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Vol. 10, No. 6 – December 21, 2016 – January 3, 2017 – Tech Today

How to securely dispose of your mobile device
by Ken May

Mobile devices, such as smartphones, smartwatches, and tablets, continue to advance and innovate at an astonishing rate. As a result, some people replace their mobile devices as often as every year. Unfortunately, too many people dispose of their devices with little thought on just how much personal data is on them. If your mobile device was issued to you by your employer or has any organizational data stored on it, be sure to check with your supervisor about proper backup and disposal procedures before following the steps below.

Typical information can include:

  • Where you live, work, and places you frequently visit
  • The contact details for everyone in your address book and applications, including family, friends, and coworkers
  • Call history, including inbound, outbound, and missed calls
  • SMS (texting), voice, and multimedia messages
  • Chat sessions within applications like secure chat, games, and social media
  • Location history based on GPS coordinates or cell tower history
  • Web browsing history, search history, cookies, and cached pages
  • Personal photos, videos, audio recordings, and emails
  • Stored passwords and access to personal accounts, such as your online bank or email
  • Access to photos, files, or information stored in the Cloud
  • Any health-related information, including your age, heart rate, blood pressure, or diet

Regardless of how you dispose of your mobile device, such as donating it, exchanging it for a new one, giving it to another family member, reselling it, or even throwing it out, you need to be sure you first erase all of that sensitive information. You may not realize it, but simply deleting data is not enough; it can easily be recovered using free tools found on the Internet. Instead, you need to securely erase all the data on your device, which is called wiping. This actually overwrites the information, ensuring it cannot be recovered or rendering it unrecoverable. Remember, before you wipe all of your data, you most likely want to back it up first. This way, you can easily rebuild your new device.

The easiest way to securely wipe your device is use its “factory reset” function. This will return the device to the condition it was in when you first bought it. We have found that factory reset will provide the most secure and simplest method for removing data from your mobile device. The factory reset function varies among devices:

  • Apple iOS Devices: Settings | General | Reset | Erase All Content and Settings
  • Android Devices: Settings | Privacy | Factory Data Reset

In addition to the data stored on your device, you also need to consider what to do with your SIM card. When you perform a factory reset on your device, the SIM card retains information about your account and is tied to you, the user. If you are keeping your phone number and moving to a new device, talk to your phone service provider about transferring your SIM card. If this is not possible, for example, if your new phone uses a different size SIM card, keep your old SIM card and physically shred or destroy it to prevent someone else from re-using it. Also, be sure to remove any SD cards, if you have them.

If you are not sure about any of the steps covered in this article, take your mobile device to the store you bought it from and get help from a trained technician. Finally, if you are throwing your mobile device away, please consider donating it instead. There are many excellent charitable organizations that accept used mobile devices.

References: SANS Ouch 12/16 Newsletter, smarterforensics.com

Vol. 10, No. 6 – December 21, 2016 – January 3, 2017 – CAPS

Jade Spurr and Annabelle Augustine prepare for an interview on ECTV.

Holiday Wishes
by Elizabeth Rodeno

It is in the spirit of the season, that we share our good fortune with the community at large. Every year, our channels are full of holiday and spiritual programs. We also get to enjoy some of the victories and accomplishments that the City of Ventura and the Ventura Unified School district share during their meetings broadcast live on channel 15.

The El Camino Television students have been spending a lot of time at the media center and we enjoy their energy. They are wrapping up their 1st semester with many shows in the “can”, a phrase that harkens back to those years when film was physical and stored in metal cans. We wax nostalgic but only for a short time when we see the amazing creative work accomplished in the digital age. These students have honed their experience, learning more and more of the craft every time they go behind or in front of the camera. Whether it be performance or lighting they are working to get better and better.

The students have also had their hand in producing longer form specials covering topics in greater depth and length. When they return from the holidays they will launch into the many projects they have already outlined. We are enjoying the great relationship with the staff at El Camino High School, the Ventura Unified School district and the VC Innovates program, a part of the Ventura County of Education.

We are working on so many improvements here at CAPS that we will close to the public for the holiday week and begin transformation of the studio and radio station. We will soon be erecting the first community low power FM transmission tower in the City of Ventura. After receiving unanimous approval from an enthusiastic commission, we move ahead in the process. CAPS Radio, KPPQ-LP 104.1FM will become an integral part of the community and we hope to share this valuable resource with you in 2017. With the opportunity for citizens to share their stories in a different medium that will enhance and support our mission. In such a community oriented city, we will provide an additional resource to everyone. As with our television channels, CAPS Radio will provide top notch facilities, training and opportunities to share stories. This is also a perfect way for the youth to expand their venues and offer those who speak different languages a place on the airwaves.

