FBI vs. Apple: Where is this Going?

Several times over the course of my legal career, I’ve either had cause to delay a hearing on motion or had opposing counsel do the same. While nothing I have ever worked on has the sex appeal of the FBI vs. Apple, I can tell you that sometimes the reason for the delay is because one party thinks they’re losing and want some time to either get additional evidence or find some other way out.

With the FBI vs. Apple matter, the stakes are very high in terms of public relations and important but probably not as high in terms of legal precedent. A federal magistrate judge is a pretty important person but also at the bottom of the federal precedent pecking order. I’ve had a lot of people write me asking if they think this delay was the result of reconsideration at the FBI and my answer would be, “quite possibly”.

I don’t talk about it at MacSparky much but I served as a judicial extern for a federal judge a long time ago and spent some time in the trenches. That got me thinking about where this is all heading.

One point I think is generally missed by the tech press is that no matter what happens with the magistrate judge or, for that matter, the next judge on the next case, this issue will not get resolved for some time. An issue this big is going to work its way up through the Court of Appeals. Both Apple and the government know that and I suspect everybody is in it for the long haul.

The tech press also often writes about how a legislative solution will solve this and while on principal that makes sense, practically I’m not so sure. Judges generally prefer that the legislature come up with a specific law for questions before it rather than requiring the court to interpret some 200-year-old law that was never intended for regulating cellular phone encryption. I have my doubts as to whether any law could get passed given the current stalemate in Congress but given the way everyone goes a little crazy whenever the word “terrorist” is used, it’s not beyond the realm of possibility that they could pass a law. Indeed, such a law is already in motion.

However, thinking forward if Congress were to pass some sort of backdoor legislation and the President were to sign it into law, I expect we would land right back in the courts as Apple and other manufacturers and consumer protection groups, like the EFF, challenge such a law on constitutional grounds. That, in turn, would lead to more trips up the ladder at the courts of appeal and, most likely, the Supreme Court.

The best case scenario at the legislative end would be for a law to be passed restricting access and prohibiting the government from requiring backdoors in cellular phones. Let’s just say I’m not holding my breath for that one. In my opinion if there is going to be a law passed, it’s going to be a law requiring installation of a backdoor and not the opposite.

If that’s not enough to make your head spin, now think about 50 different individual state legislatures and countless foreign nations also taking a crack at requiring back door access to cell phone data.

Ultimately, I believe this question as to whether or not the government can force access into our mobile devices has to be decided by the Supreme Court. Until then, a great cloud will hang over this entire issue and for the next few years I’m guessing we will see lots of ink spilled on this issue. Put simply, even if the FBI backs down on the San Bernardino case, this issue is hardly over for any of us, including Apple.

"We Messed Up"

There are a lot of reasons why I love supporting small software companies. I was reminded of this today reading this post from the Hours team about their recent botched launch. It's refreshing seeing a company take responsibility for mistakes and setting it right without any hedging. I'm pretty sure you'd never see a post like this from a big company.

Thanks @tbaucells for the link.

Which iPad Pro?

Since Apple's big announcement earlier this week, I've received a lot of emails from people asking me whether or not I would keep my jumbo iPad Pro or, if I had the choice, trade it in for the newer, smaller, 9.7 inch iPad Pro.
 
 In my case, I would keep the big one. In my head, I've run the little mental exercises watching a truck run over my big iPad Pro (cringe) and then determining which one I would buy. 

The new 9.7 inch iPad Pro has some additional features in terms of a better camera and a screen that adjusts ambient light but none of that is really a reason to choose one over the other for most people. To me, the big question is whether you want it really big or just kind of big. I can understand why some people hate the big iPad because of the unwieldy screen size but I'm just so damn productive with it. 
 
Split screen on the big iPad Pro is amazing. Apps are nearly full size and super easy to read and manipulate. Reading and annotating documents on the large-size iPad Pro is also a joy. Combined with the Apple Pencil, I'm chewing through hundred page contracts like nobody's business. One of my most productive workflows is annotating a document on the iPad Pro with the pencil while sliding in the Dragon Anywhere app to dictate notes about certain sections as I read and annotate. I then send the annotated contract along with my notes to the client.
 
Another workflow that I'm enjoying is Apple Mail on the left and OmniFocus on the right every morning as I work through my email and task list. I find this more efficient then working through the same data on my laptop and, just as importantly, more delightful.
 
