Agreed. I'm pretty much 100% Linux, and the state of desktop Linux is atrocious. Gnome 3 is an abomination, it has killed my productivity because window management is a pain and inconsistent, and features that used to work no longer do (it's now impossible to suspend while in a docking station, and this is apparently by design according to the bug report). I've just been delaying trying to switch to KDE to see if it's better, but I need to suck it up and just do it.
ChromeOS isn't that bad for a minimal UI, especially when in developer mode (so you can use Crouton, Crostini isn't quite there yet). Virtual desktops would be nice, but that's coming soon. Sadly, ChromeOS is my current preferred UI since it fights me the least.
I mean, there are still upgrades that Verizon needs for Fios. I love my gigabit fios service and that it's uncapped. But they definitely have peering issues and saturated interconnects at their internet exchanges. This is now the bottleneck for me almost 90% of the time. Verizon is notorious for avoid upgrading their exchanges https://arstechnica.com/inform.... Cogent is still congested, along with Hurricane Electric. Comcast sucks, but at least their peering is solid.
It doesn't continuously emit. It's false information in the article. The fob listens constantly, and when it receives a valid query from the car, then it broadcasts a response. So when someone touches a door handle, for example, to unlock, the car broadcasts the challenge, and the fob then broadcasts the response. Same for pressing the start button.
The coin battery in the fob would die within days (if it even lasts that long) if it was constantly broadcasting.
Nope, I have a Windows VM that's essentially stock that I use for a couple applications. I had Chrome open in it earlier today, and noticed that the fonts were blurry and were giving me a headache after a few minutes of use. I thought maybe it was something with RDP messing it up, but after I read this, I logged in again and verified that the fuzzy fonts are only in Chrome. All other applications are fine.
Most routers or APs allow you to have a guest network that's isolated from your personal network (via VLANs typically, but Asus routers seem to bridge the interfaces with the same address space and use ebtables to separate them from interacting). You can use a weaker password for guests. And allow traffic selectively between the subnets if you want (for example, I allow access to my networked printer for guests).
For what it's worth, I pay about $105/month for gigabit fiber from Verizon It technically has $20/month in credits I believe that expire after 2 years, but apparently they will re-issue those credits to get you to sign another 2 year contract. I'm pretty sure 150/150 service is about $75/month with no credits (or that might be the 50/50 tier).
This affects my parents' house. Their only wired internet option is 3 Mbps AT&T DSL (AT&T claims it's only 1.5 Mbps but it provisions at 3). No cable lines. Luckily I managed to get them an unmetered, unthrottled LTE "hotspot" plan, so I have an LTE modem connected to their router. They get 15-30 Mbps through it despite a very poor signal (5x5 carrier, theoretical max of 37.5 Mbps), because literally no one else is on their sector of the tower.
The wireless industry has the potential to disrupt this, assuming they actually deploy with enough capacity and offer the plans. The plan I have them on is kind of a loophole through a reseller, so it's a bit challenging to get. Supposedly though this is a priority for a merged Sprint and T-Mobile, but they might just be saying that to get approval.
You can try switching to other RSS software. I use Tiny Tiny RSS, and am very happy with it. It has lots of plugins, such as inlining the content (via Readability). There are also a few mobile apps if you prefer to make it easier to read on your phone (or download everything for offline viewing, which is great for flights). I used to be an avid Google Reader user and moved away from RSS when they shut it down, but now I browse primarily via RSS.
Yes, in Northern California (Bay Area). There's a decent chance though that they'll somehow screen things to have it only apply to account holders in CA.
You can find some in depth analysis on things by a few people. One that comes to mind is https://twitter.com/SethAbrams... Most of his threaded posts seem to be fairly well researched
Yup, it's really obnoxious. They've been saying they're getting ready to deploy it for years now... Verizon Wireless uses IPv6, though I know they don't really share any infrastructure. I guess they figure that they have enough IPv4 addresses to handle all their customers and potential customers for the foreseeable future...
