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joeross.me

Civil litigation lawyer. Interested in the collision of law & tech policy. Prone to geekery.

tech

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    Update to iOS 8 even without enough free space

    I’ve heard from many people who insist their iPhone or iPad “can’t handle” or “doesn’t fit” iOS 8. I read an article about a slow-down in updates to iOS 8. John Gruber of Daring Fireball first posited that some well-documented software bugs were making people reluctant to update.

    But his follow-up post reminded me how many times I’ve been asked by “normals” how I managed to update my iPhone 5. Their phones, the common story goes, just don’t have enough free space available to perform the update.

    I know this is frustrating, so I wanted to share some quick and easy advice on the topic. First, if your iOS device is low on space, it’s probably because of all those photos and videos you’re taking. Learn how to move that stuff to your computer so you can safely delete it from your device.

    Second, if you have an iPhone 4 or 4s, think hard before updating to iOS 8. Some reports suggest you’ll have a much slower device after the update. There are some neat new features, but none of them are worth slowing your phone down.

    Third, make sure your iPhone or iPad is fully charged before you try to update. While it will be plugged into the computer and therefore charging during the update, it’s best to be safe about these things. Make sure your battery icon is green before you start the update and you should be fine.

    Update to iOS 8 with iTunes

    1. If you want to install the iOS 8 update but your iPhone or iPad tells you it doesn’t have enough free space, make sure you have the latest version of iTunes.
    2. Plug the charging cable into your computer’s USB port and then connect it to your iPhone or iPad.
    3. If iTunes isn’t already opened, it will open. If it doesn’t open automatically you’ll just have to open it yourself (a first-world problem if ever I heard one).
    4. Click on the iPhone button that appears in iTunes and, if iTunes isn’t already offering to update your phone, click Check for Update.
    5. Wait. iTunes will download the five-gigabyte update to your computer and install it on your device.

    <

    p>Check out Apple’s support page for more information.

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    Subprime auto lenders use technology to compel payment

    Subprime auto lenders use technology to compel payment

    Michael Corkery And Jessica Silver-Greenberg, reporting at the New York Times DealBook blog:

    Ms. Bolender was three days behind on her monthly car payment. Her lender, C.A.G. Acceptance of Mesa, Ariz., remotely activated a device in her car’s dashboard that prevented her car from starting. Before she could get back on the road, she had to pay more than $389, money she did not have that morning in March.

    This is as stark an illustration of the intersection of law and technology as I’ve linked to in a while. While the tech can be a blunt instrument in a world of nuance (some borrowers are doing their best, others are surely not), I don’t oppose it. Assuming everyone was aware of the terms of the loan, it’s a valid contract, etc.

    But this sentence gave me pause:

    Using the GPS technology on the devices, the lenders can also track the cars’ location and movements.

    Again, there probably isn’t anything illegal about it, assuming a valid contract. But in a world of automated license plate scanning and associated geo-behavioral profiling, is a GPS device overkill?

    I suppose the business model itself is unnerving. After all, if you need to use a GPS device to manage risk, maybe you shouldn’t be making the loan in the first place. Borrowers using subprime auto loans probably just can’t afford to get a car.

    Some drivers volunteer for activity-tracking devices as a way of qualifying for reduced car insurance premiums. Such people can already afford insurance though, and allow their provider to track their behavior as an added savings.

    Maybe it’s less the tech involved and more the word “subprime,” which to me invariably suggests a corporation taking advantage of someone who can’t actually afford what they’re getting, and will inevitably default.

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    Apple can't bypass your iOS passcode

    Apple can’t bypass your iOS passcode

    Apple says in the latest revision of its page on government information requests:

    On devices running iOS 8, your personal data such as photos, messages (including attachments), email, contacts, call history, iTunes content, notes, and reminders is placed under the protection of your passcode. Unlike our competitors, Apple cannot bypass your passcode and therefore cannot access this data. So it’s not technically feasible for us to respond to government warrants for the extraction of this data from devices in their possession running iOS 8.

