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Quorten Blog 1

First blog for all Quorten's blog-like writings

Measuring the CPU/GPU temperature on a Raspberry Pi

quorten

2018-09-07

Categories: raspberry-pi  
Tags: raspberry-pi  

So you’re wondering, how do you get the CPU temperature on a Raspberry Pi? Well, remember that both the CPU and the GPU on the Raspberry Pi are one-in-the-same, so you go about this by getting the GPU temperature. Now, ideally you could use the standard Linux kernel information files, but when I tried to use them, it failed, so I instead had to use proprietary VidCore Broadcom means.

20180906/DuckDuckGo raspberry pi acpi cpu temperature
20180906/https://www.cyberciti.biz/faq/linux-find-out-raspberry-pi-gpu-and-arm-cpu-temperature-command/

Proprietary Broadcom means, requires root access:

vcgencmd measure_temp

Standard Linux means:

cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp

And if you want to make a whole complicated programming project out of this, look here. This uses the gpiozero library to get the information, again non-standard for everything else except the Raspberry Pi.

20180906/https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en/projects/temperature-log

Ethernet over Copper

quorten

2018-09-07

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

Wondering about the practical data speed limits of copper Ethernet in a home network?

20180831/DuckDuckGo what is the fastest theoretic ethernet speed over copper
20180831/DuckDuckGo
20180831/https://www.10gea.org/ip-bandwidth/ethernet-over-copper-vs-fiber-ethernet/
20180831/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethernet_over_copper

Nevertheless, I found some interesting articles on Ethernet over copper. Yes, it can be a thing that your ISP gives you the same Ethernet format data at your demarcation point.

Auto article briefs in social media

quorten

2018-09-07

Categories: blogging  
Tags: blogging  

So, you’re wondering about how Slack and social media software can post article summaries when you post a link? They use special meta tags called “OpenGraph,” popularized originated by Facebook. Unfortunately the earlier standards of “Semantic Web” never gained as much traction, so it seems.

Failed search.

20180831/DuckDuckGo html page summary social media
20180831/DuckDuckGo html page abstract social media
20180831/DuckDuckGo html page abstract
20180831/DuckDuckGo html page abstract slack

Okay, let me look at my own blog for the special meta tags, and we’ll be more specific by searching for the technical jargon this time. Success!

20180831/DuckDuckGo html meta og:
20180831/DuckDuckGo https://stackoverflow.com/questions/6535405/what-is-the-attribute-property-ogtitle-inside-meta-tag#6535427
20180831/DuckDuckGo https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Facebook_Platform#Open_Graph_protocol

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Other cultures views on Internet privacy

quorten

2018-09-06

Categories: tour-de-force  
Tags: tour-de-force  

Now, this is interesting. So, we know that the United States is a more individualistic culture that values privacy more than the rest of the world. But this is particularly interesting. I found this survey study about how people across the world value privacy in social networking sites, andt there is some interesting data hidden not directly related to the study. Outside of the United States, there is a strong correlation between social networking site use and technical IT education or career. Only in the United States (and probably also Europe) is there a large population that uses social networking sites that does not have a technical IT education or career.

20180906/DuckDuckGo how much do non western computer users value anonymity
20180906/DuckDuckGo how much do non western computer users value privacy
20180906/http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~yangwan1/papers/TRUST2011-%C2%AD-AuthorCopy.pdf

Raspberry Pi VidCore API

quorten

2018-09-06

Categories: raspberry-pi  
Tags: raspberry-pi  

So, there’s a video service that works well with Raspberry Pi or something I hear of? What was it called?

Failed search.

20180906/DuckDuckGo calio video raspberry pi

On, the other hand, I found an interesting article on the Raspberry Pi VidCore APIs. They’re still by far and large proprietary: though there’s a lot of potential for them, there is very little documentation to assist. Much of it came from reverse engineering.

20180906/https://elinux.org/Raspberry_Pi_VideoCore_APIs

Interesting, performance of Raspberry Pi according to elinux.org.

20180906/https://elinux.org/RPi_Performance

Random notes today, 09-06

quorten

2018-09-06

Categories: random  
Tags: random  

Oh, this is interesting. A U of M student applies knowledge on package engineering for the better of a product. Interesting, here, because as I’ve heard, much of these student’s struggles were already considered a solved problem many decades before. But, well… maybe it’s harder for someone who hasn’t done it before, even if it has been done before. A learning gap, or maybe the university education wasn’t as good as it could be, or it was more theoretical/philosophical rather than practical. The reasons can go on and on.

