Posts by Uberseehandel 229 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jul 2011
Well, one of the leading Wi-Fi access point manufacturers, by volume of units shipped, had its European DFS/TPC/CAC compliant versions available and shipped prior to the US versions.
It isn't very difficult, the configuration is parameter driven, at some stage in the future, autonomous Wi-Fi access points will consult a remote database to update their configuration parameters.
It doesn't matter what the manufacturers want, what matters is what the regulators want.
The 5GHz band is coming under pressure from new users (vehicles amongst others) and existing co-users of the band.
As a result the spectrum available for IEEE 802.11ac is likely to get more fractionated. So that 40 GHz and 80 GHz wide channels are going to made up of several non-contiguous channels in the future. Contiguous 80 MHz wide channels will cease being available.
The standards bodies and regulators are working towards having 802.11ac wireless access points operated entirely autonomously, even being fitted with GPS capability to ensure compliance with local regulations.
There are well developed plans to ensure that adjoining access points cooperate with each other in order to optimise overall usage of the available spectrum.
Based on my experience to date, Wi-Fi enthusiasts rarely pay much heed to regulators or the needs of other users. Even though some of the existing channels use the same portion of the spectrum as older Doppler radars used generally for weather warnings and most particularly for identifying wind shear conditions. Ignorance of wind shear can, and has, caused serious aviation fatalities.
On balance, there are strong arguments for not letting hobbyists interfere with the manner in which their Wi-Fi devices operate.
Most of the smart domestic devices I have encountered to date has to be banished to its own, separate wireless network, for performance and security reasons.
Even the IOT companies based in the Bay area know less than nothing about how networks and Wi-Fi operate, and have no regard for security or the need to issue and install security patches.
It is only a matter of time before a vacationer returns to find that the heating has been turned to maximum volume and the freezers powered off. Or that smart voice activated alarm clock starts publishing the otherwise private conversations it overhears.
Some years ago, I asked the boss of a business that was making a great deal of money laying fibre everywhere, and doing work on the likes of Crossrail. I asked him why he didn't lay his own fibre when he put it in on behalf of others, and he told me that if he did, he would have to pay "business rates on it".
This struck me as regressive behaviour. I have no idea if it was true, but I wonder how councils would know?
Actually, some form of pseudo-geocode is required to discover any clustering effects. As are possibly ranged ages, and genders. Detailed location information is not to be shared in any way shape or form, as it can be linked with other "non-identifying" information to reveal actual identities. I know that some TLA/FLAs use these techniques which were first demonstrated several decades ago.
Some of the better BI tools have an interface to R. Which may be used or abused to create representative data sets. Unless a BI tool has such a capability, or its equivalent, there are always going to be problems.
The kind of people who authorise BI projects are unlike to know what the previous paragraph is all about. They should have the requirement explained, preferably by the practicing consultant statistician/mathematician that has been retained to validate what is being done. Few of us have done enough statistical work outside of university to be able to determine whether what is being done with the data is reasonable. I can recall learning a great deal about different statistical methods, but rather less about when to use which method and how to determine between two similar but different techniques.
You might have more success had you taught the accountant how to formulate his optimisation problems using linear programming techniques, and, importantly, how to interpret the dual. If find it hard to imagine a qualified accountant in industry who does not understand how to do this, but then I got my qualifications abroad.
Few managers in industry, or senior treasury officials have any concept of the time value of money, either.
Applied Statistics, Applied Mathematics and Operations Research all benefit from charismatic lecturers, unfortunately, not commonly encountered.
I have no idea what gets taught in Data Analytics these days, and few people have any concept of what an Informaticist does.
For many organisations, BI is handled by web developers. Who most definitely are not the right people for this task.
They should have been suspended 8 years ago, when they first got into debt.
By their lights they have behaved logically - idiot Eurovision allows them to run up a big bill, year after year for 8 years. It is not reasonable to expect payment of that much money, wait until it is no longer your problem
I wrote a post yesterday setting out the real problems with the NHS,and its approach to Information Systems. This was based upon my experience in another country with a national health service, so it was what might be termed an informed opinion.
It wasn't polite about anybody involved in the general NHS mess and the IS mess in particular, but it was factual.
