Must see television reminder thread

[SirRumpole]

Long shot...

My TV remote has packed up. Well it works, but the buttons are getting hard to push. I had a look in the cupboard and found a "OneForAll universal remote control", but no packaging/instructions. Does anyone know how to get these universal remotes working?

Thanks.

With great difficulty usually, they are all different.

Google the make and model of your URC and you will usually find a manual on the Net.

There is usually a list of codes for your TV that you use the URC number keys to specify the code of the device you want to control.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

With great difficulty usually, they are all different.

Google the make and model of your URC and you will usually find a manual on the Net.

There is usually a list of codes for your TV that you use the URC number keys to specify the code of the device you want to control.

Would you believe in that time that I did exactly what you said and got it working? Amazing!

Thanks.

SONY code is 33121 Boom!

 

[SirRumpole]

Would you believe in that time that I did exactly what you said and got it working? Amazing!

Thanks.

SONY code is 33121 Boom!

Excellent !

 

[MrBurns]

Excellent !

The other solution if you only want to use it to control the TV is to Google the model of the remote and buy a new one, they're very cheap.
EBay would have them no doubt.

 

[Smurf1976]

Vale Sir Terry Wogan.

Eurovision was once must see TV

...

It's nearly unwatchable these days on SBS.

Too true.

It's a broadcast of an overseas event. No need to have those two from SBS talking over the top of it. What, exactly, are they trying to achieve in doing that?

It's just annoying and adds nothing.

 

[Logique]

Long shot...

My TV remote has packed up. Well it works, but the buttons are getting hard to push. I had a look in the cupboard and found a "OneForAll universal remote control", but no packaging/instructions. Does anyone know how to get these universal remotes working?

Thanks.

I had the same experience, and bought an Harmony brand universal remote. It was a wise investment.

You go to the makers website, select the relevant TV and PVR models, and download the applicable software, and load it into the univ remote. It's a pretty good fit and you can customise the buttons.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Thanks Burnsy/Logique.

JB have 'em for $40, so I'll get a spare one.

 

[basilio]

I was just watching "Seconds from Disaster" on Iview.

I have found it a fascinating series. Every disaster it analyses turns up a multitude of operational and mangement mistakes. Down right terrifying.

The latest episode looks at the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In 2010 an oil well blew out in The Bay of Mexico destroyed the rig and spewed oil for 84 days in the Gulf. One of the biggest environmental and financial disasters of all time.

Well worth a look particularly if you are an engineer.

[video]http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/seconds-from-disaster/ZX9711A005S00#playing[/video]

 

[SirRumpole]

I was just watching "Seconds from Disaster" on Iview.

I have found it a fascinating series. Every disaster it analyses turns up a multitude of operational and mangement mistakes. Down right terrifying.

The latest episode looks at the Deepwater Horizon disaster. In 2010 an oil well blew out in The Bay of Mexico destroyed the rig and spewed oil for 84 days in the Gulf. One of the biggest environmental and financial disasters of all time.

Well worth a look particularly if you are an engineer.

[video]http://iview.abc.net.au/programs/seconds-from-disaster/ZX9711A005S00#playing[/video]

Air crash Investigation is good too, but there is only so much of it that you can take.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

Anyone watch that show on cyber security last night?

A group of researchers from Washington University figured out how to tap into a car's electronics and slam its brakes from their laptop remotely. They could also affect the accelerator, door locks and other electronics remotely. This was just an ordinary car with standard internet links.

They also showed how it was possible to kill power generators remotely, since most of them are now hooked up to the internet in some way. They gave a very graphic demonstration of how one click of malware sent to the generator could destroy it. With multiple clicks it exploded into flames. They said a whole country could be brought to its knees this way, since backup sources take up to 6 months to install and get running.

Made me want to go and get solar.

 

[basilio]

We don't live in a very safe environment do we ? The vulnerability of power stations to malware is notorious. In fact Irans nuclear testing systems were trashed via Western trojan viruses.

And of course if it can be done to one power station it can be done to any.

(PS Just how secure do you think you would be in your solar powered house in a State with no functioning mains electricity ?)

 

[CanOz]

We don't live in a very safe environment do we ? The vulnerability of power stations to malware is notorious. In fact Irans nuclear testing systems were trashed via Western trojan viruses.

And of course if it can be done to one power station it can be done to any.

(PS Just how secure do you think you would be in your solar powered house in a State with no functioning mains electricity ?)

Run for the hills and hord tinned food...

More alarmist stuff Basilio??

 

[basilio]

Run for the hills and hord tinned food...

More alarmist stuff Basilio??

Absolutely NOT !!! There is no way we should be concerned about the consequences of a widespread long term failure of power supplies. I'm convinced that society will all pitch in together hook up our bicycles in in one long line to generate the power that keep the lights on.

I'm also totally confident that the power companies have closely examined their systems to ensure that sure malware can't infect our power.

There. Does that sound suitably non alarmist ?

 

[CanOz]

Absolutely NOT !!! There is no way we should be concerned about the consequences of a widespread long term failure of power supplies. I'm convinced that society will all pitch in together hook up our bicycles in in one long line to generate the power that keep the lights on.

I'm also totally confident that the power companies have closely examined their systems to ensure that sure malware can't infect our power.

