Re: Shared?
"38 Ghz"
GHz; uppercase 'H'.
It's the law.
Posts by JeffyPoooh
4286 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Jun 2013
Page:
Aereo TV boss is back ... pitching gigabit internet and a $350 Wi-Fi router
Thursday 28th January 2016 22:59 GMT
Sigh...
"... short-wave radio frequencies to deliver wireless broadband service..." and then "...using millimeter waves..."
As others have already pointed out, "short-wave" has a long established meaning. And it's not millimeter waves, even if they're short. Pure ignorance on his part.
If somebody wants to take a run at using millimeter waves to establish ISP 'last mile' links, then good luck to them. It might even work when it's not raining.
Back to the Future's DeLorean is coming back to the future
There's no guidance for Scottish police use of UK facial recog database
Apple yanks international travel plugs over shock worries
Thursday 28th January 2016 22:31 GMT
Interesting: USA (etc) flat prong version recalled many years ago
The USA-style flat prong iPhone charger were recalled YEARS ago for the same sort of issue. Yank the flimsy charger out of the wall socket, and it leaves its AC power prongs behind. One prong is Hot and somebody somehow touches it before a clear-thinking adult switches off the circuit breaker.
The 'New and Improved (Non-Lethal)' versions are marked with a green dot.
The interesting question is why the very long delay between the USA (etc.) version and the seemingly identical problem being recognized for the other variations. Why so long? Worth investigating me thinks.
Boeing just about gives up on the 747
Wednesday 27th January 2016 11:35 GMT
Re: Twins are the most powerful.
"...not sawing from side to side."
It's an Airbus. So they could presumably add a line of code or two to their Fail-By-Wire, sorry I mean Fly-By-Wire system.
It's not clear how one can reconcile their entire design ethos (computers flying the plane, pilots asking the computers to manoeuvre) with their software then allowing the pilot to 'saw' off the entire tail. There's an obvious design discrepancy there that sticks out like a sore thumb.
Yes, I'm a bit critical of Airbus. There's a clear pattern in their failures. Too many incidents where one could point at the fly-by-wire software.
Wednesday 27th January 2016 11:20 GMT
Re: Aeroflot Flight 593
"Why did anyone down vote this?"
Because there are some employees and/or fanbois of Airbus on these forums.
Airbus designers made some clearly-dangerous decisions in the conceptual design phase of their cockpit and user interfaces. There have been endless examples.
Far too many Airbus aircraft were in absolutely perfect condition in the last millisecond before impact. That's clearly indicative and is simply undeniable.
Other brands of aircraft crash too, but they're typically broken before hitting the ground. There's certainly a clear and indicative distinction.
Monday 25th January 2016 17:44 GMT
Re: Aeroflot Flight 593
Yep. And it was (not surprisingly) an Airbus. A310-300 to be specific (according to the 'net).
Because having one of several autopilot channels silently turn off is the poster child of good UI design; not. Ideally Airbus will start designing Self-Driving Cars, because then people would stop arguing about this point.
Saturday 23rd January 2016 00:49 GMT
Re: Cost v extra safety
"The BA 777 that didn't quite make the end of the Heathrow airport runway in 2008 comes to mind."
That was caused by a design fault in the Fuel-Oil Heat Exchanger. A systematic design error in both engines.
Even if it had a dozen engines, it might well have ended up in exactly the same place.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_38
That happened in 2008. In 2007, I and my entire family flew a polar route on a 777. Not sure it was equipped with the same RR engines, but it makes one think.
Saturday 23rd January 2016 00:31 GMT
"...Running out of fuel or hitting geese..."
Plenty of Canadian content in that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gimli_Glider = Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Transat_Flight_236 = Canada
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_Airways_Flight_1549 = Canadian Geese
All ended rather well, considering.
Retailers urged to create 'CCTV-like' symbol to inform customers of mobile tracking
Wednesday 27th January 2016 11:05 GMT
Re: "... retailer’s smart phone app. "
"Whatever he's doing wrong, I'm doing wrong too. In spades."
Android?
It seems that many phones using the Android have 'baseband' chip sets designed and programmed by idiots. Nothing to do with the OS itself as such.
Some of my coworkers have phones that'll drain the battery in two hours if they leave it in their cubicle, with no service. The phone seemingly goes insane screaming out a watt of RF in some inexplicable attempt to wake up the nearest tower. Other phones don't do this, and their battery will last all day in the same situation.
