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to the show everybody nice to have you
here
Before we jump into it don't forget go
to youtube and click that subscribe
button and the little Bell is going to
make sure that you get the notifications
anytime we're live or when we post new
videos when we clean out our computer or
other electronics we tend to turn to
what Jeff any guesses can of compressed
air compressed air yeah a can of
compressed air right we've all been
there
anybody who's worked on computers this
is kind of what we're used to using and
go to yeah the fact is is that you don't
even think twice this is kind of what
you go and grab but here's the thing
what do you see
danger danger keep out of reach of
children extremely flammable yeah
there's a whole bunch of warning signs
all over this way and sometimes when
you're working on cleaning your computer
out or something like that it can
actually squirt like a moisture the
weird watery things yeah yeah which to
me you're like I don't particularly want
that getting into my computer and as it
turns out this is not actually full of
compressed air at all well it's like
flammable gases and a mix of all kinds
of chemicals and everything else yeah oh
I'm completely serious here Jeff
so John Shearer set out to provide an
alternative ok and John is joining us
here to talk about his Canlis
err product John thank you so much for
being here on the show with us this week
you're welcome I appreciate you can you
tell us a little bit about yourself
right out the gate just I'd love to know
a little bit about your backstory and
where you come from and how you found
yourself developing a product as an
alternative to this canned compressed
air well well I taught computers for
with video professor for 20 years and I
did that and got out of that and a guy
came to me with an idea long story short
it's Canlis there is the idea I took the
product and redesigned it re-engineered
it and it is what it is today it's what
I believe you have in your hand problem
I'm gonna grab it here for for us John
so here it is this is the Canlis air
system I've got the X 3 hurricane thank
you very much John for sending that to
us yes that's right and so what I want
to show you is that the footprint
between a can of canned compressed air
and the camless air is roughly the same
so on a shelf this is virtually the same
but when I think about like what I want
to what I want to use if I'm
environmentally conscious is something
like a compressor right right which
takes up a massive amount of space
compared to something like this or this
why does it really matter and and maybe
before I even ask that question John I
think I mentioned at the top of our
discussion here as a computer geek
myself as a computer user and a
technician I'm always using this kind of
thing that the compressed the
traditional compressed air and I never
think twice about it
ok so consider that like that's readily
available I can pick that up at any
ready shop and any computer shop is
selling that and as a computer guy I've
never thought twice about it
and then along comes Canlis air system
and starts to make me think
well maybe I should be thinking about
the environmental impact can you tell us
a little bit about what is dangerous
about these like compressed air dusters
and and and how the products differ well
what you have is a bomb actually in your
hand that I mean literally yeah when
they're that can if that was exposed to
we're in Arizona if that was left in
your car in the summer for an hour or
two it would explode it's it's very
dangerous the the thing that you in
getting our product you must have
realized you must see that that our
product can do every canned air could do
it it runs for a long time mm-hmm it
doesn't freeze up because that can of
canned air has dangerous chemicals in it
and if did you use canned air and your
camera lenses yeah I've used it on
camera lenses on computer keyboards on
servers on the inside outside everything
yeah I hope that you won't use canned
air anymore because one of the worst
things to use canned air on camera
lenses you could ruin the lens really
because you know how candy or sometimes
spits out liquid yeah that's a concern
for me on the inside of a computer or
something I think about yes if it gets
well of it for sure if it gets on a
camera lens it'll ruin Wow it'll ruin a
camera lens
what we have a lot of camera shops a lot
of camera people buying our product
because it's safe yeah it's just blowing
air it's just you know air coming out of
here and you can turn it upside down or
sideways it doesn't matter not if you
have you ever turned the can deer upside
down uh-huh that's when the liquid comes
out
the liquid comes out you're correct yeah
and so and and it freezes up you know
that you that can after a while gets
very cold yeah what causes that John
that's the chemicals in there and
turning it upside down if you sprayed it
on you can get frostbite from if you
turn it upside down to spread it on your
skin for a little bit you can get
frostbite
so there's many reasons that I developed
this product I mean there's the green
aspect there's a safety aspect for sure
and people didn't have a choice they
they had no choice and so that's why
this got developed and and I made it Y
heard you mention about the size the
same size of the denim can there that's
what we did we had the engineers hold
canned air in their hand and then design
this and it's designed for a woman's
hand too it can a woman can hold this
very comfortably and use it how's that
feel faster feels good I feel all right
oh yeah there you go
we had women that actually tested and
pull the trigger on it it's easy to use
yeah and this last as you know it lasts
about a good solid 15 to 20 minutes if
you pull the trigger and let it run yeah
it'll run that long that's awesome you
can recharge it 500 times Wow so one
charge of this is equal to I don't know
five or six cans of canned air just
watch all right right that's incredible
this unit this unit is equivalent to a
minimum of a thousand cans of canned air
okay well that is at least a week of
compressed air for me John at least that
that's a big amount of money I don't
know what you pay for cleaning deer but
probably somewhere between five and ten
dollars yeah there are like eight bucks
a can like this that times a thousand
that's $8,000 poof so it's it gets very
big for the homeowner it's you know a
homeowner may use a can every month or
every few months or whatever it is yeah
but a business burns through them they
burn through sure what we had happened
we've had corporate America is
that discovered us and they use this we
had a company that has bought this
product from us since we started
they bought about 8,000 of these units
so far they use them between cash
registers ATM machines parking meters
computers use it for everything
Oh fire alarm people professionals Oh
industrial fire alarm a sense
they use these okay John can I ask so
these these guys here so if this is if
this is really gonna do say a thousand
cans of compressed air for me
what is the again I've never really
thought about this okay what's the
environmental impact of the traditional
like blow-off compressed air what kind
of impact are we having on landfills the
chemicals all of those kinds of things
you must know the stats being in the
industry ah the environmental impact
used to have all the numbers I used to
know all the major impact that it has
but I can let me tell you this first of
all corporations that buy canned air
