For a man who claims to be a Libertarian, Peter Thiel is awfully willing to help authoritarians ruin people's lives and abuse their power. Even if you 100% believe in the US justice system (I don't), this software is probably for sale to China, Burma, Saudi, and a whole bunch of other repressive regimes.
Keyboards are only "less relevant" until you need to do some real work. Touch-screen keyboards suck, voice/text recognition is less reliable than pressing keys to type.
There's more to life than big cars and McMansions... at least there's time to spend with the one kid and show them something other than an iPad screen. Travel itself is cheap if you travel like a student...
Microcontrollers on the Internet, talking to your network via someone else's (Microsoft's) computer. Secure? Laughable.
The only way I'd use most "IoT" devices is if they were able to talk directly to my devices, ideally using IPv6 and strong encryption. Let's roll out IPv6, have enough addresses for every device on Earth and maybe on the Moon too, and cut out the need for "cloud" middlemen spying on everything.
Bullpuckey. Even if the battery is a gel-pack, if it uses a proper connector (polarity keyed + low removal force), there's no reason for it to be damaged during installation or removal. Snap open the cover, unplug, remove, plop the new one in, plug it in, snap the cover closed. Or the battery can be 0.5mm thicker and have a hard plastic shell.
The practice of gluing the batteries in like (cr)Apple and Sony do actually increases the chances of fire or damage during DIY removal. So don't give me the BS line that it's about safety.
Bullpuckey. Laptop batteries are just as dense and are often user-replaceable. Easy enough to design a connector that eliminates the possibility of a short circuit or put an internal fuse wire in the battery. Glued-in, flexible batteries make replacement MORE dangerous, not less, since you have to flex the battery to remove it.
Except that 8.5 million people DO live in NYC and probably 50% of the adults don't own a car. Those that want to drive probably won't live in NYC. Also, rubber tired subway tech is both quiet and clean if well-maintained. NYC just has an old system with steel wheels on steel rails and tight curves.
Problem is that the US network doesn't use separate routing tones, so there would have to be silence while the device is looked for. Other countries have routing tones that sound like a fast "dah-dah-dah-dah-dah" when the phone is being located or the call is being switched, only changing to a ring tone (often sounds like BEEEEEP-BEEEEEEP) when the phone is actually ringing.
For US cities, NYC's is probably the most functional metro system. It runs 24/7/365 for one thing, and is extensive enough to be useful. If you're comparing to London or Berlin, you may have a point, though those systems aren't 24h.
My next phone may be ZTE, BECAUSE they support Iran. Iran is probably the most likely country in the Middle East to become a fairly liberal Islamic democracy. They have a long tradition of revolution and a strong, wealthy expat community. If they do, they can be an example to other Middle Eastern countries -- better than having the Saudi and UAE kinglets being examples of how to run a country.
Demand for batteries is likely going up, driven by electric cars, computers, phones, etc. What's going down is demand for STANDARD batteries. Many devices have proprietary batteries of all different sizes, often inaccessible to the user.
Thing is, there's no good reason for it other than planned obsolescence. Take smartphones. Almost all of them use 3.7V LiIon batteries. Most of them are about 5 to 6 inches diagonally, with a specific height/width ratio. Time for an industry standard for swappable smartphone batteries. Imagine if you could just buy a battery at 7-11, pop the door, and swap it in when your phone's battery dies. Or maybe have a few different sizes, depending on screen size. Call then X, Y, and Z.
But no, this will never happen because throwing things away is a big profit center for sellers of e-trinkets.
Read about the SL-1 accident -- pulling out one rod a bit too high blew the reactor sky-high. Literally. Unfortunately, the self-destruction was accompanied by release of nasty radioactives.
Prop-driven aircraft aren't necessarily slow -- read about ducted fans.
In most "jet" aircraft today, the turbine doesn't provide much thrust itself, but drives a ducted turbofan. This ducted turbofan could be driven with a hydrogen-burning turbine, a methane-burning turbine, or even electrically.
Better yet, replace flights under 500-600 miles with higher-speed trains. Easy enough to power from an overhead wire with current technology, and at 150mph you're talking comparable travel times when you include boarding, takeoff, landing, etc.
And price air transport of packages according to its environmental cost. If it's an organ transplant or needed medication, go for it, but it's silly not to be able to wait another week for the latest iToy from China.
Isn't shipping already the most efficient means of transport as far as fuel burned per ton transported a given distance? Go after airlines first. Much less efficient and difficult to power with alternate fuels.
Which is why I own laptops as computers, not locked-down tablet junk. Most tablets are great for watching movies, otherwise utter junk. The thought of using one makes me want to eat a THC tablet:)
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If a non-EU resident puts their residence as an EU city on FB and maybe VPNs in a few times from the EU, will their account be covered under GDPR?
Of course, Apple wants you to care, share, pay, and use their cloud storage, not be a selfish oaf and use local file storage :)
For a man who claims to be a Libertarian, Peter Thiel is awfully willing to help authoritarians ruin people's lives and abuse their power. Even if you 100% believe in the US justice system (I don't), this software is probably for sale to China, Burma, Saudi, and a whole bunch of other repressive regimes.
