Blog/February 2016/Feb 19th
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There was an awful lot going on this week! The weather was uniformly warm and pleasant; increasingly warm through today and then presumably dropping over the weekend into the next week. Rain is supposed to return next week — summer hasn’t taken over just yet.
Sarah started her last semester of school and Daniela started her next-to-last semester (for now). Jeremy’s finishing a project for the “big boss” at his firm. Sarah’s looking forward to actually working in the field she’s been studying; we think she shouldn’t have too hard a time finding a job when the time comes. We wish success and happiness for them all!
We finally signed the contract we’ve been talking about! We now have a signed exclusive distribution agreement with an Indian company, and have sent out a “press release”. Our Indian partners will take over sales, marketing, and training for our “8th” product in “the subcontinent” and the ASEAN countries. This is a big deal for us, since it gives us leverage to find other distributors, and also opens up an independent income stream. So now that we have one, we’re looking for the next one: anyone interested?
The big news this week (well, one of the big news items) was Apple’s Tim Cook resisting an FBI demand for access to an iPhone. In particular, the iPhone owned by the “San Bernardino shooters” when they were killed: that phone is encrypted, and has resisted the authorities’ efforts to access it. The debate on the issue is wide-ranging and both sides have merits. But first, the facts of the matter.
The FBI has asked for, and received, a court-order ordering Apple to help the Administration access that iPhone. In this case, they are demanding that Apple provide them a customized version of iOS (the operating-system of the iPhone) which bypasses the “passcode-wipe” restriction. That restriction is: if an invalid passcode is entered ten times, the iPhone will wipe the device (on the presumption that someone is hacking into it). The hacked version of iOS would allow the FBI (or anyone else with that software) to do a brute-force attack on the passcode, and thereby access the phone’s data.
Apple’s primary problem is that they don’t actually have such a version of iOS, so they will have to spend time and resources to create one. Secondly, they have never planned on making one. Thirdly, they contend that it would be too dangerous to create. So they are refusing to comply. That may not be the entire story, however.
There are a lot of nuances involved here. We are waiting with bated breath to see how this plays out. My personal feeling is that Apple is in the right, and should not comply to an unconstitutional demand. The consequences of a hackable version of iOS leaking to malefactors are very significant. But those who claim “national security” will probably prevail. We’ll see.
This week we had visitors from the “Olde Country”. Our Rabbi’s daughter and her husband came over for lunch one day, and we had a pleasant visit. It was weird to see someone you first met as a little child appear as a married adult. Kind of makes you think about tempus fugiting and all…
Just us this week! The three of us will enjoy a very simple shabbat:
moussaka two ways,
butternut squash soup,
veggie cholent,
and cookies.
Until next time,
shabbat shalom!
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