Google recently deleted AdBlock Plus from its Android Play Store. This is supposedly due to the possibility of its ”interference with another service or product in an unauthorized manner„, but as AdBlock developer Wladimir Palant pointed out:

This looks like a course change at Google, until recently the main distinction between Android and iPhone was that Android allowed you to install any app as long as it wasn’t malicious (meaning that it’s obvious what the app does). Google Play still allows apps stating ”for rooted phones only„ but I wonder whether these are next on the list to be removed - each of them performs ”unauthorized actions„.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) blasted the move:

Google established a reputation for building tools that put the interests of their users first. This new form of censorship is the exact opposite. It is not only a betrayal of the principle of openness, but a betrayal of the trust that people put in Google when they decide to buy an Android phone.

Are they only going to censor ad blockers?

Ad blockers are not only useful and extremely popular, but also currently the only way that Internet users can effectively protect themselves against non-consensual third party tracking.

Will they next block other privacy enhancing apps such as those that prevent Skype from tracking your location or Foursquare from grabbing the contents of your address book?

The EFF conclude:

For developers on the Android and other Google teams who are reading this, we urge you to rethink this terrible decision. Stand up for users. Don't let Android take the dark path. Don't be evil.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 11:22 AM | Comments ( 1 )

You're probably already familiar with the standard Facebook emoticons you can use in chat sessions. Here are some of the most useful, along with the key strokes to create them ...

Smile		:-)
Frown		:-(
Tongue		:-P
Grin		:-D
Gasp		:-O
Wink		;-)
Glasses		8-)
Sunglasses		8-|
Grumpy		>:(
Unsure		:-/
Cry		:'(
Devil		3:)
Angel		O:)
Kiss		:-*
Heart		<3
Happy		^_^
Squint		-_-
Confused		o.O
Upset		>:O
Pacman		:v
Moustache		:3
Robot		:|]
Shark		(^^^)
Penguin		<(")
Thumbs up		(y)

... but did you know you can use anyones profile picture as an emoticon? It's very simple, just enclose their Facebook name in two pairs of square brackets, like this: [[nzpcworld]] and you get ...



The other way to do it is to use the 12-digit profile ID which you'll see at the end of their URL, prefixed with the string "id=". Again, just enclose the number in two pairs of square brackets. So for example "...id=133603427601..." becomes  [[133603427601]] which yields ...



You'll find hundreds more of these here, including a Dislike icon: [[139407806171115]]



But why stop there? Though the format is restricted to blocks of 16x16 pixels, you can combine them like jigsaw pieces to make bigger pictures. Like this ...

[[471899176184791]][[471899179518124]][[471899166184792]][[471899169518125]][[471899172851458]]
[[471899239518118]][[471899249518117]][[471899242851451]][[471899246184784]][[471899252851450]]
[[471899319518110]][[471899316184777]][[471899322851443]][[471899326184776]][[471899329518109]]
[[471899412851434]][[471899399518102]][[471899406184768]][[471899409518101]][[471899402851435]]
[[471899489518093]][[471899486184760]][[471899479518094]][[471899482851427]][[471899492851426]]
[[471899562851419]][[471899556184753]][[471899552851420]][[471899549518087]][[471899559518086]]

... which makes ...



... or this ...

[[370434879716448]][[370434876383115]][[370434889716447]][[370434883049781]]

to create a picture of a teddy bear.



Of course, if those are a bit schmaltzy for you, there's always this one...

