Drums of Peace

Privacy in the age of implied consent

2018-04-10T09:05:00.000-07:00

I'm quite amused by cries about FB's onslagutht on privacy (all in all, you *did* give your consent, didn't you?) while more interesting things are happening.

...so I bought a new phone. Been methodically transferring working pieces from the old one, and found myself driving with the old phone connected to BT monitoring hardware in the car with the new one running navigation.

...and in the middle of the trip the old phone (now without a SIM card) says: "Psst! Dude! It looks like you configured tethering on your new phone, why don't you turn it on and give me some Internet?"

Wait.
What?

Quick introspection shows that in order do to that

both phones need to have a list of my devices' MAC addresses
sniff the air to detect their presence (turns out this is pretty easy to do)
most importantly, *know* that I have a hotspot configured.

Now, first two things are annoying, but widespread, there's not much you can do about that. But the third... I do have a hotspot configured, but I never ever turned it on. Moreover, I don't think I *ever* gave any explicit or implicit content about sending the information about my hotspot details to Google.

Your privacy is dead. Deal with it.

Why I prefer to hire DIYers

2017-10-07T14:43:00.002-07:00

The curse of any DIY job is: you have to do it right the first time. You have no idea what to do, and you can't afford a mistake. You must become as proficient as professionals are, in a fraction of the time, at a fraction of the cost.

So what you do is you learn to learn. You learn how to solve problems the very existence of which you never knew. You think outside of the box, you work beyond limits.

That beats someone who does only the things they were taught to do any time of day.

In times like these, big monies are lost... and made

2017-10-05T17:58:00.000-07:00

tl;dr: life after Equifax fiasco.

Service companies do not sell services. They sell comfort and satisfaction. Equifax was selling comfort to banks, which were glad to pay a little coin for an assurance that the loan they're issuing will be paid back.

Now the confidence is gone. Not just from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian. The chain of trust had been broken. There is no assurance that a good and valid information is not used by a fraudster. It's just not all of us are screwed, banks are screwed too.

What now?

The business model of "credit rating" is going to be broken for a while. Like I said elsewhere the day Equifax breach happened, SSN as ID will be dismantled - it'll take time, but it is inevitable (it was obvious for a long time that a non-secure system that doesn't support revocation will be broken by a first major leak, which we just witnessed happening). It will be replaced by a system that does support revocation, and that looks painfully similar to good old cryptography. This will cause emergence of whole new classes of tasks, and jobs to solve them - but one will have to be a rocket scientist or at least proficient with cryptography to get one of those jobs. And we will have to pay for all that, because nobody else will.

Buckle up. Study cryptography.

-- Source: Не будет банкам барабана

Identity Theft Made Easy

2015-09-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

So, I call $company. The automated system guides me through the hoops, in particular, asking for my "secure credentials", normally "the last four". Then it connects me to a representative.

And the first thing the representative says is: "What are your last four"?

WHAT?

I just identified myself to your automated system.
It authenticated me.
Why do *you* need to hear it again?

If this is a part of the $company's protocol, it's redundant.
If this is an unscrupulous employee harvesting personally identifiable information, it's a vulnerability.

The problem is, you cannot distinguish between the two. So either way, we're screwed.

Full-Time Employees: Who wins? Who loses?

2015-08-20T13:00:00.000-07:00

Just read The Case Against Full-Time Employees.

There's no TL;DR, read it if you care to compare it with my counterpoint, which is pretty simple:

A long term full time employee is a known variable.
Freelancers and contractors are the unknown.
The more is known, the less uncertainty.
The more uncertainty, the more risk.
The more risk, the more threat.
The more threat, the more contingency.
Somebody has to pay for the contingency.
Business can't pay the contingency, it has to be profitable.
That leaves only one party that can be held responsible for paying.

That party is *you*, the customer.

Note that pay is not necessarily monetary.

Wolfenstein: The New Order - profile sharing bugs

2014-11-14T22:26:00.001-07:00

How to reproduce:

Play the game logged in into Steam account A;
Start new game on the same computer logged in into Steam account B to which the game is granted under Steam Family Sharing;
Oops...

Expected result: progress, perks and collectibles are separate for Steam account B, they are also preserved for Steam account A;
Actual result:

Progress is reset for account A;
Perks are reset for account A;
Collectibles are *not* reset for account B;
Steam account B gets stats and ranking where existing stats and ranking for account A is a base to which personal stats of account B are added;
Steam account B gets *some* achievements based on above stats calculation.

