Can you safely revive a dead lithium-ion battery? Yes - here's how

More and more devices now come kitted out with rechargeable lithium-ion batteries -- you know, the ones that look like the old-style AA or C cell batteries, but are a slightly different size. The most common size is the now ubiquitous 18650, but there are loads of other sizes in use too, such as the 14500, 16340, and 26650.

These batteries are incredibly safe if treated properly, especially when you consider how much power they contain, and can last for many years and hundreds of discharge cycles before needing to be replaced.

Sometimes basic chargers can be "better" than clever chargers! Chiefly the issue being solved here is when lithium-ion batteries discharge down below their cut-off voltage point.

See https://www.zdnet.com/home-and-office/can-you-safely-revive-a-dead-lithium-ion-battery-yes-heres-how/

#technology #batteries

Uncapped Internet at R99pm on a meshed network for South African low-income communities

Maintaining cabled infrastructure in many informal areas is a nightmare (costly to deploy, dangerous, and sometimes damaged/stolen) so a meshed network does really solve this type of challenge, where each core node relays off the next one, to cover a wide area. In the example given in the linked article, a third of a township that’s home to an estimated 80 000 people is served.

Combining this with a commercial model where the core node hoster is earning 15% of the monthly cost from the surrounding leaf nodes, it is a real win-win.

It's no coincidence, either, that this type of meshed network is proving popular, as we have seen active decentralisation along identical lines with social media, and also with the Meshtastic unlicensed radio that I featured a week or two back.

This type of approach is perfect where a high-cost service can be shared in a cost-effective way across a community who wouldn't otherwise be able to afford such a service on their own.

See https://techcentral.co.za/internet-revolution-in-olievenhoutbosch/241698/

#technology #SouthAfrica #meshnetworks

I think it may be more the compression type (what is compressed vs discarded) than the bitrates that are more difficult to discern?

Lossless Audio Does Not Sound Better Than MP3 To Most People

Apple, Amazon, and Tidal offer “lossless audio,” claiming users can “hear the exact same thing” an artist created in the studio. However, it’s a myth that lossless audio objectively sounds better than MP3, and most users can’t hear a difference at all.

The main difference between the lossless audio and MP3 is file size. “Lossless” means it’s the same size as the original track created in the studio, and it’s usually stored as a WAV file.

Even if you are listening to lossless audio, your music is still getting compressed if you’re using Bluetooth.

So, certainly if you are using Bluetooth headphones, you're likely wasting your time with lossless audio files. I suppose a lot of the hype around lossless audio formats is that some companies also charge more for them, and listeners think they're getting better quality audio.

Even real audiophiles would be searching very carefully to actually hear any differences, and in a very quiet environment.

See https://gizmodo.com/lossless-audio-does-not-sound-better-than-mp3-1851341155

#technology #music #myths

Oh, Zot! Nomadic Identity is Coming to ActivityPub: This could change the Fediverse forever

Years before there was Mastodon and even ActivityPub, there was Mike Macgirvin who created the Zot protocol, which Hubzilla runs on. One of Hubzilla's most amazing features (apart from also integrating with Activity and the Fediverse, and having channel relays) is also the nomadic identity that Mike envisioned.

Nomadic Identity is a concept pioneered by Mike Macgirvin, a longtime builder in the Fediverse. If you’ve ever used Friendica, Hubzilla, or Streams, you’ve used software written by this guy.

Nomadic identity is true portability of your identity, along with posts, followers, etc to a new location.

I've actually used nomadic identity when I hosted my own Hubzilla instance, and I moved my hosting to a different provider where I could not host my Hubzilla easily in a Docker environment. I resumed my Hubzilla on the secondary channel, and changed that to my primary channel. It just worked.

Hubzilla, with its Zot protocol, also allows for multiple channels on the same account (think of them as separate feeds each with its own profile) which can be used for work, home, a hobby, etc.

I'll be really happy to see Mike applying his mind to improving ActivityPub as I know he had some fundamental principles which he got right, and which ActivityPub still needs. How, where, and when I don't know as I remember Mike says way back, that is was easier to create the Zot protocol anew, than to change Friendica's existing protocol.

Identity Management is one of those pieces of plumbing that’s surprisingly shaky still on ActivityPub but also across all social networks and requires serious consideration. For example, you also cannot migrate your identity from Facebook to say Tumblr at all. I know that Sir Tim Berners-Lee was also working on the same problem, with his POD identity being central for each person, but he has been busy on it for many years and there is no sign at all of any early adoption on any existing social network.

So, if Mike can retrofit his concepts into ActivityPub, then he will likely help cement an important new building block for the Fediverse and all its users.