have to dispose them that can you have
when it's done yeah they have to take it
and drill a hole in the can and you
don't just throw it in the trash I know
you guys probably do every you know a
homeowner something just throws in the
trash yeah John I I throw it in the
recycle with high leaves with high hopes
that it will be recycled yeah but I
don't really know like is it recyclable
I don't really know the answer to that
right it probably is it probably is but
the environmental impact it's like I
forget how many kid there's 30 million
cans of this stuff as near as we can
tell
thrown away every year that's a big
number and and they I don't know what
they end up doing with it I really don't
other than you know they drill out the
they drill a hole so it can't explode
then once it
being recycled but it's corporate
America gets points they get green
points for sustainability yeah in buying
if when they use our product they get
points because their candor is on the
list a list of bad things okay well
that's good that's very good so when I
think about so if this is going to
replace say a thousand cans of
compressed air how long is it actually
going to last like what how long is the
product good for oh well you can
recharge it 500 times so if it lasts 20
minutes times 500 they eat it we have
people that bought these back in 2012
and they're still using them Oh
fantastic
you use it forever if I looked at one
today in the office that was all taken
apart up and sent back something
happened at the bottom of the motor it
was a weird thing we've never seen
before
we sent the person a new one but they've
been using it for I don't know seven
years so they they're just really really
durable good good man and what are some
interesting uses I mean you can think of
the the practical use I can tell you
what I just used compressed air for this
weekend which is not the best thing in
the world to do it turns out they were
using like the traditional and my
husband's gonna be so happy he was right
yes so I was dusting off he has these
little model motorcycles and they have
little spokes in the wheels and I said
hon can you get me some compressed air
and he handed it to me he's like be
careful with this it's really dangerous
and I was like whatever started spraying
away thinking there was no problems
now he's probably watching now doing
like the touchdown dance yeah yeah I was
right you know of the dangers of this
product that you've got right you know
that people you know people off that
stuff I've heard that John why why would
oh they get high they get really high
really it's a high it's more addictive
than heroin you got to be kidding oh
yeah so to shoot that in your mouth more
addictive than heroin
the problem is folks yeah do not do this
but to shoot it in your mouth with the
thing hook like that can trade up
it gets in your lungs yeah and everybody
is different
I might squirt some in my mouth I'm fine
you squirt it in your mouth for the same
amount of time I did in your dad goodbye
because you can't breathe and suffocate
you Wow
so nothing like that's that okay that's
a whole other can of worms that we're
jumping in oh no that's a whole other
deal yeah it's a dangerous thing to have
in the what I guess I'm saying
and that's exactly what comes to mind as
a parent yes if somebody's listening to
us now and they have candy or in their
home and they have children get it out
of there and I mean that sincerely hide
it do whatever if you insist on having
it there get it out away from where the
kids can get to it so the question then
John and I'll word it like this can I
get high off of your product you know we
had somebody write a review and they
said the problem is we can't get high
it's not the same thing it's not the
same thing I read that the other day we
can't problem with this is we can't get
high off of it oh you can't see it's
just it's taking an error in these vents
right I mean that's here and blowing it
out this here is the same if your room
is full of hot air which I assume your
room is there guys a lot of hot air and
you pull the trigger hands down and if
it blow out hot air I'll kick that it
just
whatever's in the room alright let's
give it the ultimate test the X 3
hurricane Canlis air system with the
variable speed control on my anemometer
and I'm gonna start at the very lowest
speed and gradually work my way up from
there so hitting about 910 up 12 20
almost 30 kilometres an hour oh and you
see that it kind of dropped way down and
then start it up again they almost like
it switched into second gear ok
increasing let's hit 50 kilometres an
hour almost there oh and you see there
it goes again so now we're in like a
third gear so there's some kind of
gearing mechanism in there and my
anemometer can only go up to 90
kilometers an hour
we're probably gonna hit that oh there
we go 96
I guess Wow a hundred so I guess the
anemometer is reading higher than its
limit but it's probably inaccurate at
this point hitting one hundred and 1.5
kilometers per hour and capping off so I
think that's all my anemometer is
capable of but obviously we're getting
over 100 kilometres an hour wind off of
the x3 hurricane now John one of the
questions we have from our chat room is
they're wondering after you've expended
the 500 charges is there a way to extend
the life of the product by a replacement
battery no how long do they want this to
last I think the rest of their life
indefinitely John 500 times just to give
you an idea around the house people that
have these I have these around my house
yeah around the house if you charge it
once a month that's probably a lot right
so let's say you charge it once a month
so 12 times a year and it's good for 500
times that's gonna do that well how old
are they gonna be that's that's quite
old
ah so how so no we this thing is sealed
the batteries in there it's not a it's
not take the batteries
with other batteries in these are
high-end batteries that we use in here
we were talking about the other day in
the office and we said it took us a
while to perfect this and get the right
combination between the battery the
charger and the motor the battery we
have is just it's unbelievable Fantauzzo
so whoever wrote that in tell them you
and it's guaranteed for a lifetime
pretty much yeah yeah exactly
oh that take care of that question yeah
now as far as as far as the guarantee
for a lifetime what kind of warranty
comes with your unit a lifetime oh it is
lifetime warranty okay there you go
it's not simple easy so you - that
person does not have to worry about
changing the batteries okay if something
goes wrong send it to us we'll send you
a new one that's fintax Allah Jon where
can we buy Canlis air because you know
there's the the cost savings Canlis air
calm okay is that an analyst air calm
and everything we've been discussing
here yeah is on the site it compares
canned air with our product it shows all
the different models we have the one you
guys have in your hand this x3 variable
speed is the absolute best unit we've
got very nice because you can pull it
the trigger just a little and just a
little air is coming out or you can pull
a lot a lot angry this done
[Music]
sorry size up here but it's it's called
kingless air.com where you could buy it
people also buy it on amazon you've got
to be amazon right but but to go
straight to us is the best way to do it
to go right to can lucerne calm buy the
product okay very good John and the
variable speed
oh yes glad is it really variable oh my
goodness John are you kidding me I
didn't even realize you didn't know that