Another benefit is the general category of typing. The Apple keyboard cover works just fine for me and takes very little space. The big iPad Pro is also the first iPad that I've been able to easily type on glass, particularly in landscape. I've tried a lot of 9.7 inch iPad keyboards and none of them are as good as what I'm using on the big iPad Pro. They are just too cramped.

While all of these workflows would be possible on the 9.7 inch iPad Pro, they would also be more difficult. I'm sure I would like the increased portability of the smaller iPad Pro but for me it's not worth it. One way I've cheated on this a bit is that I have an aging iPad mini that works fine when portability is king.

I get that everyone is different and, frankly, for most people the 9.7 inch iPad Pro is probably the right answer but I can also tell you that having used the large iPad Pro now for several months, it's the most productive I've ever been with an iPad and I'm not giving it up anytime soon.

Sponsor: SaneBox with $25 Discount →

This week MacSparky.com is sponsored by SaneBox. I’ve been using SaneBox for years and at this point I can’t imagine email without it. There are so many great benefits to Sanebox. It filters my mail so I don’t wake up to an inbox bursting with irrelevant email. It allows me to defer email messages so they get out of the way while I am doing other things. It also lets me set reminders for outgoing emails.

One thing I've never covered, however, is SaneBox's advanced filtering features. Once you set up your SaneBox email filtering, there are some great options. 

With SaneVIP, you can give your friends and co-workers a word or phrase to add to the subject line of their email messages to push their email to the top of your list.

You can also set the SaneBox intelligence setting between Smart, Moderate, and Manual to change how aggressively SaneBox sorts your mail for you.

SaneSubjects lets you teach SaneBox about subjects that are or are not important to you and lets SaneBox do an even better job of appropriately filing related messages.

There’s also Manual Domain Filtering. Usually SaneBlackHole takes care of any Spam that gets through your net but if you are still having an issue, you can send all messages from a certain domain to the black hole. This is not just a feature for dealing with spam. You could also, for instance, sort all email from a certain domain in your “Later” box or your inbox or any other folder you create through SaneBox.

Somewhat related, you can also specifically identify certain domains that are important to you. Once you do that, SaneBox keeps an eye out for an email from that domain and treats it appropriately.

Because all of this work is done through the SaneBox service, you can use it with any email application you want and this frees you to try and switch mail apps at will.

I love using SaneBox. I’ve talked to the team at SaneBox and they are getting ridiculously high conversion rates from MacSparky readers and Mac Power Users listeners. Because of this, they are offering the highest discount they’ve ever offered just for you. If you sign up now, you get a $25 discount. That’s only good for a few more weeks so make sure to take advantage of it. To do so, go to SaneBox.com/MPU and cash in.

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Indy 5

Next to Star Wars, I loved the original Indiana Jones trilogy. Particularly Raiders of the Lost Ark is, in my opinion, one of the best movies ever made. For the fourth movie, however, I was tempted to walk out of the theater. I've actually never watched it again since that first time in the theater. Apparently, Steven Spielberg also had issues with the movie. Now Disney's announced they'll be making a fifth Indiana Jones movie with Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg but without George Lucas, which is kind of strange but perhaps for the best. 

I always thought Indiana Jones should be treated like a Bond movie where they bring in a new actor and wind things back to the 1930s and 1940s. Indy always seemed at his best fighting Nazis. Regardless, I hope they get number five right.

Jazz Friday: Joey Alexander

Following up on this morning's post with the youngest ever home screen post, I thought I'd point out a rising star in the Jazz Community. Indonesian pianist Joey Alexander (Wikipedia) has been getting a lot of praise for his debut album, My Favorite Things (iTunes). As a new artist, he shows remarkable sensitivity. He's not a show off and plays with subtlety. I particularly like the way he's listening to the bass and drums and mimics their riffs in his solos. It is something that a lot of artists never quite get right and he seems to do intuitively. 

By the way, Joey recorded My Favorite Things  when he was eleven. Now he's the ripe old age of twelve.

In the musical world, prodigy, is usually used for someone that becomes technically proficient at a very young age. I've seen "prodigy" jazz musicians that could nail an exact copy of something great from someone else. Rarely do you see someone Joey's age bring their own voice and soul into the music. Joey does and that's what makes him so amazing. I can't wait to see where he goes with jazz as he grows older.

