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Your Computer and Cell Phone Are Lying To You

Posted by timothy on from the they're-in-it-with-the-aliens dept.

Ant writes with a story from Dan's Data, which says that the battery meter and connection-strength displays in your portable electronics are lying to you, "and not just when they whisper to you in the night." Quoting: "Mobile phones, and most modern laptops, have signal strength and battery life displays. One or both of these displays has probably been the focus of all of your attention at one time or another. Neither display is actually telling you what you think it's telling you. The signal strength bars on a mobile phone or laptop do, at least, say something about how strong the local signal is. But they don't tell you the ratio between that signal and the inevitable, and often very considerable, noise that accompanies it ..."

7 of 479 comments (clear)

  1. Pshaw by MistaE · · Score: 5, Funny

    And I bet you're going to tell us next that DRM isn't for our own good and is just a way for conglomerates to steal more of our money with little effort done on their part. Hah!

    1. Re:Pshaw by Godji · · Score: 5, Funny

      And I bet you're going to tell us next that DRM isn't for our own good and is just a way for conglomerates to steal more of our money with little effort done on their part, just like car manufacturers are telling you that driving an SUV is good for your safety while they make them with cheap truck chassis that are less maneuverable and do not reduce the impact of a collision nearly as much as a car chassis. Hah!

  2. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 5, Funny

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  3. Re:Wifi meters by lisaparratt · · Score: 5, Funny

    Not only can I write software, but since I can multitask, I can do your mom at the same time.

  4. Re:[Citation-Needed] by fabs64 · · Score: 5, Funny

    I know it's de rigeur, but that was quite a lot of writing for someone who didn't RTFA.

    Dan is claiming that (at least in cell phones) there is a deliberately misleading fudge factor.

  5. Re:pedantry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    These types of posts are getting on my nerves.
    If you battery went you would not of made the post at all...I'm not stupid.

  6. Re:pedantry by travdaddy · · Score: 5, Funny

    Maybe he was dictating it.

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