It did sound to me that the person on the other end was at least aware that it was Google Assistant calling. I guessed that they had placed enough trial calls (that ended poorly) that the local businesses recognized the voice and knew what it was. They likely agreed to test it ahead of time. For me, the give away was that Assistant never said it was making the appointment for someone else, but the person at the salon referred to the person getting the appointment in third person. In other words, the person at the salon somehow knew Assistant was calling to make an appointment on behalf of someone else, but Assistant never said that.
For the food order, it also seemed like the person at the restaurant was intentionally trying to trip up Assistant. Almost as though it was scripted.
I'm pretty sure this is incorrect and that it does support only audio. My family has old audio receiver that takes HDMI input (multiple HDMI inputs actually), but can't output HDMI video, even though it has an HDMI out port. I set it up with TOSLINK because I couldn't figure out how to send just the video the TV and just the audio to the receiver (this was before ARC was around).
Yup, I have a dual SIM calls only phone that I use for an official business number (really just to get a Google Voice number actually). T-mobile pay as you go. The call quality is actually very good too, because I likely have the whole GSM carrier to myself on the tower. Sticking it in the LTE guard bands was a smart move, and basically costs them nothing. I hope they keep it around indefinitely, it's still useful.
It's not the cause of both interference related noises. Mine was not caused by NFC (disabling it did not fix it). It seemed instead to be linked to wifi activity, and was very clearly caused by current being induced in the speaker. My phone also was unable to receive GLONASS navigation signals (other Pixel 2 XLs could), so I had more RF issues than just the earpiece speaker. Anyway, it's being RMAd currently, we'll see if the next one has the same issues.
It's not related to both noises being reported. I got a Pixel 2 XL and it's currently being RMAd for a dead pixel and for this reason. The noise is like a static, interference hiss that lasts about a second or so then goes away, and comes back again anywhere from 1-10 seconds later. It was not related to NFC for me, I disabled it and still had the issue. It seems to be more linked to wifi. My switch lights would all flash the moment the noise began, such as a broadcast packet being sent. I'm assuming it's actually a grounding or shielding issue, since the noise is very clearly something inducing a current in the speaker.
That being said, my phone also could not see GLONASS navigation satellites (other Pixel 2 XLs could), so I had more RF issues than just the earpiece noise.
I assure you this is not true. Every single Amazon commercial sets it off, consistently. I have to rush to mute the TV whenever one comes on. It's integrated into my thermostat (Ecobee 4) and I absolutely hate it. You can't disable it without a bright persistent red LED across the top staying on. The commercials have made me never want another Alexa device again. And I'm pissed at Ecobee for not having a non-obnoxious way to disable it.
My Google Home on the other hand is perfect. It never activates from a commercial.
They're not that "out of sync". T-Mobile has a decent amount of Band 2 (PCS) spectrum thanks to their MetroPCS acquisiion, and in many markets they have either 10x10, 15x15, or 20x20 band 2 LTE deployed. Sprint's primary / base LTE band is also PCS, and is band 25, where they have at minimum 5x5 deployed (some markets have a 10x10, some have 2 5x5s, and others have both a 5x5 and 10x10. Band 25 is a superset of band 2.
So for current Sprint customers, nothing would be needed to start using T-Mobile's band 2 LTE. I think a decent number of Sprint devices also support band 4.
Going the other way, it might be more difficult for T-mobile customers to use Sprint's infrastructure without new handsets. Some will be able to use band 25. At the very least, they could likely move the CDMA carriers within their combined PCS spectrum and expand B2 bandwidth.
Devices like Nexus / Pixels and iPhones (excluding the T-mobile variant of the iPhone 7, Sprint's version is fine) will work with either carrier. Google has been working on a "hybrid" network called Fi for a while.
The problem devices will likely be Samsung devices, since they remove support for a lot of bands and have very carrier specific versions.
Android and iOS have a tethering API. There is a separate APN entry for DUN (tethering). On Android at least, there are hacks with root that you can do to force the phone to not report this as tethering usage to the carrier, but ultimately if they wanted to they could figure it out.
