Archive for October 6, 2017

RIP AOL Instant Messenger

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 6, 2017 by itnerd

It’s 20 years old and it is now about to be deep sixed. I’m talking about AOL Instant Messenger which according to this blog post is to be no more on December 15, 2017 thanks to Verizon who got AOL when they bought Yahoo. They didn’t say what if anything will replace it.

Now those of a certain age, such as myself, will remember AOL Instant Messenger as the dominant instant messaging platform out there when Netscape was the browser of choice.

You might want to pour AOL Instant Messenger a pint and give it a toast today.

 

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White House Chief Of Staff May Have Used Pwned iPhone For Months

Posted in Commentary with tags on October 6, 2017 by itnerd

White House officials believe that chief of staff John Kelly may have been using a personal phone for months which may have been pwned by hackers. And reading this story about this is absolutely mind blowing:

The discovery raises concerns that hackers or foreign governments may have had access to data on Kelly’s phone while he was secretary of Homeland Security and after he joined the West Wing.

Tech support staff discovered the suspected breach after Kelly turned his phone in to White House tech support this summer complaining that it wasn’t working or updating software properly.

Kelly told the staffers the phone hadn’t been working properly for months, according to the officials.

White House aides prepared a one-page September memo summarizing the incident, which was circulated throughout the administration.

Oh boy. That’s bad. Really bad. Various governments buy 0-day exploits. And these type of exploits on iOS are extremely valuable. We’ve already seen that the NSA and CIA both developed and stockpiled their own Thus it seems reasonable that foreign governments would be doing the same thing. You have to wonder if there’s more of these sorts of revelations to come.

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Review: 2018 Mazda CX-3 GT AWD – Part 5

Posted in Products with tags on October 6, 2017 by itnerd

So I’ve come to the end of my week long review of the Mazda CX-3 GT AWD. Mazda has made some changes for the 2018 model year that have taken a sub-compact crossover that was one of the best options in a very crowded marketplace and made it better. One thing that I need to point out is the fact that Mazda’s Smart City Brake Support feature is now a standard feature. That means everyone has access to a key piece of safety technology. It also makes the CX-3 an even more compelling option in the sub-compact space.

My final fuel economy was 7.9 L/100KM’s which is pretty good given that the CX-3 has all-wheel drive. Plus if you take into account the changes that Mazda made to the suspension encourages you to drive in a more “spirited” manner which typically does not contribute to saving gas, you can upgrade this to being an outstanding result.

If you wanted to cross shop it, contenders would include the Nissan Juke and Qashqai, Chevy Trax and it’s corporate cousin the Buick Encore, the Jeep Renegade and corporate cousin the Fiat 500X, and Honda HR-V. Given that Mazda has a class above interior and a healthy amount of tech on board, you could also start to cross shop it against the Mercedes Benz GLA, Infiniti QX-50 and BMW X1 for good measure.

The 2018 Mazda CX-3 starts at just under $20,000, and goes up to $30,995 for the GT trim level that I tested this week. If you live in an urban environment and want a small versatile vehicle that is easy to park and maneuver in tight spaces, or you want to downsize to a vehicle that is “just right” in terms of size, you have to look at the Mazda CX-3. Mazda has upped this sub compact crossover’s game, and it is still a winner as far as I am concerned.

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