Hallie

Interviews by Amanda McGrathBrittany Madison, 30, a recreation center manager, says she’s independent and a glass-half-full type. Her perfect guy loves dogs, will join her for a 6 a.m. run and likes hanging out with family. Ben Mumma, 29, a director of revenue for a software company, says he’s intelligent and compassionate and loves making people laugh. He’s looking for a woman who is “bold in action yet patient and understanding.” We sent them to Ghibellina on 14th Street NW.Read full article >>

INTERVIEWS BY ELLEN RYANChase Agapito, 24, an intelligence analyst, enjoys clubbing and sees himself as a fashionable gentleman. Amanda Bradley, 26, a middle-school language and social studies teacher, describes herself as friendly and close to her family, and says she’s a beer fan. Both are of mixed ethnicity, speak Spanish, like fancy footwear and healthy eats, and attend Catholic services weekly. He asks, “Will the Date Lab gurus find Chase a woman who can keep up with his international pursuits?” We sent them to Clarity in Vienna, Va., to find out.Read full article >>

Interviews by Michele Langevine leibyLaw student Adam Firestone, 23, and theater professional Dani Markowitz, 22, have backgrounds so similar, they almost seem like the male/female version of each other. The two Washington-area natives met for beer and pizza at Pizzeria Paradiso in Dupont Circle. Then a food allergy popped up. ...Read full article >>

Interviews by Debra BrunoDan Novak, who works in higher education and calls himself an “easygoing D.C. person,” and Carolyn Becker, who describes herself as a “petite, funky fashionista,” matched on paper. Both enjoy the District’s music scene, are Bethesda natives, and were looking for someone a little edgy and a lot stylish. But sometimes too perfect is a chemistry killer. Turns out these two have known each other since second grade. And there was one other surprise during their unplanned reunion at Smoke & Barrel in Adams Morgan. Read full article >>

The costume is amazing.

Interview by Ellen RyanWes Rist, 36, is a runner and “an affable guy next door with a nerdy side” who plans educational programs for international lawyers. Jillian Wahl, 31, an architectural project manager, is looking for someone “tall, athletic, clean-shaven, slightly nerdy” and calls herself “a very honest and loyal person.” We sent them to Slate Wine Bar + Bistro in Glover Park.Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathNichole Goble, 33 , says she’s “intelligent, open-minded and affectionate” and drawn to spontaneous (and possibly tattooed) women who share her love of books and film. Janine Levin, 36, calls herself “smart, cute, kind, affectionate” and says she’s looking for a woman who’s making a meaningful contribution to the world and appreciates reading, writing and adventures.We sent them to Agora in Dupont Circle.Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathSometimes — okay, often — even Date Lab’s great dates end without further romance. This frustrates our fans, including, we found out, Fox 5 newsman Tony Perkins, who took to his comedy podcast to vent recently: “I get so angry. Young people, what are you looking for?!”Read full article >>

Interviews by Arielle RettingNot only did Silver Spring natives Abby Holtz, (25, teacher) and Elvin Peprah (25, engineer) go to the same college, it turns out they also lived in the same building for a year and have dozens of mutual Facebook friends. Does that mean there’s a chance for chemistry? We sent them to Mio to find out.Read full article >>

Interviews by Christina Breda AntoniadesSitting across the table from someone you’ve never met, with romantic expectation hanging in the air, well, it can be a little awkward, as Date Labbers past can attest. Is it easier if you have your best buds by your side? Will the participants find a way to pair off? Or will the scrum dynamic send everyone straight to the friend zone? To find out, we lined up two groups of friends — three men, three women — for dinner at Casa Luca downtown. Their first challenge was getting past a last-minute cancellation that left them one man short. The folks who made it were Mitch Motlagh, 24, an enterprise technician; Dan Summers, 28, a test engineer; Chelsea Markle, 27, project coordinator for a government contractor; Amanda Young, 28, who works in nonprofit program support assistance and Sarah Hogan, 26, a public health adviser.Read full article >>