Can you get Verizon FIOS? Other than the lack of IPv6, I haven't had any issues with them. I consistently get the 150/150 that I pay for. In fact it's seemingly provisioned to about 152/165 or so. Comcast came knocking asking if we'd switch.... I asked if they could match the upload speed, and that was the end of the conversation. I run a lot of personal servers out of my home (via VPN), so the symmetrical connection is great, even if I just need a VPN to route my traffic through on insecure networks. I haven't yet found a VPS that can sustain that level of bandwidth both up and down (I've tried Linode, Digital Ocean, and Prgmr. Prgmr has the highest consistent bandwidth of the 3).
That basically already exists in the HDMI spec. It's called CEC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... and it's pretty well supported in my experience. It's how a Chromecast can turn on your TV and change inputs when you connect to it. Usually the play and pause buttons on your TV or amplifier remote will pause and resume whatever is playing on the chromecast. Same with Kodi on a raspberry pi or similar device.
Skylake STILL isn't ready on most Linux distributions. On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, the kernel is missing Skylake support for several features that cause issues, from a black screen upon boot for 10+ minutes (monitor shows no signal shortly after the boot log messages stop (ie when it gets to the console login screen), and stays that way for 10+ minutes. The IPMI KVM console also shows no signal, but the IPMI serial console works), to IOMMU isolation issues. Don't plan to use the stock kernel if you intend to use IOMMU isolation on a Skylake Xeon for PCI passthrough or SR-IOV, everything gets lumped together in the same IOMMU group making it impossible. It doesn't have the Skylake patches yet, which only recently came out.
I have to manually add in a set of Skylake patches from newer kernels and recompile to get it to work each time there's a kernel update. Hopefully that'll be fixed when the 16.10 kernel is backported to 16.04, and I can switch to that. But if Skylake support is still iffy on current LTS Linux distributions, then forget about Kaby Lake. It's just not ready yet and will frustrate end users.
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Agreed. I'm pretty much 100% Linux, and the state of desktop Linux is atrocious. Gnome 3 is an abomination, it has killed my productivity because window management is a pain and inconsistent, and features that used to work no longer do (it's now impossible to suspend while in a docking station, and this is apparently by design according to the bug report). I've just been delaying trying to switch to KDE to see if it's better, but I need to suck it up and just do it.
ChromeOS isn't that bad for a minimal UI, especially when in developer mode (so you can use Crouton, Crostini isn't quite there yet). Virtual desktops would be nice, but that's coming soon. Sadly, ChromeOS is my current preferred UI since it fights me the least.
I mean, there are still upgrades that Verizon needs for Fios. I love my gigabit fios service and that it's uncapped. But they definitely have peering issues and saturated interconnects at their internet exchanges. This is now the bottleneck for me almost 90% of the time. Verizon is notorious for avoid upgrading their exchanges https://arstechnica.com/inform.... Cogent is still congested, along with Hurricane Electric. Comcast sucks, but at least their peering is solid.
It doesn't continuously emit. It's false information in the article. The fob listens constantly, and when it receives a valid query from the car, then it broadcasts a response. So when someone touches a door handle, for example, to unlock, the car broadcasts the challenge, and the fob then broadcasts the response. Same for pressing the start button.
The coin battery in the fob would die within days (if it even lasts that long) if it was constantly broadcasting.
It's treated as a telecom utility, which the FCC has historically had jurisdiction over.
Nope, I have a Windows VM that's essentially stock that I use for a couple applications. I had Chrome open in it earlier today, and noticed that the fonts were blurry and were giving me a headache after a few minutes of use. I thought maybe it was something with RDP messing it up, but after I read this, I logged in again and verified that the fuzzy fonts are only in Chrome. All other applications are fine.
Most routers or APs allow you to have a guest network that's isolated from your personal network (via VLANs typically, but Asus routers seem to bridge the interfaces with the same address space and use ebtables to separate them from interacting). You can use a weaker password for guests. And allow traffic selectively between the subnets if you want (for example, I allow access to my networked printer for guests).
Bluetooth uses 2.4 GHz, just like wifi can. Wifi power is often in the range of 100-200 mW. Some LTE bands are 2.3Ghz and 2.5 Ghz.