Home Screens: Brady Bhalla

I’ve met so many interesting people through MacSparky. One of those is young Brady Bhalla. Brady and I have emailed each other several times and he is so articulate I couldn’t help asking him to do a home screen post from our youngest contributor yet. So Brady, show us your home screen.

What are some of your favorite apps?

One of my favorite apps on my iPhone is Overcast because I love listening to podcasts. My favorite podcasts are Mac Power Users, Clockwise, Upgrade, ATP, Liftoff, and Connected. Another app that I like is the News app because I can stay up to date about what is happening in the world. I also really like WeMo and IFTTT. If my WeMo Motion in my room detects motion it will turn on the other lights in my room. If I long press my WeMo light switch, the lamp on my side table turns off or on. One other app that I like is Slack. My family and extended family have a channel that we use like a private Facebook.

Which apps are your guilty pleasure?

The games I play the most are Crossy Road, The Blockheads, and Plants vs. Zombies 2. My parents have restrictions on how much time I can play games, so I can’t play them as much as I want.

What app makes you most productive?

One app that makes me productive is 1Password. I have a shared vault with my dad so he can also see my passwords. Some other apps that make me productive are the ones I use for school. These apps are Google Docs, Google Classroom (to check any new assignments), Documents (I scan in my finished homework papers with Scanner Pro and save them in Documents), and StudentVUE (to check my grades). I also sometimes use Notes to plan a big project if I have one. One other app that makes me productive is OmniFocus. I don’t usually use it but sometimes I need to make a packing list before a trip and I use OmniFocus for that.

How many times a day do you use your iPhone?

I usually use my iPhone about five times on a school day, but more on a weekend. I use it so little on a school day because we aren’t allowed to use it during school hours. The things I use my iPhone for the most are weather, news, games (if I’m allowed to), and listening to podcasts.

What is your favorite feature of the iPhone?

There are many features that I really like to use on my iPhone 6s, but if I had to choose one I would probably choose 3D Touch. The things I use it most for are switching apps back and forth and using Peek and Pop to look at my emails and Messages.

Do you have an Apple Watch? Show us your watch face and tell us about it.

I don’t have an Apple Watch, but my parents got me a Pebble Time for Christmas. I use the Simplicity face which just tells me the date and time. I love being able to get texts and other notifications without getting my phone out. I also use my Pebble to track my steps and how much sleep I’m getting.

Thanks Brady!

Chicago Bound

As I write this, I'm waiting to board my flight to Chicago and the American Bar Association's annual TechShow, where I have the privilege of sharing some nerdy goodness with other lawyers. The best part about attending these conferences is meeting new people so if you are in attendance, please stop me and say "hello". If you are not attending but in the Chicago area, there is a certain bar I may happen to be at later today. 

Setting Precedent

There's some interesting bits on this issue. John Oliver sums it up nicely.

Strong encryption poses problems for law enforcement, is weakening it worth the risks it presents? It's...complicated. Connect with Last Week Tonight online...

I've always wondered how badly the FBI really needs Apple to build the requested super-key. Setting aside how bad it would be if such a key got into the wild–it would–why doesn't the FBI just go to the NSA? Former national security official Richard Clarke has the same question:

“Every expert I know believes that NSA could crack this phone. They want the precedent that the government can compel a computer device manufacturer to allow the government in.”
— Richard Clarke



 

MPU 310: One Year Indie with Jason Snell →

This week's episode of Mac Power Users is live and it's a good one. Jason Snell joins us and the two of us reflect on what we've both learned after being self employed for a year. 

Also, there are some hiccups with the feed for Mac Power Users for some of our long-time subscribers. If you don't see this episode in your feed. 

To fix things, you need to delete the old feed and resubscribe to the current feed. Here are links that will help you do that:

For step-by-step instructions, click here. Thanks.

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Sponsor: OmniOutliner →

This week MacSparky is sponsored by OmniOutliner, the best outlining application I've ever used. Often people throw information at me in a jumbled mess. Not a week goes by that I don't fire up OmniOutliner on my Mac, iPad, or iPhone and bring order to chaos with an outline. Not only does OmniOutliner help me sort my own thoughts out, it also creates an attractive outline that I can share with clients to show them what I'm thinking. 

