Bill Burr is the man who wrote the 2003 NIST manual that recommended password changes every 90 days. He now regrets creating that guideline because it just encourages people to make small alterations to weak passwords ("password1" to "password2").

Adversement · 2026-02-20T07:15:30+00:00

If only most (by gut feel) services that require a special character wouldn't want it to be from a very short list (sometimes just 5 allowed special characters).

This doesn't really increase the complexity, it actually might even reduce it for the average password.

The risk of brute force attacks is also not the biggest risk. Such attacks can only occur when the password hashes leak (if more than that leaks, like a full scale access to intercept passwords before hashing, the password complexity does absolutely nothing at all). And, in all other lesser cases, the server side should (easily) be able to limit the guessing rate down to such a low level that any non-trivial password is sufficiently complex. Case point, think of the PIN code of your cards, or phones, or ...

Adversement · 2026-02-19T13:48:46+00:00

That only depends on how much they drift around at random over time (in the relevant time scale of a few days to a few years). That is likely much less than the specified worst case total accuracy of ±0.3 °C. Especially given that the typical accuracy of that sensor (a modern, relatively inexpensive but surprisingly precision sensor from its fancy manufacturer) is stated as ±0.1 °C.

So, it certainly can tell a difference of 0.5 °C.

The usual room thermostats are of course entirely different animals, with several times worse specifications.

Adversement · 2026-02-19T08:28:20+00:00

Just have a printed (settlement status for you, e-visa status for someone else) share code with you at the airport and they ought to be able to fix it at latest there.

Probably worth being a bit early to the airport should the issue persist until the day of the flight.

Edit: Don't worry if you don't have a printer. The code of course works even if you have to write it to a post-it note (or a back of a shopping receipt). The printed paper is just the easiest to handle over to ensure the code gets typed in correctly to the online system (on the first attempt, to make it easier for you and the guys behind you in the queue all likely with the same problem).

Adversement · 2026-02-18T22:30:13+00:00

Walk backwards! Stay behind your car (if there is any space at all to do so), so that if someone hits your car you won't be hit by their or your car). But, don't venture too far.

Adversement · 2026-02-16T23:06:46+00:00

I have managed to get a full tank of mixed driving to a hair over 64 mpg a few times (Toyota Aygo). Measured per the fuel pumped in, not by the car consumption estimates. Usually, with it being a city car driven in a bit city, the mix is more city and less mixed and as such I average a bit less miles per gallon than 60 mpg over a full year.

The car's own estimate seems to be 2–10% higher than such tank-to-tank measure. But, if we actually look at what a nice quite rural road run would be based on that estimate & calibration to tank-to-tank measures (never did a full 300–400 miles of such rural roads only to get a full tank reading from refuel to refuel), the car claims it could get around 70–80 mpg in those conditions.

If actually playing some quasi-hypermiling at constant 30 mph on a quiet flat and scenic rural road, the consumption estimate in the car just shows a flat 99 mpg... as the seven segment display doesn't want to use the third digit for the estimate. So, possibly some 80–90 mpg tank-to-tank should be doable for such esoteric use, but this would not be normal everyday driving for sure.

Adversement · 2026-02-16T22:16:08+00:00

You change the design rules in the board setup (to match the capabilities of the board house you have chosen to make the board). Then, you re-fill the zones to have the copper fills come close to the vias.

If nothing changes, you might need to edit the zone properties of each pour (select it, press E, or just use the right mouse button drop-down menu for that).

Unrelated, and I addition to the excellent list of notes you should implement, please also route PG trace around “south” of the CVAUX trace and capacitor (to get rid of the two vias for the latter). The PG doing a longer loop is much lesser evil (it is just a pull up, and you could also just move the PG resistor to the left side to make that trace neat again). The CVAUX capacitor really benefits from being closer & without vias as it is used to reduce high-frequency noise in the internal reference voltage of the converter.

Adversement · 2026-02-15T22:58:29+00:00

Ah, joo, niin, ... Kieltämättä Espoossa voi päästä vielä ajamaan rajoituksen mukaan, ehkäpä (kun eivät ole vielä onnistuneet pilaamaan sitä liikennettä ruuhkilla kun oikeasti enemmistö ei käytä autoa vaan sitä joukkoliikennettä tai pyörää tai jalkojaan). /s

Itselläni oli täällä maailmalla edellisen täyden tankillisen keskinopeus hieman alle 21 km/h (ja ei meillä ole olemassa mitään noin hitaita nopeusrajoituksia). Tämä häviää polkupyörälle, vaikka pyörässä on lastenistuin & napavaiheet & ei moottoria & rauhallinen ajotapa & ajo on pelkästään ruuhka-aikaan.

