As I described in a recent blog post, I recently submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for more information on the recipients of the warning letters they sent to Android app developers found to be using the SilverPush toolkit, which tracks inaudible audio beacons embedded in TV broadcasts for cross-device behavioral analysis. Several others and I studied SilverPush last November in response to FTC’s cross-device tracking workshop, and in particular the position paper submitted by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT).
Following the announcement of the warning letters, I contacted Kristin Cohen of the FTC for more information, including the names of the warned parties, which she declined to provide, but acknowledged would probably be provided in response to a FOIA.
The FOIA response I received included copies of the letters themselves, which had the names of the apps and developers. SilverPush has told the FTC that no TV broadcasts aimed at US audiences contain their tracking beacons, but it is also of interest to know what sorts of apps are able to detect these beacons, in case that situation changes. Here’s a summary of the apps, along with a description of each and whether the app accesses the device’s microphone (which is needed to receive the beacon):
| Developer | App | Microphone Access? | Comments |
| Jayson Tamayo | Civil Service Reviewer Free | Training for Philippine civil service exam | |
| Pinoy Henyo | Word guessing game | ||
| 3S Studio / Sanjay Chadha | Fight TV India | Wrestling videos, apparently aimed at Indian market | |
| Daily Current Affairs 2015-10 | ? | Preparation for Indian civil service exam? (can’t find specific app, but similar app uses microphone) | |
| Rajesh Rishi | Fingerprint Applock | Appears to be “Fingerprint Applock (Real)” by Raja Gopal based on YouTube video | |
| Make Money Apps / Yogesh Aggarwal Cpifbi | Free Recharge Swipe | Yes | Advertising/analytics app |
| Imran Khan | History GK | Education app focused on Indian exams | |
| Mobext Philippines | Krispy Kreme Philippines | Yes | Philippine e-commerce app |
| WebApps World | Marathi Recipes | Recipes in Marathi language (spoken in western India) | |
| Nganghu985 | mPaisa: Get Free Recharge | Yes | India-focusecd advertising/analytics app |
| Photo studio apps | Photo Background Changer | Yes | Photo editor |
| AppLock, Inc. | Secret Applock | Yes* | Hides and locks installed apps. |
| Applock Theme – Galaxy | Yes* | Hides and locks installed apps | |
| Apps Da Fun | 99 Photo Effects + Frames | ? | All Apps Da Fun apps are no longer in Google Play |
| Project D | Bird Up Up! | Yes | Game for kids |
Quite a few of the apps have been updated since the FTC warning letters were sent. It’s possible that the beacon capability has been removed from them, which might account for the number that do not access the microphone. Although not related to beacons, it was notable that the AppLock apps (marked Yes*) also had the capability to reroute outgoing calls, which doesn’t seem to be related to their function.
The website for Mobext, which developed the Krispy Kreme Philippines app as well as many other Android and iOS apps, advertises their cross-platform tracking capability, which was developed in partnership with SilverPush. We presume that Mobext has gotten the message that the use of this technology is problematic, at least in the US.
An Android app analysis service, Addons Detector, did an analysis last fall of apps using the SilverPush toolkit. Their analysis came up with some of the same apps, and some different ones. It’s not clear where the list the FTC used came from, since that was part of the FOIA that they claimed an exemption on.
Unfortunately, it isn’t possible to perform the same analysis on iOS apps, since they’re encrypted, except possibly through the use of a “jail-broken” iOS device. Few of the same apps exist for iOS, with the notable exception of Mobext’s Krispy Kreme Philippines app. It’s questionable whether the cross-device tracking toolkit would be acceptable under the Apple app review guidelines.
Hopefully these warning letters will cause these and other developers to be cautious about the use of audio beacons without informed user consent. But given that other companies are pursuing very similar technologies, in some cases with the support of startup incubators, continued vigilance is warranted to make sure that users’ personal information, such as their television viewing habits, aren’t further collected without their knowledge and consent.
At a workshop on cross-device tracking held by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) last fall, the Center for Democracy and Technology presented information about a company based in India, SilverPush, that had developed technology for embedding ultrasonic tones in TV broadcasts, as well as toolkits for detecting these tones in mobile (Android/iOS) applications. As discussed previously, several others and I analyzed the use of audio beacons for cross-device behavioral tracking by this and other products.
This past March, the FTC sent a number of warning letters to developers whose apps in the Google Play store were found to be using the SilverPush toolkit. I subsequently spoke with Kristin Cohen of the FTC, asking for the names of the apps and developers who received the letters; she declined to provide them but acknowledged that they would likely be provided in response to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.
I spent some time looking into the procedure for filing a FOIA. The easiest for me to do this was to use a service, MuckRock, to file the request on my behalf. For a fee of $20, MuckRock will file 4 FOIA requests for you, and collect and make available the results. On June 2, I paid my $20 and sent in my request. MuckRock kept me well informed via email about the status of my request.