At the same time, starting the game on a different computer while logged in into Steam account B yields an empty list of everything (no perks, no collectibles, no stats) *but* erroneous world and friends rank obtained before.

Fallout for Steam account A owner: [at least] can't selectively play game chapters even though the game was already completed.

Lesson: different players must play on different computers, or get really sophisticated about backing up game data, taking risks of likewise sophisticated screwups.

Cox: Some Thinking Required

2014-11-05T13:09:00.000-07:00

TL;DR: if you're an Internet provider, you really gotta have your diagnostic and escalation procedures established and available. Otherwise people will say "you suck".

Above is my connectivity since this morning (normal speed is 50Mbps down with ping in low teens). At this speed, *nothing* works. That is, unless you're willing to stare at the screen for a few minutes. No matter which SpeedTest server I go to, I get the same speed. Looks like throttling.

Home network is fine. According to Cox reps, account is in good standing, and no throttling is activated.

Calling Cox. After 30 minutes on hold, "We gotta make sure your cable modem is connected directly to the computer". Really? In 2014? When it is next to impossible to find a house *without* WiFi? When it is well known that connecting a Windows computer directly to Internet is a bad idea?

Long story short, four Cox reps I was talking to

made me reboot equipment multiple times (each of them);
failed to realize that the previous person has gone through the "standard process" already;
failed to understand and/or acknowledge that the problem can't be resolved by the book (for the simple reason it is *not* in the book);
failed to offer me a way to confirm or deny the assertion that the problem is somewhere in Cox network;
failed to offer a reasonable way to escalate the problem (one guy just lied to me that he will connect me level 2 support, and simply dumped me onto the next rep from the pool (after fiddling with my equipment for several minutes while keeping me on hold).

As a result, I've spent 90 minutes on hold and talking, with the ultimate solution offered being a service visit.

...on Saturday.

I was about to say that I can't wait until Google Fiber gets here, but then remembered that their customer service is even worse.

UPDATE (6 hours later): It gets worse by the hour:

My only hope is that I'm not the only affected and that either other people will finally notice, or whatever is causing this will finally collapse and cause an outage that *can* be reported and fixed "by the book".

UPDATE (8 hours later): It's still crumbling down, hopefully it'll go beyond the pale and back by the morning:

And when the sun came back

...but now I have to spend more time on hold to *cancel* that service appointment.

Google Tools: Dumber and Dumber

2014-09-21T15:23:00.000-07:00

Annoyance of the day: New and Updated Google Maps: My Places.

It used to be an awesome tool. Then, in July 2013, they broke it without a warning (incidentally, that happened the day I departed for a month long trip, right after I spent about two months planning the trip to a minute detail. I found myself on the road with no access to trip plans and maps whatsoever - soured it quite a bit).

They promised to bring it back.

More than a year later, they keep trying to reintroduce the "new and improved" My Maps, but it is still multitude of order times slower on the desktop, is missing critical features, and, unlike the previous implementation, is *not* integrated with Maps.

This is not the only case - other Google tools keep losing features as time goes (not to mention products that are just killed, sometimes despite vehement protests from their users, with the only notable exception that won't die despite general contempt).

While I was advocating using Google tools when they were in their prime, I have to admit now that I can't and won't do that anymore. The only reasons to keep using them now is "they suck less than alternatives", and the moment a viable replacement shows up - I'll be the first to jump off this bandwagon.

And, once again, this is a stark warning that nobody escapes the fate. Just as people, companies are born, grow up, mature, then outgrow themselves, wither, and die. Google is no exception.

Intangibles

2014-08-06T22:30:00.000-07:00

Today, my venerable Dell U2410 decided that it's time to go south, flickered the backlight a few times, and shut it off for good. As miracles happen, a friend of mine loaned me an LG 27EA83R-D. New and shiny, out of the box, installed, connected, turned on, the image is sharp and nice, everything's peachy.

...until just a *little* bit later.

OMG.

What a PITA.

Thing is, there were features in that Dell that I took for granted, not even realizing they're there, that make a night and day difference in day to day work.

First of all, there must be a special circle in hell for industrial designers that put sensor switches out of sight, with markings that are barely visible in bright daylight, forget home office at night. An attempt to change settings is an exercise in futility.

Second - imagine my surprise when after waking up from DPMS sleep, I found all the windows, carefully placed on the screen, hurled at random at the other screen. Reason? 27EA83R-D simply drops off the face of Earth when it goes to DPMS sleep. And tells Windows about it. Windows is ever happy to rearrange your windows for you.

