Samsung's not "Smart" enough TVs

I own a Samsung TV. It was a reasonable value. I don't care much about all the A/V specifications that most reviewers go on about. I care about the user interface. It gets a C-. Here's why:

Let's start with the input selection. There are plenty. TV, 4 HDMI ports, component, old-style A/V. That is great, but then let's have a way of disabling the ones we don't need. When I press the source selector, I get an overlay like this

WTF? This is far too many enabled choices. I have 3 HDMI devices (Tivo, Chromecast, Mac) and a DVD player on Component. That means I should have to cycle between 4 things. Nope. TV stays live, even though there is no input. Screen Mirroring is there - I have no idea what it even means. Touch_P5 is another inexplicable option. It should be possible to disable the useless choices and make the interface less confusing for the daily user.

But less clutter does not seem to be the Samsun way. Let's open the Smart functions. We get this menu

What's wrong? MLB.tv is the most obvious thing wrong. I will never want that app. Ever. But it is featured on the quick launch bar, and not removable. The more subtle issue is that this does not seem to be "my" apps. The choice is Featured and Recent. We can select one of the few recently used apps, or press Featured, which brings us to this screen.




You'll notice that we landed on the What's New page. Why? Mostly likely because branding money is flowing somewhere. Someone might want to channel surf on regular cable, but who wants to start their entertainment experience with "app surfing"? No one does. We want to watch something.

OK. I can press up-arrow, left-arrow to get to My Apps.

Again, we see the same love for sponsored apps over my content. The 6 apps in the upper left corner are mine. The rest are forced on by Samsung and I can't get rid of them. I can't even use many of them because I don't subscribe to the channels.

So much for a seamless, pleasant viewing experience. I have to navigate around a set of billboards hawking Samsung's partners before I can get to the entertainment I was hoping for. Sigh.

I know this kid who wants a job at Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, ...

At least once a month I get mail like this. I'm sure many of you have too.

Hi Tony,
My friend's son is a super smart computer science student at Whatsamatta U. He is looking for a job at <Insert FAANG here>. He wants to know where he should send a resume.
Thanks, Billy

Please. Please. No more of these.

To be perfectly honest, if the kid does not realize that they can search for "jobs at ..." and get direct links to the hiring pipeline, then they are probably not cut out for the job at a tech company in the first place.

If you want to ask if they can reach out to me for help with how to write a resume, fine. That is something where I can provide mentoring. I'll be happy to. Just don't ask questions that someone who is "super smart" can figure out on their own.

Maybe they are really asking a different question. Most likely, they are asking "Can you use connections get this child of a friend a job?" Probably not. But if you ask directly, maybe I can explain why.

DoWiSeTrePla Great Neck - The Avalon

The Avalon bills itself as "luxury" apartments going up in Great Neck. But they are literally directly across the street from a sweage treatment plant. Surprisingly, that does not emit an oder. It is just a visual eysore. The real stench comes from being on a bay that doesn't get enough water flow. Low tide is always an olefactory delight. https://goo.gl/photos/zxwFqgSSxr2524dNA

HBO's static

I could go on for pages about how HBO doesn't quite get it. They have an inscrutable distinction between HBO Go and HBO Now - possibly to please the cable-tel-cos. They have a truly terrible site for HBO Now. They don't do TiVo integration for HBO Now for unknown reasons.  But that would just be picking on the clueless and weak.

What I am interested in tonight is their on-screen logo. It is an "HBO" filled with TV static. I get the intent of it - but I am way over 30. For everyone born in the post broadcast era, it is meaningless. There is no concept of static on the TV, because it has been cable and internet for the entirety of their lives. The best association they have for it is "They're here". That's probably not the image anyone should be shooting for.

Thursday Truths - Han Shot First

Welcome to Thursday Truths. My goal is to write about one obvious truth each week.

Tonight the truth is "Han shot first". This is no surprise to anyone who saw Star Wars when it was released as the director originally envisioned it. Han Solo was (is) as scoundrel. And a hero. And a man who is not a sociopath.

He shoots first not because he couldn't give a dam, but because he is threatened. Very pointedly threatened. He knew his assailant. He knew he would suffer horrific pain if brought to Jabba. He did the math and came to the conclusion there was only one way out alive.

I can not emphasize that enough. Knowing the threat completely is the only thing which absolves him. For him it was a decisive act of self defense. To kill without comprehending the threat reduces a person to the mindlessness of a George Zimmerman. This is the key point. Without knowledge and understanding, you can not wield extreme force.

Our society does not like subtle points like this. So, we have the Disney-fied remix of the movie. Here Han was just lucky. He happened to not get hit with a shot at point blank range, then managed to retaliate. I believe the term is dice-liced. This reduces him to someone who simply has reasonably good reflexes. Or worse, someone who has no comprehension and just reacts.

I'll take my Han Solo as I found him. A scoundrel yes. But a thinking man's one.