There. Does that sound suitably non alarmist ?

ok, so explain to me why you don't want solar? Are you worried that after this outage, brought on by the malware, all the criminals without lights would want to come hang out at your place?

 

[basilio]

ok, so explain to me why you don't want solar? Are you worried that after this outage, brought on by the malware, all the criminals without lights would want to come hang out at your place?

Nah solar is great. Being prepared for outages always makes sense and really should be part of any household.

I'm just saying that if there was a serious long term problem a few million hungry people without power or food would make the situation problematical.

And yes I have only limited confidence in our current energy systems being robust enough to survive a determined malware attack.

 

[Tisme]

Anyone watch that show on cyber security last night?

A group of researchers from Washington University figured out how to tap into a car's electronics and slam its brakes from their laptop remotely. They could also affect the accelerator, door locks and other electronics remotely. This was just an ordinary car with standard internet links.

They also showed how it was possible to kill power generators remotely, since most of them are now hooked up to the internet in some way. They gave a very graphic demonstration of how one click of malware sent to the generator could destroy it. With multiple clicks it exploded into flames. They said a whole country could be brought to its knees this way, since backup sources take up to 6 months to install and get running.

Made me want to go and get solar.

I'd find it hard to believe people could get past the relentless combinations of an automation system that is a unique set of input/output for any power station or industrial application. High end systems have some fairly fierce access codes to get into the supervisory computer then the intruder would have to tunnel down through layers of VPN, that could be one of many proprietary transport protocols and on a distributed system there would be a password and user login at each outstation.

Mass produced product like cars equipped with telemetry might be a different story in that there are industry agreements regarding published transparent layers like OBDII was/is.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

I'd find it hard to believe people could get past the relentless combinations of an automation system that is a unique set of input/output for any power station or industrial application. High end systems have some fairly fierce access codes to get into the supervisory computer then the intruder would have to tunnel down through layers of VPN, that could be one of many proprietary transport protocols and on a distributed system there would be a password and user login at each outstation.

Mass produced product like cars equipped with telemetry might be a different story in that there are industry agreements regarding published transparent layers like OBDII was/is.

I don't know anything about it myself.

http://fortune.com/2016/01/26/security-experts-hack-cars/

 

[Smurf1976]

If the power grid fails completely then so too does water supply, fuel and food distribution systems not too long afterward. Likewise just about every business also ceases to operate, most of them immediately.

If you're living anywhere other than on a farm then you're pretty much screwed once the water stops working.

I recall seeing one assessment of a hypothetical 12 month blackout in the USA. US population after 12 months = around 30 million and almost all of them not living in cities. Sounds alarming until you realise that whilst we had non-electrical means of sustaining cities and doing business a century ago those things and the knowledge behind them is long gone now.

Here's a challenge. Just go one week without grid electricity and see how it works out. Turn the power off at home, turn off the water and gas too. Also remember to avoid entering any business or workplace that needs electricity to operate and avoid any form of motorised transport too (no electricity = petrol pumps don't work). And of course don't consume or eat anything that wasn't grown in your immediate surrounds.

We're completely screwed if the grid fails in a big way. In the event of a major failure lasting months, power to run your own home is the least of your worries really unless you've got everything else covered and don't require to deal with just about any business.

 

[Wysiwyg]

I recall seeing one assessment of a hypothetical 12 month blackout in the USA. US population after 12 months = around 30 million and almost all of them not living in cities.

That could also be the case if Tonald Drump gets elected President (lol). The mass departure would be to South America and Europe. Sorry, not Australia because in Australia guns are a no - no unless you are a hunter, law enforcement or range target user (pause) . Additionally, Australia is off limits because we talk less crap (e..g. religious, financial, warring, election, dreamy) and do not seek to impose ourselves on others. (pause) .

Television reminder = Presidential race, Swamp People, mass shootings, gun lobby, Cramer.

 

[Gringotts Bank]

If the power grid fails completely then so too does water supply, fuel and food distribution systems not too long afterward. Likewise just about every business also ceases to operate, most of them immediately.

If you're living anywhere other than on a farm then you're pretty much screwed once the water stops working.

I recall seeing one assessment of a hypothetical 12 month blackout in the USA. US population after 12 months = around 30 million and almost all of them not living in cities. Sounds alarming until you realise that whilst we had non-electrical means of sustaining cities and doing business a century ago those things and the knowledge behind them is long gone now.

Here's a challenge. Just go one week without grid electricity and see how it works out. Turn the power off at home, turn off the water and gas too. Also remember to avoid entering any business or workplace that needs electricity to operate and avoid any form of motorised transport too (no electricity = petrol pumps don't work). And of course don't consume or eat anything that wasn't grown in your immediate surrounds.

We're completely screwed if the grid fails in a big way. In the event of a major failure lasting months, power to run your own home is the least of your worries really unless you've got everything else covered and don't require to deal with just about any business.

How incredibly vulnerable and fragile human societies are. We're like leaves in the wind, pretending we're in control. I guess that's always been the case, but sometimes the realization seems far more immediate.

A big solar flare could end everything very quickly, as it nearly did a few years ago - http://www.extremetech.com/extreme/...-sent-us-back-to-a-post-apocalyptic-stone-age