FAA Changing Gadget Rule

It seems I have been complaining for years about the silly requirement of turning off our mobile devices at landing and take off of airplanes. Good news may be just around the corner because we will eventually be able to continue using our mobile devices on takeoff and landing, according to the FAA. The American government organization overseeing air travel today announced that travelers won’t face regulations that are as strict as we have been accustomed to when it comes to electronics on planes.

However this does not mean you can continue playing Candy Crush or in my case Mahjong while waiting for your takeoff just yet. The roll out and specifics of the changes will vary depending on each airline since there are differences between types of planes and how things are run at each different carrier, but the FAA anticipates that most will allow passengers to use their mobile devices “in airplane mode, gate-to-gate, by the end of the year.”

Passengers can use e-book readers, play games and watch videos on devices, and can hold gadgets during both take-off and landing, or else stow them in the seatback pocket. These gadgets need to be in Airplane Mode or have cell service turned off during both landing and taxi/take-off, but you can actually use Wi-Fi during your flight and continue to use Bluetooth accessories connected to your phone.

Soon I will be able to finish watching Star Trek as the plane lands!

My personal  belief on this long time rule is that the FAA simply wanted the passengers to pay attention during take off and landing and that no iPhone has the ability to take down a airplane. I am glad that finally this out dated and unnecessary regulation is about to end. Do you know how many times I had about 10 minutes left on my Star Trek episode when the announcement is made to turn off all electronic devices and my wife starts hitting me in the arm repeatability saying "Turn it off Bill!" 

I will talk about "airplane mode" in more detail in a future article.

More iOS7 Glitches

It has been reported that almost 70% of iPhone and iPad users have upgraded to iOS7 which is a big success for Apple, however all is not rosy for Apple because several glitches are being reported by users everywhere. While Apple is responding to these reported problems there are some things you can do if you experiencing any of the following problems.

Messages Won't Send

Problem: When sending a message, the status bat gets stuck and the message does not go through.

Solution:

1. Go to "settings---messages".
2. Switch the iMessage slider off.
3. Go to "settings---general".
4. Tap "reset network settings".
5. When the device powers up again, go back to "settings---messages" and the iMessage slider on.

Battery Drain

Problem: With increased power comes increased power usage.

Solution:

1. Turn off the 3-D parallax effect by going to "settings---general---accessibility---reduced motion".
2. Disable background app refresh in the "settings---general" menu.

Motion Sickness (yes this is really a reported problem)

Problem: Some users have reported getting motion sickness from the new operating system's display.

Solution:

1. Go to settings---general---accessibility and
2. Tap "reduce motion".
3. Increase the contrast, and
4. Reduce the screen brightness.

Apple will probably continue rolling out updates and patches for these and other problems but in the meantime if you are experiencing the above issues these adjustments should help.

Watering Hole Attacks

Chances are you have some trusted industry sites for staying up to date with the news you care about. Just like you Finance, HR and most every department also has sites that they rely on to help them do their jobs as well.

Some hackers are now taking advantage of these poplar sites. First, they observe which sites attract a specific type of user.

Then they compromise that site to spread malware or steal information.

This makes the attackers able to get large amounts of data from across many organizations al once.

Users are fairly trusting of these sites - since they have been useful resources in the past.

While much of the protection relies on sites policing themselves, you should be on the lookout for a site suddenly requesting information or permissions that is has not done in the past.

You should also make sure your browser is up to date and patches to make these types of attack less likely.

Crypto Locker Warning

It seems like I write monthly about computer security but if you needed a reminder to be careful about the emails and attachments you open, it’s now. The Crypto Locker virus that is going around is said to be one of the worst ever and is infecting computers with the Windows OS all across the United States. The virus, also called “ransomware,” works by holding your files hostage until you pay a fee.

The Crypto Locker virus is passed around in emails that have innocent enough looking senders, such as UPS or FedEx, but they’re not really from these corporations, of course. Instead, when you open the attachment, your computer becomes infected and the virus locks all your files until you pay a ransom. Check out a picture of what the Crypto Locker demand screen looks like:

Ransomware causes your computer files to be non-accessible and when that happens you have two choices. You can recover if you have a backup which I hope you do or pay the ransom within 100 hours. If you do not pay the ransom you will lose all of your data.

The Crypto Locker email pretends often pretends to be from a financial institution like a bank or Pay Pal and reports that it has dire news for you and that the attachment is important. readers of these emails often panic and open the attachment and then it's too late. The PC is infected and the files are encrypted which means you cannot open your own files. The attachment will often disguise itself as JPEG images, as PDF files, as Microsoft Office files and many other file types.  After the computer becomes infected, users are usually given 100 hours to pay a fee between $100 and $700 to get the files decrypted.

This Is Important - Follow These Rules

1.  If you get an email from somebody you do not know, especially if it has attachments, do not open anything with it, just delete the email. 

2.  If you did not specifically ask for an attachment do not open it. If you are curious reach out to the send by phone before opening anything. If you cannot contact the send do not open it!

