The General Technology Thread

[Phase2]

Can record and do record are two different things.

In practice, not really:

• Google doesn't record? Data extraction/analysis/sales is their business model. Please so a little searching on the subject.
• The carriers don't have and share your data with the police, NSA and others? Please do a little searching on the subject.
• Dozens of third parties aren't recording your activities? Why are they paying to be embedded on your phone?

 

[KLB]

In practice, not really:

• Google doesn't record? Data extraction/analysis/sales is their business model. Please so a little searching on the subject.
• The carriers don't have and share your data with the police, NSA and others? Please do a little searching on the subject.
• Dozens of third parties aren't recording your activities? Why are they paying to be embedded on your phone?

Then the police can get a warrant and get a copy of your text messages?

 

[JettaKnight]

Then the police can get a warrant and get a copy of your text messages?

I'm absolutely sure all my text messages would fit on a floppy disk.

5 1/4".

Single density.

Single sided.


With room to spare for Commander Keen.

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Facebook stored the passwords of up to 600 million users in plain text on internal servers, source tells Krebs

 

[BugI02]

Is that bad?

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Justice Department says attempts to prevent Netflix from Oscars eligibility could violate antitrust law

Can't let the new kid intrude on their clique

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Mark Zuckerberg leveraged Facebook user data to fight rivals and help friends, leaked documents show

 

[ArcadiaGP]

NASA plans to send humans to an icy part of the moon for the first time by 2024

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Lately, I've noticed Chrome sitting at "Establishing secure connection..." on most pages. Sometimes up to 10-15 seconds.

Saw a suggestion in a Chrome support thread to change the Log On method of the CryptSvc (Cryptography Service) from a network account to "local system account", and restart the service.

Well... that worked. Every page loads instantly. Wonder what changed to cause that...

 

[JeepHammer]

*some clipped I don't know enough about to comment*- JeepHammer

Also, apparently due to excessive lobbying from FPL, Florida residents without power due to the hurricane are not permitted to use their own solar panels.

Miami Frustrated With FPL After Hurricane Irma | Miami New Times

Have a hard time imagining that being strictly enforced.

While big fossil fuel gets several billion taxpayer dollars in subsidizes, and billions more in tax breaks...

Look at RE (Renewable Energy), particularly Solar & Wind from a national emergency/defense point of view, since we spend trillions of taxpayer dollars for defense....

Decentralized power generation doesn't make a viable target for bombers or cyber attacks.
You can't drop a bomb on every roof top in America...
Petroleum production/refineries/transportation hubs CAN be attacked quite easily, just a storm can put those places out of service for months.
The same is true with natural gas production facilities or pipelines.

Decentralized power generation can be organized in 'Micro Grids' that have closed controls, no way to 'Hack' into them from China or Russia or North Korea...

YOU get the first crack at the power made on your equipment.
Your power can't be diverted unless you allow it.
*IF* you make more than you need, you get credit, up to actually getting cash for that power.
You might not make enough for everything you do now without a working power plant down the road,
BUT you will most certainly get enough power for fridge, freezer, and doing some work!
Limited power is better than no power!

Micro grids connected make enough power to support hospitals, defense production, communications, etc and natural disasters or attackers can't do anything about it, WE WIN that battle, period.

From a local to national defense against natural disasters or attacks, RE has a LOT of benefits...

 

[BugI02]

Storage technology far behind generation technology, difficult to store power and have it be retrievable at sufficient 'density' to do much more than peaking. No power at night unless you also have your own wind turbine and live in an appropriate area. Storms can also put solar and wind out of commission. Solar is DC and requires an entirely different technology for transmission unless converted to AC which is currently an inefficient process with further requirement for specialized equipment. You admit that your micro-grid requires large scale power generation be maintained to enable reliable, sufficient power - how do you propose to have the electric utility build or maintain such plants and infrastructure on a shrinking economic base. You're against government control, but you want the government to tell the utility to expend the money and effort to buy your power, and you haven't mentioned the only carbon-free large scale generation method at all - nuclear, either uranium or thorium cycle

Save the whales

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Samsung is recalling all the review Galaxy Folds.

