Worth Reading: DRM versus civil liberties

Imagine a world where your Internet-connected car locks you in at the behest of its manufacturer—or the police. Where your media devices only let you consume mass media, not remix it to publish a counter-narrative or viral meme. Where your phone is designed to report on your movements and communications. Where your kid’s toy tells them it’s their friend, then talks about how much it loves sponsored products and transmits everything it hears in your home back to its manufacturer. Where your phone stops working if the police or the manufacturer ask it to. Where these backdoors are vulnerable to hacking, so anyone with the right resources can take advantage of them. —CircleID

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CES 2017: Random ramblings from my second day here

The International CES trade show is so big now that you can’t possibly see everything on display here, even if you had superpowers like Iron Man (speaking of Iron Man, there was a very cool Iron Man-branded massage chair on display). For the most part on Day 1 (officially now, although it’s my second full day of meetings and booth visits), I stuck to the Sands Expo Center, which featured mainly Smart Home products, robots, 3D printers, kid tech, fitness tech and wearables. The Sands Expo also features the Eureka Park section, a whole floor dedicated to startups that brings a LOT of people to its very narrow aisles. I can’t tell whether a product or company is very popular because of the crowds or because they (probably) pack them in tight to give them the appearance of popularity (probably a little bit of both).To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco, HPE led $88B enterprise infrastructure market in ’16, Synergy says

Despite more and more companies outsourcing workloads to the public cloud, legacy technology stalwarts Cisco and HPE remain the most popular enterprise infrastructure vendors, new estimates from Synergy Research suggest. Synergy tracked enterprise infrastructure spending across seven categories for the 12 months leading up to the end of Q3 2016: Data center servers; switches & routers; network security; voice systems, WLAN; UC Apps and telepresence. In aggregate it estimates revenues were $88 billion across these segments, with spending down about 1% from the same time period in 2015. +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: This company is transferring 50 Petabytes of data to Amazon's cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Cisco, HPE led $88B enterprise infrastructure market in ’16, Synergy says

Despite more and more companies outsourcing workloads to the public cloud, legacy technology stalwarts Cisco and HPE remain the most popular enterprise infrastructure vendors, new estimates from Synergy Research suggest. Synergy tracked enterprise infrastructure spending across seven categories for the 12 months leading up to the end of Q3 2016: Data center servers; switches & routers; network security; voice systems, WLAN; UC Apps and telepresence. In aggregate it estimates revenues were $88 billion across these segments, with spending down about 1% from the same time period in 2015. +MORE AT NETWORK WORLD: This company is transferring 50 Petabytes of data to Amazon's cloud +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

MP on SpecTechUlar’s “6 Blogs for 2017” List

While I’m giving out good wishes, I’d like to also give a shout out and a thank you to Mark Silver at SpecTechUlar for including me on his list of “6 Blogs All Product and IT Specialists Should Add to Their 2017 Reading List.”

6 Blogs All Product and IT Specialists Should Add to Their 2017 Reading List

I fear that Mark has discovered my secret as he points out that  “[my] eccentric personality definitely shows through in this technology blog.” I quite like that 😉

SpecTechUlar

Thank you, Mark, for the kind words and the inclusion on your list! Mark works as a Product Manager for WalkMe, and runs the SpecTechUlar blog, pulling together interesting stories and best practices about technology and product management written by himself and other guest authors. He has found some amazing images for his blog posts, and even a glance at the home page pulls you in to the articles (I should learn from this!).

Thanks, Mark; I enjoyed discovering SpecTechUlar too, and I think many of my readers may also enjoy visiting.

If you liked this post, please do click through to the source at MP on SpecTechUlar’s “6 Blogs for 2017” List and give me a share/like. Thank you!

ERSPAN on Comware

The Comware documentation doesn't spell it out clearly, but it's possible to get ERSPAN-like functionality by using a GRE tunnel interface as the target for a local port mirror session.

This is very handy for quick analysis of stuff that's not L2 adjacent with an analysis station.

First, create a local mirror session:

 mirroring-group 1 local

Next configure an unused physical interface for use by tunnel interfaces:

 service-loopback group 1 type tunnel  
 interface <unused-interface>  
  port service-loopback group 1  
  quit

Now configure a GRE tunnel interface as the destination for the mirror group:

 interface Tunnel0 mode gre  
  source <whatever>  
  destination <machine running wireshark>  
  mirroring-group 1 monitor-port  
  quit

Finally, configure the source interface(s):

 interface <interesting-source-interface-1>  
  mirroring-group 1 mirroring-port inbound  
 interface <interesting-source-interface-2>
  mirroring-group 1 mirroring-port inbound

Traffic from the source interfaces arrives at the analyzer with extra Ethernet/IP/GRE headers attached. Inside each GRE payload is the original frame as collected at a mirroring-group source interface. If the original traffic with extra headers attached (14+20+4 == 38 bytes) exceeds MTU, then the switch fragments the frame. Nothing gets lost and Wireshark handles it gracefully.