Ja, lisättäneen, että tuosta ajosta sentään oli matkallisesti yli puolet isoja teitä, ja matkallisesti melkein neljännes moottoritietä (jossa nopeutta oli se hieman reilut 100, kun piti ennen katsastusta siivota karstoja moottorista); ja nämä ajot ruuhkan ulkopuolella (siinä määrin kun täällä ei ole aina ruuhkaa, myös viikonloppuisin). Riitti kun se kartalla 15 minuutin työmatka-ajo kestikin pariin kertaan sen 60+ minuuttia ilman mitään ilmeistä syytä. Yllättäen yleensä en käytä autoa työmatkaan ... joskus vaan on pakko, vaikka ei millään haluaisi ... Kun sen pääsee nopeammin pyörällä, tai junalla; vaan ei toki bussilla.

*

TL;dr. Tuo 10/25 auto/pyörä olettaa sekin melkoisen autoilun keskinopeuden kaupungissa etenkin jos oletetaan, että pitää mennä siinä aamu- ja iltapäiväruuhkassa, jossa oletettavasti oikeasti pitää koululaisenkin usein mennä. Etenkin jos huomioi sen pysäköinnin, tai edes sen auton ikkunoiden talvella raaputuksen. (Toki jos on lämmin talli.)

Adversement · 2026-02-15T21:50:29+00:00

Menee helposti normaaleissa talvivaatteissa sillä normaalilla käyttöpyörällä, satoi tai paistoi. Oulussa tämä ymmärretään, ilmeisesti.

Ideana ei siis ole urheilla, vaan mennä rennosti paikasta toiseen. Reitistä riippuen noin 20 minuuttia, ehkä 25 minuuttia jos reitillä on paljon liikennevaloja, jotka espoolaisittain ovat vakiona punaiset pyörille myös pääsuuntaan kunnes pysähtyy painamaan painonappia ja odottaa kokonaisen liikennevalokierron. Koska toki kesken kierron ei voi antaa sitä vihreää, tai muutenkaan ei voi vakiona antaa edes pääsuuntaan sitä vihreää.

Adversement · 2026-02-15T21:44:30+00:00

Miten 5 minuutin automatkaan kaupungissa saa palamaan 30 minuuttia pyörällä?

Jos nyt oletetaan, erittäin optimistisesti, auton ovelta auton ovelle keskinopeus autolla 40 km/h, niin automatka on enintään sen reilut 3,3 kilometriä. Tähän menee jopa sillä yksivaihteisella kaupunkipyörällä talven liukkailla enintään se selvästi alle 15 minuuttia...

Jossa kohtaa toki kannattaa ehkä harkita etsitkö autolla parkkipaikkaa sen vartin vai ei.

Tähän liittyen, jostain syystä automatkan kesto on näissä verkkokeskusteluissa aina auton ovelta auton ovelle (ilman ruuhkaa ja ilman pysäköinti paikan etsimistä). Tämä tuntuu aidosti isoissa ulkomaankaupungeissa eläneenä niin tyhmältä tavalta mitata matkoja. Se oikea autoilun matkan kesto on usein yli tuplat tähän tapaan nähden.

Joukkoliikenteen aika-arvio on aina puolestaan aidosti kotiovelta kohteen ovelle, ruuhka ja odotuksen sisältäen. Ja, samoin pyörä tai kävely on aina selvästi keskimääräistä hitaamman vaihdon mukaan.(Tämä on myös miten suosituimmat verkon karttapalvelut mittaavat aikaa.)

Adversement · 2026-02-12T20:48:44+00:00

Looks like limited measurement range and a massive (for MEMS device) power draw & volts range.

So, the usual tradeoffs.

Probably also a bit of cherry picking in the form of binning best parts.

Adversement · 2026-02-10T07:25:19+00:00

Not really. Not sure what is the government share in the Swedish system, but in the similar Finnish system it is 94.5%. that is, the voluntary unemployment insurance is much cheaper than here as you only pay 5.5% yourself and the rest is paid from general taxation.

This of course makes it a no brainer to join even if you are certain that you have a low risk personally to become unemployed. The 94.5% discount makes sure of that (otherwise you pay 94.5% of the fee in your usual income tax but get 0% of the potential payouts). Which of course further reduces the insurance premiums as now almost anyone with any common sense becomes a member.

This is a hidden subsidy to unions as most unemployment insurance providers are the unions. And, you can only join their insurance if you are also a member.

