This should work on any thunderbolt device, not just ethernet adapters. DMA for external devices is stupid.
WRONG!!!
Actually, any TB device with an "Option ROM". Is that all of them? Somehow, I think not, or the Article would have been even more breathless.
In fact, according to TFA, it specifically mentioned External TB SSDs and the TB Ethernet Adapter. Both would be pretty rare in the Mac installed base.
This is not like the recent StageFright exploit for Android, where virtually every-single-device on the Platform is vulnerable (what was it, like 990 million?); but rather, is confined to the UNION of the sets:
1. The Macs that use a TB Ethernet adapter. That, my fine readers, is a REALLY small group. Most Macs still have built-in Ethernet connectors, and those that don't are usually connected through WiFi instead of a TB adapter.
2. Those who fall for some unknown social-engineering trap.
That's one small-ass percentage of the overall Mac-using population.
IOW, nasty as this could be, there really is nothing to see here.
So, my counter-question to those who still insist that Apple somehow ripped-off Xerox PARC, is: "If Apple ripped off Xerox, did Xerox rip off SRI and Doug Englebert?"
"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it."
You're right; there is more than one way to look at it. The one where the facts dictate the conclusion, and your way, where Apple must always be Teh Evilz!
Rather than your bullshit "analogy", it's more like I called you up, asked if I could come look at your TV with an eye to purchasing it, then came over, looked at the TV, and wrote you a check for it, which you accepted, then left with the TV.
With the Microsoft shortcut, the opening application itself had to know how to open and handle *.lnk files to find the actual file.
Having had lots of experience with both MacOS Aliases (and OS X Aliases), and Windows' Shortcuts, I can tell you that the Order of Robustness, from most Robust to Least is:
1. MacOS Aliases. They are EXTREMELY hard to "orphan".
2. OS X Aliases (which for some unknown reason are NOT just SymLinks!!!!)
The other absolutely amazing thing they introduced in Windows 95 was the shortcut.
Of course, that wasn't a unique idea of Microsoft's
Apple added them in System 7, which was introduced in May, 1991, quite a few years before Win95 debuted (and probably even before it was even a serious development project), and UNIX had the similar Symbolic Links who-knows-how-long before that.
He "determined" that E-M waves in the air with earth as a ground plane travelled faster than light. He was very smart (eg, he had an awesomely intuitive understanding of resonance), but also a bit deluded.
Well, since he probably "determined" that before Einstein's General (or is it Special?) Theory of Relativity, he might be excused that faux pas.
And I would characterize him as "Brilliant", not just "Very Smart".
And yes, he had a few bats in his belfry; but that seems to often go with "Genius", ya know? It seems that, when a person has the ability to "see beyond" what people think of "reality", they don't just stop at one particular topic. But that peccadillo is certainly not unique to ol' St. Nikola.
>The only wide spread DC cabling standard is USB and that's mostly low power stuff.
more like RV and yachting equipment, it all runs off DC.
Yeah, where anything over a couple of Amps requires a cable as thick as your little-finger. And with the price of Copper, that sounds like a giant step in the wrong direction.
And I doubt you'll find any marine or RV applications for HV DC, for some pretty obvious (and deadly) reasons. And once you get past the consumer-level of marine and "RV", generation and distribution goes back to AC pretty damned fast.
To do this, the A/C converts the incoming wall power to DC and then back to variable frequency AC. Eliminating the initial AC to DC conversion here makes good sense.
Are you sure it's variable frequency AC, and not variable pulse-width AC? Or are they just using a Vector Drive to ultimately power a 3 phase AC motor?
So, in essence, you're building a big ol' SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply), like in my Panasonic "Inverter" Microwave Oven. So Sharp is just eliminating the "DC Link" part of the SMPS/Motor Drive. Yawn. However, since that involves some fairly stout rectifier diodes and monster capacitors (that eventually wear out from the ripple currents), maybe it's not so dumb afterall.
His main interest was in using high frequency for wireless power transmission. His lack of E-M understanding caused him to waste a lot of his talent pursuing a failing approach.
Oh, I think Tesla understood Electromagnetic principles a bit better than most...
High Voltage DC transmission makes sense in some applications. Its best as a single point to point solution over a fairly long distance, as line losses are minimized. High voltage DC switching and DC to AC conversion equipment is very expensive compared to AC, and typically has a shorter lifecycle, so you don't really want to have a lot of DC switchyards.
How are line losses minimized for DC over AC, given the same "RMS" voltage (yes, I know the term means nothing in DC) and Current?
It seems to me that the only application of HV DC would be to stack up a bunch of PV panels in Series, and then buss the result together before sending it to a HV-input Inverter.
But, unless the EPA revised the laws of physics, it seems like AC transmission will pretty much always "win" over DC, especially over distance.
Or is it because maybe HV DC has less coronal discharge loss over AC?