Backing Up Your Files is More Important Then Ever

Make sure you have all of your files backed up both on a local disconnected USB hard drive and in the cloud. There are many free and affordable cloud services available so there is really no excuse not to do this. If your PC gets infected with the Crypto Locker virus you backup may be your digital salvation.

Face to Face is Best

Don’t you just hate it when you are in the middle of something and “bing” someone sends you an email. Not another interruption! But of course you just “have to” see what that bing was and you stop what you were doing to read the message. It has been said that on average we check our email an average of 37 times an hour. That’s more than once every On the other hand we typically spend only six seconds on each email.

Email hits your productivity. If you don’t manage your email, you are less able to work effectively. Research consistently shows that email is one of the biggest hits on your time and on your ability to concentrate on the work you need to do.

A study published last year confirms that the break in continuity of work due to email can affect your productivity and can actually act as constant source of disturbance.

This all suggests that we are so supremely social and that we need social stimulus to keep us going. Therefore when it comes to the office being interrupted by constant emails you become less productive than being interrupted by your work mates. Rather then getting people to send you an internal email you will do better at your job if you ask them to come over to your desk and talk to you.

There are also additional benefits in taking this kind of approach. Not only does it boost the ability to get on with the job, it also helps staff feel happier because they are now in much more real, face-to-face contact with each other. Plus there are health benefits of the increased wandering around the office, perhaps leading to fewer days off sick.

If you want to boost your personal and business productivity, the best thing you can do is to start managing your email, switching it off for most of the day, moving around and actually speaking with people directly, even your co-workers.

Microsoft Office 365 Continues to Grow

One thing is proving certain. Microsoft is one of the winners in the cloud. Almost three years ago we decided to retire our on premises Microsoft Exchange (email) server in favor of cloud services. For us was simply a decision of limited technology staff but the goal of actually enhancing software services throughout the organization's departments. At that time government adoption of cloud services was just beginning and now 3 years later it seems to be growing within the private & public sectors alike.

Microsoft managed to bag another big deal after the government of US approved contract of subscription based productivity suite Office 365 for one of it's departments. The PEO-EIS that manages a variety of contracting programs for the Army awarded 50,000 seats of Microsoft Office 365 to Microsoft and Dell, together since Dell, delivers the service; Microsoft doesn’t sell directly to the government.

Microsoft Office 365 for the U.S. Department of Defense

Following the announcement, Microsoft will start implementing its own Office 365 productivity software that includes Office 365′s email, calendar, Office Web Apps, Lync, and SharePoint features.

Our cloud solutions are becoming the choice across our public sector organizations who recognize the essential importance of security and reliability for their organizations, said Curt Kolcun, Microsoft VP for U.S. Public Sector. He further added,
The Blanket Purchase Agreement (BPA) is available to any Department of Defense (DoD) Service, agency and mission partner without additional competitive process. This opportunity gives Microsoft the ability to work with civilian agencies and federal entities at all levels to provide commercial cloud services, opening up new mobile opportunities”.

The contract bagged by Microsoft rests on the decision made by the Defense Department to adopt commercial products and cloud services for developing its communication system and therefore s victory for Microsoft.

Currently over a million state, local and federal government employees are using Office 365. So, this isn’t the first major deal Microsoft has signed for its Office 365 solution. Municipalities and organizations across the US have already partnered with Redmond, Microsoft also in recent weeks received provisional authority to operate its Windows Azure and cloud infrastructure for federal agencies, from a joint Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP) board.

More Security Problems for iOS 7

Things have not been going so good for Apple these past couple of months, first the iPhone 5C may be their first true flop in years and iOS7 is making users angry and confused and the new operating system seems to be plagued with security problems. For example soon after iOS 7 came out, a pair of holes in the lockscreen were outed and then quickly fixed in iOS 7.0.2.

 

 

However it now turns out that Apple didn't fix future problems of this sort proactively, because the just-announced iOS 7.0.3 closes three more locked-phone holes. Apple rarely releases updates, or what are really patches this quickly.

The three bugs this time deal with similar problems to those patched in 7.0.2:

1. Another flaw in the emergency call feature, where hitting the call button at a carefully-planned moment lets you call any number, not just 911 or your local equivalent.
2. A passcode lockout bypass, so that crackers can continue trying passcodes even after the phone decides they've had too many goes and locks them out.
3. Access to the Contacts pane even when the phone is locked

If you care about security, you may as well make sure you grab this update as soon as you can, if your phone hasn't done it for you already.

Facebook's Posting Glitch is Fixed!

Yesterday morning when I was attempting to post two very important Facebook updates, one being my Samsung Smartwatch review and the other my sad comments regarding the Denver Broncos and my fantasy football teams I was presented each time with a Facebook Update error. Oh the tragedy of it! Being frustrated I first blamed the Disney Resorts wireless which has been plagued with a case of the "slows" and then I tried out different browsers, all with the same error message (below).

Oh the horror! Facebook Refusing to post an update!