2.4 Ghz is non ionizing. If you're concerned about absorbing heat from it, it's comparable to the head from a small LED. It's insignificantly small.
For what it's worth, I pay about $105/month for gigabit fiber from Verizon It technically has $20/month in credits I believe that expire after 2 years, but apparently they will re-issue those credits to get you to sign another 2 year contract. I'm pretty sure 150/150 service is about $75/month with no credits (or that might be the 50/50 tier).
This affects my parents' house. Their only wired internet option is 3 Mbps AT&T DSL (AT&T claims it's only 1.5 Mbps but it provisions at 3). No cable lines. Luckily I managed to get them an unmetered, unthrottled LTE "hotspot" plan, so I have an LTE modem connected to their router. They get 15-30 Mbps through it despite a very poor signal (5x5 carrier, theoretical max of 37.5 Mbps), because literally no one else is on their sector of the tower.
The wireless industry has the potential to disrupt this, assuming they actually deploy with enough capacity and offer the plans. The plan I have them on is kind of a loophole through a reseller, so it's a bit challenging to get. Supposedly though this is a priority for a merged Sprint and T-Mobile, but they might just be saying that to get approval.
You can try switching to other RSS software. I use Tiny Tiny RSS, and am very happy with it. It has lots of plugins, such as inlining the content (via Readability). There are also a few mobile apps if you prefer to make it easier to read on your phone (or download everything for offline viewing, which is great for flights). I used to be an avid Google Reader user and moved away from RSS when they shut it down, but now I browse primarily via RSS.
Yes, in Northern California (Bay Area). There's a decent chance though that they'll somehow screen things to have it only apply to account holders in CA.
You can find some in depth analysis on things by a few people. One that comes to mind is https://twitter.com/SethAbrams... Most of his threaded posts seem to be fairly well researched
Yup, it's really obnoxious. They've been saying they're getting ready to deploy it for years now... Verizon Wireless uses IPv6, though I know they don't really share any infrastructure. I guess they figure that they have enough IPv4 addresses to handle all their customers and potential customers for the foreseeable future...
It did sound to me that the person on the other end was at least aware that it was Google Assistant calling. I guessed that they had placed enough trial calls (that ended poorly) that the local businesses recognized the voice and knew what it was. They likely agreed to test it ahead of time. For me, the give away was that Assistant never said it was making the appointment for someone else, but the person at the salon referred to the person getting the appointment in third person. In other words, the person at the salon somehow knew Assistant was calling to make an appointment on behalf of someone else, but Assistant never said that.
For the food order, it also seemed like the person at the restaurant was intentionally trying to trip up Assistant. Almost as though it was scripted.
I'm pretty sure this is incorrect and that it does support only audio. My family has old audio receiver that takes HDMI input (multiple HDMI inputs actually), but can't output HDMI video, even though it has an HDMI out port. I set it up with TOSLINK because I couldn't figure out how to send just the video the TV and just the audio to the receiver (this was before ARC was around).
Yup, I have a dual SIM calls only phone that I use for an official business number (really just to get a Google Voice number actually). T-mobile pay as you go. The call quality is actually very good too, because I likely have the whole GSM carrier to myself on the tower. Sticking it in the LTE guard bands was a smart move, and basically costs them nothing. I hope they keep it around indefinitely, it's still useful.
It's not the cause of both interference related noises. Mine was not caused by NFC (disabling it did not fix it). It seemed instead to be linked to wifi activity, and was very clearly caused by current being induced in the speaker. My phone also was unable to receive GLONASS navigation signals (other Pixel 2 XLs could), so I had more RF issues than just the earpiece speaker. Anyway, it's being RMAd currently, we'll see if the next one has the same issues.
It's not related to both noises being reported. I got a Pixel 2 XL and it's currently being RMAd for a dead pixel and for this reason. The noise is like a static, interference hiss that lasts about a second or so then goes away, and comes back again anywhere from 1-10 seconds later. It was not related to NFC for me, I disabled it and still had the issue. It seems to be more linked to wifi. My switch lights would all flash the moment the noise began, such as a broadcast packet being sent. I'm assuming it's actually a grounding or shielding issue, since the noise is very clearly something inducing a current in the speaker.
