Here's a weird market gap. Most modern phones use USB-C to charge. Increasingly, they forego a headphone jack in favour of using Bluetooth. Peachy! But all of the Bluetooth headphones that I can find are charged via Micro USB. Which is bloody annoying! I want to charge my phone, laptop, camera, games console, and headphones from the same charger. Even looking at the wholesalers on Ali…
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The inimitable Jess Rose interviewed me for her Pursuit Podcast - talking about the Unicode Power Symbol proposal. We talked about how to subvert bureaucracy, building a team of supporters, adding new stuff to Unicode, and recognising that you're a background character in most people's lives. Bit of a ramble, but jolly good fun. Sketchnotes by the exquisitely talented Kate Holden. Find out…
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I've blogged before about how backward the Co-op bank is - sadly, they've not improved in the last few years. I needed to close down my business bank account. I hopped on to online banking, provided all my details, went through 2FA with a physical token, remembered my mother's maiden name and began searching the site. There was no way to close the account. Oh well, I guess I'll give them a…
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A few years ago, I added WiFi to my Roomba using a 3rd party add-on. Sadly, it looks like Thinking Cleaner, the company which created the WiFi unit is no longer manufacturing them. But in their latest firmware release, they added a fun new option - the ability to make your Roomba sing! Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentI've hacked @edent_roomba to obey its true master.(You'll want the volume up …
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It's my birthday! As is customary, here's my year in review. See 2016, 2015, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010. At the risk of tempting fate, I've had an extremely good year! I've survived a year in a new job - working at GDS to implement Open Standards. As part of that, I got to fulfil a long-held ambition to visit Beijing. I also visited the Isle of Man (a first for me) and Rome (a welcome return). A…
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After seeing my review of the LG 360 camera, the good folks at PowerAdd sent me their competitor to see what I thought. This sponsored post is a showdown between the two cameras. The PowerAdd is half the cost of the LG, but what's the quality like? Tech Specs Before we dive in to the photos and videos, let's see how they compare on raw numbers. PowerAdd LG Video Resolution …
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I do a lot of talks and presentations - sometimes in boring conference centres, sometimes in pubs, and occasionally in the middle of a field. One of the things that I've learned is the audio-visual equipment is unreliable. The colours can be off, the projection can be blocked by detritus on stage, or the screen can be defective. It's never a fun experience to flip to your first slide and…
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The new Firefox is out! Powered by the ludicrous-speed quantum engine - it really is a marvel to behold. Unfortunately, there's a rather annoying bug in the way it renders placeholder text. Consider the following HTML: <textarea placeholder="In loving memory of Buffy Anne Summers She saved the world A lot..."></textarea> This should render a textarea (a multi-line input box) pre-filled with…
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tldr; URL http://[IP]/adm/file.cgi?todo=inject_telnetd Telnet username root Telnet password Aq0+0009 History Four years ago to the day, I wrote an exposé of the hideous security failings of Sercomm IP Cameras. The blog has since attracted 200 comments - as people try to unlock their cameras, and find out what flaws they have. Despite my best efforts at contacting Sercomm - the OEM who …
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When I'm bored, I like to search websites for the "Lorem Ipsum" placeholder text. It's a quick way to find discarded pages and test content. I was particularly confused that the UK's Post Office had a dozen pages containing that little Latin phrase. A quick dive into one of the pages, found this enlightening snippet of code: This is a monumentally inconsiderate thing to do. I can guess…
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Last year I reverse engineered Renault's Electric Car API. One of the curious omissions was mileage - it just doesn't appear there. However! All is not lost. If you log in to your Renault Account - https://www.renault.co.uk/my-account/my-car.html - you'll get details back about your car including its make, model, date of next service, and mileage! Why isn't this in the regular API? Who knows. …
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Just a quick note on a mistake I see people making. Webcam covers are a cheap and easy way to prevent your laptop's camera from spying on you. But too many of the covers obscure the LED which indicates that the camera is on. If you cover your activation LED then you won't be able to tell if a malicious entity has surreptitiously switched it on the camera. Keep it uncovered and you'll…
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