[email protected]

An older community, but though I'd post it here for visibility.

You think it's BS how companies keep you from repairing your stuff? Join us!

cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/15970180

I dropped my launch edition steam deck last night on carpet and while all the buttons still worked- something was rattling inside of it. After I opened it up I discovered a missing chunk of plastic from the R2 trigger, that piece presses against another to keep the button from over articulating. I suspect this trigger absorbed most of the impact, there was no other visible damage.

Of course I was upset that I broke it, but so very pleasantly surprised to find ifixit had the trigger in stock and reasonably priced. This availability made me love the deck even more, and really the fact valve made these parts available places the deck above any other competition in my mind.

This machine is built to last, I am so excited to get it fixed and get back to gaming.

My employer is planning a new manufacturing plant. I work with some of the people designing it. They currently don't have any plans to hook up to public transit, though there's a commuter train station 3 miles away. It takes 20min to bike between them or 40min currently to take a bus. The area it's in is extremely car centric. They're looking at making an enormous multi level underground parking garage.

How can I encourage them to be more public transit friendly? Maybe a shuttle bus directly from the station to the plant? Looks like that would be about 10min if it runs regularly.

The company doesn't really care about the environment or the health of the community, so I can't really give those arguments. The designers said they had looked at shuttle busses before, but it was way too expensive, so they pushed the cost onto the employee.

Could I pitch it as a money save vs building the parking? Or that you'd open up opportunities for more worker applications? Or that it would help traffic jams? Are there any academic papers I could reference about the equilibrium of car driving vs public transit?

How can I argue for public transit in terms the company cares about?

Thankfully Jonathan was able to take it to an independent repair shop for a $75 CAD adhesive fix (and battery replacement?) despite Apple's restrictions against them.

Unlock heated seats and full diagnostics by turning off the power to the amd chip exactly when it's checking authorization. This exploit is very tricky though and requires soldering three wires to the board, so not for the faint of heart.

This is the full talk of the article posted on lemmy a few months ago, but Black Hat only recently posted the full video.

tl:dw from [email protected]

Google plans to make parts available but not at the level that they should, so they'll continue to be absurdly expensive to the point that you might as well just buy a new one.

https://feddit.nl/comment/6023378

Tldr from [email protected]

Kytch, a startup, developed a device to fix McDonald's ice cream machines but faced opposition after a 2020 McDonald's email warning against its use, citing safety concerns. Kytch alleges this move, influenced by machine manufacturer Taylor, was to undermine them as a competitor. Recent litigation reveals an email from Taylor's CEO suggesting action against Kytch, which Kytch claims as evidence of a plot to sabotage their business.

Despite Taylor and McDonald's denials, Kytch continues legal action, asserting the email demonstrates a coordinated effort to eliminate competition.

The situation is a heavy machinery example of something that happens across most categories of electronics, from phones, laptops, health devices, and wearables to tractors and, apparently, trains. In this case, NEWAG, the manufacturer of the Impuls family of trains, put code in the train’s control systems that prevented them from running if a GPS tracker detected that it spent a certain number of days in an independent repair company’s maintenance center, and also prevented it from running if certain components had been replaced without a manufacturer-approved serial number.

The problem was so bad that an infrastructure trade publication in Poland called Rynek Kolejowy picked up on the mysterious issues over the summer, and said that the lack of working trains was beginning to impact service: “Four vehicles after level P3-2 repair cannot be started. At this moment, it is not known what caused the failure. The lack of units is a serious problem for the carrier and passengers, because shorter trains are sent on routes.”

Very good article, I'd recommend reading it. I hope the court rules against NEWAG and sets a precedent for right to repair.

In a forceful, 89-page memorandum, U.S. District Court Judge Iain Johnson wrote that the founder of John Deere “was an innovative farmer and blacksmith who—with his own hands—fundamentally changed the agricultural industry.” Deere the man “would be deeply disappointed in his namesake corporation” if the plaintiffs can ultimately prove their antitrust allegations against Deere the company, which are voluminous and well-documented.

judge ruling pdf

Polish article

From https://lemmy.world/post/9227800

Train manufacturer intentionally bricks trains serviced by independent service providers

Polish train manufacturer that lost servicing tender programmed train controller to brick itself after train stays for some time in 6 ISP facilities or in 1 their faculity(for testing?) until undocumented button combination is pressed. Some controller versions brick itself after train is idle for 10 days. After news about this became public, manufacturer removed ability to unlock train by button combination.

Also manufacturer is able to remotely brick train over internet(connected via GSM) at any time.

Let's hope they actually mean it. It could be cheaper than having different skews, but it's good news nevertheless.

There don't seem to be any obvious loop holes letting companies get out of it. But this is the bill Apple is supporting now, so from their track record, they've likely found some loop hole.