Cloud: Dropbox Adds Security Features After Accounts Hacked

Source:  MacdailyNews, Techcrunch.

One of the things I find interesting about cloud security and companies that ask us to entrust them with our data is that they only act after something bad has happened.  As in this case with Dropbox where a number of accounts were hijacked.  And only after they were hijacked did they institute some additional security features.

My question is where were these security features before the hacking and why only after?  Why not before?  My Google accounts has double authentications and while it's a pain, I feel better about having it.  

I think it doesn't matter if you're an Apple, Google, Microsoft, or RIM fan.  Or if you're another cloud customer.  Wouldn't it be better to have more security than not?

In the case of dropbox, it appears that one of their employee account was hacked and then that's where the problem started.

So, this is what Dropbox will be doing:

• Two-factor authentication, a way to optionally require two proofs of identity (such as your password and a temporary code sent to your phone) when signing in. (Coming in a few weeks)
• New automated mechanisms to help identify suspicious activity. We’ll continue to add more of these over time.
• A new page that lets you examine all active logins to your account.
• In some cases, we may require you to change your password. (For example, if it’s commonly used or hasn’t been changed in a long time)

More info on their website.  

Let's hope more companies follow Google's example.  I'm an iCloud user, Amazon, and of a dozen or more other online/cloud user.  I sure would like additional security for my accounts.  What happened to Dropbox is only the beginning.  Frankly, I'm not surprised this has not happened even more.  

Last year, we had companies with breaches with a number of credit cards.  Millions.  Be it a stolen laptop, employee password stolen from a third party site, or a server that was not properly protected, hackers will find a way in.  

So, hopefully, others will follow Dropbox's example and not have to put its users needlessly through pain.  

Social: Twitter Succeeded In Being More Hated Than NBC This Week

For international mobile warriors, NBC is the broadcasting company in the US responsible for showing Olympics events here.  And because the way they show them (delayed) and idiotic talking heads, we don't have any particular love for them and we express them on Twitter, Facebook, and blogs.


But Twitter has managed to supplant NBC as the most hated social entity at this moment - it basically took a bullet for its NBC partner in the Olympics by censoring one of its users who happened to be an Independent journal, Guy Adams.


What did guy do?  Nothing but express his opinion.  It wasn't vulgar.  It wasn't a threat either.  Others like Spike Lee, Shaq, and the various yahoos on reality shows has done worse.  Basically, all he said was "The man responsible for NBC pretending the Olympics haven't started yet is Gary Zenkel".


Nothing too bad, right?  Well, Mr. Adams included Gary's public e-mail.  By public, I mean anyone with half a brain could find it if they just google it. Adams simply saved us the trouble.


And for that Twitter suspended his account.  And there you have it.  Well, I'm gonna go ahead and tweet the NBC douche's e-mail and you should too.  It's: Gary.zenkel@nbcuni.com.


Anyway, Twitter gave Adams back  his account.  This is Twitter's statement on the matter:  



That said, we want to apologize for the part of this story that we did mess up. The team working closely with NBC around our Olympics partnership did proactively identify a Tweet that was in violation of the Twitter Rules and encouraged them to file a support ticket with our Trust and Safety team to report the violation, as has now been reported publicly. [..]
As I stated earlier, we do not proactively report or remove content on behalf of other users no matter who they are. This behavior is not acceptable and undermines the trust our users have in us. We should not and cannot be in the business of proactively monitoring and flagging content, no matter who the user is — whether a business partner, celebrity or friend. (via Gigaom)

Remember When They Used To Deliver Mail (For Free)?

I wrote yesterday about the US Post Office.  It was not a rant so much as an incredulous look at the inefficiency of one incident.  And now, we have this:  the USPS will require an act of Congress to avoid defaulting on some financial oblications.

How much?  This much:  more than $5.5 billion.

Delivery should not be affected.  Still, you can’t but help feel that the postal service that we have been used to will have to be changed forever.  I fear that it could be so bad that one day, we’d be telling our kids about how “these guys would go house to house delivering mail and packages”.

Mail service could still happen but they many not be free.  Would you pay for delivery if the USPS starts charging?  Heck, the wireless companies charges both the caller and the receiver based on minutes, so why would the USPS consider double-dipping, especially if it is trying to save itself.

Cord-Cutting: Hulu Plus Makes Pointless Appearance On Apple TV

Source:  Macworld.

Yeah (unenthusiastic).  This morning, reports are popping up all over the pace that Hulu Plus is finally on Apple TV.  Hey, that’s great.  Except the only way to access it is if you pay for shows you can watch for free on the Hulu website.