Frustrated and confused I carried on with the rest of the morning which included preparing for Disney's Hollywood Studios and having coffee with the wife. I was a little worried for my regular readers on Facebook but I tried not to think to much about them and simply hoped the Facebook update ability would be restored sooner then later.

As I had hoped, later in the morning my posts were going through from the Disney Parks and my friends were back in business with updates from me!

Later in the day, after a little research I found the following information, confirming that it was not me, my browsers or Disney World.

Facebook said it blamed network maintenance for troubles that kept users around the world from posting updates Monday morning. Users also couldn’t upload photos, share websites, or make payments during the outage.

Facebook said the outage has been fixed and that all users should be up and running as normal. It lasted for a few hours Monday morning, Facebook said,
“Earlier this morning, while performing some network maintenance, we experienced an issue that prevented some users from posting to Facebook for a brief period of time,” a Facebook spokesman told Computerworld. “We resolved the issue quickly, and we are now back to 100%. We’re sorry for any inconvenience.”

What is weird is that the world continued to rotate normally and people went about their normal routines even during the time period of Facebook posting services being down. Maybe there is hope for us afterall....

First Thoughts on the Galaxy Watch

Well I have used the Samsung Galaxy watch 2 days now while walking through the parks at Walt Disney World and I must say for the most part I am impressed. With the watch comfortably on your wrist you can set it up to lightly vibrate for email and text messages. As opposed to looking at your phone constantly you can see the headline of each message and if you want to read the content simply click the message and the content is right there for you on your watch. You can also browse your email and text messages by swiping side to side on a message. Facebook notifications also arrive on your watch but you cannot read them here but you can tell the watch to open them on your phone so when you look at the phone he Facebook message is already displayed.

Talking on the phone, which I did once can be a little difficult in a busy and crowded place like Disney a world because it is of course using the speaker and microphone on the watch.  It was fun to try but became annoying when my son continued to say "you are breaking up!"   In a quiter place, like your car which I did try before leaving on my trip worked just fine.

The watch also has some out of the box apps like "Pedometer" which can track your walking through the day and then uplink a health report to your Galaxy phone. This has reported what I already knew - you really better be prepared to walk ALOT at Disney World.  There are other apps that come so the watch and you can download others like Zite but I will talk more about them in a later post.

I am also impressed with the battery on this little guy. I used it all day yesterday and forgot to charge it overnight. When I noticed this in the morning I panicked until I saw that it still had 77% remaining! The watch comes with a nice docking cradle which the wire had lodged loose somehow when I was setting things up in our room.  Another nice side effect of this watch is that it actually improves the battery life of your smartphone because you tend to look at it much less.

The other observation that I found that just like your phone or tablet the screen of the watch can become difficult to impossible to read when the sun is directly overhead. 

If you have not been using a "old school" watch it will probably take a little time to get accustomed to this, especially because the band is a little big, probably because of the camera but I quickly adjusted to it.

So far this watch has been better then I expected and I can see it becoming a daily part of the work and home experience. I will continue using it and write a full review after our Disney vacation.

Part 2 - Pedometer & Smartphone Freedom (October 23, 2013)













Pedometer
After the original review I of course went out to Disney's Hollywood Studios for the day where I turned on the Pedometer App. The Pedometer app counts your steps and syncs the data to your smartphone. The app works great however I left it on all day and only realized this when I was waiting for Fantasmic to start at about 7:30pm when the watch displayed a "low battery warning". If you recall the previous day I had used the watch the same amount of time and still had 77% battery life at the end of the night. Therefore I would recommend only using this app when you are walking or running.

Smartphone Freedom
The best feature of this smartwatch to me has been what I have been calling "smartphone freedom". Walking through the park I can check out email messages and text messages as well as the time (again, how quaint) without reaching for my smartphone. This saves time and battery life your phone.

Part 3 - Wearable Comfort and a Camera to Boot (October 25, 2013)

I think that one of the challenges for smart watches is actually going to be that many people have simply stopped wearing watches as they became more tied to first, their mobile phones and finally to their smartphones. After all who needed a watch when your phone could tell you the time as well as everything else? In fact it actually took me a couple of days to get accustomed to wearing a "watch" again but eventually I got used to it. The band on the Galaxy watch is larger then it probably needs to be but that it because Samsung stuck a camera (pictured above) on the wrist band. It really does not look that bad and most people probably wont even notice that you are sporting a small mobile camera. If you set up Google+ with their 15gb of free storage the pictures will upload to your smartphone and Google account. You can even take short 15 second videos with the camera.

I snapped the above to photos with my watch while standing in the queue line for the Space Shuttle Atlantis simulator at Kennedy Space Center. Not bad for such a small camera.

You can also snap a series of photos with the watch to create an animated gif (above) and below is a 15 second video I recorded while waiting to become an astronaut at KSC.

The camera is just under 2mp so you are not going to capture great photos here, but if your camera or smartphone are not available this is a good option, and a little fun as well. I kinda felt like a private eye using the camera!


