Google's 2-step verification is (almost) the spawn of Satan - iPhone upgrade edition

Two months ago I decided Google's 2-step verification was an incomplete mess unsuitable for use by non-geeks.

Today I decided it's the spawn of Satan.

This is what happens if you refresh an iPhone running Authenticator - either a new phone or restore from backup

1. Restore iPhone from backup
2. Authenticator settings gone
3. Per directions to account page for 2-step verification settings.
4. Discover, despite 30 day authorization, my computer wants authenticator token today.
5. Fortunately, I have my old phone. That works.
6. Realize that there's no support for authenticating a new phone. Ok, I'll just turn off the iPhone ...
7. Get the QR code. That works ... but
8. All the friggin' application specific passwords are gone -- all revoked.

Do you know how friggin' long it takes to enter all those application specific passwords across multiple machines and operating systems?! Can I scream now?!

Friends don't let friends use 2-step verification.

Update: A few minutes later and, for now. I see my (not) application-specific passwords and they still seem to work. So only almost the spawn of Satan. Google needs a workflow to support migrating from one iPhone to another.

See also:

• Gordon's Tech: Implementing Google's two factor authentication - early days
• Gordon's Tech: The massive security hole in Google two factor authentication - problems
• Gordon's Tech: Making the most of Google's alternative "2-step" verification model - more problems
• Gordon's Tech: Google Chrome sync does not work with 2-step verification - still more problems

 

Good habit: review sites with access to google services

Through your Google Accounts page you can edit "connected sites" and "application-specific" passwords (they aren't btw).

I did this tonight. I was surprised at how long my list was. How did Facebook ever get access to my Google Contacts? They are diabolical.

I deleted most of  the items on the list. This is one practice I want to make a habit.

AT&T sells iPhone cables for $10 with 3 for 2

I've never come across an AT&T store bargain - until today.

Turns out AT&T sells their own iPhone/iPod/iPad charge/sync cable - for $10. As of today they also have a "buy two get one free promotion", so I bought 3 for $20.

Excluding obviously counterfeit $2-$3 cables (caveat emptor), I've not seen these cables on Amazon for less than $20. Griffin's powerblock/cable combo for $23 or so has been the best deal.

Since Apple's last two years of cables have been absolute garbage (separation at iPod end), my family needs some extra cables. Now we're flush.

ifttt, Google Reader Share, and Wordpress

ifttt has a WordPress channel, including a post action.

Google Reader's share RSS feed is still active, and can be exposed with the Keakon extension.

So using iftt could I blog to Wordpress by clicking the Keakon-Share link in Google Reader?

Be a fun experiment anyway.

Google Chrome sync does not work with 2-step verification

As best I can tell Google's two-factor ("2-step") verification is incompatible with Chrome sync. There are two ways it fails:

1. During initial authentication you are required to enter a full access password, the Authenticator token won't work. (Laughably, Google calls these 'application-specific' passwords. That's a lie. I wish they'd stop repeating it.) This defeats the value of the Authenticator's keystroke-logger protection.

2. You can't use your Google account authentication to encrypt your sync store. Maybe it uses the 'application specific password'. When I try this, Sync hangs - but tells me it has succeeded. Using a separate sync password works.

There are lots of similar bugs with use of two-factor. It's really not finished; I wonder if it's one of the projects that Page has terminated. I still use it, but I don't recommend it to anyone else. The illusion of security may be worse than no security.

Microblogging and Google Reader: Tumblr Fails

I got pretty far along on the Tumblralternative to Reader Shares. I even created a kateva.org subdomain with a Tumblr IP A Record to give my Tumblr blog a kateva.org URL.

I tested with Google Reader Mobile and desktop, but the workflow for micro-sharing was too awkward. That looked promising, but all the posts were going to my original Tumblr blog, not the full powered one I'd setup for sharing.

What was up with that?

That's when I discovered the weird world of Tumblr primary blogs ...

Help Center | Tumblr

... What is my “primary” blog? Your primary blog is the one created when you sign up for Tumblr. It represents you (with its name, link, and avatar) when you follow or like other Tumblr blogs. You can read about blog management to understand the differences between your primary blog and additional blogs. Can I switch my primary blog? It’s not currently possible to switch or move your primary blog to another account. You can read about blog management to understand the differences between your primary blog and additional blogs....

Cue the ominous music. I could see where this was going ...

Blog Management | Tumblr

Each Tumblr account comes with a primary blog. A primary blog can fully use all of Tumblr’s social features including Follow, Like, Reply, Ask, and Submit. But, a primary blog cannot be password-protected and cannot be multi-user.You can also create additional blogs on your Tumblr account. An additional blog can be password protected for privacy and security and can be multi-user. But, an additional blog cannot fully use all of the Tumblr’s social features...

