A couple of weeks back we featured a story (third item) about a chunk of space jetsam that tried to peacefully return to Earth, only to find a Florida family’s roof rudely in the way. The 700-gram cylinder of Inconel was all that was left of a 2,360-kg battery pack that was tossed overboard from the ISS back in 2021, the rest presumably turning into air pollution just as NASA had planned. But the surviving bit was a “Golden BB” that managed to slam through the roof and do a fair amount of damage. At the time it happened, the Otero family was just looking for NASA to cover the cost of repairs, but now they’re looking for a little more consideration. A lawsuit filed by their attorney seeks $80,000 to cover the cost of repairs as well as compensation for the “stress and impact” of the event. This also seems to be about setting a precedent, since the Space Liability Convention, an agreement to which the USA is party, would require the space agency to cover damages if the debris had done damage in another country. The Oteros think the SLC should apply to US properties as well, and while we can see their point, we’d advise them not to hold their breath. We suppose something like this had to happen eventually, and somehow we’re not surprised to see “Florida Man” in the headlines.

There was a little hubbub this week around the release of a study regarding the safety of autonomous vehicles relative to their meat-piloted counterparts. The headlines for the articles covering this varied widely and hilariously, ranging from autonomous vehicles only being able to drive in straight lines to AVs being safer than human-driven cars, full-stop. As always, one has to read past the headlines to get an idea of what’s really going on, or perhaps even brave reading the primary literature. From our reading of the abstract, it seems like the story is more nuanced. According to an analysis of crashes involving 35,000 human-driven vehicles and 2,100 vehicles with some level of automation, AVs with SAE Level 4 automation suffered fewer accidents across the board than those without any automation. Importantly, the accidents that Level 4 vehicles do suffer are more likely to occur when the vehicle is turning just before the accident, or during low-visibility conditions such as dawn or dusk. The study also compares Level 4 automation to Level 2, which has driver assistance features like lane-keeping and adaptive cruise control, and found that Level 2 actually beats Level 4 in clear driving conditions, but loses in rainy conditions and pretty much every other driving situation.

There’s a strange story coming out of New York regarding a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) enforcement action that seems a little shady. It regards a General Mobile Radio Service (GMRS) repeater system used by the New York State GMRS Alliance. GMRS is sort of a “ham radio lite” system — there’s no testing required for a license, you just pay a fee — that uses the UHF band. Repeaters are allowed, but only under specific rules, and that appears to be where things have gone wrong for the club. The repeater system they used was a linked system, which connected geographically remote repeaters stretching from the far western part of the state near Buffalo all the way to Utica. It’s the linking that seems to have raised the FCC’s hackles, and understandably so because it seems to run counter to the GMRS rules in section 95. But it’s the method of notification that seems hinky here, as the repeater custodian was contacted by email. That’s not typical behavior for the FCC, who generally send enforcement notices by certified snail mail, or just dispense with the paper altogether and knock on your door. People seem to think this is all fake news, and it may well be, but then again, the email could just have been an informal heads-up preceding a formal notice. Either way, it’s bad news for the GMRS fans in upstate New York who used this system to keep in touch along Interstate 90, a long and lonely stretch of road that we know all too well.

Third time’s a charm? We’ll see when sunspot region AR3723 (née AR3697 née AR3664) makes a historic third pass around the Sun and potentially puts Earth in its crosshairs yet again. The region kicked up quite a ruckus on its first pass across the solar disk back in May with a series of X-class flares that produced stunning aurorae across almost all of North America. Pass number two saw the renamed region pass more or less quietly by, although it did launch an M-class flare on June 23 that caused radio blackouts in most of the North Atlantic basin. When AR3723 does peek out from behind the eastern limb of the Sun it’ll be a much-diminished version of its former Carrington-level glory, and will likely be given multiple designations thanks to fragmentation while it was hanging out on the backside. But it could still pack a punch, and even if this particular region doesn’t have much juice left, it sure seems like the Sun has plenty of surprises in store for the balance of Solar Cycle 25.

Somebody made a version of Conway’s Game of Life using nothing but checkboxes, which is very cool and you should check it out.

And finally, we’ve been doing an unexpected amount of automotive DIY repairs these days, meaning we spend a lot of time trolling around for parts. Here’s something we didn’t expect to see offered by a national retailer, but that we’d love to find a use for. If it ever comes back in stock we just might pick one up.

You might think Google Glass was an innovative idea, but [Allison Marsh] points out that artist [Lisa Krohn] imagined the Cyberdesk in 1993. Despite having desk in the name, the imagined prototype was really a wearable computer. Of course, in 1993, the technology wasn’t there to actually build it, but it does look like [Krohn] predicted headgear that would augment your experience.

