Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever. Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2. ISO 27001 and more, saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust. Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center. All powered by Vanta AI.
Over 7,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash go. That's vanta.com slash go for $1,000 off.
Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever. Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2. ISO 27001 and more, saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust. Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center. All powered by Vanta AI.
Over 7,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash go. That's vanta.com slash go for $1,000 off. A factual data creation facility production. Bye. Welcome to the OFNT Podcast, episode 245, which I'm calling Unpacking, as in unpacking 30 years of stuff. Yeah, it's not fun at all.
Though we've been discarding things since last April, we found that we still have way too many things. So, trips to the local landfill are on the docket. We're in the middle of a cold snap here in Tennessee, which included snow flurries. We're hoping that's the last of the white stuff for the year. Well, the sale of the old property is going well. We should be in contract by next week, God willing. Hey, I have an idea. Why don't I start this episode right now? Oh, yes. Good to go.
Hey, before I start I'll give you an update on our move. Well, it's not really a move anymore, it's more like a settling in. We've managed to unpack most of our belongings and are settling in quite well. We still have a way to go, but it won't be long now. Next week, I'll trade in my New York State driver's license for a Tennessee-issued one, and will register my car shortly after. Although Tennessee is a permitless weapon-carry state, I'll still have to re-qualify to update my Leosa card.
which is a weapon permit for retired law enforcement officers. This way I can travel the 50 states armed. Why would I do that? Well, because you never know. Though the unpacking is mostly done... I'll still be very busy until the old house is sold, which is why the episodes will probably be shorter. I might even miss an episode now and then. Anyway, thanks for sticking around during this turbulent time in my life.
Tech news. This week, I've got a more balanced tech news report compared to last week's Apple News overload. Yay! First up. MacRumors.com quotes Tom Hale, who's the CEO of Aura, the smart ring manufacturer, as saying, quote, an Apple smart ring probably won't happen because it's hard to do a product in this category right, unquote.
Hmm, that sounds like a challenge being thrown down to Apple. Perhaps Mr. Hale is underestimating Apple's capabilities. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking. After all, if Apple enters the smart ring market... I believe it will eventually lead to the eventual demise of Aura. Now, if Apple did indeed enter the smart ring market, I wouldn't immediately discard my Aura ring.
The Apple product would need to offer some substantial advantages over the aura. I would also wait for a second or even third generation of an Apple smart ring in order to give the giant fruit company a chance to work out the bugs. Regardless, if you start hearing about Apple poaching employees from Aura or other smart ring manufacturers, then you know they're serious about entering the market.
Now here's a story I find intriguing from appleinsider.com that garnered widespread attention from various tech-orientated publications. Back in 2010, Apple co-founder and then-CEO Steve Jobs... shared with biographer Walter Isaacson that he had figured out the code of television sets. Mr. Jobs was quoted as saying, I cracked it, and added that the Apple TV set would be completely easy to use. However...
Then Apple chief operating officer and current CEO Tim Cook swiftly dismissed this claim at the time, asserting that Apple had no interest in entering the television market. Understandably. Cook's statement makes sense given the thin financial margins in the television industry, which would go against Apple's core philosophy. The rumor of an Apple television set resurfaced around the introduction of the...
Apple TV streaming box, but it soon fizzled out. It's estimated that Apple TV streaming box currently holds only a 3% market share. So why would they venture into the television set market? In my opinion, the underlying reason for this rumor is that Apple is probably seeking a partner, most likely LG, in order to integrate the Apple TV Plus streaming service and tvOS on their sets.
This sort of partnership makes more sense than Apple directly entering the television-set hardware manufacturing market. tvOS stands out as the most user-friendly and visually appealing interface I've encountered. surpassing even Roku and Amazon's Fire TV, both of which I've used in the past. In the future, I can envision myself purchasing a television set that runs on tvOS in lieu of a separate streaming box.
According to an article on 9to5google.com, the U.S. Department of Justice shared its recommendations for penalties to a judge after Google was found to have a monopoly over online search. The most significant recommendation is for Google to sell its Chrome browser to a buyer approved by the plaintiffs. If this really happens, hopefully the new buyer will take steps to prevent Chrome from not only monopolizing the ad market,
but also from monopolizing system memory. See what I did there? No. Oh well. The DOJ also wants the judge to prohibit Google from creating another browser to replace Chrome. While the government isn't immediately asking Google to sell the Android operating system, it retains the option to do so if these measures fail to restore competition.
