• Category Archives Computers

  • Imagine a life with no computers……ahhhh……bliss…..

  • Putting the roof back on

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Right, that’s it!
    I have read enough, I am putting the Smart Car roof back on (for a few months).

    http://arstechnica.com/science/2015/12/incredibly-strong-el-nino-still-developing-bringing-surge-of-winter-warmth/

    After setting a record for a single-week period in mid-November, El Niño has continued to produce record warm temperatures in the Pacific Ocean. This climate pattern, characterized by an abnormal warming of the equatorial Pacific Ocean, has already contributed to a large number of weather effects around the planet, including increased hurricane activity in the Pacific Ocean and heat across much of the United States.

    This El Nino just won’t die. In fact, it is getting stronger!
    Rather than shuffle cars with Freddy for 3-4 months I am just going to roll over and admit that El Nino wins. The roof is going back on along with the doors.

    The Pacific Ocean is bigger than my Smart Car. There, you happy now that I have said it out loud?


    Computers

  • Weather service hack

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Seems the Australian weather service has been compromised.

    http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/12/report-china-hacked-australias-weather-service/

    According to a government official quoted by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, China is responsible for a breach at the Bureau of Meteorology, which may have allowed attackers to gain access to sensitive national security data. The Australian weather bureau hosts a high-performance computing center used by multiple government agencies and has network connections to Australia’s Department of Defence.

    This sort of thing is going to happen more often as services become more connected to share data.
    The example of getting into a home network via a light bulb is often touted as a real possibility.
    Another example, I have just bought (plan to put into service in the next few days) Ethernet over powerline adaptors. They are supposed to be so powerful that my neighbours could see my network traffic on their power outlets (GPO for Aussies). I have to make sure that I turn security on so no one can sniff or spoof my network data.

    What sort of world do we live in exactly?


    Computers

  • Told you so

    Posted on by beno Comment

    Zero equals -1.

    Seems I am not alone in thinking that the Raspberry Pi Zero is just wrong.

    http://hackaday.com/2015/12/01/raspberry-pi-zero-or-minus-one/

    My favorite site has pushed a blog on the Pi Zero.
    (Note, unlike me, they were a lot more measured and factual. To be fair (or self justifying) I was REALLY ticked off at the foundation for releasing a … errr… compromised computer… My tone in that first blog was overly caustic and condescending (and sarcastic)….. Give me 6 or so months to calm down and I might try again).

    Here are a few snips.

    They start out saying that the foundation is defending the Zero by saying it was supposed to be cheap…. cheap enough to be bought by those that usually can not afford a computer.
    Hackaday calls them out on that…. As do I. If it supposed to be cheap, then why is it anything but cheap?

    Adafruit is selling a Budget and a Starter Pack that cost $29.95 and $59.95, respectively. The Budget Pack contains a Zero, SD card, USB On the Go (OTG) cable, power supply and USB cable, a mini-HDMI to HDMI adapter, and 2×20 header strip. The USB OTG is a necessity if you want to connect a USB device, yes singular, since the Zero doesn’t have a standard host USB port or a hub. But even that isn’t sufficient, as we’ll see. On top of all this, since there is only a single USB data port, you’re liable to need a hub. The other USB connector is for power, as with all the other Pis. And, just to be complete, you also need to purchase a GPIO header unless you’re soldering directly to the board.

    You keeping track of all the cables we need here?
    All the power supplies?
    All the adaptors?
    Oh, and with all that, we are still not connected to any network.

    How long did it take you to figure out all the cable connections in the second paragraph above? Do you think a student without a hacker friend will understand that? Remember, the goal is to reach students who don’t know computers.

    The foundation has shot themselves in the foot.
    They claim they are for the student, then make the product too complicated for most students.

    Zero’s niche might be as an embedded controller, as I implied in the last section. If you’re going to build a small stand-alone device the Zero’s size is a boon. But nearly all devices are going to need some form of communications. The Zero needs the USB OTG adapter to support WiFi, Bluetooth, or other wireless adapters. This defeats most of the size advantage. I’ll grant that vendors will quickly produce daughter boards in the Zero’s form factor to support communications that might offset that criticism.

