The bizarre incident happened during the installation of an MRI machine and was a surprise to everyone except Apple. Source: Why a Helium Leak Disabled Every iPhone in a Medical Facility – Motherboard The IT worker who acted as sleuth on this did an amazing...
U.S. Copyright Office gives okay to computer security researchers to thwart copyright protection systems for the purpose of good faith security research. This, and many other exemptions, have been added into the rules for accessing copy protected works.
AOPA sees government fees for future drone flying, certainly for commercial operations but also likely for recreational flyers depending on their locations. We may know more within 6 months. Additionally, mandatory beacon ID/transponders likely to be required for model aircraft, depending on where they are flown; hopefully areas including Class G airspace will be exempt.
Bloomberg wrote an article a few weeks back accusing Supermicro of delivering compromised server system boards that were used by Apple, Amazon and up to 30 companies. Apple and Amazon have denied the accusations and Apple has called for a retraction. This post links to a review that identifies many technical inaccuracies in the Bloomberg story.
Most everything we think we know about the Affordable Care Act is probably wrong. The attached 50 page paper explains what you need to know, in detail including the unusual defects in the Act such as subsidy cut off levels are set by the regional poverty level and have nothing to do with insurance rates, meaning that someone earning $65,000/year is above the subsidy level but is faced with a $50,000 or more annual insurance bill (see paper for details). Or that the ACA does, in fact, have a pre-existing condition waiting period. We need to solve these problems but all politicians remain stuck on stupid and refuse to propose coherent solutions that are workable.
This post summarizes the FAA’s committee report and recommendations on remote ID for drones and quadcopters. It looks like some model aircraft might be exempt from remote ID requirements but only if flown in a 400′ distance of the operator – in other words, a tiny area. All other flights will require remote ID, be trackable in real-time, and for majority of people who live within Class B, C and D, or even E, airspace, they will need to pre-file a flight plan before flight and be trackable with a remote ID transponder. In some cases, the craft may be required to communicate to a tracking network, perhaps via link to your cellphone and then through the Internet. All of these “features” will add up in both fixed costs (buying remote ID transponders) and variable costs (possibly fees to pay for the tracking infrastructure.).
Basically, a lot of things are now in motion with this report and the 2018 FAA Reauthorization bill that will likely place significant restrictions on hobby flying of toy model aircraft. Such flights are likely to be limited only to approved community model airfields. All other flights will require remote ID, and eventually real-time, networking tracking, all of which will cost money. In effect, the long term direction of these initiative is potentially going to de facto shrink, if not eliminate, most public access to model aircraft operations.
Pixel and Pixel 2 battery life was killed by Google’s Android 9 updates. The problem appears to be related to Wi-Fi. I found that my turning Wi-Fi off completely, my battery performance is back to normal.
Congress is on the precipice of passing a new FAA authorization (funding) bill that includes draconian measures on model aircraft. So draconian as to potentially eliminate much of the hobby community in the near future by adding significant regulatory burdens and costs on hobbyists – to benefit corporate America.