My request was as follows:
- Names and contact information for the app developers receiving the warning letters regarding use of SilverPush audio beacon technology that were announced by FTC on March 17, 2016
- Any information on how those developers were identified
On June 24, MuckRock sent me an update that my request had been answered (apparently the answer came on June 15). I received two PDFs, the first being a cover letter from the FTC explaining what they are and aren’t responding to, and the second being PDF copies of the warning letters themselves. None of the provided documents had been redacted.
While their response to the first part of my request had been very complete, I was disappointed in the lack of response to the second part of the request. I was informed that that part of the response (126 pages in all) were “deliberative and pre-decisional” and therefore exempt from disclosure. I had thought that part of the purpose of FOIA was to provide transparency about the decision process within the federal government. In any case, I was primarily trying to find out the technical means that were used to identify the apps that contained this toolkit. I will discuss the substance of the information received from the FOIA in a subsequent blog post.
If any readers have experience with FOIA and opinions on whether I should appeal the exemption, please let me know via the comments or contact me directly.
Overall, this experience with the FOIA process has been very positive. The response from the government was surprisingly fast, and the information provided was responsive to my request. But while it was easy for me to submit the request, it took significant resources for the government to respond. FOIA is a powerful tool, but I would hate to see my government resources being used to respond to a lot of frivolous requests. Use it responsibly.
Update 19 November 2015: There is increasing evidence that the frequency excursions I saw aren’t actual beacons. See bottom of article for details.
Yesterday afternoon, a series of tweets alerted me to a user tracking technique I hadn’t run into before: a company, SilverPush, has been selling technology that embeds “ultrasonic beacons” in TV shows that can be detected by mobile phone apps. The technology would allow the app to determine what TV shows (or perhaps what advertisements) you have been watching, providing additional, perhaps personally-identifiable, information about you to the advertising ecosystem.
Spectrogram during series of ads
After a bit of speculation about whether the ultrasonic beacons might annoy dogs (nobody thought it would), I thought it might be worth looking for them. I recorded just over an hour of audio from Cartoon Network; I chose CN because it was the one network featured on the SilverPush website. I did my recording with Audacity, and then exported the audio to Sonic Visualiser for spectral analysis.
My initial surprise was the uniformity of the high-frequency cutoff of the audio: almost always, there was a consistent rapid rolloff at 18 kHz (the upper limit of human hearing varies by age, but is in the 15-20 kHz range). But the upper limit during commercial breaks was not consistent: some advertisements had a high frequency cutoff as low as 14.2 kHz; many others were at 15 kHz and others were at 18 kHz like the program itself. This might be accounted for by different source material in some of the ads.
Spectrogram of “party, party, party”. Note high frequency excursions on the first instance.
The bigger surprise was the presence of some high frequency content above the usual cutoff frequency. In one particular example, a promo for CN’s Regular Show included a clip where some characters are chanting “party, party, party”. As the spectrogram (see second picture) indicates, the first instance of “party” includes some content above 18 kHz that isn’t there for the other two, although they sound remarkably similar.
I haven’t managed to analyze the high frequency content, but this looks like it might be the way the beacons work. This is pretty stealthy for a company that claims to “Increase TV advertising transparency with real-time TV analytics”.
And no, the beacons wouldn’t bother your dog.
Update (11:40 AM): Katie McInnis of the Center for Democracy and Technology pointed out the patent application for this technology which was listed under another company. It refers to the insertion of frequency-shift keying modulated data at 17.5 and 18.5 kHz. This is close to the right frequency range (except that 17.5 kHz would collide with a lot of the program information), but doesn’t appear to be the encoding used in this sample.
Update (19 November 2015): Analysis by several researchers is providing increasing evidence that the nature of the beacons is considerably different from the above, taking the form of much slower (1-2 second) tones in the 18-20 kHz range. This makes a lot of sense; I was having some doubts about the reliability of detection of the short and complex frequency excursions described above. I am not aware of any captures of the beacons on live content, however.
Estonian Embassy, Washington, DC
In late 2014, the country of Estonia established what they refer to as their “e-Residency” program: the Estonian Government offers a digital identity card, similar to those given to their citizens and permanent residents, to foreigners. One of the benefits of the e-Residency program is to make it easier for non-residents to do business in Estonia. Digital identity cards can be used for secure authentication (at Estonian banks, for example), and make it much easier to set up a corporation there. Electronic signatures made with the cards are considered to be legal signatures in Estonia.
Initially, during the program’s pilot phase, one had to travel to Estonia to be issued a card. But recently it became possible to apply online and pick up one’s card at an Estonian embassy or consulate. Since my consulting work deals with online authentication and credential issuance, and I travel to Washington, DC from time to time, I decided to apply for one.