Mysteriously, it has disappeared. Who might do such a thing?
I bought a slim elegant rose gold and tan leather watch with a white face. It is elegant, and useful, it tells the time.
I prefer to have devices do what they are designed to do. So a camera for photographs, a watch for telling the time, a computer for computer stuff.
I'll admit that a tablet makes a good media centre, so I have fewer radios than previously. The tablet, with GPS, makes great navigation tool for sailing.
The Swiss Army knife approach to devices usually means everything is compromised
No, they are not network engineers.
By being excessively literal you have neatly missed my point, I'm guessing you are a CLI aficionado.
DBA's use DDL and DML to configure and manage DBMS and increasingly GUIs, which is analogous to Network Administrators using the CLI to configure network devices as opposed to GUIs.
Not so long ago there was a hugely significant network system called Netware. A great many people built careers out of being Netware Engineers. It could be obscure at the limits, and it appealed greatly to computer oriented individuals. Eventually Netware's market share diminished much faster than expected. I don't recall a Netware GUI, but there could have been one but it wouldn't have been "professional" to rely on it.
Today, network engineers are proud of their CLI skills and many shun GUI tools. And from their view point they are behaving optimally. The CLI is part of the network admin's employment protection mechanism.
However, GUIs don't make spelling mistakes, they are capable of processing a high level function change and making all the required sub-system amendments, all without mistyping, and, when well designed and developed, it can be easier to align desired reconfigurations with the original intentions. On the other hand a GUI designed by those unfamiliar with network processes is usually pretty dire.
In my own experience,the introduction of GUIs for use by DBAs has reduced costs, shortened development time, increased flexibility and improved reliability.Getting there wasn't always easy. The development of reliable network configuration, management and BI tools will be equally lengthy and controversial.
Anybody doubting SQL Server's ability to scale need only look at Sybase (now SAP) SQL Server (ASE) - which MS bought rather than reinventing YADBMS. The Sybase version is used by most of the financial institutions because it is fast, it scales, its low maintenance and it is reliable.
In my experience,the biggest problem with operational DBMS scaling is that many DBAs cut their teeth on Oracle and then treat all other DBMS as if they were the same, this is disastrous. CIOs, HR, recruitment agencies and "web developers" know scandalously little about DBMS, and care less.
The British suffer from "leaves on the line", and a train is delayed.
In the US, they have a mini explosion as, almost certainly an American Eagle (yes like Sam on The Muppets). was the culprit. Late trains and leaves are about as exciting as damp macintoshes - exploding eagles, that's the American Way!
All joking apart, the story tiptoes around the fact that the return of the Eagles to an area so close to NYC has consequences. Eagles are big (and spectacular), Indian Point is famous for them. It would not take an ornithologist long to look at the avian deposit and determine exactly what species of bird had anointed the power distribution equipment.
So the database grows to 22 Billion car journeys before anybody wakes up and starts making a fuss - pathetic!
The people who live in Britain generally want to be safe, the, shall we say, Public Safety authorities generally want to catch (and convict) law breakers. Those are entirely different goals.
None of the cameras have much to do with preventing crime, but are often the means by which miscreants are brought to justice.
No wonder Britain has the highest per capita prison population in Europe.
Finally, who has access (officially and unofficially) to this data?
R+C
I lived in Munich for over a decade and worked with all the leading auto makers in Germany. I had colleagues with family members within the BMW inner circle, but whilst I had friends at Alpina, I was never at ease with the BMW people I came across, I was always conscious of having to watch what I said, and thought, particularly amongst the M Division engineers.
By contrast, I could not have bean better treated than I was in Stuttgart and Ingolstadt. To be fair, I was impressed by Spartanburg SC, but I had previously been visiting Detroit.
Some years ago, Porsche had an engineer who was responsible for the factory racing program. He was, and remains a man with sociopathic tendencies. Because he is part of the Piech-Porsche cousinage, he was tolerated, but after the development of the 917 race car, he was encouraged to leave, a dangerous man consumed by ambition and his own sense of importance. He went to Audi where he built the brand and rose to the top and valuable engineers were burned along the way. Men like this have to keep destroying decent people in order to keep the rest of the executive team in line.
