Harman JBL Charge – Yellow Flag Caution – KemptonTestLab FCC filings review

Friday, 8 March, 2013

Harman "JBL Charge" Yellow Flag Caution KemptonTestLab - pix 00 - JBL Charge promo pix

update: See bottom for further updates.

—–

1) I don’t have a Harman JBL Charge unit of  to test my concern yet, so this KemptonTestLab - Yellow Flag Caution note is based on my review of FCC filings and understanding from my previous “Review of six Harman/JBL Flips“.

2) Yellow Flag Caution: I did a FCC ID search using Grantee Code: API Product Code: JBLCHARGE to downloaded all 12 of the FCC filings for the JBL Charge (full list) to take a quick look of what kind of Bluetooth antenna it is using. Note: I encourage you to do the FCC ID search yourself and share your findings in the comment.

First off, the electromagnetic field characteristic of the JBL Charge may be very different from the JBL Flip even they look similar enough on the outside (see my extensive in-depth “Review six Harman/JBL Flips, two with new Bluetooth antenna design – KemptonTestLab“).

The fact that the Charge seems to be using the same faulty 1st generation JBL Flip antenna concerns me greatly. I have enough concerns (just to be safe) that I am issuing a Yellow Flag Caution to tell people be careful and make sure they check their units and see if they have any Bluetooth problems. If you ask me, I would much rather see the more robust 2nd generation Flip antenna being implement and used inside the Charge instead!

Harman JBL might be able to get away with using the faulty 1st generation JBL Flip antenna inside the Charge but I won’t know until I put the Charge under the very rigorous testing performed in KemptonTestLab!

Remember: KemptonTestLab: Only best products pass our tough tests!

Harman JBL Flip 1st gen antenna vs 2nd gen antenna

JBL Flip Antenna - Original and post-Class II Change

The six Harman JBL Flips in KemptonTestLab

Review six Harman/JBL Flips, two with brand new Bluetooth antenna design

Harman JBL Charge antenna - Yellow Flag Caution

Harman "JBL Charge" Yellow Flag Caution KemptonTestLab - pix 03 - Antenna looking like 1st gen Flip antenna

3) As usual, I expect the JBL Charge to make great sound like the JBL Flip if you hardwire them. And the spec for the Harman JBL Charge seems quite awesome on the surface quoting the JBL promo document, ”10-watt portable stereo speaker with a high-capacity 6,000mAh Li-ion rechargeable battery, a built-in bass port and wireless Bluetooth® connection

4) Let me point out that if the Charge is playing music directly from the device being charged (e.g. a phone), then the Bluetooth problem is not much of a concern because the transmitting devices (the phone) and the receiver (the Charge speaker) are right next to each other!

March 15th update: I read that YouTube user “6FeetDeep4U”‘s JBL Charge’s Bluetooth seems to be performing very well. I would love to see a test video made (and have suggested that). If 6FeetDeep4U does make a test video and embeddable, I would share it here and possibly revise my comments/”watch” temporarily until I’ve got a chance to find and test a JBL Charge myself in my own KemptonTestLab to benchmark against the other JBL Flips I’ve tested!

[HT this Japanese webpage for the FCC ID info]


U of Toronto University Professor Emeritus Stephen A. Cook won NSERC $1 million Herzberg Medal – with interview by Kempton

Wednesday, 27 February, 2013

20130227 Professor Cook interview pix

Congratulations to University of Toronto Computer Science professor Stephen Cook, best known for formulating the P v. NP problem, for winning the $1M 2012 Gerhard Herzberg medal!

After all these years, I still remember the thrill in taking my first year UT Comp. Sci class in 1987 with prof. Cook! And it remains an honour (and bragging right) to have taken the famous third year CSC364 Computability and Complexity class with prof. Cook and seeing him proved to us 3-satisfiability and taught us P v. NP, etc. I am truly excited for prof. Cook!