See https://wedistribute.org/2024/03/activitypub-nomadic-identity/

#technology #socialnetworks #ActivityPub #nomadicidentity

There is also this example of a 6-year long project to convert a real 737 cockpit into a workable flight sim at https://youtu.be/YaGVz9wZBis?si=yIdy6wVAK_dOf8JQ

This is the most completely authentic 737 home flight simulator I've seen to date

This simulator even has an authentic looking cabin door that you enter through, and a seat belt for the pilot seat. A bit of a glitch with the sim software itself, is where the plane flattens a truck crossing its path on the outward-bound taxiing (keep an eye on the right bottom side of the screen as the trucks are crossing).

If you think many of the knobs and switches are just for decoration, he has another video showing the exact start up sequence with those knobs and buttons being used. The landing gear lights, for example, do change colour and go out in a believable sequence.

But an incredibly well done job that I'm sure will give many years of pleasure.

Watch https://youtu.be/1VQ2NhXqKBs?si=nPhmEIJf7F0ibl9O

#technology #gaming #simulator

Radicle is an open source, peer-to-peer code collaboration stack alternative to GitHub

It leverages Git’s architecture combined with cryptography and a gossip protocol to enable a fully sovereign developer network. All social artifacts are stored in Git, and signed using public-key cryptography. Radicle verifies the authenticity and authorship of all data for you.

The Radicle protocol leverages cryptographic identities for code and social artifacts, utilizes Git for efficient data transfer between peers, and employs a custom gossip protocol for exchanging repository metadata.

Radicle enables users to run their own nodes, ensuring censorship-resistant code collaboration and fostering a resilient network without reliance on third-parties.

Radicle installs on your own Linux, macOS or BSD computer and will connect remotely to other remote peers. But note this likely works using git CLI commands so don't expect the pretty GitHub interface.

See https://radicle.xyz/guides/user

#technology #opensource #git #decentralised

Fresh version of Windows user-friendly Zorin OS arrives to tempt the Linux-wary

One of the more widely used Ubuntu spinoffs, non-techie friendly Zorin has put out three editions of its latest version – Zorin OS 17.1 – and there are still more to come.

Zorin OS, like its Irish cousin Linux Mint, is not a distro intended to appeal to existing Linux users. Instead, it targets not-very-technical Windows users. For instance, as the Reg has covered in depth before, Windows 11 won't run on a lot of existing PCs, many of which are still perfectly capable, well-specified kit. We suspect that there are also lots of people who, perfectly understandably, held off from the underwhelming Windows 8 or 8.1. For those still on Windows 7 or 8.x, the free Windows 10 upgrades have ended.

If you have a geriatric PC that, when it was new, ran Windows 7 reasonably well, then today it will run Zorin OS just fine. The fact that Zorin OS 17.1 is still based on the 2022 release of Ubuntu is a distinct advantage, in terms of support for older hardware.

Zorin is definitely not being aimed at the Linux pros or bleeding edge Linux users. This is probably a good thing as we do need more newbie-friendly Linux distros, and this one has been around for a while too, so is quite mature and ready to use.

And we are certainly seeing from the worldwide stats that Linux desktop use is picking up slowly. A 1% increase overall equates to an over 30% increase in actual Linux desktop users.

See https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/15/zorin_os_17_1/

#technology #Linux

CATS is a new comms and telemetry standard intended to surpass the current APRS standard by leveraging modern, super-cheap FSK transceivers

It does make a lot of sense as the more modern digital modes we've seen over ham radio, achieve the same with less bandwidth required, more accurate transmission, and better weak signal support.

It's true though that APRS is very mature and widely supported through so many radios right now, so my big question is, how would this affect those radios? Will firmware update be possible, or will this work side-by-side with existing APRS? Luckily this is an open source type project so we won't sit with the problem we've had with DRM, etc being proprietary.

My Kenwood TM-D710GA mobile rig is pretty expensive and not the sort of radio I'm just going to be able to replace (there is no other radio that does all that the Kenwood does).

See https://hackaday.com/2024/03/15/cats-a-new-communication-and-telemetry-system/

#technology #hamradio #APRS

SIM swappers hijacking phone numbers in eSIM attacks: Protect your cellular service account

Previously, SIM swappers relied on social engineering or worked with insiders at mobile carrier services to help them port a target's number. However, as companies implemented more protections to thwart these takeovers, cybercriminals turned their attention to emerging opportunities in new technologies.

Now, attackers breach a user's mobile account with stolen, brute-forced, or leaked credentials and initiate porting the victim's number to another device on their own.