it's like it's like a drill oh look at
that yeah so this is like yeah so you
can have the light yep and then you can
have the intense don't want other ones
we have other one love it one yeah this
this is the only one speed fast okay
just fat but for your for your viewers
and for you guys the thing you have in
your hand there this one the variable
speed next is their hands down the best
thing we've come up with and I love it
because you don't always need all the
power
yeah right yeah
that's awesome and I mean even the
attachments that it comes with the
different heads like so you guys know
gives it a lot of functionality is it
they're like vacuum heads no no real big
deal but I mean it's it's something yeah
it just extends it right but I mean
that's nice because that's something you
don't get with a can of compressed air
slide a little tube you have the
environmental impact but you also have
the longevity of life impact and now
you've got these extensions I mean it's
like it's everything you need yeah
that's awesome
yeah so John thank you so much for the
product for the time that you've spent
with us you're welcome I hope if
anything we've gotten across I mean yeah
this this is a product that as a
computer technician or somebody that's
working in a computer
shop like you just absolutely have to
have it because you're gonna have this
anyway so this product is a great
product it's used by by half the fortune
500 companies use this product yeah Wow
and that's pretty impressive
very good man well congrats on a
fantastic product and we wish you every
success with Canlis air well thank you
thank you and I again I appreciate being
on anytime you want a good laugh
very good sounds thank you John thank
you thank you as well get your ex 3
hurricane camless air system at Canlis
air.com
we've got to take a quick break folks
when we get back we're gonna be talking
about well some linux alternatives to
Windows 10 stick around
[Music]
so with Windows 7 being yo L aka
end-of-life we all have this situation
if we use Windows on our network that
well the operating system is now
depreciated it's no longer safe to use
Windows 7 that's right that's go say
hasn't been appreciated for a long time
well Windows 7 is is now what we call
end-of-life and and some folks have said
well I don't need Microsoft support I've
never once in my entire Windows usage
never required Microsoft support sorry
and I'm all tangled up here there we go
now I'm better so if you do if you don't
ever have to call Microsoft support why
does it matter to you if Microsoft no
longer supports Windows 7 well yeah yeah
so consider this that support so when we
think of support we think about being
able to pick up the phone and call
technical support well that's not at all
what it's talking about
what it's talking about is that the
support of basically them fixing
problems that they find is gone so what
that means is whenever a hacker finds a
way to compromise a Windows 7 machine
Microsoft used to fix it and roll it out
as an update and and probably break a
couple things that along the way but you
inevitably fixed the bug that was
causing hackers to be able to get into
your system well now they're not going
to do that so as hackers find exploits
in Windows 7
Microsoft is just going to say well it's
no longer supported right so we are not
going to be patching that and now if
you're running Windows 7 you've got this
very bad situation and you know maybe
you've got a mix of Windows 7 Linux
Windows 10 and that one Windows 7
machine or god forbid a Windows XP
machine sadly those still exist
they still exist yeah right so if any of
those exists that are no longer being
patched or supported it can be a really
bad situation because that's one it's a
door it's a doorway like a backdoor into
your computer know your network all of
all of your devices time so we have to
move to Windows 10 but maybe our
computer can't handle Windows 10 I mean
we've got to get more RAM we've got to
get an SSD in order to be able to run it
at a reasonably decent speed so that
means a a new hard drive and by that
point it's like do you really sync the
money into this old thing so you're
speaking to my current situation I have
an old Windows XP system that I I'm
setting up for our kids at home yeah so
that they can use it for school work and
stuff separate than our family computer
ok so somebody's playing games there's
still the school or computer yeah but I
don't want to upgrade this old system
that's 10 years old yeah are you really
gonna put a couple hundred bucks into
something when you can walk into a Super
Center and for 600 bucks walk away with
a pretty decent computer exactly you
know but low-end but fast though will
say I'm looking for the free fix
yeah you've already got the gear so you
know what are you gonna do
so do we put more RAM into it do we put
a new hard drive into it an SSD and do
we do all that work or do you just nee
you know wipe it and put something else
on there that's powered by Linux
that's the option that's the one yeah so
that's what I do that's what I've done
and that's what I continue to do so you
will also do once you hear why so
personally so this is kind of like a
personal opinion piece but personally
what I have been leaning toward is Linux
Mint over the past in a while because
the question comes out well what distro
okay this is a new word if you're a
Windows user yeah it's short for
distribution
what distro of Linux or what flavor of
Linux are you gonna use but because a
lot of the Linux names are based on
foods that is true that Linux Mint what
flavor mint yeah right
what flavor so the computer that I was
talking about I had tried a few
different distros I had boo bun to Matei
I had also a good option
I had Lindos from the inspire inspire
yeah inspire no longer yeah that's like
fire but I ended up settling on a Linux
Mint yeah yeah and I had was it Sauron
Zorin OS on here yeah before I switch to
cloud ready yeah yeah okay so Linux
meant for me it's a debian based system
so this is the same core that Ubuntu is
based on right so I don't have to and
I'm a very big Debian fan all my servers
are like Debian Buster stretched before
that and I'm always up to date with the
latest and debian systems and and and so
and I run stable I don't tend to run
testing unless it's its feature locked
and ready to go into stable and what
that means again if you're new to the
Linux world debian is basically there's
a hierarchy so you've got like Debian
you've got Red Hat you've got a couple
other ones as well but those are kind of
the big ones that I think you're going
to encounter we don't need to really
clutter the landscape but so Debian
being one that it's going to be based on
it could be a boon to it could be Linux
Mint it could be
any number you mentioned a boon to matei
another one which is essentially Ubuntu
with a different interface yes as Mattei
is like the menu that the the desktop
environment so now linux mint is also
mattei but it's it's based on a boon to
correct all right so it's like this
whole it's like this tree of hierarchy
of where did this linux come from so
you've got debian is like this fantastic
server environment but then a boon to
canonical is creating a desktop version
of that and it's fantastic it's called a
boon - and that's where boon tune mattei
comes from and then you've got Linux
Mint which is a fork of that another
word for yeah it's like they've copied
the the codebase and then they've
tweaked it and made it the way that they
want it and that's the one that I've
