• identity theft,  target

    RED Alert:Target Data Breach Impacts 70 Million Customers [Updated]

    January 11, 2014 /

    More bad news from Target this week.  Remember that data breach affecting about 40 million customers in frenzied shopping period that was the run up to Christmas Day?  Ya, that one.

    Well, it turns out Target sort of low balled the number by 30 million.  Target now says that 70 million customers were impacted by the data breach.  This was confirmed by my bank when I received a letter from them on Wednesday evening because I’m one of the recently unreported 30 million customers.

    “Target Corp.’s holiday data breach was bigger than the company had previously said, penetrating more systems and compromising a new set of personal information affecting up to 70 million people. 

    Target said the information was stored separately from the 40 million credit and debit card accounts that the company had previously said were affected. There was some overlap between the two sets of stolen data, but Target didn’t say how extensive it was. The entry point for the attack has been identified and closed, spokeswoman Molly Snyder said.”

    Well isn’t that nice.  The breach point has been closed.  Sigh.  Guess I’ll be paying cash at Target from now on since I can’t trust them to handle my customer information safely.  Oh, and I’ll be asking my bank for a new credit card too.

    Update

    My very nice bank reissued my credit card, which, as it turned out, arrived Saturday afternoon.  If you haven’t received your replacement credit or debit card, call your back on Monday and get your replacement card issued ASAP.

    [Via WSJ.com…]

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  • blackberry

    John Chen Becomes BlackBerry CEO

    January 11, 2014 /

    John Chen, BlackBerry’s best chance at a come back in the smartphone arena, has been named the struggling smartphone maker’s permanent CEO.

    Ian Austen, writing for the New York Times Bits blog:

    “After earnings, and again in meetings with media and analysts at C.E.S., John said that he would be BlackBerry’s C.E.O. until the company is back on solid financial footing,” Mr. Emery wrote. “The search for a CEO has been put on the back burner for now.”

    That is some welcomed news for BlackBerry, it’s investors, users, and fans.  The question of whether Mr. Chen can really pull off the turn around is still yet to be seen, however, he clearly likes a challenge and righting this ship is right up his alley.

    If you might recall, another well noted tech industry was able to right his ship after becoming the “iCEO” of Apple on January 5, 2000.

    [Via NY Times Bits blog…]

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  • gmail,  google

    Tell Google “No” to Google+ Email Integration

    January 11, 2014 /

    This week, Google started turning on by default, Google+ profile to Gmail inbox messaging – even if the Google+ user doesn’t know your Gmail account email address.

    No, Google, I don’t want to use Google+.  No matter how badly you want me to for my personal email.  (This blog does cross posts to Google+.)

    You Gmail account will be impacted by the change when you receive an email from Google stating that the feature has been turned on.

    “Ever wanted to email someone you know, but haven’t yet exchanged email addresses? Starting this week, when you’re composing a new email, Gmail will suggest your Google+ connections as recipients, even if you haven’t exchanged email addresses yet.” 

    Creepy!

    To turn off the feature, log into your Gmail account.  From there, click the “gear” icon near the top right of the Gmail window.  Select the “Settings” menu item.

    Scroll down the list of settings until you see “Email via Google+”.

    To completely turn off the feature, set it to “No one”.  If you choose to leave the feature on, but with some limits, any email being sent to you via Google+ will, for now at least, appear in the “Social” tab in Gmail.

    I’m sure Google will be able to meet it’s goal of integrating Google+ with Gmail – they really haven’t left us a chance with the opt-out setting and many people who don’t read this or other great technology blogs will completely miss this change.

    For me, though, this is getting to be a bit much.  Google’s motto used to be “Don’t be evil” and I started using Google’s services back when that was clear.  Now, with Google well into their advertising business, I’m less sure “Don’t be evil” gets enough air play.

    If you have had enough of Google, you can switch to your iCloud.com email address that comes free with pretty much any iPhone, iPad, iPod touch, or Macintosh.  Apple’s not in the business of advertising.  You can also switch to Microsoft’s Outlook.com or Yahoo Email.  Still, if you really don’t like those options, you can always switch to your ISPs, often, terrible email system or subscribe to a hosted Microsoft Exchange Server account.  (If you do that last one, you can get Exchange Active Sync – EAS back.)

