290 karma · joined January 1, 2020
I am glad you found the courage to share a bleak chapter in your life, and for being unflinchingly honest. I hope it was cathartic ─ your lived experience will serve as an extremely valuable lesson for those of us, who might encounter such circumstances.
The commission in April simultaneously released a graphic video, captured by a home security camera, of a young boy being pulled under one of the Tread+ machines and struggling to free himself.
But Peloton pushed back on the recommended recall at the time, telling customers there was no reason to stop using its treadmills, so long as children and pets were kept out of the area while in use. The company had also recommended a key be used to lock the device after each workout.
The fight club defence.
Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.
Business woman on plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?
Narrator: You wouldn't believe.
Business woman on plane: Which car company do you work for?
Narrator: A major one.
Initially, it was set to Adaptive by default in the BIOS. During the process of fault-finding -- changed it to 'Standard' hoping that the firmware will relinquish control and give it back to the OS, allowing it to over-ride any settings. I have toggled settings for power management where you can choose the mode of charging, to prolong battery life i.e. constant power or restricted to certain levels, schedules etc., without any joy.
I have reset the BIOS a couple of times, but will try all your suggested solutions from scratch, including installing the Dell Power Manager ─ something I have not tried before ─ to see where it leads. Thanks for your continued patience. I will let you know what happens, regardless of the outcome.
I am in full agreement with your assessment on ageing devices exhibiting the Bathtub Curve, and also your suggestion on undercharging. However, the battery on this device has less than 15 cycles in total. Furthermore, when in Sleep mode, it only loses 2-3% daily from its designed capacity -- which is an acceptable range.
Hence, the reason for my curiosity to determine the precipitous drop in charge, when the machine is in a complete shutdown state. You are correct, there are a lot of features in the latest BIOS for management i.e. CPU, power, network, battery etc. I have disabled most of them or opted for the best possible option, where appropriate.
The point about the battery is moot, as I am more concerned about an undocumented feature which might be causing the high drain. There are more reports of Dell laptops exhibiting this unsolvable behaviour, than any other manufacturers combined ─ which usually relate to Modern Standby and/or Intel Management Engine(IME).
I have been through numerous suggestions and permutations; 'hard' shutdown by holding the power button for varying durations, BIOS updates, OS updates (W10 latest build/version/updates/drivers), manufacturer specific driver updates, fresh rebuilds, tweaking power,wake,idle,throttle settings for CPU, network adapters (via BIOS and OS), date/time anomalies, turning off Modern/Connected-Standby, Registry hacks etc. Furthermore, I have contemplated using Wireshark and other tools to diagnose the problem, but that would require a significant chunk of my time troubleshooting a device, which I expect to work, out of the box. I resent the fact, that no explanation or a solution is forthcoming from Dell, which is a matter of concern.
The post below describes my conundrum, fairly accurately.
https://www.dell.com/community/Latitude/Latitude-7400-batter...
You were lucky and got it replaced under goodwill, as iPhone X has an IP67 rating[1] and specific about sea/salt water damage -- the kind you have described. Back home, you would have had to deal with a lot of grief[2].
[1] https://www.iphonehacks.com/2018/04/iphone-x-ip-67-water-res...
This is an even more myopic view, than the ones I have come across before e.g. why do I need a Harmony, my X device already comes with one?
I certainly did not need one, until the remote for my Yamaha amp (circa 2005) gave up on me, which in itself had basic functionality to be programmed as a universal remote. I could not find a direct replacement, tried fixing it, and then managed to find someone in Yamaha (Sound & Vision) willing to have a look at it, who subsequently declared it officially dead.
After having a look for alternatives, I bought the Harmony 700, which ended up controlling all my devices from the Amplifier to Xbox. Unfortunately, that gave up too -- it is fixable, but for now it sits in the box of projects to do. I briefly used the Samsung Galaxy S4 which has an IR emitter, to plug the gap, but it was extremely slow. I then bought the Harmony Touch, which I am still using today.
To answer your question, it is not entirely unimaginable that there are older devices which serve their purpose, but do not have 'smart' functions, yet they still require IR to be operated/controlled. For example, I lost/misplaced my old Apple TV and FireTV remotes ─ it was quick and painless to program them into the Harmony. Although the latter has a good app, but nothing beats a tactile remote without latency, especially if it is programmable and offers a single-press, multi operation features.
There are people like me, who would not want the Harmony to die -- which it probably will eventually, as Logitech won't continue to provide support for a product, they no longer sell. It will be even quicker, if people refuse to see the use cases, and keep questioning its existence.
This encapsulates my view and experience.