Check out my 15 minutes interview with Prof. Cook this morning: Interview with Dr. Stephen A. Cook, 2012 Winner of NSERC’s $1m Herzberg Medal

By the way, as prof. cook mentioned in the interview, he came to the idea of the NP complete problem about 6 months after he came to Toronto in 1970. If you read the detailed & insightful oral history interview with Stephen Cook (courtesy of University of Minnesota), you will realize professor Cook could have easily stayed at UC Berkeley (if they had not denied him tenure) instead of joining us at University of Toronto! Lucky us!

Last week, I asked prof. Kelly Gotlieb “Father of Computing in Canada” for his thoughts about some giants in computer science, here is what Kelly has to say about Steve (video clip).

Here is “NSERC Presents 2 Minutes With Stephen Cook

Here is an excerpt from a great Q&A from U of Toronto.

What drew you to this field – and to this particular focus?
I enrolled as a mathematics graduate student at Harvard in 1961, thinking I’d concentrate in algebra. Computer Science did not yet exist as a discipline. After taking a course in `logic and computation’ from Hao Wang, my future advisor, I switched fields. My PhD thesis was inspired by a question posed by a pioneer in the field named Alan Cobham: Is multiplication (of large numbers) intrinsically harder than addition? Part of the challenge was to formulate this as a precise mathematical question.

Why U of T?
I joined the faculty of the computer science department at U of T in 1970. This was one of the world’s first CS departments, and Tom Hull, the department chair, had a powerful vision for its future. He already had recruited some aspiring young faculty, including my close colleague Allan Borodin, who continues to be a pillar of the department. It helped that Toronto is a good sailing venue on Lake Ontario, and sailing was (and is) a major hobby for my wife and me.

What advice would you give to a student just starting out in this field?
You’ve made a good choice. The possibilities are boundless.

Via this UT page, see more media coverage about the 2012 Herzberg Prize at these links below:

“- Globe & Mail

Canada.com

Calgary Herald

CBC News


eps02 chat with “Father of Computing in Canada” Prof. Kelly Gotlieb

Wednesday, 20 February, 2013

eps02 with Prof. Kelly Gotlieb, Father of Computing in Canada

This is the second (eps 02) of a series of extensive chats with Professor Emeritus C.C. Kelly Gotlieb, (Wikipedia) “Father of Computing in Canada”, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto. In this video episode (as oppose to audio recording only in episode #1), we further discussed Google Driverless Cars and Google Glasses in a bit more details, and a few other topics. (I will try to provide a time code key when I have time later or if someone can help me with providing a time code key to the interview.)

eps02 chat with “Father of Computing in Canada” Prof. Kelly Gotlieb

P.S. Incidentally, I am happy to claim credit for suggesting Kelly to setup a Google+ account and then also helped him to setup his computer this morning so that we were able to conduct a successful Live Broadcast using the Google+ Hangout On Air technologies using its YouTube engine! It puts a smile on my face in helping the man who helped bought the second electronic computer (a Ferranti machine for $300,000) in the world in 1951 to use Google’s cutting edge technologies to broadcast live from his and my home!


Interview with “Father of Computing in Canada” re Google Car, Google Glasses, Alan Turing

Wednesday, 13 February, 2013

20130212 Father of Computing Kelly interview - pix

Interview with “Father of Computing in Canada” Prof Gotlieb re Google Car, Google Glasses, Alan Turing

This is an extensive interview with Professor Emeritus C.C. Kelly Gotlieb, (Wikipedia) “Father of Computing in Canada”, Department of Computer Science, University of Toronto, Feb 2013 interviewed by Independent reporter Kempton Lam
KL: Kempton Lam
KG: Professor Emeritus C.C. Kelly Gotlieb
Table of content (with time codes):
0:00 KL: Introducing Professor Emeritus C.C. (Kelly) Gotlieb, “Father of Computing in Canada”, University of Toronto
0:29 KL: My question about Google Driverless Cars. Three US states already has law permitting testing of Google Driverless Cars. Talking about California governor signed the bill, “SB-1298 Vehicles: autonomous vehicles: safety and performance requirements” into law.
2:07 KL: Bill SB-1298 allows Google to test the Google Driverless Car provided Google pays a $5 million insurance, and provided there is a driver in the car.
2:21 KG: “That’s what I expected.”
2:35 KL: My concerns were concerns raised by Kelly in an earlier speech of his.
2:47 KG: listing some of the concerns he has with concepts like Google Driverless Cars. “United States is a very litigious society.”
3:12 KG: Google Driverless Car gets into an accident, whose to blame? And who can you sue? The person who wrote the program? Google who authorize the car? Car manufacture? The person who is in the car? Or all of the above? […] Lots of questions to be asked when failure happen. Read the rest of this entry »