Interviews by Nina PatelRiley is a dinosaur enthusiast who has an inflatable brachiosaurus head mounted on his apartment wall. He’s also a theater critic. Peter is a well-traveled military brat who is looking for a hotter version of Bill Gates. We sent them to Ris in the West End. Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McgrathAsif says he’s “easy to talk to,” “a sponge when it comes to information,” “a good cook” and drawn to tall brunettes who are “fit and brilliant” and “can be self-deprecating and a firecracker.” Julia says she’s “smart, ambitious, loyal,” active and is “into guys who are responsible, work out, have nerdy sides and a sense of humor.” We sent them to the Fainting Goat on U Street. Read full article >>

Interviews by Katherine Arcement She’s an adventurous East Indian American girl who likes traveling and “tall, toned” brunets. He’s an outdoorsy foodie looking for an “intelligent, funny” girl who is “into sports but also art.” They dined at Bibiana on New York Avenue NW.Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathChris Gentilviso, 27, loves his job as a Huffington Post editor, but is happiest away from a computer; he’s looking for a “tall, feisty talker” who loves baseball, restaurants and road trips. Regina Hogle, 27, Program anayst, is a Nationals superfan who also likes country music and guys with a “positive outlook on life.” We sent them to the Brixton on U Street.Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathHe says he’s “exceptionally strong and can carry a tune.” His dream girl is “brunette and down to jam.” She self-describes as “smart, attractive, caring [and] funny,” and wants a Cary Grant-type to “spoil, love and take care of [her.]” We sent them to Rural Society in downtown Washington.Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathJessica Guzik, 29, media content strategist, is an “unapologetic foodie” who wants a museum-going athlete with an “observant wit.” Jack Nelson, 30, accountant, is a former professional athlete and recently returned Peace Corps volunteer whose dream girl is “intelligent, athletic, tall and just as beautiful when she’s fishing or hiking as when she’s going out on the town.” We sent them to Central Michel Richard in downtown Washington. Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathLeslie says she’s “smart, sexy, sassy, funny and very affectionate” and prefers “strong, aggressive, confident professional men” with a “quick, snappy wit.” Demetrius says he’s “intelligent, sexy and in good physical shape” and seeking a woman with a “pretty face” who’s a bit more extroverted than he is. We sent them to assess one another’s characteristics at Lincoln in Washington. Read full article >>

Interviews by Amanda McGrathMax Spector, a 27-year-old government consultant, and Amy Greenberg, a 27-year-old first-grade teacher, met for dinner at Newton’s table in Bethesda. Max says he’s searching for a woman who can laugh at herself, keep him on his toes and share his interests in sports and outdoor adventures. Amy says she wants a tall, funny guy who challenges her and can keep up with her triathlon training. Read full article >>

Interviews by Michele langevine leibyParticipants in Date Lab are told only each other’s first names before they meet. But that was enough for these two to figure out when they met for dinner at Primi Piatti in Washington that they ... well, read it for yourself. Read full article >>

Interviews by Nina PatelHe’s tall, dark and handsome, attracted to blue-eyed blondes and says his sense of humor is his best attribute. Ashley is a blue-eyed blonde and says big flirts and partiers are a turn-off. We sent Andre and Ashley to Argia’s in Falls Church .Read full article >>

Interviews by Michele Langevine LeibyBoat builder Andrew arrived for his dinner date at Farmers Fishers Bakers a little nervous that he hadn’t quite removed all the sawdust from his clothing. Tori, who works in financial antitrust regulation, thought he looked attractive. Would they be two ships passing in the night? Read full article >>

Many New Yorkers don't know it, but some of the world's largest public works projects are under construction right under their feet. Work is underway on extending a massive new water tunnel to keep up with demand, and workers are boring under the most dense sections of Midtown to make a new rail link into Grand Central Terminal. But perhaps the most exciting projects for city residents are two new extensions to the vast New York City Subway — one to the far West Side, and another down Second Avenue.

The Subway is New York's lifeline; it's a transportation system so vital, that the city itself wouldn't exist as we know it if the Subway were never built. And these two extensions are severely needed. City planners first started work on the Second Avenue Subway in 1929, and while the project has legendarily been stuck in a quagmire for a quarter of a century, today residents need it more than ever. And it's coming to life.