Third, the corollary of the second - it's a good thing my always-on, critical-hardware-controlling devices were plugged into my *other* (also Dell) monitor that understands that it is impolite to shut off USB power just when the monitor goes to sleep (and that, by the way, used to happen after just one minute of inactivity). Because LG doesn't, and thinks it's just fine to shut *everything* off.

Oh well.

Understand me right, I'm not bashing LG - they made their design decisions, and I didn't vote with my dollars this time, so I can't really complain. It is just to remind you that the devil is in the details, and looking at the pretty picture on Internet and a better price is not necessarily going to get you the result you hoped for.

Dead Chromecast Chronicles

2013-11-18T14:34:00.001-07:00

Bottomline

I don't know if I will ever buy anything "made by Google".

TL;DR

If you bought something from Google and it failed during an open refund window, *refund it*. Do not try to replace it. If they lag with the refund, file a chargeback.

Short Version

Google's customer service sucks. A $35 device that died 9 days after arrival, it was confirmed as irreversibly dead during the first conversation, it took 2 months to *not* address the issue, chargeback had to be initiated.

Observations

Don't waste your time trying to get anything out of support personnel, they don't care, nor they are empowered to do anything.
Trying to escalate things doesn't help, you hit the "second level" rep who is as careless and helpless as the first.
Generally, you will *not* get any kind of response sooner than 48 hours.
Generally, the response will inform you that "your information will be sent to the appropriate specialist". Nothing will happen till you kick'em next time.
This is *not* a fluke, this is the way the system is designed.

Chronology

Stuff below is probably of no interest to you, unless you really want to know all the gory details (or maybe you're googling for chromecast pink light).

August 10, 2013

Ordered one.

August 28

Shipped.

September 3

Arrived. Connected.

September 12

Died (pink-white light, not visible on the network, no HDMI output).

Called Google, reported symptoms, got the failure acknowledged. Received an email followup, surprisingly, not with RMA, but the statement "As promised, I've forwarded your case to a specialist to begin processing your replacement as soon as possible". Strange, I though it was an open and shut case.

September 17

Google sends a request for the TV and the router brand and model numbers.

September 27

No further response from Google. Having patiently waited 10 days (just for the hell of it), calling customer service. Notifying the service rep that 15 days passed since the first conversation and it's a good time to actually do something about it. Hearings attempts to channel the request "to the right specialist", just like two previous times. 7 minutes into the call, the rep eventually gives up to my [pretty straightforward] requests to escalate the issue. The second level rep adamantly refuses to send the replacement, citing the need "to route the request to the right specialist". Telling him that I'm willing to wait on hold till the right specialist gets to the request, hearing that it may happen within 24 to 48 hours. Having no other option than to agree to wait till "request is routed to the right specialist". At the end of the call, pressing "dissatisfied" buttons during the customer service quality survey, and leaving this message:

It already took 15 days and almost an hour of my time to do absolutely nothing about a defunct $35 dollars device. It is embarrassing for Google to allow this to happen.

September 29

I've decided that I've spent enough time on the issue, and got the general feeling of how Google customer support works, and called in to return the device (no, you can *not* do it over Internet, you have to talk to a person). Unsurprisingly, I did not get a straight answer, but was told that "it will be resolved as soon as possible".

September 30

Google sends me a message with instructions how to order a new device via Google Play (which I could've done myself eighteen days ago) and send the defective one back. I don't know what crack did the previous conversation fall into, but this message clearly indicated miscommunication inside of Google support service. In order to avoid further miscommunication, I informed Google orally that I will not take any action until they confirm that the RMA is to *refund* the device, not return for replacement.

October 1

Google refuses refund, citing the fact that it's now been over 15 days since the device has been delivered, which is a cutoff time according to Return Policy. I inform them again, in writing this time, that it is none of my fault that they've been dragging their feet for over 21 days now and that should the RMA not be forthcoming, I'll just call my credit card company and exercise a chargeback - for the whole affair obviously hasn't been in good faith from Google's side.

October 3

Getting a mail with "I've re-consulted the case with a RMA specialist who will get back with you as soon as possible with instructions on obtaining your refund".

October 6

Got an RMA. Sent the Chromecast back.

October 10

Chromecast received by Google.

October 11

Getting a positive charged mail from the rep, "just making sure". Telling them that the device's been received, but no refund was issued.

October 13

The rep responds, "it may take a few business days for this to reflect on your financial account". Patiently waiting.

