Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[bd139]

Email/contacts may stop working if it’s to outlook.com as they are in the process of changing the API. If you have to reset it, you won’t be able to go through the provisioning again as of September. It’ll be a brick.

As for desktop / 4K use this is 6 year old hardware. The word “barely” comes in. It’s a neat hack but not useful. If you ever used an ARM windows desktop or tablet you’ll understand. It’s like punching yourself in the nuts. The 4K video is a joke because the integrated flash can’t ingest 4K streaming rates. That’s literally only just landing in a useable form and quality on handsets in the last year and only premium ones. The killer is also you really need some hefty hardware for 4K video in any form. You can edit it on an iPad Pro for example but that has dedicated hardware codecs. On disks you need big NVMe SSDs and RAID for storage. I don’t even use 4K because it’s a pain in the ass. 1080p is fine.

I wouldn’t hang around on WP. You’re just going to get an unexpected headache.

[med6753]

Email/contacts may stop working if it’s to outlook.com as they are in the process of changing the API. If you have to reset it, you won’t be able to go through the provisioning again as of September. It’ll be a brick.

Gmail. I was never stupid enough to use Outlook. 

I've been thinking about upgrading anyway but I just hate to throw away perfectly good hardware. 

[bd139]

Hardware of this types is nothing without software unfortunately. I agree it’s annoying to throw it away but it was designed with a finite life which you exceeded gloriously already 

[mnementh]

Yeah, okay... I saw the release date when I looked up the phone, and I knew this whole platform was due to experience The Rapture eventually; just didn't realize we were that close up agin' it.

That makes all the other questions of serviceability a moot point, I'm afraid. It's not worth buying twice, or even once, now.

The real lifespan of any smartPwn is ~2 years (~3 if you pony up for a new flagship model) before evolving app resource demands start to degrade the usability of the device, unless there's just no real selection of apps that work on it. The 521 got away with that 5 years ago because it started out with a full, working productivity suite which MS was still in the game and supported it long after even Nokia bailed. Without that, it is just old silicon that can't phone home to mama. Looks like the 950 just survived a little bit longer due to the inertia of much greater initial cost.

Y'all have a good excuse that eBay supports in their dispute process; I'd send the fukkin' thing  back without a moment's hesitation. Then stick a fork in that long lost memory of a smartPwn that just worked; that was then, this is now. It's a dead pwn sqwawkin'.

mnem
*plays a funeral dirge on waxpaper & comb kazoo*

[med6753]

Oh well. When the apocalypse happens even a tin can on a string won't work. 

[mnementh]

Damn. Now my plan to be the only working telecom after The Rapture is completely FUBAR! Why didn't my R&A team discover this before I stockpiled 10K m² of emptied, washed Campbell's cans...?

mnem
D'oh!!!

[med6753]

Damn. Now my plan to be the only working telecom after The Rapture is completely FUBAR. Why didn't my R&A team discover this before I stockpiled 10K m² of emptied, washed Campbell's cans...?

mnem
D'oh!!!

Because you forgot to stockpile string. 

[mnementh]

Damn. Now my plan to be the only working telecom after The Rapture is completely FUBAR. Why didn't my R&A team discover this before I stockpiled 10K m² of emptied, washed Campbell's cans...?

mnem
D'oh!!!

Because you forgot to stockpile string. 

Oh, that's in production, but still spooling up. We've got the best strings out there. The balls are gonna be yuuuuge!!! My people tell me. There is nobody bigger or better at the balls than I am. I have the best and the biggest balls. I will build great balls of string - and nobody builds balls better than me, believe me - and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build great, great balls on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for those balls. Mark my words...

mnem
 

[Cerebus]

First use of my TinySA in anger! .... Checking my wireless doorbell.

Yes, the transmitter works - around 315.2MHz.  Shows up quite nicely.


On to the receiver.......

Tell us when you find the bugs from the Department of Home Affairs.

[Cerebus]

There is a new video from Marco Reps.
Topic today: a 8.5 digit voltmeter from CERN

Downloaded last night and already in the queue of things to watch. I always watch Marco's [now infrequent] videos. He's not got quite as dry a sense of humour as This Old Tony, but it still appeals to me.