The application process was straightforward: you fill out an online form and attach a scan of your passport and a recent photograph. The form also asks why the applicant wants an Estonian ID card; I explained that I am a computer authentication researcher. There was a 50 Euro fee that I paid by credit card.
I received an email acknowledgement, and about two weeks later a message indicating that my application has been approved. About 10 days after that, another message told me that my card was available to be picked up at the Estonian Embassy in Washington. About 10 days ago, I made an appointment and visited the embassy, located a couple of blocks from Dupont Circle.
Digital Identity Card
When I arrived, I was met by Christian, an embassy staff member who completed the issuance process. He verified my physical passport against the scan I had provided, and obtained images of fingerprints from my two index fingers. I also signed a form acknowledging the terms and conditions. I asked about the various numbers on the card and Christian explained them. There is a document number, effectively a serial number for the card, and a “personal code” which is an Estonian national ID number that I had been issued. The personal code is discussed in more detail below. The entire issuance process took about 15 minutes.
Included in the package were the digital identity card itself, a small USB smartcard reader, and a sealed envelope with the initial PIN for authentication, PIN2 for signing documents, and PUK for unlocking the card in the event that I enter the PIN wrong too many times.
Upon returning to my hotel, I tried using the card (I had previously downloaded the necessary software and installed it on my Mac). At the “welcome” website, I entered my document number and was told that the card had not yet been handed to me. Probably due to time zone issues, I had to wait until the next day for the issuance of my card to be recorded, probably by an OCSP server in Estonia.
The following day, I made my first successful authentication to their website. The login process consists of attaching the reader to my Mac and inserting my identity card, then pressing a Sign In button on a website that accepts it, such as https://eesti.ee. A pop-up prompts for me to enter my PIN, and I’m signed in.
I initially had problems signing in with the Firefox browser on my Mac, although Chrome worked fine. After a couple of interactions with Customer Support (who were very responsive, by the way) we determined that disabling and re-enabling the Firefox extension cleared the problem.
Here are my initial impressions from using the card:
Things I like
- Logging into a website using the digital identity card is convenient and secure, and does not involve sharing a password, or my PIN, with the site.
- The software used by the digital identity card is open source, on GitHub.
- The issuance process was well thought out. They understand the importance of in-person identity proofing for a secure credential. Their collection of a couple of fingerprints provided non-repudiation for my registration, which is especially important when it is being used to generate legally binding signatures.
Things that could use improvement
- Estonian ID numbers (the iskukood, or personal code) reveal too much about the user. The first digit gives the user’s gender, and the second through seventh digits give the date of birth. A good identifier should be fully opaque, not revealing anything about the user. This is really an issue about Estonian ID numbers and not specifically about the identity card.
- The user’s full legal name and ID number are always revealed to sites when you log in. This allows the sites to correlate your behavior with other sites and perhaps with offline activities as well. A better approach would be to generate an identifier that would be unique for each site, and release the name and personal code only when required for the transaction and authorized by the user. However, they are very transparent that this is taking place.
- After logging out of a website, it’s necessary to exit and restart the browser. This is inconvenient, and from what I can tell has no security benefit.
- After restarting the browser, I was surprised to find that it is possible to log in again without entering the PIN. Apparently it is cached somewhere. I haven’t been able to find any place that this caching is described, and being surprised is not a good thing for a security product such as this.
- It is possible to sign out and back in while leaving the card and reader physically connected. This means that it might be possible for malware on my computer to log me in by proxy on an attacker’s computer. It would be better to require some local physical action to ensure that the card isn’t being used without my knowledge.
- There isn’t any way to be absolutely certain that the pop-up window prompting for my PIN came from the identity card software and not from some other malware running on the computer, in the browser, or even on the website I’m currently on.
These are first impressions; I plan on updating this blog post if I discover anything in conflict with the above. The Estonian identity card is a fine experiment, and further demonstrates Estonia’s sophistication in use of the Internet to do business. I’m looking forward to doing more with this identity credential.
For those of us that have blogs, comment spam is a constant thing. Even for small blogs like mine, it’s essential to have a spam filtering service to triage the comments so I don’t get alerted every time a likely spam comment comes in. WordPress provides a filter called Akismet for that purpose, and it works well.
Spam comments, for those not familiar with them, are comments intended to drive traffic to some site, often a URL given as the purported author of the post. If they’re successful in getting links to their content added in a number of places, it may raise their rankings in the search engines. But the comments themselves are usually nonsense, general comments like “I like your blog”, or off-topic for the post they’re commenting on.
This afternoon I received a spam comment that seems to be a template used by one of these spammers to generate their vaguely nonsensical comments. It’s sort of interesting to look at and gives some insight on how these comments are generated, so I thought I’d post it here.