The Galaxy Gear Future

This is really a good first attempt at an actually usable smart watch. The freedom of checking email, text messages and even getting notifications from Facebook with a little handy dandy camera does provide a sense of "smartphone freedom".

This smartwatch is being expanded t other Galaxy watches as we speak so hopefully Samsung will find success here and continue building on what they started here.

Mountains of Sorrow

This is not a tech post but I wanted to post it here anyway.

About 2-3 weeks ago while shopping at my favorite LP store, Electric Avenue Music I asked for some reason when the next Amos Lee LP was scheduled for release and if it would be on available on vinyl. I was informed that Amos Lee indeed had a new release scheduled in a few weeks and yes it would be available on Vinyl. I had discovered Amos Lee, a retired Philadelphia school teacher a couple of years ago and his music with a mix of Philly soul, rock and folk has always made me feel good so I pre-ordered the LP, not knowing anything about it, including the release date.

I completely forgot I had ordered the LP.

Fast forward until 2 weeks ago when a drunk driver stole my little brother from me, his young family and anyone that ever knew him or those yet to know him. A couple days after the tragic accident I stood inside Sam's Club picking out pictures for the funeral home slide show when Electric Avenue Music called me to report that my Amos Lee LP had arrived. I could not answer the call or the voice mail. I was too upset while creating the slideshow for the funeral home to answer the phone call. Later in the day I asked my son Kevin to pick up the LP for me. Kevin picked it up and it sat in my LP Browser until a couple days after the services.

Once I looked at the album cover I was surprised and shocked. The album title, "Mountains of Sorrow" surprised me. Then listening to the main title song I felt as if it was especially written from Amos Lee to me. From the opening line when you hear "when I awoke from my dream awaken by the darkness of the night, I was unprepared for the unseen ..."

Although I love music so much, very few, if any have touched me in such a way as this song - with this tragic event. This album and it's title track will always strike directly at my heart when I think of my little brother and how I will always miss him so.

Sadness has entrenched my soul and I have a feeling it will take a long long time for it to let go of me.



I love you Ian Mann.... Mountains of Sorrow could not have described it any better.

You can learn more about Amos Lee at www.amoslee.com.

Galaxy Gear - Wearable Technology Arrives?

Once I decided to take a pause with my Windows Phone and look elsewhere for a productive smartphone that can do everything I needed, I decided to go back to Android. It has been several years since I used an Android phone so I wanted to make sure I picked the right one. While thinking about this I read some very good reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and knowing that I had previously issued a Note 2 earlier this year and hearing very positive things about it I decided this would be the one to try out. It also helped that Microsoft has just released their Office 365 app on Android so I knew I would still be productive with this smartphone.


Then I started reading about the Galaxy Gear and saw this commercial advertising the new Gear Smart Watch.



Wearable technology is in it's infancy and there is a long way to go. I actually believe that the previously released and much hyped "Google Glass" was a disappointment and most users were uncomfortable wearing it and those they were talking to were freaked out by it. However the new Galaxy Gear is a step in the right direction. With this watch you can read email messages, text messages, receive social media notifications, check the time (how quaint) and answer phone calls without grabbing your smartphone.

There is even a 1.9 megapixel camera built into the wristband so you can snap a quick picture without using your smartphone. I took a couple pictures with it this morning and below are the results. No bad for such a small camera.

I will be using this while on vacation in Disney World so I will be giving it a work out and will write a review after I get some real experience with it.

YouTube's Peak into the Future

George Jetson saw this coming.

Many, including this blogger have been predicting the diminishing dominance of the PC for the past couple of years. Tablets and smartphones are increasing while desktop computer sales are dropping each quarter. Even laptops have gotten smaller with the increasing popularity of ultra books. While Microsoft fell behind in the smartphone market and probably will never catch up to a point where Microsoft will get double digit market share I believe with the Surface tablets Microsoft is on to something in the laptop/tablet arena.

Anyway the reason for this short article is the recent news from YouTube that 41% of their traffic is now from mobile devices. This is an important indicator to something many of us already were seeing in the market. The 41% includes smartphones and tablets.

There will be a time probably near the end of this decade when consumers are relying by majority on mobile devices while desktop computers will hang in dominance a bit longer in the enterprise environment. However eventually even in enterprise smaller mobile computing devices will rise to dominance when professionals will travel to and from the office with their device.

Talk about taking work home with you....

Galaxy Note 3 Review

OK yesterday I posted that I was taking a pause with the Windows Phone in hope that Microsoft will continue improving their smartphone's software and app library. As much as I have enjoyed using a Windows Phone for the past year I have grown impatient recently with their hardware availability as well as app development issues. For example a recent social engagement app, West Chester Connect that I worked on and distributed to the community for the Borough of West Chester although available on Windows Phone the app is simply not as efficient when compared to the Apple or Android apps. Hopefully this will change but it has been several months now.


