Friday 27 September 2019

Can't Turn Off Two Stage Authentication After IOS Upgrade

Quick Note: If you want to turn off Two Stage Authentication you have to act quickly, after two weeks, you will not be able to turn it off.

Quick Note 2: In numerous forum posts people have had success by ringing apple support (or look for a link in an email from apple inbox of your apple id email address).

Intro


I have just upgraded my iphone 5S from IOS 10 to IOS 14, and some where along the way apple turned on two factor authentication. This feature is terrible, especially when you share an apple account between more then one device (and who doesn't?). Every time you download an app, or scratch you nose you get the following:




When I looked up how to turn it off I was advised by apple website to go to security section of either iphone, or apple.com and simple turn off two stage authentication.  But in my case the option to switch off wasn't available.

Yes You Can Turn It Off

Apple - "If you don't see the option to turn off two-factor authentication on your Apple ID account page, that means you can't turn it off" - INCORRECT


YES YOU CAN - Either ring apple or look for the email link below.

Look for Email Link

 

The answer for me was a link in an email. Look for an email from apple (subject: Two-factor authentication enabled for your Apple ID) which give a link to "return to previous security settings".



The wording in this email is misleading. NO ONE has had access to my account. I received messages saying someone at the other side of country was accessing it, although this was at the same time my wife logging in with new password, and she was sitting next to me.

Why are Apple Pushing Two Stage Authentication?

In short this is a move by Apple to limit their risks at your expense. It is unnecessary security faff, which you don't need. But they do because it covers a legal loop hole for them no doubt. It is the same with banks, they keeping piling on security responsibility to the customer, it reduces their losses, at the expense of our time, and pretend they are looking after us.

Scientific Web Content

Google Maps Ranking

Thursday 26 September 2019

Schwalbe Super Moto-X Tyre Review (26 x 2.40 559 62)

Schwalbe Super Moto-X Tyre Review


I love Schwalbe Big Apple Tyres, but come hedge trimming season, with thorns littering every country mile, I require a little more puncture protection. Otherwise the cycling makes way for more puncture maintenance which I don't like doing all of the time.

These super moto-x tyres are quite similar to Big Apple or Big Ben Tyres, but they have Green Guard Puncture Protection, and side wall protection. Some things to note:

  • These Schwalbe Super Moto-X Tyres 2.4" are narrower that 2.35" Big Apples
  • The Schwalbe Super Moto-X Tyre cross section shape is "taller" than Big Apples
  • The Schwalbe Super Moto-X Tyre rubber compound is superior to Big Apples in terms of grip.
Stand alone points ( that don't just compare these Super Moto-X tyres to others tyres would be that:

  • They are excellent quality
  • The roll very well
  • They provide excellent cushioning
  • The rubber compound is very grippy
  • They are high volume
I normally do a whole bunch of chapters now but instead I will just comment on photos.


So the above picture shows the Super Moto-X compared to the Big Apple Tyre (About 5 years old). The Super Moto-X has more tread, and is slightly narrower despite being advertised as 2mm wider! Come on Germany. I do not doubt it is 2.4" tall from rim to road, but is a narrower tyre than the 2.35" Big Apple, approximate real world width is around 55mm. 7mm narrower than advertised, even when mounted on a wide rim. 


 As with most Schwalbe Touring / Utility Tyre the Super Moto-X has a reflective side wall. Seen here in camera flash looking pretty fierce.


 Mounted on my weird bike. I like a fat tyre primarily for the look! What a fickle bloke I am.

 A image showing gap between the fork stanchion and the tyre. The clearance is OK, and these are not high volume forks. I expect these tyre will fit in any MTB frame no problem.




 Freshly mounted on EX325 Mavic rim. As mentioned in intro, the tyres are oval in cross section. I think this might be due to the green guard, I have some other green guard tyres and they are tall, and less round than other schwalbe tyres.



Close up of tread on Super Moto-. The tread although taller than the Big Apples is not squirmy on the road, I put this down to a softer compound that grips better. I have used some cruiser tyres that squirm very badly. 7 Month Update: The rubber compound is very good, it provide better grip on clean asphalt than the big apples, and I cannot see very much wear for 7 month's use.

A bit muddy after first ride. 80% on road (muddy, thorny, gravelly), and then about 20% on very muddy Stoney bridleway and tracks.




I used these with mudgaurds: P65s 

The tyres went on the rims well, although I did have to use tyre levers for the last bit. 