Oh, no one knows either way about Android M support right now. I've seen lots of speculation and people talking about device strings but none of it seems concrete to me. I just meant that so far my Nexus 4 is on the same version of Android as my Nexus 6, and with some luck it will continue to be supported through M. (It's already long past Google's 18-month or so support window)
Whoa, Nelly!!!!
So, even the vaunted support for the Nexus brand is only "Guaranteed" for a year and a half?!?
FFS, Apple is still supporting (even up through the current version, iOS 9) my iPad 2, which was first sold on March 11, 2011, over FOUR years ago (a millenia in mobile-device-years). Apple has even released versions of iOS specifically targeted at improving performance on the iPad 2.
Similarly, Apple also still supports (even up through the current version, iOS 9) my iPhone 4s, which was released on October 4, 2013, the day before Jobs' death. In fact, I often thought that the real, "secret" reason behind the model name "4s" was "for Steve", "3GS", etc. notwithstanding.
And I believe there was even a relatively-recent "Security Update" for the iPhone 3GS, which was introduced on June 8, 2009. Support ended for the 3GS on or around September 12, 2012.
As far as standalone Security Updates, in May, 2011, Apple patched versions of iOS back to iOS 3.0 with their iOS Update 5. Quite frankly, I don't understand that Security Update, especially considering there is an Apple document dated April, 2015 that talks about it.
I was thinking he was the poor sucker with a first generation iMac where the USB wasn't even 2.0. (and where the firmware is set so that it CANNOT boot from an external USB DVD-ROM drive)
Put some Firewire in that Altivec Unit and let's Retina our way to joyland!
Excuse me, but when the first gen iMac debuted in 1998 (nevermind when it was designed, likely in 1997) there simply wasn't a USB 2.0. It wasn't even released as a specuntil TWO YEARS LATER.
As for Macs, the first desktop Mac to support USB 2.0 was the iMac G4 1.0GHz (Sunflower design), introduced on September 8, 2003; and the first Mac Laptop to incorporate USB 2.0 appears to be the PowerBook G4 1.0 12 inch DVI model, Released essentially at the same time, on September 16, 2003. This means that USB 2.0 Support was added to OS X 10.3 (Panther), Released on October 24, 2003.
So..
You see a/. article about a subject that doesn't affect you, follow the article link, hit the post button, and then respond to someone (which kinda implies you're watching the thread).
Okay, this doesn't affect you. Right. Of course. Mm-hm.
Sad little boy.
Not to defend an AC; but, if Slashdot commenters restricted themselves to only issues which affect them, this would be one lonely forum.
"Then Microsoft will have to make yet another new version of Windows to undo the damage. Or, finally, the mass exodus to platforms like OS X will have happened by then..."
FTFY.
P.S. systemd is the death of all things. I think you should know that.
You do realize that, systemd is nothing but a knockoff of OS X's launchd (which Apple Open Sourced), and that every version of OS X since 10.4 (Tiger) (OS X is now about to be at version 10.11) has used it, and for the vast majority of things that used to use initd and cron, nary a hiccup was felt by OS X users.
So, quit your damned whining already. Unless systemd is implemented in a really retardo way (which it may very well be), I don't see the big deal, other than "Change Bad!"
And if systemd is retarded, then why not just take Apple up on its offer-to-the-world of launchd, and replace systemd with a true Linux version of launchd.
Hell, maybe one of you Linux Devs. will figure out a great improvement to launchd, and everyone will benefit!
Slashdot Mirror
This should work on any thunderbolt device, not just ethernet adapters. DMA for external devices is stupid.
WRONG!!!
Actually, any TB device with an "Option ROM" . Is that all of them? Somehow, I think not, or the Article would have been even more breathless.
In fact, according to TFA, it specifically mentioned External TB SSDs and the TB Ethernet Adapter. Both would be pretty rare in the Mac installed base.
This is not like the recent StageFright exploit for Android, where virtually every-single-device on the Platform is vulnerable (what was it, like 990 million?); but rather, is confined to the UNION of the sets:
1. The Macs that use a TB Ethernet adapter. That, my fine readers, is a REALLY small group. Most Macs still have built-in Ethernet connectors, and those that don't are usually connected through WiFi instead of a TB adapter.
2. Those who fall for some unknown social-engineering trap.
That's one small-ass percentage of the overall Mac-using population.
IOW, nasty as this could be, there really is nothing to see here.
systemd is somewhat like the Windows registry. Monoliths fuck your shit up for no good reason.
Not to defend systemd; but...
isn't the script run by initd a form of "monolithic" construction? If the script is broken, system doesn't boot, right?
If something happens with cron, some processes don't get launched. Etc.
Except Apple never paid Xerox a dime.
You're right. It was an all-stock deal.