Little Napoleon rose to the top of the entire VW group, woe betide anybody who challenged him. He demonstrated that he could demand virtually anything, and get it, all it cost was money and engineers, well VW had plenty of both of those. Anybody dealing with VW and its subsidiaries and the people who were running the show became used to the sudden disappearances of capable pleasant hard working bosses over night. Group executives subsumed themselves to groupthink, if they wished to survive, it was worse than the situation at Neutron Jack Welch's GE.
It didn't matter how stupid or unreasonable the idea was, anybody who disagreed was out. Little Napoleon knew that he was and is a monster, to get his silly Bugatti Veyron project completed, he had to go outside VW and appeal to a mega rich motor racing banker to take over the project, because it was 'interesting', in order to bring it to fruition, doing it 'his way', was burning through more engineers that even VW could afford. In the meantime, people who had dealings with VW would advice their own colleagues and friends not to do business with VW, unless they wished to beaten down to a level that over the years the business was no longer profitable, As German colleagues put it VAG negotiate to the third decimal place.
So there was a culture of fear and decent people, and I include Martin Winterkorn amongst them,, learned not to step out of line, no matter how unrealistic the demands that are made upon them. Even apparently decent people learned to behave like monsters to survive.
To add to this hideous culture, governments and scientists must take some responsibility as the notion of diesel passenger cars supported by dishonest definitions of what was harmful in diesel exhaust residues was allowed to dominate a large section of the climate change debate. As cities around the world are now learning, diesel passenger cars are a bad idea and governments need to discourage, not favour them.
Volkswagen needs to change.but it does not need to be destroyed. Lets just stop making small diesel engines. Oddly, about 12/13 years ago I was at a VW Group shindig during the Le Mans 24 Hour race and mentioned to my charming hosts that betting the shop on diesel was a really bad idea, the first reaction of all those i spoke to was to whip round to make sure that nobody was listening and then to refute my statement in slightly dismissive terms.
Given the culture developed by Little Napoleon, I was reminded of the fable of the Emperor's New Clothes.
It really depends what they are doing their research in, some faculties data requirements will expand slowly, others much faster.
It is just the HDS kit that is expanding at 15% per year, we do not know about the growth in demand for other kit.
Growth demand is highly manipulatable in an academic environment ;-)
Depending on how it is done, I suspect genome research can be amongst the more demanding fields data storage wise. Johns Hopkins' labours to map the human genome might as well have been in another world.
Also, years ago when there were punitive import duties and taxes on computer equipment, NZ developed the knack of getting a quart out of a pint pot, computing-wise. Folk used to come down from the States to see how hard tiny boxes were made to work. I'm sure everybody at Otago still chuckles at SCREAM.
Most telcos/ISPs use existing commercial software which can be mix and matched to create the processes required for the organisation to function.
The commercial developers of these systems come under pressure to completely decouple the software from the back end database, where information is stored.
Many organisations have, or plan to have contracts in place with a database vendor.
The software creators want their application software to work with as many databases as possible, at the minimal cost.
To achieve this all the niceties built into the database are rignored, so no encryption, no stored procedures, no integrity. Anything to make the implementation of their application software over any backend exactly the same.
So if a hacker gets to these DBs, the world is their oyster. Putting some kind of security in place ahead of the application that accesses the data is of no effect.
Having looked closely at the designs of several supposedly confidential systems in development in Britain, I have seen that repeatedly provision has been made for data matching/access from "trusted" sources.
and the betting is......... an old fool.
If I need the services of a doctor or lawyer or engineer or accountant, I go to somebody with appropriate qualifications.
A patent attorney studies both engineering and law. Apparently an Interception of Communications Commissioner is only required to be a lawyer and pensionable.
If asked could anybody be certain that they could explain what metadata is (in a meaningful and relevant context) to this anomalous and creaking bauble of the legal establishment?
Airborne radars used to be c-band and are mostly now s-band, according to the FCC and ETSI.
Ofcom, ETSI and US sources discuss the current c-band interference issue.
What you appear to be missing is the fact that there is a comparatively large number of channels in the 5GHz band for WiFi usage, not all of which are usable in all countries. Further the max TX volumes differ from country to country. Some of these channels are only usable if they are equipped with DFS/TPC/CAC and they are active. In the event that weather radar is active, then the available channels and maximum TX volumes along with the current active channel will be changed, automatically.
