Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

mjg59.dreamwidth.org

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 325 posts

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#261

Post by dcposch »

x0x0 wrote: post #240
stestagg wrote: post #193

When I stayed there, it was just as soul destroying to use these things as you might imagine. The implementation felt like they'd asked a VB6 dabbler to implement it in Java. Then stuck it in the cheapest 600mhz tablet they could find. The UI was purely a button grid with distorted graphics, and dodgy typography. Button presses took about 1/2 a second to respond, and every 5th press caused the app to crash (adding a…

Light switches that can fucking crash! Now I'm living in the future. I keep waiting for this iot/we put a chip in it/etc to produce results that are an improvement ...

https://twitter.com/internetofshit

Edit:

Here are the greatest hits. http://favstar.fm/users/internetofshit

By the way, it seems like extreme product fail on Twitter's part that I have to go to a sketchy third party site to get the top tweets for an account.

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#262

Post by anexprogrammer »

geon wrote: post #260
Jean-Philipe wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree with you on all your points, except: > This is exactly the mechanism that gets people in trouble going to China for manufacturing. I keep hearing about the "cheap Chinese tech", even though nowadays a lot of high-quality gadgets are really Chinese. Even Apple's products are mostly from China. And it's not even for the cheap prices, it's because the entire production chain is there[1] The mistake is not going…

The practice of unethical corner cutting seems somewhat rampant in China, though. And isn't there a reason why cheap tools that easily break are said to be made of "chineesium"?

But it is rampant in whichever location has the whole supply chain.

It was rampant in the US when there was the manufacturing workshop of the world, and rampant in the UK when they were before them.

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#263

Post by frogpelt »

Every once in a while invention is the mother of necessity.

But do we really need our lights to do all kinds of funky things and be controlled from around the globe?

Don't we really just need our lights when we're in the room? And don't we just need to them to be on/off or at most dimmable?

Help me here.

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#264

Post by AnimalMuppet »

st3v3r wrote: post #185
ams6110 wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Given the capability of the devices on both side ... Your're not wrong, but the other point is they are swatting a fly with a sledgehammer. What wrong with a simple light switch for gods sake. Why would a hotel spend hundreds of dollars to do what a $2 device can do more reliably and securely?

Prestige.

That's nice, if you're into that. Personally, I'd pay a bit extra not to have this.

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#265

Post by throweway »

protomyth wrote: post #184
na85 wrote: post #164

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How about setting up shop next door to get pics of $random_politician getting a blowjob for blackmail material?

Or taking a shot at the clearly surprised and now well lit individual.

That would be hard to swallow

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#266

Post by brandmeyer »

digi_owl wrote: post #232
ethbro wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe embedded network is the new javascript ecosystem: rediscovering novel ideas (like authentication!) that were invented 50 years ago. /deploying CAN bus without security

I wonder if what is blindsiding all of these companies and people is routing. That if you have a box that can talk to network A and B, suddenly anything on A can talk to anything on B. A CAN bus, or older modbus installs, would be airgapped by its very nature.

Just because its CAN doesn't mean its actually air gapped. If there is a Linux box on one end for SCADA use or similar, then the path is IP -> Linux spl01t -> SocketCAN

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#267

Post by throweway »

ericzawo wrote: post #27
dcexqm wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Under pressure in an interview, yesterday, I found myself saying "'The Internet of Things' is short for 'The Internet of Things you don't need, sending surveillance data you don't want, to people you don't know.'"

Maybe they'll appreciate your honesty?

Nah companies want obediant placid fungible workers not free thinkering radicals. Even the hipster ones that let you work remotely and choose your own projects and stuff.

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#268

Post by throweway »

robterrell wrote: post #100
corobo wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Great my fridge just rebooted for a firmware update and bricked itself now the peas are rapidly defrosting and I am in a panic. Edit: Shoutout to Internet of Shit https://twitter.com/internetofshit

I wrote this rant, along the same lines, in 2001: http://www.vgg.com/et/et_030701_TVCrash.html Fifteen years ago. Wow, I love the way I gave Jini a shout-out.

Daquiri liquified ftw!!

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#269

Post by mark-r »

frogpelt wrote: post #263

Every once in a while invention is the mother of necessity. But do we really need our lights to do all kinds of funky things and be controlled from around the globe? Don't we really just need our lights when we're in the room? And don't we just need to them to be on/off or at most dimmable? Help me here.

I could see a hotel system that turns off the lights at some predetermined time if the room is not rented, in case they were accidentally left on. That might save them some electricity, but it's hard to see it saving enough to pay for the system.

Re: I stayed in a hotel with Android lightswitches and it was as bad as you'd think

#270

Post by dzhiurgis »

kogepathic wrote: post #224
pjkundert wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think if people actually knew the true extent of the debacle that industrial control protocols are, they would pass out. If you ever want nightmares, check out EtherNet/IP CIP protocol... Of course, there are no security provisions whatsoever. If you can get a device on the LAN, you're golden. Every device, fully open to monitoring and control of every attached piece of equipment. In the new world of inexpensive, b…

I recently went to a LoRaWan workshop funded by my megacorp (a utility company). It felt like paying someone to try and sell you their stuff. Anyway, what the LoRa did emphasize is that both the network layer and application layer are encrypted with different keys using AES. This means someone would have to compromise both layers to actually control the devices. Buuut, given that both encryption keys are stored on th…

> read the keys right out of EEPROM

Usually keys are stored in a part that is not accessible directly, think of SIM and bank cards. Actually lots of LoRaWan use SIM cards.

Post reply on HN