HTC One M8 factory resets after 10 unsuccessful unlock attempts

Sterling Keys 2014-04-03T05:00:01Z9 hours ago

Sterling Keys

After finishing his Bachelor of Commerce degree at the University of Alberta, Sterling made the move to Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Within a stone's throw of mountains, ocean, and complete wilderness, he mountain bikes and skis during the day and is hopelessly connected to his phone and computer at all other times. His writing "career" started as he penned about his escapades while skiing and has slowly progressed to freelance marketing and promotion throughout British Columbia. Interested in anything tech and gadget related, he has thoroughly enjoyed his transition of writing for AndroidPIT.

If you’ve ever gone through the pain of trying to get everything restored to your mobile device after having to wipe it clean with a factory reset, you might want to take heed of this “security feature” on the new HTC One M8. If you try to input your lock-screen pattern or password incorrectly 10 consecutive times, the phone will automatically wipe your data from itself. 

Be careful with your new HTC One M8, just just might delete everything on it. / © AndroidPIT

While there is warning and 30 second “cooldown period” provided by the device after unsuccessfully entering in a pattern or password 5 times in a row, it could easily be discarded by someone just playing around with the phone or if your toddler is randomly mashing the screen with their grubby little hands. After that, a message will pop up for each unsuccessful attempt and on the tenth try, all data will be wiped from the device.

Right now, there’s no way for users to disable this setting on the HTC One M8, leaving this feature open to some possible abuse: mishandling by children, practical jokes played by "friends", or just a plan forgetful user who can't remember their exact lock-screen pattern. Check out the following video from the guys over at Phandroid.com for a tutorial on how the wipe actually looks when performed on the device:

One way to prevent losing all the data from your device, just in case this happens to you or you want to avoid all chances that it might, is to store relevant important information and media on a SD card as opposed to internal storage. As well, you could use cloud storage for that important stuff that you want to really make sure you hang on to.

What are your thoughts on this security feature on the new HTC One M8? A little over the top by HTC or some well needed protection?

Via: Amongtech.com Source: Pandroid

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Hacker News Attempts To Fix Its Comment Problems With Pending Comments

As it has grown, Y Combinator’s Hacker News has struggled to keep its comment threads relevant, thoughtful, and above all else, friendly. Like YouTube, Reddit, and other sites with a large community of commenters, popular threads on Hacker News can degrade into grandstanding, arguments for the sake of being argumentative, and ad hominem attacks with little or no actual substance.

This has been a known problem on Hacker News for some time, leading some members of the community to create parodies not just of the type of content that tends to rise to the top, but also the discussions that arise within discussion threads. (The resulting Hacker News thread about that last link is, in its own right, pretty epic.)

In an effort to improve the quality of discussions that crop up on Hacker News, Y Combinator founding partner Paul Graham yesterday announced some imminent changes to the way comments would be posted and appear on the site. In what could be one of Graham’s last big moves*, he’s implementing a new “pending comments” system at Hacker News.

The idea isn’t new, and is something that Graham had mentioned more than eight months ago. But it’s finally making its way onto Hacker News.

Under the new system, comments that are submitted will no longer be immediately posted to the site, but will instead be placed in a pending comments queue until seen and approved by multiple Hacker News users who have over time accumulated more than 1,000 karma points. Those users will be able to endorse pending comments, in addition to flagging them for removal.

The goal is to get users to post comments that are substantial without being mean-spirited. In his post, Graham cautions against “throwaway remarks” and those that include “gratuitous nastiness.” He also warns that people who regularly endorse comments that fail either of those tests will lose their ability to endorse comments in the future.

While implemented to improve the quality of comments, a fair amount of discussion that followed questioned whether the system would work actually work. And not everyone seems happy about it — in particular, how quickly the change is being implemented and without a whole lot of warning, and how it puts more responsibility into the hands of high-karma users.