They can do this by generating a QR code through the hijacked mobile account that can be used to activate a new eSIM. They then scan it with their device, essentially hijacking the number.

To defend against eSIM-swapping attacks, researchers recommend using complex and unique passwords for the cellular service provider account and enabling two-factor authentication if available.

But it also does show that banks should not be relying solely on SMS or authentication by SIM.

See https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/sim-swappers-hijacking-phone-numbers-in-esim-attacks/

#technology #esim #vulnerabilities

Does the Ring Video Doorbell really need 8 to 24 VAC? Seems not as DC works on mine!

My Ring video doorbell has been sitting on 0% to 4% charge the last week so I thought I’d look at replacing the 19VAC charger, which was difficult to source originally. But after a bit of searching, I saw many asking whether it could not just use a DC charger as they are super easy, and cheaper, to procure.

The Ring Video Doorbell website and all manuals state to hardwire it you should use 8 to 24V AC depending on the model to a max draw of 40VA (about 2A at 24V), and also all a smoothing resistor as well. It seems all of this is some hang over from using existing old, wired doorbell cabling that is already in place. Nowhere does Ring mention anything at all about DC being an alternative.

One commenter was mentioning that in fact if you applied DC to it, it would just use the one side of the AC input circuitry, and it should pass that DC straight through. So, I thought DC is really easy and cheaper to get, maybe I’ll try this this and see.

I bought a 24V DC charger, to also allow for a bit of voltage drop from the house to the outdoor gate and removed that smoothing resistor to wire it straight through to the device. Polarity should not really matter as AC peaks on both sides. I connected it and the device showed hardwired (it has the battery inside still). But I left it overnight and in the morning the battery was showing 100% charge. See the image following for the Home Assistant entity monitoring for my doorbell battery charge percentage.

It is worth noting that the battery charges to 100% then the device seems to stop charging and allows the battery to run the device until it drops to 85% or 90% and then recharge. So, it won’t necessarily stay on 100% all the time if it is hardwired.

The featured image in this post shows a screenshot inside the Ring app which is showing the status is hardwired. Everything is looking good though and I’ll monitor it closely for a few days still. But if this is correct, I don’t know why Ring does not state you can actually use a DC charger as well with your Ring Video Doorbell. AC chargers are really not that easy to always find.

#technology #Ring #videodoorbell

UPT: Universal Package Management Tool for Any OS: One command to rule them all!

I've not tested this yet, but it looks interesting. One of those big differentiators between the different branches of Linux, are the different package manager per branch which one has to get to know.

There are Pacman for Arch Linux and derivatives, Alpine Package Keeper (a.k.a. APK), Advanced Package Tool (a.k.a. APT) for Debian GNU/Linux and derivatives, Aptitude, a front-end for APT, Snapcraft for Ubuntu and derivatives, Yellowdog Updater Modified (a.k.a. Yum) for RPM-based systems, Slackpkg for Slackware, Emerge for Gentoo, the guix command on Guix, and nix-env on NixOS, among others, not to mention pkg on FreeBSD, Homebrew for macOS, and Scoop for Windows. Every one of those has its own way of management, forcing you to learn different ways to do the same thing.

A developer called sigoden has created a universal tool called Universal Package-management Tool, or UPT for short, able to put things together in this jungle. Once you have it installed, you won’t need to learn another package management’s lifestyle again.

UPT is written in Rust so you need to install Rust and Cargo on Ubuntu or whatever Linux distribution you are using.

I don't see any YouTube videos about this yet. It started out 5 years ago, but it seems that the usable releases only started from about Dec 2023. It works for Linux, Windows, macOS and BSD. The Github project page lists all supported OSs.

See https://itsfoss.com/upt/

#technology #Linux #opensource

Cross-Industry Giants Unite for Speedometer 3.0 browser benchmark

Since its inception in 2014 by the WebKit team, Speedometer has served as an essential barometer for browser engines, propelling performance enhancements to meet the escalating demands for more dynamic and seamless online experiences.

Its latest release, Speedometer 3.0, developed through the collective efforts of leading tech giants Apple, Google, Microsoft, and Mozilla, offers a refined tool to gauge web application responsiveness by emulating real-user interactions on web pages and ushers a new era for browser performance testing.

Thanks to the collaboration of the major browser engines (Blink, Gecko, and WebKit), it introduces a superior methodology for measuring performance alongside a more encompassing set of tests that mirror the complexities of the modern Web.

We often blame our Internet connection for bad "speed experiences" but it can also be from the browser, or the various extensions added. Having a good benchmark can also serve to show whether adding or removing some extensions would make any significant difference.