20180906/https://ccaps.umn.edu/story/package-makes-perfect

Single point of failure? What does Wikipedia have to say about that? Well, it’s kind of what you thought. The classic Wikipedia bias, focusing mainly on the computer aspects of single point of failure.

20180906/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single_point_of_failure

Read on →

Still looking for Li-Fi products

quorten

2018-09-06

Categories: home-network  
Tags: home-network  

Li-Fi is still on the radar. Where do you buy it? When will it be ready for mass-market use?

20180906/DuckDuckGo Li-Fi transceivers smartphone

This is an interesting article on some of the technical details on Li-Fi. It introduces some important buzzwords.

  • VLC: Visible Light Communications
  • FSO: Free-Space Optical
  • OWC: Optical Wireless Communications
  • UV: Ultraviolet
  • IR: Infrared

So, I think if you want to transmit light in both directions, you need bright illuminators on both sides of the connection.

20180906/https://blog.beaconstac.com/2016/01/li-fi-vs-ibeacon-ble-technology/

Read on →

New, more precise technique for genetic modification

quorten

2018-09-06

Categories: misc  
Tags: misc  

Interesting article here about a new technique for genetic engineering: gene editing, called TALEN. The way this technology works is by using proteins to section in on a specific part of DNA, and cut DNA at that point. When the DNA heals, this will typically result in the removal of the gene at that point. Alternatively, new DNA can be spliced in. This is different than genetic engineering of times past that used bacteria and viruses to introduce DNA from other species. Matter of fact, gene removal can easily happen on its own in nature, so this form of genetic modification is much less invasive and dangerous than methods of times past, not to mention more specific.

20180905/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/business/wp/2018/08/11/feature/the-future-of-food-scientists-have-found-a-fast-and-cheap-way-to-edit-your-edibles-dna/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.b122db36383d

But, the most interesting part of this article discussion was the backlash that the public has generally had toward genetic engineering in food. It’s the reason why non-genetically modified food is a multi-billion dollar industry. There is a very interesting quote at the end of the article from one of the farmers who is piloting the genetically modified crops on his field, Bob Braun:

I think you can go back to any time in human history and find people who were afraid of change. When I was a kid, I used to hear the old-timers complaining about tractors.

So, what I learned from that: There were people who were complaining about tractors? Wow, I always thought farmers loved tractors.

Changes in usage of PCs, laptops, smartphones, and tablets

quorten

2018-09-06

Categories: tour-de-force  
Tags: tour-de-force  

The days of big computers at home for leisure are over. The world has forever changed with the introduction of smartphones and tablets. On the other hand, you could argue that desired user applications haven’t changed that much. Even back in 2004, it was not uncommon for my Dad to ask to use the computer for a short time just to check E-mail, then us kids could continue playing on the computer for the rest of the time. I’m sure the condition was exactly the same in hundreds of thousands of other households with computers in them. The point of using a smartphone or tablet to check your E-mail is that the device is better suited for that purpose: You want a small, low-power, cool, quiet, portable, hassle-free device to do a simple task like checking your E-mail, yet that task requires a high-end computer. A smartphone almost fits this bill perfectly, although it still consumes more power than would be ideal.

You can argue that the reason laptops became wildly popular as soon as they became economic was for the same reason: people wanted a small and simple device for doing small and simple tasks. Well, I should clarify this point: what seemed, to the user, to be a small and simple task. And to that end, the device in its own right needed to be reasonably low-cost so that the purchase could also be small and simple.

Footnotes:

  • Also, I’ve got to put this out. I have a past habit of writing and saying “tablets and smartphones,” because at one point that was the popular phrase in the media. But I really need to emphasize this point. Smartphone sales trump tablet sales by a significant margin. Yes, tablets have their use, but the bottom line is that smartphones are sold to virtually everyone, whereas tablets are a more discretionary purchase.

Some really interesting article on ads

quorten

2018-09-05

Categories: random-software   important  
Tags:

Important! First I start with a wild web search:

20180905/DuckDuckGo advertisers trying to distract

Then I find a really great article about ads, from lifehacker.com.

How Advertising Manipulates Your Choices and Spending Habits (and What to Do About It)

20180905/https://lifehacker.com/5824328/how-advertising-manipulates-your-choices-and-spending-habits-and-what-to-do-about-it

Well, it’s more about the effect that ads have on people, and the problems that ads can introduce into people’s lives. Wow, indeed I must agree, this article is very insightful and genuine.

I must emphasize this point. That article is a very excellent and well written article. The first time through trying to take notes on it, I was quoting so many long text sections that I had to reconsider my approach and just direct the reader to go read that article in full, with a hearty encouragement like this one. Yes, it’s really that great.

Read on →