I wasn't aware that CERN had done a 'open' 8 1/2 digit meter design or I'd have delved into it before. I'm grateful this has brought it to my attention.

[mansaxel]

I am sorry but the US mains, plugs and general safety are a paleolithic no sense teenager game compared to european standards.
Oh thank God not all the US homes are made with flammable wood... oh ops ermmm....

...

It could be my first youtube video in my channel, comparing mains north america with european standards.

It would be like kicking the fallen, but I'd totally stand up and cheer at the lustmord.

And then I've not even gotten started on the subject of how many phases your residential feeder carries.. (3 is a good number, BTW)

[Cerebus]

All this talk of tin cans and string reminded me to check how an eBay bid was going. Good thing, I'd been lowballing it and I'd been outbid and would have definitely lost had I not done something. Time to send someone else's computer out wearing a ghillie suit...

[bd139]

Yeah, okay... I saw the release date when I looked up the phone, and I knew this whole platform was due to experience The Rapture eventually; just didn't realize we were that close up agin' it.

That makes all the other questions of serviceability a moot point, I'm afraid. It's not worth buying twice, or even once, now.

The real lifespan of any smartPwn is ~2 years (~3 if you pony up for a new flagship model) before evolving app resource demands start to degrade the usability of the device, unless there's just no real selection of apps that work on it. The 521 got away with that 5 years ago because it started out with a full, working productivity suite which MS was still in the game and supported it long after even Nokia bailed. Without that, it is just old silicon that can't phone home to mama. Looks like the 950 just survived a little bit longer due to the inertia of much greater initial cost.

Y'all have a good excuse that eBay supports in their dispute process; I'd send the fukkin' thing  back without a moment's hesitation. Then stick a fork in that long lost memory of a smartPwn that just worked; that was then, this is now. It's a dead pwn sqwawkin'.

mnem
*plays a funeral dirge on waxpaper & comb kazoo*

Owning technology is basically this:

[Specmaster]

Listen to you all, being defeatists just because an OS is being dropped, tsk, tsk, Amazon still have the 950 for £230 and the 950XL for £425.

I think you can find some software by googling for it to allow the current Windows OS installed on a Windows phone to be backed up and installers, so it can be reinstalled should it be required if it gets corrupted, so while no more updates etc will available, so if shit happens, you can get it running again. Yes third party apps will become as rare as hens teeth and some existing ones may cease working. Most of the apps already installed should still continue to run though as long as you don't need to reinstall any.

I still doubt that MS will pull total support for Windows 10 mobile in September, I expect that it will be extended for a couple of years yet.

I also think that out their in Android land, there is a team dedicated of programmers working on freeware version of Android that will run on some Windows phones. I know for a fact that it you get Android installed on some 500 series phones but the camera and actual phone dialler functions won't but other performance is supposed to be mightly enhanced.   
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                               

[mnementh]

De-Nile... not just a river in Africa anymore... 

mnem
*definitely past my best-by date... just like that pwn*

[mnementh]

I am sorry but the US mains, plugs and general safety are a paleolithic no sense teenager game compared to european standards.
Oh thank God not all the US homes are made with flammable wood... oh ops ermmm....

...

It could be my first youtube video in my channel, comparing mains north america with european standards.

It would be like kicking the fallen, but I'd totally stand up and cheer at the lustmord.

And then I've not even gotten started on the subject of how many phases your residential feeder carries.. (3 is a good number, BTW)

This low-voltage mentally-defective electrical grid as a "safety measure against the electro-boom crowd" is a byproduct of pandering to the LCD, which America does excel at.

And at lowering that LCD with every new generation... 

mnem
Tastes kindof Wednesday...

[bd139]

Listen to you all, being defeatists just because an OS is being dropped, tsk, tsk, Amazon still have the 950 for £230 and the 950XL for £425.

I think you can find some software by googling for it to allow the current Windows OS installed on a Windows phone to be backed up and installers, so it can be reinstalled should it be required if it gets corrupted, so while no more updates etc will available, so if shit happens, you can get it running again. Yes third party apps will become as rare as hens teeth and some existing ones may cease working. Most of the apps already installed should still continue to run though as long as you don't need to reinstall any.

