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All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

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Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#181

Post by urda »

gcr wrote: post #173
urda wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And how exactly is a dumb TV with no WiFi radio, ethernet port, or any other forms of outgoing communication going to phone home? Please enlighten me.

How can you prove that your TV doesn't have a WiFi antenna inside? There's plenty of space to hide something like that in.

... and what network will it be connecting to? Sure maybe a free hotspot here or there, but many of these TVs will not have access to even those.

And hell yeah you can prove it's not in there, either with a quick wireless scan or even a simple physical tear down of the housing which can then be put back together.

Show me a dumb TV that has been wired up to spy on people that has been in the wild before.

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#182

Post by wpietri »

exelius wrote: post #95
wpietri wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My guess is that for each person some small thing will make sense, which is sufficient to drive the costs down and the technology forward. For example, good sleep is really important to me. So I used the Philips Hue bulbs and a NUC to build a smart home lighting system that behaves much more like daylight. When I describe it to people, quite a number really want it. Not bad enough to get my code off GitHub and instal…

I don't think so. Cost is one side of the equation, but usability is another. And at the end of the day, I don't think there's enough consumer demand to push IoT where it could be. I think eventually we'll get there -- at some point in the future, it will just be cheaper to buy an Android SoC than a handful of cheap analog micro controllers -- but for the next 10+ years we're going to keep hearing about IoT as "the n…

I think we might agree entirely. I think mobile phones were a relatively fast cycle because people were pretty happy to replace their phones every few years. That's not true with, say, washing machines or furnaces. So it will definitely take a while.

But if you look at devices with cycles in between, I already see it happening. 10 years ago when I bought a stereo receiver, I bought something entirely dumb. Last year I replaced it and ended up with something that was internet connected. Not because I really cared, but because the equivalent model came with that. And in retrospect I'm glad; their phone/tablet app is a way better remote control than punching a bunch of mysterious, no-feedback buttons. The same thing happened with my DVD player; when the old one died I just bought whatever Consumer Reports recommended and it too is internet connected.

I think that you're right that the development of pluggable Android is what will push this forward. And Google clearly agrees; their project Brillo is surely one effort among many.

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#183

Post by rubiquity »

xorcist wrote: post #144
rubiquity wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I still have our LCD TV from 2005. It's about 5 inches thick but it works great. The TV is even starting to look very cool/retro and we've been complimented on how it completes the look of our living space!

I still have a CRT TV. Do I win, or is there someone around with a B&W set? :)

I think it's the balance between new and old. You know, if your TV is either too old or too new it looks like you're trying too hard.

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#184

Post by rubiquity »

cmdrfred wrote: post #164
rubiquity wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife and I still have our LCD TV from 2005. It's about 5 inches thick but it works great. The TV is even starting to look very cool/retro and we've been complimented on how it completes the look of our living space!

beware the complisult.

It will take more than that to get me down!

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#185

Post by wutbrodo »

caskance wrote: post #158
function_seven wrote: post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not who you're replying too, but I'll try: An assumption is reasonable if it follows logically from facts we know about the world to some conclusion. For example, cars with more features usually cost more than cars with fewer. A washing machine with a detergent dispenser and 11 different wash modes costs more than one with 3 modes and no dispenser. A thermostat that just sets the temperature and does nothing else…

There is no reason to make this assumption (about smart TVs costing less) in the first place. You can retroactively justify anything by twisting and cherry picking facts. A product with more features may cost more if it costs more to produce or customers are willing to pay more for it because they see it as more valuable. Neither of those applies to smart TVs.

Perhaps a more concrete definition of an analogous concept would make this clearer: Are you familiar with the concept of a prior distribution[1]? The point of a prior is that, before you get any of the evidence, you can still have some sense of how likely each event is. If you asked me whether a microwave with more features would be more expensive, I would feel pretty comfortable saying "yea probably". As mentioned downthread, this is based on the fact that 99.9% of the time, in every single industry, products that are more functional will be more costly (all else held equal, obviously).

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prior_probability

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#186

Post by passwordreset »

tobinfricke wrote: post #48
josephmosby wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Air gapped" means that there is a physical separation between two networks (i.e., there's "air" between them). If two networks are physically connected, there is always a chance that someone could bypass any software security restrictions. If the two networks aren't physically connected, there's no way to gain access to one network from another. In this instance, the inflight entertainment network and the avionics n…

The phrase no longer makes literal sense in this day of ubiquitous wireless communications. "If the two networks aren't physically connected, there's no way to gain access to one network from another" is no longer true.

The phrase makes literal sense. Radio is a physical connection. Computers can be built without the wireless transceivers in order to avoid that physical connection.

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#187

Post by derwiki »

chatmasta wrote: post #59
cryoshon wrote: post #51

Is this what an actual cyberattack / cyberwar looks like? Imagine how much money is being lost right now as a result of this disruption. Somewhere hackers are popping champagne.

UAL stock took a $1 nosedive (hah) at 10am.

Why wouldn't the stock drop more?

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#188

Post by spyder »

detaro wrote: post #139
rsync wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My last three "TVs" have been commercial display panels. These are the NEC panels that you see in the airport (turned on their side) for departure/arrival boards. They are more expensive than a best buy model. Not terribly so, however, otherwise the airport couldn't buy 200 of them. They are incredible displays.

How would one go about finding them? (search terms, manufacturers...)

"Large format display" http://www.newegg.com/Large-Format-Displays/SubCategory/ID-6...

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#189

Post by sharjeel »

ArtDev wrote: post #130
rcraft wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is exactly why I prefer buying "dumb" tvs and simply adding chromecast/appletv/firetv, etc. Much better experience.

I opted for a Chromebox running Ubuntu+Kodi. Its quite easy to set up! http://forum.kodi.tv/showthread.php?tid=194362

I am running my home server on ChromeBox (Linux Mint running Samba attached to a Bravia TV). I don't think I can get something better.

Re: All United Flights Grounded Due to Mysterious Problem

#190

Post by jchrisa »

rcraft wrote: post #45
theandrewbailey wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is the Achilles heel of the entire Internet of Things and smart appliance trend, and I think this will bite everyone bad. After 50+% of these vendors go out of business in the next decade, their products won't get updated, and people will wonder why their "smart" TV can't watch movies from whatever replaced Netflix/new whizbang video service. They won't be as likely to buy any "smart" thing again.

This is exactly why I prefer buying "dumb" tvs and simply adding chromecast/appletv/firetv, etc. Much better experience.

Projector!
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