Feb 12, 2016 - The WAN Show Document

[LinusTech]

 

 

 

Soundcloud Link:

 

Main News Topics

Windows 10 sends your PC data thousands of times to Microsoft and Non-Private IPs

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/544982-windows-10-sends-your OP: Tofuman89

Source 2:  http://www.forbes.com/sites/gordonkelly/2016/02/09/windows-10-data-tracking-s

Source 3: http://www.ghacks.net/2016/02/08/windows-10-phones-home-even-after-

• if you select to customize preferences on Win10 you can disable three pages of features related to privacy

• user on Voat analyzed network traffic of Win 10 OS using a DD-WRT router and Linux Mint laptop with remote logging and Win 10 Etnerprise installed on Virtualbox

• He turned off all privacy-related features during installation, and let the PC sit idle for eight hours logging network traffic

• in eight hours Win 10 made 5508 connection attempts, GRAPH HERE

  • there is disputes regarding how much of that is Win 10 itself

• he then analyzed traffic after 30 hours, and saw Win 10 attempted to connect to 113 non-private IP addresses

• then used a privacy tool, called DisableWinTracking

  • tool makes changes to privacy, disabling telemetry, services, blocking domains and IP addresses

  • numbers dropped from 5508 to 2758 connection attempts

• Windows 10 EULA gives Microsoft rights to do this

AMD’s Polaris Graphic Cards Will Make The ‘Minimum VR Spec’ More Affordable for Everyone - Targeting Price Points Below $349

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/546365-amd%E2%80% OP: Mr_Troll

Source 2: http://wccftech.com/amd-polaris-architecture-vr-minimum-spec/

Total Available Market Challenge Chart

• challenge is “Total Available Market”

• Oculus VR required “minimum specification” of GPU

  • GTX 970/R9 290

  • Polaris aimed to bring minimum spec within reach of more people

  • for under the $349 mark

AMD’s Roy Taylor - “AMD has just completed the shrink to 14 nanometer [with Polaris Architecture]. What this means is, and this is where it comes home to everyone in this room, is that we can produce GPUs that will run the minimum spec of VR at a lower cost, in larger volume, consuming less power and running faster. That means in the second half of this year and going forward more people will be able to run those headsets which will make a larger for everybody in the room [VR Industry].”

U.S. Navy Works to Create Humanoid Firefighting Robot

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/545461-us-navy-works-to-create-h OP: TopDollar

Source 2: http://www.computerworld.com/article/3031657/robotics/navy-calls-on-rese

Source 3: http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=85459

Picture

Video of Autonomous Firefighting Robot (4:58 Long)

• Navy hoping to one day have robots, instead of sailors take on job of tackling onboard fires

• project dubbed SAFFiR (Shipboard Autonomous Firefighting Robot)

• has been worked on for six years

• U.S. military’s Office of Naval Research giving grant of $600,000 to a Worcester Polytechnic Institute professor

  • to develop motion-planning algorithms for firefighting humanoid robots

  • robot must be agile and able to move in tight spaces on a ship or sub

• University of Pennsylvania and Carnegie Mellon are also involved

Twitter potentially loses its free Speech

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/546186-twitter-loses-it OP: destroyer8769

Source 2: https://blog.twitter.com/2016/announcing-the-twitter-trust-safety-council

• Twitter announcing formation of Twitter Trust & Safety Council

  • a foundational part of their strategy  to ensure that people feel safe expressing themselves on Twitter

• taking a global and inclusive approach so they can hear a diversity of voices from organizations

  • some of these include: Safety advocates, academics, grassroots advocacy organizations, community groups that look to prevent abuse, harassment, and bullying

Microsoft acquired Swiftkey in support of re-inventing productivity ambition

Source 1: http://blogs.microsoft.com/blog/2016/02/03/microsoft-acquires-swiftkey-in-support-of-re-

Source 2: https://blog.swiftkey.com/microsoft-acquires-swiftkey/

• Microsoft has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Swiftkey

• Swiftkey software keyboard and SDK powers more than 300 million Android and iOS devices