I still doubt that MS will pull total support for Windows 10 mobile in September, I expect that it will be extended for a couple of years yet.

I also think that out their in Android land, there is a team dedicated of programmers working on freeware version of Android that will run on some Windows phones. I know for a fact that it you get Android installed on some 500 series phones but the camera and actual phone dialler functions won't but other performance is supposed to be mightly enhanced.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Erm you won’t be able to do the initial device provisioning when they turn that off. You will buy one, power it up, connect it to your WiFi and it will puke an error. They have to call home. They have pulled support. Literally the entire device team was laid off or moved. Literally the provisioning servers for the provider builds doesn’t exist any more. The only saving grace is that they haven’t deprecated the WU mechanism yet and the old APIs are still lingering. No extensions - it’s only luck you’re fuelled on.

Android is a hope but you’ll need a cracked or signed image which I’m not sure they managed for the 950 as they had signed and verified boot.

Edit: as for Amazon still selling them - that’ll be because no one is buying them.

[Kosmic]

Not sure where in the US you are moving, but if it's minimally civilized in an reasonably urban area power should be stable enough. Over here I never add any incident and I simply use the typical power bar you can buy everywhere.

By the way, you can find 220v in most installation in North-America. It's normally used for the oven, heating etc.. so you could potentially have a dedicated circuit for your European instruments.

SC.
One day I came back home, lights were acting funny, spider senses activated, let me measure: 230VAC between hot and cold wire. I quickly turned off the main switch. The internet modem PSU was melted, thank God it was the only damage. Since that day I never trusted again the USA main grid.

Yes I know about the 220VAC 60Hz in the US grid that's why I want to add a small europe main sub-distr. line in my US home (60Hz does not matter).

I am sorry but the US mains, plugs and general safety are a paleolithic no sense teenager game compared to european standards.
Oh thank God not all the US homes are made with flammable wood... oh ops ermmm....

And I don't want to mention the rodant problem since all the main cable are just slapped in the walls...

I can't stop thinking this situation like someone smoking in a barn with gasoline tank open in the other hand, and yes I worried and scared about a thermal event in my USA home. It would be a spectacular failure.

It could be my first youtube video in my channel, comparing mains north america with european standards.

Seriously I never ever electrocuted myself with the main plugs. I think this safety thing about North American system is overrated. Personally I feel way safer having main at 120V.

Apparently the number of fire caused by electrical appliances is pretty low in the US 


source: https://www.modernbuildingalliance.eu/assets/uploads/2018/05/09-06-24_rapport_consumer_fire_safety_pdf1.pdf

[Kosmic]

There is a new video from Marco Reps.
Topic today: a 8.5 digit voltmeter from CERN

Downloaded last night and already in the queue of things to watch. I always watch Marco's [now infrequent] videos. He's not got quite as dry a sense of humour as This Old Tony, but it still appeals to me.

I wasn't aware that CERN had done a 'open' 8 1/2 digit meter design or I'd have delved into it before. I'm grateful this has brought it to my attention.

Not really a meter, more a 0-10V precision ADC. They were a guy working on the project participating in the metrology section last year.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/metrology/hpm7177-adc-from-cern/

[mnementh]

Owning technology is basically this:

You don't own it... you rent it. The ideal scenario, at least to the corporate world, is the modern car lease. You pay a huge cash lump up front (which makes their actual investment in your car zero) for the privilege of renting the fucking thing for the normal duration of a car loan. Then they get to take the damned thing back and sell it at auction, taking all your equity on top of raping you for usurious interest, now hidden as interest compounded daily and service charges, for up to 8 years now when it was once considered absurd to hold a car note for more than 2 or 3 years.

Now apply that to every last thing in your life, which is exactly what they're trying to do... and you realize... you only exist to make money for the money vampires.

Of course, cars cost what a home used to cost, and the dream of home ownership on a single income is just that; a dream for most people... it now requires two professional incomes in most cases. And then, when you get old and feeble, you wind up having to reverse-mortgage your home at a huge discount to cover medical bills and death expenses because of desperation... and that closes the circle, just like leasing that car. Or smartPwn... or TV... or computer... or living room furniture...

