Each week I search for technology news that can relate to investigators to keep investigators up to date on technology trends around the world.

This week I found some interesting topics I am sure you will be interested in checking out.

Here we go.

One Password for All Passwords with Password Boss Password Manager App

Never forget a password again (unless you forget the password to the passwords)

The Daily Dot wrote an article discussing the Password Boss App and how awesome it was. You can install it on up to 3 devices and the Password Boss app will create random 20 character passwords for you and the auto fill when you log in to something requiring a password.

All you have to do is remember one password to have access to all the passwords.  And to make sure that one password is secure you can set up a two-factor authentication.

I looked at the reviews for the Android app and they were less than average.  If you want to give it a look The Daily Dot has a coupon in their article that gives you lifetime access to the app for $19.99.

Password Boss Password Manager

Source- The Daily Dot

Google Makes it Harder to Steal Images from Google Images?

Google recently made a change to Google Images that is supposed to have a positive effect as it relates to copyright.  

The company has removed the view image button which they claim will make it more difficult to save copyrighted material. (I disagree).

Today we’re launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they’re on. pic.twitter.com/n76KUj4ioD

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) February 15, 2018

The previous problem was that the view image button allowed for users to access high-resolution photos without even going to the site where the photo is published.

By removing the view image button they say you can visit the source of the photo and they hope the extra step will curb people from stealing copyrighted material and photos.  They believe that if they see the photos in context (in an article) it might trigger a red flag to not steal the image for their own use.

Where did this all come from? Why are they now just doing this?

Getty Images filed a complaint against Google in 2016.  Getty Images said this on their own site,

“Getty Images’ complaint focuses specifically on changes made in 2013 to Google Images, the image search functionality of Google, which has not only impacted Getty Images’ image licensing business, but content creators around the world, by creating captivating galleries of high-resolution, copyrighted content. Because image consumption is immediate, once an image is displayed in high-resolution, large format, there is little impetus to view the image on the original source site. These changes have allowed Google to reinforce its role as the internet’s dominant search engine, maintaining monopoly over site traffic, engagement data and advertising spend. This has also promoted piracy, resulting in widespread copyright infringement, turning users into accidental pirates.”

Only time will tell whether this will impact anything or not.  Personally, I don’t care whether an image in the highest resolution or not when it comes to seeing pictures on the internet.  And it only took seconds for me to save an image off Google Images (my own image).  

How Does This Apply to Investigators

This gives me the opportunity to remind you as investigators that taking an image and using it for own use without the permission of the image owner is copyright infringement.  It doesn’t matter if you add the source of the photo in the description or not. It is still copyright infringement.  So if you stole a photo from the internet to add to a blog post or your website, I would remove it and go to a site like Freeimages.com or Pond5.com (affiliate link below) to get your future images.  I use both of these sites when needing a photo that I just can’t create on my own.  This is a tip that will save you a lot of money in legal fees in the future.

Source- Mashable

Pond5 Affiliate link Below

FOCUSPOWER F10 Mini Bluetooth Earbud Review

This week I reviewed the Focuspower F10 mini Bluetooth earbud.  Not earbuds, just earbud.  Never would I have thought that they would make a device that is almost spy-like to take calls, listen to music or listen to movies on a connected device like your and have it last over 4 hours. Here is the review article that I would suggest checking out.

Aricle-   F10 Mini Earbud

L.L. Bean To Track Clothing After Purchase

I will have to stick my own commentary in this summary because this has gotta be one of the stupidest business decisions I have ever heard (in my opinion).

L.L. Bean has decided to sew sensors into boots and coats and then track the clothing after it leaves the store through the Ethereum Blockchain.  

The Wall Street Journal reported that tests will begin later in 2018 with individuals who opt into the program.  

The Media Post believes that it is unlikely shoppers who don’t want to be tracked will be able to get the same items as those who will be tracked without a sensor in the product.  

L.L. Beans whole reason for the tracking is to see how the clothes are worn as it relates to weather and determine how often they are washed.  The sensors could also track steps that are taken and other data that is unknown at this time.

Apparently, this isn’t the first time clothes have been tracked but this would be the first time clothes were tracked outside of company facilities.  Apparently, Levi Strauss used RFID tags to track inventory until it was sold but never outside of the store. This was reported by Gizmodo in 2006 and there are many other articles about it since then.

Let’s see how this works out if this news hits mainstream media.  

Tracking Through Clothing

This almost seems spy like to me where people can be tracked with a device attached to their clothing.  Though I don’t know what device they are using, how long will it be before this small device (if it is small) gets into the wrong hands or becomes mainstream?  

Technology is amazing but with advancement comes things that may not be good for society and I think this is one of those things.

Thank you again for keeping up to date on technology news that applies to investigators.  

Until next week,

Andrew