Because of this I decided to make a change with my smartphone looking for more efficient options for myself and organization. I decided against the iPhone simply because I know what that can do and everyone has one these days. So I turned to Android and chose the Samsung Galaxy Note 3.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 arrived with the latest version of Google's mobile operating system on board - Android 4.3 Jelly Bean.

The first thing you notice about this smartphone is that it is... big. This phone is 6" by 3.1" which is closing in the iPad Mini and only weighs in at 5.9 ounces.  The model I am using has 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and the ability to add more with a SD card.

I have found that this means skipping through home screens, scrolling through the app list and generally dicking around with the notifications bar, settings menu and countless widgets is seamless.

Applications open promptly. Holding down the home button furnishes you with the multi-tasking menu in next to no time and you can have over ten applications running with no effect on performance.

You can have five shortcuts on the lock screen and these can be customized to any applications installed.

Get past the lock screen and you're greeted with several widget-heavy home screens as standard. I deleted a lot of the widgets as they simply got in the way and I had no need for them - although with the vast selection on board I found one or two I decided to keep.

You can edit the number of home screens you have, with a maximum of seven on offer, by simply pinching the display.

The 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display itself is as bright and colorful. Although it is full HD, as a result of the larger screen. the pixel density isn't as high and on comparison with other smartphones with smaller screens.

 

By pulling down the notification bar from the top of the Note 3 will display (image below) Samsung's quick settings bar allowing you to toggle features such as Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and NFC without having to visit the main settings menu.

 

 

 

Hit the button in the top right of the notification panel and you are be able to see all the quick settings available. There's a massive choice, with 22 options provided on the Galaxy Note 3. You can edit which ones display in the bar on the main notification page by clicking the pencil icon at the top of the screen and then dragging and dropping the settings you want instant access to.

 

Pull out the Note 3 stylus and the screen will immediately awaken with Air Command activated. Alternatively, if the screen is already on, simply hover the stylus over the screen and press the stylus button, immediately activating the 5-option overlay.

 

The five Air Command options are:

 

 

The five Air Command options are:

 

First things first. I have only experimented with Air Command but I really like it and it is something completely missing from Apple or Windows phones.

• Action Memo – quickly scribble notes and connect them to actions such as saving a phone number or contact information, sending a message, searching the web. or creating a task.
• Scrap Booker – save anything you encounter – such as websites, maps, and pictures – into organized scrapbook categories with accompanied notes and information for later browsing.
• Screen Write -no matter where you are or what app you’re in, snap a screenshot, overlay it with your own notes and drawings, and save it for later use or share it through e-mail, messaging, dropbox, etc.
• S Finder – search your entire phone and the web with smart filters based on time frame, S-Pen features, tags, and more.
• Pen Window– instantly overlay a window with one of the following features: calculator, clock, youtube, phone, contacts, hangouts, internet, WhatsApp.

The Galaxy Note 3 sports a 13MP Camera along with a 2MP front-facing camera. The camera app has a massive set of options and settings to help take the best picture. I look forward to experiment with this on my next Disney vacation.

 

Below are a couple of pictures I snapped in my office within minutes of unboxing the Note 2.

 

 

 

 

The Galaxy Note 3 is an absolute beast of a phone when it comes to multimedia and overall device performance. With a gorgeous 5.7-inch screen, and powered by a quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM, everything from apps and games to videos and music play like a flawless charm.

 

Is the 3GB of RAM being effective used? If you open up the multi-tasking menu (hold the home button) and visit the task manager, you can see exactly how much RAM is currently being used and clear tasks that are taking up memory.

 

The huge screen, bright display, and powerful processor are sure to suck up a ton of energy but the Galaxy Note 3′s 3200 mAh battery holds up well under the pressure. The phone is very new so I have not had anytime to run any benchmark tests but after a full day of use I was at about 30% left at about 9pm which is actually better performance then I received from my Windows Lumia 928.

 

What a technology world we live in! All of this detail about a smartphone and I have not even mentioned the phone quality itself. Anyway the sound quality is what you would expect from a hight quality smartphone although I wish the sound level was a bit louder.  The phonebook also interrogates very nicely with the phone app.

 

Now I need to use the phone for awhile to see what I really think.

Windows 8.1 Released Today

Microsoft’s update to Windows 8.1 is now widely available to download, free for Windows 8 users, from the Windows Store.

Major change for the operating system include a revamped Start screen, that now provides more options for customization and layout. The upgrade also finally brings side-by-side multitasking of Windows 8 apps, which was another criticism of the original Windows 8 release. You can also now boot directly to the desktop, bypassing the Start screen altogether. This in particular is something enterprise users have been screaming for.

While the update is free for users upgrading from Windows 8, people coming from Windows 7 will need to simply buy the Windows 8 upgrade ($119, or $199 for Windows 8 Pro) and then make the upgrade for free.

Microsoft said that in-store customers will be able to buy a boxed version of the software from tomorrow, and that PCs sold from October 18 would come with 8.1 pre-installed. If for some reason you buy a new computer and it still hasn’t been updated to the newer version of the OS, you will of course be able to download it for yourself for free.