• “SwiftKey’s tech aligns with our vision for more personal computing experiences that anticipate our needs versus responding to our commands” - Harry Shum = Exec VP, Tech and Research

• looking to also integrate SwiftKey tech into Word Flow technology for Windows

Intel: Chips to Become Slower But More Energy Efficient

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/542294-intel-chips-to-become OP: HKZeroFive

Source 2: https://www.technologyreview.com/s/600716/intel-chips-will-have-to-sacrifice-speed

• says new technologies in chip manufacturing will favour better energy consumption over faster execution times

  • calling an end to “Moore’s Law”

• prognosis comes from William Holt - Executive VP and GM of Technology & Manufacturing Group

  • discussed new technologies at the International Solid State Circuits Conference in San Fran

  • such as tunneling transistors, and spintronics

• “We’re going to see major transitions” said Holt

• “The best pure technology improvements we can make will bring improvements in power consumption but will reduce speed”

• spintronics is expected to begin to appear in commercial tech such as graphics chips within 18 months

Microsoft plans to make Windows 10, Xbox One game “cross buys” a habit

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/546509-microsoft-plans-to OP: DocSwag

Source 2:  http://www.pcworld.com/article/3032510/software-games/micros

Phil Spencer’s Tweet

• gamers who pre order Xbox One’s “Quantum Break” will receive a free digital copy for Windows 10 PCs

• the game will manage saves cross platform

• Microsoft’s chief plans to make the cross buy a platform feature of Xbox One

• a user asked if it was only for Quantum Break, Phil Spencer also answered that they will make it a platform feature

The Division developer concedes PC version was downgraded to stay “in check” with consoles. [Ubisoft doing damage control]

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/543617-the-division-develo OP: Rohith_Kumar_Sp

Source 2: http://www.kitguru.net/gaming/matthew-wilson/ubisoft-denies-pc-version-of-the-divisio

The Division Dev Statement Video

• unnamed developer stated that they had to keep the PC version of The Division “in check with consoles because it would kind of be unfair to push it so far away from them”

• Ubisoft sent PCGamesN a statement saying:

 

“It has come to our attention that a comment from one of our team members has been perceived by some members of the community to imply the PC version of The Division was ‘held back’ and this is simply not true. From the beginning, the PC version of The Divison was developed from the ground up and we’re confident players will enjoy the game and the features this version has to offer. And the feedback from PC players who participated in the recent closed beta supports this.”

HP to Bring Freesync to Consumer Laptops

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/545107-hp-to-br OP: DocSwag

Source 2: http://www.pcworld.com/article/3032098/coming-to-hps-consumer-laptops-smoo

• HP bringing FreeSync to HP Envy 15z

  • will be refreshed in the first half of 2016

  • new AMD 6th gen A-series chip, codenamed Carrizo

• will support FreeSync directly through the panel and through an HDMI port

• pricing not available at this time

  • current Envy 15z starts at $499 USD

AMD Teases R9 Fury X2

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/546396-amd-teases-r9-fury-x2/ OP: DocSwag

Source 2: http://wccftech.com/amds-secret-letters-more2betterthan1-r9-295x2-dual-hawa

Tweet Link

• AMDs Scott Wassan tweeted an image of two Fiji GPUs

• similar to what they did with the 295x2

Prosecution argues that turning on your phone means you consent to being tracked

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/546165-prosecution-argues-that-turn OP: jos

Source 2: https://www.deepdotweb.com/2016/02/11/turning-your-phone-on-is-consenting

Request Order

• Baltimore police obtained an arrest warrant for Kerron Andrews in 2014

• in an attempt to find this person, they used his cell phone

• requested a pen register order from the judge, expressing intent to locate Kerron

• used a Hailstorm to track the phone, never disclosed this

  • ISMI-catcher, acts like mobile tower and attacks phones that connect to it

  • its indiscriminate and ends up scooping innocent bystanders information

• Baltimore Sun reports the police “have used the technology 4,300 times since 2007”

• response to a discovery request asking if police used a stingray was stalled until June 2015

• in June 2015, a judge concluded the information was intentionally withheld from the defense by police, violating legal disclosure obligations

• Aug 2015, another judge concluded that police had violated the fourth amendment right because they used hailstorm

• In the brief’s first statement it states: “While cell phones are ubiquitous, they all come with an “off” switches. If a cell phone is turned on, it is receiving signals from cell towers, and sending signals back out to cell towers. The cell site simulator used in this case took advantage of that fact in order to locate Andrews’ phone. Because Andrews chose to keep his cell phone on, he was voluntarily sharing the location of his cell phone with third parties.”