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  • ios,  ipad,  iphone,  productivity,  workflow

    Readdle Scanner Pro for iOS Free This Week

    January 3, 2014 /

    Yup, you read that right!  As part of Apple’s iOS App of the Week promotion, you can snag a copy of Readdle’s Scanner Pro, normally $6.99, for free this week.

    Scanner Pro is one of those applications where it looks cool, but I wasn’t sure if it would fit into my workflow.  Now, with Scanner Pro free this week only, I don’t have to worry about paying the relatively ‘expensive’ $6.99 to find out.

    I downloaded Scanner Pro and tested it out.  It’s super simple to use. You install it, configure iCloud sync support, and then take your first scan.  It’s that easy.

    Once you’ve ‘scanned’ your document, you can send it on to be printed or faxed (who’s still using fax anyway?) or uploaded to a WebDAV server, Dropbox, Evernote, or Google Drive.  You can also send your scanned document on as an email attachment.

    If you like to use productivity apps on your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch, you will want to grab a copy of Readdle Scanner Pro this week!

    For more details, visit the iOS App Store.

    [Via AppleInsider.com…]

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  • apple,  mac os x,  mavericks,  microsoft,  windows,  windows 8,  windows xp

    Net Applications: Windows XP Loses Ground, Windows 8 Gains, and Mavericks Levels Off

    January 2, 2014 /

    Earlier today web analytics firm Net Applications released PC operating system numbers.

    In a nutshell, today’s report keys on trends we would expect: Windows XP, first released back in 2001, is still hanging on at just below 30%.  Windows 8/8.1 are in a dead heat with Vista, with Windows 8 finally starting to gain ground and Windows 7 is still by far, the Windows desktop champ.

    On the Apple front, Mac OS X 10.9 Mavericks saw a huge 21% market share jump in November.  Compared to December’s numbers, Mavericks looked to be standing still with a 5% increase.

    document.getElementById(“na635242998771120000”).src=”http://www.netmarketshare.com/report.aspx?qprid=10″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qptimeframe=M”+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpsp=179″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpch=350″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpdt=1″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpct=3″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpcustomd=0″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpcid=fw377708″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpf=16″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpwidth=550″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpdisplay=1111″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”qpmr=10″+String.fromCharCode(38)+”site=”+window.location.hostname

    [Via ComputerWorld.com…]

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  • lg,  web os

    LG To Release a webOS Powered TV

    December 31, 2013 /

    Many of you know that I have a soft spot for all things Palm and so I was intrigued when I saw a report on the WSJ Digits blog reporting that LG plans to build a webOS powered television set.

    As you may recall, webOS was the last mobile operating system developed by Palm, Inc before it was acquired by HP in 2010 followed, quickly followed by the complete shutdown of the Palm unit and discontinuing of all webOS hardware sales.  LG acquired webOS from HP in February of 2013.

    What I find interesting about this is that LG is stuffing webOS into a TV.  webOS was originally designed to power smartphones and tablets.  I’m not saying that webOS can’t work on a TV, but I’m having a hard time envisioning the user interface.

    The primary interface for webOS was touch.  The primary interface for TVs today is a remote control.  According to the WSJ article, the unannounced LG TV is said to retain the webOS cards based paradigm for moving between open applications.  To me, that sounds rather clunky with a remote only type of interface.  I guess it could work if LG does something similar to the original Palm Pre which had a home button that, when pressed, would move you into card view for application switching.  Palm abandoned that idea with the Pre Plus, their second webOS smartphone.

    Interface features aside, webOS could have a second left as a smart TV OS.  It’s biggest problem as a smartphone OS was that, honestly, it was late to market compared with Apple iOS and Google Android ecosystems and failed to capture enough developers to really build out the application suite.  In TVs, however, I have to ask myself, how important is a third-party developer ecosystem?  I can’t see playing Angry Birds or Tweeting from my TV, so does it really matter if there is a large catalog of webOS smart TV apps?  I think the place where things like smart TVs, cable boxes, and media players (Blu-ray, DVD, et el) can be improved is in their software.  An “appliance” such as a TV with a slick user interface which made it easy to find the content I want to watch when I want to watch it would be a very nice usability bump.  Any such software should be able to tie together access to my HDMI attached cable box and media players and my streaming media services; Netflix, Hulu Plus, and Pandora spring to mind.

