentioned the Hyperloop, which is a container carrying passengers that rides in an evacuated tube to cut air resistance. Supposedly, it could travel as fast as a 747. It’s being tested now.

On that note, it’s been calculated that a 747 with a full load of passengers while flying at a high altitude has mileage as good (miles per gallon) as a compact car with 1 person. Paul noted that if you double the speed at which a car goes, the air resistance quadruples.

Paul mentioned that energy of motion can be conserved and then used again. Years ago in Britain, trams (streetcars) going downhill would have their kinetic energy harvested and converted to electricity, which helps to slow it down. The electricity would then be used to power a tram going uphill. The conversion is not 100% efficient. Hybrid vehicles, like Glenn’s car, do something similar. When slowing down, they convert the energy of the braking process to charge the battery, giving it great mileage

Glenn invited listeners to write with their questions and comments to zen at kvmr dot org.

He also said that there will be no Flea Market tomorrow.

Last Updated 12:07 AM 11-23-2017

Honda Civic– Troubleshoot?!

Raspberry PI Computer SOC

IOS 11.. OK?

Drone Fun

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.

Both Paul and Glenn were in the studio today.

Paul was looking at the wrong entry in the list of the shows because of the recent time change over to Standard Time. He went on to explain that the date we move our clocks forward or back has been changed a number of times over the years, and that there are differences between countries in the date that the change occurs. He went on to say that midsummer day and midwinter day occur midway between a solstice & the following equinox. <I believe these are also called cross-quarter day>

The operating systems we use today reference a data base called “tz data” to know when it’s time to change the computer’s clock to comply with the local custom, no matter where you are in the world.

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.>

Paul talked about an incident he had with his 1996 Honda Civic while driving back from Yuba City last weekend up highway 20, which involves a significant accent. He heard a hissing sound coming from under the hood and the temperature gauge went to the top — no alarm or warning lights. He pulled over & checked under the hood to find the expansion tank had water in it. The tank is supposed to let the water back into circulation when things cool down, but it didn’t in this case.

There were a couple of clues as to what was going on. The radiator cooling fan wasn’t running because there was likely no water to set off the fan’s thermostat. Second, when he turned on the heater, there was no heat. By some process yet to be discovered, the engine had consumed all of the coolant. He blamed the thermostat and bought another one for $10 and that seemed to solve the problem. The thermostat doesn’t allow the coolant into the radiator when you first start a cold engine. It waits for the coolant to reach the running temperature before opening up. Paul said that, from now on, before venturing out, he will check not only the expansion tank but also the radiator to be sure there’s adequate water.

The guys took several minutes to chat about transportation. There was nothing particularly interesting. The main takeaway is that when you relieve congestion in one place and it shows up in another. And that Google Maps keeps suggesting routes to avoid traffic only to have those routes become congested.

For the past couple of weeks, Glenn said he’s been getting emails from Judicial Watch but the sender address shows they are from zen at kvmr dot org or fleamarket at kvmr dot org. He asked Paul how to get them to stop.

Paul said Google can be set up to deal with this. “You notify google” … “so that Google actually knows who’s supposed to be sending email.” Check out the Wikipedia article about SPF — sender policy framework. “It sets a policy from the places from which you can reasonably expect to get email while excluding everywhere else.” He said he needs to see a copy of the emails to determine what’s going on.

Glenn said the emails enticed him to click on a link and he warned listeners, as he’s done many times before, not to click on such links. Among other possible mischief, it will at least let the spammers know there’s someone reading the emails and they can sell your email address to other spammers.

Glenn said he got a call last week from what the caller ID identified as his own phone number. It was a recording supposedly from AT&T that asked him for the last 4 digits of his social security number. Sensing an obvious scam he hung up. Paul said he would have been tempted to respond with some fake numbers.

Dennis called to comment on traffic congestion. He said he’s worked for the railroad for almost 2 decades. He lamented that our country is dedicated to the auto — an auto economy. He said in only 7 years, the Chinese went to high speed rail system. He said the rail system in Europe is phenomenal. He worked in Southern California where General Motors and the tire companies who wanted to sell diesel buses gutted the rail system. Paul added that it’s the tyranny of convenience that makes us choose the ease of driving somewhere over dealing with train schedules.

Dennis also commented about the spam situation. He said he has 2 emails. One is for personal acquaintances. The other is for subscribing to websites, newsletters and such. He said he routinely unsubscribes to spam and berates them if they ask him to leave a comment.

Paul said he thinks Gmail is the best email service for filtering out spam. And if they get enough people reporting a spam, their algorithm will block it.

Paul talked about using throwaway Gmail addresses. He said to google the words: infinite number of gmail addresses, and you’ll find how to make your single Gmail address act as many addresses. <Later in the show, Paul searched the words: gmail infinite addresses.> It involves using a ‘+’ symbol. If your address is johnsmith@gmail.com you can use mr+johnsmith@gmail.com for a throwaway address. <From what I found, the + should come after, not before the normal name — johnsmith+mr@gmail.com. Check the webpages here and here for more info.>

Paul also said that if you own a domain like finerailroad.com, you can redirect mail that’s sent to something like info@finerailroad.com to a Gmail address and you will inherit the spam proofing provided by Gmail. Similarly, you can get Gmail to pickup your Yahoo mail and it will also be spam filtered. He didn’t go into details.

Paul warned users of Gmail to be sure to set up a backup email address in case you loose access to your account. The backup address could be another email of yours on another system or that of a friend. At Gmail there is no customer service to contact for help; the backup email address is crucial.

Rick called about a problem he has with his 2.5-year old desktop HP computer running Windows 10. One day he tried to get online and it “failed to get into Windows.” He got a blank screen instead of the home screen, only the pointer was working. It happened after he tried to login with the Chrome browser. But it also goes black without running Chrome.
– Paul said Windows 10 makes maintenance a bit more difficult to do than earlier versions of Windows.
– Search for the words: hp windows 10 recovery mode. This is a mode that lets you repair the system.
– Paul suspected that a video driver is the problem and that the machine needs an update or upgrade.
– Paul said he’ll get back to Rick. And if he learns more, he’ll post it to the Zentech website.

Glenn reminded listeners that they can email the guys at zen at kvmr dot org with questions or suggestions.

Last Updated 11:52 PM 11-8-2017

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 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

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