Wise Guys on WHO Radio - September 12, 2015

Brian Gongol


The WHO Radio Wise Guys airs on WHO Radio in Des Moines, Iowa on 1040 AM or streaming online at WHORadio.com. The show airs from 1 to 2 pm Central Time on Saturday afternoons. A podcast of show highlights is also available. Leave comments and questions on the Wise Guys Facebook page or e-mail them to wiseguys@whoradio.com.


Please note: These show notes may be in various stages of completion -- ranging from brainstormed notes through to well-polished monologues. Please excuse anything that may seem rough around the edges, as it may only be a first draft of a thought and not be fully representative of what was said on the air.

In the news this week

Apple to make iOS 9 available as a free update on September 16
The company also announced the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus (coming at the end of the month), a new Apple TV, and an $800 iPad with a $100 stylus.

But on Friday night, when pre-orders were supposed to open up for the new iPhones, this happened:

Facebook changes its "Pages" service to try appealing to small businesses
No doubt this will spur Google to try to promote more heavily its services in the same market

The new Google logo
There are things that the new "identity" does well, but the logo itself is nothing impressive

Facebook Messenger is now the number-two app on US smartphones
Only the Facebook application itself is more widely used. Forcing people off the messaging service built into the broader Facebook app and into the dedicated service certainly gave them another product to tout -- though it doesn't necessarily mean they have any broader total reach than before.

Your role in cyberwar

Federal government plans to indict hackers from China

Security update

A reminder: Always run your computer on the lowest level of authority you can. The upcoming Patch Tuesday update from Microsoft will include a patch for a vulnerability that could let an attacker build a webpage that could give them the same level of administrative control over your computer as you have when using the page. The lower the level of credentials you give yourself on the computer, the better for protecting yourself against attacks like this.

Street-smart social media

Why you should donate instead of feigning outrage over a dead lion
The work of the African Wildlife Foundation seeks to improve the quality of life for the people of Africa -- and thus by improving their economic prospects, reducing the incentive to do things like killing lions illegally. Taking care of people can also mean taking care of wildlife.

Technically funny

Is it real or is it Photoshop?
A 25-picture test

Productivity tool

Tips for personal productivity

Dispatches from the flying-car future

Ten automakers agree to make automatic emergency braking a standard feature
This is how the self-piloted car is going to come about -- not in one big revolution, but in iterative improvements to our safety. Audi, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Mazda, Mercedes Benz, Tesla, Toyota, Volkswagen, and Volvo are all committed. The schedule is yet to be finalized between the automakers and the US Department of Transportation.

Brian's Big Picture

Startups are wildly overrated
Fortune: "The companies in the US that have a high impact on job growth aren't newest firms -- they're companies that are at least 15 to 20 years old on average"

Politics of technology

Why the government wants access to your text messages

Listener questions

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