    The smaller Zero uses less power which is a plus but once additional peripherals are added, that advantage lessens.

    This is the part I zero’ed in on. It is a great size for an IoT device, but without network connectivity, its DOA.

    Next is the bit I really went wrong with in my exasperated rant….

    The biggest problem of the Raspberry Pi is something that has existed for years now: corrupted SD cards. This problem pops up time and time again on forums, and after Christmas will undoubtedly pop up even more.

    A big reason for this is actually hardware based: no shutdown or power control.

    I had totally forgotten about the SD card issues I have had.
    My airplane trackers are ground zero for this.
    The foundation could have added memory for this, but no, they stuck with the borked SD card.

    Summing up Hackaday’s summary.

    The Zero is a nice little board providing a lot of possibilities for hackers. But if the Raspberry Pi Foundation is meaning the Zero for students I think they missed the mark big time. The add-ons needed to use the Zero for development offset the low-cost of the board and are decidedly awkward to use for development and test. The hassle is not going to encourage students to work with this board.

    It is clearly not the next best thing for student Pi developers. For them it’s more like a Raspberry Pi Minus One. My advice for encouraging students is to stick with the Pi B+ or Pi 2, and ideally the latter given its better performance.

    So. There you have it.
    Cold comfort that I am not totally losing it.

    The solution?
    I have a strong eye on these guys;
    http://getchip.com/


    Computers 📎and tagged

  • Apple watch follow up

    Posted on by beno 1 Comment

    Back in April I predicted the Apple watch was DOA (for me).

    I was wrong. Way wrong.
    They sold a bunch of watches, more than all other smartwatches combined.
    But, I was right. For some, it had the same issues that I had found with my Android Wear watch.

    http://www.cnet.com/news/why-some-apple-watch-owners-dont-like-the-device/#ftag=CAD590a51e

    What would make these unhappy Apple Watch owners happier? Some of the suggestions captured by Wristly included:

    Slimmer design with a tougher case.
    Longer battery life.
    Improve the battery, make it more affordable, decrease the size.
    Make it faster, add more sensors, add more watch faces, and better battery life.
    Always-on watch face, thinner styling, more health sensors.

    The main point I hit on was the lack of an always on display.
    And sure enough that was one of the most quoted reason that people gave up on the watch. It just is not a watch if you have to tilt it to view it.

    I am not going to take up a job predicting tech, so we can all rest easy on that front, but I thought it was interesting enough to blog.


    Computers

  • Windows 10 updates

    Posted on by beno 3 Comments

    I have one of my computers on Windows 10. It’s different, stuff is both easier to find and harder.
    At the moment (your sitting down right?) I don’t have an opinion about it. It works for what I need.
    (Opto and Chrome web browser).

    That said. I find the updates a pain in the …. ahhh… backside.
    The constant reboots and forced updates are just unwelcome to my workflow.

    The sad thing is that after 7 point something years of living in the land of truly unlimited Internet I had totally forgotten about how these updates might impact people with metered Internet connections.

    http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/computers/fears-windows-10-will-blow-data-caps-20150817-gj0i98.html

    (Please skip the annoying video).

    Consumer groups have slammed Microsoft for its policy of forced updates for Windows 10, which is hitting customers in remote locations with massive bill shocks by blowing out their data caps.

    But they warn bill shock may affect many more customers, regardless of where they are located. And, with many customers yet to receive their monthly internet bills, the full extent of the problem may not yet be apparent.

    Maureen Hilyard, an internet user in the Cook Islands, an autonomous region associated with New Zealand, claims she faces a bill as much as $NZ600 ($A532) for the month of August, thanks to Windows 10 automatic updates.

    The article goes on, but you get the point.
    People who just assume a fast and unlimited Internet assume too much.

    Let me know in the comments if you had / have a problem with Windows 10 updates.


    Computers