In a Medium post on the change, Jonas Wisser (who admittedly is not a Hacker News user) warns that since moderation is being done by those who are most deeply invested in how Hacker News currently operates, it’s likely to remain more or less the same:

This new system is designed to improve the quality of comments on Hacker News. But to me, it seems like it will result in more of the same, but with less dissent. And more of the same, but with less dissent, is not something I’ve ever been able to trust.

Like many big changes of this type, we won’t know how the change will actually affect the quality of comments or engagement in the community until it’s actually implemented and adopted. Until then, however, it’s at least an interesting experiment in community and comment moderation.

==
* PG notes in the blog post that he’s checking out of HN at the end of this YC cycle.

New Google post attempts to address some of the most common Glass ‘myths’

Although there are many folks that are interested in the potential of wearable devices such as Google Glass, there are also those who either fear it, misunderstand it or simply feel that it is a fad item that has no long-term appeal.

In the time since Google first launched the Glass Explorer program we’ve seen several bars and casinos ban the device, there’s been debate about Glass’ legality while driving and then there’s the privacy concerns that have been raised about the device’s camera and the possibility of facial recognition software.

All of these developments have created a public perception of Google Glass that isn’t necessarily accurate. For example, there are a lot of people that think the device is always on and always recording. There’s also those that believe facial recognition software is built right into Glass.

In order to set the record straight, Google has released a new post on Google+ discussing what it calls the “ten myths of Google Glass”. In the lengthy post, Google says that Glass isn’t nearly as distracting as people claim it to be, and in many ways it is less distracting than conventional mobile devices like our phones and tablets.

Google also talks about the kinds of users that utilize Glass, its ban status and even its possible privacy concerns. You can read the post in its entirety by clicking here.

For those just looking for the ‘big hitters’ discussed in the post, here’s a few of the key ‘Glass myths’ that Google discusses:

Glass is the ultimate distraction from the real world

Instead of looking down at your computer, phone or tablet while life happens around you, Glass allows you to look up and engage with the world. Big moments in life — concerts, your kid’s performances, an amazing view — shouldn’t be experienced through the screen you’re trying to capture them on. That’s why Glass is off by default and only on when you want it to be. It’s designed to get you a bit of what you need just when you need it and then get you back to the people and things in life you care about.

Glass is always on and recording everything

Just like your cell phone, the Glass screen is off by default. Video recording on Glass is set to last 10 seconds. People can record for longer, but Glass isn’t designed for or even capable of always-on recording (the battery won’t last longer than 45 minutes before it needs to be charged). So next time you’re tempted to ask an Explorer if he’s recording you, ask yourself if you’d be doing the same with your phone. Chances are your answers will be the same.

Glass is banned… EVERYWHERE

Since cell phones came onto the scene, folks have been pretty good at creating etiquette and the requisite (and often necessary) bans around where someone can record (locker rooms, casino floors, etc.). Since Glass functionality mirrors the cell phones (“down to the screen being off by default), the same rules apply. Just bear in mind, would-be banners: Glass can be attached to prescription lenses, so requiring Glass to be turned off is probably a lot safer than insisting people stumble about blindly in a locker room.

Glass marks the end of privacy

When cameras first hit the consumer market in the late 19th century, people declared an end to privacy. Cameras were banned in parks, at national monuments and on beaches. People feared the same when the first cell phone cameras came out. Today, there are more cameras than ever before. In ten years there will be even more cameras, with or without Glass. 150+ years of cameras and eight years of YouTube are a good indicator of the kinds of photos and videos people capture–from our favorite cat videos to dramatic, perspective-changing looks at environmental destruction, government crackdowns, and everyday human miracles.

While Google makes some excellent points in its “10 Myths post”, it also carefully avoids confronting a few issues such as the fact that anyone can record someone with a phone or tablet — but it’s a lot easier to secretively do it with Google Glass.

What do you think of Google Glass, are the privacy concerns and other drama that surrounds causes for real concern or has the media (and the public) turned this into a bigger issue than it really is?

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