[[311455472226223]][[311455502226220]][[311455518892885]][[311455538892883]][[311455562226214]][[311455588892878]][[311455602226210]][[311455638892873]][[311455655559538]][[311455682226202]]
[[311455702226200]][[311455718892865]][[311455755559528]][[311455775559526]][[311455785559525]][[311455795559524]][[311455812226189]][[311455822226188]][[311455845559519]][[311455872226183]]
[[311455888892848]][[311455898892847]][[311455915559512]][[311455938892843]][[311455952226175]][[311455975559506]][[311455995559504]][[311456002226170]][[311456012226169]][[311456025559501]]
[[311456042226166]][[311456058892831]][[311456088892828]][[311456105559493]][[311456135559490]][[311456155559488]][[311456175559486]][[311456188892818]][[311456215559482]][[311456225559481]]
[[311456255559478]][[311456272226143]][[311456285559475]][[311456302226140]][[311456325559471]][[311456348892802]][[311456362226134]][[311456382226132]][[311456392226131]][[311456415559462]]
[[311456428892794]][[311456448892792]][[311456465559457]][[311456478892789]][[311456495559454]][[311456515559452]][[311456535559450]][[311456562226114]][[311456582226112]][[311456608892776]]
[[311456628892774]][[311456642226106]][[311456655559438]][[311456685559435]][[311456695559434]][[311456722226098]][[311456745559429]][[311456755559428]][[311456778892759]][[311456788892758]]
[[311456815559422]][[311456835559420]][[311456852226085]][[311456858892751]][[311456892226081]][[311456905559413]][[311456935559410]][[311456982226072]][[311457022226068]][[311457045559399]]
[[311457065559397]][[311457078892729]][[311457098892727]][[311457132226057]][[311457145559389]][[311457162226054]][[311457195559384]][[311457222226048]][[311457242226046]][[311457258892711]]
[[311457285559375]][[311457298892707]][[311457312226039]][[311457335559370]][[311457348892702]][[311457372226033]][[311457385559365]][[311457405559363]][[311457428892694]][[311457442226026]]

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 3:38 PM | Comments ( 2 )

Ever had the experience of having a bright idea, thinking, "That's brilliant, I must remember that!" then realising later on that all that's left is the memory having had a bright idea -- not what it was?

Apparently short-term memory lasts only 15-20 seconds, so unless you employ some sort of clever memory trick or make a note, you're going to lose it. That's where Google's Keep comes in. It's a simple note-taking app that synchronises notes across all your devices. The promo video's a great introduction ...




It is of course a competitor for Evernote, but with a couple of key advantages. I already have a Google account and Keep syncs with that, so that's one less account to worry about. There's no data limit either. (The free version of Evernote only allows you 60MB per month.) But above all, Keep is simple and intuitive. Yes, Evernote has a vast array of extras and add-ons -- from PDF searching to web clipping to a specialised food version -- but sometimes you just want to make a quick note, you know?

It's only been out a week, and I'm already a fan. Apart from sheer simplicity, it's second best feature in my book is being able to record your notes on the run. Keep then transcribes your words, but it also saves the original recording so you can play it back and correct any glitches.



Your notes are synchronised across all your devices and are also available on your desktop. Just visit drive.google.com/keep and you'll find them all neatly filed away.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 1:19 PM | Comments ( 1 )

locate is one of my favourite commandline tools. Simply typing

locate somefilename

will list all files in the system containing "somefilename". For example,

locate secret

lists, amongst others, these files:

/usr/share/cups/banners/secret
/usr/share/cups/banners/topsecret
/usr/share/dbus-1/services/org.freedesktop.secrets.service
/usr/share/doc/libsecret-common
/usr/share/doc/kde/HTML/en/kgpg/select-secret-key.png

If there are spaces or special characters in the file name, just place the search term in quotes:

locate "secret file"

If you get heaps of output, you can filter the results by piping the output through grep:

locate secret | grep /home

will only find files containing the word "secret" in the /home directory.


But locate needs something to work with. The database it uses is created by the updatedb command, which must typically be run by the root user;

sudo updatedb

will do it on Debian-based systems such as Ubuntu and Mint. When you first run the command it may take a minute or two to build the database, but once it's done all subsequent runs will be very quick.

Not all files on the system are indexed. It'd be silly to catalogue temporary files, for example. You can control which files are catalogues by adjusting the parameters in the updatedb/etc/updatedb.conf file.

Of course, locate is only as good the last run of updatedb. Any files subsequently deleted will still show up. To have locate dynamically check the existence of each file, just add the -e parameter;

locate -e secret

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 6:14 PM | Comments ( 0 )

AirDroid is a brilliant little Android app that lets you wirelessly manage your phone or tablet from your desktop computer -- or any other device with a web browser.

