Re: But...
Absolutely, as long as you use one of the affected OpenWRT versions. Why would you do that is another matter...
Posts by DropBear
4735 publicly visible posts • joined 4 Mar 2013
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DIY IoT computer smaller than a square inch
Monday 2nd June 2014 09:45 GMT
Re: Cute
Unlike, say, a Raspberry Pi, which could do things on its own...
What makes you think this can't run arbitrary code equally well as any other embedded McGuffin, fruity-named or otherwise? Yes, this obviously runs OpenWRT instead of <insert Linux distribution>, but for a headless application that doesn't make much of a difference, as long as you can script / compile whatever you need to get done for OpenWRT. There's nothing preventing you hosting a web server on it to toggle your lights or set your thermostat directly if you wish. How exactly do you define "on its own"...?
Of course, once you add the docking station, it stops having that problem.
I'm sure you realise the "dock" is all of three connectors on a PCB, routed directly to the module's pins, yes?
SpaceX 'Dragon V2' rocket podule can hover-land on Earth - or MARS
Saturday 31st May 2014 15:04 GMT
Re: 8 rockets
You don't necessarily need access to that secret - Armadillo Aerospace was experimenting with 3D printed rocket engine parts years ago, which they simply have had manufactured commercially for them; I can't recall exactly precisely where. I'm not saying you can mail-order one right now, but it's hardly a SpaceX monopoly...
Saturday 31st May 2014 14:53 GMT
Re: It's empty!
As much as I appreciate the clean design, I can't help but wonder what exactly is one supposed to use to stabilize a capsule potentially spinning wildly out of control, as in that Agena incident way back...? Yes I saw that space-mouse thingy in the centre, but it doesn't look like something you can control a spacecraft with in conditions that make even moving one's arm rather hard...
FAA: All systems GO for Virgin Galactic space plane to launch from US
Saturday 31st May 2014 14:11 GMT
About that "three day training"...
...I'm pretty sure it's a mere marketing gimmick - so you'll be less grumpy when you realize you've spent a fifth of a MEEEELION on a five minute zero-g ride - more than anything that would actually be required / make sense in any meaningful way. I'm fairly confident it can be summed up as "the barf bag is here, and please don't disturb / talk to the bus driv... erm, to the pilot".
Snowden shoots back: 'So you DO have my emails, after all'
TrueCrypt turmoil latest: Bruce Schneier reveals what he'll use instead
Friday 30th May 2014 12:27 GMT
Re: Bruce Schneier *doesn't* reveal what he'll use
Recently he posted that he bought a new notebook, bought with cash from a local store.
Of course what he doesn't know is that every single store selling computers in US has a back room somewhere with a cabinet on the wall, a little hammer and a plaque saying "IN CASE OF BRUCE SCHNEIER BREAK GLASS, HAND OVER THIS LAPTOP!"...
How to strip pesky copyright watermarks from photos ... says a FACEBOOK photo bod
Thursday 29th May 2014 14:19 GMT
Re: As far as I am concerned
The photographer has copyright because it's their creative work that is embodied in the photo - the composition, selection and general artistry in getting a good photo
Technically and legally speaking, I believe you're correct. And yes, I also do believe there are legitimate instances of (some amount of) creativity in photography - like photos requiring significant work to artificially create the subject, selecting a highly unusual perspective or setting up particularly elaborate capturing equipment. But "creativity" and "copyright" in photos that essentially document plain reality as it happens, in its original look...?!? Yeah sure, now pull the other one...
About to make a big bet? Don't crash out, cash in with the power of maths
Thursday 29th May 2014 10:37 GMT
Re: I'm a bit intrigued...
there's a 2/3 chance that you'll increase your distance
Just modelled the setup quickly in SolveSpace - you're absolutely right, outside the +/-60 degrees of the original step, any step takes you further (and subsequent steps tend to increase the angle towards 180 degrees - a 50/50 chance); it makes perfect sense now. Thank you very much - have a virtual one! -->
Thursday 29th May 2014 09:26 GMT 
I'm a bit intrigued...
