Tuesday Sweep: 27 February 2018
Your weekly reminder to back up your data, update software and otherwise pay attention to your digital environment. (Oh, and to go to the CRASH Space meeting…)
Jump in Here
- Welcome. If you haven’t been following along, it’s okay. You’re not behind, you’re just where you are.
- The coach tool at the Crash Override Network has a great step by step break down that makes it really easy to start.
- If that site doesn’t fit your needs or you want more, that’s okay, there are more recommendations under Start Here on the repo.
- Feeling more ambitious? Review the list of OneThing articles and pick one to catch up on.
Sweep
The basics slightly revised and with a printable checklist.
- Updated software recently? Pick a new device to check on today.
- Backups still up and running? When was the last time you made a clean disk image? Here’s a new great article on how to design a backup system.
- App, Password Gardening: Delete a low quality app from your phone or delete an account that you don’t need that doesn’t make you happy. Digital cruft builds up. Delete it. If you’re keeping it, can you move the password to your password manager (delete it from everywhere else) and add two factor authentication?
- Stored WiFi networks can be used to profile your computer and find out places you’ve been. Weed them out.
- Move to offline archive & delete your histories where you can find them.
- Double check privacy settings on your phone, social media accounts. The folks running the companies can change the TOS and add “features” before you notice them.
Learn
Where do you scan for news?
- We could have NetNeutrality back… ONE MORE VOTE… call your friends in Red States…
- YAAAAYYYYY!!! The LAist will be back, run by KPCC
- List of conferences.
- Who knew – The DHS has a github account. (via @konklone)
- If you were hoping IoTA would secure your IoT project… think again.
- In case you don’t remember, I have a dim view of VPNs, at least I have a dim view of the “we’re mahgiakal private sauce!!!!” marketing of many companies selling them. It’s been busy couple of weeks for VPNs in the news
- The FTC agrees with me. (via SANS News Bites)
- Cisco VPNs vulnerable
- Android VPNs can’t be trusted
- Facebook’s VPN uses spyware. Shockers. (Gizmodo, Wired, CNet)
- Reminder of great 2016 ArsTechnica VPN rundown of the problems
- Fun Weekend Project: Spin up your own.
- Browsing does have a chance to get a whole bunch more private, without having to pay for Authentic8 Silo.
- The peer review process is being peer reviewed.
- A little OT, but this Captain Awkward article on how to deal with a bad mentor / boss who actively wants to deep 6 your career seemed like it’s a flavor of bad manager that shows up in tech. It’s worth reading if only because advice provides detailed steps on how to keep going in the face of adversity. For similar types of advice, there is also always Ask a Manager.
- If you’re a fan of text encoding weirdness, there was a crazy destructive Apple bug where rendering a character from the Telugu language would catastrophically crash a software application. (Update, update, update if iOS is your jam) Also on Twitter
#clüleß ==#clueless. - Also a special update now, Drupal. (via SANS News Bites)
- And as a friendly reminder to 10% of you… lock down AWS. (via @GossiTheDog)
- Stunning surreal images by Kate Ballis of palm springs taken with an IR camera. (via dezeen)
Reflect
Feeling dumb or stupid about how not-l33t you are? Angsting over some silly thing you “know better than to do.” Stop. That isn’t useful. Regret is only of use if it prompts an actual change in behavior. Maybe it’s NOT you that sucks. Could be it’s the technology and you could come up with a fix that would help lots of people. Look forward and make a plan.
Engage
We are a community. You are a welcome part of it.
- Did you learn something cool in your sweep? Make something? Share it!
- Speak up
- Give (New!! The Signal Foundation)
- Like going to conferences? Maybe one is coming up!
- Show up at CRASH Space tonight!
Relax
Moby has a whole post of super long ambient tracks on YouTube, ranging from 17:53 to 35:40
