An "Easy" Way to Break Through Apple's TouchID

Someone who really wants to first steal your phone, then go through the following ordeal really needs the information that you protected. Also, still better than a four-digit pin. Of course, we are currently seeing other reasons to not use TouchID as some areas of jurisdictions can force you give up your fingerprint when you are arrested. Here's some advice, don't do anything stupid.

First, the fingerprint of the enroled user is photographed with 2400 dpi resolution. The resulting image is then cleaned up, inverted and laser printed with 1200 dpi onto transparent sheet with a thick toner setting. Finally, pink latex milk or white woodglue is smeared into the pattern created by the toner onto the transparent sheet. After it cures, the thin latex sheet is lifted from the sheet, breathed on to make it a tiny bit moist and then placed onto the sensor to unlock the phone. This process has been used with minor refinements and variations against the vast majority of fingerprint sensors on the market.

via Chaos Computer Club

Who Knew Touching Matters?

Final proof on responsiveness. This doesn't event include Apple newest iPhone 5s loaded with the new A7 processor.

In its first TouchMarks benchmark test, the iPhone 5 responded to touches at an average time of 55 milliseconds, compared to 85 milliseconds for the iPhone 4. The closest Android device was the Samsung Galaxy S4 at 114 milliseconds.

via VentureBeat via Agawi Touchmarks

Ghost is a Go!

Today mark's the public release of Ghost: Just a Blogging Platform. After months of hard work, you can sign up and try it out for yourself. I'm excited to migrate and go full-time for this website.

Ghost 0.3 comes with the full, gorgeous Markdown editor which so many of you have been excited about using. It has a stunning post management interface, it has a simple set of settings which allow you to configure your blog, and it comes with a clean and simple personal blogging theme called Casper.

and from their Kickstarter:

Ghost is a platform dedicated to one thing: Publishing. It's beautifully designed, completely customizable and completely Open Source. Ghost allows you to write and publish your own blog, giving you the tools to make it easy and even (gasp) fun to do. It's simple, elegant, and designed so that you can spend less time messing with making your blog work - and more time blogging.

The Whole Package

Impressive.

Its hardware and software make it the best smartphone on the market.

via WSJ: All Things Digital

The iPhone 5S is, in some measures, computationally superior to the top-of-the-line MacBook Pro from just five years ago. In your fucking pocket.

via John Gruber's Daring Fireball

Anand on Apple's iPhone 5s

Just my two cents, don't buy the iPhone 5c.

As much as it pains me to use the word futureproof, if you are one of those people who likes to hold onto their device for a while - the 5s is as good a starting point as any.

via Anandtech

And then via Twitter:

I just spent the past week doing the best I can to understand Apple's A7 SoC. In short? It's insanely fast. http://t.co/AgWzGv1ljr

Stone Brewery at Liberty Station

My wife and I headed down to Liberty Station last Monday to pick up a few Nancy Tillman books at Yellow Book Road. Arriving just within minutes to close, we were politely greeted at the door by Ann and David with my inquires on hand. They knew we were coming because I called twice hoping that they'd wait for us and that they did. You don't find that customer service everywhere. Thanks again guys!

After walking just a few yards, we ran into the newest location for Stone Brewery (at Liberty Station). Come to find out that it's the largest restaurant in San Diego measuring at just over 23,000 square feet and it really is enormous. It's beautiful and since I had my camera handy, I couldn't miss the opportunity to take pictures. My wife was willing to make another Tastemade video but since we had our daughter with us, I hesitated. Don't worry though, we'll back again so stay tuned.

[gallery type="rectangular" link="file" ids="4349,4350,4351,4354,4355,4361,4360,4359,4358,4357,4356"]

Anyone Going to Los Santos with Me?

Say good bye to sleep.

In the past, GTA games have given you an exciting world to explore but little reason to push through the actual story. GTA V does both, offering a sprawling world coupled with an engaging narrative that keeps you moving. And the fact that I could see events unfold from all three perspectives made it all the more compelling. GTA V fulfills the promise of GTA IV, offering a sophisticated story and fully realized characters in addition to GTA's typical criminal antics. It doesn’t always gel together perfectly, but when it works, GTA V almost makes you want to be the bad guy.

via The Verge

I'm all about flying planes and this looks like it could be fun!

http://youtu.be/hvoD7ehZPcM

The Truth to Syria

Depressing insight to what the truths of a civil war can be like through the eyes of Italian journalist Domenico Quirico --held hostage for 150 days.

In this place, when the hostage weeps, everyone laughs at the spectacle of his pain and sees it as a sign of weakness. Syria has become the Country of Evil, the land where evil triumphs and thrives like grapes on the vine under a Middle Eastern sun, and where evil displays all its aspects: greed, hatred, fanaticism, the absence of mercy; where even children and the old rejoice in their malevolence. My captors prayed to their God standing next to me, the suffering prisoner. They prayed content, without remorse and attentive to their rituals. What were they saying to their God?

via The Guardian

Afraid of Riding in the Rain?

