The short and completely correct reason as to why my e-reader has never, and will never ever, be connected to wifi.
how do you get content on it?
Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
121–130 of 477 posts
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
Normally you can block any device's update if you figure out the server for the update content/update check, and block it out from your router and/or DNS.
The "solution" for that will be embedded 5G connections.
The "solution" is to allow the device use only "official" resolver servers, accessed via encrypted channel, secured by a PKI with a private root.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#123Earlier quoted context omitted.
Successful for whom? The layers or the consumer? Sadly in many class action cases the "victims" get effectively nothing. The way class action is done in the US it only makes sense for the law firms. I have stacks of class action letters and in almost every case I get exactly zero...
> I have stacks of class action letters and in almost every case I get exactly zero... I was pleasantly surprised when I got around $250 CAD from a Lenovo class action suit. I bought one of their consumer laptops that had a piece of crapware on it. It was big news when it happened. Otherwise, I normally get maybe $20 for the class actions that I sign up for.
> Otherwise, I normally get maybe $20 for the class actions that I sign up for.
Your area requires lawyers to solicit class members to sign up for class actions? Lucky! Around here you'll just be grouped into the class action without asking for consent. If you're lucky they'll mail you a notice about the suit on a postcard and let you "opt out" by locating a non-editable PDF of a form buried somewhere on their site, printing it & filling it in by hand, and sending it to their headquarters by certified mail at your own expense. (If you're less lucky you get to write up your own free-form opt-out letter and hope it meets their standards.) If you don't do this then you lose the ability to sue as an individual, or to refrain from being (ab)used to bully the defendant (and enrich the lawyers) in the event that you don't agree with the basis for the suit.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#124My solution to this problem would be legislation that allows customers, if they wish to, to return devices for a full refund if the company that manufactures the device makes a change that removes functionality that the customer valued. This doesn't prevent the company from making the change, it simply makes sure that they incur a cost for doing so, and it makes whole any customer affected by the change.
Wow this is by far the best solution to this pervasive problem I've seen, no irony. This way, you don't need legislators go into technical and domain specific detail. Producers are incentivized to provide optional updates or "downgrades" if necessary, and if they shut their cloud services off and brick the device, people have a right to return it. Additionally, it can't be abused by customers if the company acts well…
You won't need legislators, but you will have to make your case to whoever is manning the returns department at Walmart.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#125This is related to why I bought a concept2 erg recently. Hurt my achilles and needed to switch to a low impact exercise, which I prefer to be able to do at home rather than going somewhere else (so swimming is out). Looked at Peloton, but it's about twice as much as an erg up front, has running costs each month, and what seemed to be many more points of failure (which includes the electronics). The Concept2[0] is a t…
Concept 2 is indeed the cheaper and better option for an erg. Aside from being very sturdy machines at reasonable prices compared to your nordictracs and pelotons, old models are supported essentially forever with spare parts and detailed installation/fix instructions. I dont know of any rowers who don't swear by them.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#126Suitable story, hacking walled gardens on HN. Reminds me of the Rigol DS1054Z 50 MHz oscilloscope, that you can trivially 'hack' into the more expensive DS1074Z 75 MHz or DS11074Z 100 MHz scope. Rigol hasn't disabled this hack, even though they can easily do it. They likely loose money if they do so, since customers move to other scopes. Also, some Tesla updates make the experience worse instead of better (V11 update…
This is the first I've heard of it - but is this perhaps a straightforward avenue for conventional price discrimination? Businesses that want the 100 MHz may well just pay for it because they don't want the hassle the hack might lead to. And the people who'd use the hack probably wouldn't have paid for the more expensive one anyway. So Rigol might be extracting maximum value thanks to the hack, rather than despite it.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#127The method to get into "God Mode" is the same, except now it prompts you for a code. Someone has figured out how to calculate it and actually created a website to generate codes for you. http://getresponsecode.com Apparently the algorithm is very simple according to Reddit https://old.reddit.com/r/nordictrack/comments/ozkp8v/privile... >long responseCode = new Random((long) Integer.parseInt(iFitCode)).nextInt(999999)…
> It's only a matter of time before Nordic decides to block this method as well. Maaaybe. The public statement from them sounds like it was legal whining about liability issues, and if that's actually true (which, well) then if it has to be sufficiently intentional on your part that may be sufficient for them to leave well alone. Certainly worth preparing for that not being the case though.
IANAL, but are there any actual cases where someone or a class successfully sued a company for using their product off-label in such a way? This kind of stuff seems to me like how schools no longer permit students to go out for lunch, citing liability that they almost assuredly never had in the first place.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#128The alternative here is to buy a waterproof tablet, and a decent mount to attach it to your treadmill.
https://amazon.com/Arkon-TAB086-12-Tablet-Galaxy-Retail/dp/B...
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#129Earlier quoted context omitted.
I bought a replacement $400 Canon printer recently. Same model, price is at least double what it was several years ago. The reason to buy the more expensive model is because there are readily available cheap third-party cartridges. A lot of the new cheaper models don't have that.
What I've read people write online is to ditch inkjets altogether and go with laser printer or use megatank printers. Don't know how better they are though.
In reality printers are such small potatoes unless you are printing like hundreds of pages a year. I got mine from an online listing for free, and I spend maybe $30 on ink once a year. It mostly exists to print shipping labels. I'd just get a printer for as cheap as possible and not worry too much about what kind it is if you are going to only use it sparingly.