Avoiding IoT

[Moem]

seems i saw an add at CES for some pills you could swallow. these would send an alert to your smartphone if you're building up too much pressure


some of these clowns have got to be doing acid

So apparently you haven't heard of smart menstrual cups yet? They were supposed to come with an app that will send an alert when the thing needs emptying!
No, seriously. No smiley since I'm not joking.

[thx-1138]

Well, there's (already) actually worse than that... https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... go-lawsuit

[jimbobs]

So nothing to do with IoT

Very true, but IoT and domotica (home automation) are mixed up in people's minds.

Very true.

In the same manner, people confuse AI with powerful data processing.

[majpooper]

Can't say I would not have been unhappy not to know some of this info.
One thing I learned from my favorite pod cast (Security Now) is the Y router configuration.
This is where you have on router facing the outside - then behind it you have two routers: one for your "sensitive" network, for lack of a better term, like PCs and the other to run IoT. Since the IoT is insecure it at least keeps access to your "sensitive" network segregated from your IoT network which I guess is still inherently insecure but a tad less accessible. . . maybe.

[jimbobs]

The irony, as I see it, is that people are paying more money for Internet connected devices without understanding the implications at any level. The sales pitch is "you can open your car doors from a block away" and the customer reaction is "how convenient, I must have that" without ever questioning their need for such a feature. If they do go ahead and buy, they consider only the convenience to them but not their exposure.

[mike acker]

{snip}
If they do go ahead and buy, they consider only the convenience to them but not their exposure.

reminds me of Unsafe at any Speed-- or the Old West Rounder selling Elixir

[MintBean]

When I can run a voice activated assistant similar to Alexa with the processing done on my own home server using open source software running on my own Linux server, I'll do it. Unfortunately, the open source voice recognition just isn't that good at the moment from what I've tried.

[Portreve]

You know that climate is a thing, right? And that it differs a lot, depending on where you are?

No, that's completely fake news. When it's 35° here with 95% humidity, it obviously has to be 35° with 95% humidity EVERYWHERE.

Isn't Florida regularly testing Autonomous vehicles and Driverless cars , have you seen any on your travels?

My job sees to it that I'm on the roads, Monday - Friday, covering an area that describes an arc of roughly 180°, and an area of approximately 18,000 mi² (~46.620 km²), though of course I'm really only talking about a small fraction of that land area because it's just city streets and highways which pass through that area. I've yet to see any driverless vehicles. Automated vehicles with people watchdogging from the driver's seat would, obviously, be impossible to detect from casual observation, but golly gee, I hope there aren't any.

We need to quit abdicating our responsibilities as living beings to actually live our own lives. *smh*

[Moem]

When it's 35° here with 95% humidity, it obviously has to be 35° with 95% humidity EVERYWHERE.

Darn! There's just no fooling you.

[jimbobs]

The irony, as I see it, is that people are paying more money for Internet connected devices without understanding the implications at any level. The sales pitch is "you can open your car doors from a block away" and the customer reaction is "how convenient, I must have that" without ever questioning their need for such a feature. If they do go ahead and buy, they consider only the convenience to them but not their exposure.

Ironically, after wring this, I got a call from an installer setting up an appointment to install my "free" "smart" thermostat. This is provided by (essentially) the provincial government. It certainly isn't "free" as it is paid through taxes and I doubt it is "smart". The government minister in charge of the program gave an example of the benefits of using a smart thermostat:

"... he has had one for years and it comes in handy — especially for parents.

“My kids would come home on a hot, sweaty spring day — and you’ll note there are more and more hot, sweaty spring days — and I’d be at work and they’d immediately crank up the air conditioning and I would get a notification on my smartphone about some activity going on, and I would quietly dial back down the air conditioning,” he said. "

There are so many things wrong with this:
1. waste of taxes
2. requirement for user to have a smartphone with data plan
3. requirement for homeowner to have Internet access
4. lack of control over children
etc. etc.



Turns out that I can pick my smart thermostat: Nest, Ecobee or Honeywell.

[MintBean]

Can't say I would not have been unhappy not to know some of this info.
One thing I learned from my favorite pod cast (Security Now) is the Y router configuration.
This is where you have on router facing the outside - then behind it you have two routers: one for your "sensitive" network, for lack of a better term, like PCs and the other to run IoT. Since the IoT is insecure it at least keeps access to your "sensitive" network segregated from your IoT network which I guess is still inherently insecure but a tad less accessible. . . maybe.

A lot of ISP provided routers offer this option all in one box. My Virgin Media box offers a secondary 'guest' network.

[Lucap]

*

Here in Britain our government wants driverless vehicles by 2021 and yet we can't even run trains when there leaves on the track.

[mike acker]

self regulating cars make more sense. but that won't get to their new business model in which customers purchase rides rather than vehicles.

[Pjotr]

Self regulating / driverless cars. Connected to the internet. What could possibly go wrong?

[Citizen229]

The only smart device I have is a smart meter. This was installed by force. For the dumb phone and dumb TV, those industries themselves are trying to rub out the dumb versions of their products.

Smart shoppers buy dumb products and vote with the wallet.

[Citizen229]

Obviously, I speak with the perspective of someone who lives in Florida (of all places!) but I can't imagine living without air conditioning during the summer.

You know that climate is a thing, right? And that it differs a lot, depending on where you are?

Sorry moem its not the fabled global warming, its called living in a swamp. You can drain the swamp( hehe) but its still a swamp. Much like where I live, except we drained the only swamp that gets snow.

[Moem]

You know that climate is a thing, right? And that it differs a lot, depending on where you are?

Sorry moem its not the fabled global warming, its called living in a swamp.

I'm not talking about climate change, just climate.

[Portreve]

The only smart device I have is a smart meter. This was installed by force. For the dumb phone and dumb TV, those industries themselves are trying to rub out the dumb versions of their products.

Smart shoppers buy dumb products and vote with the wallet.

Much like how Linksys (later, Cisco when they bought Linksys out) had to keep producing the WRT54G and later re-release it, now as a technically older product, as the WRT54GL, because there was mass consumer demand for it and not the later models.

[The back-story to this is Linksys had been using GPL'd code in their firmware and were forced to open the whole thing. This is what gave rise to the DD-WRT, OpenWRT, tomato, et al. router firmware movement.]

[majpooper]

*

Here in Britain our government wants driverless vehicles by 2021 and yet we can't even run trains when there leaves on the track.

AmTrack the USA government rail system seems to have a similar problem.

[Portreve]

*

Here in Britain our government wants driverless vehicles by 2021 and yet we can't even run trains when there leaves on the track.

AmTrack the USA government rail system seems to have a similar problem.

Yeah, a couple more folks were just killed in yesterday's accident.

For some reason, I am left with the impression that not only do we need to deal with the caliber of people working at all levels at AmTrack, but we really have to do something about our national rail system.