Yep. Keep in mind we usually know such a storm is coming with a day or so of notice - usually the solar ejecta is moving far slower than light, so we see the flare before the charged particles affect us.
It doesn't have to be perfect, it's an "analog function"
The closer to the wavelength or a multiple of it the wire is, the less "loss" in the wire's absorption of the signal.
It's basically the same as matching an antenna: I have an antenna on my car that is only 0.25 the frequency I transmit. The car's conductive plane (roof) forms an electromagnetic mirror, meaning that I have a 0.5 antenna. I can still transmit, but a significant amount of energy is wasted when compared to a perfectly matched 1 antenna.
Now, since you don't use energy to receive on passive antennas and you use an amplifier in the receiver to bring it up to usable strengths, this kind of matching isn't important - but if the antenna DOES match, you get a stronger signal directly out of it. This is, in effect, exactly what happens with solar radiation and conductors. The small wires in devices are so far away from matching that almost nothing gets in - but the long wires are much closer, and absorb much more of the 'signal'
Well to be fair, the web developers and sysadmins owning the services the web developers use should be different people. They tend to have different skillsets.
Yes, but such a tiny amount that it shouldn't cause trouble.
You run into issues when they are resonant (or near resonant) because that allows standing waves to form - and the stuff that makes it in through the magnetosphere is the lower frequency (longer wavelength) stuff.
The long lines (power, cable etc) will pick up the radio signals and any unfortunate device connected to them will experience an AC voltage of potentially considerable potency. Fizzle.
You're going to get some odd waveforms coming in - the UPS will only save you if it isolates the load instead of just switches to a battery. The surge protector isn't going to help much. Those are meant to suppress "lengthy" transients and overvolts, quick spikes can still break shit but not pop the protector.
Nope - because satellites don't get all the protections of being in the atmosphere. They get raw solar radiation.
Down here in the dirt, it's only the (relatively) low frequency stuff that makes it through - and that's the stuff that long runs of wire pick up (or any long conductor - metallic piping could potentially pick it up too)
If they are lower in orbit, they are still at risk - since the EM of the Earth actually focuses the incoming radiation into bands/layers that the satellite might pass through. Think "ant under a magnifying glass".
What happens is you get large induced currents/voltages in transmission lines (power, cable etc) which smoke things connected to them. This happens because they resonate with the solar radiation.
Small shit like the wires and traces inside of your car resonates at far too high a frequency for that to happen.
As for GPS etc - those die because they are in orbit, either outside the majority of the earth's EM field's protection - or their path happens to make that same protection their death-sentence as it tends to concentrate the radiation into distinct bands/layers.
The sun would still be the sun, and the GPS satellite would be the ant. The earth's EM field would be the magnifying glass. Poof.
Turn it off when you're not using it and disconnect it from power and communications (eg disconnect the power cord and network cable). Since if something Bad Happened, it's likely going to come in through the AC or in through the DSL/Cable/Sat modem - same as any other power surge.
In these storms, what happens is that long lines (data and power transmission) resonate more or less with the "fun" and so you get powerful AC currents induced into them. The smaller wires in your peripherals and inside the computer are too small (so they resonate too high frequency) and so shouldn't be directly vulnerable. It's those large AC voltages coming in from those long lines that release the magic smoke.
Yea, care to take bets on the idea that the "redacted" text is not actually what was redacted - but was just placed their to be the low hanging fruit to satisfy idiots like you?
* The best question from the audience was when someone asked if, by publishing a spec on how to do encrypted secure comms on an Android, her division hadn't made the job of the SIGINT spooks impossibly more difficult. She somewhat artfully dodged/refused to answer, and simply said that her job was to protect the data and communications of the US Government. My take: draw your own conclusions about NSA's ability to break IPSEC.
There's a cost/benefit tradeoff here. In general I'd say it's better to have excellent defenses that even yourself can't penetrate, than to make sure everyone is weak. They used to play that game, and it's repeatedly been shown to be folly.
Kiss my ass. I'm sure I know more about it than you do. I know how discriminators and product detectors work. I understand how a Tayloe Detector works.
If I can handle that, I'm pretty sure I know how to work an audio signal.
It's already well on it's way - take a careful listen now and try to find a good track played that doesn't duck something behind the kick (or even the bass). It's a different form of compression but the result is the same - apparent loudness goes up.
Though it does tend to sound more interesting while doing it. Here's it done in action so you can hear and see what I'm talking about.
Slashdot Mirror
Yep. Keep in mind we usually know such a storm is coming with a day or so of notice - usually the solar ejecta is moving far slower than light, so we see the flare before the charged particles affect us.
bah. slashdot ate my lambdas. there's supposed to be one behind each of those "0.25" "0.5" and "1" in my post.
It doesn't have to be perfect, it's an "analog function"
The closer to the wavelength or a multiple of it the wire is, the less "loss" in the wire's absorption of the signal.
It's basically the same as matching an antenna:
I have an antenna on my car that is only 0.25 the frequency I transmit. The car's conductive plane (roof) forms an electromagnetic mirror, meaning that I have a 0.5 antenna. I can still transmit, but a significant amount of energy is wasted when compared to a perfectly matched 1 antenna.