It seems that y'all have fallen victim to the same sort of bad design.
In summary, there are some very badly designed and programmed phones. ***And it's nothing to do with the OS itself.*** There's many other layers of software hidden in chip sets, especially the RF 'baseband' chip set, where bad design can be obvious.
Something to watch out for.
Thankfully, I've never owned such a phone. I've had (and have) a half dozen and none of them exhibit any such nonsense.
Tuesday 26th January 2016 11:18 GMT
Art of War
Gather up all your old smartphones and similar gadgets. Charge. Enable all comms. Fill pockets with gadgets. Waddle into store.
Their system believes that there's a crowd of 16 people wandering around the store, all together. Very suspiciously all in the same aisle.
It'd be fun to observe the reaction. Might 'flush out' the truth.
Tuesday 26th January 2016 11:14 GMT
Re: "... retailer’s smart phone app. "
Dan 55 "Who has a phone with enough battery to go round with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth on all the time anyway?"
(Tentatively raises hand...)
I've never owned a smartphone where Wi-Fi and Bluetooth weren't both turned on continuously from Day 1.
Sit in car, Bluetooth connects. Come home, Wi-Fi connects. No need to enable.
What are you doing wrong?
Stop the music! Booby-trapped song carjacked vehicles – security prof
Tuesday 26th January 2016 23:03 GMT
Maybe coder drones could learn how to write code...
Audio bits out the port heading towards the speakers. Metadata song data bits out the port heading towards the display. Any other strange bits straight to null. A wee little bit of sanity checks on the way by. Some trivial buffer overflow protection.
It's not a very long list.
Some noobies will inevitably reply, 'Oh, you don't understand...' Puh!
AI pioneer Marvin Minsky dies at 88
Tuesday 26th January 2016 22:47 GMT
A great thinker... RIP
Anyone that's paid even the slightest attention to A.I. over the past three or four decades will have figured out one iron-clad rule:
Strong A.I is always "just around the corner".
Those expecting fool-proof, reliable, perfectly-safe 'self-driving' cars to arrive shortly are very likely going to be disappointed.
At least the 7-o'clock news will have a topic to fill a regular daily slot: The 'self-driving car' Crazy Accident of The Day.
If you can't buy bootleg gear online in New York, this may be why
Tuesday 26th January 2016 11:06 GMT
Knock-off goods sometimes made during 2nd shift
Sometimes, they're literally exactly the same because the contracted factory just runs a 2nd 'unlicensed' shift. Seems to apply to handbags.
How does PayPal relate to this? I can't see using an actual credit card directly with a dodgy knockoff vendor.
Cabling horrors unplugged: Reg readers reveal worst nightmares
Sunday 24th January 2016 14:21 GMT
75-ohm coax...
75-ohm RG-59 is typically a slightly larger diameter than 50-ohm RG-58.
Typically 0.242" vice 0.195".
It's a sufficiently large difference (24%) that I think it's fair to say it's obvious.
Even in isolation, without reference to the other.
There are other cable types of course, but these are the most common.
Squeeze the banana to log into this office Wi-Fi
Saturday 23rd January 2016 16:13 GMT
"...small piece of paper that someone printed out on an A4... ...I cringe"
It perfectly obvious that the total environmental footprint of the banana-based system is at least a couple of orders of magnitude higher than the paper-based system. Just the banana-to-paper ratio makes it obvious. Let alone the continuous power consumption, even sans-banana.
Planet killer.
The next Cuban gristle crisis: US Navy warship powered by beef fat
Saturday 23rd January 2016 16:02 GMT
"Thirty-one knots with a bone in my teeth..."
JoS "[Thirty-one knots with a bone in my teeth ;-) ]"
Puh. I've done at least 120 knots on water. Not kidding. Skipping across the lake, a solid 120 kts on the dial. Just enjoying the ride. Partial throttle even.
Then my friend applied full throttle, the craft lurched to 140+ kts nearly instantly, he pulled back on the stick, and the floatplane rocketed skyward.
Kinda funny that an airplane makes a vastly faster boat than almost any boat. Not even trying to be a boat, and ends up being way faster than any boat in town. I told him that he should enter it into boat races.
How to get root on a Linux box, step 1: Make four billion system calls
Friday 22nd January 2016 11:31 GMT
Re: "...because you have to cycle a 32-bit integer in the kernel around to zero."