    Regardless of what we might conjure up in our minds, we will know in better detail where LG is taking webOS and smart TVs very soon.  LG plans on showing their webOS TV at the CES show in Las Vegas in a few weeks.

    [Via WSJ Digits blog…]

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  • apple tv,  mac os x,  media server,  time machine,  windows

    Seagate Central Home Media NAS Device Review [Updated]

    December 27, 2013 /
    I discovered Seagate Central while looking for a seamless Macintosh and Windows home backup solution.  Once I started reading more about Seagate Central, what I realized was this little network attached box has a number of nice features for the network connected home.
    Backup All of Your Stuff
    My home has a mix of Mac OS X and Windows desktops and laptops, and Seagate Central makes backing both types of PCs super simple.  Macs can see Seagate Central as a Time Machine server and will work with all recent releases of Mac OS X right out of the box, making Mac backups remarkably easy.  Windows users will need to install the Seagate Dashboard software before backing up files to Central’s hard disk.

    Another useful feature of Seagate Central is that it can backup the pictures and videos that you post to Facebook.  This is an incredibly useful feature as many people don’t backup their smartphones using only social media services as a means for preserving the special moments in our lives that are captured in photos and short videos.  I’m thinking about my wife and her iPhone 4 as a perfect use case here.

    For as useful and easy as it is to backup your Mac or PC to Seagate Central, I do need to offer a word of caution here.  The Seagate Central is a single drive device.  This means, that is the drive in your Seagate Central becomes damaged or fails there is no backup of the backup.  The old be prepared saying goes “one is none”, so if you use Seagate Central as a backup server, I would strongly recommend a second supplemental backup, such as Backblaze.
    Via ComputerShopper.com
    Streaming Media Server
    Seagate Central is also a streaming media server that works with hardware that you probably already have in your home.  To achieve this interoperability, Seagate has baked in Digital Living Network Alliance, or DLNA, services.  This means that the DLNA can talk to your devices like a Sony PS3, Blu-ray players, Samsung TVs and many more devices.  To use Seagate Central as a media server for your connected devices, just connect everything to the same wired or wireless network (802.11n or later is recommended) and grab some hot, buttery popcorn and enjoy.

    What about the Apple TV?  Unfortunately, the Apple TV does not appear to be a DLNA compatible device.  (And why should it be from Apple’s perspective? They want you to purchase and stream your content from iTunes.)  Fear not, Apple TV owners!  Seagate has you covered with their Seagate Media app, which is AirPlay friendly and allows you to redirect content streamed to your iOS over to Apple TV.  The Seagate Media app also works with Android devices.
    Access and Share Your Data
    A unique feature of the Seagate Central server is that you can use it remotely from your Android or iOS device with the free app from Seagate.  Once the Central server is configured and you have installed the app, then you can access your photos, videos, or documents.  Your mobile device will need to be connected to a Wi-Fi hotspot or 3G cellular service.  You can also access the content stored on the Seagate Central server from your Mac or PC using a web browser and even share the content with a private email invitation.  These features are allow you get much more utility our of the Central and effectively gives you your own sharable cloud-based storage solution.
    Pricing & Availability
    Seagate Central is available now and comes in a 2TB ($149.99), 3TB ($179.99) and 4TB ($219.99) models to meet your media and backup needs and budget.  Just as a price comparison, the Apple Time Capsule starts at $299.00 and does not have the streaming media features.  While your individual needs will differ from mine, the 3TB $179.99 version seams to be the best choice for all but the price conscious or those with lots of content to store.
    Conclusion
    The Seagate Central NAS server packs a lot of value in an inexpensive package.  It makes backups simple, streams media to your DLNA-compatible devices, gives you access to your data when you are on the go, provides document sharing, and works with Mac OS X, Windows, Android and iOS devices.  The one thing that I would have liked to see was a multi-drive configuration for data redundancy since Seagate Central is billed as a backup solution.

    Update

    After posting a question about RAID support in Seagate Central, Seagate Support confirmed that Central does not support a multi-disk RAID configuration.  In place of the Central, Seagate recommends their Business Storage 2-Bay NAS for people who want the peace of mind of a redundant data storage device.

     For more information and purchasing options, visit the Seagate website.


    [Seagate Central showroom image via ComputerShopper.com…]
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