 

Fourth Amendment = “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.”

Wired to Block Ad-Blocking Users, Offer Ad-Free Subscription

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/544427-wired-to-block-ad-blocking- OP: Syntaxvgm

Source 2: http://www.wired.com/how-wired-is-going-to-handle-ad-blocking/

• saying 20% of their web traffic has Ad-Block enabled

• aiming to implement “in the coming weeks”

• giving two options for Ad-Blockers

  • 1. add Wired.com to ad blocker’s whitelist, so you can view their ads

  • 2. Subscribe for $1 a week, and get access to everything without display advertising or ad tracking

Opera just got bought for $1.2B by Chinese Consortium

Source 1: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/545006-opera-just-got-bought-b OP: AluminumTech

Source 2: http://www.engadget.com/2016/02/10/opera-1-2-billion-buyout-offer/

• deal valued at $1.2 billion USD

• acquired by Kunlun Tech and Qihoo 360

  • backed by Golden Brick Silk Road and Yonglian investment firms

• Kunlun Tech: gaming company that bought majority stake in gay dating app Grindr in January

• Qihoo: antivirus-and browser-maker

• Chief Executive Lars Boilesen said “the Consortium’s ownership will strengthen Opera’s position to serve our users and partners with even greater innovation”

[Brodcast]

Luke is bether !

[mao91]

In regard to phones and "consent to tracking", I'm curious how much simply turning off location and background services can avert being tracked (i.e. if Maps needs my location to locate me anyway, and I turn my location off, then does that "do the trick" to make sure I'm not being tracked?) 

Of course, I also route *most* of my phone's data traffic through Orbot anyway, so I'm slightly less concerned.

[EricX2]

2 hours ago, B.Toast said:

In regard to phones and "consent to tracking", I'm curious how much simply turning off location and background services can avert being tracked (i.e. if Maps needs my location to locate me anyway, and I turn my location off, then does that "do the trick" to make sure I'm not being tracked?) 

Of course, I also route *most* of my phone's data traffic through Orbot anyway, so I'm slightly less concerned.

What I don't understand is the location services that you can turn off on your phone is only for apps on your phone. Unless all traffic including voice can be transmitted as internet traffic the mobile provider can always figure out your location based on the mobile signal and which towers you're connecting to.

 

I could be wrong about that though.

[testarossa47]

Please make a video about this power consumption experiment. It would be so interesting and practical for everybody I guess.

[zara512]

What I'm curious about is if making cpus more power efficient will have any effect on core count.

[Razor512]

Wanted to add that cellphone traffic is encrypted between you and the tower (voice traffic is also encrypted). It is also not practical to crack it, the law enforcement rogue cell towers are essentially going it with the permission of the cell carrier.

 

If needed, you can capture cellphone traffic using a cheap SDR, other than pager traffic, you can't really make sense of the data.

[Razor512]

I miss the days when GPU mining worked for bitcoin.

When the value kept going up, and GPU mining was in its earliest stages. I saved a lot on heating, as from what I got in the mining pool, often broke even and even made a tiny bit of profit, overall, it was largely breaking even, but it kept the bedrooms warm, and with the non blower style coolers, the noise levels remained pretty low.

 

In NY, the cost of gas heating is pretty high, and electric heating is just expensive due to price gouging by the electric companies, but if bitcoin can be effectively generated while giving off heat, then it really saves money.

[nerdyrcdriver]

I don't make videos, so I don't know if this is right. We always see youtubers making teleprompters using a tablet and a mirror. What is wrong with using a tv and something that can play a powerpoint that way the host can push a button (maybe with their foot?) to move on when ready). 

[SRT10]

LMAO, Linus you're so patient with Teran.