Three Months with Google Fiber

I'm one of the lucky few to benefit from Google Fiber's recent expansion into new regions (before they nixed the whole thing). I've had the service fire three months now and figured I should write up my experience with it thus far.

The Installation

Google Fiber announced that it would be expanding to the Raleigh-Durham metro area, known locally as "The Triangle", in January 2015. It's been a long game of hurry-up-and-wait since then, watching crews laying fiber all over town without hearing a peep from Google regarding availability. But in the fall of 2016, people were finally able to start signing up for service. Here's how my installation went.

September 3

Google Fiber registration opens! I sign up for service and pay a paltry $10 deposit, which gets credited toward my first bill. Over the next couple weeks, various utilities swing by to mark their lines in the ground. (Here's the color code for utility markings in the US, if you're curious.)

September 24

Google's contractor arrives on site to lay fiber from the curb to my house and to many of my neighbors' houses. Surprisingly, they cut my trench by hand, possibly due to the steep Continue reading

Three Months with Google Fiber

I'm one of the lucky few to benefit from Google Fiber's recent expansion into new regions (before they nixed the whole thing). I've had the service fire three months now and figured I should write up my experience with it thus far.

The Installation

Google Fiber announced that it would be expanding to the Raleigh-Durham metro area, known locally as "The Triangle", in January 2015. It's been a long game of hurry-up-and-wait since then, watching crews laying fiber all over town without hearing a peep from Google regarding availability. But in the fall of 2016, people were finally able to start signing up for service. Here's how my installation went.

September 3

Google Fiber registration opens! I sign up for service and pay a paltry $10 deposit, which gets credited toward my first bill. Over the next couple weeks, various utilities swing by to mark their lines in the ground. (Here's the color code for utility markings in the US, if you're curious.)

September 24

Google's contractor arrives on site to lay fiber from the curb to my house and to many of my neighbors' houses. Surprisingly, they cut my trench by hand, possibly due to the steep Continue reading

Three Months with Google Fiber

I'm one of the lucky few to benefit from Google Fiber's recent expansion into new regions (before they nixed the whole thing). I've had the service fire three months now and figured I should write up my experience with it thus far.

The Installation

Google Fiber announced that it would be expanding to the Raleigh-Durham metro area, known locally as "The Triangle", in January 2015. It's been a long game of hurry-up-and-wait since then, watching crews laying fiber all over town without hearing a peep from Google regarding availability. But in the fall of 2016, people were finally able to start signing up for service. Here's how my installation went.

September 3

Google Fiber registration opens! I sign up for service and pay a paltry $10 deposit, which gets credited toward my first bill. Over the next couple weeks, various utilities swing by to mark their lines in the ground. (Here's the color code for utility markings in the US, if you're curious.)

September 24

Google's contractor arrives on site to lay fiber from the curb to my house and to many of my neighbors' houses. Surprisingly, they cut my trench by hand, possibly due to the steep Continue reading

Mac’s share falls to five-year low

Apple's Mac share of personal computers worldwide fell to a five-year low in December, mimicking the company's own numbers that have portrayed a four-quarter sales slowdown.According to web analytics vendor Net Applications, Apple's desktop and notebook operating system -- formerly OS X, now macOS -- powered just 6.1% of all personal computers last month, down from 7% a year ago and a peak of 9.6% as recently as April 2016.Net Applications measures operating system user share -- an estimate of the proportion of all personal computer owners who run a device powered by a specific OS -- by counting systems whose browsers reach websites of its clients.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft closes the door on Visual Studio’s Team Rooms

Microsoft's Team Room collaboration capability for application lifecycle management soon will be no more. Instead, developers will need to rely on other options, such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.The company said this week that Team Rooms is to be deprecated from the on-premise Visual Studio Team Foundation Server at the next major version, and from the online Visual Studio Team Services platform later this year.[ Give yourself a technology career advantage with InfoWorld's Deep Dive technology reports and Computerworld's career trends reports. GET A 15% DISCOUNT through Jan. 15, 2017: Use code 8TIISZ4Z. ] "We don't have a name yet for this release, but it will be the version beyond TFS 2017 and associated updates," Microsoft's Ewald Hofman, TFS program manager, said.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Why France’s new ‘right to disconnect’ law matters

France recently implemented a law giving workers "a right to disconnect" from email, messaging and calls after work. It may ultimately be ignored by many workers in France and scoffed at in the U.S., but it addresses a problem many employees deal with.Emails arriving at night, on weekends and during vacation can create stress and interrupt family life. An "always on" culture can hurt productivity in the long run because employees don't get time to rest and recharge, say researchers. Some companies see the problem.Daimler AG, the German automotive giant, has an optional email feature called "Mail on Holiday." It automatically deletes incoming emails during time off. An auto reply offers alternative contacts or suggests resending messages once the employee returns. It's available to 100,000 workers in Germany.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Can government really fix the IoT mess?