Another close up of tread not how the Super moto-x have a textured surface, which is unnecessary perhaps . 7 Month Update: The texture pattern is still there even in central area after 7 months of use. 



One last Super moto-x Tyre Photo. In conclusion I am very happy with the tyres. They are of course heavy, because they are high volume and have very good puncture protection. But they roll very well, and I think schwalbe have done an excellent job with the rubber compound, which grips very well.

It is just a shame no one a schwalbe can use a tape measure, 7mm narrower than advertised. . . .

Environmental Permit Applications 
Sequential Test

Monday 16 September 2019

M-DIY-BL1200 Review and Install

M-DIY-BL1200 Review and Install


Please find below notes on M-DIY-BL1200. 

M-DIY-BL1200 - Intro


The M-DIY-BL1200 is a Bluetooth receiver module. It is quite an attractive offering as it have many additional features over rivals they include:

  • Audio Input (automatically switching when audio input lead is attached)
  • Audio Output (to amplifier)
  • 12v to 25v input voltage
  • 5V connector (not sure if output or input) maybe both!
  •  Various extra connetion points for volume, and track skip buttons etc.
Video overview (terrible sounds and video quality soz). This video was made before I fitted the module / board, so is a bit light on detail.



M-DIY-BL1200 - Install


One of the most attractive things about this module is that it come supplied with detachable wires, which make soldering it a cinch. It is ideal for TPA3116 as the 24v voltage matches upper voltage of TPA3116, so that is ideal. 

Things go down hill from here.



M-DIY-BL1200 - Noise (Ground Loop)


So when I first fired this thing up there was all kinds of noise coming out of the speaker, before I had even started so I googled and I found: 


What we have is a problem with sharing the same power supply as the amplifier, which cuases "ground loop" I had a few spare components  lying around so I experimented to see what would help.

  • I used a step down convertor to power the M-DIY-BL1200 at 12v. The main power supply is a 24v laptop brick (Minger). I guessed that the convertor may incorporate some sort of filter. I guessed wrong. Ground loop noise still present.
  • I ran the M-DIY-BL1200 from a separate battery. This wasn't a fix as such, but just to try and diagnose problem. The ground loop noise went away. BUT there was another noise. . . .  .

 M-DIY-BL1200 - Noise (Buzz)

 

The other noise sounds like a amplifier when you have a lead plugged in, but no input. It is a steady hum or buzz and is quite loud. It was enough for me to abandon the project, remove the M-DIY-BL1200 module and revert to using a wired connection.  


M-DIY-BL1200 - Powered by Step Down Convertor

M-DIY-BL1200 - Intro Jingle


Whilst I can forgive design flaws as above (after all the board still does what it is supposed to do . . . .  badly), there is one feature that is unforgivable, that is the jingle that plays when the bluetooth is connected. Bling, bling BLOoOoOM. It is SOOOOOO loud, it distorts the speakers, even when the volume is turned down.

In order to avoid this, I had to mute the amp, connect / pair bluetooth, and then un-mute. This is a terrible feature, and I would avoid this board on that basis.

M-DIY-BL1200 - Conclusions


A DIY friendly board rendered unusable  by connection jingles and mystery humming noises. 

Preliminary Ecological Appraisal 

Environmental Consultants Bristol

Friday 6 September 2019

Mix and Match Netgear Powerline Adaptors

A few notes on mixing and matching different models of netgear power line adaptors. These tests were run on a PC with a cable connect direct to the router.

Screen shots were pulled from netgear Genie.

Original Setup

From left to right media store, router (gateway) and house. Total distance about 100m. Rouiter is in shed at bottom of garden. and house access point (connected to XAV2001 by cable) is furthest point.



Test Set Up

Removal of XAV5201 and test of speeds between two XAV2001.


Newer Adaptor at Router End of Line

So by putting the XAV5201 does this make thing better. I should point out that the XAV5201 is a newer model than the XAV2001, and has higher bandwidth. 


Older Adaptor at Router End of Line


There has been an improvement! What does this mean, does the newer power line gear receive signal better than the older stuff? I am not sure, if that were the case then wouldn't we see better TX results by swapping the other way around.



AV500. . .AV 200

Does matching power networking standards help things, both below are AV500 compliant . .  no it doesn't.


Conclusions

I haven't a clue! How about you? Please leave a comment.