Cyber Vulnerabilities: Did You Know?

        “Car Hacked on 60 Minutes” is the headline that shrieks to grab your attention when you click on this CBS news article forwarded by Jim Hamm.  http://www.cbsnews.com/news/car-hacked-on-60-minutes/   

        Quoting from this article,"In a dramatic demonstration, he (Dan Kaufman) and his colleagues use a laptop computer to hack into a car being driven by Stahl. Much to her surprise, they were able to take control of many of the car's functions, including the braking and acceleration."  Be sure to read the article.  

        Bringing this notice to us was the response of Jim Hamm when queried about another eye-grabbing article about the risks of using SmartTV.  

        Samsung notifies their customers “Please be aware that if your spoken words include personal or other sensitive information, that information will be among the data captured and transmitted to a third party through your use of Voice Recognition.”

        See for yourself. Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2015/02/samsung-dont-discuss-personal-info-in-front-of-tv/#RvvFbokC3hbwfuwM.99

News About Comcast and TWC

        "Here's an interesting article about the possible purchase of Time Warner Cable (TWC) by Comcast. I don't use either service, but the author thinks, if the deal goes through, the consolidation will have a significant impact (not necessarily favorable for consumers) not only on TV, but the internet as well," remarks Jim Hamm. 

Here's the Help You Need

John Carter is a busy guy.  You've heard his PMUG presentations, maybe his SIG ones, too.  But John can give you personal help for those pesky problems that are slowing you down.          At Saturday's PMUG meeting former Prez Howard LaPittus was bragging on John's helpfulness. Email John here.   And he passes along the following info, too.         Zenda Sergo is another local resource for anyone looking to take a formal class on how to use their Apple device or to learn a particular app like iPhoto or Pages. Zenda has a website that shows what classes she is offering. All classes are 2 hours in length, and she provides handouts ("Unlike me," comments John. "but then I don't have a formal class schedule to work from.").   Click here for her website.

Satisfied with Your Cable Company, etc.?

        David Passell's sharp eye for interesting info found this and he writes, "I was not aware that so many people 'hate' their cable company. How about Cableone.net (is it associated with any listed in their table?  
        "NOTE: I thought CenturyLink was my landline telephone service which also provides Internet (speed 'up to' 10 MB. around 1 where I live, I am told). My personal feeling is until internet content delivery is not dependent on a two-way interchange of information (unlike off-air TV, satellite, and radio) between server and client there will always be a problem. The people who make money would not be happy with a different arrangement:(."
        Here's one article: http://stopthecap.com/2013/05/21/earth-shattering-news-you-still-hate-your-cable-company/
        Here's the American Customer Satisfaction Index, ACSI, dated May 2013.  http://stopthecap.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/acsi-quarterly-results-may-2013.pdf
Apple leads the cellular telephone score from ACSI, shown on page 13.  A graph of customer satisfaction by industry is shown on page 17. 

DVD or Blu-ray Player Gotcha

        David Passell sends along this article by Jim Clark, from the Yavapai Amateur Radio Club Newsletter.
         "If you have a working TV DVD or Blu-ray player, it is suggested that you DO NOT REPLACE IT with a newer version, especially one that does not connect with component (yellow, white, red) connectors. Also true for computer DVD or B-E (Blu-ray) recorder/players. Reason: The newer ones are designed to ONLY play commercial DVDs or Blu-rays. The new ones will not play home recorded or converted camcorder DVD's — take heed and if you must buy one (new or used) for a TV look for the yellow, red, white component connectors on the back and test them out in any case. There might still be some older ones left in the stores. 
        "Keep your old one just in case.

        "This is a Sony and others' change supposedly to prevent movie piracy. There are workarounds like Locksmith on the Internet but you have to keep updating to keep ahead of the constant changes and need to be somewhat technically oriented to do that. If you already have a newer Blu-ray player you might be too late for home-recorded Blu-rays but look around on Craigslist for an older one if you need one and test it out before buying." 

        So, what do you think? We put the question to Jim Hamm, and here he enters the discussion: "Very interesting. Coincidentally, we just recently (within two weeks) purchased two new DVD Blu-ray players from Costco. They are the Samsung brand, and they connect to the TV with a HDMI plug. We don't happen to have a home-recorded DVD movie to try to see if it would play on the Blu-ray player.

        "This makes sense from the perspective of Sony and other DVD manufacturers such as Samsung. But it probably won't sit well with people who have copies of DVDs. We'll be at our condo Monday and I'll see if I can pick up a home-recorded movie from our daughter and son-in-law. If yes, we'll bring it home and see if it will play. I'll let you know the results."