settled on and it's fantastic so I get
all the benefits of Debian I get the
benefits of Ubuntu and I get the
benefits of the Linux Mint community as
well and so I end up with this extremely
polished desktop operating system that
will run on my old hardware that I don't
have to upgrade the RAM that I don't
have to buy a new SSD and it works
fantastically in it and it's fairly
familiar I don't have to relearn the
entire desktop paradigm in order to get
used to it pretty intuitive like Ike
very yeah yeah now you talked about
stable version vs. yes experimental I
think this has test yeah so for somebody
who's sit just getting into this and
they're like oh I download the
experimental what's the pitfall to
experimental versus stable for them
testing or CID is what Debian calls it
so way up at the higher level of the
hierarchy which you're probably not
going to touch as a new Linux user okay
so remember that Debian is like up here
okay so sid is testing version of debian
stable is is what they consider stable
it's been tested okay so it's already
gone through the testing phase if you
were going up here going to testing is
going to end up giving you newer
packages so like when the new version of
comes out GNU image manipulation
program you're gonna have the latest and
greatest right immediately part of
the operating system but it may not be
stable it may crash it may have bugs and
that comes up because it hasn't gone
through that testing phase yet once it
hits stable Ubuntu users would say it's
older version right right
Debian users will say it's stable yeah
it doesn't crash it doesn't have any
problems okay so that's a big difference
between a boon to and Debian Debian
stable means it's gone through a lengthy
maybe two-year testing process like
proofreaders but are using it ready it
is safe to use its stable okay so it's
rock-solid
Lubuntu a little more bleeding-edge
little more cutting edge and the
software versions are going to be a
little bit newer and the package
managing and everything else is a little
bit tweaked for end-users but you're not
dealing anymore with testing versus
stable it's just here's a boon - yeah
and that's what you get so it's now it
comes down to is it LTS any guesses what
that means or is it not LTS a lifetime
service very close long-term support
long-term support oh yes so what that
means so when you see an Ubuntu release
that is LTS long-term support which is
currently I is it twelve point oh four
is the current LTS its so no it can't be
twelve no I don't like 22 I know 1804
yes so man I'm in the past day you're in
the past because I've talked about
Windows yeah so LTS means that version
is going to continue being supported
think of along the terms of what I
mentioned about Microsoft it's going to
continue getting those patches and fixes
for a very long time years okay so if
you're new and you don't want to have to
reinstall every couple of years or go
through the upgrade process go with LTS
if you like the brand new versions go
with the current version which right now
it's 2020 it's not quite April but
because it's almost April that means
that 2004 is going to be coming out in
April because it represents the date
okay so it's every October and
celebrates its birthday in April like I
do is that what happens ACK yes like
that
so the most recent version then
therefore would be 1910 nineteen point
ten so and always for somebody's mind by
explaining that yeah a little bit yeah
yeah no it's October 2019
so that version would be the latest
current version of Ubuntu but it's not
LTS right so you you'd have to then go
to 2004 when it's released through the
upgrade path which is pretty easy now
Linux Mint I believe subscribes to a
very similar model but they base theirs
on the LTS of Ubuntu so you're gonna get
LTS I believe anyway well but they have
the iterations throughout as well so
like right now it's Linux Mint 19 and I
believe nineteen point two something
like that so so it's just it's how it
trickles down so that's what I've
settled on is Linux Mint because I find
for my laptop for my desktop it's like
the rock solid it's gone it's got
current software I can install whatever
I want on it it's beautiful and it works
great you mentioned cloud ready
yes which basically has turned Sasha's
laptop into it's a Chromebook a crumb
yes so you took your old laptop and turn
it into a Chromebook and how how is that
for you it's great I mean it works well
I have all my access through the cloud
right yeah so I am already using Google
Doc yeah exactly I use Google Docs and
slides and you know all of that and and
so it was really intuitive for me like I
had no problem switching to cloud ready
but from what it was Oren from Zorin and
before that before that I was was I
window I must have been Windows at some
point wait on Windows I was Windows 7 I
just got the sticker but I block things
out I don't like I don't remember this
and Jeff you mentioned Lindos Windows
and Windows XP yes so you're more old
school than me
what are you running at home for real so
on my we have the two system well we
have three sessions there's my wife's
Mac
because she likes mac yeah on our family
computer we have a dual boot system of
Linux Mint and Windows 10 nice and the
reason for the dual boot is because of
computer games yeah I was gonna guess
gaming yeah it's gonna be aiming that's
what yep yep so I mean my kids are now
at the age where they're like you know
they're getting into some of those
roblox oh they're past that now what
else requires Windows what requires
windows it's also some of our at night
yep some of our steam games our windows
only what else do I have
oh goodness trying to think of some of
the games that are Windows only you
don't game on your laptop I do not this
is strictly like the strictly business
yeah strictly the business I'm
completely blanking on what all's on the
computer that's not through Steam okay
so gaming on the Windows 10 yeah and you
Jeff has mentioned something that we
haven't talked about yet tonight the
dual boot dual booting so what that
means is that he's chosen so your
computer is obviously good enough to run
Windows 10 anyways yes okay so that's a
different scenario in some ways however
if your computer is able to support it
and you still want to go the route of
Linux yeah you can do dual booting can
you explain to us what that means yeah
so with dual boot
I have partitioned the hard drive that's
a fancy word Jeff okay so partition
means I took the space of the hard drive
yeah and I segmented off into different
portions and so that hard to do
no it's really that be a straight 50-50
it does not have to be a straight 5050
and so my initial boot was not Windows
it was Linux so originally it was just
Linux yeah originally because it was a
computer I built okay so it was a blank
hard drive and my first install was
Linux because when I'm doing the install
it says do you intend to do a dual boot
and so really yep so that was one of the
install options and I'm like yes I
intended to a dual boot and so that's
what happened is I setup the dual boot
I'm blanking on what the dual boot
program is called um gparted no no it's
the Installer process yeah
I'm blanking on what it's called anyway
so that popped up in the install and
it's like okay how much do you want to
partition on your hard drive okay your
Linux operating yankem and so I set up
it was not quite a 50/50 split because I
need a ton of space for the games that
get installed so it was more Windows
I think it's 25/75 split all in all in
