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Joined 2 years ago
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Cake day: June 23rd, 2023

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  • Biometrics are not usernames. They are physical identifiers and unlike usernames you can’t change them.

    I used to work in a datacenter that required you to go through a mantrap to access. It required three things:

    1. Something you have (a card key)
    2. Something you know (a PIN)
    3. Something you are (biometrics)

    To get to the datacenter floor you use a card key to open the door to the mantrap. It’s a small vestibule about the size of a phone booth. Once inside the door closes. You then enter your PIN on a keypad and place your hand on a biometric scanner. Once your hand is recognized the inner door opens and lets you into the datacenter. I was told the mantrap also weighed you and compared that with previous trips through to make sure somebody else didn’t sneak through with you.




  • Lots of people forget that Tesla is much more than cars at this point. Musk now claims it’s an AI company, but aside from that vaporware they also build & sell utility grade battery storage systems for electric grids, Powerwall batteries for home solar systems, vehicle insurance for the cars they sell, etc. They also run virtual power plants for electric utilities that consist of Powerwall owners who opt-in to the program and are paid a premium for the power they supply. Just a month or so ago they tested a VPP in California that consisted of 100,000 individual PowerWalls.

    And then there’s their attempt at robotics…








  • Even home battery solutions. We have solar panels & a Powerwall. Were part of a Virtual Power Plant along with around 1500 other Powerwall owners in the region. During peak usage in the summer all our PowerWalls feed back to the grid so that our utility provider doesn’t have to spin up expensive (and dirty) peaker plants. We get paid a premium for the power we provide during these events.

    I saw articles here on Lemmy just a month or two ago that Tesla successfully tested a VPP in California that consisted of 100,000 PowerWalls.





  • Simply linking the cars wouldn’t be enough to address an issue like this though. They still need to individually recognize something like the debris this car ran over and deal with it appropriately.

    If cars are linked to share data like this then I can easily see a scenario where one model of car with really good sensors sends a warning saying “hey, there’s road debris here”. But subsequent cars still need to be able to see it and avoid it as well. If the sensors in a following car aren’t as good as the sensors in the first car then that second car could still strike it.

    Debris doesn’t remain stationary. Each vehicle that hits it will move it, possibly break it into multiple pieces, etc. And eventually, either through that process or by a person moving it, it will cease being a hazard.


  • Which is a rather bizarre claim to make. I travelled to NZ and Australia about 20 years ago. When I went through NZ customs they wanted to see proof of where I was staying and more importantly that I had airline reservations to leave NZ. So they wanted proof I was just visiting and planned to leave in a timely manner.

    When I went to Australia the customs officer just stamped my passport and let me through, no questions asked.

    Why deal with the hassle of NZ as a stepping stone if I could just go straight to Australia and avoid that hassle?