 

SWIFTKEY WTF !!!

[LAwLz]

18 hours ago, B.Toast said:

In regard to phones and "consent to tracking", I'm curious how much simply turning off location and background services can avert being tracked (i.e. if Maps needs my location to locate me anyway, and I turn my location off, then does that "do the trick" to make sure I'm not being tracked?) 

Of course, I also route *most* of my phone's data traffic through Orbot anyway, so I'm slightly less concerned.

I don't know what the police did in that particular case, but if they used things such as triangulation and forward link timing then no, because those are based on the towers you connect to and not mobile data and GPS. Basically, if you got coverage so you can make a call, they can fairly accurately determine where you are located.

VPNs don't protect you from that either.

 

 

12 hours ago, Razor512 said:

Wanted to add that cellphone traffic is encrypted between you and the tower (voice traffic is also encrypted). It is also not practical to crack it, the law enforcement rogue cell towers are essentially going it with the permission of the cell carrier.

 

If needed, you can capture cellphone traffic using a cheap SDR, other than pager traffic, you can't really make sense of the data.

It is encrypted, but how good the encryption is depends on what you are using. There are quite a few different encryption methods used depending on if you are on 2G, 3G, LTE etc. I am pretty sure all the cellular connections have some kind of encryption, so if someone like the police wants to eavesdrop they need to break the encryption, but the amount of effort needed will vary from piss easy (for SMS and voice, unless you use VoLTE) to very difficult.

 

 

I really liked having Taran on. You brought up a lot of good points.

[Prysin]

4 hours ago, LAwLz said:

I don't know what the police did in that particular case, but if they used things such as triangulation and forward link timing then no, because those are based on the towers you connect to and not mobile data and GPS. Basically, if you got coverage so you can make a call, they can fairly accurately determine where you are located.

VPNs don't protect you from that either.

 

 

It is encrypted, but how good the encryption is depends on what you are using. There are quite a few different encryption methods used depending on if you are on 2G, 3G, LTE etc. I am pretty sure all the cellular connections have some kind of encryption, so if someone like the police wants to eavesdrop they need to break the encryption, but the amount of effort needed will vary from piss easy (for SMS and voice, unless you use VoLTE) to very difficult.

 

 

I really liked having Taran on. You brought up a lot of good points.

considering Police has had wiretap devices since forever, it would not surprise me in the least if carries are required to hand over the encryption method or decryption devices to the police.

[Prysin]

@LinusTech

In High School (yes, High School) i did heat-loss calculations for houses. I do not remember all the values and formulaes these days, but technically, you could with ease find these values and make a simple 4 outside walls house with 2-3 windows and a door, make a few calculations and then see how much money you would save getting a more efficient PC (SSD over HDD, new CPU over old, New GPU over old, 80+ Titanium over not even 80+ PSU, DDR4 over DDR2/DDR3....)

I can tell you right away though, before you make a whole video about it.

Even if you ran a FX 9590, with 3000MHz DDR3 and DUAL R9 295x2 on not even 80+ PSUs (got to have some balls to do that) and 10 WD Velociraptor 15k RPM HDDs. EVEN THEN.

Showering for 5 minutes less per day will save you more money.

Turning your electric heating down TWO degrees will save you more money.

 

[EricX2]

5 hours ago, LAwLz said:

I don't know what the police did in that particular case, but if they used things such as triangulation and forward link timing then no, because those are based on the towers you connect to and not mobile data and GPS. Basically, if you got coverage so you can make a call, they can fairly accurately determine where you are located.

VPNs don't protect you from that either.

 

 

It is encrypted, but how good the encryption is depends on what you are using. There are quite a few different encryption methods used depending on if you are on 2G, 3G, LTE etc. I am pretty sure all the cellular connections have some kind of encryption, so if someone like the police wants to eavesdrop they need to break the encryption, but the amount of effort needed will vary from piss easy (for SMS and voice, unless you use VoLTE) to very difficult.

 

 

I really liked having Taran on. You brought up a lot of good points.

