DTNS WEEKLY TECH UPDATE 11/10/2016

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This week everybody's mind in the US has been on the election. Thankfully DTNS folks have been good to each other whichever side their on. I'm extremely thankful for that and have some thoughts on maintaining the positive. But first, this week's Biggest Stories-- in case you missed it: 

Here come Snapchat Spectacles

Twitter may yet sell Vine

Battling Skype hacks

Tesla to charge for superchargers

Google blocks repeat offenders

New Zealnd blocks Note 7

Samsung Voluntary Recall

Snap has started putting out vending machines to sell its $129 Spectacles product, a pair of sunglasses with a video camera designed to be used with Snapchat. Using a credit or debit card you can use the vending machine to choose Black, Coral or Teal Spectacles. The first vending machine appeared in the Abbott-Kinney area near Snap's headquarters in Venice Beach. The vending machines, called Snapbots, will move to a new location each day.     https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/10/snapchats-spectacles-will-be-sold-through-minion-like-vending-machines/?ncid=rss
--    https://twitter.com/acedtect/status/796788123359318016


Sources tell TechCrunch that Twitter is considering term sheets from multiple companies to buy Vine and has narrowed down the bidders from ten to five. Twitter announced October 27th that it would shut down Vine but keep the archives online.     https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/07/revive-vine/

You may have recently received a Skype message or two from friends with an inexplicable link to Baidu or some other website. It goes without saying you shouldn't click it. The Verge reports the issue comes from people who used a common username and password on Skype. It's particularly pervasive as some people have switched to using Microsoft accounts to log in to Skype, sometimes with two factor authentication on, but did not realize that an old Skype login also still worked. You can disable the old Skype login by signing in with it at account.microsoft.com, merging the accounts, and disabling the Skype alias.    http://www.theverge.com/2016/11/8/13561024/microsoft-skype-baidu-linkedin-hack

Tesla will limit free supercharging to buyers of all models of its cars for purchases after January 1st. After that date Tesla buyers will get 400 killowatt hours of free credit each year and each charge after that will carry a small fee. Tesla asserted it does not see the superchargers as profit centers and will keep the price below what you would pay fill a similar gasoline-powered car.     https://www.engadget.com/2016/11/07/tesla-asks-new-buyers-to-pay-for-superchargers/

"Google has added a class to its Safe Browsing anti-malware system called "repeat offenders."" While any site can immediately ask for review after its fixed any issues, repeat offenders will have to wait 30 days before a warning can be reviewed and removed. Google defines repeat offenders as ""sites that repeatedly switch between compliant and noncompliant behavior within a short window of time". Chrome, Firefox and Safari all use Google's safe browsing system.
    http://www.zdnet.com/article/google-to-malware-sites-well-brand-you-deceptive-for-a-month-no-reviews-allowed/

New Zealand phone companies will blacklist Samsung's fire-prone Galaxy Note 7 mobile phones in two weeks. The policy means any of the smartphones that have not already been returned to Samsung or its distributors will no longer be able to be used to make calls, send texts or connect to mobile broadband.    http://www.stuff.co.nz/business/industries/86104440/samsung-galaxy-note-7s-bricked-by-nz-telcos

Samsung is issuing a voluntary recall of 2.8 million washing machines manufactured between March 2011 and now. The company has 733 reports of the machines malfunctioning because of excessive vibration. Nine people were injured as a result. Samsung is offering free repair of the malfunction or a rebate to purchase a new Samsung washer.    https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/04/samsung-washing-machines/?ncid=rss


CLOSER LOOK - ACT LOCALLY

Thankfully the DTNS audience is excellent at leaving their politics at the door. I know for a fact that we have supporters of all four candidates that were on the ballot in most states.

So whether you were kvetching or crowing after Tuesday I want to thank you for keeping DTNS one of the few civil corners of the Internet over the past few days. Let's keep that up!

This wasn't just a presidential election after all here in the US. I was much more enthusiastic to vote for local offices that will impact me directly.

And I want to remind us (myself included) of something that I think is easy to forget in the wake of a big election like this. Whether you're on top of the world or not, the you don't need to leave it to the officeholders to do everything.

The Internet gives you a much easier and more effective way to act than ever before. And I don't mean using a hashtag on Twitter or reposting a link to think piece on Facebook. Get involved with something.

On the show Thursday we had a good interview with Chris Mitchell from the ILSR about communities in Colorado rallying to vote for the right of their city or county governments to take action to bring broadband to their town. These are both conservative and liberal areas. If that's something up your alley you can find out more at muninetworks.org and you don't even have to be in Colorado.

But it doesn't have to be bringing fiber to your area. You could also volunteer or offer opinions to local councils and neighborhood organizations on all kinds of technology initiatives. Maybe you can help people secure their laptops and phones. Maybe you can talk to folks about computer literacy at your church.

These are just examples, and I can feel some of you rolling your eyes because they don't apply to you. And maybe you don't have time to throw yourself into a big project. But you can also help out with little things. Help someone figure out the WiFi. Share a tip on freeing up storage. Recommend a good app. It's what we try to do every day on DTNS. Help people understand more about this confusing and ever-changing technology so we use it and not the other way around.

There's something, even if it's a little thing, that each of us can do to make the world a better place regardless of who you or the person you're helping voted for. Do that.