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Posts published in “Hardware”

When the Police Can Brick Your Phone

By Christine Hall on August 16, 2014 |

Hardware, Mobile and Security

“Tyranny. Pure and simple. If it is software, somebody will find a way to hack it. If it is hardware, ‘old’ smartphones will be worth their weight in platinum.”

My friend Ross from Toronto made this comment with a link he posted on Facebook to The Free Thought Project’s article on a new about-to-be law in California. The law mandates a kill switch on all new smartphones, allowing the owner of a stolen phone to disable it until it’s recovered. The bill, CA SB 962, now only needs the expected signature of governor Jerry Brown to become law. In July, a similar law went into effect in Minnesota.

Organized using smartphones.
Photo by Jonas Naimark – Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 3.0
On the surface, a law with the purpose of protecting expensive smartphones from theft might seem to be a no-brainer good thing. Just render the device inoperable, while activating a homing program to locate it. Presto! In no time at all the phone is back in the hands of its rightful owner and made operable again. Supporters also hope the kill switch becomes a deterrent that greatly reduces the number of phone thefts.

Continue readingWhen the Police Can Brick Your Phone
USB Ports Are No Longer Your Friend (If They Ever Were)USB exploit

USB Ports Are No Longer Your Friend (If They Ever Were)

By Christine Hall on August 9, 2014 |

Hardware, News and Security

Just because the good guys have discovered a new security risk doesn’t mean the bad guys haven’t known about it forever. The risk is only new to us. It’s actually been there for a long time, maybe forever. Who knows how long everyone from the black hats in Moscow to the NSA in bucolic Maryland have been taking advantage of what appears to us to be a “new” exploit?

The USB security hole recently unveiled by Berlin based Security Research Labs (SRL) seems to be of those that’s been around “forever.”

USB exploit infecting Linux
A slide used by Security Research Labs at the Black Hat USA security conference explaining how a USB device can be infected by a Windows computer in order to gain root access on Linux.
(click to enlarge)
While it shouldn’t be news to anybody that caution should be exercised when using USB devices, the new exploit would seem to indicate that even the most draconian security measures, short of doing away with USB devices entirely, might not be enough. The recently revealed problem has to do with the USB controller chip found in most, if not all, USB devices. The chip basically identifies the device type to the computer.

The trouble is, most of these chips are relatively easy to reprogram.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingUSB Ports Are No Longer Your Friend (If They Ever Were)
ATMs Might Go Linux, MS DOS Source Released & More…Brendan Eich Mozilla CEO

ATMs Might Go Linux, MS DOS Source Released & More…

By FOSS Force on March 28, 2014 |

Browsers, Business, Copyright, Hardware, Internet, News, Operating Systems, Politics and Web Apps

FOSS Week in Review

Is Microsoft reading your Hotmail?

Last week we learned of the arrest of Alex Kibkalo, a Microsoft employee who’s charged with leaking an unreleased version of Windows 8 to a French blogger. According to Wired, during the course of an internal investigation in Redmond, an unidentified source approached Steven Sinofsky, who was then president of Microsoft’s Windows Division.

“The source gave Sinofsky a Hotmail address that belonged to the French blogger (also not named) and said that the blogger was the person who had received the leaked software. Microsoft had already been interested in the blogger, but apparently, after the tip-off, the company’s security team did something that raised alarm bells with privacy advocates. Instead of taking their evidence to law enforcement, they decided to search through the blogger’s private messages themselves. Four days after Sinofsky’s tip-off, Microsoft lawyers ‘approved content pulls of the blogger’s Hotmail account,’ the court filings state.

“By trolling through the Hotmail email messages and MSN Messenger instant message logs, Microsoft learnt how Kibkalo and the blogger pulled off the leak, says Federal Bureau of Investigation special agent Armando Ramirez III, in an affidavit filed in connection with the case. Microsoft handed over the results of its investigation to the FBI in 2013, and Kibkalo was arrested on Wednesday.”