@Naselus
The cognitive bias isn't about 'turning the crank', that was a separate point.
The cognitive bias is (for example) when a company wheels out a spokespuppet that implies that 'difficulty' is equivalent to 'security'.
Point being, a script can deal with the difficulty, making even very very difficult things extremely easy for zillions of script kiddies.
e.g. Once upon a time, it was 'very difficult' to hack into satellite TV subscription smartcards. It was 'difficult' in the sense that one left it running while doing something else for 20 minutes. I'm sure it was 'difficult', but the human just clicked and wandered off until it was done. It wasn't actually the slightest bit difficult.
Point: 'Difficulty' .NE. 'Security'
Wednesday 20th January 2016 11:18 GMT
"...because you have to cycle a 32-bit integer in the kernel around to zero."
Makes it sound like "you" have to increment it manually. Maybe with a crank handle that needs to be turned. Sounds difficult and exhausting.
"...because the malware author has to know how to write a loop..." would be more accurate. Conveys an entirely different tone.
It's the same subtle cognitive bias as when someone claims security because hacking their system is "difficult"; ignoring the entire concept of Script Kiddies.
Boffins: There's a ninth planet out there – now we just need to find it
Test burn on recycled SpaceX rocket shows almost all systems are go
Saturday 16th January 2016 18:07 GMT
Re: Why not a catcher's mitt?
How about hovering over the ocean, then a quick flip to splash down with the engines facing up? You'd need fins to dampen the entry so that the bottom always stays dry, and far enough above the water to avoid waves. Only the top would get wet, and that could easily be sealed.
'Nearly impossible' you say? So is what they're doing.
Saturday 16th January 2016 18:03 GMT
Re: Launch Window
@Duncan wee feisty MacDonald
We've explored this sort of question (the effect of extra fuel and landing gear) in some detail in previous SpaceX news items.
Summary, less than you'd expect. It's mostly fuel (and oxidizer) at launch, and it's mostly empty when they bring it back - so it's vastly less mass (although it looks the same*).
[ * If it was transparent, there would be fewer such questions. :-) ]
Saturday 16th January 2016 17:55 GMT
Good point worth highlighting
"While the firm's upgrade cycle means the rocket will never be used for another commercial launch..."
They have to essentially stop upgrading if they're to endlessly reuse. Or (more realistically) at least align the timing of upgrades with opportunities offered by wear out. A real trade-off that wasn't immediately obvious.
It's an interesting point that needs to be kept in mind when considering such business models.
In one sense, it reminds of the promise of 'interchangeable' SIM cards, then the reality that they kept shrinking with every new phone generation or becoming 'LTE compatible'. Nine phones in our family history and not once ever able to slip an old SIM card into a new phone. Not once! Eventually bought a SIM cutter tool, with a selection of adapters. But I expect it's hopeless, something else will change.
No escape: Microsoft injects 'Get Windows 10' nagware into biz PCs
Sunday 17th January 2016 13:35 GMT
Re: @JeffyPoooh - lightning connector
@DougS "If Apple was trying to use this to "extract revenue" why would they license this to allow others to sell MFi cables? Considering you can buy them for only a few dollars, if Apple is collecting a royalty on them it couldn't amount to more than a few pennies."
You'll find the answer in the Axis of Time.
*NOW* one can buy cost effective MFI cables. But the early days of Lightning, all actually-MFI certified cables were $15. Royalties often naturally go down over time. Or they're front end loaded.
"So I waited a few months..."
If your wife's cable is busted, you've got hours to deal with it.
"...and then bought a bag of three off eBay for $10."
Those are the ones that Apple would then later dusable. I've got dozens like that. And the phone WILL NOT CHARGE with them, it just throws up a message saying 'not compatible'. They typically were compatible until a SW update disallowed them.
Apple's DRM in charging cables is simply customer abuse.
And NO REBUTTAL IS POSSIBLE.
Friday 15th January 2016 11:57 GMT
"The lightning connector thing is indeed one time where Apple came close."
That you'd go with 'came close' conclusively proves that you're an Apple Fanboi of the full-on variety.
If the Apple Genius staff attacked you with swords, would that also 'come close'?
Such fanboism is deserving of utter ridicule. Write as many words as you wish, but you've self-identified as an Apple Fanboi, accepting and enjoying their more-subtle forms of customer abuse.
Friday 15th January 2016 11:51 GMT
Re: Microsoft claims it's doing this...