{
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} online more than {three|3|2|4} hours today,
yet I never found any interesting article like yours. {It’s|It is} pretty worth enough for me.
{In my opinion|Personally|In my view}, if all {webmasters|site owners|website owners|web owners} and
bloggers made good content as you did, the {internet|net|web} will be {much
more|a lot more} useful than ever before.|
I {couldn’t|could not} {resist|refrain from} commenting.
{Very well|Perfectly|Well|Exceptionally well} written!|
{I will|I’ll} {right away|immediately} {take hold of|grab|clutch|grasp|seize|snatch} your
{rss|rss feed} as I {can not|can’t} {in finding|find|to find} your {email|e-mail} subscription {link|hyperlink} or {newsletter|e-newsletter}
service. Do {you have|you’ve} any? {Please|Kindly} {allow|permit|let} me {realize|recognize|understand|recognise|know} {so that|in order that} I {may just|may|could} subscribe.
Thanks.|
{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time
to make some plans for the future and {it is|it’s} time to be happy.
{I have|I’ve} read this post and if I could I {want to|wish to|desire to} suggest you {few|some} interesting things or {advice|suggestions|tips}.
{Perhaps|Maybe} you {could|can} write next articles referring to this article.
I {want to|wish to|desire to} read {more|even more} things
about it!|
{It is|It’s} {appropriate|perfect|the best} time to make {a few|some}
plans for {the future|the longer term|the long run} and {it is|it’s} time to be happy.{I have|I’ve} {read|learn} this {post|submit|publish|put up} and if
I {may just|may|could} I {want to|wish to|desire to} {suggest|recommend|counsel} you {few|some} {interesting|fascinating|attention-grabbing} {things|issues} or {advice|suggestions|tips}.{Perhaps|Maybe} you {could|can} write {next|subsequent} articles {relating
to|referring to|regarding} this article. I {want to|wish to|desire to} {read|learn} {more|even more} {things|issues}
{approximately|about} it!|
{I have|I’ve} been {surfing|browsing} {online|on-line} {more
than|greater than} {three|3} hours {these
days|nowadays|today|lately|as of late}, {yet|but} I {never|by no means} {found|discovered} any {interesting|fascinating|attention-grabbing}
article like yours. {It’s|It is} {lovely|pretty|beautiful} {worth|value|price} {enough|sufficient} for me.{In my opinion|Personally|In my view}, if
all {webmasters|site owners|website owners|web owners}
and bloggers made {just right|good|excellent} {content|content material} as
{you did|you probably did}, the {internet|net|web} {will be|shall be|might
be|will probably be|can be|will likely be} {much more|a lot
more} {useful|helpful} than ever before.|
Ahaa, its {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {discussion|conversation|dialogue}
{regarding|concerning|about|on the topic of} this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} {here|at this place} at this {blog|weblog|webpage|website|web site}, I have
read all that, so {now|at this time} me also
commenting {here|at this place}.|
I am sure this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} has touched all the internet {users|people|viewers|visitors},
its really really {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} on building up new {blog|weblog|webpage|website|web site}.|
Wow, this {article|post|piece of writing|paragraph} is {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious}, my {sister|younger sister}
is analyzing {such|these|these kinds of} things, {so|thus|therefore} I am going
to {tell|inform|let know|convey} her.|
{Saved as a favorite|bookmarked!!}, {I really like|I like|I love} {your blog|your site|your web site|your website}!|
Way cool! Some {very|extremely} valid points!
I appreciate you {writing this|penning this} {article|post|write-up} {and the|and also the|plus the} rest
of the {site is|website is} {also very|extremely|very|also really|really} good.|
Hi, {I do believe|I do think} {this is an excellent|this is a great} {blog|website|web site|site}.
I stumbledupon it 😉 {I will|I am going to|I’m going to|I may} {come back|return|revisit} {once again|yet again} {since I|since i have} {bookmarked|book marked|book-marked|saved as a favorite} it.
Money and freedom {is the best|is the greatest} way to change,
may you be rich and continue to {help|guide} {other people|others}.|
Woah! I’m really {loving|enjoying|digging} the template/theme of this {site|website|blog}.
It’s simple, yet effective. A lot of times it’s {very hard|very difficult|challenging|tough|difficult|hard} to get that “perfect balance” between {superb usability|user friendliness|usability} and {visual appearance|visual appeal|appearance}.
I must say {that you’ve|you have|you’ve} done
a {awesome|amazing|very good|superb|fantastic|excellent|great} job
with this. {In addition|Additionally|Also},
the blog loads {very|extremely|super} {fast|quick} for me
on {Safari|Internet explorer|Chrome|Opera|Firefox}.
