VRophiles

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VRophiles
Number 2691
Broadcast Date FEBRUARY 17, 2016
Episode Length 43:41
Hosts Tom Merritt
Guests Scott Johnson, Darren Kitchen, Erin Carson

Apple takes a principled stance on encryption. Darren Kitchen gives us insight into the tech. And Erin Carson talks with Tom Merritt and Scott Johnson about what Google’s Cardboard means for the future of VR.

Guest

Headlines

Last night Magistrate Sheri Pym of the US District Court of Central California ordered Apple to assist the US FBI in breaking the password of an iPhone 5C used by one of the San Bernardino attackers. The FBI wants Apple to provide a Signed Image File that could be loaded using the Device Firmware Upgrade Mode to allow electronic entry of multiple passwords without delays or the mechanism that deletes the key after 10 tries. The key is getting Apple providing signed software so the phone in question trusts the upgrade. Apple is rejecting the request based on the precedent. In an open letter to customers, CEO Tim Cook wrote “Once created, the technique could be used over and over again, on any number of devices.” The EFF will support Apple’s appeal of the order.
There’s a lot of debate about what Apple could do here. If it wasn’t an iPhone 5C it would have the Secure Enclave associated with TouchID which Dan Guido says would be difficult to modify. Former Apple embedded security engineer John Kelley, now at Square, has said on Twitter that if Apple can be forced to modify iOS, they can be forced to modify SEP firmware as well.
SO: Apple is really fighting on principle. The All Writs Act of 1789 is the basis of the request and it would seem Apple needs to convince on appeal that the request is burdensome.
But what about the updatability of the Secure Enclave? Darren, does Appel have to write this security software in a way that would allow it to change it if it had to?

Twitter announced it is turning on a GIF button for all users over the coming weeks. It calls the button GIF search. The search is powered by Giphy and Riffsy. You can choose from pre-selected categories or by searching for specific words.
Facebook announced that any publisher can start using its Instant Articles platform starting April 12. Facebook launched the service with partners in May last year. It serves up articles within Facebook faster than if they were served by an external site.
Google introduced a feature called Gmailify to its Android app that checks email from other services like Yahoo, Hotmail and Outlook but manages the accounts as if they were hosted on Gmail’s servers. This will apply Gmail’s spam filters, organize emails by type, apply advanced search operators and add things like travel and hotel reservations to Google Now. Yahoo has a similar feature and Outlook has an import tool. Outlook.com came out of preview today as well.
Leap Motion announced a new project called Orion that integrates its motion tracking directly into virtual reality systems. Leap Motion expects several VR companies to release headsets that incorporate the Orion sensor.
Alphabet has renamed Google Ideas, its think tank, to be called Jigsaw. Google Ideas head Jared Cohen will serve as President of Jigsaw. The unit is charged with solving things like privacy, security, terrorism, human trafficking, etc. by influencing public policy.
Instagram has confirmed to Engadget that it has begun “slowly” rolling out two-factor authentication. The system sends an authentication code as a text message.
Apple told the Economic Times that it will open a new development office in Hyderabad, India with more than 150 people supporting maps development. The Economic Times believes the center could employ as many as 4500 people eventually at a 250,000 square feet centre in Tishman Speyer’s Wave Rock facility.
Indian mobile phone maker Ringing Bells has released an Android phone called the Freedom 251 for 251 Rupees or about US$4. The 3G 4-inch smartphone runs Android 5.1 on a 1.3GHz quad-core processor with a 960x540 display. The Next Web notes that the phone shown in a newspaper ad does not match the one on the website. Ringing Bells told NDTV’s Gadgets 360 the device was made possible with “immense support” from the government.” The company will accept pre-orders starting on Feb 18th and ship at the end of June.
Submitted by tech_engineer

Discussion

Pick of the Day

Hey Tom.
Just thought I'd pass along a great app I recently found that can best be described as Slack for gamers. It's called Discord. It's multi platform, free, has a great user interface, Giphy integration, voice chat and more. It's missing some things that Slack has, but they have been actively working in it in the past couple months I've used it.