 

 

Watch channel 6 to hear what the public has to say and watch channel 15 to experience the city’s vision to provide the best and clearest information for all and stay tuned for CAPS Radio at 104.1 FM and streaming through our website.  Go to www.capsmedia.org for all the information.

Vol. 10, No. 6 – December 21, 2016 – January 3, 2017 – Movie Review

Skip the “Office Christmas Party” relentlessly unfunny
by Richard Lieberman
1 Palmtree

Directed by Josh Gordon, Will Speck. Starring Jason Bateman, Olivia Munn, T.J. Miller, Jennifer Aniston, Kate McKinnon, Courtney B. Vance, Jillian Bell, Rob Corddry, Vanessa Bayer, Randall Park, Sam Richardson, Karan Soni, Jamie Chung, Abbey Lee, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Fortune Feimster, Ben Falcone. (2016, R, 105 min.) Rated R

Carol Vanstone (played by Jennifer Aniston) is uncomfortable with her brothers operational and leadership skills in running his branch of an inherited tech company. Her brother Clay played by (T.J. Miller of “Silicon Valley”) runs the tech companies branch that is losing money, and sister Carol, CEO of the company wants the branch shut down.

Clay’s humanistic management style, he thinks of his employees as family, is in constant conflict with his sisters no nonsense “bottom line” philosophy of running the company. For Carol her brothers’ business style needs to be shut down so her bottom line oriented approach can be spread throughout the company.

Clay not nearly as bottom line oriented, nor organized, and efficient as Carol. knows he needs to do something to save the branch from closing, and laying off all its workers. He knows he needs to take some action to save the branch and the jobs of his employees. Landing a new 17-million-dollar account would force his sister to reconsider closing he branch. He decides to hold an office Christmas party to sway the potential new client.

Reluctantly chief technical officer Josh played by (Jason Bateman) and lead engineer Tracey played by (Olivia Munn) and human resources manager Mary (Kate McKinnon) of “Saturday Night Live end up joining in the revelry, and spirit of this raucous and unnerving Christmas party.

Carol however does not get into the spirit and the revelry of this immense and outlandish party. It seems it would take a lot more than a wild party to get stodgy sister Carol to change her mind, but it is Christmas and strange things can happen during the holiday season.

Do not count on the Office Christmas Party to deliver belly laughs or even, chuckles, the script never comes close.

In one scene, a bag of Cocaine is dropped in the office party’s snow machine, and sprayed in the face of buyer Walter Davis (Vance) attempting him the purchase the company’s servers which would turn around the company and save the day. Eventually a major portion of Chicago’s populace shows up at the party, which included Jesus and a donkey, Jimmy Butler of the Bulls, and a prostitute (Lee) giving hand jobs in the men’s restroom.

Any real flashes of humor come from the actors riffs and not from the attempted comedic script. Yet in the end Office Christmas Party is never as hilarious and lively as I had hoped. Skip this one folks and watch it when it comes out on cable, Red Box, Netflix or Amazon.

 

 

Vol. 10, No. 6 – December 21, 2016 – January 3, 2017 – A View from House Seats

Christmas Classic Told a New Way
by Shirley Lorraine

Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol comes to life on the stage of Ventura’s Rubicon Theater bringing the wonder of the season, the familiar story and the pageantry of the classics. Now in its second annual Christmas showing, the innovative staging and creative characterizations allow the audience not only to enjoy the familiar tale in a new way, but also to become immersed in the very lives of the players.

Directed by Brian McDonald, with book adapted by Rubicon’s Artistic Director and guiding light Karyl Lynn Burns, the play brings out the humor in the piece in places where many productions opt for more glum characterizations. Multi-level staging and creative scenery change options make the transitions smooth and as interesting as the story itself

Debuting last year, Rubicon’s A Christmas Carol breaks away from tradition to focus on the telling of the tale, accenting each point as though letting the audience in on a secret. The ensemble, more than capably led by veteran actors Joe Spano and Peter Van Norden, effortlessly glides through the narrative with a sense of full inclusion. Highlighted by simple yet effective special effects, music and lighting, the play takes on a mysterious quality with many actors playing numerous roles.

On Christmas Eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, a curmudgeonly miser, is visited by three spirits who give him glimpses into his past, his present and his future. Through these windows he sees clearly how he evolved into the man he is and vows to change his ways. The story is told as a series of narrated vignettes accompanied by a large chorus of players who all take on multiple roles to tell the tale. Peter Van Norden plays Scrooge with glee, inviting the audience into his innermost thoughts. He is well matched by Joe Spano who takes the ghost of Jacob Marley to a new level.