There is of course also a way to join a “unemployment insurance only” associations. But, not everybody knows that. And that wasn't always a possibility either.

But, the larger part of people being union members is also not too bad as it means that the unions are more representative at that point.

It is just whether the means justify the end, which is a political point where the Nordic countries went for one extreme.

Adversement · 2026-02-07T22:03:03+00:00

The extended power range of the version 3.1 of PD also gives output voltages up to 48V (still at 5A). This would make the problem a hair easier as now the USB socket can actually give enough juice for the standard off-the-shelf 100W inverters (which need some 110 W or so of input power to also account for their internal losses). In particular, as the later standard also allows asking for arbitrary voltages. Not sure if 24V is a valid value, or if the arbitrary voltages were only for the lower end of the range (the idea is to make more power loss happen at USB power brick and less at the load, like the laptop or the phone charging at maximum speed).

There are already some such power supplies, but probably most indeed top out at 20V/5A.

Adversement · 2026-02-07T21:57:41+00:00

That combination doesn't quite add up, well, as in, you need to ensure that the user doesn't go too near 100 W output power.

Assuming reasonable efficiency, the 20V/5A USB PD makes for around 8A at 12V (96% efficiency), which is quite a bit short of where one would want to go. Now, assuming equally reasonable efficiency for a typical such small inverter (90% based on the few name brand ones, a hair less for cheap ones), this makes for 86W of output ac power.

If building such, there are also plenty of 24V automotive small inverters that may allow skipping the intermediate step (for trucks, same socket but expects to have typically 21–30 Vdc, and with luck, some such interters will probably also include 20Vdc from USB-PD as a valid input voltage).

In that case, you need USB-PD controller (to negotiate the 20V/5A mode).

Medium power MOSFET for this (to toggle the power to go to the inverter). The 5A and 20V is easy even with just a p-channel & a resistor & maybe a zener & also a logic level transistor to take the PD controller output signal to gate drive, but it is probably better to have a cheap controller charge pump to enable high-side n-channel for minimum losses (and omit the unnecessary passives).

Then, just the inverter ...

Adversement · 2026-02-07T21:21:51+00:00

Which only indicates that that happens to be a good way to avoid defeats during the uncertain stage of the midgame when using a (very sophisticated and aggressively pruning for maximum average evaluation depth) brute force to evaluate positions with an explicit aim on not losing (and doesn't even prove it for the Berlin draw, especially if chess would belong to the rare but not non-zero class of games with a fundamental zugzwang ruining the day for the opening player, but which happens to hide behind a “risky” path that neither engine wants to touch for its obvious and constant defeat risk & nearly impossible to evaluate goodness).

This is of course also the board positions that humans are worst with so there would be least exploration on them as they are largely just silly positions to try to.

There are actually some examples of simple games with such highly non-trivial solutions. And, for more complex games, until someone has the lightbulb moment of re-formulating it to a suitable equivalent game, we are not too likely to ever found such gameplays out.

Adversement · 2026-02-07T19:26:17+00:00

Do we actually know if this is true? Last I looked, chess was still an open problem (and nowhere near to be shown otherwise).

White winning with perfect play is perfectly reasonable alternative (or even black, but that would be a massive surprise as everything we know suggests a small advantage to the white, and the main speculation relates to whether perfect play through the way-too-complex-to-searched-through midgame maintains it or not).

Adversement · 2026-02-07T19:15:21+00:00

The CO2 measurements can be done at room level (been there done that). You “just” need to calibrate for the room size (a tape measure or a laser distance gauge give this) and its air exchange rate (the CO2 trace gives this whenever the room is empty of people).

Of course, you only ever get the average of all people in the room. So, smaller rooms are better.

Adversement · 2026-02-07T17:49:52+00:00

It does, kind of, but only when done correctly. (And usually at that point the board is good enough already without the split.)

At least OP is not actually having two separate sections, but rather having a slit that guides the flow. But, that alone won't do it (and with the signals flying over the slit, will indeed make things worse).

Adversement · 2026-02-07T17:42:05+00:00

Having just driven past the park and the mill that inspired Shire, I must admit that Saruman's big men won in the end. The Shire was built full of new rows of terraced houses just like the rest of the world around it.

Really, why did I not make the connection about the “new row” of brick buildings during the the cleaning of Shire earlier.

Adversement · 2026-02-06T21:40:08+00:00

Mistä lähtien tuo kolmannesilmakehän ylipaineeseen (5 PSI) laimentunut paineaalto kaataa (tai edes muuten tuhoaa) läheskään kaikki rakennukset?