What's New with Windows 8.1

When Windows 8 was first introduced last year, many users resisted the touch-orientated changes that Microsoft had made to the platform, such as creating separate UIs for different working areas with the Desktop and Windows 8 modes.

It seems that the removal of the Start button displeased many people. And that’s putting it mildly. Personally I had no problem with this, but I am not the typical PC user.

With today’s official launch of Windows 8.1, it’s time to see if the changes that the company has made to the operating system iron out these issues, or indeed, raise new ones of its own.

For anyone familiar with Windows 8, making the jump across to Windows 8.1 will be a painless experience, and while there are plenty of changes under the hood, I will focus on all the newest, most useful changes here. You will still find the same general way of navigating such as the  ‘Charms Bar’  (Search, Share. Start, Devices, Settings) which you get to by just swiping away on the right side of the screen. Swiping from the left still cycles you through apps and swiping up from the bottom usually brings up additional options for whichever app you are using. Naturally, all of this only applies when using it in Windows 8 mode, rather than the desktop.

Starting October 18, Windows 8.1 will be made available to Windows 8 users for free from the Windows Store, and downloading and installing will work just as they would for any other app. The company just announced that for non-Windows 8 users, the installer will be available on that date, and that as of October 2, you can pre-order full Windows 8.1 installation media (either download or disk) from Microsoft's online store.

Once Windows is installed and you are ready to go. The first thing you will want to do is link up your Microsoft account. If you don’t have one I recommend creating one. Skydrive will give you 7GB of free cloud storage and you will want access to the Microsoft Store so you can download apps.

TA13-288A: Microsoft Updates for Multiple Vulnerabilities

Systems Affected

• Windows Operating System and Components
• Microsoft .NET Framework
• Microsoft Server Software
• Microsoft Office
• Microsoft Silverlight
• Internet Explorer 

Overview

Select Microsoft software products contain multiple vulnerabilities. Microsoft has released updates to address these vulnerabilities.

Description

The Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for October 2013 describes multiple vulnerabilities in Microsoft software. Microsoft has released updates to address these vulnerabilities.

Impact

These vulnerabilities could allow remote code execution or information disclosure.

Solution

Apply Updates

Microsoft has provided updates for these vulnerabilities in the Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for October 2013, which describes any known issues related to the updates. Administrators are encouraged to note these issues and test for any potentially adverse effects. In addition, administrators should consider using an automated update distribution system such as Windows Server Update Services (WSUS). Home users are encouraged to enable automatic updates.
 

References

• Microsoft Security Bulletin Summary for October 2013
• Microsoft Windows Server Update Services
• Turn Automatic Updating On or Off

Windows Phone - An Unclear Future

It was fun while it lasted Microsoft.

As a dedicated reader of this fine blog you have probably accused me from to time of being a "Microsoft Fan Boy". Although these statements and accusations are unfounded I understand some of the reasons for the remarks. However it should be understood that as a Chief Information Officer (CIO) one of your primary responsibilities is placing your organization's staff in the best position possible for getting work done.

For many years in our organization Blackberry (RIM) was our mobile device of choice. If you were assigned a smartphone, you were issued a Blackberry. No questions asked. However as early as 2010 Blackberry's mobile empire began crumbling and soon Android and Apple were controlling the market share. Organizations everywhere, with government agencies not far behind were moving to other mobile platforms in droves. Today 90% of the mobile market is controlled by Android and Apple with Microsoft in 3rd place and Blackberry struggling to merely survive. This situation has created some challenges for information technology professionals. Android devices have countless different models with various variants of Android operating systems (versions) while Apple devices can be restrictive in what organizations want to do. With Blackberry's demise Microsoft has made a strong effort to step in and grab the "enterprise" share of the mobile market. As has been typical of Microsoft their decision to get in the mobile game was probably 3-4 years later then it should have been and it has been a struggle to find success.

As a result of all of this technology staffs everywhere have had to purchase, issue and support many types of devices and operating systems just so their employees could receive and send email, work on documents and have access to applications on the go. Then when you consider BYOD (bring your own device) issues the challenges are substantial and time consuming for technology staffs everywhere. These are some of the reasons that finding one mobile solution that can be issued throughout an organization is so appealing to technology services.

With all of this in mind I switched to a Windows Phone in October 2012 and I have been using a Windows Phone (Lumia 928) since. There have been good times and bad times with this phone.

The Highlights of the Windows Phone experience include:

• Microsoft Office interrogation.
• Skydrive interrogation.
• Excellent cross application social-media interrogation.
• The most unique customizable smartphone available today with adjustable live tiles replacing the decade old use of icons.

Areas where improvement is needed:

• Apps. It is clear that consumers and enterprise users now expect apps available for almost everything on their mobile devices. Microsoft is seriously behind in this area and needs to improve here if double digit market share is ever to be achieved.
• More devices on more carriers. For example Verizon Wireless seems to be lagging behind ATT with Microsoft phones. An example of this is the excellent Lumia 1020 which sports an amazing 41mega pixel camera which is very attractive. However Verizon months later is no closer to having a similar model available.

