2018
Google launches New Tasks App (Mobile & Web)
In a blog post entitled "With new security and intelligent features, the new Gmail means business", David Thacker (Google VP Product Management, G Suite) announced, "We’re also introducing a new way to manage work on the go with Tasks." The new refreshed Tasks system will be available on the web and have accompanying mobile apps (Android and IOS). The new updated Tasks system will allow you to create tasks & subtasks with due dates and notifications. <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/78965c05f3.jpg" alt=""> The current tasks was an anemic stand-alone product that barely worked.
Fairplay - Canadian media companies want the CRTC to adopt more anti-piracy regulations
NOTE: I want to say up front that I believe content creators should be compensated for their work but history proves that laws cannot change user behavior. Make content available affordable in a flexible manner and see what happens (e.g. the streaming music model dramatically reduced music piracy because it became affordable and easily available on all of your devices). A coalition of 25 Canadian media companies are petitioning the Canadian Ratio and Telecommunication Commision (CRTC) to establish a new piracy review agency called the Independent Piracy Review Agency [FairPlay movement].
Best URL shorteners
URL shorteners are something you either use a lot or never. Google launched it's own URL shortening service in 2009 with unique (at the time) features like third-party API access, QR code generation, ability to use easily on mobile. But Google is retiring this public facing service and replacing it with Firebase Dynamic Links (FDL) accessible by developers only. This is not surprising since Twitter retired Deck.ly when it acquired TweetDeck. As part of the process of making TweetDeck more consistent with Twitter.
Quebec to change tax collection rules for foreign tech companies
Montreal's La Presse newspaper is reporting that "two high-level government sources" have confirmed that the upcoming Quebec budget (March 27, 2018) will include new sales taxes levied on foreign tech companies like Netflix, Amazon, Google, and Apple, that do not have a Quebec presence. As it currently stands, these non-resident foreign companies are not expected to collect sales taxes from consumers. Under current regulations, the government expects consumers to auto-report these purchases and submit the necessary taxes. Based on a November report, the Quebec government believes it lost 270M$ during the previous fiscal year because of this collection model.
What makes a good Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
Only five years ago, the title of Chief Information Security Officer was likely awarded to an employee that had worked hard and was dedicated to the company. It was an honorific title often given as a reward. Times have changed and companies need a new breed of CISO. The number, severity, and impacts of cyber threats are continually increasing. Companies now rely on complex highly integrated IT systems whose confidentiality, availability and integrity are paramount. The WannaCry ransomware was a good example of how poorly managed security can cripple an organization.
Canadians can find out what data a company stores about them
The average consumer is starting to realize how much personal data companies collect about them. RELATED: How Target knows you are pregnant through data analytics Consumers should be concerned about what data is collected, how is is used and who it is shared with. Canadian privacy laws ( like Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act) allow consumers to access their information (aka companies must respond to a request for personal information held by the company). “Principle 4.9: Upon request, an individual shall be informed of the existence, use, and disclosure of his or her personal information and be given access to that information.
OPSEC : Backup Strategy for the Security Conscious
RELATED: The best way to protect your data - images, music, documents Even with all of the technological advancements we have made, backups are usually overlooked by the "average Joe" until something significant occurs (causing a massive shift in paradigm). Why backup Traditionally we backed up our information in case the physical media we used (hard drive, DVD, ZIP Drive cartridge, Bernoulli Box, etc.) had a catastrophic incident. Modern headaches that we add to the justification list now include malware and cryptoware data modification, seizure at a border crossing or shutdown of a cloud service.
Review of the Tom Bihn Synapse 25 EDC backpack
If you have been reading my blog for a while, you know I evangelize the benefits of one bag travel. My go-to bag for the last ten years has been the RedOxx AirBoss, but I regularly get questions about Tom Bihn bags. My 5-11 Rush 24 work backpack was starting to fall apart, and in my quest to find the "best" bag for me, I spend three months reviewing various bags. Here is my review of the Tom Bihn Synapse 25 backpack.