{Superb|Exceptional|Outstanding|Excellent} Blog!|
These are {really|actually|in fact|truly|genuinely} {great|enormous|impressive|wonderful|fantastic} ideas in {regarding|concerning|about|on the
topic of} blogging. You have touched some {nice|pleasant|good|fastidious} {points|factors|things} here.
Any way keep up wrinting.|
{I love|I really like|I enjoy|I like|Everyone loves} what you guys {are|are
usually|tend to be} up too. {This sort of|This type of|Such|This kind of} clever work and {exposure|coverage|reporting}!
Keep up the {superb|terrific|very good|great|good|awesome|fantastic|excellent|amazing|wonderful} works
guys I’ve {incorporated||added|included} you guys to {|my|our||my personal|my own} blogroll.|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Hey}! Someone in my {Myspace|Facebook} group shared this {site|website} with us so I came
to {give it a look|look it over|take a look|check it out}.I’m definitely {enjoying|loving} the information. I’m {book-marking|bookmarking} and will
be tweeting this to my followers! {Terrific|Wonderful|Great|Fantastic|Outstanding|Exceptional|Superb|Excellent} blog and {wonderful|terrific|brilliant|amazing|great|excellent|fantastic|outstanding|superb} {style and design|design and style|design}.|
{I love|I really like|I enjoy|I like|Everyone loves}
what you guys {are|are usually|tend to be} up too.{This sort of|This type of|Such|This kind of} clever work and {exposure|coverage|reporting}!
Keep up the {superb|terrific|very good|great|good|awesome|fantastic|excellent|amazing|wonderful} works guys
I’ve {incorporated|added|included} you guys to {|my|our|my personal|my own} blogroll.|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Hey} would
you mind {stating|sharing} which blog platform you’re {working with|using}?
I’m {looking|planning|going} to start my own blog {in the near
future|soon} but I’m having a {tough|difficult|hard} time {making a decision|selecting|choosing|deciding} between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal.
The reason I ask is because your {design and style|design|layout} seems different then most blogs and
I’m looking for something {completely unique|unique}.
P.S {My apologies|Apologies|Sorry} for {getting|being} off-topic but
I had to ask!|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hi|Hey there|Hello|Hey} would you mind letting me know which {webhost|hosting company|web host} you’re {utilizing|working with|using}?
I’ve loaded your blog in 3 {completely different|different} {internet browsers|web browsers|browsers}
and I must say this blog loads a lot {quicker|faster} then most.Can you {suggest|recommend} a good {internet hosting|web hosting|hosting} provider at a {honest|reasonable|fair} price?
{Thanks a lot|Kudos|Cheers|Thank you|Many thanks|Thanks},
I appreciate it!|
{I love|I really like|I like|Everyone loves} it {when people|when individuals|when folks|whenever people} {come together|get together} and share {opinions|thoughts|views|ideas}.
Great {blog|website|site}, {keep it up|continue
the good work|stick with it}!|
Thank you for the {auspicious|good} writeup. It in fact was a amusement account
it. Look advanced to {far|more} added agreeable from you! {By
the way|However}, how {can|could} we communicate?|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hey there|Hello|Hey} just wanted to give you a quick heads up.
The {text|words} in your {content|post|article} seem to be running
off the screen in {Ie|Internet explorer|Chrome|Firefox|Safari|Opera}.
I’m not sure if this is a {format|formatting} issue or something to do with {web browser|internet browser|browser} compatibility
but I {thought|figured} I’d post to let you know. The {style and design|design and
style|layout|design} look great though! Hope you get the {problem|issue} {solved|resolved|fixed} soon. {Kudos|Cheers|Many thanks|Thanks}|
This is a topic {that is|that’s|which is} {close to|near to} my heart…
{Cheers|Many thanks|Best wishes|Take care|Thank you}!
{Where|Exactly where} are your contact details though?|
It’s very {easy|simple|trouble-free|straightforward|effortless} to find out any {topic|matter} on {net|web}
as compared to {books|textbooks}, as I found this {article|post|piece of
writing|paragraph} at this {website|web site|site|web page}.|
Does your {site|website|blog} have a contact page?
I’m having {a tough time|problems|trouble} locating it but,
I’d like to {send|shoot} you an {e-mail|email}. I’ve got some {creative
ideas|recommendations|suggestions|ideas} for your blog you might be interested in hearing.
Either way, great {site|website|blog} and I look forward to seeing it {develop|improve|expand|grow}
over time.|
{Hola|Hey there|Hi|Hello|Greetings}! I’ve been {following|reading} your {site|web site|website|weblog|blog} for {a long time|a while|some time} now and finally got the {bravery|courage} to go ahead and give
you a shout out from {New Caney|Kingwood|Huffman|Porter|Houston|Dallas|Austin|Lubbock|Humble|Atascocita} {Tx|Texas}!