Review six Harman/JBL Flips, two with new Bluetooth antenna design – KemptonTestLab

Wednesday, 23 January, 2013

KemptonTestLab: Only best products pass our tough tests!
Review Scores for Harman JBL Flip:

Sound alone: 9.5/10
1st generation Flip Bluetooth antenna: ranging from 1/10 to 4.5/10
2nd generation Flip Bluetooth antenna: 7/10

Review six Harman/JBL Flips, two with brand new Bluetooth antenna design

In this article I will focus on the two brand new Harman/JBL Flips with new enhanced antenna design (Flip #5 & #6 in my set of six Flips), freshly made from Harman/JBL factories in China and express couriered to me. I want to thank Andy, Global Product Line Manager of Harman Lifestyle in kindly arranging the new units to be shipped to me for testing. And special help from Chris, Senior Director of Brand Marketing of Harman International in connecting me with Andy. Without their help, I am sure my Harman/JBL Flip experiences would have been even worst!

So I won’t repeat many of the points I made in “Review: 4 JBL Flip #Fail Wireless Speaker (Bluetooth + Sound) using Logitech Mini Boombox as Benchmark“.For example, you can read what I wrote about the original antenna design and the new enhanced antenna designs for the JBL Flips (with pictures). Here are links to the raw FCC filings and a pix of the original and new antenna design in case you are very technical and want to go straight to the sources anyway.

Harman/JBL Flip, Original Equipment filings (08/31/2012)
Harman/JBL Flip, Class II Permissive Change filings (12/11/2012)

JBL Flip Antenna - Original and post-Class II Change

Video Clips & Flips’ Sound – They worth a thousand words

Have a watch of this video of my “review of six Harman/JBL Flips, two with brand new Bluetooth antenna design“.

My Thoughts

To be direct, I had fully expected the two new Harman/JBL Flips would be (should be) flawless. So I have been extremely disappointed again to see such a wide variation between two Flips! Watch the above review video again to see for yourself. Yes, Harman/JBL Flip #6 performed close to flawlessly, in fact very close to (but not quite as good) as the Bluetooth of the Logitech UE Mobile (see benchmark video). (updateI’ve performed additional tests on the Harman/JBL Flips #5 #6, and have discovered some additional problems. See my update at the end for a video of the test and some brief notes.)

The Flip #5′s performance was weaker in comparison to Flip #6. Why can’t I expect Harman/JBL to delivery better results simply be as good (not even “better than” but just “as good as“) as what others can do effortlessly?

I don’t want to draw conclusion from a sample of two Flips with the new antenna design because that will mean a defective rate of 50% on the production process. Was it workmanship, was it faulty Bluetooth chip, was it bad wiring, was it bad antenna component, did the wire come loose in the shipping process? I don’t know. But what I know is that any of these should not have happened.

Some people who left comments in my articles or YouTube videos attack or insult me personally, I just laughed them off. For one thing, there are some people will little expectations from their Bluetooth speakers. I, on the other hand, have seen how great distance with solid transmission that the magical Bluetooth speakers can perform if the manufacturers have done the right design, assembly, production jobs in their Bluetooth components (e.g. Logitech UE Mobile).

I don’t want to repeat what I said on camera in the concluding last bit of my review video, but I think it is fair to say Flip #5 (plus Flip #1, #2, #3, and #4) fell very very short of what I would expect from a major brand name like Harman/JBL that has a supposed track record built from years of excellent products and services. Since we are talking about brand reputation here, it is ultimately left in the hands of the like of Chris, Senior Director of Brand Marketing of Harman International, and other senior executives to decide how best to resolve these problems.