November 12

It's been a month, to the day, since last communication. Calling Google again, and again, getting the same runaround - "an email will be sent to the corresponding specialist". Tell them that they have until 18:00 my time next day to give me back my money, or I am executing a chargeback.

November 14

No response. Initiated a dispute.

November 16

Google rep notifies me that they've received a refund request, but that, alas, there's nothing they can do since chargeback was filed. He also notes that, quote, "It was a pleasure assisting you".

November 18

Google sends me an automated request for feedback.

Google Hangouts: "History is Off" != "Off the Record"

2013-11-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

Do a little experiment:

Turn the history off for a conversation (say, on a Windows box);
Type a phrase;
Reboot into Linux (or maybe just reboot);
Start a browser, go to GMail;
Open the conversation with the same person;
Oops... the phrase is still there.

In other words, what had at least a pretense of implementing the Off the Record protocol, now doesn't even make an attempt to pretend.

So, folks, just like the XX century saying goes, "Don't ever say in IM something you don't want to see on CNN".

Goodbye, Hangouts.

Hello, encrypted XMPP.

European Chronicles 2013: Europe in General

2013-08-31T01:01:00.000-07:00

The first and foremost impression is: Europe respects my maturity.

In Madurodam, there's a needle sharp spike on top of a model building, right where people can fall on it and poke their eyes out. Metal, not plastic.

In Amsterdam, people park their cars within an arms' reach from the canal - unfenced, mind you. Bicyclists dash on bike paths - again, on the edge of unfenced canals. No helmets, either.

In Germany, castles might have a knee high parapet over a hundred meter drop.

In Switzerland, roads rarely have shoulders. Moreover, the central divider is also not guaranteed.

Also in Switzerland, the highest point of respect for my maturity was an elevator... without doors. Yep. No doors. Doors are for those *not* in the elevator, for those that are - just walls.

In other words, the continent is telling me that it understands that I'm an adult and can (and will) be counted on and held responsible for the consequences of my actions. Stark contrast with US, where people need to be told that they can't iron clothes when wearing them. Seriously, no sarcasm, it felt good.

Roads are narrower. Cars are smaller, most of them are diesel. People are leaner. Imagine this, they actually *have muscles* (those things you have to use to get from your refrigerator to your car). And they do actually walk to the store to get things, and they're even capable of hauling the stuff they buy back into the house without a help of a car. Restaurants are quiet. Waiters are in-visible, not in-trusive.

And it looks like Europe is a land of immigrants much more than US today.

One thing that is sorely missing - out of HVAC, the only thing present is H. The rest is normally missing - but when it's present, it's state of art. HVAC units sold in US look like coal powered steam locomotives in comparison.

^[European Chronicles 2013]

European Chronicles 2013: Money

2013-08-29T07:36:00.001-07:00

Most remarkable part, people laugh at dollars :) They're no good in Europe.

It may be a good idea to exchange currency before the trip, you might get a better exchange rate.

Switzerland accepts euros and Swiss franks, but will always return the change in franks. Lots of coins, too. When you try to exchange currency, though, coins won't be accepted.

Germany and Netherlands accept only euros.

American credit cards, mostly, don't work - American Express is rarely accepted, and the only version of MasterCard that is accepted (except for very few places) is the one with the chip.

The card that does work is Maestro, however, it looks like it's not a credit card, which defeats the purpose - unless you have a dedicated spending account. Also it looks like US version won't work anyway (no chip).

Credit card companies will charge what they shamefacedly call a "currency conversion charge" (2-3%). However, it will be charged on *all* transactions, including those made in dollars, so it is rather an "overseas charge" (they will reluctantly tell you this when you ask).

And, of course, cash will always work. Moreover, there will be places that won't accept credit cards at all, citing too much overhead.

One thing that is *very* different - in Amsterdam, I've been advised more than once that it would be a dumb idea to carry your wallet in your back pocket - pickpockets are ever busy in downtowns and on crowded trains.

^[European Chronicles 2013]

European Chronicles 2013: Dashcam

2013-08-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

For several reasons not related to this trip, we ended up using GoPro HERO 3 Black Edition as a dashcam. Turned out to be not the brightest idea, mainly because of two things.

CAMERA DESIGN LIMITATIONS

The camera overheats all the time. The only day it didn't it was about 8°C to 20°C outside, whenever the temperature was getting more than about 22°, it lasted about 40 minutes.

One thing GoPro can do better is - they can improve sound notifications. Right now you have no idea why the camera shuts off by itself - and there's quite a few possible causes, here's what I remember off the top of my head:

Camera overheats;
SD card is out of disk space;
SD card can't keep up with throughput camera wants it to deliver (turning Protune off helps).