The DOJ also doesn't want Google to be allowed to provide preferential access to Android or Google-owned apps or data for itself compared to what it allows third parties. Google will also be prohibited from paying or offering terms to Apple or other entities to use its search engine, which would eliminate the billion dollars Apple currently receives yearly from Google just for that purpose.
There are other actions requested by the DOJ that I won't cover here. If, despite these actions, Google still maintains a monopoly, well, the DOJ has the right to force Google to divest itself of Android. That would be a pretty significant move, wouldn't it? Yes. Google has issued a statement warning that these actions could jeopardize the security and privacy of millions of Americans.
While Android OS has made progress in terms of security and privacy over the years, it still lags behind Apple. Google also claims these actions would chill, that's their words, the company's investment in AI. and hinder people's ability to access Google search, hey, that could be actually beneficial if you ask me.
and mandate government micromanagement of Google Search and other technologies by appointing a technical committee with substantial power over online experiences. Now, I'm not a fan of governments attempting to control the... internet no but the big g has been proven to manipulate search results in its favor even for its preferred political candidates perhaps google ceo should have learned from apple ceo
Tim Cook, China, who has been engaging in meetings and phone calls with the current president-elect. Continuing news about Google, 9to5google.com has the following headline, quote, Google reportedly fully migrating Chrome OS over to Android, unquote. The article, which further references an article published on AndroidAuthority.com,
reveals Google's intention to equip future Chromebooks with the Android operating system. What? This move follows announcements from Google earlier this year that Chrome OS would adopt some of Android's components and be integrated with the Android Linux kernel and frameworks. The reason behind these changes that were given were to accelerate AI innovation, simplify engineering,
and enhanced compatibility between Chromebooks and various devices like phones and accessories. Consequently, Chrome OS would resemble Android more closely beneath the hood. However, it seems Google has decided to eliminate Chrome OS entirely and remake Android OS into a full-fledged laptop operating system. From a business perspective, this decision makes sense.
Why maintain two distinct products when one can go on to dominate the market? According to sources within Google, the ultimate goal is to create a tablet OS that can surpass Apple's iPad. Well, achieving this goal will be challenging as Android currently lacks essential functions needed in order to run a laptop or a desktop, such as mouse support, windowing, and external display support.
While Google can add these features, the time required and potential bugs that need to be addressed are concerning. Additionally, will developers embrace an expanded Android? Chrome OS already possesses these features and has proven its stability and user-friendliness, which allowed it to dominate the education market. Furthermore, security is another aspect to consider.
Will this new Android be as secure as the current Chrome OS? You know, the old adage is, if it isn't broken, don't fix it, holds true in this case. However, Google appears to have adopted the US government's approach, which is... If it isn't broken, fix it until it is. We'll simply have to wait and see whether this strategy proves successful for Google.
As for me, any future plans I had for acquiring a Chromebook are now rendered obsolete. This leaked Pixel laptop is likely to run Android, not Chrome OS. And that's the headline from an article on androidauthority.com. Back in 2017, Google released the original Google Pixelbook. It was a beautiful machine that met all my requirements for a laptop.
It had a high-quality screen, a backlit keyboard, and a powerful Intel CPU. At the time, I hadn't yet bought an Apple laptop, so I was eager to get my hands on the Pixelbook. However, the high price tag of $1,500 kept me from purchasing it. Instead, I bought a MacBook Pro for less money than that Pixelbook cost. Since then, Google has released more Pixelbooks, but none have matched the original, especially in build quality.
The article claims that this new Pixelbook will feature reasonably advanced hardware comparable to MacBook Pros or Microsoft Surface laptops. If true, I'd say that's pretty advanced. Yes. Like the original Pixelbook, this advanced hardware will likely come with a premium price. The question is, will consumers be willing to pay MacBook Pro prices for a machine running Android? I doubt it.
