Voice of the DBA

Tag: cell phone

  • Great Access to Data with Google Fi

    I’ve been a subscriber to the Google Fi (formerly Project Fi) network for a couple years now. Like many of you, I depend on my mobile device for lots of data items, usually email, but I’ve also been able to get work done at times, and certainly Slack and Skype are a regular part of my work.

    I made the switch because I often travel to the UK and a few other countries. Getting access from the US carriers is a pain. I’ve switched SIM cards before (never like doing that), carried a second phone that I can put a SIM in, and even tried to live on Wi-Fi. These are all compromises and a hassle.

    I used to have Verizon and the had great coverage, but at $10/day, that adds up quickly. T-Mobile had free data, but low speed. My kids have Sprint and get the same, low speed connection that’s almost useless in today’s very chatty applications.

    The last couple years have had me use the Google network in my travels. I’ve gotten phone and text calls in many places, tethered my computer, and been able to keep in touch in same way I do every day, regardless of where I am. I’ve been in these countries with Google Fi:

    • United States
    • United Kingdom (GB, Scotland, and N Ireland)
    • Ireland
    • France
    • Switzerland
    • Greece
    • Norway
    • Denmark
    • Canada
    • Australia
    • New Zealand
    • Hong Kong

    In all of these countries, my phone connects and gives me 4G speeds, with my same data plan. I pay a bit for international calls, but texts are included. What’s even better is that my data cost is capped at $60. I pay $10/GB, but if I go over $60 (And I did while in Australia), there’s no extra charge. If I use less, I get charged on a pro-rated basis.

    If you decide to move, I’ve got a referral link. You’ll save some money and I’ll get a little credit. Referral: https://g.co/fi/r/KAF848

  • A Supercomputer in My Pocket

    I work with data on a regular basis, and I really depend on my cell phone to help me with both work and life. I regularly make notes and get ideas for articles and editorials from things that happen when I’m on the go. Without a smartphone, I’d be juggling a notebook and pen, perhaps pulling over and making notes that I’d transcribe later. Since I’m in different cars and vehicles with different bags, I’m not sure how well I’d be able to keep track of notes on paper.

    In the last decade, as I’ve purchased and upgraded mobile devices, it’s been amazing to me that I can use many services to help me. I can log into something like Instapaper to save an interesting article I might write about later, or capture a few thoughts in Evernote. Or even send myself an email with an idea for a Question of the Day. I’ve done all of those things while in various points when inspiration has struck.

    In the last few years, I’ve started to use some audio notes for tracking when I’m driving. I might hear something on the radio, or from a podcast, and need to make a note. The power of dictation apps, which have improved tremendously since the early Dragon Speech Recognition days on 486 computers. While I still don’t completely trust audio recognition, what I’ve learned to appreciate is the ability to just record sound with an audio app that I can play back later. There are audio recording apps, though I often just use Evernote.

    I use a lot of data transfer and storage on my mobile device. So much so that when I switched a couple years ago to the Google Fi, I was disappointed with only having 32GB of storage. It was amazing for a kid that grew up with 300kb floppy disks to think that 32GB wasn’t enough, but it wasn’t. I was constantly juggling space and deleting things. I recently upgraded to a phone with 192GB, and I’m hoping that will satisfy my need for pictures, video, and notes.

    It’s amazing to see just how far computing has expanded, giving us incredible capabilities on the go that were science fiction a quarter century ago. Many appreciate the ability to review a document or spreadsheet, or even view a Power BI Report from any device. While I don’t often have the need, it is nice to know that I can catch SQL Monitor alerts and view data on my phone, or even restart a VM from a cloud shell from my car if I have the need.

    Steve Jones

    The Voice of the DBA Podcast

    Listen to the MP3 Audio ( 3.6MB) podcast or subscribe to the feed at iTunes and Libsyn.