Some of you may have heard about the time trials at the Isle of Man, but I was first introduced to it this morning. TT actually stands for Tourist Trophy and the race on the island has actually been taking pace since 1907. These racers are insane, riding Hayabusa motorcycles at speeds of up to 330 km/h (205mph)! Check out this amazing video! http://youtu.be/LU-ynRoqDEs

And there's also this summary of the 2013 time trials here.

http://youtu.be/D09yD0MN4Vg

And more amazingly, here's Guy Martin outrunning a helicopter!

http://youtu.be/zbaO8mzByvw

Giving Is the Best Form of Communication

Here's another touching commercial. Definitely felt this one too.http://youtu.be/Ut-irAMut5A

Three Flights Down to One Long Extended Flight

Something things go right sometimes they don't.  Yesterday wasn't something out of the ordinary but I guess some of you never experience the frequency of weather or maintenance that we encounter working at an airline.  Looking at the weather prior to our departure from Dallas-Ft. Worth, we knew that we could expect some thunderstorms during our approach into Charleston, West Virginia. Blocked to just a little over two hours, and looking at the terminal aerodrome forecast (TAF), we took off with confidence that we could "beat" the storm.  Whether or not to jet east and then up and around the front or penetrate earlier in the flight and fly behind it, we chose the former.  Usually you chose the latter, but once we were in the air, the weather didn't look that bad.

Almost an hour after our scheduled arrival, we made a safe approach and landing safely getting all our passengers to the terminal.  It wasn't without bumps and initially the weather at CRW wasn't calling for landing conditions, but after 45 minutes, the initial thunderstorm cleared and calm winds presided.

Arriving at the gate, the plan was to leave as soon as we could board up, refuel and clean the aircraft but things changed. The plane gave us a flashing light notifying us of a maintenance item which after two hours of coordinating with dispatch, maintenance control and crew scheduling, ultimately led to the cancellation of the flight. Repositioning the aircraft to another portion of the airport, coordinating a shuttle and hotel stay our day came to an end with nine hours of sleep.  We also had the opportunity of riding the hotel shuttle back to with some passengers who were taking the cancellation well.

So back to present time, scheduling had us report at 5:15am this morning and to no surprise without a phone call or notification from anyone back at company, we came down for the scheduled shuttle back to the airport only to find out that the aircraft wasn't ready. I'm now back in the hotel room killing another two hours before our next scheduled van ride. At least I can now grab some coffee.

update: I just got a call a couple of minutes ago notifying us again for a change to 6:45am which as I spoke to her was actually six minutes in the past.

Filtering with Soma Water

I was fortunate enough a couple of months ago to help kickstart a beautiful idea dubbed Soma. Not only did they re-engineer and rethink the idea of home water filter, the team at Soma pulled through and brought to life an amazing product. I received my Soma glass carafe and filter on Tuesday and love it.  I've used it to cook rice and make great tasting coffee.  I find myself drinking more water just to watch it filter quickly through the "100% compostable water filter." Here are a few pictures from my Soma and I hope you enjoy my unboxing.  As of this writing, their website shows Soma making a public debut in four days. Sign up and check it out!

Straight from the website:

THE WORLD'S MOST INNOVATIVE WATER FILTER

100% compostable filter - Made from all-natural Malaysian coconut shells, vegan silk, and food-based PLA plastic. "There's nothing else like it in the world." Designed by David Beeman - One of the top water filtration experts, with over 30 years of experience creating water formulas for Starbucks, Peet's, and other global brands. Superior taste - Soma's proprietary formula produces the best tasting water. You'll notice a crisp, pure taste you won't find anywhere else.

FINALLY, A GLASS CARAFE

Sleek, minimal design - We eliminated all unnecessary features, resulting in a form that is beautiful because of its elegant simplicity. You'll want to show it off - Soma will be the centerpiece of your next dinner party. Say good bye to hiding your filtered water in the fridge. Drip-free pouring - The beveled edge of the glass carafe results in a perfect pour, every time.

Watch the video here:

No Gimmicks on the New iPhone 5s

A fantastic overview on the both new iPhones. Andy Ihnatko also details the security concerns that some might have with the new biometric scanner.

Biometric authentication is a great idea. But it has to Just Plain Work, every damn time, or else it’ll be relegated to the Scrapheap of Good Intentions where most of the new software features on a Samsung phone wind up.

It was so easy that I was able to train it within just three minutes. And while I didn’t have all that much time to try to trick the sensor there in the demo room, it worked flawlessly on the finger that I’d trained and not at all on any of my other fingers. You can train it to recognize up to five digits.

Did I worry about handing over detailed scans of my finger to a phone that I didn’t own? Nope. The phone destroys all copies of the data it collects as soon as it’s read your finger … and your fingerprint data isn’t backed up to the cloud.

via Chicago Grid by Andy Ihnatko