Here is the most complete telling of the story, in the words of those who were actually there, that I have ever seen. If you're really interested in the facts.
So, my counter-question to those who still insist that Apple somehow ripped-off Xerox PARC, is: "If Apple ripped off Xerox, did Xerox rip off SRI and Doug Englebert?"
"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it."
You're right; there is more than one way to look at it. The one where the facts dictate the conclusion, and your way, where Apple must always be Teh Evilz! Rather than your bullshit "analogy", it's more like I called you up, asked if I could come look at your TV with an eye to purchasing it, then came over, looked at the TV, and wrote you a check for it, which you accepted, then left with the TV.
BIG difference.
The Apple Menu inverts the Windows paradigm.
You have your history backwards. The Apple Menu preceded the Windows Start Menu by nearly a Decade.
With the Microsoft shortcut, the opening application itself had to know how to open and handle *.lnk files to find the actual file.
Having had lots of experience with both MacOS Aliases (and OS X Aliases), and Windows' Shortcuts, I can tell you that the Order of Robustness, from most Robust to Least is:
1. MacOS Aliases. They are EXTREMELY hard to "orphan".
2. OS X Aliases (which for some unknown reason are NOT just SymLinks!!!!)
3. Windows Shortcuts
The other absolutely amazing thing they introduced in Windows 95 was the shortcut.
Of course, that wasn't a unique idea of Microsoft's
Apple added them in System 7, which was introduced in May, 1991, quite a few years before Win95 debuted (and probably even before it was even a serious development project), and UNIX had the similar Symbolic Links who-knows-how-long before that.
And then offstage a Xerox representive coughs, walks onstage, announces who he is, punches each one in turn, and storms off, pissed.
If you are referring to the Research that Apple PURCHASED from Xerox PARC, then I can't see his justificaton to punch "Apple".
He "determined" that E-M waves in the air with earth as a ground plane travelled faster than light. He was very smart (eg, he had an awesomely intuitive understanding of resonance), but also a bit deluded.
Well, since he probably "determined" that before Einstein's General (or is it Special?) Theory of Relativity, he might be excused that faux pas.
And I would characterize him as "Brilliant", not just "Very Smart".
And yes, he had a few bats in his belfry; but that seems to often go with "Genius", ya know? It seems that, when a person has the ability to "see beyond" what people think of "reality", they don't just stop at one particular topic. But that peccadillo is certainly not unique to ol' St. Nikola.
If that doesn't seem intuitive, imagine something at work trying to bring those two back into synchronization.
No, I get it. I just wasn't thinking. Thanks!
>The only wide spread DC cabling standard is USB and that's mostly low power stuff. more like RV and yachting equipment, it all runs off DC.
Yeah, where anything over a couple of Amps requires a cable as thick as your little-finger. And with the price of Copper, that sounds like a giant step in the wrong direction.
And I doubt you'll find any marine or RV applications for HV DC, for some pretty obvious (and deadly) reasons. And once you get past the consumer-level of marine and "RV", generation and distribution goes back to AC pretty damned fast.
Sure instead of using synchronous AC motors which are simple and efficient you can switch to much more complex DC digital motors.
Sounds brilliant.
Um, despite the Dyson commercials to the contrary, there is no such thing as a "Digital Motor".
To do this, the A/C converts the incoming wall power to DC and then back to variable frequency AC. Eliminating the initial AC to DC conversion here makes good sense.
Are you sure it's variable frequency AC, and not variable pulse-width AC? Or are they just using a Vector Drive to ultimately power a 3 phase AC motor?
So, in essence, you're building a big ol' SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply), like in my Panasonic "Inverter" Microwave Oven. So Sharp is just eliminating the "DC Link" part of the SMPS/Motor Drive. Yawn. However, since that involves some fairly stout rectifier diodes and monster capacitors (that eventually wear out from the ripple currents), maybe it's not so dumb afterall.
His main interest was in using high frequency for wireless power transmission. His lack of E-M understanding caused him to waste a lot of his talent pursuing a failing approach.
Oh, I think Tesla understood Electromagnetic principles a bit better than most...
High Voltage DC transmission makes sense in some applications. Its best as a single point to point solution over a fairly long distance, as line losses are minimized. High voltage DC switching and DC to AC conversion equipment is very expensive compared to AC, and typically has a shorter lifecycle, so you don't really want to have a lot of DC switchyards.
How are line losses minimized for DC over AC, given the same "RMS" voltage (yes, I know the term means nothing in DC) and Current?
It seems to me that the only application of HV DC would be to stack up a bunch of PV panels in Series, and then buss the result together before sending it to a HV-input Inverter.
But, unless the EPA revised the laws of physics, it seems like AC transmission will pretty much always "win" over DC, especially over distance.
Or is it because maybe HV DC has less coronal discharge loss over AC?
Nikola Tesla is turning in his grave.