But wait... there was a point here... everything is that same business model... the money vampires are more important than the goods anymore. And certainly more important than people. Business as usual will be the end of the species much sooner than we imagine, just like that 9 generations out of date smartPwn.

mnem
also, moo.

[Kosmic]

Listen to you all, being defeatists just because an OS is being dropped, tsk, tsk, Amazon still have the 950 for £230 and the 950XL for £425.

I think you can find some software by googling for it to allow the current Windows OS installed on a Windows phone to be backed up and installers, so it can be reinstalled should it be required if it gets corrupted, so while no more updates etc will available, so if shit happens, you can get it running again. Yes third party apps will become as rare as hens teeth and some existing ones may cease working. Most of the apps already installed should still continue to run though as long as you don't need to reinstall any.

I still doubt that MS will pull total support for Windows 10 mobile in September, I expect that it will be extended for a couple of years yet.

I also think that out their in Android land, there is a team dedicated of programmers working on freeware version of Android that will run on some Windows phones. I know for a fact that it you get Android installed on some 500 series phones but the camera and actual phone dialler functions won't but other performance is supposed to be mightly enhanced.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Erm you won’t be able to do the initial device provisioning when they turn that off. You will buy one, power it up, connect it to your WiFi and it will puke an error. They have to call home. They have pulled support. Literally the entire device team was laid off or moved. Literally the provisioning servers for the provider builds doesn’t exist any more. The only saving grace is that they haven’t deprecated the WU mechanism yet and the old APIs are still lingering. No extensions - it’s only luck you’re fuelled on.

Android is a hope but you’ll need a cracked or signed image which I’m not sure they managed for the 950 as they had signed and verified boot.

Edit: as for Amazon still selling them - that’ll be because no one is buying them.

Yep I also agree, you should move on. I had a Lumia 930. Switched last year to Android (pixel 3) since they stopped updating Windows10 mobile.

My experience with custom firmware on device is that it's never really usable. Some guy decide to do that as a hobby but there is no point. Some day he will decided to move on to something else leaving his firmware in a half completed state.

[mnementh]

Seriously I never ever electrocuted myself with the main plugs. I think this safety thing about North American system is overrated. Personally I feel way safer having main at 120V.

Apparently the number of fire caused by electrical appliances is pretty low in the US 



source: https://www.modernbuildingalliance.eu/assets/uploads/2018/05/09-06-24_rapport_consumer_fire_safety_pdf1.pdf

Actually, what that chart indicates is that by a large margin, most fires in the US are caused by people who don't know. ANYTHING. 

mnem
* followed by not knowing how to cook, evidently.   

[Kosmic]

Seriously I never ever electrocuted myself with the main plugs. I think this safety thing about North American system is overrated. Personally I feel way safer having main at 120V.

Apparently the number of fire caused by electrical appliances is pretty low in the US 



source: https://www.modernbuildingalliance.eu/assets/uploads/2018/05/09-06-24_rapport_consumer_fire_safety_pdf1.pdf

Actually, what that chart indicates is that by a large margin, most fires in the US are caused by people who don't know. ANYTHING. 

mnem

Hmm just noticed the "Cooking" related fire in Australia, strangely high 

[Specmaster]

With all that has been said about Microsoft support, the 950 is being returned, but not because of all the negativity seen here. If I get another without the MDM files is still not decided, but at the end of the day, if support is being withdrawn, is it any different to any other phone out there, sooner or later the OS on all of them is slowly being whittled away leaving behind thousands of bricks, some phone sized, some tablet sized.

Since Android was released in 2008 there have been 11 new versions, and I have 2 Android phones currently in use a Samsung on version 7 with no more updates and a Huawei running on version 10. Apple on the other hand released IOS 1 in 2007 and are now on version 14 with numerous revised versions of each one to correct bugs etc making the total number of releases and updates to no fewer than 55. Formulate your own opinions folks as to which one is better.     

[mnementh]

LOL... we weren't being negative. We were trying to stop you from kicking yourself in the morning for not getting rid of that doorstop when you had the chance.

It's someone else's problem now. Be glad.

mnem
"If you took all the girls I knew when I was single;
And brought 'em all together for one night...
I know they'd never match my sweet imagination;
Everything looks worse in black and white..."          ~ Paul Simon - KodaChrome