Microsoft is now going through major leadership changes and the road is a little unclear in respect to their smartphone platform. However the good news for Microsoft is that the Windows Phone platform is actually very good. Microsoft however needs a solid direction and if improvements are quickly made in the areas I suggest I believe good times are ahead. However this will take a little time and I decided to take a pause when it comes to requiring Microsoft Phones in our workplace for the near future while I monitor the situation. I hope that Microsoft moves quickly because I will miss much about my Windows Phone and I still recommend it if the person is right for the phone.

I hope to be using a new improved Windows Phone soon and finding one smartphone to control them all in the workplace soon. But for now I needed to make a switch and what would that be?

Stay tuned.

CryptoLocker Warning

Ransomware has adapted over the years, becoming more difficult to protect against.

One of the newest and most successful pieces of ransomware can be found in CryptoLocker, which uses a public key to encrypt a variety of file types such as images, documents and spreadsheets. The malware searches for files to encrypt on all drives and in all folders it can access from the compromised computer, including workgroup files shared by colleagues and resources on company servers.

Screenshot of CryptoLocker. If you see this - it's too late!

CryptoLocker installs itself in the Documents and Settings folder, using a randomly-generated name, and adds itself to the list of programs in your registry that Windows loads automatically when the user logs on. It then produces a lengthy list of random-looking server names in the domains .biz, .co.uk, .com, .info, .net, .org and .ru – and then tries to make a web connection to each of these server names in turn, trying one each second until it finds one that responds. Once it has found a server that it can reach, the server generates a unique public-private key pair and sends the public key part back to the computer.

Public-Key Cryptography uses two different keys: a public key that locks files, and a private key that unlocks them,” The user can share their public key widely so that anyone can encrypt your files, but only you (or someone to whom you have given a copy of your private key) can decrypt them.

The malware offers to trade money for the private key to unlock the encrypted files. “It pops up a pay page, giving you a limited time, typically 100 hours, to buy back the private key for your data, typically for $300.  Then a warning comes that the server will destroy the key after a time specified, meaning that the files will never be able to be recovered.

Sadly once the public key has been scrambled, only the private key can unscramble it. In other words, unlike other ransomware, there is no known fix.

Worse, the infection vectors make it difficult for consumers to avoid. CryptoLocker arrives via email attachments and botnet – the former is easy to avoid by being wary of unsolicited attachments. Botnets though are a different story.

Most bots, or zombies, once active on your computer, include a general purpose ‘upgrade’ command that allows the crooks to update, replace, or add to the malware already on your PC.

These days it is becoming harder then ever before to avoid destructive software like CryptoLocker.

As I have been advising for years now, never ever open attachments in your email unless you are 100% sure of where and who it came from.  Never go to questionable websites. And finally install well known anti-virus software on your computer and keep it up to date.

What is a TROJAN and Where Did It Come From?

The term Trojan refers to the wooden horse used by the Greeks to sneak inside the city of Troy and capture it. The classic definition of a Trojan is a program that poses as legitimate software but when launched will do something harmful. Trojans can't spread by themselves, which is what distinguishes them from viruses and worms.

Today, Trojans are typically installed secretly and deliver their malicious payload without your knowledge. Much of today’s crimeware is comprised of different types of Trojans, all of which are purpose-built to carry out a specific malicious function. The most common are Backdoor Trojans (often they include a keylogger), Trojan Spies, password stealing Trojans and Trojan Proxies that convert your computer into a spam distribution machine.

Improving Apple's Battery Life

With your recent update to iOS7 on your iPhone or iPad you probably have seen a degrade in the performance of your battery. Well the good news is that it is not just you - but almost everyone who took the time to perform the update. There are a couple of adjustments you can make if you want to improve the batter life of your Apple device.

Background App Refresh
The battery-draining culprit that perhaps bears the most responsibility is a new feature called Background App Refresh, whose default is set to "on" in iOS 7. It lets apps run in the background while you multitask and continually refreshes content when running on Wi-Fi or a cellular network. To disable this feature, visit Settings > General > Background App Refresh. Here, you can turn off the entire function or just disable that apps you don't need to refresh on an automatic basis.

Location Tracking Apps
Many apps — from Google Maps to Twitter and even the iOS camera — are tracking your location at all times. You can turn off Location Services completely (Settings > Privacy > Location Services) or disable certain apps one by one. We recommend the latter option, so you can still leave on key location-based functions such as Find My Phone if it's ever lost.

There's more, too. Selecting the System Services option under Location Services will reveal a collection of other app features that are stealing away battery life, including "Popular Near Me" and "Frequent Locations."

Parallax - No Not the Star Trek: Voyager episode!
Apple has added a bunch of new animations and a parallax feature — which makes it seem like the wallpaper can move behind the apps — but they eat away at your power slightly faster. Some people have complained the movements are dizzying anyway, so there's no harm in turning it off. To do so, visit Settings > General > Accessibility and click Reduce Motion to "on."