Unlike Google Glass, the Cyberdesk was worn like a necklace. There are five disk-like parts that form a four-key keyboard and something akin to a trackpad. There were two models built, but since they were nonfunctional, they could have any imagined feature you might like. For example, the system was supposed to draw power from the sun and your body, something practical devices today don’t really do, either.

She also imagined a wrist-mounted computer with satellite navigation, a phone, and more. Then again, so did [Chester Gould] when he created Dick Tracy. The post also talks about a more modern reimagining of the Cyberdesk last year.

While this wasn’t a practical device, it is a great example of how people imagine the future. Sometimes, they miss the mark, but even then, speculative art and fiction can serve as goals for scientists and engineers who build the actual devices of the future.

We usually think about machines augmenting our intelligence and senses, but maybe we should consider more physical augmentation. We do appreciate seeing designs that are both artistic and functional.

If you’ve ever bought a modchip that adds features to your game console, you might have noticed sanded-off IC markings, epoxy blobs, or just obscure chips with unknown source code. It’s ironic – these modchips are a shining example of hacking, and yet they don’t represent hacking culture one bit. Usually, they are more of a black box than the console they’re tapping into. This problem has plagued the original XBOX hacking community, having them rely on inconsistent suppliers of obscure boards that would regularly fall off the radar as each crucial part went to end of life. Now, a group of hackers have come up with a solution, and [Macho Nacho Productions] on YouTube tells us its story – it’s an open-source modchip with an open firmware, ModXO.

Like many modern modchips and adapters, ModXO is based on an RP2040, and it’s got a lot of potential – it already works for feeding a BIOS to your console, it’s quite easy to install, and it’s only going to get better. [Macho Nacho Productions] shows us the modchip install process in the video, tells us about the hackers involved, and gives us a sneak peek at the upcoming features, including, possibly, support for the Prometheos project that equips your Xbox with an entire service menu. Plus, with open-source firmware and hardware, you can add tons more flashy and useful stuff, like small LCD/OLED screens for status display and LED strips of all sorts!

If you’re looking to add a modchip to your OG XBOX, it looks like the proprietary options aren’t much worth considering anymore. XBOX hacking has a strong community behind it for historical reasons and has spawned entire projects like XBMC that outgrew the community. There’s even an amazing book about how its security got hacked. If you would like to read it, it’s free and worth your time. As for open-source modchips, they rule, and it’s not the first one we see [Macho Nacho Productions] tell us about – here’s an open GameCube modchip that shook the scene, also with a RP2040!

youtube.com/embed/MQKD-ZZeMD8?…

Un’applicazione pirata ha causato il blocco del servizio di bike sharing a Bologna (Riporta il Corriere), mettendo fuori servizio la maggior parte delle biciclette. È emerso che l’applicazione permetteva l’accesso non autorizzato alle biciclette in condivisione, provocando la paralisi del sistema.

La piattaforma illegale ha compromesso il funzionamento del servizio di bike sharing, portando a un fermo dell’80% delle bici disponibili. L’app pirata ha causato gravi disagi agli utenti, rendendo inutilizzabile gran parte del parco biciclette della città.

L’Impasse del Servizio di Bike Sharing

Secondo le autorità locali, il problema è stato causato da un’applicazione che ha permesso a terzi di sbloccare e utilizzare le biciclette in modo non autorizzato. Questo ha portato a una situazione in cui le bici sono state lasciate in luoghi non previsti o sono state danneggiate, risultando così fuori servizio.

L’applicazione in questione era disponibile online e permetteva di aggirare i sistemi di sicurezza del servizio di bike sharing, sbloccando le biciclette senza il bisogno di un regolare abbonamento o di pagamenti. Questa violazione ha creato un significativo disservizio per i numerosi utenti che si affidano quotidianamente al bike sharing per i loro spostamenti in città.

L’Intervento delle Autorità

Le autorità stanno ora lavorando per risolvere la situazione. È stata avviata un’indagine per identificare i responsabili della creazione e della diffusione dell’applicazione pirata. Nel frattempo, l’azienda che gestisce il servizio di bike sharing sta cercando di riparare e ripristinare le biciclette danneggiate per riportare il sistema alla piena funzionalità.

La scoperta di questa app ha sollevato preoccupazioni circa la sicurezza dei servizi di bike sharing e l’efficacia delle misure di protezione dei dati. Gli utenti hanno espresso frustrazione per l’impossibilità di accedere al servizio, sottolineando la necessità di una maggiore sicurezza per prevenire futuri abusi.

Futuri Provvedimenti

L’azienda responsabile del bike sharing ha dichiarato che stanno lavorando per implementare nuove misure di sicurezza per proteggere il sistema contro ulteriori attacchi. Inoltre, verranno intraprese azioni legali contro chiunque venga trovato colpevole di aver creato o utilizzato l’applicazione pirata.

L'articolo Bologna: Gli hacker scrivono un’App Illegale che paralizza il Bike Sharing. L’80% delle Biciclette Fuori Uso proviene da il blog della sicurezza informatica.

