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The LG Rolling Bot is actually pretty neat and is capable of many different feats remotely. It works by connecting to your home or office WiFi connection and is controlled via a smartphone app. Through your device, you can see what the Rolling Bot?s camera sees, and hear what the bot hears. This makes it great for a roving security tool, but you can also speak through the app as if you were there. Furthermore, the LG Rolling Bot can connect to and interact with other smart home appliances via Bluetooth. This is great in some cases, as it lets you turn off devices if you?ve accidentally left them on. Perhaps one of the most fun features of the LG Rolling Bot is its laser pointer. You can use it to bother your pets while you aren?t there. In general, it looks like the LG Rolling Bot will be able to change the way that you handle pet sitting. By using its camera to wirelessly monitor your cat, dog, or other pet, you can ensure that they?re both safe and entertained. Using the voiceover feature can let you communicate with them even when you?re not there, which might be fun for you, but confusing for them. You can see the LG Rolling Bot in action in this video from DigitalTrends: Of course, you also need to take into consideration the security issues that come from using such a device. By using your home or office WiFi, the device can potentially be put at risk of encountering dangerous malware or viruses. If this happens, it can be hacked like any normal Internet-connected security camera. Granted, there isn?t much that a rolling device like this can do, but the real issue that comes from this is how unsettling it can be to unknowingly have someone watching your home and your family through the device. On the other end of the controls, what if your smartphone were to get hacked somehow? Hackers could remotely control the device, watching, listening, and potentially even speaking through the app?s controls. There have been horror stories of devices like baby monitors being hacked too, so there?s a precedent set for this type of vulnerability. This is a common problem with many Internet of Things devices. They might have great capabilities, but if they?re compromised somehow, they can be exceptionally dangerous. In many cases, the devices aren?t necessarily threatening, but the possibilities for them to be tampered with shouldn?t be ignored. Now, it?s time for the real question that we want answered: how is the LG Rolling Bot going to handle stairs?

We?re probably not the first people you?ve heard advocate for environmentally-safe practices, and we won?t be the last. The fact remains that it?s important to maintain a sustainable environment for the world our children are born into. While your actions might not seem like a big deal in the immediate future, we assure you that if every business takes green initiatives, it can make a difference; for both the environment and your budget. To this end, here are two ways your business can reduce its environmental footprint: Recycle Your Unused DevicesThere are countless devices manufactured every year, so it?s only natural that older devices get replaced with newer, more reliable ones. However, when new devices replace old ones, the need for proper disposal is often overlooked. People would sooner just throw an old device in the trash rather than give the recycling process a thought. Devices like computers and mobile devices are made up of valuable metals and materials that can cause severe damage to the environment if they?re not recycled properly. These devices either sit in landfills or are shipped to third-world countries for dismantling, which is often done in an unsafe and unsanitary manner. This is why it?s so important that you make the extra effort to go through the recycling process. Another part of recycling your old technology is making sure that the devices have been completely wiped of all data before handing them over for recycling. This includes hard drives in desktops and laptops, and storage for mobile devices. These receptacles often contain sensitive information that?s dangerous if it falls into the wrong hands. Simply deleting the data doesn?t cut it – there?s a chance the data could be recovered. White Mountain IT Services can help with this by thoroughly wiping your unnecessary technology of any important data, and disposing of it in an environmentally friendly manner. Reduce Your Printing CostsOne way in which technology actually helps the environment is by helping your team limit the amount of paper consumption you deal with on a daily basis. It?s likely that your business prints much more than it truly needs to, and recent innovations make it easier than ever to decrease the amount of paper, ink, and toner you use every day. Keeping your printing to a minimum can have a great effect on your budget. Since you don?t have to invest as heavily in paper, ink, and toner, you?ll spend less overall, allowing you to allocate more funds to other parts of your business. By fully leveraging digital file storage and signature software, you can save on both printing costs and physical office space. When there?s less clutter, there?s less time wasted. On top of that, it will make sharing documents with clients and prospects that much easier. To start doing business the environmentally friendly way, contact White Mountain IT Services at (603) 889-0800. We can help your business approach green innovations in an efficient and organized manner.