Could Hollywood improve cyber security?

The digerati know that vehicles using Chrysler's Uconnect can be compromised remotely. You can read more in the Wired Article (Hackers Remotely Kill Jeep). The problem is that the general public, nor their elected representatives know or care much about it. If they did, they might understand how this is a threat to both our nation's economy and security.

Q: How do you raise awareness?
A: Motion Pictures.

The basic idea: Standard fare action adventure movie. Someone pretending to be a valet at a car park slaps a device into the OBD port of the target's car. They drive away and are remotely executed in what looks like a plausible car crash.

Now you need a few reviewers to point out that this is not fiction, and possible today. With that you might generate some justified public concern. Make the movie target an elected representative and you might get some actual movement in our laws.

Senators Markey and Blumenthal have introduced a bill which addresses these issues. (http://www.markey.senate.gov/news/press-releases/sens-markey-blumenthal-introduce-legislation-to-protect-drivers-from-auto-security-privacy-risks-with-standards-and-cyber-dashboard-rating-system, http://www.markey.senate.gov/imo/media/doc/SPY%20Car%20legislation.pdf). It is a great start, but it misses one point. It should not simply say "such as penetration testing". It should require "penetration testing by multiple independent third parties".

Well, I seemed to have gotten a little off topic here, but I do think it would make a great plot element in a film. I'm claiming copyright on that idea. I won't require much in residuals.

Online banking password fun

Security teams that do not test UI flows deserve a special place in hell....

• I bank with Chase.
• My current password is long enough and not made of any known words, but it has no digits in it.
• www.chase.com recognizes machines you sign in from (cookie or browser fingerprint, I do not know).
• When I use a new machine or browser installation, they redirect to a page where I can get a verification code sent to me via text or email.
• When I click Send, they direct me to a page where I must enter the access code and my current password.

Nothing that special so far, simple 2-factor authorization. But wait for it.......

When I enter my access code and password, it rejects the password in browser side code because it does not have a number in it. They have implemented the new password policy in the UI, without making sure the customers have complied with the new policy. I can certainly work around this, but they are going to have some unhappy people over the next few months.
​

Bubble Wrap Day

Baseball teams have traditionally had give-away nights a few times a season. From childhood, we all know of bat day (which, surprisingly, does not seem to cause more trauma than usual: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8135433), and cap day. Over the years they have added BBQ aprons, bobbleheads, gym bags, sunglasses, jerseys, beer cups, pins, and some sorry gift cards.

Toss it all in the dumpster. I want Bubble Wrap Day^TM.

Every attendee gets a square yard of bubble wrap. The organist pumps up the music. We all pop it in unison. Or... taunt the opposing pitcher. I challenge anyone to keep their composure with 15,000 people popping bubbles at them.

Let's here it for taxpayer supported rule of law.

My daughter's pocket was picked the other day. It turns out you can get your driver's license replaced for free if you file a police report. We asked if she was going to do that and she said "That depends on how much it costs."

Huh?

"Well, yeah. It depends on how much it costs to file a report with the police."

"What do you mean? It's free."

After a bit of back and forth, we realized that she spent some college summers in the Dominican Republic and Tanzania. There, it seems, the police serve only those who can afford them. If you want service, you pay directly.

We might have some issues with who the police serve in the USA, but I am happy to live in a country where the presumption is that anyone who is wronged has a chance at justice.

Performance Sheets

Last week, we purchased a Sleep Number mattress. It was grotesquely expensive, but I'm willing to try it so that my wife and I can have different softnesses on our respective sides. Marriage is a lifetime of compromises, but one person sacrificing sleep for the other is not a sustainable situation.

The sales person (unsuccessfully) tried to sell us their "Performance Sheets" -  at roughly $300 a set. I cut my losses there. Performance Sheets. Really? I've been sleeping every day of my life for years, but I'm not sure I have advanced beyond amateur status. I have had some critical acclaim in the non-sleeping arena, but still, performance sounds too theatrical. Miles Monroe said it best "Uh, uh, I don't think I'm up to a performance, but I'll rehearse with you, if you like."

For humanity's sake, let us stop using RFC 822 format dates for time stamps

Human readable dates have no place in internet protocols. Even more so when you have a date which is hard to parse and can have invalid values (e.g. A string which says "Thu" for a date which can not possibly be a Thursday). The only timestamp you need is seconds[.milliseconds] from an epoch (bikeshed about the epoch all you want) in GMT. Optionally, you might want to know the offset from GMT of the entity that caused the event.

What Humanity Aspires to - In One Frame

http://www.theimaginaryworld.com/comic062804.jpg

There is a man (well, a bread) who is totally at peace with himself. When all you can ask for is ice cream and a balloon you are experiencing life correctly.