If you ever encounter a British engineer of a certain age, the chances are that even if they use a modern DMM they’ll have a big boxy multimeter in their possession. This is the famous Avo 8, in its day the analogue multimeter to have. Of course it wasn’t the only AVO product, and [Thomas Scherrer OZ2CPU] is here with another black box sporting an AVO logo. This one’s an AC bridge, one of a series of models manufactured from the 1930s through to the late 1940s, and he treats us to a teardown and restoration of it.

Most readers will probably be familiar with the operation of a DC Wheatstone Bridge in which two resistances can be compared, and an AC bridge is the same idea but using an AC source. A component under test is attached to one set of terminals while one with a known value is put on the other, and the device can then be adjusted for a minimum reading on its meter to achieve a state of balance. The amount by which it is adjusted can then be used as a measure of the difference between the two parts, and thus the value of an unknown part can be deduced.

In the case of this AVO the AC is the 50Hz (remembering that this is a British instrument) mains frequency, and the reading from the bridge is taken via a single tube amplifier to a rectifier circuit and the meter. Inside it’s a treasure trove of vintage parts with an electrolytic capacitor that looks as though it might not be original, with a selenium rectifier and a copper oxide signal diode in particular catching our eye. This last part is responsible for some reading anomalies, but after cleaning and lubricating all the switches and bringing up the voltage gently, he’s rewarded with a working bridge. You can see the whole story in the video below the break.

Test equipment from this era is huge, so perhaps not all of you have the space for something like this. Some of us have been known to own other AVO products though.

youtube.com/embed/jUVZshTbJm4?…

Il quotidiano di sinistra tedesco ND ha pubblicato recentemente un articolo che racconta l’esperienza dei lavoratori del collettivo di fabbrica della ex GKN di Campi Bisenzio (Firenze), licenziati nel luglio 2021 e da allora in assemblea permanente, a partire da un’iniziativa di solidarietà alla lotta dei lavoratori promossa in Germania da Tobi Rosswog, un attivista tedesco nella lotta per il clima e per la trasformazione dell’intera industria automobilistica: https://www.nd-aktuell.de/artikel/1183320.konversion-lastenrad-aus-besetzter-fabrik-auf-deutschlandtour.html .

La didascalia dell'immagine dice: "Una cargo-bike della fabbrica occupata in giro per la Germania"

Tobi Rosswog usando una cargo-bike elettrica prodotta dal collettivo di fabbrica della ex GKN ha fatto un giro di sette giorni, per alcune città tedesche, partendo da Wolfsburg, la città della Volkswagen per arrivare a Stoccarda, la città della Mercedes Benz e l’ha chiamato “Konversiontour”, in questo suo tour è stato accompagnato da Anton Benz, un giornalista di ND.
Questo è il link alla home page del suo sito: tobi-rosswog.de/

Il collettivo di fabbrica della ex Gkn dopo il licenziamento collettivo, si è costituito in cooperativa, ha lanciato una campagna di azionariato popolare e ha presentato un piano industriale che prevede una riconversione della fabbrica per la produzione di cargo-bike e di pannelli solari, al momento questo piano non ha ricevuto alcuna risposta dalle autorità di governo e dagli amministratori regionali.

Quando Tobi Rosswog parte per il suo tour (metà giugno), i lavoratori dell’ex GKN sono già da 165 giorni senza stipendio, ogni sera l’attivista arriva in una città diversa, lo aspetta un incontro assemblea sulla situazione della fabbrica di Firenze, fa provare agli interessati la cargo-bike e raccoglie i pre-ordini, in una settimana ne ha raccolti circa 25. Il denaro è destinato a finanziare l'ulteriore produzione di cargo bike, e in alcuni casi può essere utilizzato anche per pagare gli stipendi. Dopo una settimana, due compagni sostituiscono Rosswog e girano la Germania per un'altra settimana.
Qui sotto l'immagine di due cargo-bike prodotte dalcollettivodi fabbrica,lo slogan dilangio è "La cargo-bike con la lotta attorno".

La cargo -bike con la lotta attorno

La cargo - bike si può pre-ordinare anche in Italia: ecco la pagina del sito del collettivo di fabbrica da cui è possibile farlo:
insorgiamo.org/cargo-bike/

Qui sotto invece una foto dall’incontro tenuto a Braunschweig, città sede di una delle fabbriche della VolksWagen, lo striscione dice: "Conversione della ex GKN subito. La lotta per il lavoro è lotta per il clima".

Foto di gruppo dell'incontro di Braunschweig

Un grosso grazie a Tobi Rosswog e a ND 🙂✊

#GKNFirenze #lavoro #CargoBike #solidarietà #Germania #MobiitàSostenibile #CrisiClimatica
@nd.Aktuell @macfranc @lgsp