Also, it makes the same sound when you start the recording as when you stop it, and it's not really possible to easily determine whether it's currently recording or not (that bright red flashing light is actually not that bright when you're looking against the sun), and it's turned away from you.

CAMERA POSITIONING LIMITATIONS

Since the plan was to record *everything*, we ended up mounting the camera to the inside of the windshield with the suction cup. As a result, the reflection of the dashboard is on all the videos - and unfortunately, we only noticed this after returning. Hence, artistic value of the video is zero - though, it is still perfectly usable as a documentary. You can probably get rid of this if you concoct a sort of a hood for the camera, shouldn't be that difficult.

CAMERA POWER LIMITATIONS

Mounting the camera on the inside of the windshield was the only option since we were driving (and recording) up to 8 hours a day. This allowed to use the car charger, but required to get the skeleton housing, for it was the only solution that exposed the USB port (frame mount doesn't expose the SD card slot, and it would've been a pain in the neck to replace the SD card on the fly (see why)).

One other thing GoPro can do better is to make the camera in such a way that it can be used with just the USB cable without the battery - which was the main source of overheating.

SPECIAL NOTE ON SD CARDS

Some cards (surprisingly, SunDisk is one of them) are known *not* to work with this camera, or work with limitations (Protune being one of them). Search on "gopro 3 stops recording" to find out more.

BOTTOMLINE

Despite all the shortcomings, having the trip filmed at 1080x60FPS was cool :) If your trip is in cold weather, this might be a good solution after all.

^[European Chronicles 2013]

European Chronicles 2013: Connectivity

2013-08-26T07:47:00.001-07:00

INTERNET

Long story short, we ended up buying SIM cards from Lebara for Netherlands (1GB for a €20, if I remember right) and from Sunrise for Switzerland (1CHF/day for unlimited Internet, extra for voice and SMS). Lebara gives you credit for the amount you spent on a card (or a refill), Sunrise gives half. Both cards can be refilled on the fly.

WiFi

"Free WiFi everywhere" is a myth. In not so many places where there is publicly accessible WiFi, they normally require your mobile number to send a text message with access code to (in other words, forget about trying to use WiFi access to bootstrap your Internet, such as find the store to buy the card from, without spending your money at least on SMS). Even then, the "free" access is limited, normally to 30 minutes.

And it is absolutely *not* "everywhere". Especially if you go into rural areas - good chances they won't even accept your credit cards, but that's another story.

It will be a good idea to get a hold of SIM cards *before* you arrive, for the hassle and lost time of your vacation will be worth much more than time spent on investigations.

^[European Chronicles 2013]

European Chronicles 2013: Car Reservation

2013-08-16T16:59:00.001-07:00

Since we planned to drive over 2,000 km, I wanted to rent a vehicle that would be a pleasure, not pain, to drive.

Initial idea was to rent a 5 series (all in all, I've driven one for over a decade, they all drive alike, and I could pay more attention to what would be happening outside than to getting to know the car and its quirks).

First look at a parking place shook this intent.

In US, 5 series, even the current one, not to mention other venerable lines, looks like a sparrow among turkeys.

In Europe, 5 series looks like a turkey among sparrows.

I said to myself - "No, 3 series will suffice".
The next day I said to myself - "No, 1 series will suffice".

Seriously. Those 4 inches may make a difference between being able to get into the car when someone parks next to you, or not.

Now that it was clear what to get, the task was easy - to get it. Or so I thought.

The only agency that would rent out BMW was Sixt. But that wasn't the problem. "or similar" in a very, very small print was the problem. It would look like this:

Sorry, Sixt, but Golf, V40, or even more so "other sedan" are *not* valid substitutes for the car you are trying to make me believe I'm ordering.

The only way to get through this is to order the car in person - only then you have a choice either to take what they have *right now*, or walk away and get the cheapest car, 'cause what you want is not available anyway - that's what we decided to do.

Ironically, we've been witnesses to an infuriated customer who, in disbelief, was almost shouting at the Sixt rep - "But I ordered a BMW, and I GOT A CONFIRMATION!!!" - to which the nonchalant rep was patiently responding, time after time, "Sorry, but we can't guarantee the availability of a specific car. See right there, it says "or similar"".

But even being personally present may not help. I didn't want to get the car that exact day, being quite jet lagged, and made an arrangement to reserve the car (1 series, manual, with GPS) until 1PM the next day.

