Last apple product

Last apple product

I have used and owned Apple products for most of my life.  But sadly, after I will probably get an iPhone, (not sure yet what one) in 2019 it will most likely be the last Apple product I ever own.  I say this with a heavy heart.  I have and still have many Apple products, from the original click wheel iPod, iTouch, MBP 17”, to three iPads including the 12”.  However, the current crop of Apple products seems to have lost their glamour and reason.  The product types and usefulness are now seemed to be driven by form first rather than the balance of function and form together.  I place function first in the list then form for a reason.  I will explain:  While it is true that if the product does not look good it may never get purchased, it also goes that if the product is not sturdy and reliable then the best-looking product is worthless in the long run.  Therefore, function and forms must go hand in hand and function must be first in the idea and creation of the product.   

I define form and function as follows.  Function is the usage of the product, the reliability, the parts and how they interact and work with each other.  The strength and long-term reliability are part of the product. Many items in the form line may never been seen or felt.  Form is how the product looks, the colors the feel of the product and its parts that are touched and seen.   At times form may feel like function and function may feel like form. A keyboard, for example, how it feels and how reliable it is how form and function work together. Having a speck of dirt being lodged in a part that can only be replaced by replacing the entire lower section is a failure even if the keys are thinner to the look and comfortable to the touch. 

In the past, Steve Jobs and early after Steven Jobs passing, the Apple products followed a function over form.  Looking close at the current products, except for now the iPhone, it is form over function with less looking at the function aspect.  Many of the products like iPads and laptops are much thinner than in the past, but I ask, do they really need to be?   Do a few millimeters thickness on an iPad really make the product any better, or just a larger profit for the bottom line?  Apple is special and has always been special with its people that make and use the product.  Now it seems to be just like any other technology company to use as few materials as you can to make it work and keep the price as high as you can.  For a product that is special that is all fine, but lately if you really look at the product, is it really that special any more for the price and quality? 

The current headlines of easy to bend iPads, because they are so thin, iMac and iMac pros that have a single speck of dust get sucked into the system and cause the display to have issues because they wanted it to be paper thin and not have a dust filter place in the sections that draw in air to help in cooling, show the form over function loss of direction.   I do understand that any company needs to keep the cost of the parts down to have a required percentage profit on each product, you can do that with a function over form focus.  It’s been done in the company’s past and they have been quite profitable.  Following the form over function focuses may not harm your bottom line for a while, because you have other revenue streams, but it will harm the people’s belief in your later products.    

Sadly, again I am one that will most likely never again get an Apple laptop or an iPad, and I am not able to recommend one to others.  I like the security of the software bug fix upgrade path better than android for tablets, and the ability to run office products on a mac rather than windows, but I can get a lower priced and better-quality and feel hardware, then put a Linux based operating systems on it and have just as good security that I like to use for me. Being forced to do it because your idea of better only means removing or forcing me to use some new design that you feel looks good but does not work in my environment.  

I hope to come back someday…  Thanks again for the past. 

IoT

IoT Future Fail

IoT (Internet of Things) – is the Internet working of physical devices, vehicles (also referred to as “connected devices” and “smart devices”), buildings and other items—embedded with electronics, software, sensors, actuators, and network connectivity that enable these objects to collect and exchange data.
In simple terms IoT can be a thermostat, or web-cam or even baby monitor you have that can be connected to the INTERNET and accessed remotely. Many people have started to install them at their homes, some of it is to help them feel more secure when they are away, others want to be able to control parts of the home from other parts of the home and still others are just getting caught up on the hype of having them installed in their home. For whatever reason, good or bad, they have become more and more integrated into our lives. Sadly, security for them is not very high on the minds of the people creating them.

IoT devices are becoming a major target for attacks and gathering information by attackers including governments, about you and your family. Connecting to your web-cam and spying on you or play around with your thermostat is just a small sample of what can be done. The biggest problem is what is called bot-nets and the attacks that can be implemented with them. The codes to create them are freely available to anyone. The most dangerous attack is called a DDoS or a Distributed Denial of Service attack. This is where they connect to hundreds or even thousands of IoT devices and redirect the feed to a single device or location. There is so much junk traffic going to one location that it will effectively overwhelm the site and make it unreachable, thereby kicking it off the Internet. Not good for you if it’s your site or not good for others knowing that your IoT device is open to be attacked.