The private sector often views government as the problem, not the solution. But, in the view of a growing number of experts, the opposite is true when it comes to addressing the rampant and increasing security risks of the Internet of Things (IoT).While it is not a unanimous view, there is general agreement that the blessings the IoT brings to modern life are being undermined by its curses – and that the market will not correct those curses.Its almost magical benefits are well documented and well advertised – self-driving cars and the ability to lock or unlock doors or adjust a home thermostat from hundreds of miles away were fantasies only a few years ago. But its billions of connected devices are so lacking in security that they are putting not only individual users at risk, but public and private infrastructure as well, including the infrastructure of the internet itself.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Can government really fix the IoT mess?

The private sector often views government as the problem, not the solution. But, in the view of a growing number of experts, the opposite is true when it comes to addressing the rampant and increasing security risks of the Internet of Things (IoT).While it is not a unanimous view, there is general agreement that the blessings the IoT brings to modern life are being undermined by its curses – and that the market will not correct those curses.Its almost magical benefits are well documented and well advertised – self-driving cars and the ability to lock or unlock doors or adjust a home thermostat from hundreds of miles away were fantasies only a few years ago. But its billions of connected devices are so lacking in security that they are putting not only individual users at risk, but public and private infrastructure as well, including the infrastructure of the internet itself.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

T-Mobile’s Legere ‘rescues’ volunteer fire department, sticks finger in Verizon’s eye

Ever a social-media showman and tormenter of his competitors, T-Mobile CEO John Legere last night took to Twitter to lambaste Verizon’s decision to ding a volunteer fire company for $73,000 and offered to pick up that tab himself if necessary. And we don’t even know if the ponies played a part. Legere made his pledge on Twitter in response to yesterday’s Buzzblog post about a tiff between Verizon and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which serves an island town of 3,000 in Virginia and is renowned for being caretakers of a herd of 150 wild horses, the Chincoteague Ponies, that has been the subject of a popular children’s book and movie. Legere’s tweet:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

T-Mobile’s Legere ‘rescues’ volunteer fire department, sticks finger in Verizon’s eye

Ever a social-media showman and tormenter of his competitors, T-Mobile CEO John Legere last night took to Twitter to lambaste Verizon’s decision to ding a volunteer fire company for $73,000 and offered to pick up that tab himself if necessary. And we don’t even know if the ponies played a part. Legere made his pledge on Twitter in response to yesterday’s Buzzblog post about a tiff between Verizon and the Chincoteague Volunteer Fire Company, which serves an island town of 3,000 in Virginia and is renowned for being caretakers of a herd of 150 wild horses, the Chincoteague Ponies, that has been the subject of a popular children’s book and movie. Legere’s tweet:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

When anti-malware vendors get into a slap fight, users lose

All is quiet on the Microsoft front, but there are other technology issues to address, which I will be doing in the next few blogs. The first is about a battle between two anti-malware vendors: PC Pitstop and Malwarebytes. --------------------------------------------------------Most software markets tend to consolidate around a handful or even one or two vendors. How many competitors are there for Photoshop, after all? But there are two markets that thrive and have a large number of players: gaming and anti-virus/anti-malware. It started about a month ago. On Dec. 7, PC Pitstop, maker of the PC Matic repair software and those obnoxious TV commercials, posted a ransomware test performed by AV Comparatives that included its PC Matic product and its many competitors, including Malwarebytes, the latter included for the first time. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

When anti-malware vendors get into a slap fight, users lose

All is quiet on the Microsoft front, but there are other technology issues to address, which I will be doing in the next few blogs. The first is about a battle between two anti-malware vendors: PC Pitstop and Malwarebytes. --------------------------------------------------------Most software markets tend to consolidate around a handful or even one or two vendors. How many competitors are there for Photoshop, after all? But there are two markets that thrive and have a large number of players: gaming and anti-virus/anti-malware. It started about a month ago. On Dec. 7, PC Pitstop, maker of the PC Matic repair software and those obnoxious TV commercials, posted a ransomware test performed by AV Comparatives that included its PC Matic product and its many competitors, including Malwarebytes, the latter included for the first time. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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