The 25-member cast provides memorable musical moments as well as setting the scenes and filling out the story in myriad ways. The production is not a typical staging of the play and as such, gives new insights and a fresh view of the classic tale. It is simply mesmerizing on the whole.

The holiday season always brings forth choices in productions of A Christmas Carol, The Nutcracker and other standards. The Rubicon’s production offers an excellent theatrical experience to help one settle into the warm familiarity of the story with a few twists. It is recommended for all ages. A warning however – seeing this production may taint an appreciation for all other stagings of this classic tale.

There is still time to catch performances which conclude on Christmas Eve. Shows play Wednesday at 2 and 7 p.m., Thursday and Friday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 and 8 p.m.  Give a gift of theater and take the whole family.

 

Rubicon Theatre, 1006 E. Main Street, Ventura (corner of Main and Laurel in Ventura’s Downtown Cultural District). Discounts available for seniors, students, teachers and military. 805-667-2900, www.rubicontheatre.org. Reservations highly recommended.

Vol. 10, No. 6 – December 21, 2016 – January 3, 2017 – Opinion/Editorial

This is your Christmas present spend it as you wish.

•  Happy Chanukah (starts Dec. 24), Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of our wonderful Breeze readers. The years go by much too quickly.

•  Wishing Carl Morehouse, first elected to the Ventura City Council in 1999, all the best in his “retirement” from the City Council. Maybe now he will have time to pursue his musical career.

And, all the best to Matt LaVere who will now find out the incredible amount of time that he will be spending serving on the City Council. Good thing members earn $600 per month to make it all worthwhile.

•  How wonderful that the so called “Sonderman-Ring” project (see article in this issue) has finally broken ground (only took 16 years). This development be great for the Harbor and even for those living in the mobile home community right across the street. It will cut off some of their views but will have a community park, a great promenade for walking to the water and commercial space that might make some of their shopping easier.

I congratulate the developers for sticking with it. A funny aspect of it is that Brian Brennan reviewed it as a City Councilmember, as a member of the coastal commission and a member of the port district. He must have gotten very tired of looking at the project.

•  I wonder if the people shouting USA, USA, USA will be shouting that next year when their iPhone8’s costs $1,500?

•  To encourage second units being built on residential properties, the state has loosened restrictions to ease the affordable-housing crisis.

Under new rules, the review process is meant to be faster and less difficult and will be certainly cheaper because large city hook-up fees will not be allowed. The city can’t, in most cases, charge a water or sewer connection fee or require a new connection. This will result in huge changes to the building of second units on residential properties.

The new state regulations are set to go into effect Jan. 1, and cities are trying to figure out exactly how it will affect existing local ordinances and what changes will need to be made. Most of those ordinances are going to be eliminated or be revised.

What the new state regulations will mean exactly in Ventura will be discussed in great detail by our city attorney, planning staff and city council.

The new law allows detached units to be up to 1,200 sq. feet. Ventura currently allows 750 sq. feet. Units attached to existing residences can be up to 50 percent of the residence’s living area, compared to the maximum 30 percent set by the city now.

Recently, many Ventura residents (especially in the Pierpont community with their small driving lanes) have been unhappy with the growth of short-term vacation rentals, arguing they have resulted in increased traffic, noise and strangers into their neighborhood.

Some Venturans feel that these type of rentals should be banned altogether in residential zones because they are actually commercial uses. Some rental property owners claim that they carefully monitor the tenants and maintain their properties in a clean condition and that the visitors contribute to the city’s economy. In some cases the rent allows owners to remain in their homes.

If any of you are thinking of adding a second unit, I’d be happy to help with any  questions and concerns (I’ll put on my retired architect’s hat).

•  Great to report that new Federal survey data shows that teen drug and alcohol use has fallen to levels not seen since the height of the drug war in the 1990s.

The Monitoring the Future survey of about 50,000 high school students found that “considerably fewer teens reported using any illicit drug other than marijuana in the prior 12 months — 5 percent, 10 percent and 14 percent in grades 8, 10 and 12, respectively — than at any time since 1991.”

And the use of electronic cigarettes (vaping) has also declined for the first time since researchers began tracking the practice in 2011.

Marijuana use has been another area of concern with the move by numerous states to legalize the recreational use of the drug. But a recent survey shows that changing attitudes toward marijuana appear to have little effect on teens’ inclinations to use the drug. The marijuana use trends have proved surprising to authorities who predicted that legalization would lead to greater teen acceptance of marijuana use, and more teens using it themselves.