the hard drive that was the first time I
did the install I've since wiped the
computer reinstalled it and so that was
when I had my spinning hard drive okay
and then after I installed Linux I
booted up again installing windows on
the second partition since wiping out
that and going with my SSD it's the SSD
I think is 500 gigs and I have two
terabytes spinning hard drive yeah for
it and so that's where my data is on the
spinning hard drive yeah and then I'm
using the SSD for the operating system
and that's a 50/50 split okay
very complicated sounding but it's by
taut but from the scenario of a user who
say is using Windows and wants to
experience Linux and and use Linux
because it's safer because I know I can
surf the Internet my kids can use the
computer I don't have to worry about
viruses like I do with Windows those
kinds of things so let's say your kids
sit down at the computer and they want
to switch between Windows and Linux or
vice versa
how is that process so all we have to do
is we if I'm in Windows we go through a
system restart and then on the boot it
brings up the dual boot screen the
default if the computer just starts up
by itself
yeah is to go into Linux yes I wanted to
go into Linux automatically if say
Windows does a system update in the
middle of the night or something right
and the computer boots I want to know
that I'm going into Linux where it's a
safe environment for the computer to sit
as opposed to windows okay where it
could be exposed to something so it's an
automatic boot into Linux but at the
dual boot screen they can drop down the
menu and select the Windows boot
brilliant and the kids know the kids
know how to work it it's totally easy
and they know when they can switch
between Linux and windows yeah not a
problem it's a game get into Windows if
you want to do anything else
Linux is where it's at that's right I
mean our daughter just turned
and she's been doing it now for two
years so if a seven-year-old can do it
yeah like it's not that hard yeah
awesome oh yeah
Linux Mint Ubuntu all these technologies
that we're talking about Debian they're
available for free they're absolutely
free mm-hmm and you can just download
them off of their respective websites
cloud-ready
same thing how much does that cost you
is zero dollars so you can't even say
this is a sales pitch because it's free
you know here you go take it so that's
that's that's where it's at so that's
good I think it's a good solution so hey
let us know comment below how you're
utilizing open source operating systems
technologies and how it's able to you
know in Jeff's environment help keep his
kids safe help to keep his computer safe
from infiltration Sasha it's breathed
new life into an old laptop it's given
her the ability to access her
cloud-based applications like Google
Docs and and you've mentioned
spreadsheets is it it's all that kind of
stuff and and you can do it from there
you can jump onto any other computer and
you've got access to it for me I just
need a powerful Linux desktop operating
system on my laptop and that's where
linux mint comes in for me how's it
impact you what is open-source doing for
you lately
comment below we'd love to hear from you
in the meantime we've got to jump over
to the newsroom so Sasha if you're ready
here's what's coming up in the category
5 TV newsroom Mycroft
a eyes Linux voice assistant has
attracted a lawsuit and the crater is
decided to fight the patent trolls tooth
and nail a u.s. a us-based natural gas
facility shut down operations for two
days after being hit by ransomware Jeff
Bezos the richest man in the world has
pledged 10 billion dollars to fight
climate change and ring doorbell maker
makes two-factor verification mandatory
stick around the full details are coming
up later in the show
this is the category 5 TV newsroom
covering the week stop texting with a
slight linux bias i'm sasha Rickman
joined this week by jeff weston and
robbie ferguson well some quick
honourable mentions this week dell
technologies is selling its InfoSec
business RSA for two point zero seven
five billion dollars as it tries to
reduce its long-standing debt
RSA helps companies confirm user IDs and
manage other security security risks it
serves 30,000 customers ranging from
banks to consumer goods makers it also
runs security conferences including one
scheduled for this month in San
Francisco that IBM incidentally dropped
out of recently the sale which was
rubber stamped on Tuesday was made to a
consortium led by STG partners a private
equity investor that specializes in tech
Ontario teachers pension plan board and
Dutch private equity group it's called
alph invest Partners Alphen best
partners Alpen Alpen dust so flatter ALP
out will say Alpine vest alright that
works yeah Microsoft released a buggy
security update for Windows 10 last week
rise now some Windows users report that
all of the files on their desktop have
been deleted don't worry it hasn't
actually been deleted that thankfully
those files are still there the update
just moved them to another user accounts
folder that's better than the last time
when Microsoft actually deleted people's
files back in the October 2018 update
while files appear to the user to be
deleted and settings such as the Start
menu and desktop customization appear to
be reset to default what's actually
happening
that Windows 10 is signing people into a
temporary user profile to be used during
the update process but for some people
it's failing to restore the users proper
profile when the update is complete odd
the buggy update is KB four five three
two six nine three well I have the
utmost respect for you Sasha having to
read those very tiny numbers Microsoft
released this update for Windows 10 on
February 11th of 2020 a Windows Update
will automatically install it on your PC
if the system has already installed the
update and you haven't experienced the
bug you don't need to take any action
however if you've encountered the bug
there's one simple way to fix it and get
your files back uninstall the update
that caused the problem I will not
repeat the update kb ID you can you can
rewind since Microsoft will likely
re-release the update in the future when
the problem is solved removal is the
quickest and easiest fix now looking at
the update itself it says it is - hmm
improve security when using Internet
Explorer and Microsoft edge so we
suggest you stop using those browsers
yep problem solved thank you let's get
into the top stories were following this
week startup my craft a I stood up to a
patent troll who filed a lawsuit against
it for a building and open source Linux
based voice controlled assistant my
craft AI develops voice assistant
software that runs on Linux systems
including the Raspberry Pi the device it
can then respond to spoken requests
similar to Amazon echo or Google home
such as setting alarms and reminders
searching the web and so on my craft day
I at first learned trouble was brewing a
when it was contacted in December by a
lawyer at a Texas law firm focused
on intellectual property in an email to
the startup CEO Joshua Montgomery the
lawyer claimed my craft a eyes
technology infringed two US patents
belonging to their client voice Tech
Corp these patents described a system
for a handling quote voice commands from
a mobile device to remotely access and
control a computer and quote initially
the lawyer offered Mycroft AI a
non-exclusive license of voice Tech's
patents
however after Montgomery ignored the
emails voice tech sued Mycroft AI for
patent infringement earlier this month