    Sure enough, the company also updated its Legal Process Guidelines (PDF) to reflect the increase in user privacy:

    For all devices running iOS 8.0 and later versions, Apple will no longer be performing iOS data extractions as the data sought will be encrypted and Apple will not possess the encryption key.

    This is obviously good news for people concerned about the amount of our data swishing around in the binary ocean, ripe for government fishing expeditions.

    However, it’s also worth noting the overwhelming majority, 93 percent, of law enforcement requests to Apple are made at the behest of the customer themselves, usually in the case of a lost or stolen device.

    You can find more information about what Apple discloses to law enforcement at its transparency reports page.

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    Check for lint before trying to replace your iPhone's charging port

    My iPhone 5 recently stopped charging, unless I propped the phone upside down against an inclined surface like a lamp stand or a keyboard. I’m not in a position to buy one of those fancy new iPhones, so I shopped around in the internet’s DIY isle.

    I found a well-reviewed set of iPhone surgery tools and even a well-reviewed replacement part on Amazon. Armed with those and an instructional YouTube video, I planned to replace the part myself.

    Luckily, one of my many neuroses involves exhaustively reading through reviews before I buy anything from Amazon. It’s my favorite part of the site. I don’t even consider products with less than 25 or so reviews.

    In a bricks-and-mortar store, you probably only have the staff to ask for advice, and they’re obviously biased. And if you’re anything like me, you probably know far more about the product than they do. Always take advantage of the availability of reviews on Amazon.

    Anyway, with the necessary tools in my cart and the video queued up in the Watch Later section of my YouTube account, I headed over to read some reviews. That’s when I found this gem by Amazon user DullJack, who wrote:

    First off, if you suspect your charging port is going bad, it probably isn’t. Grab a flashlight and a safety pin/needle, shine the light into the charging port and you will probably see a bunch of lint tightly jammed into the back of the port that is preventing the cable from fully inserting.

    But I had looked in there and I didn’t see anything, DullJack. So what gives? He continues:

    I looked into my old port before replacing it and it looked clear, but I didn’t shine a light into it.

    Ah. I shined a light into it and alas, there it was. I turned my phone off (better safe than sorry when poking around inside your iPhone with anything sharp or metal) and gently used a paper clip to pull out more lint that I would have though could fit in there. Do this over a piece of white paper to get the full effect.

    So. Much. Lint.

    Then, I plugged it in with the reckless abandon I had used before the problems began. A small white Apple logo appeared in the middle of the screen. The phone booted up and the battery icon showed it was charging. I moved it around in all the common ways that had been causing it to stop charging.

    Fixed!

    I don’t use exclamation points very often on this site because that’s just not the tone I’m going for over here. But that one was obligatory. The sense of relief I felt upon learning I wouldn’t need to expose my iPhone’s innards to the harsh light of day is something only fellow geeks can understand.

    Of course, exposing an iPhone’s innards to the harsh light of day is something only fellow geeks would even consider, too.

    Let this be a lesson, well, several lessons, to you all:

    1. Always, always read the reviews before you buy online,
    2. Be absolutely certain the problem isn’t lint before replacing your iPhone’s charging port, and
    3. Amazon user DullJack is a gentleman and scholar deserving of the gratitude and respect of fellow geeks everywhere.
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    Millenials won't use subpar enterprise software

    Millenials won’t use subpar enterprise software

    Paul Boag writes at Smashing Magazine:

    Frustration will only increase as millennials enter the workforce. These people are digital natives, and they expect a certain standard of software. They expect software to adapt to them, not the other way around.

    My generation were loud about the outdated software our employers used. We begged, insisted and shouted from the rooftops that efficient workload management demanded a higher level of polish, functionality and user experience.