End users could override this channel sharing arrangement with third party firmware. Interfering with active radar systems will result in chaos. If people really need their internet connection, whilst their router or AP is causing radar interference they have other options, planes relying on airports to warn them of the presence of wind shear do not.
I know that most home wifi hackers do not care about abiding by the regulations for spectrum sharing, because they tell the world this is the case. I can tell you that getting caught out by windshear is a very thought provoking experience.
Reluctantly, I have had to spend a surprising amount of time getting to grips with the problems of spectrum sharing in as much as it applies to that part of it used by 802.11ac specification devices.
The problem is that right in the middle of the frequencies earmarked for WiFi, weather radar operates. This doesn't sound like a big deal, at first sight. But weather radars are immensely powerful, mostly range limited by the curve of the earth.and they are not only used for weather forecasting (thunderclouds particularly), but also used at airports to pick up windshear. Windshear might not sound particularly ominous, but in reality its pretty scary for pilots and their passengers. The effect of windshear is to reduce the lift generated by the flow of air over the wings and to reduce the airspeed, eventually to the point where the aircraft will stall. In the past this has caused some very serious air accidents.
There is a network of weather radars across large areas of the world, unless they have been upgraded to s-band units, they are prone to interference by domestic wifi routers and access points..And shipping uses c-band radar, not only ships, but harbours, shore installations and shipping control regimes, such as the Straits of Dover (which is a mass of c-band radar).
In order to make spectrum sharing work, without adversely affecting safety, three (yes 3 not 2) techniques have been specified to make sure that wifi does not cause any problems with the operation of radars. Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS), Transmit Power Control (TPC) and the less well known and documented Channel Availability Checking (CAC).. These pretty well do what is written on the label. CAC, involves listening on a channel to check it is vacant before using it.
Unfortunately, every part of the world has slightly different rules, even the European Spectrum Management Organisation (ETSI), allows different countries to adjust the rules somewhat as they require. There are considerable variations in broadcast signal strength.
Generally speaking, part of the setup of a wifi router or access point involves specifying the device's location. This enables the onboard firmware to select the appropriate parameters for the device to operate within. There is even talk of providing devices with GPS receivers so the location is set automatically.
If end users can load third party firmware, all these safeguards can be overcome, Locations, frequencies and transmission volumes can be altered at will. Which could well become a major issue as far as safety is concerned.
Governments are not too keen on differentiating between minimal risk and risk, let alone major risk, consequently they tend to err on the safe side; they really are in a no-win situation.
I know some manufacturers are taking this very seriously, but the people who make 3rd party firmware, are thy going to be able to prevent users from creating problems?
Weighing the options, I personally don't mind steps being taken to stop users operating their equipment when it is out of specification., and I know that many have done so in the past. Currently I'm hoping that the introduction of 802.11ad will be brought forward - real soon now.
Mr Zimmerman
Its is easy to understand the British tolerance for widespread surveillance - they are not nice, they like beating up on people - they lock them up in prisons in disproportionate numbers - they do not rehabilitate them - the Prime Minister feels physically sick at the thought of prisoners voting (what happened to bringing offenders back into society and making them responsible), they know that CCTV does not prevent crime, just makes conviction easier.
The police lie, the journalists are dishonest, the politicians are shonky.
What does shock me, however is the loss of spine or backbone. The Parisians fixed the wheel clamping problem - they filled the locks with superglue. - clamping disappeared. The Dutch blew up Speed cameras. - the British just take it
As long as somebody else is getting "beaten up on", the British are happy.
So, Mr Zimmerman, don't be surprised by the British
Apparently these connectors are designed for infrequent use, as in when they are serviced and tested. Frequent connection/disconnection is likely to fatigue failure.
Anybody who finds the OBD2 information interesting as they drive down the road needs to get a life, beyond its novelty value, it ain't that useful unless you are sufficiently trained to understand what is being displayed. I think it is Nissan which has displays of "interesting" data available, once the novelty value has worn off, they are rarely looked at.
As far as Porsche choosing to go with Apple, well Porsche is part of VAG. VAG always needs alternative suppliers and they are traded off against each other.