The top layer of the display looked sort of like a plastic film that needed removed.



So people did.


Also the fold bulge is collecting debris.

https://www.tomsguide.com/us/galaxy-fold-recall,news-29918.html

 

[JettaKnight]

Also the fold bulge is collecting debris.

That was my thought - if this fold has very tight tolerances, what happens when there's dirt on it?

 

[Mark 1911]

Here's some new technology that I have been resisting for all of my adult life, but am getting ready to give in. I am an old die hard bowhunter. Too me this isn't really bowhunting. But, I still like it...

[video=youtube;SDT-1gIOsQE]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDT-1gIOsQE[/video]

 

[JeepHammer]

Storage technology far behind generation technology, difficult to store power and have it be retrievable at sufficient 'density' to do much more than peaking.
No power at night unless you also have your own wind turbine and live in an appropriate area.

Solar towers use heat, which is stored in salts for overnight, even several days worth of generation.
Works with existing steam generators, and is easily throttle up/down for demand.

Charge density of batteries has increased 1,000 fold with metal/metal batteries.

The new generation of super caps is increasing storage capacity equal to metal/metal batteries.

I don't know what you are talking about, I haven't had a electrical power outage in 14 years and I'm 100% off grid.

Storms can also put solar and wind out of commission.

No more so than refineries or power plants.
If a category 5 hurricane rolls in, refineries & power plants shut down.
If a tornado sweeps away a solar field, not much you can do about it, but rebuilding/repair is in one place, not putting up 500 miles of towers & transmission lines.

Might I point out wind generators take hurricanes head on off short with no damage much of the time,
Wind generators take tornados head on with little/no damage all the time.
These units are designed to take on their location weather conditions...

You see trailer parks & churches flattened everywhere on the news, you don't see wind or solar farm totaled...

Next time you drive by a solar or wind farm, look for overhead lines that waste power & get damaged by every falling limb or wind storm...
You can't tear out underground conductors so you don't have to start from scratch every time like we currently do, much smarter way to do things!

Solar is DC and requires an entirely different technology for transmission unless converted to AC which is currently an inefficient process with further requirement for specialized equipment.

And that's the point entirely for national security.
You don't need 500 or 1,000 mile long transmission lines, power is generated locally, used locally, stored locally.
When one small grid fails, it doesn't take the state, or several states with it.

As to the AC/DC question, nearly all the power you use today is converted from AC to DC.
Your power comes in AC, but ALL your electronic gadgets are DC. That's all radio, TVs, computers, DVD players, even the new generation of lighting.

Induction motors are about the only things that run on AC, and the AC motor was made to solve the electric to mechanical power problem at the time.
DC motors were around long before induction AC motors were simply because DC was around a long time before AC.

AC wasn't considered until centralized power stations, small grid DC ruled the day, and anyone could have there own micro grid.
AC solved the transmission issues, the induction motor solved the AC electrical current to mechanical power issue, and allowed the big grids to monopolize the power market.

It's actually a non argument, AC or DC, Watts are Watts, conversion either way is easy (every radio & TV has a converter/inverter) the solar/wind/battery & fuel cells allow for decentralized power...
The technology is available, the only reason people don't take advantage of it is because they don't understand how it works...

You admit that your micro-grid requires large scale power generation be maintained to enable reliable, sufficient power

Don't know where you get that from... I'm 100% off grid, 7 buildings, including home & shop with exactly ZERO electrical energy from outside.
Never had an electric grid connection, that was the point of my building an off grid system.

- how do you propose to have the electric utility build or maintain such plants and infrastructure on a shrinking economic base.

You don't, and that's the point.
The locals own the micro grid, like cities and towns do.
You simply make the power instead of buying it from 500 or 1,000 miles away with all that overhead costs, LINE LOSSES of 80+, etc.