Most people would be better off buying a mid-range Windows machine and using Microsoft's PhoneLink app. While employed, I use PhoneLink with my work computer, and it worked perfectly. 9to5google.com is reporting that Google has canceled the Pixel Tablet 2 due to profitability concerns. This model was intended as sort of a placeholder until the more feature-rich Pixel Tablet 3 was ready.
which would feature a more powerful tensor chip and a first-party keyboard case with a touchpad, similar to what the Apple iPad Pro cases are like. However, the Pixel Tablet 2 would have lacked the powerful Tensor chip and the first-party case, making it less appealing to potential buyers. A common issue with the past Pixel tablets and Android tablets in general is that many software developers haven't bothered to optimize their apps for these devices. Consequently, the...
Most popular Android tablets on the market are aggressively priced Fire tablets from Amazon. Over the years, I've purchased numerous Fire tablets for my six, count them, six grandsons, and they've proven quite reliable. In my opinion, if these trends persist, there's no future for Android tablets, especially high-end ones. That's just my opinion. I could be wrong.
Microsoft held its annual Ignite event last week, which is aimed at enterprises. At least that's what I think it's aimed at. I must confess that I didn't watch Ignite live, but did watch CNET's recap of it. The only thing that caught my eye was the announcement of Microsoft's first desktop PC. And it's called the Windows 365 Link. This desktop PC isn't a full-blown PC at all.
It's actually a thin client contained in a form factor which is even smaller than the recently introduced Apple Mac Mini. The Microsoft 365 link won't let users establish a permanent account on it. Nor will it let users download anything onto its paltry 64 gigs of storage. The link will sell for $349.
This device announcement set the old intertubes alight with people saying things like, Why would I pay $349 for this thing when I could buy a more powerful Mac Mini for a little over $100 more? And the like.
While the link is not aimed at consumers, it's aimed at enterprise users and, though not mentioned, government users. Along with that small storage capacity, the link will have 8 gigs of RAM, can output to two external 4K monitors, has an audio jack, an Ethernet jack, a display port, an HDMI connector, an Ethernet port, three USB-A ports, and one USB-C port.
The link boots in seconds and wakes out of sleep mode instantly. Now you add in Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 capability and you have to admit this small box is jam-packed with features. The downside? You know, there's always a downside. Besides not being able to store anything on it, you need an internet connection for the link to do anything. Without internet, you basically have an expensive paperweight.
You also have to have a Windows 365 subscription in order to use it. Hey, but what about AI, you may ask? Well, Microsoft has you covered as the company plans to add its advanced Copilot Plus features to Windows 365 next year. Now, based on my experience, I feel that the link will sell very well, especially to government entities.
While I was still employed by old Uncle Sam, we used Dell mini PCs with essential programs like Word, Excel, and others pre-installed. Eventually, we were moved over to Windows 365, and everything we did was via the cloud. The Windows 365 link would function very well in this sort of environment and be easier for IT to manage. You just know the government was paying too much for those Dell mini PCs, probably much more than they'll pay for the link.
In past episodes of this podcast, I told of having to be one step ahead of the IT department in order to be able to write scripts for my podcast while at work. Yes. At first, I used iCloud.com until IT restricted access to it. Darn you guys. Then use the hard copy of Word which resided on my computer while being signed into my OneDrive account for syncing with my home computer. Until IT restricted that also.
Eventually, when we were switched over to Office 365, as Windows 365 was known back then, I figured out that I could log into my personal Office 365 account and use it on my government computer. with OneDrive syncing to my home computer flawlessly. I would imagine that this would still be possible, maybe even easier, using the new Windows 365 link. Check I'm using. If you've been listening to this sorry excuse of a podcast for a while.
Then you know that I've repeatedly stated that I would never install the video conferencing app Zoom on any of my computing devices. Well, I have, but hear me out. As you probably know, I'm selling my old property up in New York. Well, it seems that my real estate agent and her company use Zoom. So since I'm down here in the great state of Tennessee now...
That's her preferred method for communicating with me. I've received a few offers on the place and was asked by her to download Zoom. I did, but I didn't install the Security Challenged app on my laptop nor my desktop. but did install it on my iPad. As soon as my business with my agent concludes, I'll be deleting it. The only other video conferencing software I have extensive experience with is Microsoft Teams.
And if you didn't know, it's the official video conferencing software of the U.S. government. I've played around with Google Meet and dabbled with RingCentral in the past, but I'm most familiar with Teams. In my so far brief experience with Zoom, it was very easy to install and set up. My real estate agent was hosting the meeting, so I was expecting a meeting link via email. Well, that's the way teams would handle a meeting request.