Montgomery declared he's ready to fight
the lawsuit all the way he told the
register quote this is a textbook case
of why the US patent system is
fundamentally broken software is math
running on a microchip sure it's written
in a particular language and that is
copyrightable but math is not patentable
unquote according to their abstract the
patents involve quote receiving audio
data from mobile device at the computer
the audio data is decoded into a command
a software program that the command was
provided for is determined at least one
process is executed at the computer in
response to the command output data is
generated at the computer in response to
executing at least one process at the
computer the output data is transmitted
to the mobile device
unquote the Montgomery argued the
patents do not reflect the complexity
and architecture of modern assistance
and pointed out my Mycroft AI doesn't
even involve a separate mobile device
because Mycroft AI is based in Missouri
they'd have to spend money hiring a law
firm in Texas to work with its attorney
montgomery described voice tack in his
opinion as a quote patent troll
end quote and compared such
organizations to playground bullies he
said if you don't stand up the first
time it you'll get picked on forever end
quote
On February 11th voice tag voluntarily
dismissed the case in an update posted
to Mycroft blog
Montgomery says quote we have won the
battle not the war he also noted the
outpouring of support from the
open-source community saying over the
last week we have been humbled by the
outpouring of support thousands of you
shared the shared the post sent in
further evidence of the invit invalidity
of the patent claims offered your expert
testimony and even wanted to contribute
financially to the legal defense from
everyone at Mycroft thank you all
end quote I love that the open source
community comes together yes and says
you know what we're gonna back you up
we're gonna help you with this I think
that in all of this is the big win
statement because it shows you that it's
not just about company versus company
it's the community that's behind it and
I mean we hear this all the time where
somebody gets kind of beaten over the
head going we have this generic patent
that covers about everything you're
infringing upon it yeah and it's like
come as you're as you're talking about
this patent I'm thinking like have you
never seen an episode of Star Trek this
is this is all the stuff that we were
talking about in the 80s like this is
not something you can really patent
right this is something we've had all
along I'm really happy that they dropped
it because to be honest that would have
been a relief it wouldn't have been a
fair fight in that they would have had
to hire a lawyer outside the state they
would have associate restful yeah anyone
but like what a waste of resource
no you're right but feel like you're on
the defensive and you know the whole
thing would have been yucky and I really
loved that they felt supported yeah in
the way it was shown exactly and check
out Mycroft I mean it's a great project
so think about your Amazon echo or
Google home mini or whatever device you
have and then
create an open-source kind of
alternative that you can install on a
Raspberry Pi and create your own virtual
assistant and create plug-ins for it and
everything else definitely something we
need to look at my category 5 my AI your
awesome the Department of Homeland
Security is set on Tuesday that a
us-based natural gas facility I had to
shut down operations for two days after
sustaining a ransomware infection that
prevented personnel from receiving
crucial real-time operational data from
control and communication equipment the
advisory didn't identify the site except
to say that it was a natural gas a
natural gas compression facility such
sites typically use turbines motors and
engines to compress natural gas so that
it can be safely moved through pipelines
the attack started with a malicious link
in a phishing email that allowed
attackers to pivot from the facility's
IT network to the facilities ot Network
which is the operational technology hub
of servers that control and monitor
physical processes of the facility with
that both the IT and ot networks were
infected with her and somewhere the
attack knocked out crucial control and
communications gear that on-site
employees depend on to monitor the
physical processes the infection didn't
spread to program a programmable logic
controllers which actually control
compression equipment and it didn't
cause the facility to lose control of
operations the advisory explicitly said
that quote at no time did the threat
actor obtain the ability to control or
manipulate operations end quote okay so
even though they weren't able to control
operations it's still really scary I I
have to kind of bite my tongue on that
statement because it kind of feels like
one of those where they're oh well they
didn't they weren't actually able to
take control well they really were
yeah with maybe ruining work yeah maybe
they didn't take
control and blow something up sure but
they had control mm-hmm so it's kind of
like I don't know if I like that
statement and ransomware is we can be
really complacent and say it's just the
encryption of my files no they had to
get that in somehow and how did they get
that in in this case an email file right
so that email file contained ransomware
which encrypted our files okay what else
did it do what else could it have done
mm-hmm could it have installed a
gigabyte motherboard driver that is
exploitable right that has like a
backdoor in it that allows them into our
network and into our ot Network and then
into our actual controllers you don't
really know like that's really
complacent to state unless you've got
data to back it unless you can
legitimately say this was strictly this
infection we found the infiltration
point we've locked it down we've blocked
every instance but I've had computers
come in for service where they said oh I
accidentally fell for a phishing scam
and they install the they started
controlling my computer yep yeah and
then we found after is so ok they
thought they were safe but then we found
that there was like back-end software
that was running as as services in the
background there was no uninstaller for
it it was just a service running on the
computer that allowed them to remote in
at anytime and take control of the
computer which they're only gonna do it
two o'clock in the morning while you're
sleeping sorry so you don't know what's
happening how many people would notice
now can you just as a precaution I mean
I'm not saying that this is the answer
just turn your computer off at night
would that be in a in a home environment
no but not in a business environment
when it's controlling the flow of
propane yeah you'd probably want to
leave it running yeah yeah it's just sad
that this is still becoming a regular
story every single week oh that's like
come on
how many times do we have to hear this
before we go hey the world finally got
it
and it always seems to be the big
companies or the government's that are
getting hit by it it's like directed
those are the ones that make the news
true but still it's like you're a bigger
target and I think Jeff and maybe we can
you know maybe this is a discussion to
be had in the comments below but I think
that these big targets and forgive me if
you're in the IT departments in these
companies forgive me I don't mean this
as a jab but it's a it's a truth it's a
sad truth that we were educated 10 15 20