Dr Sin-tax Error "...instructions to turn them off when they're not in use."
Many companies have an IT policy that users leave their company PC on after working hours to ensure that the security updates are installed.
It'd be a pretty small company to take your approach, for all the obvious reasons.
Thursday 14th January 2016 05:01 GMT
Apple "...treat their customers with dignity and respect."
Now you're just being silly.
A very wise man once described Apple, Google and Microsoft as "...any of these scummy, customer-abusing, money-suck-tuning, tax-avoiding, morally-corrupt, failed-ethics, multiple-flawed-engineering, ever-deceptive-marketing, self-interest-first, Greenwash-lying, self-destructive-product-supporting, multinational parasites or their always-flawed products..."; and went on to roundly insult anyone that still felt anything but revulsion for these corporate scum parasites.
E.g. Apple put the DRM chip in the Lightning connector on charging cables simply to extract several extra billions of dollars from their dearly 'respected' and 'dignified' customers. Fact. No rebuttal possible. That must be when they 'came close' in your book.
Thursday 14th January 2016 04:47 GMT
Re: Microsoft claims it's doing this...
"...automatic updates on – want an easy way to install the new operating system."
Can you imagine? After a long weekend, come to work to find Win 10 has installed itself on most of a company's PCs, and 'only a few' applications have been disabled in the process. Like all the key ones, such as their ERP system.
Hmmm... that would be very funny.
Challenge! German drives from South Africa to Norway in nine days
Kiwi hackers crack crap algo, showcase 40c-a-litre DIY fuel discounts
Friday 15th January 2016 11:41 GMT
Flaw in their evil scheme...
They still need to pay for the residual price.
Pay at pump usually involves a traceable Credit or Debit Card.
Pay with cash involves standing in front of three or four CCTV cameras at the cash register.
Unless they know a fuel pump that accepts Bitcoin, they'll inevitably be caught.
Nest thermostat owners out in the cold after software update cockup
Friday 15th January 2016 03:15 GMT
Re: Mechanical solution
"...down to 15 degs when we all go out and back to 20 when back in."
If you can 'Yo-Yo' your house's temperature down and up by 5°C in the time it takes to go out for burgers (an evening out), then that's an indictment of its energy leakage.
We could pull the main breaker (zero heat), go out for the evening, and come back several hours later to a house perhaps 2°C cooler. If we went out during a crisp (cold) sunny winter day, cutting the power, we might return to find it had risen to +22°C or +23°C from the passive solar gain. Our thermostats are programmed to reduce the nighttime temperature to +18°C, but it takes several hours to get that low (just a 2°C drop).
Being *able* to Yo-Yo the temperature up and down quickly isn't a good thing. Ideally your house would have a much longer thermal time constant.
Friday 15th January 2016 02:59 GMT
Re: Nest already outdated
"...no heating in bedrooms all day and living room nice and toasty..."
Being able to achieve a significant temperature delta from one room to the next is a strong clue that your house's thermal envelope is inadequate and is thus energy inefficient.
It means that the uninsulated internal partition surfaces are nearly as effective as your outside walls. Consider also that there's often 3x or 6x more internal surfaces as external surfaces. Think about it. A cool or cold bedroom is an indictment.
Our house is very well insulated. There are no heaters in the upstairs bedrooms. They're at roughly the same temperature as the rest of the house. And some of the internal partitions in our house *are* insulated R12, for sound deadening purposes. But the outside is R32+.
A good thermal envelope should work towards evening-out the internal temperature gradients.
'R2000 - The Better Built House', circa 1990. Our Internet bill is now about the same as our annual space heating bill. With electric baseboards, and +20°C.
Friday 15th January 2016 02:44 GMT
Re: Google a.k.a Alphabet
Self-driving cars are obviously safety-critical, and therefore should be written to DO-178B or C standards, presumably DAL 'A'.
I doubt that they'd get away with mysterious 'machine learning' without a complete definition of the resultant neural network (if that's how they're doing it). Trained vision systems may have 'blind spots', as was demonstrated by the recent 'stopped balancing bicyclist' Google car bug. Next flaw might be something like not recognizing children in yellow raincoats holding red umbrellas.
The way that they're approaching this is, as far as I can see, code monkey amateur hour.
It'll be difficult to make a profit once the hidden flaws lead to huge lawsuits. They'll wish they were VW at that point.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