Serial Number Cutoff (SNC)

Quite a few readers and YouTube commenters have asked me what is the Serial Number cutoff (SNC) for the Flip with new antenna design so they can exchange for a “good” one without being frustrated more by needing to return/exchange/refund? I’ve asked Harman/JBL repeatedly for the SNC without any success. Read the rest of this entry »


Lunch Time Tech Talk with Kempton and Sarb – 2013 eps01

Sunday, 20 January, 2013

Lunch Time Tech Talk with Kempton and Sarb

Dr. Sarbjit Sarkaria (Sarb) is my long time super smart friend and former colleague at MDA where we both worked on the Transport Canada large scale software project CAATS (Canadian Automated Air Traffic System). Here is a long ago tidbit of information that even Sarb may have forgotten but not me. You see, Sarb was also the super forward-looking smart person who introduced me to the then little known research search engine Google years before it becomes popular. I remember at the time DEC’s AltaVista was the popular search engine that I used frequently.

Here is the relaunched Lunch Time Tech Talk with Kempton and Sarb – 2013 eps01. Here are the time codes and a brief descriptions to the various segments with useful links.

0:00 The Show

Setting up what is Lunch Time Tech Talk with Kempton and Sarb all about.

1:26 Chris in Space ISS

In this segment, we talked about the awesome Canadian astronaut Commander Chris Hadfield currently on a mission on the International Space Station (ISS) and his great use of social media to get everyone so excited and feel involved of the mission.

Jan 20th update: via CBC News (with video), “Chris Hadfield talks from space to Ontario students – Canadian astronaut connects from ISS with students at namesake Milton school“; TorStar “Chris Hadfield inspires the next generation of would-be astronauts: Editorial“; CTV News (with video), “Astronaut Chris Hadfield gives students an out-of-this-world lesson

6:29 “Toothache” Actually Bluetooth Ache

In this segment, we talked about my Harman/JBL Flip speakers terrible Bluetooth reception problems and how I deal with it.

8:18 Wi-Fi Hi-Fi System

In this segment, we talked about Sarb’s nice experiences with his Sonos Play:5.

11:02 More on my Bluetooth Ache

Finished talking about my terrible JBL Bluetooth reception problems.

*** Here is the full 2013 show eps01.

For the record, Here are the four audio shows Sarb and I did in past. Just looking at the titles, they seem quite timeless in hindsight.

- 2007 Audio Show 1, User Generated Ad, Human Computing and ESP Game, Privacy in Social Networking, Time and Gravity
- 2007 Audio Show 2, E-Voting security risks, Myth TV, NowPublic News
- 2007 Audio Show 3, Media Server uPnP, Brain Cancer Zapper, Super String
- 2007 Audio Show 4, Robocode, Sketching User Experiences, Backgammon AI


How I resolved my Seagate 750GB Momentus XT Hybrid drive nightmare

Thursday, 17 January, 2013

Momentus XT 750GB Solid State Hybrid Drive

This video describes my Seagate 750GB Momentus XT Hybrid drive problem inside my MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009, 2.53 GHz) and how I ended up resolving my 6 days long nightmare (I hope). I had to replace my laptop’s harddisk last Friday and today (Thursday), I am still restore files and index photos from my backup.

For the record, the follow is how Seagate promotes the Momentus XT Hybrid.

SSD Performance, HDD Capacity, Affordable Price.

Momentus® XT solid state hybrid drives (SSHD) fuse the blazing speed of SSD with the high capacity of a hard drive. Powered by Seagate Adaptive Memory™ technology, SSHD dramatically improves boot times and application speed, unleashing your system’s performance.

Boots and performs like an SSD1
Up to 3× faster than a traditional HDD1
Installs like a typical hard drive, and works with any standard laptop and major OS
Upgrade performance and capacity in an older laptop:
Mac Upgrade Bundle or PC Upgrade Bundle

I have absolute problem with the promotional claim of “Upgrade performance and capacity in an older laptop:” because not all laptop (specifically mine) does not work with the Momentus XT Hybrid as I bought it off the shelf.