Some ways it is not unexpected for a device that may only cost twenty or thirty dollars, but even devices that cost over two hundred dollars are open to such attacks. There is too little thought about security issues. The idea is that if it is only a consumer device, there is no reason to spend the money on it. Cost consideration plays deeply into the bottom lines of many of the company that make the devices. Some of the biggest issues are well known user id’s and passwords that are never changed when installed. It can be hard to change the password on the devices and some have no option to change them at all. This is not to say you should not use the devices if they will be useful for you, by all means use them. However, if installed make sure you at least do a little security on them and change the passwords, if they cannot be changed then do not buy them. If the company is aware that the lack of security is the reason people are not buying or gets bad publicity over the lack of security, that will get the company’s attention. It is true that you will need to do some research into the device you are planning on purchasing, but with a little effort, you can help everyone be more secure, including yourself. Think of it this way, would you want someone you do not know, to connect to your web-cams and watch your family without your knowledge? Thieves would also know when no one is home or on vacation.
Take the extra time and effort to look for IoT devices that can be secured and have the possibility to be secured if a flaw is found in them. Make sure you change the passwords on the devices and if possible change the login names as well to make it more difficult for people to guess the access. Again do your research and ask questions about what you are looking to get. If the questions don’t seem helpful ask again or look for other devices. Yes it is work, but in the long run everyone will benefit from it. Lets try and end the IoUT (Internet of Unpatchable things) for all time

Thanks

The DNS problem Monday 7/9/2012

Wanted to post a bit of a clear up for all the poor description and hype that most of the media is saying in regards to Mondays shutting down of the FBI usages of infected servers that will be causing some issues to people.

First of all it will not as some news outlets have been saying “Preventing you from accessing the internet” it will also not prevent you connecting to your ISP. It will work irregardless of Monday, unless of course your ISP is having issues, they do from time to time, its normal. All that is happening is your DNS requests, those are the requests that transfer the name of a site to its IP or address number will not work. What you may get is a site not found or location not found error, depending on your web browser, (Firefox, IE, Safari, etc.). For example if you go to www.google.com your DNS will change the info to 67.345.22.34 for example so it can be routed to Google. To fix this it is quite easy, go into your DNS settings and make sure they are defined for you ISP or you can use some public third party, and in some cases more stable DNS servers like OpenDNS, GoogleDNS, etc. I will at the end of this posting list a few of them you can use.

For Linux,
Generally edit your resolv.conf and put the proper entry’s in them, some Linux’s have programs that you run, so that others you can just edit the file directly.

For OSX,
Select the Systems Preferences application, then select the Network icon (looks like a little circle with lines in it), you should see entries like AirPort, Ethernet, FireWire. Select the connection you are using then select the connect properties. A new window should open with DNS button along the bar. Using the + or – keys enter or remove the DNS entry’s, you must have the “.” between each set of numbers then select OK to save.

For Windows,
This may be a bit different depending on your version of windows, go to the Control Panel, then select Network Connections and select local network. Click the Properties, then select Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Click on Properties, in the lower section of the dialog box you will see Preferred DNS and Alternate DNS box’s. Enter the numbers in the box. you may have to click on the “Use the following DNS server address:” button. the click “OK” and your done.

Here is a bit of advanced setting.- cool to know but not super important to change.

You can use a file called a “hosts” to enter names and IP addresses out side of the DNS service. the file is called hosts, you will need to look at your systems to find it. Some are in /etc others are in C:\WINDOWS\system32\drivers\etc\. Its a simple text file, you enter the IP address and the name and it will be read first before checking with the DNS servers. If you don’t understand this then don’t worry you don’t need to change anything.

Some of the public DNS site ID’s you can use

for OpenDNS its – 208.67.220.220 and 208.67.222.222
for googleDNS its – 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4

That’s all for now

Happy surfing

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Welcome to OtakuSystems LLC

Check back from time to time for updates and information on Linux, Unix,Open Source, Security and some general information on other operating systems and IT in general.