Next day, I'm coming to Sixt garage and what am I finding? Correct, 1 series, with GPS, *automatic*. I'm telling the Sixt rep "Excuse me, but this is not the car I was told was reserved for me", to which he responded, you guessed correctly, "Sorry, but we can't guarantee the availability of a specific car". I knew better than to fight this battle, and said "What else can you give me?" Long story short, I ended up with diesel F30 318d, which I took as a higher deity's suggestion that I won't like 1 series anyway (I already don't; having driven a few, I'm finding them wanting, or, should I say, wannabe). No inconvenience discount, either.

It is worth noting that the car was equipped very well - US agencies normally give you the cheapest P.O.S. in the line. This one was equipped with navigation, climate control, back up camera and parking sensors, along with Efficient Dynamics upgrade. For those curious, look at the guts or type 'J622969' into the VIN decoder to get the list of packages installed.

About the diesel... It was serendipitous to get one. I expected to spend over $800 on fuel, but spent less than $200. And, it is certainly a *different* driving experience, NA doesn't get much of it (whereas it's the other way around in Europe).

Another factor - unfortunately, I was misinformed before the trip - someone told me that it will be cheaper to rent a car at the airport. In fact, it's the exact opposite. It's called a Premium Location Fee, and it is a whopping 21.5%. It is hidden deeply into Sixt's rental information page. It was too late for me to do anything about it, so I had to take it as a costly lesson - maybe you can learn from it.

Another cost related factor - "additional services". Terms are different in US and Europe, watch out - what is called "collision damage waiver" may already be provided by your credit card, if you have a decent one. Same for "theft protection" (a.k.a. "loss protection"). Same for "personal accident protection" - your health insurance, if it is a decent one, may have coverage. Don't assume they do, though, do check.

One more thing worth noticing is that European rental agencies are *very* particular when it gets to damage on the car. Where US agencies's won't even look twice, European will note the damage and make you pay through the nose for it. Combined with the fact that European roads and parking places are *much* narrower than US, I'd say - go for a smaller car than you think you'd want.

And another note - finally, I asked the rep - "What is one obvious thing that customers routinely overlook?" He said, "Take a good look at the car".

Heed the warning.

The car I rented was given to me right after it's been washed, in a dark underground garage. Even though I did my best to examine it thoroughly, I failed to find damages that have become painfully obvious in a few hours when the car dried up in a hot sun. I immediately made pictures of all the things I found (some of which were way more serious than a small scratch already on the record) and emailed them Sixt with a statement that I won't be held responsible for them. It worked, no extra damage was claimed on the way out.

BOTTOMLINE

If you want a specific car, you'll have to make the reservation in person (and be prepared to pay extra for it);
If you can live with a category, find out the SIPP (a.k.a. ACRISS) code for it is (complete list here);
Get a diesel, if you can - it'll save you *a lot*;
Avoid "premium locations" (getting to a cheaper place on a train *will* save you money, at cost of extra hassle - it's your call);
Make sure you don't take insurance you may already have;
Take a very good look at the car *before* you get out of the garage;
Be extra careful with it;
If there was a problem (even a small one), take pictures right away and communicate the problem to your rental agency and police - without a police report, *you* may be held responsible.

Good luck.

^[European Chronicles 2013]

European Chronicles 2013: Planning [Fail]

2013-08-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Just like we did before, we planned the trip on Google Maps, carefully selecting places we wanted to visit and routes we wanted to take.

View Europe 2013 Trip - Outline in a larger map

Only to find out, one day before the trip started, that Google, in its infinite wisdom, removed My Maps feature, along with usable offline map caching ("ok maps" is *not* acceptable) from Maps on Android.

To say that I was infuriated would be an understatement of a century.

Still, even in this crippled form, planning helped - for example, it would've been absolutely impossible to discover Hotel Salastrains or Gasthof Seefeld while being on foot or in the car. And, if not for it, we would certainly not discovered Lago di Livigno, the southernmost point of our trip.

^ [European Chronicles 2013]

European Chronicles 2013

2013-08-16T08:20:00.001-07:00

Contrary to my usual attitude, I managed, with a little help from my friends, to get off my butt and see places.

This article is an anchor and table of contents. Thoughts, impressions and pictures need to settle down first, then they will appear here, as they're ready. Keep checking, for this page will keep changing.

View Europe 2013 Trip - Outline in a larger map

To be continued:

Netherlands
Germany
Switzerland

LIfe Cycle: Nobody's Exempt. Even Google.