Goodbye Aaron Swartz (1986 – 2013)

Sunday, 13 January, 2013

Aaron Swartz (1986-2013)

Hi Aaron,

I wish I had the opportunity to know you before you left us. In the words of George Bernard Shaw,

The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable man persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the unreasonable man.

You were one of the brightest & most unreasonable men we had. With your sad & tragic passing, it is up to us to carry on your work and do our part.

May the tears

in our collective eyes

help energize us

to clear our collective minds

to see injustice better &

to try to make progress in this world

for the limited time we have.

Goodbye, Aaron.

In the words of Aaron in ”F2C2012: Aaron Swartz keynote – “How we stopped SOPA”“.

Note: This also my first post to tumblr and the reason I created my tumblr account.

For more, see articles & posts from Cory Doctorow, Larry Lessig, Guardian, TorStar, CBC, and “ongoing posts about Aaron, his memorial service, his death, and the malicious prosecution brought by the DoJ against him“.

2013 Jan 17 update re: Twitter #PDFTribute to Aaron:

- Washington Post video interview with Eva Vivalt, the woman behind the campaign, tells us why she launched it, “Aaron Swartz honored with #PDFTribute

- TechCrunch, “PDF Tribute to Aaron Swartz Attracts Roughly 1,500 Links To Copyright-Protected Research

- Fast Company, “Researchers, Academics Remember Aaron Swartz with #PDFTribute

- PC Magazine, “Twitter Campaign ‘#pdftribute’ Roars to Life In Tribute to Aaron Swartz


TED & TEDx talk videos – My baker’s dozen of favourite videos

Saturday, 24 November, 2012

Inspired by all the TEDxHongKong chatters I had last night with some attendees, I’ve finally done my version of top nth TED videos that inspired me. So here is my baker’s dozen (12+1) of TED and TEDx talk videos that I love and enjoy over the years. Some are popular and some are not.

May be we share a few common ones and we can chat about them in the comments. And if you see a few new ones that you haven’t watched, thats cool too and we can chat in the comments. And may be most important of all, please do share some of your fav! I love to check them out and hear why you love them!

In no particular order, the following are my baker’s dozen (12+1) tweets of my favourite TED & TEDx videos (with links added):

#1 tweet) In no specific order: #TED Malcolm Gladwell, UT alum & best selling author’s Choice, happiness & spaghetti sauce is great

#2 tweet) #TED Malcolm Gladwell‘s “The strange tale of the Norden bombsight” talk is better but unloved because of the harsh message

#3 tweet) A great #TEDxCaltech talk on Richard Feynman by Leonard Susskind. If u never heard of Nobel Prize winning funny man physicist Feynman, try this, you may start to love him.

#4 tweet) #TED Susan Cain is so cool & insightful. Here “The power of introverts” is a must watch for fellow introverts (me INTJ) Read the rest of this entry »


iGEM 2012 University of Calgary

Thursday, 4 October, 2012

My friend Iain recently completed his undergraduate degree in Cellular, Molecular and Microbial Biology at the University of Calgary. I learned from his Facebook page that he is a member of cool UC iGEM 2012 team. Check out more info on their Wiki page, http://2012.igem.org/Team:Calgary

iGEM: ”A team of undergraduates competing in the International Genetically Engineered Machine competition held by MIT. We build microbes to solve complex real world problems.”


Unexpected wisdom from a 80+ years old man in a coffee shop

Sunday, 19 August, 2012

Love these three posts and one video featuring the wise 80+ years old  Russell Kirsch.

An Unexpected Ass Kicking

7 Things I Learned From My Encounter With Russell Kirsch

Square Pixel Inventor Tries to Smooth Things Out

Russell gives a hardware description of SEAC, the first programmable computer.

Thanks +Joel Runyon in sharing his awesome experiences meeting Russell Kirsch.


Google Nexus 7 launched at $209 with $25 credit – (What RIM should have done last year)

Wednesday, 27 June, 2012

Google Nexus 7 - pix 01

Google announced its new Nexus 7 tablet this morning at its Google I/O 2012 conference. The Nexus 7 tech spec (for the price of US$199 (C$209)) is very tempting for new and existing tablet users. In the bottom of this article, I’ve included an edited and annotated specification highlighting my views of the machine.