The scale of these projects is truly incredible, and what's even more amazing is that it's all happening in one of the most crowded spots on earth. And, unfortunately, as The New York Times shows in a new video in its "Living City" series, some neighborhoods have been brutally impacted by the years of construction. Foot traffic is down, dust is in the air, and construction sites mar one of Manhattan's key residential areas. The video also offers a look at how work on the new Subway line is coming along — including a shot of a massive underground explosion. Give it a watch.

Samsung wants to dismiss the idea that its upcoming Galaxy Note 4 will be as "easy" to bend as Apple's iPhone 6 Plus. Looking to capitalize on the controversy that Apple and others say shouldn't really be a controversy, Samsung has released a new video meant to showcase the strength and resiliency of its latest phablet. The Note 4 features a metal band, remember, so this was always going to be a fairer fight than pitting the 6 Plus against the plastic Note 3.

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The robot is actually wearing jeans

But Samsung seems confident that the Galaxy Note 4 won't permanently bend out of shape like the iPhone. The tests employed here are similar to those Apple demonstrated at its Cupertino lab last week; Samsung puts the Note 4 through a three-point bend test and a human weight test, which simulates a person sitting on the smartphone "hundreds of times." The results look impressive — but you should expect as much from what's basically a Samsung ad / commercial. Samsung attributes the Note 4's apparent sturdiness to its use of a magnesium bracket and a "mutually reinforcing structure between parts."

This all looks well and good, but we'll need to wait for experts like Consumer Reports to give it an unbiased try before reaching any definitive conclusions. Apple's own tests make the iPhone 6 Plus look plenty durable, but it's obviously possible to bend the thing if you put enough force behind it. Metal can bend, and plenty of people will be eager to demonstrate that with the Note 4. Some have already tried.

When iOS 8 came out requiring 5+ gigabytes of available storage to upgrade over the air, many of us feed up space the easiest way we know how: deleting lots of photos on our camera rolls. The thing is, deleting photos from your camera roll has never been particularly easy: the bulk-delete feature is hidden in the somewhat confusing Moments section of the app, and requires you to make your choices based on tiny thumbnails.

Flic, a new app from Lifehack Labs, offers the best solution to bloated camera rolls that we've seen to date. It's based on popular dating app Tinder: The interface consists of a single screen showing a giant thumbnail of your photo. If you want to keep it, swipe right; to delete, swipe left. Your photos are stored in a trash can until you decide to get rid of them for good; you can undo if you change your mind. As you go, a counter shows you how much storage you're about to reclaim on your phone. When you're ready, tap the trash can and confirm the purge. And that's it.

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Flic will encourage you to go through your photos with a monthly push notification suggesting that you power through your roll and get rid of any unwanted photos. The rest of the time, it leaves you alone. It's a simple utility, and it's available today at a launch price of $0.99. (The developer says it will eventually go up to $1.99). I've been using Flic for a couple weeks, and I've found it to be an invaluable way to quickly clear out dumb screenshots, duplicate photos, and incriminating selfies. If you've ever looked at your camera roll in despair, Flic is well worth checking out.

It's not as aesthetically appealing as a Snuggie, but it'll do. 

Interviews by Amanda McGrathHe says he’s got “great genes” and goes for competitive, Type A girls with a “bubbly energy about them.” She says she’s a minimalist, an honest friend and a fan of confident guys who share her love of travel and outdoor adventures. We sent them to Fuego Cocina y Tequileria in Clarendon to spice things up. …Read full article >>

A media outlet has dared to reframe the biggest celebrity wedding of the year to put the focus where it belongs.

It's like having the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man march right down your throat. 

This week, a very dangerous vulnerability was discovered in one of Linux’s most widely used utilities. The good news is that the good guys discovered it, but the bad news is that it’s potentially "worse than Heartbleed" in the wrong hands, according to some experts (and Heartbleed was pretty bad news). It's a terrible situation for almost everyone in the computing industry. One of the few exceptions is AgileBits, the company behind password-management software 1Password.