2013-07-10T08:31:00.002-07:00

I have a theory on why #Google products' #usability is rapidly dropping, as far as most of people I know and communicate with are concerned.

See, Google is efficient. It kills 35% of its products. And you bet that they "trim the fat" from existing.

What is "fat"? Correct, features that are not used.

Not used by whom? Correct, teenagers that use these products to fulfill their Maslow's pyramid needs and couldn't care less about advanced features or products you and I use.

What happens to those advanced features or products? Correct, they are eliminated. We're moving towards #idiocracy, fast. #FAIL ensues.

How can we be saved? One way way I see now is to make product plugin APIs so good and so open that whoever wants to preserve or improve the outgoing features or products can do so. Chrome with its lack of "open new tab in foreground on middle button" and extensions that fixed it immediately is a good example.

Wonder if Google sees this imminent problem (sliding towards idiocracy) as a problem yet, or still as "optimization". In latter case, we're screwed until Google's replacement arrives, and it'll take a lot of brain muscle to make that happen.

Can't wait.

Common Sense: Redneck Physics

2013-06-12T11:02:00.000-07:00

Common sense is not so common.

-- Voltaire

I've been watching two in-duh-viduals once, loading an E28 engine onto their truck. They just put it over other stuff, at the very back of the truck bed. I've asked them "Aren't you guys going to strap it down?", to which they responded "Ah, don't worry, it's heavy, it'll just stay down".

Well, that was stupid even on the first sight, but I didn't realize how stupid it was until yesterday when I was trying to explain it to someone not quite technical.

So... here's how it looks in numbers:

Billy Bob and Bubba put engine that weighs 200kg onto the truck bed 4m away from the back of the passenger compartment.
10 minutes later, Bubba thinks he will make it through the intersection on the light that just turned red and floors it. He doesn't make it, though, and promptly T-bones a Corvette taking off his green, while still being at 40 km/h. 10 meters later the truck comes to complete stop.

What was the force that the back of the passenger compartment was able to withstand if the dent the engine made was 50cm deep?
How many times less would be the force on the engine if Billy Bob and Bubba had properly strapped it down, and stopped the truck on the red light, having started braking 100m away at 40km/h?

Your answers?

Stonewalling

2013-04-10T13:55:00.001-07:00

The worst sin in the corporation is: asking a question.

Once in a while, you find yourself sitting in the meeting and getting really, really tired listening to people building a house of cards out of 'power words' and PowerPoint presentations. It gets so embarrassing that you eventually can't tolerate it anymore, open your mouth and ask a single question that demolishes this whole house of cards. And...

Nothing happens, basically. People in the room look at you reproachfully, sit in a dead silence for a second, as if in disbelief that someone had such lack of tact as to ask such a question, and then...

just keep going as if they haven't heard the question.

Google Reader R.I.P., and what to do now

2013-03-14T08:19:00.000-07:00

Google, in their infinite wisdom, is killing Reader. Too bad - many of us relied on it (some of us, like myself, relied mostly on it) in our daily lives.

Various newfangled "social" tools are a poor replacement, or, rather, not a replacement at all - they lack structure, prioritization, and ability to put things away that Reader offered. It is understandable, then, that right now there's a frantic activity directed on salvaging Reader data and finding a replacement.

Let's try to keep things organized.

First of all, dataliberation.org offers a way to export Google Reader feeds.

Then, just in case, here's a petition to keep Reader alive (not that it's going to change anything, in fact, it may point out how weak the Reader user base is - but then again, it's not about the profit).

And, finally, in no particular order, replacements (this section will be updated as new candidates are discovered). Keep in mind that all links are raw, fact checking wasn't performed, and some of them might bite you (feedback will be appreciated, so we have both wall of fame and wall of shame).

The Old Reader
What is the best Android alternative to Google Reader?
Tiny Tiny RSS
netvibes
SwarmIQ
Feedly
Prismatic
NewsBlur (be prepared to cash out $1/month, for 64 feeds is a joke)
Pulse (however, it is rumored that LinkedIn is buying it)
Planet
Brief (Firefox only)
Feed2Imap
FeedFiend
The ultimate Google Reader alternatives list (not that ultimate)
Flipboard
What's the Best RSS Reader Not Named Google Reader?
Google Reader закрывают (см. комментарии)
Feedly tops Google Reader in every way possible
Python script migrates from dying Google Reader to Evernote

to be continued...

Review: Panasonic Smart Network 3D Blu-Ray Disc™ Player DMP-BDT220CP

2013-03-08T23:17:00.001-07:00

Short version

Wasted money. Don't do it.

