Live data from Hacker News

Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

github.com

151–160 of 360 posts

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#151
post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can it be that we are just getting old? The new generation will have their brains wired to ignore ads, will be ok with devices spying on them (it will be called something else). And we will be something like that grandpa that can't unblock the mobile phone. (for example, use that new blockchain smart contract to open the fridge and order some food NFTs)

Maybe? My microwave has something like 20 buttons, I really wish it had two knobs: - Time - Power Hell, print a guide on the inside of the door on how to adjust power for defrosting or whatever. I rarely ever press more than :30 button, and changing power is more annoying than it should be. https://ellis.fyi/tag/knobs/

My bomann microwave is exactly that, and it's great

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can it be that we are just getting old? The new generation will have their brains wired to ignore ads, will be ok with devices spying on them (it will be called something else). And we will be something like that grandpa that can't unblock the mobile phone. (for example, use that new blockchain smart contract to open the fridge and order some food NFTs)

Societies and culture go in wrong directions frequently. The older you grow, the more experience and knowledge you have to recognize bad trends, anticonsumer practices, and outright abusive behaviors. While some of getting old for many is turning into a creature of habit fighting off any and all change, for many it's rejecting what is identified as bad/harmful change or change that exists for no apparent reason. Not…

I remember my grandfather in Vegas lamenting that allowing people to wear trashy street clothes or anything less than formal wear / suit and tie into the casinos, or on airplanes, would lead to more and more bad behavior. This seemed incredibly uncool and old-fashioned at the time, but it turns out he was right. Decades of increasingly lax social codes around how people present themselves in public have led to generations of people who don't know how to behave politely in public.

This struck me with full force when I was invited to the Magic Castle in LA, one of the last venues to require formal wear at all times. One of the most magical things about that place is how it transforms a whole range of everyday visitors who might be people you wouldn't want to hang out with at their local bar into highly civilized men and women on their tip-top behavior. Vegas and air travel both used to operate on this principle. Now we might call it "LARPing" but when it was a social norm it was called "going out".

I don't think it's my getting older that caused me to think more like my grandfather. I think time proved him right.

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#153
post #14

I am, more and more, deliberately choosing boring technology. Knobs in the car and on appliances. No screen interfaces. Low-tech where possible. We just replaced our "high tech" Maytag dryer and its "advanced" feature set for a low tech SpeedQueen, the same dryers you find in most Laundromats. Why? Repairability. While we could _technically_ replace the burnt out fuse in the Maytag, it would take at least two hours f…

My house came in 2007 with a quite old fashioned GE washer [1] and GE dryer [2]. The washer was made in August 2003 and the dryer was made in April 2004.

They still work fine and have required no repairs in the 15 years I've had them.

[1] https://www.geappliances.com/appliance/GE-3-2-Cu-Ft-Super-Pl...

[2] https://www.geappliances.com/appliance/GE-7-0-Cu-Ft-Super-Ca...

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#154
post #108
post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is about dishwashers, but I once read about regulation-enforced water/energy-saving cycles resulting in ineffective cleaning, which backfired, as people then got in the habit of always selecting the heaviest cycle or even re-adopted pre-rinsing. Searching for the concept now, I can only find this article: https://www.wsj.com/articles/make-dishwashers-that-clean-aga...

Exactly. We pre-rinse the dishes, get the water running hot before starting the machine, and choose the heavy cycle. Even so, the dishwasher barely cleans our dishes. And it's a Bosch, well reviewed by Consumer Reports when we got it! People in this thread are talking about the SpeedQueen washing machine. Is there something similar for dishwashers? I would pay good money for a dishwasher that actually cleaned my dish…

Are you perhaps using tabs? Dishwashers need detergent in the rinse cycle, otherwise they don't rinse well, and tabs don't let you do that. I've had friends who have always pre-rinsed because of wrong dishwasher use. Once they switched to powder and put some in the rinse cycle their dishes don't need pre-rinsing.

See https://youtu.be/_rBO8neWw04

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#155
I love reverse engineering. I've done it a few times in software to pull the encryption keys out of proprietary vendor software to be able to decrypt the customer/consumer files they write on disk.

Has anyone put together a list of RE "use cases" like this one where people are looking for help solving the puzzle?

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#156
post #14

I am, more and more, deliberately choosing boring technology. Knobs in the car and on appliances. No screen interfaces. Low-tech where possible. We just replaced our "high tech" Maytag dryer and its "advanced" feature set for a low tech SpeedQueen, the same dryers you find in most Laundromats. Why? Repairability. While we could _technically_ replace the burnt out fuse in the Maytag, it would take at least two hours f…

The bearing of my Whirlpool washing machine got corroded due to a leaking seal. So when the drying cycle started, the bearing started screeching so loud that my kids woke up.

I decided to replace the bearing and (after measuring) found the correct SKF bearing. After picking it up at the local dealer and paying 7 euro's, I started. But what did Whirlpool do? They made it impossible to remove only the bearing and seal. You had to replace the whole drum, which costs about half of the machine.

Why? I emailed Whirlpool and got a reply where I could buy the new drum..SIGH

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#158
post #132
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the only reason the product is so nice is because the grubby handed business types could raise the money by promising MRR to the investors. Bingo! It's just the next layer of business types because they dominate this fucking system... Yes, it is the system: shameful.

Did you see the price tag? This device is super cheap for what it is, same as inkjet printers are. It's easier to sell a $50 printer and recover your losses through ink, than it is to sell a $200 printer. You could solve the "system" by regulating that companies are not allowed to sell products at a loss, but that would be unamerican.

> You could solve the "system" by regulating that companies are not allowed to sell products at a loss, but that would be unamerican.

To memory, Nintendo is the only console maker that turns a profit on the hardware (which is part of why their hardware specs are always outdated). Sony & Microsoft don't turn a profit until you buy ~3 games.

I think people would be surprised at how often products are sold at a loss.

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#159
post #65

I see the point of that dishwasher for someone who doesn't have easy access to a sink like a student in a dorm, but I can't fathom why you'd put one in a house or apartment. With such a tiny capacity you're better off hand washing.

1. Handwashing is water inefficient compared to a lot of dishwashers; if this is something that's important to you, a device like this makes ecologic, if not necessarily economic sense 2. Dishwashers are expensive to people not on tech salaries. All upfront costs are difficult; a smaller upfront payment with a recurring monthly/quarterly subscription payment is much more manageable for many people. 3. There are many…

How much would this have to be used to offset the (materials/energy/water) cost of manufacturing it though?

Re: Bob Cassette Rewinder: Hacking Detergent DRM

#160

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re seriously recommending the manifesto of an anarchist that lived in a cabin in the woods without running water and sent dozens of mail bombs to innocent people? Come on, you can’t find something to support your ideas that doesn’t help glorify random murders?

I am recommending it. He is clearly a smart person. If it was the ravings of a lunatic I would not. He is not a random murderer, he was psychologically tortured by the government as part of MKUltra before he killed anyone.

You just need to get on with the times. To read somebody now, you must: A) Be sure that whatever they wrote you agree 100% with. B) That person must share your full worldview and must have a pristine moral reputation. Anything else is dangerous, wrong and frankly subversive so I dont mind if you get punished by violating these simple principles.
Post reply on HN