  • Looking for More Storage

    I got a new cell phone. Not big news, but it’s primarily because I need want more storage. It’s a little indulgence, but it doesn’t change my budget much, so I decided to just upgrade.

    A couple years ago I moved to Google Fi. If you haven’t heard of it, Google decided to become a cell phone service provider. I think this was because of their Pixel devices, or maybe because Larry/Sergy just wanted to. Who knows.

    In any case, they offered a few phones with their service. The attractive thing for me was that they charged $10/GB of data, prorating usage and capping costs at $60. That’s a good move, especially as I sometimes go over 6GB in a month of heavy travel. At home, I rarely break 3GB, which means I may pay $30 or less for data. I think my lowest has been a $22.50 bill for 2.25GB.

    The other attractive thing was that they partnered with various providers to give no charge roaming around the world, using your existing plan. Not everywhere, but everywhere I go. This was a huge change from Verizon, which was a $10/day charge outside the US. That adds up quickly as I often have 5-10 day trips overseas. I’d gotten used to not using my phone, but that’s annoying, especially when trying to get directions.

    In any case, they offered only a few devices as their phones used a multiple carrier roaming tech to hop across multiple carries. They use Sprint and TMobile in the US, and fortunately, they cover the ranch. At the time, I wanted a headphone jack and the Pixel XL was the best choice. Unfortunately it only had 32GB models for sale.

    After a year and a half of that, I feel cramped. I’m constantly managing storage with all the pictures I take of family. Recently Google put the Pixel 3 and LG phones on sale, plus they offered a service credit. Since I still want to headphone jack, I settled on a 64GB LG G7, which will end up costing me about 5 months of extra charges for the device after credits and sale.

    Plus I can add a micro SD card to the device. Since I’m thinking to get a 128GB card, I guess that’s 6 more months of payments Winking smile

  • The Pros and Cons of Terabyte Phones

    A few years ago I wrote a piece about the growth of storage in many devices and the large quantities of data that can be kept. I speculated that we might see terabyte mobile phone storage in a decade. That was 2014 and this past week Samsung announced they had created a 1TB embedded Universal Flash Storage chip for phones. You can already get a Note9 with 512GB of storage, so this isn’t a huge leap, but it does feel like a milestone.

    For many of us, that seems like a good move. We can keep all the photos, videos, movies, and more that we want on our phones. I take a lot of pictures in life, and lately I’ve struggled with a 32GB phone. I keep debating upgrading, just because I’d like more storage. There are certainly challenges with keeping all this imagery and video backed up, but that’s a separate discussion. I’d like to just be able to capture data and make decisions about how to protect it later. There are also plenty of transient items (movies, Pluralsight courses, and more) that I just want to keep on temporary storage for a limited time.

    More is better, but it also creates potential problems. With a 1TB, or potentially larger, storage on my phone, what about the problem of data loss and theft by insiders? Very few of us work in jobs where we can’t keep our mobile device with us. Many of us also work with sensitive data, and there is a potential for transferring a lot of data to a relatively innocuous device. These days we might not even need to plug in our mobiles with bluetooth file transfer programs. Even if we plug in a phone, that’s innocent and expected? Modern smartphones often need charging during the day.

    It’s not just us, but also contractors, consultants, and non-privileged users that might be able to move data. Certainly someone might act maliciously, but what about the potential for new types of malware? Android is more open and iOS, and there have been viruses. How long before there are some virus programs that try to connect to every SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, etc. database when plugged into your laptop?

    That might seem far fetched, and certainly our databases grow larger and larger, but much of the data is text, and more ERP/CRM programs are in use that contain known schemas where worms, virii, and other malware might target specific tables. A terabyte can store a lot of text data, especially if it’s usernames and password hashes.

    I don’t know of any mobile to PC infections yet, but I do know there are lots of smart people out there. It’s just a matter of time before someone starts to try and exploit the capabilities of modern mobile devices, especially those with large storage capacities.

    Steve Jones