And then even if you decide to fork over $8 a month (that’s about three venti coffee at Starbucks there right), there’s no promise that the show you wanna watch will be available on Apple TV due to licensing terms.  Some shows are "web only".

I would not even call the addition of Hulu Plus under such conditions a step forward in cord-cutting.  Let’s see what happens this fall when Apple unveils its Christmas products and hope there will be some changes or additional options to accessing videos in iTunes like renting TV series that you can already do with movies.

For now, I’ll stick with my Macbook connecting via HDMI to the HDTV.  More about this uneventful event at Hulu blog.

Brands Flocking To Google+ Because of Search

Here's an interesting Forbes post about why brands are going to Google+ despite its users being less active than on competing networks like Facebook.

It's all about search results. This kinda proves my point further about networklets having a greater impact for users and companies than all purpose networks like Facebook.

Once Google figures out a strong mobile strategy, that will be when it overtakes Facebook with respects to monetizing Google+.


- Posted using BlogPress

Speculation: If the iPad mini and the iPod touch Both Cost $200, Which Will You Get?

iPod touch Versus iPad mini – If Both Comes In At $200, What Will You Get?

I love speculating and I hope you like it too because this particular one rocks.  If Apple refreshes the iPod touch like we expect, since they didn’t do it last year, and keep it at $199, and they also released the unicornesque iPad mini and price it at $199 to compete with the Fire and Nexus 7, as an Apple fan, what will you buy?

On face value, one might simply consider the iPad mini with its 7 or 8” screen to be a better value.  On face value, I’d have to agree with you.  But I’m not sure it’ll be so simple and Apple will make the choice a difficult to make.

iPod touch.  To call the iPod touch a phoneless iPhone is really disrespecting what the iPhone represents as a mobile platform that upended the mobile market and really put a lot of innovative juice into a number of markets that had grown stagnant.  The touch was released in the same year as the original iPhone in 2007 but much later.

I went out and instantly bought one and gave my iPhone to my mom.  I thought the iPhone would be a decent replacement for the iPhone.  It wasn't.  And when the current touch gained the cameras in the 4th gen touch, I was happy but disappointed that the rear camer was pretty lame.

However, as a mobile device perfect for gaming and entertainment, it was a perfect device and there has been zero competition.  And folks justified the rear-camera only being having 1MP because the kids who will be buying it don't need anything more sophisticated than that.  Bull.  Apple had its reasons and I'll leave it at that.

I'm hoping the next touch will gain at least the A5 chip that powered the iPhone 4S but with a smaller package so the CPU would be more efficient and fast with generating too much heat and requiring a lot of power.  That's likely to happen.

The screen should mirror anything the next iPhone should have.  When the iPhone 4 shipped with Retina Display, so did the touch.  There's talk that the iPhone screen will be bigger.  If that is the case, the touch will gain the same aspect screen as well.

The next main feature is the rear camera.  It's very possible that Apple could upgrade the camera this time around.  Frankly, I'm surprised last year's touch did not get an upgrade.  It made very little sense.  Even a slight improvement to 3MP or all the way up to 5MP would make sense since the iPhone 4S got an 8MP upgrade.  I'm going to believe the 2012 touch will definitely come a camera upgrade.  After two years of no change, it would be nice to see a 5MP camera.  Whatever the upgrade will be, we should see the see 1080p video recording come to the touch this year.

Also, the white touch last year, was a nice touch.  Could we see a new color?  Don't put it past Apple to introduce a new color or two.

iPad mini. Keep in mind that there is no iPad mini or iPod 7 or 8.  Steve Jobs was not in favor of this.  But then again, Steve Jobs and Apple has a history of saying one thing and doing another.  So, let's assume there is a smaller iPad coming.  What can we expect Apple to release?

The screen is likely going to sport a 1024x768 resolution, the same as the original iPad and the iPad 2.  We're not likely going to see a Retina display resolution of 2048x1536 found in the new iPad.  It'll be expensive.

We'll probably see the same A5 chip found in the iPhone 4S and the iPad 2.

The mini will be light and thin.

We'll have a Facetime camera.  For the rear-camera, it'll be hard to know for sure.  Just like Apple will keep the resolution at 1024x768, which is not that bad at all, Apple could try to keep the cost down so don't expect a great camera.  It would be nice to have a 5MP camera.  My mom recently took her new iPad to Japan and it was her "camcorder".

I reckon it looked awkward shooting pics with a 10" tablet but it should look less conspicuous with a smaller form tablet.