Connection is simple. Start up AirDroid on your portable and it'll present you with a 6-digit passcode. On your other device, direct your browser to web.airdroid.com, enter the code and you're in. The connection uses the secure https protocol, so it's safe to use even on public WiFi networks.



For me, the biggest plus is AirDroid's file management. You can drag and drop files between devices as well as cut, copy, paste, search, delete and rename them. You can also do virtually anything on your desktop that you can do on the device including send and receive text messages, manage contacts, update your apps, change ringtones and even stream music or videos.

You don't even have to connect to find AirDroid useful. Tucked away behind the Tools tab is a handy collection of tools ...




... including a natty device summary ...




The desktop presentation is even better!




AirDroid
Source:   Google Play Store
Size:   3.7MB
Price:    Free

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 12:37 PM | Comments ( 1 )

A week ago I wrote about what appeared to be a minor spam problem at Xtra. Well, perhaps not so minor. Later that morning I heard from friend in a small Wellington company. Their 20 staff had received over 1,000 spam messages that weekend.

Still, Xtra said it had been fixed, so ...

Last Thursday I received a call from Radio New Zealand. I was surprised to learn the issue was still on-going.

Then I spotted this morning's DomPost. The front page lead reads Emailers shut out as chaos grows. 60,000 compromised accounts have been shut out, and many users are struggling to get back in. (Curiously, this story doesn't currently appear on Xtra's own "news" page.)

The timeline of this saga of blithering incompetence goes back to last November when the alert went out about a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Yahoo!'s mail system. It was even offered for sale for $700.

"Yahoo said it quickly repaired the vulnerability."

Two months later, it still wasn't fixed: "Yahoo Mail users still seeing accounts hacked via XSS exploit".

An update to that story claimed it was all sorted and that "Yahoo! takes security and our users’ data seriously." Ha!

A few weeks on and the country's been hit by what must surely be our biggest email outage ever. Ten days into it, Xtra are still struggling, and the best they can manage is to cancel people's accounts.

Bruce Simpson in this morning's Aardvark sums it up:

Firstly, Yahoo's role in this is reprehensible. They have tried to deflect criticism by denying fault and repeatedly claiming to fix a problem that has persisted for several months now. It would also appear (although I could be wrong) that when approached by Xtra, they fed them a line of BS too -- once again denying any fault on their part when they must have known the exact opposite was true.

Here's what I think Telecom/Xtra should do now;

• Apologise.

• Refund the February accounts of all those affected.

• Offer three months free email re-direction so that users can move to a proper provider as it's clear that Xtra aren't up to the job.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 9:38 AM | Comments ( 0 )

You may have a bit of spam in your inbox this morning. Depending on the number of Xtra / Yahoo contacts you have, it may be quite a bit. One TradeMe trader reported receiving "100+ emails from all xtra email addresses with varying spam" on Saturday night.

This Geekzone thread carries more details, but it seems that a problem with Yahoo! Mail that they insisted was fixed over a month ago has resurfaced. (Yahoo! host Xtra/Telecom's email from Sydney, so you may have received spam from all three sources. I have!)

This morning the NBR are reporting that the problem has (once again?) been fixed and that, accordiing to a Telecom spokesman, "Telecom has no way of knowing exactly how many customers were affected."

Telecom customers are urged to change their passwords and can do so securely from here: https://selfservice.xtra.co.nz/live/selfservice/ChgPwd/

Other useful links:
Spam in Yahoo!New Zealand webmail
How do I fight Spam with Yahoo!New Zealand Mail?

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 9:59 AM | Comments ( 1 )

Last week the Copyright Tribunal made its first decision under the Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Bill (aka 'Skynet') which came into effect in September 2011. An unnamed Telecom subscriber was ordered to pay a total of $616.57 for pirating music.


Time-line of the case

24 November 2011		A "Detection Notice", originating from Island Def Jam Music Group (Universal Music NZ Ltd), was sent to the subscriber stating that they'd shared the Rihanna song ‘Man Down’.
19 June 2012		A "Warning Notice" was sent after the subscriber was discovered uploading the same track again.
30 July 2012		An "Enforcement Notice", this time from monitoring by RCA Records (Sony Music Entertainment NZ Ltd), was sent claiming the accused had shared the Hot Chelle Rae track ‘Tonight Tonight’.