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has declared that Google?s self-driving vehicles can be considered a driver. As reported by ZDNet, Google sought to clarify what it would take to make their driverless cars highway-safe. In order for Google?s cars to be seen as compliant with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards, all they had to do was change the position of the brake pedal and sensors, after which the vehicles were declared ?safe enough.? For an example of how one of these automated cars views its surroundings, watch this video: While this might seem of little consequence, it?s actually a huge step forward for the development of artificial intelligence. Of course, with such a huge push, there will be complications; in this case, they come in the form of accident liability. If a driverless vehicle were to be involved in an accident, who?s to blame? You can?t sue a vehicle, unless you want to go directly to the manufacturer and claim that it?s their fault for producing a faulty product. Unfortunately, the manufacturer could simply blame the user for failing to set the device up properly. Also, would insurance companies require new coverage to accommodate the presence of automated vehicles on the roads? These questions aren?t easily answered, so liability will likely remain a major issue for any autonomous vehicles. Since a driverless car doesn?t have anyone behind the wheel, it?s difficult to place the blame on any one entity in particular. As the feds claimed in their letter to Google, ?If no human occupant of the vehicle can actually drive the vehicle, it is more reasonable to identify the ?driver? as whatever (as opposed to whoever) is doing the driving.? So, in the case of the autonomous vehicle, finding out who or what is at fault is challenging at best. Another critical issue is how well Google?s autonomous cars can fit into the current Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards. Will regulations regarding specific human anatomy have to be changed in order to accommodate motor vehicles? As reported by WIRED: The rule regarding the car?s braking system, for example, says it ?shall be activated by means of a foot control.? The rules around headlights and turn signals refer to hands. NHTSA can easily change how it interprets those rules, but there?s no reasonable way to define Google?s software?capable as it is?as having body parts. All of which means, the feds ?would need to commence a rulemaking to consider how FMVSS No. 135 [the rule governing braking] might be amended in response to ?changed circumstances,’? the letter says. Getting an exemption to one of these rules is a long and difficult process, Walker Smith says. But ?the regular rulemaking process is even more onerous.? Even if liability remains a problem for autonomous cars, the fact that authorities can refer to computers as ?drivers? means that they can be considered humans (or human-like), at least behind the wheel of a car. Developers of artificial intelligence will likely face similar issues, but this advancement gives them hope that their efforts will not be in vain. Though Google has slated its automated cars to be available to the public by 2020, we might have to wait just a little bit longer, even for the most basic form of artificial intelligence. What are your […]

Here?s a summary of the study by the security firm Avecto, as reported by ZDNet: The report said that removing admin rights could’ve mitigated more than 99 percent of flaws affecting Internet Explorer, which had a critical-rated flaw almost every month; and mitigated 82 percent of all vulnerabilities affecting Office. The company analyzed the entire batch of vulnerabilities in Microsoft’s monthly security patch update, dubbed Patch Tuesday, to see which flaws would be less impacted whose logged-in accounts “are configured to have fewer user rights on the system.” Out of the entire batch of vulnerabilities reported, 63 percent would be mitigated or unexploitable if admin rights were removed. The most shocking find from the study is that concerning the Windows operating system, a solid 85 percent of all critical flaws within the OS can be plugged simply by removing administrator privileges. That?s a whole mess of problems that can be avoided if organizations simply take the time to establish and manage their network?s administrator privileges. Think about it, there?s no benefit to your organization from giving all of your staff the ability to access all of your files. Every business has files on record that are sensitive in nature, like employee health records, payroll, and bank account information. Sensitive records like these must be protected by setting up airtight administrator privileges, and in some industries, failure to do so will result in hefty fines. In addition to worrying about the administrator privileges of your staff, you?re going to want to be mindful of how hackers can manipulate administrator privileges. For example, an IT network with strict administrator privileges in place will deter a hacker who infiltrates your network from accessing sensitive files. You?re also going to want to be mindful and stay current with the administrator privileges that you?ve put into place; you wouldn?t want a former employee to retain their administrator privileges, and you need to protect yourself from hackers who successfully steal administrator rights. In today’s digital age, it?s frightening how one oversight like this can open the door to so much trouble. However, by taking full advantage of a user management solution, you can minimize this risk–by as much as 85 percent! Of course, managing your network?s administrator privileges is just one piece of the security puzzle. You?re also going to want to have in place secondary security solutions like firewalls, antivirus, spam blocking, and content filtering tools designed to prevent infiltration in the first place. White Mountain IT Services can implement all of these tools for you in one comprehensive solution, called a Unified Threat Management (UTM) tool. To learn more about what it takes to tighten your company?s network security, give White Mountain IT Services a call at (603) 889-0800.