years ago ok and we've been in the
industry for that long and and some of
us in the IT department not myself of
course but some of us are on the verge
of retirement and that's again not a jab
I entirely respect what you do however
malware has evolved right significantly
significantly what we're encountering
now is not natus we're not dealing with
BS vs we're not dealing when was the
last time you ever saw a BS V and if you
know what a BS V is then you're you're
this I'm speaking to you it's not about
those anymore
no now it's the evolution back in 2017
when wanna cry dropped and we started
seeing ransomware infiltrating networks
and we started seeing RDP attacks and
and eternal blue being exploited and and
all of these kinds of things that's when
the cybersecurity industry woke up and
said okay we need to re-educate
ourselves and if we haven't since then
and if we're still thinking in that old
mindset where viruses is is our threat
I'm sorry to say that viruses are not
our threat when was the last time we
ever heard of a virus infiltration it
truly has been a long time although
still go I don't want viruses it's like
yeah if that's your biggest concern
antivirus I'm safe yeah when was the
last time you heard of a virus I haven't
got a virus infection because I have
antivirus no I'm just saying that's
that's not an old-school way of thinking
and it's a dangerous way of thinking
because that's that's how these big
industries are getting hit because we've
got that old-school thinking and we're
not adequately educating and protecting
ourselves and it comes down you know it
comes down to the c-suite as well
educating our staff and making sure that
there are cybersecurity professionals
that are brought in as consultants and
DLP's put in place to be able to protect
our networks from today's threats not
yes not yesterday is not 1999 threats
now I know we have to get to the next
story but is part of this a budgetary
compulsion sure like they're looking at
it go ahead we can only put in one
percent total budget for cybersecurity
when really they should be looking at 10
percent look at not that there's a
defined number but like the way the
things grow it's like you have to grow
with the threats and if that means
allocating more of your budget to more
cybersecurity to protect your
investments and your industry whatever
you're doing you gotta just the budget
accordingly you can't just stick another
same number be like well we've got our
subscriptions we updated that and oh
we've got an old computer we got to
replace so that's our budget it's like
yes I think it's exactly the same
mindset though Jeff it's yes that word I
use complacent we've become complacent
because we're so used to the old way
when things change we have to change
with it plain and simple otherwise
you're gonna be we're all under attack
sorry we are all under attack are you
going to be susceptible to the attack
right are you gonna fall victim or are
you gonna be a brick wall that they
can't penetrate we're all under attack
this is 2020 do you remember the books
when we were kids 2020 is the future
hello here we are yes we're there all
right we have got to take a quick break
more of this week's top tech nitori's
are coming right up
don't go anywhere
[Music]
[Applause]
well
back I'm Sasha Rickman and here's our
next story Amazon boss Jeff Bezos has
pledged a 10 billion pledge 10 billion
dollars to help fight climate change he
wants the money to finance work by
scientists activists and other groups he
said quote I want to work alongside
others to both both to amplify in own
ways and to explore new ways of fighting
the devastating impact of climate change
end quote
writing on his Instagram account mr.
Bezos said the fund would begin
distributing money this summer
mr. Bezos has an estimated net worth of
more than 130 billion dollars so the
pledge represents almost 8 percent of
his fortune some Amazon employees have
urged him to do more to fight climate
change
there have been walk outs and some staff
has spoken publicly also mr. Bezos is
financing the Blue Origin space program
the seattle-based company is a neighbor
of Microsoft which in January unveiled a
plan to become carbon negative by 2030
closing his post mr. Bezos says quote
Earth is the one thing we all have in
common let's protect it together
unquote we're gonna get all kinds of
comments below there's all kinds of
mixed feedback - yeah Jeff's oh but Jeff
has never been known as a philanthropist
right and I think because of that
a lot of people will see this as an
investment opportunity as gr or PR or
saving face in light of strikes and
things like that and truth in that but
if saving face also flipside save the
world I'm down with it I don't know that
ten billion dollars will save the world
however it's a lot more than I can well
I think it's kind of like playing poker
where you just like put some money in
and you hope somebody else is like I'll
see you ten billion dollars in all or
Asia right Bill Gates has some money
yeah you know it's a part of me wonders
if this truly is a bit of a PR thing
because of the strikes that some of the
employees have been doing and the
negative media attention about it and
the fact that Amazon at the end of the
day is a true global enterprise that is
built on fossil fuels and the fact that
all of their product is shipping their
shipping through planes they're
stripping their automobiles you can say
that but they're based on their current
infrastructure yes yeah and they have
put effort into drone based delivery
shows like that so we're see perhaps
part of their investments might actually
be to change transportation right
potentially right yes yeah so and but I
mean something like that I think could
have more of a positive impact than
saying I'm just going to throw money out
there however you're thinking in terms
of his business yes
so you're thinking Amazon can make
changes and maybe they will we'll see
it's his company but what he's doing
here is instead setting up a venture
fund that says this is for environmental
science environmental research and
whatever whatever can come from that so
this is not Amazon correct this is an
investment of 8% of his fortune that he
will go yes that will go toward those
that research and things that could
potentially make a very large impact on
a positive shift in an environmental
impact I also wonder if part of it is a
as a taxation
that's okay here's the thing even if it
just changes the focus for people going
oh wait climate change is that important
it is asking that question now but
saying like if he if he's saying yes
this is important enough to me that I'm
going to put this money towards it then
then that's kind that becomes the the
news and then more people are focused on
the climate change issue and now
there'll be more creative minds thinking
about it and ten billion dollars sitting
in a somebody's to write it be spent on
it somebody's gonna want to get a grant
from that fun right and so they're gonna
start thinking about ways they can apply
for that grant and they're gonna come up
with great ideas yeah yeah yeah and and
I have to be honest Jeff I understand
what you're saying yeah it's a tax
write-off and it's it yeah it's gonna
have a positive impact on that end of
things for him that's fine if if
somebody has money and gives it to a
cause and and get your benefit back oh
wow exactly and it's a good cause and
it's making a positive impact on
humanity then it didn't do it I'm not
saying that I'm just saying I think you