Long version

Too light, too small

Literally. An attempt to operate it will most probably move it. It is shallow (7 1/16", or 180mm), nothing will stand on top of it to hold it down (except a decent paperweight, maybe).

Slow

No, not just slow. Infuriatingly slow. Glacial. A computer you buy for the same money will work faster.

Clumsy

Navigation is awkward (did I mention it is glacial?) and inconsistent. There are at least two different virtual keyboards, one of them is ABCDEF, the other is QWERTY.

Unforgiving

Good luck trying to access a network service when there's a firmware update (hint: you can't). Normally, it takes two tries (it hangs at 0% download until power reset) and no less than 5 minutes.

Vindictive

Good luck trying to de-authorize accounts. Amazon says it takes 36 hours to do so, still waiting for expiration (UPDATE: There's "Unlink from Amazon" entry in Amazon Help menu). Netflix? Even better, an explicit "disconnect all" command on Netflix site disconnects, well, all devices - except this one. And the documentation is a jewel - here, take a look:

How do I de-activate my Netflix account?

To deactivate the Netflix account on your Blu-ray player,
use the Panasonic remote and press the arrows
in the following sequence: [Up], [Up], [Down], [Down],
[Left], [Right], [Left], [Right], [Up], [Up], [Up], [Up].
A screen will appear to allow you to deactivate the Netflix account.

Oh, and they forgot to tell you that you need to activate this sequence from Netflix home screen.

Bottomline

The idea was to save some money and get rid of HTPC. All in all, if you can get very decent Netflix experience on a cheap Android device, I thought, this should work just fine.

Well, it doesn't.

You get up to what you paid for. I'm afraid that all devices in this price range will behave in a similar way.

HTPC stays.

"You Get What You Paid For", Unabridged

2012-11-02T11:17:00.002-07:00

You get up to what you paid for.

I guess the middle part just wasn't eligible enough when they were copying the old scroll. Yeah, like that "celebrate" part.

Google Authenticator Upgrade Horror Tale

2012-04-02T01:17:00.001-07:00

When Google fails, it fails in epic ways.

So here comes their new authenticator. The old one issues a stern warning about the upgrade, and well, since my accounts are kinda somewhat important to me, I do install it.

Gotcha! say bright kids at Google. Should've been more careful and paid attention to the fact that this is a different application. All the account information is gone.

Guess what, you're screwed now. Catch-22.

In order to get to your account, you need 2-factor authentication.
In order to add a 2-factor account to the phone, you need to be logged in.
Which is not possible since you need the 2-factor app with the account already added.

And not a word about it ANYWHERE.

Lemme see if I have my backup codes backed up now...

Drums of Peace

Privacy in the age of implied consent

Why I prefer to hire DIYers

In times like these, big monies are lost... and made

Identity Theft Made Easy

Full-Time Employees: Who wins? Who loses?

Wolfenstein: The New Order - profile sharing bugs

Cox: Some Thinking Required

And when the sun came back

Google Tools: Dumber and Dumber

Intangibles

Dead Chromecast Chronicles

Bottomline

TL;DR

Short Version

Observations

Chronology

August 10, 2013

August 28

September 3

September 12

September 17

September 27

September 29

September 30

October 1

October 3

October 6

October 10

October 11

October 13

November 12

November 14

November 16

November 18

Google Hangouts: "History is Off" != "Off the Record"

European Chronicles 2013: Europe in General

European Chronicles 2013: Money

European Chronicles 2013: Dashcam

CAMERA DESIGN LIMITATIONS

CAMERA POSITIONING LIMITATIONS

CAMERA POWER LIMITATIONS

SPECIAL NOTE ON SD CARDS

BOTTOMLINE

European Chronicles 2013: Connectivity

INTERNET

WiFi

European Chronicles 2013: Car Reservation

BOTTOMLINE

European Chronicles 2013: Planning [Fail]

European Chronicles 2013

LIfe Cycle: Nobody's Exempt. Even Google.

Common Sense: Redneck Physics

Stonewalling

Google Reader R.I.P., and what to do now

Review: Panasonic Smart Network 3D Blu-Ray Disc™ Player DMP-BDT220CP

Short version

Long version

Too light, too small

Slow

Clumsy

Unforgiving

Vindictive

How do I de-activate my Netflix account?

Bottomline

"You Get What You Paid For", Unabridged

You get *up to* what you paid for.

Google Authenticator Upgrade Horror Tale

You get up to what you paid for.