That being said, my phone also could not see GLONASS navigation satellites (other Pixel 2 XLs could), so I had more RF issues than just the earpiece noise.
I assure you this is not true. Every single Amazon commercial sets it off, consistently. I have to rush to mute the TV whenever one comes on. It's integrated into my thermostat (Ecobee 4) and I absolutely hate it. You can't disable it without a bright persistent red LED across the top staying on. The commercials have made me never want another Alexa device again. And I'm pissed at Ecobee for not having a non-obnoxious way to disable it.
My Google Home on the other hand is perfect. It never activates from a commercial.
They're not that "out of sync". T-Mobile has a decent amount of Band 2 (PCS) spectrum thanks to their MetroPCS acquisiion, and in many markets they have either 10x10, 15x15, or 20x20 band 2 LTE deployed. Sprint's primary / base LTE band is also PCS, and is band 25, where they have at minimum 5x5 deployed (some markets have a 10x10, some have 2 5x5s, and others have both a 5x5 and 10x10. Band 25 is a superset of band 2.
So for current Sprint customers, nothing would be needed to start using T-Mobile's band 2 LTE. I think a decent number of Sprint devices also support band 4.
Going the other way, it might be more difficult for T-mobile customers to use Sprint's infrastructure without new handsets. Some will be able to use band 25. At the very least, they could likely move the CDMA carriers within their combined PCS spectrum and expand B2 bandwidth.
Devices like Nexus / Pixels and iPhones (excluding the T-mobile variant of the iPhone 7, Sprint's version is fine) will work with either carrier. Google has been working on a "hybrid" network called Fi for a while.
The problem devices will likely be Samsung devices, since they remove support for a lot of bands and have very carrier specific versions.
Android and iOS have a tethering API. There is a separate APN entry for DUN (tethering). On Android at least, there are hacks with root that you can do to force the phone to not report this as tethering usage to the carrier, but ultimately if they wanted to they could figure it out.
Can you get Verizon FIOS? Other than the lack of IPv6, I haven't had any issues with them. I consistently get the 150/150 that I pay for. In fact it's seemingly provisioned to about 152/165 or so. Comcast came knocking asking if we'd switch.... I asked if they could match the upload speed, and that was the end of the conversation. I run a lot of personal servers out of my home (via VPN), so the symmetrical connection is great, even if I just need a VPN to route my traffic through on insecure networks. I haven't yet found a VPS that can sustain that level of bandwidth both up and down (I've tried Linode, Digital Ocean, and Prgmr. Prgmr has the highest consistent bandwidth of the 3).
That basically already exists in the HDMI spec. It's called CEC https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... and it's pretty well supported in my experience. It's how a Chromecast can turn on your TV and change inputs when you connect to it. Usually the play and pause buttons on your TV or amplifier remote will pause and resume whatever is playing on the chromecast. Same with Kodi on a raspberry pi or similar device.
Skylake STILL isn't ready on most Linux distributions. On Ubuntu 16.04 LTS, the kernel is missing Skylake support for several features that cause issues, from a black screen upon boot for 10+ minutes (monitor shows no signal shortly after the boot log messages stop (ie when it gets to the console login screen), and stays that way for 10+ minutes. The IPMI KVM console also shows no signal, but the IPMI serial console works), to IOMMU isolation issues. Don't plan to use the stock kernel if you intend to use IOMMU isolation on a Skylake Xeon for PCI passthrough or SR-IOV, everything gets lumped together in the same IOMMU group making it impossible. It doesn't have the Skylake patches yet, which only recently came out.
I have to manually add in a set of Skylake patches from newer kernels and recompile to get it to work each time there's a kernel update. Hopefully that'll be fixed when the 16.10 kernel is backported to 16.04, and I can switch to that. But if Skylake support is still iffy on current LTS Linux distributions, then forget about Kaby Lake. It's just not ready yet and will frustrate end users.
While I know you're being funny, it is worth noting that there may be a chipset or UEFI limitation capping it at 16GB as well.