If you are curious about the Star Trek: Voyager episode, "Parallax" you can learn more here.



In "Parallax" while investigating an apparent distress call, Voyager becomes trapped inside the event horizon of a quantum singularity.



Automatic Updating
iOS 7 lets you automatically download new app updates whenever they're ready without visiting the App Store to do it yourself. It's a smart function, but the last thing you want to do is run app updates when your battery is down to fumes. To disable this, visit Settings > iTunes and Apple Store and uncheck the Updates option.

Turn Off Air Drop
AirDrop lets you share files with other users on the same network, but when you're not using it (or Bluetooth, for that matter), do your battery a favor and shut it off. Slide open the Control Center and switch it off there.

Turn Down the Brightness
This has long been a helpful way to save battery life on any device and iOS 7 is no exception. Use the Control Center or visit Settings > Wallpapers & Brightness and disable Auto-Brightness and decrease the setting manually.

If you have any more suggestions for saving battery life on your mobile device please send them to me.

A Personal Loss

This morning ended perhaps the worst week of my life. As I wrote in the previous post I lost my little brother, Ian (35 years old) when his motorcycle was struck by a drunk driver Friday evening, October 4. My life was indivertibly changed that terrible night. This past week has been a flurry of anguished activity for me and my family. The tech blog went dark that night and I hope to get back to some sort of normalcy next week, in my life, at work and with this technology blog.



My brother Ian will always be in my heart.
 

The outpouring of support from my work mates, old & new friends was overwhelming. I truly appreciate all those who reached out to help or simply talk. Anyone you knew Ian either directly or through me is fully aware of the tragic loss to anyone in his circle. I was especially effected by those people who never had the opportunity to meet my brother but said that they knew how much I loved him because of the things I have said to them about Ian over the years. It was comforting to realize that my friends and work mates could actually see my love for Ian reflected in my conversations, without me ever realizing it or intending it.

A couple of years back Ian and I visited the Football Hall of Fame in Canton Ohio.

Many things will never ever be the same for me, like watching football on Sundays, taking road trips with my brother or talking to Ian about politics and music or simply enjoying a pint or 2 together.

You can't see Ian in this picture, but you can see the "Vulcan Pale Ale" he brewed for me. He made an entire case of this for me and I still (thank goodness) have some left which I will save for a very special moment.

 





Technology has always given me a sense of calm and peace, so I look forward to getting back on the horse again in the next couple of days. Until then I will continue reflecting on my brother's memory and try to get used to the idea of moving on without him during the days, weeks, months and years to come.


I look forward to exploring the world of technology with all of you next week.

Special Annoucement

I lost my little brother, Ian this weekend in a tragic motor vehicle accident. The blog will be dark for a week or two and will return when I can re-focus.

My brother, Ian and our dad last summer visiting the Yuengling Brewing Company.

iGoogle - 30 Day Notice!

This morning I was presented with the message from iGoogle that their "start page" service was being shut down in 31 days. This had been announced about a year ago but I had forgotten all about it. Finding a good internet "start page" is actually not that easy. Sure there is MSN and Yahoo! but I have never really been that happy with either of those webpages.



Oh No! iGoogle Please Don't Go!

Here I am asking you, my readers for ideas and suggestions regarding the internet "start pages" you use. Please respond in the comments area with your suggestions. I am starting to panic now that iGoogle will no longer be available in a month. 

Internet Security Tips

Internet Security Tips:

We all know that the internet is not a safe place anymore. Personal internet security should be taken seriously because your personal details, emails, messages and financial information can be exposed if the information ends up in the wrong place.

A regular thread of this technology blog is trying to regularly remind our readers to take computer technology seriously. So with this is mind here are some ideas to follow:

1) Install an Antivirus with Internet Security Protection

It’s a wise decision to install an antivirus which provides internet security features. It’s the first option to do if you do not have one installed on your PC.

2) Setup Two Factor Authentication

Protecting our social media and email accounts online should bee our first priority. Most of these sites offer two factor authentication now. So it’s a good idea to switch for this new security feature. After activating this new feature, you can login only after entering the code sent to your email or Mobile. So it’s far more safe than the normal login process.

I will post an article shortly on two factor authentication.

3) Use unique, lengthy and mixed and different passwords

Always use unique, lengthy passwords mixed with upper and lower case letters, numbers, symbols etc. and also use different password for different sites.

4) Use alternate email id for Password recovery

Some times you may forget your password and go for the “Forgot my Password” option to reset your password. The link to reset password is sent your primary email of the account. Imagine that a hacker already hacked your primary email account and he used the “forgot my password” to generate a reset password link to get hold of your facebook or twitter account. It is far better to setup and use an alternate email as your password recovery email address.

5) Never click on suspicious or spam links

Never - ever click on suspicious email messages or "spam links". Very simply - only respond to email messages or click on "links" if you are 100% certain that the message or link is legitimate.