TECHNOLOGY: Equip ALL planes with a locator that can’t be turned off

Monday, December 29, 2014

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20141229/as–indonesia-plane-f312b6eda8.html

In crowded skies, lost plane’s request for new path denied
Dec 29, 10:08 AM (ET)
By TRISNADI MARJAN and MARGIE MASON (AP)

*** begin quote *** 

SURABAYA, Indonesia (AP) — The plane sought permission to climb above threatening clouds. Air traffic control couldn’t say yes immediately — there was no room. Six other commercial airliners were crowding the surrounding airspace, forcing AirAsia Flight 8501 to remain at a lower altitude.

*** end quote ***

First, how crowded are the “friendly skies”?

Second, in today’s age, one always thinks of terrorism.

Third, guess “we” still have not fitted ALL planes with a locator that can’t be turned off. 

Fourth, didn’t, after the MH370, we learn that the engines “call home”?

Argh!

Praying for these souls and their families. But it looks grim.

— 30 — 

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HARDWARE: Keurig machines have security and a design flaw

Thursday, December 18, 2014

http://hackaday.com/2014/12/10/dead-simple-hack-allows-for-rebel-keurig-k-cups/

DEAD SIMPLE HACK ALLOWS FOR “REBEL” KEURIG K-CUPS
by: Rick Osgood
December 10, 2014  

*** begin quote ***

Unfortunately newer versions of these machines have a sort of DRM, or lockout chip. In order to prevent unofficial k-cups from being manufactured and sold, the Keurig machines have a way to detect which cups are legitimate and which are counterfeit. It appears as though the machine identifies the lid specifically as being genuine.

It turns out this “lockout” technology is very simple to defeat. All one needs to do is cut the lid off of a legitimate Keurig k-cup and place it on top of your counterfeit cup. The system will read the real lid and allow you to brew to your heart’s content. A more convenient solution involves cutting off just the small portion of the lid that contains the Keurig logo. This then gets taped directly to the Keurig machine itself. This way you can still easily replace the cups without having to fuss with the extra lid every time.

*** end quote ***

BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), after the big “bio film” revelation that Keurigs are “un clean able”, why would anyone buy one?

Ewww, yucky!

And, who know what breeds in that bio film contaminated water reserve — the green meanies?

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Posted by reinkefj

SERVICE: Google’s Gmail sending more “stuff” to spam

Friday, December 12, 2014

This week I had a lot more good stuff going to spam on Google.

I use “in:spam” to check weekly.

If you use Google’s Gmail, then you might want to check too.

I also use filters to ensure that “stuff” doesn’t get put in spam.

FWIW

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HARDWARE: FIOS router required a reboot this morning

Sunday, December 7, 2014

2014-Dec-07

Last used around 5PM on Saturday 2014-Dec-06

Found unresponsive around 1AM on Sunday 2014-Dec-07

Went to backup to do my chore.

Rebooted at 2014-Dec-07 0824

Return to normal.

Strange. Usually rock solid.

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SOFTWARE: 19 Year Old Windows bug!

Thursday, November 27, 2014

http://www.networkworld.com/article/2849288/microsoft-subnet/how-does-a-windows-bug-go-undetected-for-19-years.html#tk.NWWNLE_nlt_microsoft_2014-11-20

MICROSOFT EXPLORER
By Andy Patrizio
How does a Windows bug go undetected for 19 years?

*** begin quote ***

By now you have likely heard of the 19-year-old Windows bug found by IBM late last week. If not, here’s the tl;dr version of it: IBM found a vulnerability in VBScript, Microsoft’s alternative to JavaScript which was introduced in Internet Explorer 3.0 and ran on Windows 95. Even today, the bug is impervious to the sandboxing features in Internet Explorer 11

*** end quote ***

“New” isn’t completely “new”?

Argh!

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HARDWARE: Russian Plane Zaps U.S. Warship

Friday, November 21, 2014

http://www.lewrockwell.com/2014/11/gary-north/russian-plane-disabled-us-warships-missile-defense-system/

A Russian Plane Zaps U.S. Warship’s Missile Defense System
By Gary North
The Tea Party Economist
November 14, 2014

*** begin quote ***

An unarmed Russian bomber in April flew over a high-tech U.S. ship. A crew member pressed a button. Poof! No more missile defense system on the ship. No more radar. The ship became a defenseless floating coffin.