Well, it appears that with Zoom, the invitation to a meeting is handled within the app. As far as the actual Zoom meeting, it went well, both in content and format. But it was nothing special. Audio and video were good, but my agent never figured out how to screen share with me. After the property selling process ends, I'll be sticking to Teams as I'm most familiar with it.
Besides that, there's nothing on the horizon as far as new tech coming my way. Wait a minute, what? I do have the Peloton bike and LG television set coming real soon now. The mic is scheduled to be delivered on the 26th of this month, while the television is scheduled for the 6th of December. And I just remembered.
A little piece of tech I acquired years ago that I had seldom used has come in handy recently. It's an off-brand laptop hub which plugs into the two USB-C slots on my MacBook Air. Though the trackpad on the MacBook worked fine, I found that I work better and quicker using a mouse. And of course, I have a spare Apple Magic Mouse laying around I could use. But what I didn't have was a USB-C to lightning connector cable.
Now I need this cable to be able to pair the Magic Mouse to my laptop and also to charge it. Luckily, I had this hub readily accessible because I carried it around in my computer goodie bag. The hub provides me with a mini and full-size SD card reader, three USB-A ports, and a USB-C port. If you don't have a hub such as this for your laptop, I'd recommend purchasing one.
They sell for around 20 bucks on Amazon the last time I checked. You'll find that they're well worth it. Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices. and establishing trust is more important than ever. Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2, ISO 27001 and more, saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust.
Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center. All powered by Vanta AI. Over 7,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash go. That's vanta.com slash go for $1,000 off.
Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever. Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2. ISO 27001 and more. Saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust. Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center. All powered by Vanta AI.
Over 7,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash go. That's vanta.com slash go for $1,000 off. Entertainment news. Last week I made a decision to switch out DirecTV for Sling TV as my primary live streaming service. However, I'm beginning to regret that choice.
After a week of testing it out, it seems that most of what Sling offers is essentially a repackaged version of Pluto TV. The only difference being that Pluto TV is free of charge. One significant drawback of Sling is the absence of local channels. Besides four sports channels, most of the channels could be considered a junk. The sports channels that Sling does offer are ESPN,
ESPN1, ESPN2, and FS1. But this limited selection has made me reconsider my decision. I'm contemplating going back to DirecTV or even considering YouTube TV. I'll evaluate Sling TV again next spring when baseball season begins. Part 2 of the last season of the now Netflix series Cobra Kai is available. Over the last couple of evenings, my wife and I consumed all five episodes. This is actually part two of the show's sixth and final season, with a third and final part coming early next year.
Cobra Kai started as a YouTube Red show and was dropped after two seasons. I think it was two, don't quote me on that. And that's when YouTube decided not to continue carrying its own original programming. Netflix then picked the show up and the rest is history as they say. I was never a fan of the Karate Kid movies this series is based upon.
but was intrigued by the television series' premise that the Karate Kid may not have been the hero the movies portrayed him as. Those first seasons that aired on YouTube were the best, in my opinion, and it's been sort of downhill from there. It's not that the rest of the seasons are bad. It's just that they get away from telling the story of the Karate Kid's movie's main nemesis. The final season and the couple before it are sickly produced.
showing that more money has been invested into the show. I still miss the grittiness of those first seasons, though, but that's just me. This current and final season, well, part two of the final season, finds a team in Barcelona, Spain attending, what else? A karate tournament. There are many twists and turns which help build up the show's finale, and the last episode ended with a cliffhanger.
While it will be sad to see Cobra Kai end, you can tell the creators and writers have had enough of the project, which probably has gone on much longer than they expected it to. If you're like me, you weren't a fan of the original Karate Kid movie franchise. Well, Cobra Kai is different, and it's really worth a watch in my opinion anyway.
Another television series we like here at the old fart residence is Yellowstone. Though the lead actor of the series, Kevin Costner, has bailed, we still are interested in seeing how things go without him. We were able to catch the first Costner episode last week, but we won't be able to watch any further episodes.
The reason for this is that Yellowstone airs only on the Paramount network. And while DirecTV had the channel, Sling doesn't. Now you'd figure that the Paramount Plus streaming service would carry the show, right? Yeah, that would make too much sense. The reason for limiting the wildly successful Yellowstone to a somewhat obscure network might be because the execs over at Paramount have low expectations for it.
