Why would they give a warning? The result will be increased security at more valuable targets.

Most likely some bored kid who doesn't have any geo-political motivation.

Thanks, but unfortunately some of the information there is wrong or misleading. For example, what they call a "GPS module" is actually just an active antenna, basically a GNSS antenna with a built in LNA.

The bigger issue is that there are a lot of modules that we don't know the contents of. For example, the NimbeLink Skywire LTE modem contains a Sierra Wireless modem, which itself is made from parts from another company. Maybe Chinese, maybe not. Incidentally, the GNSS receiver is likely in there too. Combined cellular, WiFi, Bluetooth, and GNSS modules are quite common.

There doesn't need to be a standard, they can just use USB vendor defined endpoints, or a USB HID vendor defined report. Then the standard WinUSB and HID APIs work, and no driver is required. Plug it in, Windows recognizes it and attaches the appropriate generic USB driver, and the RGB control software sends whatever data is likes.

Lots of USB devices use RGB, such a mice and keyboards. For the RGB the early implementations were using microcontrollers, which often have USB built in.

The best solution would have been for hardware vendors to stop using SMBUS and switch to USB. No driver needed.

They do make the news, but often only the regional news. Did you read about the fire in Bermondsey or Avonmouth? Both were on the BBC somewhere.

To be fair if I were Microsoft I would tell motherboard manufacturers to get a grip and make it a USB device. Hanging it off the SMBUS, where critical stuff like fan control and power management also lives, is kind of insane for controlling some lights.

If it was USB then it could just use WinUSB or even HID. No driver needed, API is very mature.

I don't think it's particularly hard or anything. The bigger issue is getting it signed by Microsoft. Because it's a very low level driver that can interact with critical parts of the hardware, like controlling your fans and power management, the bar is naturally a bit higher than a driver for some random USB device. Therefore every time it gets updated, Microsoft has to check it and sign off on it.

There was some company that was updating it, basically just rebuilding it to keep it compatible with the latest Windows version and getting the driver re-signed. Really though it's something Microsoft should take on themselves and create an API for. I think Gamers Nexus were trying to create some common API for RGB, but I don't know how far they got.

It's going to get nasty when home batteries and solar really start to become the norm and being totally reliant on the grid gets much more expensive. It's inevitable as the cost of solar and batteries keeps falling, while the cost of distribution stays the same or rises due to climate change. As ever, it will be expensive to be poor and not be able to make the up-front investment.

It might not just be a lack of appropriate compensation, although that is chronic in my country. It takes time to train people in this technology, and there is sometimes no substitute for experience. There are lots of different people needed too - some to install the batteries, some to handle the electrical side at the local level, and some to deal with them at the grid level. There can be delays anywhere along the chain.

If you look at how China did it, the government said that adding battery capacity should get priority, and even then it took them a few years to really ramp up. Also their grid is quite different, newer and with less regulatory capture. 220V as well, giving them a bit of an edge with things like EV charging and heat pumps.

Hopefully they make significant gains when it comes to maintainability and readability as well. A lot of AI generated code looks superficially properly commented, decent variable names, that sort of thing, but in reality is a pain to deal with and only likely to ever be worked on again by more AI.

The UK is never going to deploy vast amounts of solar, we donâ(TM)t have the insolation for it.

Indeed, but even so, we do get enough that relatively expensive rooftop solar is generally worth it.

But we sure as shit have the wind (and tidal) and thereâ(TM)s all the rest to do as well: EAFs, induction cookers, heat pumps, EVs, blah. We need to race or be left in the dust, like Americans with their shitty payments systems with cheques etc (and obviously with fossil fuels too).

Yep, we have a lot of wind, especially now with modern offshore building techniques.

I think with the right investment and incentives, we can also focus on batch industrial processes, things like arc furnaces and electric cement kilns which can be spun up and down fast enough to deal with weather variations where necessary. Sure depreciation is a bit of a pain, but having free energy in order to dump excess capacity is quite compelling.

Multiple reasons.

One is they have a very high power density, both specific and volumetric. You need quite a lot of power to vapourise water and lithium is the winner here. Largely speaking, small, especially disposable vapes appear to be limited by the power density of battery chemistries not the energy density.

Pouch cells are also really good for small batteries because they don't have a prismatic metal shell, and they can easily be made to custom shapes.

It is an incredible waste of resources.

I don't want to spend $150 on a quality headset that will become trash in just 2 or 3 years when the battery dies. But what choice do I have?

Buy a pair of fairbuds?

Brilliant! Why don't we find those "waste managers" and give them a good talking to, maybe even a vigorous finger wagging. I will find my waste manager forthwith and maybe fire him. Then maybe ask my butler to find a new one.

For the rest of the plebs who don't have a waste manger, they chuck stuff in the recycling bin. Unfortunately a small but significant number of arseholes chuck bad shit in there too.