All good news. I hope that the trends continue. Perhaps when cigarettes are $8 per pack (when the new taxes are added) even fewer will be smoking.

•  A Saudi woman was going out for breakfast when she decided to make a social statement. In violation of the country’s moral codes, she reportedly stepped out in public wearing a multicolored dress, a black jacket and ankle boots without wearing a hijab or abaya, a loose-fitting garment.

It resulted in drawing death threats and demands to imprison or even execute the woman. Police in the country’s capital of Riyadh said they had arrested the woman following their duty to monitor “violations of general morals.” Hard to even comprehend that kind of thinking, at least it is for me.

Vol. 10, No. 6 – December 21, 2016 – January 3, 2017 – Professor Scamp PhD

I don’t know who the guy in the phony beard is but he gave me a treat so I liked him.”

Happy holidays to all of my wonderful readers.

•  The ASPCA has assisted federal authorities with the removal and sheltering of approximately 156 dogs from a dog fighting operation in eastern North Carolina. The victims have been transported to a temporary shelter for immediate care. Cruelty to animals is just not acceptable. People that do this should go to prison for a very very long time.

•  by Victoria Usher

A French mastiff by the name of Hooch was recently named Hero Dog of the Year and given an award by the 2016 American Humane Organization in a Beverly Hills ceremony. The was the sixth year of the awards and the finalists were being celebrated for all types of commendable things. Some dogs comfort those who are sick, some help police officers, and others even rescue those who are lost.

Hooch was nominated for being a strong survivor. Hooch was rescued three years ago by Zach Skow, founder and operator of Marley’s Mutts Dog Rescue in Tehachapi, California. Zach Skow said that the rescuing goes both ways. When Hooch was found, he had been emaciated, had a broken tail bone, and had his ears badly cropped. These things were clear signs of abuse. With the help of Skow, Hooch slowly regained his health. Even after everything he’s been through Hooch is still kind to people and trusts them, that’s what makes him Hero Dog of the Year.

“I figure if I stay here I’ll get my presents first.”

•  Three to four days a week, Philadelphia veterinarian Clint Kuban drops off his 3-year-old German shepherd, Tsunami, at the Penn Vet Working Dog Center for her eight-hour shift.

But the pooch isn’t just participating in agility, obedience and search training — she’s also on the front lines of cancer research.

Kuban is one of six fourth-year students at the University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine. Tsunami has worked on the center’s ovarian-cancer-detection research project since it launched in 2013 to study whether odors emanating from ovarian tissue can provide a reliable method for early detection.

Using a “scent wheel” — a circular device with 12 ports used to introduce multiple sources of scent researchers can isolate the exact volatile organic compounds that the dogs can smell. In these 10- to 15-minute smelling sessions, Tsunami’s nose is more than 90 percent accurate in identifying malignancies.

“There is no machine that is as powerful and as specific as what our dogs can do,” says Kuban. “Canines smell up to 1,000 times more accurately than humans, and they have up to 300 million olfactory receptors as opposed to out 6 million.”

Tsunami and the two other dogs in the program — a 3-year-old springer spaniel and a 5-year-old yellow Labrador retriever — were selected for their precise hunt drive and specifically trained to identify the cancerous compounds, first in tumor samples and then just plasma samples, explains Dr. Cindy Otto, director of the Penn Vet Working Dog Center.

The canine study is hoping to increase survival odds through early detection. Ovarian cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer deaths among women in the US, according to the CDC. More than 80 percent of patients are diagnosed at a late stage, according to the Penn Vet Working Dog Center.

“By isolating the chemicals of cancer that the dogs can smell, the team hopes to one day create an electronic sensor that can detect cancerous tissues early,” Kuban explains. “The end goal is actually not to have dogs in doctor’s offices doing diagnoses.”

 

Routine oil spill training held in Ventura Harbor

Recently a routine oil spill training was held in the Ventura Harbor.  It was performed by the company Clean Seas. They are one of the regions oil and pollution containment and recovery assets.  This day they were deploying containment boom from their trucks.  This containment boom could be used to contain spills in the ocean or block off the Harbor should a large spill threaten our area.  They receive funding from the oil companies and can mobilize very fast with boats, trucks, and masses of people to deal with an incident.   They are the same company with the two large grey oil spill boats that normally dock in the Harbor area.  They always have one boat on the water ready to respond to any incident within the Santa Barbara Channel and beyond.

Photo by George Robertson