VW AG (VAG) has always prided itself, present circumstances aside, on the involvement of senior management in engineering. One commonly hears comments along the lines of "Daimler is run by people who used to be engineers, VW is run by people who are engineers".
If the senior managers become detached from the underlying brands they become far too involved in non car related matters, to the long term detriment of the group and its customers as a whole.
The best that can come out of this scandal is that passenger diesel cars are forgotten about as fast as possible, or the scientists and government policy makers who colluded to redefine what pollution is are consigned to oblivion and a more accurate measure of pollution is used, if such a thing is possible.
From time to time i have reviewed major NHS projects (it isn't difficult).
Two factors stand out alarmingly
Almost all those involved in drawing up project requirements appear to have been selected because they can be spared by their employer without being missed
Also, almost all the project/program managers appear to be from the detached school of project management. They studiously avoid any involvement that is anything beyond the processes required to report what has been decided. The standard line of defence is "the project requirements reflect what the project members desire".
No NHS IT projects will be successful until there is full and ongoing involvement from the busiest, most senior and influential clinical staff.
When the GSM standard was first developed, handsets designed to be ISDN devices. The MNOs realised that if this functionality was widely adopted, cunning users would use it to minimise roaming costs, so they formed a cartel and effectively pushed dual-sim phones out of view.
At the time this was all going down, monthly roaming costs in Europe, years ago, for somebody working outside their home country were more that the cost of new premium smartphone with a maxed out spec.
There have been several attempts since to make something like a dual sim phone work, but they were dire. I haven't tried dual SIM phones for years, its simpler just to have several phones
Europe needs a European end-to-end system, the satellites, the software, the data, etc Long run thinking suggests that US, Russian or Chinese reliant systems, cannot be relied upon in the future. We have seen, in the past, the US turn off their sats, shooting themselves in the foot in the process.This could be the salvation of TomTom at some stage, as well.
Apart from anything else we have seen the US screw up the billing model for mobile telephony, one of the links in an automated motoring future, and very often, the nav system in a US based car is a nice person in a call centre telling one where to go over the inbuilt phone. (I think they are chosen for being nice). For a short time a very senior GM-honcho was my sister-out-law, she could not understand why Europeans laughed at the GM view of telematics.
Definately Europe is taking the long view
Villages should learn how to roll their own WISPs. Depending on how is done, anywhere from 20Mbps to 80Mbps is entirely possible. To help offset the cost, once installed and bedded in residents could drop the BT connection and simply use a Sipgate/VoIP service, much cheaper.
I have used a WISP, I found it remarkably reliable, only when the National Grid started laying temporary wooden "roading" to rewire pylons was there any problem as they blocked the line of sight with 40' x 20' wooden sections being hoisted into position. That doesn't happen every day.
And yes, I was able to watch streamed HD TV
MongoDB is embedded in a number of applications. The users of these applications are incapable of reading manuals, so even when they are directed to instructions for securing the DB, they do nothing.
The people who write the software that controls the equipment that the users bought don't know anything about databases, they tend to be electrical and electronics engineers, who regard software as a necessary evil. They are also so insular, I'm not sure they really appreciate the need for security.
I regularly sort out MongoDB security (its not difficult), upgrade it from 32 to 64-bit (equipment engineers don't do this), and link it to Pentaho for reporting purposes. I must have explained how to do this upwards of 100 people, despite being "professionals", not one of them has been capable doing the same. From their point of view they just want kit that works. Sometimes I think that free Open Source software is the most expensive you can buy.
I enjoy this view of MongoDB - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2F-DItXtZs
When I first went to Germany, I had a big office with a floor to ceiling view of the Alps, which was fine, but very soon, as the weather improved, like most of the other folk with offices facing south, I had to organise portable air-con units. Which worked,up until the point where there were so many of them in the building that the fuse boxes were all tripping and the electricity bill was soaring. Fortunately, I got wind of the forthcoming ban on self-installed AC units and managed to swap my nice Alpine viewed sunny office for larger but less plush one on the north side of the building. Unfortunately, nearly all the meeting rooms were on the sunny side. After a time a few of us used to hand round deodorant sprays before meeting began, being Germany they had to be the kind that does not harm the environment.
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