Just wanted to {tell you|mention|say} keep up the {fantastic|excellent|great|good} {job|work}!|
Greetings from {Idaho|Carolina|Ohio|Colorado|Florida|Los angeles|California}!
I’m {bored to tears|bored to death|bored} at work so
I decided to {check out|browse} your {site|website|blog} on my iphone during lunch break.
I {enjoy|really like|love} the {knowledge|info|information} you {present|provide} here and can’t wait to
take a look when I get home. I’m {shocked|amazed|surprised} at how
{quick|fast} your blog loaded on my {mobile|cell phone|phone} ..
I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G .. {Anyhow|Anyways},
{awesome|amazing|very good|superb|good|wonderful|fantastic|excellent|great} {site|blog}!|
Its {like you|such as you} {read|learn} my {mind|thoughts}!
You {seem|appear} {to understand|to know|to grasp} {so much|a lot}
{approximately|about} this, {like you|such as you} wrote the {book|e-book|guide|ebook|e book} in it or something.
{I think|I feel|I believe} {that you|that you simply|that you just} {could|can} do with {some|a few}
{%|p.c.|percent} to {force|pressure|drive|power} the message {house|home} {a bit|a little bit}, {however|but} {other than|instead of} that, {this is|that is} {great|wonderful|fantastic|magnificent|excellent} blog.
{A great|An excellent|A fantastic} read. {I’ll|I will} {definitely|certainly} be back.|
I visited {multiple|many|several|various} {websites|sites|web sites|web
pages|blogs} {but|except|however} the audio {quality|feature} for audio songs {current|present|existing} at this {website|web site|site|web page} is {really|actually|in fact|truly|genuinely}
{marvelous|wonderful|excellent|fabulous|superb}.|
{Howdy|Hi there|Hi|Hello}, i read your blog {occasionally|from time to
time} and i own a similar one and i was just {wondering|curious} if you get a lot of
spam {comments|responses|feedback|remarks}?If so how do you {prevent|reduce|stop|protect against} it, any plugin or anything you can {advise|suggest|recommend}?
I get so much lately it’s driving me {mad|insane|crazy} so
any {assistance|help|support} is very much appreciated.|
Greetings! {Very helpful|Very useful} advice {within this|in this particular} {article|post}!
{It is the|It’s the} little changes {that make|which will make|that produce|that will make} {the biggest|the largest|the greatest|the
most important|the most significant} changes. {Thanks a lot|Thanks|Many thanks} for sharing!|
{I really|I truly|I seriously|I absolutely} love {your blog|your
site|your website}.. {Very nice|Excellent|Pleasant|Great} colors
& theme. Did you {create|develop|make|build} {this website|this
site|this web site|this amazing site} yourself? Please reply
back as I’m {looking to|trying to|planning to|wanting to|hoping to|attempting to}
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{Reading through|Looking at|Going through|Looking through} this {post|article} reminds me of my previous roommate!
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good|have a very good|have a great} read. {Thank you for|Thanks for|Many thanks for|I appreciate you for} sharing!|
{Wow|Whoa|Incredible|Amazing}! This blog looks {exactly|just} like my old
one! It’s on a {completely|entirely|totally} different {topic|subject} but it has pretty much the
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choice of colors!|
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I {enjoyed|liked|loved} this {article|post|blog post}.
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things about blogengine.net. Is there a way I can {transfer|import} all my wordpress {content|posts} into it?{Any kind of|Any} help would be {really|greatly} appreciated!|
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this {post|submit|publish|put up} {upper|higher}! Come on over and {talk over
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I hope to give something back and {help|aid}
others like you {helped|aided} me.|
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have|you’ve got|you have got} {here|right here} on this post.
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but now as I am a user of {internet|web|net} {so|thus|therefore}
from now I am using net for {articles|posts|articles or reviews|content}, thanks
to web.|
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is {really|actually|in fact|truly|genuinely}
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of|via|by the use of|by way of} Google {at the same
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your|out of your} writing. Cheers!|
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this one {these days|nowadays|today}..|
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came to “return the favor”.{I am|I’m} {trying to|attempting to} find things to {improve|enhance} my {website|site|web site}!I suppose its ok to use {some
of|a few of} your ideas!\
Wednesday, June 24, 2014
Today is a long day for us: 32 hours long, with the time change.
The (same) plane home
After a last hearty English breakfast, we caught the shuttle bus back to Heathrow and checked in. Everything went smoothly, and we passed the gauntlet of duty-free stores, while remarking about how little interest we have in the sort of things they sell.
Our flight was called a little late, and sure enough it was delayed by an hour or so, but we have no connections to make since we’re going straight to San Francisco. On arrival, we had a new experience: an automated kiosk that we had to check in at prior to going through immigration. Unfortunately the new process didn’t seem to speed the line at all.