As always, keep up the great work. ^_^
Submitted by Sean in fiber rich Kansas City

Messages

I think its just the fact that its live, it allows for quick reactions and as such just like irl misunderstandings could occur. If you can't handle it or it gets too much (btw Stephen Fry has had a history of depression so he may have left to preserve his own sanity) . People also tend to look at interactions as binary, its either all good or all bad. When I interact with people on social media I tend to use a continuum and explain that to people, and it ranges from disapproving look to your on my list. But I acknowledge that sometimes what the person said isn't all bad but this is the reason why they should think about what they said.
Sent by Marlon the guy from Trinidad


Hi Tom, Hi Scott,

Just wanted to add something to the discussion at the end of yesterday's show. I think a very important factor in the decision from both Stephen Fry and TotalBiscuit to leave Twitter is their mental health.

For as long as I can remember, Stephen Fry has been very public about having bipolar disorder. To put it in layman's terms, having bipolar disorder not only means that you are subject to mood variations (sometimes you're okay, sometimes you're depressed) but also that you are less capable of keeping your emotions in check. The mean tweets that are easy for us to just ignore have a much, much stronger impact on a person with a bipolar disorder.

I myself have a friend who has bipolar disorder and leaving Twitter for a few weeks is something she does every once in a while after she has a bad experience on Twitter.

Obviously, like you said yesterday, what needs to stop is the constant harassment & the way some people believe they are completely entitled to annoy people on Twitter. However the example of Stephen Fry is a very particular one, for the reasons I mentioned. I think the same goes for TotalBiscuit.

Cheers, love the show!
Sent by Guillaume from Brussels


Hi Tom!

I wanted to write in to respond to the 'Twitter Quitter' discussion on yesterday's show. You mentioned how a non-celebrity can still receive that kind of negativity when a post goes 'viral.' This happened to me in 2013.

I was in a school shooting at the end of 2013 during my senior year of high school. I was on staff at a publication at the time, and I published a long first-person feature account about the experience. It was an article designed to not have any political emphasis, but rather, offer an articulate understanding of what students go through in a shooting. (I really dislike how the media puts microphones in the faces of students right as they walk out of a school. They're looking for a dramatic quote. I wanted to write something more than that.)

The piece went 'viral' and got published on the New York Times, Washington Post, Denver Post, and several other sites. Then... Yahoo published it. In the article, I mentioned at one point that leaving the school felt like the cinematography of the D-Day scene in 'Saving Private Ryan.' It was absolutely surreal, chaotic, and it felt like the world had stopped. Yahoo only quoted me on this piece, and lo and behold, hundreds of veterans hopped on it and got very aggressive. They thought I was *literally* comparing a school shooting with two deaths to thousands dying in war. (Which I still think is a ridiculous way to interpret what I wrote.)

Anyway, amidst a good deal of much needed positivity, I also got heavily bombarded by hundreds of veterans via a poorly executed Yahoo news post. It was discouraging and certainly upsetting - especially when I started getting emails when they stalked me out on places like Google Plus. But, hey, I'm proud of the piece to this day. I was able to be a positive voice - and 99% of people took it the right way. Like Patrick said, though, it just takes a small amount to make it a big ordeal.

Keep up the great work on the show! I so love it; it's the second highlight of my day! (Sorry, TMS airs first :) )

Best,

PS - I'll link the actual article for you here, Tom. I was in the Arapahoe High School shooting. Below is a transcript of the article that ran, and that transcript was the one that was shared by NYT and Washington Post. I'll also link the Yahoo article I'm referring to...
Sent by Brett Stewart


Tom and Jennie:

Thought it was fun that the life of the quartz storage was 13.8 billion years which is the current age of the universe. Fun!

Thanks for all the great content as always.
Sent by Russell

YouTube

Links



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