Then the plane flew over the blind ship a dozen times. Basically, it was “Nyah, nyah, nyah.”

This story got no play in American media.

*** end quote ***

So, we are sitting ducks again.

Anyone remember Pearl Harbor?

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SOFTWARE: UPDATE MAC OSX Yosemite version 10.10 performance sucks

Tuesday, October 21, 2014

SOFTWARE: MAC OSX Yosemite version 10.10 performance sucks
2014-Oct-20

Get a ton of spinning lollypops every time I do a task switch or just at random times.

Guess this is how they force me to buy new hardware?

Argh!

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2014-Oct-21

After several reboots, one reboot was different.

I had lollypops so bad made it unusable.

I force quit everything. Powered down.

Waited a half inning.

Power up.

It did something different.

A green ball with a progress bar.

A minute or two.

Logon screen presents.

Seems to be running better.

# – # – # – # – # 2014-Oct-21 @ 20:58

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SOFTWARE: MAC OSX Yosemite version 10.10 performance sucks

Monday, October 20, 2014

2014-Oct-20

Get a ton of spinning lollypops every time I do a task switch or just at random times.

Guess this is how they force me to buy new hardware?

Argh!

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2014-Oct-21

After several reboots, one reboot was different.

I had lollypops so bad made it unusable.

I force quit everything. Powered down. 

Waited a half inning.

Power up. 

It did something different.

A green ball with a progress bar.

A minute or two.

Logon screen presents.

Seems to be running better.

# – # – # – # – #  2014-Oct-21 @ 20:58  

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HARDWARE: I could have used this in 1964

Sunday, October 12, 2014

http://www.instructables.com/id/Street-Sweep-Alert/

FILWFGSHYZX0798 MEDIUM 

*** begin quote ***

The Street Sweep Saver is an alarm that rings 10 minutes before street sweeping begins on your block. The alarm is made with an electric bell controlled by a beagle bone black board. I designed a wooden casing that hides the electronics. Mount the Street Sweep Saver to your wall or place it on your kitchen table next to your daily cup of joe.

*** end quote ***

Argh!

A few decades too late.

I received so many parking tickets in my youth from alternate side of the street parking!

Most of them were written by the same cop. I think his name was Krupick.

I deserved most of them. 

But, several were written at 7:01 AM and I called the police station at 6:45 to complain.

It didn’t help. The deck was stacked.

That’s when I became anti-Gooferment!

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SERVICE: Stop crime one bike at a time

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

http://www.care2.com/greenliving/will-you-help-us-stop-online-bike-theft.html

Will You Help Us Stop Online Bike Theft?
Alex A. Kecskes
September 26, 2014
3:10 pm
12 comments

Will You Help Us Stop Online Bike Theft?
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We’re witnessing the power that a small, but targeted local petition can have over the war against bike theft. Please join our petition: Demand eBay and Craiglist Require Serial Numbers on Bike Listings.

$400 Million in Bicycles Stolen Annually

That’s a lot of bicycles from owners who, in some cases, invested heavily in their two wheels and depend on them to get around. In the U.S., only 18 percent of bicycle thieves are ever arrested. One reason is that victim and thief rarely know each other. Another reason is that bicycle theft is largely a crime of stealth, one that goes unnoticed or unchallenged. Then there’s the problem of proof of ownership — most owners simply can’t provide enough details to help investigators locate a missing bike. Even if the bike is recovered, detained suspects are often released due to the proof-of-ownership problem. This is why so few recovered bicycles are ever returned to their owners. When thieves steal bikes, they often sell them to get rid of the evidence and cash in on the crime.

How Thieves Sell Stolen Bikes

The Internet has been a huge tool for bicycle thieves. Criminals waste no time putting stolen bikes on online eBay and Craigslist to sell them and rarely get caught or punished. Once a bike’s serial numbers are removed, thieves can unload a stolen bike to an unwitting consumer with very low risk. It’s too difficult to identify a bicycle in an online listing (even with a photo) to prove ownership or to get law enforcement to act. Unlike motor vehicles (where standardized VIN numbers, mandatory licensing and required incident reporting can help locate and ID a stolen car, van or truck), bicycle registration is not widespread, making ownership difficult to establish. There is one crucial thing we can do to help stop bicycle theft: no serial number, no sale.

Demand eBay and Craiglist Require Serial Numbers on Bike Listings

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/686/977/588/?TAP=1319

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