You're against government control, but you want the government to tell the utility to expend the money and effort to buy your power, and you haven't mentioned the only carbon-free large scale generation method at all - nuclear, either uranium or thorium cycle.

First, the neighboring grids buy the excess power, not the power utility monopoly.
Second existing power producers & huge infrastructure is outdated and incredibly inefficient, prone to attack at every point of the system.
Third, nuclear isn't 'Clean', the waste is deadly for at least a million years and Nobody has found a safe way/place to deal with nuclear waste... Think about that!

Fourth,
Fuel cells, particularly hydrogen fuel cells ARE clean when RE produces the hydrogen.
A hydrogen fuel cell waste is clean, pure water...
Fuel cells are pound for pound more efficient in producing electrical energy than any other means of fuel generated power.
There is a reason they are used in space craft, and on large scale for backup power here on dirt.

You don't need a 20 or 50 mile 'evacuation' safety zone around a fuel cell like you do nuclear plants...

[/QUOTE]

 

[BugI02]

["You admit that your micro-grid requires large scale power generation be maintained to enable reliable, sufficient power"]

Don't know where you get that from... I'm 100% off grid, 7 buildings, including home & shop with exactly ZERO electrical energy from outside.
Never had an electric grid connection, that was the point of my building an off grid system.

While big fossil fuel gets several billion taxpayer dollars in subsidizes, and billions more in tax breaks...

Look at RE (Renewable Energy), particularly Solar & Wind from a national emergency/defense point of view, since we spend trillions of taxpayer dollars for defense....

Decentralized power generation doesn't make a viable target for bombers or cyber attacks.
You can't drop a bomb on every roof top in America...
Petroleum production/refineries/transportation hubs CAN be attacked quite easily, just a storm can put those places out of service for months.
The same is true with natural gas production facilities or pipelines.

Decentralized power generation can be organized in 'Micro Grids' that have closed controls, no way to 'Hack' into them from China or Russia or North Korea...

YOU get the first crack at the power made on your equipment.
Your power can't be diverted unless you allow it.
*IF* you make more than you need, you get credit, up to actually getting cash for that power.
You might not make enough for everything you do now without a working power plant down the road,
BUT you will most certainly get enough power for fridge, freezer, and doing some work!
Limited power is better than no power!

Micro grids connected make enough power to support hospitals, defense production, communications, etc and natural disasters or attackers can't do anything about it, WE WIN that battle, period.

From a local to national defense against natural disasters or attacks, RE has a LOT of benefits...

Uhhh, I got that idea from you in #810 - reprinted above to refresh your memory

 

[JeepHammer]

That's a collective 'You', small grids can often produce more energy than is used on site.
Most states don't have buy back, just net metering.
You turn the meter backwards when overproducing your demands, and forward when you use more than production.

Small grids work in California neighborhoods, in RE communities, 10s of thousands of people on some of those grids.
It works for WalMart, Fed-Ex, UPS, Amazon, etc producing so much power they sell back to the cities they are in.
The cities get peak use power at reduced rates, and these businesses are essentially farming their roof space.

The only reason most people don't know it works this way is because big energy spends about $3 billion a year in disinformation...

 

[DoggyDaddy]

For those about to rock, we salute you! (Just keeping with the AC/DC theme).

 

[ArcadiaGP]

Amazon employees analysing Alexa commands have been able to access the home addresses of users making them.


Not sure why this is breaking news right now... I figure if you own and use an Alexa, they know your address. Perhaps just certain employees that shouldn't have had access.

 

[BugI02]

Amazon employees analysing Alexa commands have been able to access the home addresses of users making them.


Not sure why this is breaking news right now... I figure if you own and use an Alexa, they know your address. Perhaps just certain employees that shouldn't have had access.

I believe it is because Amazon had assured concerned individuals (once it got out that humans were listening to conversations recorded by Alexa) that no one listening to the conversations would have any idea who the persons being recorded were and it was strictly to analyze dialect and idiom to improve Alexa's performance