Keyboards are only "less relevant" until you need to do some real work. Touch-screen keyboards suck, voice/text recognition is less reliable than pressing keys to type.
Travel is cheap. Sublet your home for a month, pack light, and it's basically free.
There's more to life than big cars and McMansions... at least there's time to spend with the one kid and show them something other than an iPad screen. Travel itself is cheap if you travel like a student...
Yep, the enviro-whackos are actually standing in the way of reliable, CLEAN power i.e. nuclear.
Gasketed battery doors aren't exactly uncommon. (see image below) And yes, I'd pay the $5 extra it would cost to build a phone that way.
http://elenxs.com/images/FR/Fa...
Strangelove's Doomsday Device.
Wouldn't buy this kind of junk if it were free.
Not enough yarbles to insult with an actual username?
Microcontrollers on the Internet, talking to your network via someone else's (Microsoft's) computer. Secure? Laughable.
The only way I'd use most "IoT" devices is if they were able to talk directly to my devices, ideally using IPv6 and strong encryption. Let's roll out IPv6, have enough addresses for every device on Earth and maybe on the Moon too, and cut out the need for "cloud" middlemen spying on everything.
Bullpuckey. Even if the battery is a gel-pack, if it uses a proper connector (polarity keyed + low removal force), there's no reason for it to be damaged during installation or removal. Snap open the cover, unplug, remove, plop the new one in, plug it in, snap the cover closed. Or the battery can be 0.5mm thicker and have a hard plastic shell.
The practice of gluing the batteries in like (cr)Apple and Sony do actually increases the chances of fire or damage during DIY removal. So don't give me the BS line that it's about safety.
Bullpuckey. Laptop batteries are just as dense and are often user-replaceable. Easy enough to design a connector that eliminates the possibility of a short circuit or put an internal fuse wire in the battery. Glued-in, flexible batteries make replacement MORE dangerous, not less, since you have to flex the battery to remove it.
Except that 8.5 million people DO live in NYC and probably 50% of the adults don't own a car. Those that want to drive probably won't live in NYC. Also, rubber tired subway tech is both quiet and clean if well-maintained. NYC just has an old system with steel wheels on steel rails and tight curves.
LOL! NYPD was probably getting a cut :)
Problem is that the US network doesn't use separate routing tones, so there would have to be silence while the device is looked for. Other countries have routing tones that sound like a fast "dah-dah-dah-dah-dah" when the phone is being located or the call is being switched, only changing to a ring tone (often sounds like BEEEEEP-BEEEEEEP) when the phone is actually ringing.
For US cities, NYC's is probably the most functional metro system. It runs 24/7/365 for one thing, and is extensive enough to be useful. If you're comparing to London or Berlin, you may have a point, though those systems aren't 24h.
My next phone may be ZTE, BECAUSE they support Iran. Iran is probably the most likely country in the Middle East to become a fairly liberal Islamic democracy. They have a long tradition of revolution and a strong, wealthy expat community. If they do, they can be an example to other Middle Eastern countries -- better than having the Saudi and UAE kinglets being examples of how to run a country.
Demand for batteries is likely going up, driven by electric cars, computers, phones, etc. What's going down is demand for STANDARD batteries. Many devices have proprietary batteries of all different sizes, often inaccessible to the user.
Thing is, there's no good reason for it other than planned obsolescence. Take smartphones. Almost all of them use 3.7V LiIon batteries. Most of them are about 5 to 6 inches diagonally, with a specific height/width ratio. Time for an industry standard for swappable smartphone batteries. Imagine if you could just buy a battery at 7-11, pop the door, and swap it in when your phone's battery dies. Or maybe have a few different sizes, depending on screen size. Call then X, Y, and Z.
But no, this will never happen because throwing things away is a big profit center for sellers of e-trinkets.
Read about the SL-1 accident -- pulling out one rod a bit too high blew the reactor sky-high. Literally. Unfortunately, the self-destruction was accompanied by release of nasty radioactives.
Prop-driven aircraft aren't necessarily slow -- read about ducted fans.
In most "jet" aircraft today, the turbine doesn't provide much thrust itself, but drives a ducted turbofan. This ducted turbofan could be driven with a hydrogen-burning turbine, a methane-burning turbine, or even electrically.
Better yet, replace flights under 500-600 miles with higher-speed trains. Easy enough to power from an overhead wire with current technology, and at 150mph you're talking comparable travel times when you include boarding, takeoff, landing, etc.
And price air transport of packages according to its environmental cost. If it's an organ transplant or needed medication, go for it, but it's silly not to be able to wait another week for the latest iToy from China.
Isn't shipping already the most efficient means of transport as far as fuel burned per ton transported a given distance? Go after airlines first. Much less efficient and difficult to power with alternate fuels.
A lot of commercial and some residential routers already do. Or three, or five spaces :)
Which is why I own laptops as computers, not locked-down tablet junk. Most tablets are great for watching movies, otherwise utter junk. The thought of using one makes me want to eat a THC tablet :)