I guess the picture I'm painting you is the mini will be a smaller iPad 2.  And it could be enough for Apple to keep the cost low enough to compete with the Nexus 7 and Kindle Fire priced at $200 each.  Neither the Nexus or the Fire have rear cameras.  The Fire has no camera at all (when I searched to confirm about the Fire lacking camera, there were many users who asked how to operate the camera.  I feel bad for them.  And I wonder how many Nexus users will realize there is no rear camera).

Cost.  By now, Apple knows just how much they will charge for the 2012 touch and the iPad mini.  I think they're gonna try to keep it around the $200 price point to keep the competition at bay.  This is why I don't think we should expect too much in terms of hardware specs.

There has been a lot of debate about this and whether Apple will go for margin or will not "leave a price umbrella for competitors".  I'm gonna go with the latter.

And with two key products, the touch and mini both at $200, it'll be hard for some folks to decide.  With the touch, we get a newer screen along with a potentially better camera.  And you can put the touch inside your pockets.

On the other hand, the iPad is already very portable and, with the mini, you have an even more portable device.  The Galaxy Tab 7 weighs in at 345 grams or 12.2 oz, the 7.7 version weighs 340 grams or 12 oz.  Those are two sizes that the mini will closely resembles.  Compared to the iPad, the mini could weigh about 50% less.

The mini will be vastly more portable but not by no means will it fit inside anyone's pockets.  If you're lying down and you doze off, the mini will still hurt your face when you drop it on yourself.

Outside of portability, there is also productivity.  When it comes to productivity, I would have said the mini would be more productive before iOS 6. With both devices sporting iOS 6, Siri and dictation could have a huge difference in equalizing how productive an user can be on either devices.

It's something that you have to get used to. However, once you start using dictation on a regular basis, you don't really want to go back to anything else.  In fact, much of this post was done via dictation.  It has saved me a lot of time, allow me to think, and visualize ahead of time what I want to convey.

Over all, the mini with its larger screen would be ideal.

So what portability, the touch has an advantage. However when it comes to productivity, the mini has the edge.

And the touch will have a Retina Display while the mini will have a pretty good screen but it won't be Retina at all.

So, what will it be for you?  I'm leaning towards the mini at the moment.  Who knows?  Maybe Apple will blow us away with a new innovative iPod touch.  Anyway, this is all just fun speculation now.  We'll know this fall exactly what Apple mean to grace us with.

Hobbit Movie: And Then There Were Three...

Great news, hobbitses, orc, elves, and men.

Mr. Peter Jackson gave us some really great news.  Instead of two Hobbit movies, he worked out a deal with the studios to produce three movies.  Now, fantastic news and all.  But really, did the studios really need a whole lot of arm twisting to make more money than they could have with just two movies?

Say each movie makes a billion dollars on the backs of the popularity of the three Lord of the Rings movies (the only fantasy movies I have ever seen), that means instead of two billion worth of pie, there will be three billion dollars.

Movie-making theatrics and politics aside, I am really looking forward to the series on big screen but at the same time, we will end up paying for more to watch them.  But hey, we ask for it, and we got what we want.

Imagine the two originally planned movies as DVD releases.  And you know some time later, the studios will released special versions of the movies with deleted scenes.  Well, it's like that except we'll get to watch the extended versions and bypass the DVD releases.

This video below is the first of about eight video blogs published so far on and definitely worth taking the time (even if you have to do it at work) to watch them.  It'll be a longer wait for a few months longer - December 14th, 2012 is the first movie release.

When news surfaced that Peter Jackson was talking to the studios about making three movies instead of two, there was no question in my mind about this.  What I wanted to know next is after the three Hobbit movies are done and over with, what's next in for Middle Earth?

There is surly plenty of materials in the world created by J.R.R. Tolkien for sequels as well as prequels.  The closest thing that comes close to this in modern day is the Star Wars series.  We all know how the prequels were received by the general public and by the more vocal fans.

I'm sure Peter Jackson will be most faithful to the vision created by Tolkien as far as the Hobbit movies are concerned because he made the Lord of the Rings movies.  Beyond that?  Whoever will take over next is going to have a tall order following Jackson's footsteps.

And then after that, can you imagine that talks of remakes?  The Fellowship of the Ring was released back in 2001.  By the time the three Hobbits movies are done in the theaters in 2014, it will have been thirteen years.

Whatever happens, I'd say bring it on.  I'll start saving up.  It's like the title for the Hobbit book says, "There And Back Again..."

Note:  According to CNN, the three movie release dates will be as follows:  the first movie titled "An Unexpected Journey" will be released this December 14th.  The second movie will be released on December 13th, 2013 and the final movie will be released during the summer of 2014.