This, of course, created quite a stir among privacy advocates. So much so that the folks in Redmond on Thrusday announced a change of policy when it comes to riffling through people’s Hotmail accounts. They’re still going to do it, but in the future the company will publish stats regarding its breaking into people’s free Hotmail accounts. In other words, we’ll know just how much they do it.

Continue readingATMs Might Go Linux, MS DOS Source Released & More…

Poll: You Mainly Use Desktops & Laptops

By Christine Hall on March 27, 2014 |

Hardware and Polls

Desktop wins pollIt’s hard to remember that it wasn’t that long ago that we only had a couple of choices to meet our computing needs. As recently as 2007, the year before Obama was elected, someone looking for a new computer basically could choose between a desktop or a laptop. In mobile, Research In Motion offered the Blackberry, which candidate Obama was famous for using — and still uses.

2007 was the year things began to change. In June of that year, Apple introduced the iPhone and in October Asus released the Eee PC, the first netbook of the modern era. When in October of the following year HTC released the Dream, the first handset running Android, it became obvious that consumer computing space had been forever changed. Less than two years later Apple released the iPad which was quickly followed by tablets running Android.

The introduction of the modern generation of tablets, which were highly capable and easy to use, had an immediate effect on sales of traditional desktops and laptops, leading some tech writers to proclaim that the age of the desktop was over and that desktop computers were on their way out. This wasn’t true, of course. We were just experiencing what the Wall Street types call a “market correction.”

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingPoll: You Mainly Use Desktops & Laptops

What Kinds of Computers Do You Use?

By Christine Hall on March 6, 2014 |

Hardware and Polls

Not so long ago all of us pretty much did our computing either on a desktop or a laptop. Those were pretty much our only choices, unless servers are included and they’re pretty much desktops without…well, a desktop.

These days we have all sorts of computing devices available to us, with more options being added daily, or so it seems. Although many media outlets evidently want us to believe that the traditional computer is on the way out, I don’t think that’s what’s happening. As The Motley Fool would say, were only seeing a market correction.

[yop_poll id=”35″]

With the advent of the Internet, many people began using computers not because they liked computers but because they wanted to use the Internet. We used to read about these people often, folks who only used computers to surf, check email and occasionally do a little word processing. This group of users was quite large and until a few years ago was probably the majority of home computer users. Nowadays, however, mobile offers this group an easy option, resulting in desktops and laptops being abandoned in favor of more user friendly mobile devices.

We thought it might be time to run a poll to see what the people who visit FOSS Force own and use in their homes. Because our readers are overwhelming FOSS supporters, we figure we might see a little different mix than what we’d see from a more mainstream site.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingWhat Kinds of Computers Do You Use?
Recommending Linux to a FriendLinux

Recommending Linux to a Friend

By Ken Starks on February 21, 2014 |

Distros and Hardware

It was the summer of 2008 and it was hot. Big surprise for Texas, right? I stepped in from the back porch and snagged a towel from the rack. As I wiped away the sweat, the phone rang and I hustled in to answer it.

A man on the other end of the line introduced himself and told me that he had gotten my number from a mutual friend. He asked if I was “the guy that does Linux.” I assured him that I was only one of millions and we both laughed. Getting down to business, he told me that our friend had recommended Linux for his real estate business computers. I gave him my consultation fee and told him I was free the next day if that was good for him. It was.

LinuxUpon arrival, I met the gentleman who had called, as well as his business partner. The plan had changed since we talked the day before. What they wanted was one computer test machine, dual booted with Linux. They would use that computer, rotating their employees weekly to gather their responses and opinions.

Ken Starks

Ken Starks is the founder of the Helios Project and Reglue, which for 20 years provided refurbished older computers running Linux to disadvantaged school kids, as well as providing digital help for senior citizens, in the Austin, Texas area. He was a columnist for FOSS Force from 2013-2016, and remains part of our family. Follow him on Twitter: @Reglue

linuxlock.blogspot.com/
Continue readingRecommending Linux to a Friend
Torvald’s Thumbs Up, Gates’ Computer Skills & More…Wozniak

Torvald’s Thumbs Up, Gates’ Computer Skills & More…

By FOSS Force on February 8, 2014 |

Hardware, Internet, Mobile, News, Politics and Security

FOSS Week in Review

Canadians spy at airports

The more we see of the Snowden revelations the more we wonder, when did the English speaking world become a police state?