Our ride home from the airport was comfortable; no Tesla this time but we didn’t expect one. It’s good to be home. Fortunately the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Commission meeting that was on my schedule for this evening was canceled; it would have been hard to stay alert.
This article concludes a series about our recent vacation in Europe. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Tuesday, June 23, 2015
Today we only got to visit Berlin for part of the day, before beginning our trip home. It rained part of the day yesterday, but today was the first really rainy day of the trip. We have had really amazing weather.
Suit of armor in the German Historical Museum
We had planned to take another bus tour (we had paid for it yesterday), but didn’t think we’d see much on a rainy day. Instead, we went to the German Historical Museum. Located in a beautifully appointed building, the museum gives thorough coverage of German history from the early Middle Ages to the present. Given the destruction in Germany at many points in history, we were amazed by the number and quality of artifacts displayed. We had to leave after about two hours, but all agreed that we could have spent much, much more time there. Of the many museums we visited on this trip, we agreed that this was perhaps the favorite.
We caught public transit to Berlin Tegel airport for the flight to London. We sat in Starbucks for a while until our flight was called, and I was disappointed that I couldn’t send or receive email from there. A little investigation revealed that the network was blocking all TCP ports except 80 (http) and 443 (https). So my email, which uses IMAP and authenticated SMTP, wouldn’t go through. When will they understand that the Internet is much more than just the Web?
When we got to Heathrow Terminal 2 “The Queen’s Terminal” (but aren’t they all the Queen’s?), we had a long walk, which seems characteristic of Heathrow Terminal design. We the had a long wait to go through immigration, even though we were coming from an EU country and just staying overnight. I guess that’s what everyone runs into at U.S. immigration as well.
Unlike many airports, Heathrow has a commercial service, rather than complimentary shuttles, connecting the airport with nearby hotels. We took one of these and made it to our hotel for a quick dinner where we reviewed our trip.
This article is part of a series about our recent vacation in Europe. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Monday, June 22, 2015
After breakfast, we walked over to the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church on Kurfürstendamm, which was heavily damaged in World War II with a modern successor built next to it. We walked around, but we were there a little before opening time. We continued to Europa Center, a shopping mall built in the 60s that is unremarkable except for a clock that keeps time using water and siphons. I wanted to see if the clock is still running (it is) and show Kenna and Celeste.
We then boarded one of the many hop-on hop-off bus tours like we had taken in England. The commentary, in English and German, was quite good and we ended up riding the entire two-hour tour without hopping off at all.
I had arranged to meet Paul Kallnbach, one of my colleagues from the DAViCal open-source project, for lunch. We went over to his office, a small co-working facility in Kreuzberg, a working-class neighborhood. It was very enjoyable meeting Paul, and he gave us some further tips on things to do and see in Berlin. Lunch was at a nearby restaurant that specialized in Spätzle dishes, which we all enjoyed.
After lunch, we went to the vicinity of Checkpoint Charlie, the famed cold-war border crossing. We first went one block east, to the corner of Charlottenstraße and Zimmerstraße, where I had a picture I had taken of a colleague in 1987. Now, instead of a graffiti-covered wall and a You Are Leaving The American Sector sign, there is a busy intersection. Very different.
My colleague Perry Tomboc at Charlottenstraße and Zimmerstraße, 1988
Jim at Charlottenstraße and Zimmerstraße, 2015
We next went to the Museum at Checkpoint Charlie, which was much as I had seen it but updated with newer information. It also has quite a bit about things and people, such as Raoul Wallenberg, not directly related to the Wall. There is a huge amount of information to read in the exhibits, and it took somewhat longer than we expected.
Checkpoint Charlie, 1988
Former Checkpoint Charlie, 2015
We took the U-Bahn to Alexanderplatz and walked to the DDR Museum. The DDR Museum gave a good overview of life in East Germany (the DDR). I got to sit in one of the notoriously poor cars, the Trabant, that East Germans often had to wait 16 years to get. I’ll keep my Mini, thanks. It also showed examples of lifestyle, clothing, vacations (often clothing optional), and surveillance devices used by the Stasi. Speaking of surveillance, it seemed ironic that the museum’s free WiFi network required users to first check in on Facebook. I, of course, didn’t do that for the same reasons that I publish my vacation blog after returning home.
We then walked into the Mitte district of Berlin and to a very good Bavarian-themed restaurant for dinner, before returning to our hotel.
I should mention the construction on public transit. Berlin’s subway system consists of two systems, the U-Bahn and the S-Bahn. It is widely used by Berliners, but it can be a little confusing to outsiders. Add to that there is construction going on, causing extra connections to and from the station serving our hotel. We never got lost, but sometimes it took a few minutes to make sure we were doing the right thing.