I'm the first to admit I'm rubbish at probabilities and such, but at a 'dummy' first-level approach, wouldn't taking many steps in random directions average out in the long run, leaving you pretty much where you started? Based on the article, I suppose not, but why...? Paris, obviously.
Anyway, loved the article!
Still watching DVDs? You're a planet-killing carbon hog!
It's Google's no-wheel car. OMG... there aren't any BRAKES
Wednesday 28th May 2014 12:53 GMT
Re: Self-driving cars: Great, but two innovations needed:
A means by which a car can be forced into automatic mode by a vote of the people in the cars in its immediate vicinity.
Cue angry dude with a baseball bat stepping out of his car coming over to politely enquire about why on earth would you apparently want to scan the identifying QR code on the back of his vehicle with your cell phone.
Still using e-mail? Marketers say you're part of DARK SOCIAL
Wednesday 28th May 2014 09:16 GMT
Re: For added irony, on the story's page
Pfft. It's pigeon post for me.
Oh, I go the high-tech route: I prefer to share using entanglement - only with beer instead of qubits! Essentially, I use two (or more) pints of beer that became entangled in the keg to communicate with nearby mates by periodically sampling the quantum foam on the top. It's not faster than light of course, but it does prevent undetectable eavesdropping (and as a side-effect it does observably alter space-time if repeated sufficiently in a short amount of time)...
Come with me if you want a lid: Apple bags Terminator-esque LiquidMetal mobe patent
Did NASA probe detect a KILLER GAMMA-RAY burst in Andromeda?
Police at the door? Hit the PANIC button to erase your RAM
Poll: Climate change now more divisive than abortion, gun control
Tuesday 27th May 2014 21:25 GMT 
That's a particularly dodgy question, as phrased there. Of course I do believe in "scientists" as a source of information about environmental issues (or about anything else) - but "which particular scientists" is a different issue altogether, meaning possibly not the ones you're thinking of. And not being a climatologist (or indeed a scientist at all) myself, answering that second question with any confidence is unfortunately much harder than one might expect...
Apple plots HOME INVASION at WWDC
Tuesday 27th May 2014 08:38 GMT 
I'm still wondering...
...how toggling a few lights and/or changing your thermostat setting from your smartphone (or from afar) constitutes having a smart house. Sorry, but no amount of "if the garage door is opened turn on all the lights in the house" will qualify as such in my book. You'd need an actual, working AI to do anything really useful, and I don't see that forthcoming...
Tech that we want (but they never seem to give us)
Monday 26th May 2014 15:03 GMT
Re: Print dialogs
"printers that do not refuse to print a black and white document just because the yellow ink has run out (again!)"
Ah, but we can't let you print without adding those invisible fingerprint dot-patterns identifying your printer. Why do you think the yellow ran out in the first place?!?
ET hunter: We will find SPACE ALIENS in 20 years
Boeing CEO says no more 'moonshots' after 787 Dreamliner ordeal
Autodesk CEO: '3D printing has been way overhyped'
eBay slammed for daft post-hack password swap advice
JJ Abrams and Star Wars: I've got a bad feeling about this
Thursday 22nd May 2014 14:37 GMT
Re: Amongst the worst...
"What could be worse?"
How about 'updating it' in keeping with the times, pointing out that the Empire was only pursuing those evil pirating rebels rightfully defending its legitimate copyright...? I mean I'm pretty sure those stolen Death Star plans were (C)Empire... Not to mention all that Evil Hacking perpetrated by Mr. Solo's company while aboard said Death Star - why, it's actually lining up perfectly with the currently accepted crime/punishment ratios: you pirate a few files, you get your homeworld blown up, you bastard! Right? I'm sure Disney would see the value of the message there...