The latest news was reported January 30th by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), from which we learned that all the electronics eavesdropping hasn’t been being conducted solely by the U.S. and the Brits. The Canadians have had their hand in it too.

It seems that Communications Security Establishment Canada (CSEC), a Canadian spy agency, has been using the free Wi-Fi at “a major Canadian airport” to track wireless devices, which presumably would include laptops as well as phones and tablets. The surveillance would continue for days after visitors passed through the airport.

Continue readingTorvald’s Thumbs Up, Gates’ Computer Skills & More…
Google Passes Motorola to LenovoMotorola Quasar TV ad

Google Passes Motorola to Lenovo

By Christine Hall on January 29, 2014 |

Business, Hardware, Mobile and News

Today it was announced that Google is selling handset maker Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $2.91 billion. The move comes less than a week after the Chinese electronics company also agreed to acquire IBM’s low-end server business for $2.3 billion. Google purchased Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion in 2012.

Although the move is not necessarily a surprise, it is somewhat unexpected.

When Google purchased the consumer electronics end of Motorola, media pundits were quick to point out that the search company was primarily interested in attaining Motorola’s valuable patent portfolio. At the time, Google’s patent holdings were somewhere between slim to none and they desperately needed patents to defend themselves against legal actions, as Android had become a magnet for attracting patent trolls. Since then, Google has been actively adding patents to their portfolio.

Christine Hall

Christine Hall has been a journalist since 1971. In 2001, she began writing a weekly consumer computer column and started covering Linux and FOSS in 2002 after making the switch to GNU/Linux. Follow her on Twitter: @BrideOfLinux

FOSSForce.com
Continue readingGoogle Passes Motorola to Lenovo

Chrome Eavesdropping, Balkanized Internet & More…

By FOSS Force on January 25, 2014 |

Browsers, Business, Hardware, Internet, News, Politics and Security

FOSS Week in Review

Sixteen-year-old wrote the code for Target breach

TargetMiamiThe press calls him a “nearly seventeen-year-old” and he’s reported to be one of the people behind the malware used to compromise credit card data at Target and other locations. By our way of counting, “nearly seventeen” means he is sixteen or, like the show tune says, “sixteen going on seventeen.” He lives in Russia and is said to be the author of the BlackPOS malware that was used against Target and might have been used against Neiman Marcus.

This info comes from Los Angeles based cyber-intelligence firm IntelCrawler, which says it’s also traced six additional breaches to BlackPOS. As noted on MarketWatch, despite authoring the malware, the kid is just a small fry in this affair.

Continue readingChrome Eavesdropping, Balkanized Internet & More…
Mars Kids Explore Their Potential With KanoAssembled KANO

Mars Kids Explore Their Potential With Kano

By Ken Starks on January 21, 2014 |

Hardware and Software

I call them Mars kids.

They are the children who will grow up to see the first human step foot on Mars. While the majority of them will watch the epic event of a human presence on Mars, some of them will have another role. They will be the ones that made it possible.

Working as the front man for Reglue, I have the opportunity to watch school kids learn, as opposed to merely seeing the grades they accomplish by learning. I am able to watch the learning process itself. Some of it anyway.

In the summer of 2009, our organization began a summer program called Camp HeliOS. We held a three day camp in which kids took a computer apart and then put it back together again. We made sure that every kid was equally invested in the project.

Ken Starks

Ken Starks is the founder of the Helios Project and Reglue, which for 20 years provided refurbished older computers running Linux to disadvantaged school kids, as well as providing digital help for senior citizens, in the Austin, Texas area. He was a columnist for FOSS Force from 2013-2016, and remains part of our family. Follow him on Twitter: @Reglue

linuxlock.blogspot.com/
Continue readingMars Kids Explore Their Potential With Kano