This article is part of a series about our recent vacation in Europe. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Sunday, June 21, 2015
Just before we left home, Kenna had a crazy idea: was there some way we could fit in a quick trip to Berlin? I have wanted to go back to Berlin since the Wall fell (my last visit was in 1989), and Kenna and Celeste have also wanted to go there. We have to get back to London for our flight home on Wednesday, and it turns out to be surprisingly economical to fly from Paris to Berlin, and then from Berlin to London a couple of days later.
We took a taxi to Charles de Gaulle Airport, which was very pleasant compared with the stairs and train changes that would be required via public transport. We connected in Frankfurt en route to Berlin.
On a recommendation from Rick Steves‘ travel guide, we began by buying Berlin “Welcome Cards” that gave us free mass transit and discounts on many local attractions for two days. We then took the bus to a stop a short walk from our hotel, which is one in which I stayed in 1989, but under a different name.
When we arrived at the hotel, I was told that they needed a voucher for payment from the company I had booked the reservation with. I had booked the room from Metz using EasyToBook.com based on the Hipmunk travel app that I use extensively. Apparently EasyToBook had forwarded my booking to another travel agency, which hadn’t sent either me nor the hotel a voucher. And it was Sunday, so the other agency was closed.
I called EasyToBook support, and was told that they would try to resolve the problem but in the meantime that I should continue to contact the hotel. I didn’t have much choice about contacting the hotel because I was standing in their lobby! After an hour or so, the desk clerk got through to her manager who authorized us to check in. Needless to say, I was very displeased with EasyToBook and will be contacting Hipmunk to tell them of the experience.
We decided to start our sightseeing at the Brandenburg Gate, which was in the Berlin Wall no man’s land when I last saw it. It was such a contrast: the area is now full of people and activity, a concert having just finished there, lending a festive atmosphere. The U.S. embassy is now adjacent to the Gate in what was East Berlin. I had expected to see people driving through the gate as in the movie One, Two, Three, but it’s a pedestrian thoroughfare now, probably a good thing since the posts won’t accommodate a very wide car.
Brandenburg Gate, February 1988
Brandenburg Gate, June 2015
We continued to walk past the Reichstag, and saw a large police presence there. I asked one of them what all of the people were doing, and he said that they were lined up to visit the Reichstag which didn’t seem like the full story. Later we learned that there had been a protest regarding the refugees that are currently trying to enter Europe from Africa. The protesters had dug a few mock graves in the lawn in front of the building, which was now fenced off.
Returning to the vicinity of our hotel, we had dinner at Schildkröte, a restaurant that was a favorite from my visits many years ago. It was basically unchanged, and we had a very enjoyable dinner there. It turns out they have been in business since 1936, which is pretty remarkable if you consider what Berlin must have been like then.
This article is part of a series about our recent vacation in Europe. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
Saturday, June 20, 2015
A few of the Sainte Chapelle windows
We planned today as a touristy day, and fortunately it didn’t have the drama of yesterday. We began at the venerable Notre Dame cathedral, arriving during a mass that limited our movements but gave us an opportunity to hear the organ and other music. I particularly enjoyed an exhibit showing the stages of construction of the cathedral over hundreds of years. After walking around the inside and part of the outside, we ventures to Sainte Chapelle, about a block away, where we were rewarded with a short line to get into this wonderful chapel that seems like it’s entirely composed of stained glass windows.
We walked to the former location of the Bastille just to take a look at the monument, then back along the Rue du Rivoli to the Louvre, stopping for lunch along the way. We really didn’t have time for the Louvre, so we passed through it and the Tuileries Gardens on the way to the Orsay Museum. We had visited the Orsay several years ago for an IETF social event, and were delighted to return. Right away we found ourselves at the Monet paintings of his garden and water lilies, which had special meaning for us having just been to Giverny.
Celeste admiring the Paris Opera House model
With Celeste’s recent work on drama productions, some of the Degas paintings depicting backstage life were her favorites. She also marveled at a detailed model of the Paris Opera House that was on display.
We still hadn’t found an appropriate place for crèpes. While there were some stands around that had sweet (dessert) crèpes, we hadn’t found a place with savory crèpes. We walked into one of the neighborhoods that had been recommended to us and eventually found a restaurant on Rue de Seine that served galettes, which were the buckwheat crèpes we had back in Normandy. It was a small family-run restaurant, and we had a pleasant dinner (although some of us weren’t as keen on the buckwheat as others).
We caught the Métro back over to the Eiffel Tower, ran the gauntlet of street vendors and scams, and encountered a long line. It was getting late, we had packing to do for our departure tomorrow, and we wanted to traverse the neighborhood near our hotel before dark. So we bid au revoir to the Eiffel Tower, took some pictures, and returned via the Métro, sharing a dessert crèpe along the way.
This article is part of a series about our recent vacation in Europe. To see the introductory article in the series, click here.
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