EBay, you keep using the word 'SECURITY'. I do not think it means what you think it means
Google's NEST can't stand the heat, needs patch for use in kitchen
Robotics evangelist: 'Personal robots' should be invisible beings
Hackers lay claim to exploit that defeats iPhone anti-theft tools
Thursday 22nd May 2014 12:08 GMT
Re: It's ok - nobody else will find out
"...doesn’t mean that the vast majority of phone thieves would have a clue..."
Right - only every single one of those who would stay in 'business' after such anti-theft measures would become widely used. Oh, and mind you, it's quite alright if any number of thieves have no idea how to do this, their common fence 'knowing a guy' will suffice...
California gives green light to test self-driving cars on public roads
Google: The Internet of Things to become the Internet of ADVERTS ON YOUR THERMOSTAT
OpenStreetMap declared ready for paid use after satnav app debut
Tuesday 20th May 2014 09:20 GMT
Re: OSMAnd is fine
"OSMAnd is fine..."
...or, if you don't feel like either paying up or getting limited to 10 map updates total, you could also use the genuinely free-to-use-with-OSM-maps version of MapFactor Navigator, which is basically indistinguishable from any common satnav feature-wise, and can easily store offline most of Europe.
Cloud computing is FAIL and here’s why
NASA agonizes over plan for Mars rock sample return mission
Friday 16th May 2014 10:28 GMT
Re: Why does this need two Rovers?
But the Creationist senator from Texas won't be interested in hearing those reasons, he'll just say 'do it with two craft, for (x) dollars or don't do it at all'.
NASA Tech 1: "What's the bare minimum we can do this with?"
NASA Tech 2: "Two craft."
NASA Tech 1: "We need to pull a Scotty - ask for three or four to make sure we can get it done with the two we'll get granted..."
Curiosity GOUGES AND SCORCHES Mars with drill and laser
FCC mulls two-speed internet, axing net neutrality ... unless you convince it otherwise
Microsoft throws Kinect under a bus, slashes Xbox One to $399
Thursday 15th May 2014 11:54 GMT
Re: Nothing will change that for the next 8 years, specs are set in stone
You'll never have more than 2 colours on the same character space on a Spectrum, for example.
Well, strictly speaking, some games did have more than two colours on the same character space. It's a minor detail that what they were actually doing was swapping two for other two so fast it looked like three or four to you and me...
EDIT: yeah, okay, sarcasm filter fail. </tired>
Boffins 3D-print biomimetic shark skin
James Bond producers sign on for Edward Snowden movie
Game of Thrones written on brutal medieval word processor and OS
Thursday 15th May 2014 09:07 GMT
Re: I'm guessing his novels/scripts have never been hacked and leaked
Too many people no longer understand the distinction between content and presentation.
Perhaps that's because there is no such thing as content perfectly separable from presentation. [1][2]
[1] - http://rhetcomp.gsu.edu/~bgu/8121/TCQ-CMS(Clark).pdf
[2] - http://www.johndcook.com/blog/2011/11/14/separating-presentation-from-content/
Chap rebuilds BBC Micro in JavaScript
Mozilla agrees to add DRM support to Firefox – under protest
Thursday 15th May 2014 07:57 GMT
Re: Open source DRM modules
Not just anybody can write a DRM module. It has to be carefully inspected and certified by the head DRM honchos. The main reason is to prvent you from writing a module that could be used to read and export content into another (non DRM) format.
Oh, okay then; we just need a honest-to-goodness user-unfriendly one, with a few carefully placed GOTO bugs inside, innit?
Google CAN be told to delete sensitive data from its search results, rules top EU court
Tuesday 13th May 2014 13:20 GMT
Re: Barmy
Oh, I get it now - so if I cheat the living daylights out of my wife, she finds out, but ultimately decides to not file for divorce after all, I have the right to demand that she better behave towards me in a manner indistinguishable from previous routine in all possible aspects, or else she'll be hearing from my attorney...? Is that it...?
Biting the hand that feeds IT