...at 1800 RPM
So the Apple way is the true Unix way? Baby Jeebus, take me now...
Well...
Since OS X is a Certified UNIX (and has been since OS X 10.5 (Leopard)), I would say that, unlike ANY Linux Distro, yes, yes it is.
Blow me.
Oh, no one knows either way about Android M support right now. I've seen lots of speculation and people talking about device strings but none of it seems concrete to me. I just meant that so far my Nexus 4 is on the same version of Android as my Nexus 6, and with some luck it will continue to be supported through M. (It's already long past Google's 18-month or so support window)
Whoa, Nelly!!!!
So, even the vaunted support for the Nexus brand is only "Guaranteed" for a year and a half?!?
FFS, Apple is still supporting (even up through the current version, iOS 9) my iPad 2, which was first sold on March 11, 2011, over FOUR years ago (a millenia in mobile-device-years). Apple has even released versions of iOS specifically targeted at improving performance on the iPad 2.
Similarly, Apple also still supports (even up through the current version, iOS 9) my iPhone 4s, which was released on October 4, 2013, the day before Jobs' death. In fact, I often thought that the real, "secret" reason behind the model name "4s" was "for Steve", "3GS", etc. notwithstanding.
And I believe there was even a relatively-recent "Security Update" for the iPhone 3GS, which was introduced on June 8, 2009. Support ended for the 3GS on or around September 12, 2012.
As far as standalone Security Updates, in May, 2011, Apple patched versions of iOS back to iOS 3.0 with their iOS Update 5. Quite frankly, I don't understand that Security Update, especially considering there is an Apple document dated April, 2015 that talks about it.
Unless systemd is implemented in a really retardo way (which it may very well be), I don't see the big deal, other than "Change Bad!"
Uh, systemd comes from the same guy who gave us Pulseaudio. How many years did that take to become usable?
And, unlike pulseaudio, you can't just uninstall systemd and run your operating system without it.
All the more reason to migrate to the more mature systemd from Apple.
Get to it! Be the hero that saved Linux from teh evils systemd!
I was thinking he was the poor sucker with a first generation iMac where the USB wasn't even 2.0. (and where the firmware is set so that it CANNOT boot from an external USB DVD-ROM drive)
Put some Firewire in that Altivec Unit and let's Retina our way to joyland!
Excuse me, but when the first gen iMac debuted in 1998 (nevermind when it was designed, likely in 1997) there simply wasn't a USB 2.0. It wasn't even released as a spec until TWO YEARS LATER.
BTW, the first versions of Windows to support USB 2.0 are Windows 2000 (in SP4) (June, 2003), and Windows XP. The earliest of those would be Windows XP (very limited support until SP1 was released in September, 2002). There is no official USB 2.0 Support in ANY "Win9x" variant.
As for Macs, the first desktop Mac to support USB 2.0 was the iMac G4 1.0GHz (Sunflower design), introduced on September 8, 2003; and the first Mac Laptop to incorporate USB 2.0 appears to be the PowerBook G4 1.0 12 inch DVI model, Released essentially at the same time, on September 16, 2003. This means that USB 2.0 Support was added to OS X 10.3 (Panther), Released on October 24, 2003.
As for Linux, LIMITED"Experimental" USB 2.0 support for SOME USB hardware was available in the 2.4.16 Kernel (don't know the exact release date); but full USB 2.0 support was added to the 2.6.0 Kernel, released on December 17, 2003.
So, from what I can see, USB 2.0 support came at virtually the same time for OS X, Windows and Linux-based PCs.
Got it? As for the rest of your nonsensical post: Grow up.
So.. You see a /. article about a subject that doesn't affect you, follow the article link, hit the post button, and then respond to someone (which kinda implies you're watching the thread).
Okay, this doesn't affect you. Right. Of course. Mm-hm.
Sad little boy.
Not to defend an AC; but, if Slashdot commenters restricted themselves to only issues which affect them, this would be one lonely forum.
"Then Microsoft will have to make yet another new version of Windows to undo the damage. Or, finally, the mass exodus to platforms like OS X will have happened by then..." FTFY.
P.S. systemd is the death of all things. I think you should know that.
You do realize that, systemd is nothing but a knockoff of OS X's launchd (which Apple Open Sourced), and that every version of OS X since 10.4 (Tiger) (OS X is now about to be at version 10.11) has used it, and for the vast majority of things that used to use initd and cron, nary a hiccup was felt by OS X users.
So, quit your damned whining already. Unless systemd is implemented in a really retardo way (which it may very well be), I don't see the big deal, other than "Change Bad!"
And if systemd is retarded, then why not just take Apple up on its offer-to-the-world of launchd, and replace systemd with a true Linux version of launchd.
Hell, maybe one of you Linux Devs. will figure out a great improvement to launchd, and everyone will benefit!
Jus' sayin'...