know I think to focus on the idea of all
it's about climate change I think
there's other things to it where it's
like there's a whole plethora of
positivity that comes with it yeah from
the positive PR the tax write-off oh
sure the impact let him have it though
exactly he does yeah he preserves it in
that he's had all the opposite of that
and and it yeah and it's funny because
now that he like he probably feels like
he can't win probably I just get I'm
getting the same flak that I got when I
was hoarding all my funds right and now
that I've given ten billion dollars to a
venture fund I'm getting the same flat
people are like why only 8% Jack yeah
why only 8% when they 50% of his know
what his worth it's up to him the truth
is entirely up to him this money is
going to grow in that more people are
gonna start thinking about it more
people right so it's just the seed like
he's just ranted this well he didn't
plant the CEO saved the world
he started it all but I mean he he's at
least the listening to the important the
important issues and the fact that the
strikes were going on and the fact that
people really do want to see people put
their money where their mouth is yeah
you say the earth is important
show us yeah he's my final thought is
like let's watch who qualifies for this
funding yes
let's watch what companies and what
institutions benefit from this funding
and then we can see what kind of
difference it's making because I think
ten billion dollars that go a long way
in my bank account one or two things
with that yeah one or two all right
moving right along ring Amazon's video
doorbell system has introduced
additional steps to the way users log
into their accounts and is making
two-factor of verification mandatory
nice users will need to enter a password
and unique six digit code when they
first log in to view their security
footage or access the neighbors app
two-factor authentication was an option
for ring users before but it was not the
default setting on Tuesday ring also
said it would pause its data sharing
with third-party firms the change comes
as ring and Amazon face increasing
scrutiny about privacy protection and
data sharing in a blog post rings
president Leela roie's said the company
takes quote digital security and privacy
seriously end quote and would look at
additional ways to improve security
rings a new login system will be similar
to other two factor authentication
processes after signing in with the
username and password the app will ask
to send a text message or email with a
one-time six digit code once the code is
entered the user will have access to the
app and be able to view footage
from outdoor and indoor cameras owners
will then be able to use their mobile
apps for 30 days before they're required
to go through the 2-step process again
and less they log out of their accounts
in the mean time last week nest Google's
home security device began requiring
two-factor authentication as well good
move I like I like that they're making
it a compulsory thing not a family
30-day window though why okay I think it
should be shorter to be honest but if
you log out
but because I'm thinking like because
this is my computer yeah right so it's
only gonna remember it on my computer
right if I switch to a different
computer or somebody tries to compromise
in my account they're gonna need the 2fa
in order to sign-in right but still I
feel like 30 days is a long time but you
can log out let's say you don't log out
like how much can be accessed in those
30 days on potentially a shared device I
mean I would hope that you're not using
on a shared device but I think for a lot
of people on a home computer or maybe
like a laptop or something I'm assuming
this is also gonna be the same case with
phones if you're viewing on your phone
like I think that that likely 30 days is
the mandatory you can probably set it to
be more frequent I would hold on I mean
I have a lot of two-factor
authentication devices and most of them
I just set to every time I think also
though you're putting a local spin on
the security right you're thinking along
the terms of somebody breaking into your
house and having access to your security
cameras but if they have that then
they're already em I get that but I I
don't know I just to me 30 days seems
long like it's two weeks I'd be okay
with two weeks two weeks make sense but
30 days to me seems long what do you
think should it be 45 days go there I
think that the idea here is not so much
the spin that you're giving it but
instead it's to prevent illicit access
from outside I don't I don't want
somebody from Latvia being able to
access my security key of course I don't
want that against Latvia by the way
nothing against Latvia there very
peaceful people I don't want somebody
and you can have access to my cameras
I'll give you my two FA code right now
but my point is that I think that's what
I'm trying to lock yes I'm trying to
lock down yeah people that are trying to
hack into my security cameras
I want that two-factor authentication to
block that attempt because even if they
get in they can't get further than the
two FA because they don't have my device
to get that code right but it's not just
text it was also email you know if
they've gotten into you once it's a
one-time-use password
so once I've logged in on my computer
with that two FA code they can't use
that same code again that's about an
area of access to your I mean like this
is why I'm saying thirty days is not
great you know what is great though that
it's happening at all it's compulsory by
default which is that's the advantage
here right we don't all think about
especially novice users who go to a
super center and buy one of these smart
cameras and don't know that hey I really
need to enable two FA mm-hmm you know
what some people are right turned off by
two FA which blows my mind when I have
technical session right when I have
people over to my house and I'm you know
showing them my VR and I have my Steam
account it's 2 FA and they're like why
do you have it so that it texts your
phone next time you go to like hey
what's the 2 FA for your Wi-Fi and then
I have to like explain it to them but
they're like oh it's like my banking is
two-factor authentication like all like
I like it to me it feels good yeah I
think I think 2 FA should be the default
for all security for everything yeah
yeah yeah it just makes sense in it and
it let's be clear and Jeff it is not
perfect security no it's not perfect
it's not perfect it's not flawless is
not uncompromising it's just a very good
added layer of protection to prevent the
the average two fairly exceptional
hacker from being able to access your
stuff
that's all so it's a really good easy
way to do that and and you know it's
until they come up with something better
that's the best thing going so comment
below what do you think and how many
days to FA on your ring doorbell be set
for by default for Jeff let Jeff know
yeah let Jeff know big thanks to Ray W
Nash in our community of viewers for
submitting stories to us this week
thanks for watching the category-five TV
newsroom don't forget to Like and
subscribe for all your tech news with a
slight Linux bias and if you appreciate
what we do become a patron at
patreon.com slash newsroom from the
category-five TV newsroom and Sasha
Richmond and I'm Robbie Ferguson and I'm
Jeff Weston thank you everybody for
being here with us this week I hope
you've enjoyed the show as much as we
have it's been a blast being here and we
look forward to seeing you again next
week see ya
[Music]