I like my devices cheap, dumb and offline. Nothing else.
Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
141–150 of 477 posts
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've been thinking about this for a while, and my proposal is pretty simple: --- Legally - prohibit selling physical goods that contain digital locks unless the owner is given a key. Period. --- That's all you have to do. If I own the device, I get the keys for the physical locks, and the keys for the digital locks. I'm completely ok with manufacturers locking down computers for security, in much the same way that I…
How do you give the owner a key without enabling an evil maid attack? a physical usb device unique to the phone that will unlock it to run whatever when it's plugged in? something deep in settings that requires you do a dance and enter the konami code?
A device-specific "owner password" would be fine. Physical access is not proof of ownership, so there is no need to open the device up to trivial "evil maid"-style attacks. Of course some owners will lose their passwords, so some provision would need to be made to ensure that owner-access is not permanently lost.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#143Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tablets can bounce around on a treadmill if you really get going, and 10" is not 32". And you think customers are going to wall-mount a TV in the garage where a lot of treadmills live, rather than just buy a built-in screen? I mean, yeah, that's exactly what I did, but not everyone (not but a few?) are even that handy. And on top of everything else, customers thought that they could watch whatever they wanted on thei…
> Why fuck with wall-mounting a TV or a bouncy tablet when they sell a treadmill with the screen built-in? Because unless the screen displays what you want it to, it's useless?
> And on top of everything else, customers thought that they could watch whatever they wanted on their attached 32" LCD screen.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#144Jeeze, I will stick with my modular solution: an ipad on a music stand. This is compatible not only with any commodity treadmill, but also bike trainers, ellipticals, and making vroomvroom noises on the motorcycle when it's too icy to actually ride. I could also swap out the ipad for a laptop, non-ipad tablet, or a collection of cute succulents should I desire it. snark aside, I'm a bicycle guy and I really like that…
> ipad on a music stand Thanks for the idea. I might get some kind of tablet so I can watch things without moving my (cheap) stationary bike in front of the living room TV.
If you want a really nice version of this, companies like Heckler Design, Manfrotto, Triad Orbit, and König & Meyer make excellent stands with tons of adapters for lights, cameras, mics, speakers, phones, ipads...
My current WFH setup includes a Manfrotto 244N magic arm attached with a RAM mount to a Rokform RAM ball that very securely attaches to my Rokform iPhone case. It's clamped to my desk with a Manfrotto 035 SuperClamp. The RAM adapter is P/N RAP-B-366U and the double swivel on the RAM side is a RAP-B-201U . The Rokform part is "Universal Ball Adapter Phone Mount" SKU: 337101
RAM also makes a great iPad "X-Grip" holder, along with tons of different mounts for different situations, especially vehicles and things like exercise bikes (e.g. look for stuff like a "RAM® Double U-Bolt Ball Base for 1" - 1.25" Rails" or indeed their actual handlebar mounts). These are sturdy, pro-level mounts, not the cheap disposable junk from no-name brands on Amazon.
For my Zwift stationary bike setup that I use my old road bike on, I just use a $15 Niteize Handleband to attach my phone plus a Vornado 783DC made-in-USA DC brushless fan to keep the sweat levels low.
Another couple brands worth checking out would be Joby's stuff (I have an old GorillaPod DSLR that holds my webcam these days) and "The Joy Factory" who make pro-level iPad clamps / stands.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#145Earlier quoted context omitted.
Tablets can bounce around on a treadmill if you really get going, and 10" is not 32". And you think customers are going to wall-mount a TV in the garage where a lot of treadmills live, rather than just buy a built-in screen? I mean, yeah, that's exactly what I did, but not everyone (not but a few?) are even that handy. And on top of everything else, customers thought that they could watch whatever they wanted on thei…
> Why fuck with wall-mounting a TV or a bouncy tablet when they sell a treadmill with the screen built-in? Because unless the screen displays what you want it to, it's useless?
Oh, I see, you want to shame people for not seeing this coming. Never mind, I thought yours was an honest question.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#146Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I tend to stay away from so-called 'smart' devices I tried several alternatives in terms of smart TV (Apple TV, Google/Android TV, Fire TV), and I could not find any platform that let me use all of the apps that I needed without resorting to casting from my phone. And in some cases there was a long process to follow in order to get the device to do what I needed[1], which involved activating developer mode, sideloa…
Have you tried nvidia shield?
Did you see the update that shows ads for steaming services you don't have on the top 1/3 of the screen due to an update?
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why don’t the customers use a tablet resting on the treadmill or wall-mounted TV to watch whatever they want?
Tablets can bounce around on a treadmill if you really get going, and 10" is not 32". And you think customers are going to wall-mount a TV in the garage where a lot of treadmills live, rather than just buy a built-in screen? I mean, yeah, that's exactly what I did, but not everyone (not but a few?) are even that handy. And on top of everything else, customers thought that they could watch whatever they wanted on thei…
Wrong question: wtf TV sized screen attached to whatever fitness gizmo when smaller screen and a whichever size you want wall/pedestal mounted TV will be likey cheaper and usable outside your jogging hours.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#148This 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…
I normally ride a bike on a smart trainer during the winter (when not riding outside), but am planning to buy a Concept2 Erg before next winter. It should be great for core and back strength, something cycling -- especially indoor cycling -- benefits greatly from but just doesn't do.
It's amazing to me just how (relatively) cheap the Concept2 is. Solid, well made, and reliable.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#149Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
You misinterpreted. Of course you still need a judiciary process. But you’ll won it because the law would clearly be on your side.
Still hard to prove your case, but no company will take the risk because they could have thousands of customers ready to prove they have been abused.
Re: Locked out of 'God Mode', runners are hacking their treadmills
#150>> and finding workarounds that allow them to bypass the update and watch whatever they want while they work out.
Like buying a TV and mounting it on the wall in front of the treadmill? Do these people not have access to 2x4s? Why does your TV screen need to be integrated into your exercise equipment?