Each time a massive hack or leak makes news, 1Password sales go up. Each time celebrity nudes get stolen, a few more people realize that their data is not as secure as they thought it was, and consider what can be done. The developers at AgileBits say they’re just as bummed when something gets hacked — but it’s hard to deny the marketing power of a security flaw in selling an app that promotes better, stronger passwords.

With the launch of iOS 8, AgileBits decided to make its pricey (by App Store standards) $17.99 app free, putting it within reach of just about anyone. Since then, the app has been downloaded over 3 million times, but 1Password is still far from a household word. We spoke with with AgileBits’ Jeff Shiner and David Chartier about the state of online security, the viability of biometric passwords, and what it’s going to take to make "password managers" mainstream.

This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity and brevity.

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Why has it taken this long for people to realize they need to lock up their accounts?

Jeff Shiner: Well, part of it is just repetition. Five years ago, it was all about not password hacks. It was about this and that virus. People were looking for anti-virus tools, but over the last few years what we’ve noticed is that [the hacks] don’t just affect little sites that don’t matter. It’s important sites, and in the case of Heartbleed many, many sites. In combination with that over the last X number of years as time has progressed, people are holding their lives online.

"Our job... is to make security convenient."

It’s no longer, "I go on the internet to look at cat pictures." Your entire life, your banking info, your personal info, how you connect with everybody, and even health records are on there. It’s a combination of recognizing that these sorts of breaches can happen almost anywhere, and at the same time I’ve got very important data that I need to protect, that makes that combination just that more potent.

My mom sent me an email last week and said, "I went to update one of games in my iPad and it brings up this terms and conditions page that it wants me to tap "accept" in. I think this game’s trying to steal all my data!" It was iOS 8 update that had come up. Even she now is conscious of the fact that these sorts of things are out there. We look at it from a cultural point of view — people are aware now that privacy online is important, and they want to protect that.

David Chartier: Another thing we’re constantly fighting is human nature, in a sense. As our cryptographer or "Chief Defender Against Dark Arts" Jeff Goldberg is very fond of saying, what’s the most convenient thing to make your password? It’s 123456 or your cat’s name. So our job, and it’s corny because it’s in our tagline, is to make security convenient — to make the secure thing the convenient thing to do.

Do 1Password downloads spike with every big hacking drama?

JS: Absolutely. Whenever there’s something in the public about a breach, we see a spike in interests and downloads and people coming to the blog to read about it, and people downloading the app. It’s word of mouth in that regard.

Heartbleed was one that really stood out. It was in the news so much and affected so many sites that people were asking, "How do I do this? How do I change my password across 20, 50, or 100 sites?" Especially when they’re used to reusing passwords or having a password scheme. That’s where people are learning that you have to let that go. It’s easier to stay secure with a password manager than with these crazy schemes.

DC: it also helps that Heartbleed was the best-branded security breach in years.

So is there an awkward little celebration every time news breaks about a new hack?

DC: I wouldn’t say "celebration." It is kind of odd that some of our best business comes from very unfortunate events, but we approach it with the hope that we now have this opportunity to talk to people about something we truly believe everybody needs. We’ve had analysts talk to us and they always ask, "Who’s your demographic?" It’s a difficult question because it’s really everybody. We’re not just targeting 18- to 34-year-old males. It’s everyone on the planet that has to touch the internet. We have a great opportunity to help people that this terrible event has affected.

Even if you use 1Password, you can still be foiled by the inane security questions most sites still use to recover accounts. What should we do about those?

DC: [Our chief cryptologist] Jeff Goldberg was out at PasswordsCon giving speeches about how our suggestion is: don’t answer security questions honestly. Let a password manager do the job for you. Create an additional field called security question #1, type the name of the question, and then use our password generator to generate some gobbledigook and then it’s stored in your 1Password login. Now, I don’t need to remember my security question. That’s both the educational challenge, and the beauty of a password manager — that it takes some burden away.

"Our fingerprints and voice are tremendously unique, but they’re terrible secrets."

