I got the DJI Spark about a year ago (also "for free") and while the hardware seems pretty good, I expected much more from the software department, considering they are the 'largest drone manufacturer'.
Not only it requires the DJI account, as you mentioned, but it also needs a smartphone to work properly: I have an old-ish device with not enough RAM to run their app reliably, so I thought I would use my tablet instead.
Nope. In order to use the app, you must be connected to the drone using WiFi. But before you can take off, the app demands Internet connection to update the no-fly zone or something. So you switch networks and return to the app.. only to find out it refuses to proceed because the drone is now disconnected. No shit, Sherlock! Maybe download it to the tablet first, no?
A few weeks later, I forgot my password and went for a reset. The password reset page I ended up on did not bear any resemblance to the DJI website and there was no indication it was even in any way affiliated with DJI. Also not something that instills a lot of confidence in me.
Really, I can't say the reported vulnerability comes to me as a surprise..
(Although I eventually managed to get the drone working, controlling it using touch screen is really quite underwhelming experience, compared to a proper RC transmitter. While they do offer a proprietary (model-specific) RC controller, I didn't feel like spending money on something that a) becomes useless to me if I fly into a wall and b) can simply stop working at any time if they feel like it, since it STILL requires the smartphone app (and thus mandatory updates).
On the bright side, the whole experience was a great reminder to avoid all those "smart" and "always connected" devices like the plague.)
I'm not exactly sure what classifies as "information overload".
I currently have 20,930 unread Slashdot stories stored in my RSS reader (since April 2010). Is this information overload? It is definitely an amount of information that is beyond my processing ability. Yet I don't really feel overloaded.
If I feel like reading news, I open the RSS reader and mash Delete for half a minute on some recent unread articles. After getting rid of the uninteresting clutter, I end up with a list of about 10 stories I'm interested in. Some of them I read right away and some of them I will leave "for tomorrow", usually when the comment section looks too time consuming.
The thing is: I don't panic when the "tomorrow" group does not get any attention for another week or month. It's not going anywhere. I will either get to it eventually, or I'll die first. Either way, problem solved.:)
So for me, the solution is simply "not to care". Just deal with the most important stuff first and leave the rest for tomorrow (or press Delete). I've been fighting procrastination for years but now I kind of realize it can also be a great tool for filtering out all the unnecessary stress.
Wow. This is my first lead to figuring out something that "bothered" me since I was a kid -- long ago I learned to produce a sort of "rumbling" sound inside my head, by intentionally tensing some muscles. It is really hard to explain as I can't even identify those muscles myself, but I first noticed it when I was doing some silly things with my eyes, like trying to "shake the picture really fast".
I could not search for something I could not describe and I eventually forgot about it. Until I saw this GIF. At first I did not really hear anything, but I definitely felt something like a sound. And then it hit me -- it was a very short burst of the same "rumbling" sound I knew so well.
So, as far as I can tell, the sound people are hearing is definitely not a "filler" produced by the brain. It's the sound of the tensor timpani muscle contracting in anticipation of a loud sound (that never comes).
While I agree with many others that writing / drawing the notes by hand is probably the best way to go, it doesn't have to be paper you are writing on.
I'm using my old netbook (Eee 901) combined with the second cheapest tablet I could find at the time (Genius G-Pen F350) and an app called Xournal to actually take the notes (on a clear page or into the PDF) and I'm quite happy with it.
I have no problem with power (since the netbook can last about 8 hours) or space (if the table is really small, I can place the tablet right over the keyboard), I have even more freedom than with paper (unlimited number of colors, easy erasing, copy&paste for repetive drawings,...) and it's also easy to organize the notes.
The only notable limitation is that the page size roughly equals the size of an A5 paper, making annotation or a A4 material a little bit problematic (your writing is too big compared to the rest).
Slashdot Mirror
I got the DJI Spark about a year ago (also "for free") and while the hardware seems pretty good, I expected much more from the software department, considering they are the 'largest drone manufacturer'.
Not only it requires the DJI account, as you mentioned, but it also needs a smartphone to work properly: I have an old-ish device with not enough RAM to run their app reliably, so I thought I would use my tablet instead.
Nope. In order to use the app, you must be connected to the drone using WiFi. But before you can take off, the app demands Internet connection to update the no-fly zone or something. So you switch networks and return to the app.. only to find out it refuses to proceed because the drone is now disconnected. No shit, Sherlock! Maybe download it to the tablet first, no?
A few weeks later, I forgot my password and went for a reset. The password reset page I ended up on did not bear any resemblance to the DJI website and there was no indication it was even in any way affiliated with DJI. Also not something that instills a lot of confidence in me.
Really, I can't say the reported vulnerability comes to me as a surprise..
(Although I eventually managed to get the drone working, controlling it using touch screen is really quite underwhelming experience, compared to a proper RC transmitter. While they do offer a proprietary (model-specific) RC controller, I didn't feel like spending money on something that a) becomes useless to me if I fly into a wall and b) can simply stop working at any time if they feel like it, since it STILL requires the smartphone app (and thus mandatory updates).
On the bright side, the whole experience was a great reminder to avoid all those "smart" and "always connected" devices like the plague.)
I'm not exactly sure what classifies as "information overload".
I currently have 20,930 unread Slashdot stories stored in my RSS reader (since April 2010). Is this information overload? It is definitely an amount of information that is beyond my processing ability. Yet I don't really feel overloaded.
If I feel like reading news, I open the RSS reader and mash Delete for half a minute on some recent unread articles. After getting rid of the uninteresting clutter, I end up with a list of about 10 stories I'm interested in. Some of them I read right away and some of them I will leave "for tomorrow", usually when the comment section looks too time consuming.
The thing is: I don't panic when the "tomorrow" group does not get any attention for another week or month. It's not going anywhere. I will either get to it eventually, or I'll die first. Either way, problem solved. :)
So for me, the solution is simply "not to care". Just deal with the most important stuff first and leave the rest for tomorrow (or press Delete). I've been fighting procrastination for years but now I kind of realize it can also be a great tool for filtering out all the unnecessary stress.
Wow. This is my first lead to figuring out something that "bothered" me since I was a kid -- long ago I learned to produce a sort of "rumbling" sound inside my head, by intentionally tensing some muscles. It is really hard to explain as I can't even identify those muscles myself, but I first noticed it when I was doing some silly things with my eyes, like trying to "shake the picture really fast".
I could not search for something I could not describe and I eventually forgot about it. Until I saw this GIF. At first I did not really hear anything, but I definitely felt something like a sound. And then it hit me -- it was a very short burst of the same "rumbling" sound I knew so well.
I took to Google again and found a perfect explanation within like 30 seconds.
So, as far as I can tell, the sound people are hearing is definitely not a "filler" produced by the brain. It's the sound of the tensor timpani muscle contracting in anticipation of a loud sound (that never comes).
It's the Charon Relay. For sure.
While I agree with many others that writing / drawing the notes by hand is probably the best way to go, it doesn't have to be paper you are writing on. I'm using my old netbook (Eee 901) combined with the second cheapest tablet I could find at the time (Genius G-Pen F350) and an app called Xournal to actually take the notes (on a clear page or into the PDF) and I'm quite happy with it.
...) and it's also easy to organize the notes.
I have no problem with power (since the netbook can last about 8 hours) or space (if the table is really small, I can place the tablet right over the keyboard), I have even more freedom than with paper (unlimited number of colors, easy erasing, copy&paste for repetive drawings,
The only notable limitation is that the page size roughly equals the size of an A5 paper, making annotation or a A4 material a little bit problematic (your writing is too big compared to the rest).