Well, perhaps Netflix or some other content streaming service will eventually pick Yellowstone up. Or perhaps not. Podcast news. Conspiracy theorist and all-around loudmouth Alex Jones had his Infowar properties, including his studio and equipment seized last week, in order to fulfill a billion-dollar judgment against him. Or were they?
The judgments were levied against him during a series of lawsuits brought by the relatives of the victims from the Sandy Hook school mass shooting. His properties were seized, but what took place after was controversial. Jones' properties were supposed to be auctioned off to the highest bidder, but what actually took place was a sweetheart deal given to the once-humorous Onion satire website, now headed by a radical leftist group.
The Onion was not the highest bidder, but had the backing of the Sandy Hook victim's relatives who pledged to supply the amount of cash that the Onion couldn't come up with by using future earnings from the judgments towards the bid amount. A little dirty pool being played here if you ask me, but who's asking? Those people will never collect much or maybe anything more from those judgments.
Jones took this to the courts and a judge suspended the sale of InfoWars pending an investigation. You know, I'm not a fan of Alex Jones, but he was the impetus for the formation of the Podcast Index. and Podcasting 2.0. That's because the podfather, Adam Curry, Watched as a coordinated attack on Infowars and other podcasts resulted in them being deplatformed. Spotify, Google, Apple, and others did this all on the same day.
Mr. Curry saw the ease in which this was accomplished and it repulsed him. Well, we'll see what comes of all this. In another attempt to stifle free speech, Podchaser, which is a podcast index in its own right, We'll now rate podcasts using political skews. Podchaser joins the horde of government-funded content rating companies. that formed during the bad days of COVID. This new so-called service is aimed at advertisers who wish to protect their brand. We all know how this plays out.
If your show skews to the right, well, you won't be getting much advertising for your show. If you're aligned with the current message, your show will be showered with ad money. One of these days, I'll take a gander at Podchaser to see how the OFNT podcast's political skew is rated. Then again, this podcast is so minuscule, it probably won't have any rating.
This political skew rating system will hurt podcasters who depend on advertisement money to survive. Shows like mine, though I do have ads enabled, don't depend on ad money to exist. I, and others like me, podcast for the joy of doing so. I make no living doing this. In the past, I did make some money from listener donations on another politically-themed show that I'd hosted.
It was called Straight from the Desk. But though the money was good, I quickly tired of politics and the anger it brought me. I was attempting to start a revamped version of the SFTD podcast, rebranded News from the Fringe. But it never got past a couple of teaser episodes. I just didn't have it in me to start yapping about politics again.
The value for value method in which the listeners support the show is the way to go. And I bet more podcasts will be using this method in the future. As far as the OFNT podcast goes. I've lost most of my domestic audience, but my overseas audience is holding steady. Overall, my listener numbers are but a shadow of what they once were. But I'll keep doing this because I want to. Even if my audience falls to just one listener, I'll keep producing episodes. I won't stop until I no longer enjoy it.
the music is playing as this episode of the OFNT podcast starts to end on this chilly autumn evening I hope you enjoyed this episode I enjoyed making it for you If you like what you heard, you can make a donation using the link in the show notes. Any and all donations will be greatly appreciated. You can always reach me at OFNTpodcast at gmail.com. And that's only if you're so inclined and enjoy hearing from you. Remember, don't listen to what they say. Watch.
what they do. Well, thank goodness for less audience numbers because the area my new house sits upon isn't even a third of the size of the old place. Well, regardless of all that, get off my lawn. Stay skeptical. I'm out. See ya.
Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever. Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2. ISO 27001 and more, saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust. Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center. All powered by Vanta AI.
Over 7,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash go. That's vanta.com slash go for $1,000 off.
Whether you're starting or scaling your company's security program, demonstrating top-notch security practices and establishing trust is more important than ever. Vanta automates compliance for SOC 2. ISO 27001 and more, saving you time and money while helping you build customer trust. Plus, you can streamline security reviews by automating questionnaires and demonstrating your security posture with a customer-facing trust center. All powered by Vanta AI.
Over 7,000 global companies like Atlassian, FlowHealth and Quora use Vanta to manage risk and prove security in real time. Get $1,000 off Vanta when you go to vanta.com slash go. That's vanta.com slash go for $1,000 off.