    Even massive software makers like Oracle do little if anything post-sale to ensure their products get the design and functionality upgrades they so desperately need. You can pay an army of contractor-consultants to customize the database architecture and processing flow, sure, but the interface is still all ’90s.

    That was then, though. Today, the up-and-comers are just as unlikely to accept awful software and user experience. The difference is they won’t ask or shout at all, they just start using third-party tools. Sometimes this is fine, but other times there are serious security concerns with using third-party software for company work.

    Read Boag’s article, especially if you manage any young folks, because this stuff is happening and you should take the opportunity to learn from them. They’re going to gravitate toward good user experience and efficiency, and that’s good for business.

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    Budgets and egos

    Budgets and egos

    Mark Headd, Philly’s first Chief Data Officer, who quit in spring of 2013, talking to Juliana Reyes of Technically Philly about why he resigned the post:

    “A self-certifying website is a 20th century answer to the problem of tax deadbeats,” he wrote in an email. “An open data API is a 21st century answer to the problem. And that was my single biggest frustration during my time at the city — we were constantly using 20th century answers to problems that required a 21st century solution.”

    I know from personal experience and talking with friends that this is a common complaint of tech-savvy government employees, especially leaders ostensibly authorized to do something about it but never truly empowered.

    Budgets and egos slow technological (and many other forms of) progress to a glacial pace in many government settings.

    I once spent valuable time collecting requirements for a piece of vital software, researching and recommending a reasonably priced and effective off-the-shelf solution.

    Instead, someone decided to shoehorn the new use case into an aging enterprise software suite that had never seemed anything more than an ugly utilitarian GUI on top of a fancy backend of connected spreadsheets.

    There was no line-item cost to the shoehorn solution, so it naturally looked like a winner when it came to budgeting. But the person-hours wasted reinventing the wheel easily outweighed the out-of-pocket cost of the solution I had proposed.

    And aside from cost, persons in positions of power are often averse to being educated by twenty-somethings. That is especially true when it comes to technology, which most leaders know is important but few truly understand.

    Budgets and egos.

    Anyway, go read the rest of the article. It looks like Mr. Headd replies to comments, so it’s worth asking him any questions you might have.

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    AT&amp;T, acquiring DirectTV, "vows" to stick to FCC's Open Internet rules for 3 years

    AT&T, acquiring DirectTV, “vows” to stick to FCC’s Open Internet rules for 3 years

    Nathan Mattise, reporting at Ars Technica:

    The two companies will demonstrate “continued commitment for three years after closing to the FCC’s Open Internet protections established in 2010, irrespective of whether the FCC re-establishes such protections for other industry participants following the DC Circuit Court of Appeals vacating those rules.”

    My first draft of this post was cynical and incredulous, as I am wont to be. But on second thought, it would behoove AT&T to stick to it’s “vow,” if for no other reason than to grease the skids for regulatory approval of the deal. Like I said about Moves and Facebook, it’s hard to blame a company for seeking growth.

    While the FCC’s Open Internet rules have been struck down since they were first imposed in 2010, Comcast still abides by those rules pursuant to requirements imposed by the FCC on its purchase of NBCUniversal.

    Now that those rules have been struck down, and we’re in limbo while a new rules proposal goes through its comment period, AT&T committing to the Comcast restrictions presumes the FCC will have similar concerns about their purchase of DirecTV. So the worst case scenario for AT&T is that the FCC achieves similar restrictions via the new rules, in which case AT&T is already prepared. And the best case scenario is that the new rules are more lenient than the 2010 rules, and AT&T is even happier.

    In fact, the only losers here are consumers. While there is some question about whether this consolidation in the connectivity/content space will cause immediate market overlap and thus a significant reduction in local competition, it’s hard to see how things will get better for consumers as a result of this vertical integration over time.