In the case of Google, I have learnt not to rely upon their services, and trained myself to move quickly through the stages of grief to find alternatives. As for Logitech, although, I mourn the death of Squeezebox, and have generally stuck to mice and keyboards ─ they are still somewhat replaceable. However, the news of killing Harmony is making me feel really anxious. I have some old devices, where the remotes are either lost or damaged, and there are no decent alternatives, to replicate all the features in an 'all-in-one' or universal format.
I would sincerely hope Logitech sees some sense and open source the firmware, and also do the decent thing by letting the community support the software and maintain the database, instead of letting their devices end up in the graveyard.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2017/mar/16/what-happens...
I browse on desktop via FF and have RES installed, along with uBlock Origin and uMatrix; even though I am not a power user ─ the experience is great. For the phone, I use Apollo on iOS and settled for Joey on Android (after using other clients) with an adblocker. If old reddit goes dark, I am sure there will be other enhancements, to retain some form of 'clean' experience. Incidentally, I use Octal for HN (iOS & macOS -- which provides a 'reddit like experience'.
https://apps.apple.com/us/app/octal-hacker-news/id1308885491
If anybody tried to onboard me on the basis of a 'payment mechanism' feature -- the answer will be a flat out no, as most of the payment flow in my professional and personal life does not involve a messaging platform, in order to achieve that objective.
I have Coinbase/Binance for crypto. Revolut/Transferwise to cover micropayments, foreign transactions, currency exchange etc., same with PayPal albeit a higher threshold. Monzo for cloudnative/FinTech banking. I have personal accounts with two out of four traditional banks, and a business account with another. I use Google Pay and Apple Pay, interchangeably.
Telegram failed with the TON project, trying to mix oil with water, in their attempt at cryptofying their platform. Signal should focus on solidifying their lead, and provide core messaging features with robust privacy, instead of a scattergun approach. Elsewhere, WhatsApp is already attempting to make a come-back with new cross-platform/multi device features, to eat away at all the gains.
https://www.androidcentral.com/whatsapp-will-soon-let-you-tr...
I am not sure what to make of the section on Americanisms, which is quite scathing regarding its usage. I have grown 'overly' fond of some of them.
The Guardian/Observer style guide is more forgiving. https://www.theguardian.com/guardian-observer-style-guide-a
https://theconversation.com/a-toilet-paper-run-is-like-a-ban...
I realise that I will be training the algorithms, and appending data to the already vast collection. It is a trade-off I am willing to accept. I have generally been using it to grab text from labels for ingredients and other products to create my own notes.
Xbox nearly died in development, as Bill Gates was none too pleased with the decision. Fries recalls Microsoft's "Valentine's Day Massacre" in which Bill Gates furiously ripped apart the development team for circumventing his original idea.
ASFAIK, Xiaomi does not sell any critical infrastructure equipment, nor is it installed anywhere; not entirely sure why GCHQ or NCSC would be involved, especially when there is ambiguity around which/what equipment they should be conducting a code review upon?
With regard to Huawei, there was no decisive conclusion, despite a comprehensive security review. Furthermore, it has been business as usual for currently installed equipment. All future decisions will be based around the 5G infrastructure.
It wasn't widely reported in the mainstream media, but it drew attention via Byline Times. Similarly, the Tufton Street gang, with the same cast of characters, whose tentacles also reach across the Atlantic, will never be featured as comprehensively by the MSM; far too many incestuous relationships.
https://www.desmog.co.uk/2020/02/13/mapped-boris-johnson-s-g...
USB-IF elevated the haphazard standards, naming schemes and version numbers, beyond just mere confusion, annoyance or a nuisance; it even managed to blind side the Pi 4 design team for the first version. Nonetheless, it has provided the unscrupulous an opportunity to exploit the marketplace, where tolerances in power make it extremely important to pick the right cables and adapters.
They are not alone ─ SD Card Association have also sowed doubts in the minds of consumers, by splintering the naming convention. Although, HDMI is also playing a similar game, albeit it is slightly easier to follow. However, WiFi Alliance is making some efforts to help decipher basic capabilities of a device by a layperson via their certification. Then there is 3GPP..
https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/
At this price, it is a luxury that can wait until AirPods Max 2, as I have already upgraded to XM4/Buds+/Jabra 75t this year for work and pleasure. However, at first glance, some integrated design aesthetics will provide the necessary appeal for dedicated fans e.g. the digital crown, colour scheme etc. It would be interesting to see the real world tests, and for starters, I would settle for a mini review by tubers like MKBHD.
https://www.reddit.com/r/firefox/comments/ev0lit/archivetoda...