Looking back, when the Waterloo Ontario based Canadian Research In Motion (RIM) first released its PlayBook in April 2011, if it had come out with a price like C$209 (US$199), it would have a chance to shake up the competitive landscape for the tablet market. Unfortunately, RIM‘s “same as iPad” price of $499 and under powered machine was a weak and underwhelming launch from day one.

I think the $25 Google Play in store credit is large enough an amount that many potential buyers will consider it meaningful, relative to the price of the machine, and they may see the machine as $25 cheaper. The $25 credit is a pretty good way to get people to start using the Google Play store! Getting people to enter their credit card information and start using the store is the hardest first step of all.

Introducing Nexus 7

Nexus 7 tech spec

SCREEN
7” 1280×800 HD display (216 ppi) [K: looks good in the demo]
Back-lit IPS display
Scratch-resistant Corning glass [K: Corning glass is good. The new Corning Gorilla Glass 2 would be better but I am sure that cost more money.]
1.2MP front-facing camera [K: I wish there is a back camera as well but if I must have a front camera for any video conferencing like G+ Hangout or Skype]
SIZE: 198.5 x 120 x 10.45mm [K: looks comfortable to hold but have to have one in my hand to see for sure]
WEIGHT: 340g [K: OK, it is about half the weight of an iPad. To be far, its screen size and viewing area are both smaller than an iPad]
WIRELESS: WiFi 802.11 b/g/n, Bluetooth [K: Good spec]
MEMORY: 8 GB internal storage, 1 GB RAM [K: Enough for me but since 16GB model is only reasonably $50 more, may just go with the 16GB model]
USB
Micro USB
BATTERY: 4325 mAh (Up to 8 hours of active use)
OS: Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean)
CPU: Quad-core Tegra 3 processor
FEATURES: Microphone, NFC (Android Beam), Accelerometer, GPS, Magnetometer, Gyroscope [K: all pretty cool]

Google Nexus 7 - pix 02


Millions of cancer-free stem cells cultivated in days using new U of Calgary discovered method

Friday, 25 May, 2012

cancer-free stem cells cultivated by the millions using new U of Calgary developed method - pix 01cancer-free stem cells cultivated by the millions using new U of Calgary developed method - pix 02

cancer-free stem cells cultivated by the millions using new U of Calgary developed method - pix 03cancer-free stem cells cultivated by the millions using new U of Calgary developed method - pix 04

As a University of Calgary alumnus, it is exciting to see ground breaking research coming out of my alma mater. Quoting CBC News, “‘Safe’ stem cell discovery unveiled in Calgary – U of C researchers say they can create cancer-free cells quickly by the millions” (links and emphasis added)

“The findings by Derrick Rancourt and Roman Krawetz were published in the May issue of Nature Methods.

Rancourt said the discovery of a plentiful and reliable source of stem cells represents a great alternative to embryonic cells, the use of which is hotly debated.

With current methods, it takes one million adult cells to create one stem cell.

“In this new, finely tuned bioreactor, we are able to make 10 million ‘safe’ stem cells from 800,000 adult cells in 12 days,” said professor Rancourt, who is also deputy director of the McCaig Institute for Bone and Joint Health.

The researchers create the low risk stem cells by cultivating adult cells without the cancer gene ‘cMyc’, they said in a release.

“We are the first team to prove that we can use the bioreactor to efficiently make stem cells that then become mice without cancer,” said Krawetz.

The next stage will be to use the discovery to put human cells into the new bioreactors to design treatments for arthritis, Rancourt said.