Looking forward, are text passwords going to remain our primary passwords? Or will we use TouchID, or something biometric that’s even more advanced?

JS: For the next several years, yes. Hopefully at some point in the further future there will be a better approach. But the challenge with biometrics is that passwords have to work in a lot of places. I need a password that works everywhere. Even from a biometrics point of view, the master password is going to be a lot more secure.

DC: I’m going to steal this from Goldberg, who’s fond of biometrics. Our fingerprints and voice are tremendously unique, but they’re terrible secrets. I can breathe into an analyzer and unlock a door but what happens when that gets duplicated? I can’t go get a new voice, or new fingerprints. There’s a challenge in those technologies, at least as they’re currently conceived.

Does anyone know your master password?

DC: No.

JS: I have mine written down in my safety deposit box at the bank. But one of the fascinating uses of 1Password is that when I die, one of the things my wife can do is go to a "Shared Family Vault" and know that my life insurance policies, 401k, etc are there. She knows how to pay all my bills since she can log in. She has all that information at her fingertips. This is about a lot more than just log-ins. You need your private data kept private, but you need it available when you need it available. We do everything online these days, I pay some bills, my wife pays others. I have no clue how to pay her bills, so I could go to our shared vault. Some of it is the silliest stuff, but it’s stuff you don’t want to have to worry about during one of the worst times in your life.

Yeah, people aren’t really keeping all their important files in their desk drawer anymore are they?

DC: One of our users created a 1Password emergency kit. It’s a fill-in-the blank PDF where you can fill in your master password and you can give it to family members to put in a safe.

We have a lawyer who’s one of our customers who gives a free copy of 1Password to all his customers as part of his "last will and testament package." The uses are far beyond just log-ins, but log-ins are where people know to start.

"The uses are far beyond just log-ins, but log-ins are where people know to start."

What about in the case of someone like Wired’s Mat Honan, who was hacked using social engineering?

JS: A password manager actually helped Mat because one of things you want to do is protect all of your data and logins. If somebody can take your phone whether it’s social engineering or whatnot to get at one of your logins, or if one of websites you use holds that information in clear text. If some of that information is taken, what’s critical is that that information can’t be used anywhere else. Let’s say you go to a website, you register, and they have a breach and they’ve kept your info in clear text. Now someone has your password in clear text, and they aren’t even interested in using it on that site.They’re going to use it on a bunch of sites whether it’s shopping sites, social sites, whatever. It’s the reuse of that information that’s worse than the initial breach.

DC: Even in the case of social engineering where now you are outside the bounds of people hacking at a tool. They’re hacking at people controlling the gates. The strong passwords are still going to mitigate the damage. If someone gets into your email, they might get a few other accounts, but having these unique passwords means they won’t be able to break into anything else. They’re going to get to the point where they’re going to have to start calling to fake an identity. From a hacking standpoint, you’re not gonna sit on the phone for two days resetting passwords.

If a password manager is so important, do you ever worry that Apple or Google will step in and build one of their own? iCloud Keychain in iOS 7 was certainly a first step…

JS:That’s only good for us. Apple has the ability to educate such a breadth of users. The number of people they can reach is far beyond our scope. If Apple can do some core education for us, then that’s awesome. Then all of a sudden everybody will know what a password manager or identity manager can do, and why they need it and what they can get from it. We will always be there with premium solution for those who need a better version. This is what we do. This is all we do.

Do you expect people to care about anything until it’s personally affected them? For example, if more people’s credit cards got stolen maybe we’d be using EMV credit cards by now?

JS: I’m still horrified any time I have to give anyone my card, like when I go to California. In Canada, I don’t have to give anyone my card. When I pay anywhere, it’s equivalent to paying at the pump. They bring the machine to you, you put your card in, enter your PIN, take the card yourself, hand the machine back to the person, and you’re done. You never give a person your card.

DC: It’s a problem in the culture of our technology, but we’re seeing some good signs that it’s getting into the mainstream public. We’re seeing recommendations show up on CNN — this breach happened, you need to look into these things called password managers.

Interviews by Christina Breda AntoniadesRead full article >>