Now, since you don't use energy to receive on passive antennas and you use an amplifier in the receiver to bring it up to usable strengths, this kind of matching isn't important - but if the antenna DOES match, you get a stronger signal directly out of it. This is, in effect, exactly what happens with solar radiation and conductors. The small wires in devices are so far away from matching that almost nothing gets in - but the long wires are much closer, and absorb much more of the 'signal'
Well to be fair, the web developers and sysadmins owning the services the web developers use should be different people. They tend to have different skillsets.
Yes, but such a tiny amount that it shouldn't cause trouble.
You run into issues when they are resonant (or near resonant) because that allows standing waves to form - and the stuff that makes it in through the magnetosphere is the lower frequency (longer wavelength) stuff.
Yea, but if it can't handle the amount of energy getting dumped into it... well, it might get warm inside that cage is all I am saying.
Unplug is important, not powered.
The long lines (power, cable etc) will pick up the radio signals and any unfortunate device connected to them will experience an AC voltage of potentially considerable potency. Fizzle.
Solar storms are not EMPs.
About the capacitors etc - they are resonant at far too high a frequency for solar radiation to be a real danger to them.
You're going to get some odd waveforms coming in - the UPS will only save you if it isolates the load instead of just switches to a battery. The surge protector isn't going to help much. Those are meant to suppress "lengthy" transients and overvolts, quick spikes can still break shit but not pop the protector.
Nope - because satellites don't get all the protections of being in the atmosphere. They get raw solar radiation.
Down here in the dirt, it's only the (relatively) low frequency stuff that makes it through - and that's the stuff that long runs of wire pick up (or any long conductor - metallic piping could potentially pick it up too)
If they are lower in orbit, they are still at risk - since the EM of the Earth actually focuses the incoming radiation into bands/layers that the satellite might pass through. Think "ant under a magnifying glass".
Bonus points: if the shit really hits the fan, the concubine could serve as an emergency food source.
As bait. Really. Not what you're thinking, you sick freak! :P
Well, at least it will give us all something to do :P
Solar storms do not resemble EMPs.
But, like you said - all the other infrastructure that would release magic smoke will certainly cause more than enough trouble.
Solar storms do not resemble EMPs.
Good thing this storm isn't an EMP effect.
What happens is you get large induced currents/voltages in transmission lines (power, cable etc) which smoke things connected to them. This happens because they resonate with the solar radiation.
Small shit like the wires and traces inside of your car resonates at far too high a frequency for that to happen.
As for GPS etc - those die because they are in orbit, either outside the majority of the earth's EM field's protection - or their path happens to make that same protection their death-sentence as it tends to concentrate the radiation into distinct bands/layers.
The sun would still be the sun, and the GPS satellite would be the ant. The earth's EM field would be the magnifying glass. Poof.
Yes.
Turn it off when you're not using it and disconnect it from power and communications (eg disconnect the power cord and network cable). Since if something Bad Happened, it's likely going to come in through the AC or in through the DSL/Cable/Sat modem - same as any other power surge.
In these storms, what happens is that long lines (data and power transmission) resonate more or less with the "fun" and so you get powerful AC currents induced into them. The smaller wires in your peripherals and inside the computer are too small (so they resonate too high frequency) and so shouldn't be directly vulnerable. It's those large AC voltages coming in from those long lines that release the magic smoke.
My head just exploded, and it's your fault.
Yea, care to take bets on the idea that the "redacted" text is not actually what was redacted - but was just placed their to be the low hanging fruit to satisfy idiots like you?
There's the morons in charge: politicians. Then, there's the nerds hiding in the back who actually know something: NSA.
It's pretty much like any corporation when you think about it!
Angry "Birds" indeed.
* The best question from the audience was when someone asked if, by publishing a spec on how to do encrypted secure comms on an Android, her division hadn't made the job of the SIGINT spooks impossibly more difficult. She somewhat artfully dodged/refused to answer, and simply said that her job was to protect the data and communications of the US Government. My take: draw your own conclusions about NSA's ability to break IPSEC.
There's a cost/benefit tradeoff here. In general I'd say it's better to have excellent defenses that even yourself can't penetrate, than to make sure everyone is weak. They used to play that game, and it's repeatedly been shown to be folly.
Clearly you've not heard of TDEA.
Kiss my ass. I'm sure I know more about it than you do. I know how discriminators and product detectors work. I understand how a Tayloe Detector works.
If I can handle that, I'm pretty sure I know how to work an audio signal.
It's already well on it's way - take a careful listen now and try to find a good track played that doesn't duck something behind the kick (or even the bass). It's a different form of compression but the result is the same - apparent loudness goes up.
Though it does tend to sound more interesting while doing it. Here's it done in action so you can hear and see what I'm talking about.
Same fucking thing. Take two waves. Put a 180 degree phase offset (flip the phase) on it. Add the waves - and you get a flat (zero) signal.
Do the same, but flip the polarity: same result.