Samsung Note 8 review from an iPhone user
You should take the time to read my article about why I am switching from an iPhone to an Android device. A summary of the situation is that I have had every iPhone since the very first one ten years ago and the spark isn't there anymore. I have been dual carrying Android phones for the last 5 years but my main personal daily driver has been an iPhone. Looking at messages from readers, many of you are in the same boat and I will be reviewing a handful of phones for switchers with the requirements of an iPhone users looking to geek out.
Bell Mobility to unlock all devices
Bell is now offering to unlock all carrier locked devices, even second had devices for users that have never been Bell customers. Prior to this policy, Bell Mobility only unlocked devices for current and former customers in good standing (you had to be the original buyer of the phone). Telus and Rogers already have similar policies (unlocking all devices even second hand for non-customers).
Run a speed test from Google Search
There are dozens of sites and services that promise to test your internet speed. The most popular are: Ookla Speed Test testmy.net Netflix Fast.com Speed of Me Now you can also add Google to the list. 1 - Go to the Google Search Page (on a PC or Android device) 2 - Enter Speed Test <img src="https://ekiledjian2.micro.blog/uploads/2025/0f77a668bd.jpg" alt=""> 3 - Choose the Run Speed Test option and ignore the search results
Chronicle Security launches under the Alphabet family of companies
Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, has launched a new cybersecurity intelligence company called Chronicle. The company promises to bring Alphabet's advanced machine learning capabilities and large cloud computing footprint to cyber intelligence. The soft launch was confirmed via a blog post on Medium called "Graduation Day: Introducing Chronicle". A quote from the blog entry says: “Organizations deploy dozens of security tools to protect themselves, and their security teams are highly skilled and extremely dedicated, but they can’t keep up with the growing number, sophistication and ambition of attacks.
Private Internet Access leaves Korea due to security concerns
We learned that Private Internet Access (PIA) has shut down its Korea exit nodes due to concerns about the privacy of its users. It learned through a "close contact" that South Korea law enforcement intended to clone its local data. Private Internet Access (PIA) didn't know why they would take these types of actions against it, but took immediate action as soon as it learned about this possibility. “On the 21st January 2018 at 6.15pm Pacific Time, Private Internet Access was alerted by close contacts in South Korea that law enforcement would be seeking to mirror our servers tomorrow, 24th of January 2018, at 10:00 A.
The best way to share your location with friends or family
Let's say you are meeting friends at a large outdoor concert, how do you provide your location? A street address may get them to the entrance gate, then what? What3words has proposed a solution that solves the issue of finding exact locations on a map? What3words has divided the entire planet into 57 trillion 3mx3m grids and assigned each grid a unique three-word "address". If I want to meet friends at the entrance of Union Station in Toronto, I can search for "
OPSEC - Security when making calls
RELATED: OPSEC - Introduction to Malware RELATED: OPSEC - How to securely delete files If you are making calls using a cellphone or landline phone then you should assume that your conversation can easily be intercepted by the carrier (providing the service or a government agency that has control over that carrier). Security researchers have even proven that with $1,500 in parts, they can build a cell phone call interception device by pretending they are a cell tower. “Regular phone calls on your cell phone (including SMS and MMS messages) are easily intercepted and should be considered insecure.
OPSEC - How to securely delete files
You should also read my previous article "OPSEC - Introduction to Malware". Most computer (or smartphone/tablet) users believe that when you use the delete function in your operating system, you have securely destroyed the file beyond recovery, but that simply isn't the case. In most cases, the entry to the file was removed from the index but unless that disk space is needed by the operating system, the file is most likely still on the disk (just isn't normally accessible anymore).
Is your Chromebook vulnerable to Specter or Meltdown?
TL;DR: If you are using a Chromebook that is actively supported, you are probably fine. Specter and Meltdown are two significant chip level vulnerabilities that kicked off the 2018 security scene with a bang. Affection millions of devices from almost every manufacturer, many consumers are panicking about what this means for them. Since I love Chromebooks, I wanted to write an article about how these two vulnerabilities affect them. This isn't a deep technical review about Meltdown or Specter. There are loads of well-written articles about them.