Also have a watch of CTV News report, “Researchers mass produce super cells

Derrick Rancourt, PhD & Roman Krawetz, PhD: Bioreactor & Pluripotent Stem Cells

Interested readers can find a good literature review from Dr. Mehdi Shafa’s (one of the paper’s contributors) April 2012 PhD thesis Reprogramming of Mouse Fibroblasts to iPS Cells in Stirred Suspension Bioreactors using Physical and Genetic Methods” (PDF file).

cancer-free stem cells cultivated by the millions using new U of Calgary developed method - pix 05


The new $20 and new (Nov 2011) $100 polymer bank note

Wednesday, 2 May, 2012

From Bank of Canada “The new $20 polymer bank note

My hands on look of the new (Nov 2011) $100 polymer bank note and money laundering experiment.

And a full b-roll commentary of the $100 bank notes.


Sebastian Thrun talks and shows Google Glass and more on Charlie Rose

Thursday, 26 April, 2012

Have a watch of this interesting Charlie Rose video interview of Sebastian Thrun. This is the first time I see someone wearing a pair Google Glass in a video.
NOTE 1: A picture taken by +Sebastian Thrun‘s Google Glass
NOTE 2: Lets not confuse and think Google Glass is brand new idea. Quoting GuardianSteve Mann, a Canadian known as the father of wearable computing, has been developing systems since the 1980s with obvious industrial, medical and military applications.”
Yes, 30+ years ago. Steve’s first iteration made him look like a mad scientist! :) Steve is a professor from University of Toronto, my alma marter.


DJI Spreading Wings S800 (GPS auto flight stabilizing drone) demo and interview

Sunday, 22 April, 2012

DJI-Innovations Spreading Wings S800 NAB 2012 - pix 01

DJI-Innovations Spreading Wings S800 NAB 2012 - pix 02

At the 2012 National Association of Broadcasters Show, I got to check out the DJI Innovations‘s Spreading Wings S800 (GPS auto flight stabilizing drone) in flight on the street and interviewed a sale rep to inspect the Spreading Wings S800 up close.

The full unit is about $20,000 including transmitter. According to DJI’s sales spec, the drone’s takeoff weight: 6kg, load weight: 2kg, ~16 mins max @ 6kg weight & 10Ah 6S battery. The drone is available end of April 2012. The remote control with screen (?) is available in about 3 months.

Enjoy.

Flying Demo at NAB 2012

Interview and close up control demo

If you understand Cantonese, I interviewed the Chinese sales rep in Cantonese (his mother-tongue) for a more relaxed set of Q&As.

DJI Spreading Wings S800 Chinese 廣東話 demo/interview (GPS stabilization)

DJI-Innovations Spreading Wings S800 NAB 2012 - pix 03

DJI-Innovations Spreading Wings S800 NAB 2012 - pix 04

DJI-Innovations Spreading Wings S800 NAB 2012 - pix 05


2012 National Association of Broadcasters NAB Show Highlights

Sunday, 22 April, 2012

The 2012 National Association of Broadcasters Show from April 16th – 19th was truly an awesome experience for me. I will write another post to talk about the many new friends I met, I consider them “old” friends because I’ve been hanging out with them over the months, and some since July 2011!

In the mean time, let me get share with you a few of the interesting cool products I saw at NAB Show 2012.

DJI Spreading Wings S800 (GPS auto flight stabilizing drone) demo and interview

Note: I will update this entry to add a few more things.


Innovative and Flawed MintChip Challenge by The Royal Canadian Mint

Sunday, 22 April, 2012

Innovative and Flawed MintChip Challenge by The Royal Canadian Mint

It is refreshing to see the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) innovatively create and launch the MintChip Challenge to solicit ideas, software apps submissions and discussions from the public. At the same time, I find it very troubling to see the core security basis of the MintChip system has not been released for public review and discussion. In fact, here is the official RCM line in this forum discussion thread,

While we appreciate your interest in the physical chip’s trusted hardware, public-key infrastructure and encryption methods, we are not in a position to release that information at this time.

Well “… not in a position to release that information …”, really? I can appreciate the “coolness” in seeing interesting apps and use cases, but security has to be the foundation of MintChip and other similar products, without a properly reviewed, fully inspected, time-tested cryptographic system as a solid foundation, the rest of the “cool apps” & interesting use cases will not be of use to anyone.