How Not to Apply For a Job

I own a domain similar to that of a mid-size Canadian medical group.  I frequently receive to them that is misaddressed. This one caught my eye.

aaaaa mehtar
to hrtoronto@....medicalgroup.com

Hi Mr or Miss :

I enclose my resume and cover letter to apply for Medical Office Administrator with your company , if your requirement match my work experience and skills please feel free to contact me. I look froward to hear from u.

thank you

sincerely

aaaaa variava

Really?

• "to hear from u"?  I would throw this away without opening the attachments.
• Signature should match your email name.
• "requirement" is in a different font.
• Oh, that should be "requirements".

I could go on, but it would be more cruel than illustrative.

Why LinkedIn is now no better than spam.

LinkedIn used to be a great idea. In the efforts to monetize, it has been reduced to little more than a spam sender. Today I got a friendly but precise solicitation from a headhunter in London. But there are two show-stopper problems.

• At the bottom of it, there was a link to see his profile. The link does show a limited profile, but unless I upgrade to a paying service, I don't get to see any useful information, like the guy's full name. This asymmetry is unprofessional. When someone solicits me with an offer, I should be able to learn about them.
• If I click the "Not Interested" button, I get a page which offers me a choice or reasons why. That's all well and good, but there is a pre-selected check box which says "Accept the sender’s request and share my contact information". Really? The default is a unilateral "Put me in this guy's tickler list and don't tell me anything about them." I think not.

The whole balance has tipped towards headhunters trying to build a portfolio of people and away from people actually maintaining a high quality network of colleagues.

TSA PreCheck at SFO rocks!

I don't want to get into a debate about security theatre and my right to transport with or without ID. I just want to say that I had my best security check in ever today at SFO. It saved me 30 minutes in line and allowed me to catch an earlier flight than I had planned.

Viva la POTS

I've had every form of telecommunications service known to man in my house at one point or another. In spite of that, I have steadfastly refused to let Verizon "upgrade" the plain old telephone service on my main line with their FiOS offering. My stubbornness was vindicated this week, as I have lived without power in my house for 7 days now. I have no heat, no internet, marginal cell phone signal, but my telephone has worked flawlessly.

They will have to pry the POTS line from my cold, dead fingers.

Hurricanes - nature's way to wealth redistribution

Hurricane Sandy is expected to do billions of dollars of damage. A pessimist would look on this as a loss, but, ever the optimist, I see this as a wonderful boost to local economies and a redistribution of wealth. There will be basements to pump, trees to clear, windows to replace, roofs to repair, lawn gnomes to recover. Most of this will be done with local labor, putting work in the hands of people who could use it.

In the best cases, insurance claims will be picking up the tab. That's a Robin Hood scenario, where we steal from the dividend payments of stockholders, and place it in the pockets of people who work with their hands. OTOH, I do own stock in insurance companies, and don't work with my hands, so this is not really directly serving my interests. Blimey, this redistribution of wealth is trickier than I thought.

Ubuntu 12.04 - a worthless turd

I've used Ubuntu daily at work and home for the last 5 years. It's been great.

A few weeks ago, I made the mistake of letting the update manager update me to Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. I have had a barely working system since then.

• 2 displays on an Nvidia card seems completely broken. One of my heads is just dead, no matter what I do.
• It is unstable as a deck of cards on the titanic. Every 30 minutes it freezes, give me a bug report window, and restarts the session manager.
• The new desktop is an abomination, but that's a minor bug. I installed cinnamon to get back to something usable.
• Chrome would not work at all. I had to downgrade to Chromium.
• Networking was broken after the upgrade. In the past, you used to be able to hard assign an IP address, but still use dhcp to get the name servers from the dhcp server. Not any more. The network administration panel seems to have removed most features, so I ended up having to hand edit the start up files to hard assign the name servers.

After 2 weeks of fighting it, there is no alternative than to downgrade back to 10.x or switch to another distribution. And, before you even consider disagreeing with me, let me give you some background.

• I've been using Unix daily since 1978.
• I've written and modified various X window and session managers.
• I've written network trace analyzers.
• I've shipped several commercial software products, that had to install correctly and I had to support when they didn't work.

I'm not some noob off the street. When I conclude 12.04 was not ready to ship, it's because I recognize that it really is too unfinished to give to experts, let alone casual users.

The ITU should stop thinking it can run the internet

The ITU is a closed organization for governments to set up treaties about how communications will work. It wants to set the rules for the internet. That's not a good thing.
https://www.accessnow.org/page/s/itu

WTF: Milliwave XRay at Madison, WI Airport?

Why, I ask myself, why.

The Milliwave X-Ray is not proven safe, not proven to be trustworthy, but it makes good security theater. Why put it in a backwoods airport?

And why, if the TSA is going to deploy these things, can't they put up proper signage? Any frequent traveller knows that you can't have any paper in your pockets at all. That means cash in the pocket goes into your carry-on. Throw out all your tissues. Yet, they let the herds approach the checkpoint with no warning, so we're stuck waiting behind a line of people who take 45 seconds each, because they have no clue what to do.