The primary blog that is made when you create your Tumblr account will always be the primary blog for the account. It is not possible to reassign which blog on your account is the primary blog. And, due the way in which Tumblr is architected, it is unlikely that we will be able to support reassignment of the primary blog in the foreseeable future. It is also unlikely that we will be able to support password protection on primary blogs....

Yes, it's all about that d*mn closed-world money-making social stuff.

The primary blog is the one that receives my shared items from Feedly. It won't do for what I want.

So now, like Posterous, Tumblr has failed.

Only Twitter and, perhaps, WordPress microblogging, remain.

Oh, and, of course, HiveMined.

No. Please. Not ... not ... Blogger!

See also:

• Tumblr - a Google Reader social replacement?
• Gordon's Tech: Posterous - a Google Reader social replacement?
• Gordon's Notes: Dapocalypse now: Google's day of infamy
• Gordon's Notes: How to replace Google Reader
• Gordon's Notes: The end of Google Reader shares and the rebirth Gordon's twitter feed

Aperture 3.2.1 recurrent crash - EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)

This ends well - because I have backups. Other than the necessity of backups, the main lessons of this post are;

1. Aperture 3.2.1 Libraries can become corrupted.
2. Aperture 3.2.1 has some wicked bugs.
3. A few debugging tips.
4. It is unwise to edit in Aperture until all import processing is completed.
5. How to manage when disaster strikes

This morning I did a routine import of 30 or so CR2 images from my Canon T2i using Aperture Import. Import completed normally. As images were post-processed I worked on some red-eye editing. I mis-clicked somewhere, and the spinning pizza of death appeared. About a minute later Aperture crashed, leaving this crash log ...

Process:         Aperture [75650]
Path:            /Applications/Aperture.app/Contents/MacOS/Aperture
Identifier:      com.apple.ApertureVersion:         3.2.1 (3.2.1)
Build Info:      Aperture-201094000000000~2
Code Type:       X86-64 (Native)
Parent Process:  launchd [41554]
Date/Time:       2011-11-25 09:15:19.689 -0600
OS Version:      Mac OS X 10.6.8 (10K549)
Report Version:  6
Exception Type:  EXC_BAD_ACCESS (SIGBUS)
Exception Codes: 0x000000000000000a, 0x0000000138d4d000
Crashed Thread:  23

I tried five more times. Each time Aperture opened normally, and about 30 seconds later, presumably as it resumed image processing, it crashed with the same error.

I knew I had backups, so I didn't have to panic. In fact, I have three backups:

• Encrypted image with Carbon Copy Cloner to local drive nightly. This is a drive clone of course, but CCC also saves changed and deleted files in a 'just-in-case' folder. So it's a Clone+.
• Encrypted image with Carbon Copy Cloner in my office that's 3 weeks old (offsite).
• Time Capsule backup to a 2TB drive upstairs.

It was easy to demonstrate that the problem was in the Library. I option-launched Aperture and created a new Library. It was fine. I also removed my Aperture Preference files and Aperture still crashed on Library launch.

As an experiment I used EasyFind to locate the images I'd imported. I'd renamed them on import ("_Thanksgiving_") so it was "easy to find" them using EasyFind's package search option. I moved them out of the Aperture Library. This time it launched normally.

Whatever was wrong with Aperture, it was something related to processing the images I'd imported that morning -- or a problem with the images themselves.

I then used ImageCapture [1] to bring in the suspect images from my SD card. There were no problems. I added these to an empty Aperture Library. No problems.

By then my 45GB restore had completed so I put the images into the restored Aperture Library. No problems. Just to finish the cycle off, I again performed the red eye correction associated with the big crash. No problems.

One experiment I didn't do was use Aperture First Aid to repair or rebuild the Aperture database. Speaking of that kb article, I suspect this paragraph is relevant to my problem ...

...If Aperture does not open, it may help to defer creation of previews. Press the Shift key immediately after you start Aperture to prevent preview generation for that session. If a damaged image in your library is preventing normal opening, this may allow you to start Aperture...

i don't think the original images in my Library were damaged, but I do think something went wrong with Aperture's preview creation. Actually, I have a hunch that the problem is related to Aperture's face processing -- the EasyFInd recovery process I experimented with returned a number of face "thumbnails' -- but only a number. As though face thumbnail processing was not completed.

I hope the fixes I've outlined here will help others. The bottom line - be sure you have a full backup of your Aperture Library. I prefer two fully automated backup methods that have almost nothing in common. Backups are too unreliable to trust a single backup method.

[1] This app has its own really annoying bug. When used it stores the path it last saved images to. If you change drives it keeps asking for the old drive -- and tries to mount it. Dumb. Easy to delete preferences to fix.

Update: Terence Devlin - an Apple guru, also suspects the Faces process.

Update 12/20/2011: I suspect it was due to bit rot (bad sectors) on my drive.