I’ve been a long time reader of security industry expert Bruce Schneier’s ideas and ground breaking book Applied Cryptography (1995) out of curiosity and interest. Bruce wrote this insightful warning signs “Snake Oil” post in 1999

The problem with bad security is that it looks just like good security. You can’t tell the difference by looking at the finished product. Both make the same security claims; both have the same functionality. Both might even use the same algorithms: triple-DES, 1024-bit RSA, etc. Both might use the same protocols, implement the same standards, and have been endorsed by the same industry groups. Yet one is secure and the other is insecure.

Many cryptographers have likened this situation to the pharmaceutical industry before regulation. The parallels are many: vendors can make any claims they want, consumers don’t have the expertise to judge the accuracy of those claims, and there’s no real liability on the part of the vendors (read the license you agree to when you buy a software security product).”

After rereading the listed nine snake-oil warning signs, I get very uncomfortable when I see these words in the MintChip Challenge,

“Using innovative technology, for which the Mint has prototypes and five patents pending, MintChip uses a secure chip to hold electronic value and a protocol to transfer it from one chip to another.

What are in these “prototypes”? How are they tested and verified? How much of the crypto system are kept in these pending patents and how much will remain part of the “trade secrets”? Security through obscurity is a very bad idea.

Of course, in the minds of RCM, they may think the $52,000+ MintChip Challenge prize money is totally worthwhile in exchange of the hundreds of developers’ time and effort. At the same time, if project MintChip fail due to flawed security in the crypto system, the credibility of Royal Canadian Mint will unfortunately be tarnished. So the price is the $52K and the Mint’s reputation!

I urge the Royal Canadian Mint to publish the technical details of the MintChip cryptographic system and invite the security community to properly review and inspect the whole system to ensure it has a solid foundation to avoid wasting people’s time and, more importantly, maintain the Mint‘s hard earned credibility.

MintChipChallenge promo video

[HT Dwayne L in the discussion thread for the link to Bruce's "Snake Oil"]


James Cameron at sea (deepest known point in any of the world’s oceans)

Monday, 26 March, 2012

* National Geographic, “James Cameron Completes Record-Breaking Mariana Trench Dive

* National Geographic, “First Look: James Cameron’s Sci-Fi Sub for Deepest Dive

* CBC News, “James Cameron ventures to ocean’s deepest point – Canadian’s footage to be shared in 3D documentary

* CNN, “James Cameron emerges from ‘alien world’ at ocean’s depths

* NYT, “Exploring Our Own Alien World

* NYT, “Filmmaker in Submarine Voyages to Bottom of Sea

““Just arrived at the ocean’s deepest pt,” Mr. Cameron said in a Twitter message earlier on Sunday. “Hitting bottom never felt so good. Can’t wait to share what I’m seeing w/ you.”

Mr. Cameron’s vehicle is unique among submersibles, its vertical axis meant to speed its descent and maximize time on the bottom. His goal is to explore the dark seabed for six hours, taking pictures and extracting samples of the fauna, before returning to sunny realms. Mr. Cameron, 57, practiced yoga to train for what is likely to be about nine hours of keeping his knees bent and body largely immobile.

Five people have died in submersible accidents over the decades, and Mr. Cameron said the risks he faced were acceptable given the testing that his craft’s parts have undergone and its backup gear for such critical systems as electrical power and life support.”

* NYT, “Rocket Plunge to Deep End of the Planet” (emphasis added)

“In a stroke, James Cameron has upended the field — literally and figuratively. A man known for imaginative films (“Titanic,” “Avatar”), he has reinvented the way that people explore the deep ocean. Read the rest of this entry »


Rob “CmdrTaco” Malda, WaPo Labs’ new Chief Strategist and Editor-at-Large, founder and former editor-in-chief of Slashdot

Monday, 5 March, 2012

Congrats to Rob Malda, founder and former editor-in-chief of Slashdot, for being appointed as Chief Strategist and Editor-at-Large of WaPo Labs, a subsidiary of The Washington Post Company. Looking forward to see what amazing things Rob will do at WaPo Labs.

See also Rob’s post “Rolling Up My Sleeves“. [HT Dan Gillmor]


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