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    Internet Privacy and What Happens When You Try to Opt Out

    Internet Privacy and What Happens When You Try to Opt Out

    Janet Vertesi tried to hide her pregnancy from the internet:

    The myth that users will “vote with their feet” is simply wrong if opting out comes at such a high price. With social, financial and even potentially legal repercussions involved, the barriers for exit are high. This leaves users and consumers with no real choice nor a voice to express our concerns.

    It’s a fascinating article.

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    Listen: CMD + Space

    I want to tell you about one great podcast every week. This shouldn’t be a problem for at least a and a half or so because I am currently subscribed to about 80 podcasts. The first Podcast of the Week is CMD + Space.

    An interview show by Myke Hurley, CMD + Space typically features a wide-ranging conversation between he and a guest from the Apple world. App makers, pundits and others talk about how they approach app development on Mac and iOS.

    Find out more about the show at its homepage on the 5by5 podcast network. If you need a podcast player, I highly recommend the one made by the guest on this week’s episode, Russell Ivanovic. His app Pocket Casts is available on Android and iOS and can sync subscriptions and played position across multiple devices.

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    Popcorn Time streams movie torrents, but maybe it’s more than that

    The image above is the first screen you see when you open Popcorn Time. The app, available on Mac, Windows and Linux, streams movies from the peer-to-peer file sharing protocol BitTorrent. The technology is similar to what old school music swapping service Napster used from about 1999 to 2001, before being shut down.1

    It’s getting a lot of attention this week, much of which focuses on its copyright infringement implications. And for good reason, because according to the FAQ, while you’re watching a movie, the app is using your computer and internet connection to seed the same movie to other viewers. That means you’re sharing what you’re watching, and if what you’re watching is copyrighted or otherwise protected by your country’s intellectual property laws, you may be committing a civil violation or a crime.

    Yeah, it’s like that.

    I messaged the Buenos Aires-based developers of Popcorn Time on Facebook asking whether they would consider adding a Creative Commons / Public Domain channel to the app. It couldn’t hurt to include some non-infringing content, and it may be a cool new way for indie filmmakers to distribute their work.

    But while copyright infringement is the easy story (and the one I would usually focus on here), there’s a more interesting angle to Popcorn Time.

    It has the potential to introduce “normals” to the concept of peer-to-peer file sharing. This is similar to what BitCoin has done to the idea of digital currency. While it is the first cryptocurrency, using cryptography to secure transactions, it was not the first digital currency. Several video games allow players to trade items for virtual money and have done so for a long time.

    But BitCoin brought the concept to the forefront of an international conversation. I’m not sure Popcorn Time is going to be that big or game-changing (it’s still in beta; only the third movie I tried to play, American Hustle, actually began to play. I turned it off right away, because it’s good policy for would-be attorneys not to, you know, break laws).

    I do think there is real value to a proof of concept when it gets a technology usually limited to geeks into the hands of a larger audience.

    And the infringement potential doesn’t have to be a deal-breaker. A quick Google search for legitimate uses of BitTorrent turns up about 146,000 results.

    Some totally legal uses of BitTorrent include game updates and downloads, distributing your own music, and (take note, Popcorn Time developers) public domain movie trading.

    So the question is whether the extra attention Popcorn Time is getting can be turned toward the lawful uses of peer-to-peer protocols. If so, it could be the boost the system needs to become a permanent fixture in the national conversation. In other words, the interest in Popcorn Time could be peer-to-peer’s BitCoin moment.

    1. If the copyright geekery force is strong with you, consider as further reading Copyright and Peer-To-Peer Music File Sharing: The Napster Case and the Argument Against Legislative Reform, available here. ↩
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    Tim Cook and the same question

    Tim Cook and the same question

    When Cook turned the spotlight on someone, he hammered them with questions until he was satisfied. “Why is that?” “What do you mean?” “I don’t understand. Why are you not making it clear?” He was known to ask the same exact question 10 times in a row.

    Once upon a time I had a boss who was verbally abusive of everyone he met, loose with the law and prone to what can only be called temper tantrums.