There simply is no better tool than OmniOutliner for organizing complex data. In addition to your text, OmniOutliner Outlines can include links, images, sound files, and movies. The app even has the ability to record audio while you outline. This is so useful for students.

If you've got an iPad Pro, you'll really love OmniOutliner with split screen and extensive keyboard shortcut support. I'm using this app a lot on my jumbo iPad. Thanks to OmniPresence, you can sync your outlines seamlessly between your Mac, iPad, and iPhone. A good outliner can make your work product better and this is the best outliner available on the Mac and iOS. Go check it out.

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MPU Chicago "Meet Up" March 16

Katie and I really tried but between March Madness and some local ritual called "St. Patrick's Day", we couldn't get a venue for a Mac Power Users meetup in Chicago this coming week. All that said, on March 16 at around 5:30 p.m. I'll be fresh off a plane and I will need a beverage or two and there is a nice little bar in the Chicago Hilton called Kitty O'Sheas. If you happen to be there at the same time, Katie and I wouldn't mind that one bit. Be warned that it may be crowded and we have no reservation. The password is "Steve sent me."

A Tale of Two iOS Developers

Watching Google and Microsoft develop applications for iOS over the last few years has been interesting. Microsoft under Steve Ballmer took a pretty soft approach to preparing applications for the iPhone and iPad. Microsoft Office was reserved for Apple operating systems and hardware and those Microsoft apps that did come to iOS left a lot to be desired. On the flipside, Google seem to get the idea of apps on the iPhone from day one.

Somewhere along the line, however, things flipped. These days Microsoft's iPad apps are arguably better than their Mac apps. I'm particularly impressed with Microsoft Word on the iPad Pro, which I'm using just about every day. Google, on the other hand, has declined.

Google Documents has always been the preferred platform for heavy document collaboration. As a word processor, it's not particularly good but it is rocksolid in the collaboration department. Nevertheless, there has been a definite slowdown in engineering talent thrown at the Google iOS applications. Google Documents on the iPad just got iPad Pro keyboard support this week. This new update, however, still does not add iPad multitasking. Apple announced multitasking last June at WWDC. We are now approaching nine months and Google's iPad apps still don't support this feature. At this point I'm seriously looking at alternatives to Google Docs.

As far as I can tell, Google has not said anything publicly about why app development slowed down for the iPad and iPhone. Maybe they just don't care and, like the Microsoft of a few years ago, want to put their best stuff on their own hardware. Either way, if a few years ago you had asked me to pick which of Microsoft or Google will suck at creating iPad apps, I never would've guessed Google.

Mac Ransomware and Backing Up

We had some sad news in the Mac community this week when the first Mac-based ransomeware was found in the wild. The bad guys hijacked the popular bit torrent client, Transmission, and managed to inject a malicious version of the app into the developer’s web site. Unwitting users downloaded and installed the malicious code and the ransomware, called “KeRanger”, promptly encrypted the user’s drive, demanding 1 bitcoin (about $400) to unlock it.

I’ve had a few legal clients on the PC side get caught in this trap over the last several years. I guess it was only a matter of time until this found its way to the Mac.

There really is no solution for people caught in the ransomeware trap. Even if you pay the criminals, who the heck knows if they will actually unlock it or, if they do, what else they will leave on your hard drive. The only real solution is to nuke and pave your hard drive.

When we first started the Mac Power Users, we spent a lot of time talking about backup. In fact we talked about it so much that we started getting complaints. Nevertheless, job one on any computer should be making certain you have a reliable backup system in place. One backup isn’t enough. It should be redundant.

I think one of the easiest ways to do this on your Mac is to get yourself an Apple Time Capsule, which makes incremental backups of your hard drive. If you add to that a copy of SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner, you can make your own manual mirror image-style copies of your data on separate hard drives, which can then be put in a drawer and, more importantly, disconnected from the Internet. There’s a lot more I do and perhaps one day I will write it up in detail. It’s been several years since the last time I described my full backup regimen (Ack! 8 years!) and it has changed since then. (For instance, I no longer use FireWire 800. Grin.)

Either way, if you get yourself an external drive with a clone backup plus a Time Capsule, you’re probably in pretty good shape. More importantly, if you ever get caught with one of these ransomeware clowns, you can tell them to shove it, then delete your hard drive and restore from backup.