There was no actual hearing for the case. It was handled "on the paperwork", which is to say by written submission. In it, the subscriber admitted to downloading the first track, agreed that her ineptitude with the torrent software concerned (uTorrent) may have led to the second offence, but denied ever downloading the third track.

The Tribunal found her guilty nonetheless because, in it's own words;


In other words, you're guilty unless you can prove yourself innocent. They go on;


So acknowledging that "some manner of infringement has taken place" means she's guilty of every alleged infringement. What a bizarre idea! And even though the Tribunal admits


it does so anyway. No doubt the Recording Industry Association of NZ (RIANZ), which prosecuted the case, are kicking themselves they didn't chuck in another 500 allegations and really score a big fine.

In case you're wondering about the odd amount, the fine was calculated as follows;

Cost of all three song via iTunes	$6.57
Cost of RIANZ notices	$50.00
Tribunal application fee	$200.00
"Deterrent sum" ($120 x 3)	$360.00
	$616.57

No doubt cheques are already winging there ways to Rihanna and Hot Chelle Rae. After all, as the industry keeps reminding us, "it's all about the artists". Isn't it?

It's worth noting that the RIANZ has dropped two potentially bigger cases, one "after the account holder filed submissions with the Copyright Tribunal identifying a large number of defects in the claims" and the second after "the account holder had not received any of the warning or infringement notices sent by his or her internet protocol address provider".

Sometime this month the Tribunal will hold its first proper (ie: face-to-face) hearing in Christchurch. Watch this space!

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 5:30 PM | Comments ( 1 )

Brian Boyko is not enamoured with Windows 8. Boyko, an experience operating systems reviewer, planned to spend a month on Win 8 then do a thorough and detailed review. He did the same a while back with Ubuntu 6, Mac OS 10.4 and Windows Vista. But Win 8 thwarted him. His conclusion:




He couldn't even manage to write a review of Windows 8 on a computer loaded with Windows 8!





He's not the only one to reach that conclusion...







Check out the full video, Windows 8: The Animated Evaluation, here.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 6:01 PM | Comments ( 6 )

The computing world is turning feudal according to security maven Bruce Schneier. In his latest essay he writes;

Some of us have pledged our allegiance to Google: We have Gmail accounts, we use Google Calendar and Google Docs, and we have Android phones. Others have pledged allegiance to Apple: We have Macintosh laptops, iPhones, and iPads; and we let iCloud automatically synchronize and back up everything. Still others of us let Microsoft do it all. Or we buy our music and e-books from Amazon, which keeps records of what we own and allows downloading to a Kindle, computer, or phone. Some of us have pretty much abandoned e-mail altogether … for Facebook. These vendors are becoming our feudal lords, and we are becoming their vassals. We might refuse to pledge allegiance to all of them -- or to a particular one we don't like. Or we can spread our allegiance around. But either way, it's becoming increasingly difficult to not pledge allegiance to at least one of them.

This is coming about because in many internet-enabled devices (smartphones, tablets, e-readers and the like) the vendor has more control over the software and hardware than the user. In addition, many online services (GMail, Hotmail, Facebook, etc.) have taken over the hosting and maintenance of much of our data.

There's a plus side to fealty. Instead of having to worry about anti-virus software, backups, firewalls, system configuration and software updates we get convenience and, hopefully, some measure of security. But there's a downside too;

Today's internet feudalism ... is ad hoc and one-sided. We give companies our data and trust them with our security, but we receive very few assurances of protection in return, and those companies have very few restrictions on what they can do.

And as anyone who's read history, seen Monty Python or indulged in A Game of Thrones will tell you, serfs don't rate highly in the general scheme of things.

Ultimately, they will always act in their own self-interest, as companies do when they mine our data in order to sell more advertising and make more money. These companies own us, so they can sell us off -- again, like serfs -- to rival lords...or turn us in to the authorities.

Posted by Geoff Palmer at 10:08 PM | Comments ( 0 )