    He was also a genius.

    And one of his staples in a meeting was the same thing that quote above explains about Tim Cook. Eventually I was ready for it every time, and it’s a valuable lesson.

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    DHS wants to track license plates

    DHS wants to track license plates

    ICE spokeswoman Gillian Christensen, on the license plate tracking system recently proposed by the Department of Homeland Security:

    It is important to note that this database would be run by a commercial enterprise, and the data would be collected and stored by the commercial enterprise, not the government.

    Because the government never compels commercial enterprises to give it data.

    Ever.

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    Workflow Tech, Part 2: Catalog

    Introduction

    I focused in the first of this three-post series on how I capture information for use at home, work, for study, and in creative pursuits. This article is part two in that series, where I’ll spend about 500 words talking about how I name, organize, and save files across several platforms and devices.

    Catalog

    I use TextExpander on OS X and iOS devices. TextExpander probably fits into all three categories, but I put it in Catalog because I use it overwhelmingly to name and tag files. It’s not free, but it’s worth every cent if you find yourself typing the same things over and over again.

    You can attach frequently used snippets of text to shortcuts like “ddate,” which automatically expands to “January 20, 2014” the moment you type it. I like to prepend the date to new the blog posts I draft as text files, so I made a TextExpander snippet that expands “.dnb” to “140120.blog.” and then I can add a name after the second period. So the file I drafted this post in is called 140119.blog.Workflow.txt, but all I had to type was “.dnb Workflow.”

    That file name is also a big and relatively new part of how I catalog stuff. Computers can change the date they attach to a file based on when it was modified, when it was downloaded, or for other reasons. So I append the creation date to every file I make, formatted as a 2-digit year, 2-digit month and 2-digit day. Then, a period (many people use a dash, it’s a matter of taste) and the type of file it is, like blog, work, fic for fiction. You get the idea. The third component is the title, with multiple words

    I find a new use for TextExpander every day, so it’s vital not only to working productively today, but to working even more productively in the future.

    Then, of course, there’s Dropbox, which I use primarily to store files I’m manipulating across different devices. Images I edit and store for work, documents I need to share with people who don’t use Google Drive, and the text files in my /Notes folder, where I draft everything I write, all get synchronized across my home, work and laptop computers. With Dropbox mobile apps and the widespread integration of the service by third-party apps and services, there’s never a problem accessing the most up-to-date version of what I’m working on, whether I’m online or off.

    Evernote, which I mentioned in my Capture post and about which I’ll write a more in-depth post eventually, is also great for cataloging after you’ve captured stuff. I tend to use Evernote only when there is email or multimedia involved, sticking to plain text notes in Dropbox for regular old writing tasks. But when email or multimedia are involved, Evernote can’t be beat.

    I have a notebook for music, where I tag notes lyrics or audio or both. I have another notebook for finance, where I store and tag all my emailed receipts and other financial bits. I even have a notebook for recipes, which I can share with my wife so we can collect stuff as we find it. Evernote “stacks” even let you make what is essentially a notebook of notebooks.

    Much of the work over at the Evernote Blog focuses on how to catalog with the app, so check it out if you’re interested. But I usually start my cataloging workflow in my default notebook, which I’ve labelled Inbox, since I’m so used to processing incoming email from that label.

    Since we want capture to be as friction-free as possible, I just save into my default notebook. Then, a few times a week, when I need some mindless busywork to do, I’ll dive into my Inbox notebook and start moving and tagging. Sometimes, I realize I don’t really need something and delete it altogether. I highly recommend the default-now, process-later approach so that using apps like Evernote in the field isn’t cumbersome or time consuming.

    Conclusion

    I could go on forever about this stuff, but the basic system I use for cataloging is a naming convention when it comes to plain text and a notebook + tags system when it comes to images, PDF, and audio in Evernote. I’m sure everyone’s different so feel free to contact me on Twitter and tell me about your workflow.

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