I was talking about what you're saying in the top, how they can tell what cell towers you are connecting to and track you based on cell location. Not app based. I don't think there is any way to turn that off because it's not on your end, and whether or not it's encrypted doesn't matter if the people with the warrant go to the people with the tower information.

[ErgoPandemonium]

5 hours ago, Prysin said:

I can tell you right away though, before you make a whole video about it.

Even if you ran a FX 9590, with 3000MHz DDR3 and DUAL R9 295x2 on not even 80+ PSUs (got to have some balls to do that) and 10 WD Velociraptor 15k RPM HDDs. EVEN THEN.

Showering for 5 minutes less per day will save you more money.

Turning your electric heating down TWO degrees will save you more money.

 

I currently do energy optimization/auditing for a living and I have to agree, a PC is not a priority in the optimization process.

Heating/cooling will be the dominant power consumer, lighting should be second. Even knowing that justifying component replacement is difficult. The only time I would recommend that a home user buys the most efficient product, is when they are producing the electricity feeding it or if the product needs to be replaced.

 

In summary a normal consumer will save more money just thinking about what they are doing, then by replacing components.
Note all of what I said flies out the window when you start looking at commercial operations or consumer specified operational criteria

[Prysin]

31 minutes ago, ErgoPandemonium said:

I currently do energy optimization/auditing for a living and I have to agree, a PC is not a priority in the optimization process.

Heating/cooling will be the dominant power consumer, lighting should be second. Even knowing that justifying component replacement is difficult. The only time I would recommend that a home user buys the most efficient product, is when they are producing the electricity feeding it or if the product needs to be replaced.

 

In summary a normal consumer will save more money just thinking about what they are doing, then by replacing components.
Note all of what I said flies out the window when you start looking at commercial operations or consumer specified operational criteria

indeed. if you are gonna do 24/7 rendering or Folding @ Home, then yes. Component choice matters. For the rest of us, the 5-10 bucks a year or so you save on getting Maxwell over Hawaii or an i5 over a FX 8350 is completely overshadowed by just changing your lightbulbs to LEDs...

 

To give people an idea (i'm an electrician so this is what i do for a living).

a 10w LED spotlight gives off about as much light as a 50w Halogen light, now halogen is more efficient then incadecent lightbulbs, so 50w halogen is somewhere around 70-80w incadecent in terms of actual light being emitted.... let that sink in...

 

If you want to save money, get LEDs for the places where you spend a lot of time, and fluorecent tubes or bulbs for the other sections. Fluorecent may not be as efficient as LEDs, but they cost less (for now) and is still pretty good choice of lightning system for wide open areas or rarely used places (like a garage, basement or attic)

 

Want to save more money?

Change to a water-saving showerhead (or whatever they are called in the so called english language). These can reduce the flow of water by 50%, whilst still making you more then adequatly wet to clean yourself. The less water you use, the less water is needed to be heated and the less the water distribution system has to pump water around. Meaning you not only save money yourself, but the water companies will save energy costs too. Doing everyone a favor.

 

Want to save more money?

Throw out the old AC and get a new one. As these units ages, their efficiency rate drops. Not to mention, very few actually remember to refill them with gas, which is something that should only be done by trained and certified people, unless you want CFC gasses to further screw up our ozone layer.

The cost of getting a new and more efficient AC will generally be paid down within 5-10 years depending on usage and how cold/warm it is.

 

Want to save MORE money?

add 5cm (2inches) more insulation to your walls + a form of wind guard (tar-cardboard/plastic does the job). Are there icicles hanging from your gutter during winter??? that is a sign of heat escaping through your roof. Add more insulation to the attic and this could further save you money.

Generally, adding more insulation (if you do the job yourself) will pay itself down within 5-10 years depending on how harsh the winters are. BUT, not only that, a better insulated house also retains cool air better. So during summer, the AC can work less. Still saving you money.

 

Want to save even more money?

Get automated sunscreens. These screens shut out the light during daylight hours, whilst not neccessarily in winter, during summer they will massively reduce the cost of AC usage. These systems (depending how fancy you want em) will pay themselves down within 5-7 years at least.

 

 

[im_lead]

The source for Gravitational Waves is missing.

[MSVSora]

What is the problem with prompter software?