On my Linux PC my Brave Beta browser scored 5.83 whilst Edge Dev scored 9.45. This gives me something to work with now whilst trying a few optimisations out.

At the end of the linked article is a link to the browser benchmark itself, if you want to try it out.

See https://linuxiac.com/cross-industry-giants-unite-for-speedometer-3-0/

#technology #benchmark #browsers

Ready Player One Author Gives First Look at His Metaverse Battle Royale Game

This was a movie that I REALLY enjoyed. Sadly though this is not a playable demo of any type, but more a video trailer....

The company has described Open as “the first genre-defining AAA metaverse gaming experience, interoperable with top-tier IP through web3 tech. A multi-biome, multi-IP, multi-mode battle royale experience, in development for PC and next gen platforms, will set the stage for the future of gaming.”

"Open will probably be a game that you can play on both your computer and with a fancy AR/VR headset. The “multi-IP” part refers to the fact that soon other franchises will be integrating their own characters into the gameplay".

So yes, for it to be anything like the movie, it will need AR/VR headset type functionality. At the end of the linked article is a link to sign up on the wait list, so long.

See https://gizmodo.com/ready-player-one-ernst-cline-readyverse-studios-open-ga-1851326285

#technology #VR #gaming

Tor’s new WebTunnel bridges mimic HTTPS traffic to evade censorship

The Tor Project officially introduced WebTunnel, a new bridge type specifically designed to help bypass censorship targeting the Tor network by hiding connections in plain sight.

It makes it harder to block Tor connections by ensuring that the traffic blends in with HTTPS-encrypted web traffic.

Since blocking HTTPS would also block the vast majority of connections to web servers, the WebTunnel connections will also be permitted, effectively circumventing censorship in network environments with protocol allow lists and deny-by-default policies.

This is pretty good, as often censorship blocks are done by destination address or protocol type.

To be able to use a WebTunnel bridge, you'll first have to get bridge addresses and add them manually to Tor Browser for desktop through the given procedure. So some preparation is required.

While WebTunnel works in regions like China and Russia, it does not currently work in some regions in Iran," the Tor Project said.

It will also work with the Tor Android client.

See https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/tors-new-webtunnel-bridges-mimic-https-traffic-to-evade-censorship/

#technology #Tor #censorship

Feeeed is a reader app that goes beyond tracking RSS feeds with an extra bell and whistle

RSS feed apps are a really great way to focus on what you want to see and read about, but once you've read the feeds, the app is blank as it only shows what is in the specific feeds you chose.

Feeeed offers not only some extra integrations (like your own personal reminders, step count, etc), but also a bot that recommends some additional source selections.

Unlike other RSS readers, there is no read count to get through as the idea is to discover content rather than reaching “Inbox Zero” for a reader. But if you feel the urge to catch up to the latest posts, you can pin a “Latest” tab to the bottom bar.

It certainly shows that RSS feed apps need not just be basic feed apps only, and some extra bells and whistles can make them more interesting.

See https://techcrunch.com/2024/03/11/feeeed-is-a-reader-app-that-goes-beyond-tracking-rss-feeds/

#technology #RSS #news

Rob Braxman is a guy that I absolutely stopped watching. Some of his allegations were quite twisted and not rational. He seems more in the business of absolute extremes and I don't see any objective analysis does by him. Not a guy I quote any longer unless I'd want to do click bait headlining.

That casts no doubt at all, and is exactly the same for any company around the world including Apple and others. If a legally binding court order is served on any company, they have to provide what they can provide.

The question is what they have, to provide e.g. in this case it was IP addresses, not the content of the mail. What most companies are trying to do, is to reduce what information they actually have.

What is way worse than this is legally binding acts like the US CLOUD Act where that extends into other countries, where it is done secretly, and especially where it is done without any due legal process (forget which company was still recently handing over private data at the mere request of police).

Still worse are companies like Facebook (from Cambridge Analytica) that are freely, or at profit, passing on user data, or having in their T&C for WhatsApp to freely pass all metadata upstream and out to advertisers.

ProtonMail could maybe do better to not log IP addresses (again it may depend on what their country's laws state) but they still sit at the top of the list of privacy respecting e-mail services.

Yes, always way too easy to just allege or speculate about something without any reason. I much prefer to go on actual reports that have been published. On some communities I manage I welcome opposing opinions, but they must either be stated as an opinion, or else they need some credible references to back them up and further the debate. Otherwise, the comments get removed. I'm always prepared to change my views if better / newer facts emerge, but it's really unfair to discredit someone else work without something concrete to back that up.