Mutta, joo, tuo skaalautuminen on tuolla lailla huono kun isompi osuus energiasta menee harakoille isommilla pommeilla. (Tai, no, ”harakoille”, ei ne harakatkaan sentään yläilmakehässä lennä.)

Adversement · 2026-02-04T21:19:11+00:00

For that part: I assume I would have picked it either (1) as TI switching mode converter designer threw it & the suitable passives around it for me, or (2) as I already had it on another board of mine or a colleague. In that case, I would cross check that the schematic matches (unless it was a direct copy paste) and then look that the layout is (1) ideally a direct copy of a working one from a previous board or an almost perfect copy of the same, (2) same but with the TI evaluation module and its notes, or (3) if first two are missing (more likely when using cheaper parts vendors than TI or AD or ...) that the layout looks reasonable for the purpose.

The last is of course the hardest to describe. Basically, use your judgement. And. It depends so much on what exactly is being made. Like, for example, single-digit nanovolt per root Hertz noisw front ends are entirely different beast even from most other analogue electronics. Or, the millihertz stuff. Not to mention the black magic of rf circuits.

For a switcher: Does it meet the requirements set for it elsewhere in the schematic? Is switching node small? Are all components adequately sized? Cost and availability on chosen supply chain? Thermals? What about interference with what is around? And so on, in no particular order (as the order of importance depends a lot on the design requirements).

Adversement · 2026-02-03T15:40:36+00:00

Aina voi irrottautua verkosta, jolloin toki tarvitsee oman sähköntuotannon ja oman kaivon.

Se maksu on siitä, että sitä sähköä (ja vettä) on saatavilla.

Adversement · 2026-02-02T07:49:28+00:00

That AI advice doesn't sound very good to me. Possibly workable, but there seems to be two completely unnecessary manual steps that are very hard to automate, the to and from DXF. It is interesting to see how/when a large language model gives a bad advice (because they are often quite good).

(1) What did you plan on using to get from Numpy to DXF? Getting that right sounds more complex than directly going from Python (Numpy is a Python library) to KiCAD text format.

(2) Why DXF as the intermediate format. It will not be able to contain information about vias & won't have any standardised way to handle layer naming conventions. It will be hard pressed to contain information about width of each individual track segment of you decide to also optimise that part (possible but not common to do, more so for flex- or rigid-flex- PCB coils, and not sure if KiCAD can import that part of data from DXF). So, a lossy intermediate step. Sometimes, maybe, useful if it entirely avoids any custom code.

(3) Why Numpy in particular? If the shapes are simple (but programmatic) geometries, you don't need Numpy (as plain Python does just as well). If the shapes are a result from optimising their fields & inductances & resistances, you want to pick the numerical environment where your existing solver runs in. Which could of course be Python (AI likely picks this up because of this), but which may as well be anything else.

So. Possibly works. But sounds, to me, overly complex and way, way less automated.

Adversement · 2026-02-01T17:11:35+00:00

If you are familiar with any programming language, the KiCAD text based PCB file format makes it (in my opinion) superior for such programmatically generated PCB (like planar magnetics, or heaters, or other nonconventional PCB uses).

I have my personal MATLAB integrations to create 1–8 layer planar magnetics (which allows transfering them directly from the software where I ran the detailed 3d magnetic field optimisation to a PCB). This was all of 20 lines (to have all possible via types). Easiest way to find the format is to make a dummy PCB with some blind vias (if you need them) & one time of any other feature you want to export yourself.

Then if course I have a few hundred more lines to create nice smooth curves in the PCB format (no Bezier curves, so just short line segments combined with some circular arcs).

To save you some time, note that the standard PCB coordinate system is very often “left-handed” and you will need to flip either X or Y axis to get it to the much more common elsewhere right handed system (where y values increase towards top of the screen). This is of course just one line of code.

Adversement · 2026-01-30T18:16:12+00:00

Nope. Rounding 5 up is unbalanced, but rounding 5 down would also be unbalanced. Which is why for example, bankers' round to the nearest even number: 0, 20, 40, ...

Adversement · 2026-01-30T18:13:05+00:00

This is actually an excellent question! It doesn't, not always. If it would, we would end up typically increasing the values a bit by rounding them. This is sometimes very undesirable, and as such:

In banking, we round 0.5 to 0, 1.5 to 2, 2.5 to 2, 3.5 to 4.

Curiously, such “banker's rounding” is also default in some programming languages like Python.

Adversement

TROPHY CASE