mike-s
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Joined 19 years ago
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Re: Aluminum Body and Lightening
Rover_Bill wrote: Aluminum wiring was band many years ago because it can cause house fires when arching. This is what happened when lightening hit an aluminum body Ford pickup. :E Just buy some stock in a copper mine to make such an inaccurate and obviously biased posting? Did you mean "bad" or "banned?" If you meant "bad," there were some issues when it first started being used, because people were unfamiliar with it and used it incorrectly, mostly improper connections. Noting wrong with aluminum wire itself. If you meant "banned," you're just plain old wrong. Aluminum wiring is listed in the NEC. What was banned was one particular aluminum wire alloy, called EC (aka 1350). It was replaced primarily with copper clad aluminum wire (CCA). It just needs to be used appropriately rated connectors/terminations. Even the cheapest outlets at Home Depot ($0.68) are rated for use with copper clad wire, and I doubt you can find any which aren't. There's also aluminum wire which isn't copper clad, made from a different alloy (AA-8000) than the EC which caused problems. The outlets compatible with that cost a bit more, like $2. These days, whether to use copper or aluminum doesn't depend on safety, but material cost.415Views0likes0CommentsRe: No Overnight Parking at Interstate Rest Areas
drsteve wrote: It's both. The law is still on the books AFAIK, but the rest areas are full of snoring truck drivers. The alternative is to have these guys parked on every on ramp in the state. One can't prove a law doesn't exist. You're claiming one does, so the burden of proof is on you to point to it. Here's a hand getting started - MCL search.526Views0likes0CommentsRe: HTTPS and VPN
Bachelor wrote: I still don't get it, when all the popular VPN providers provide excellent encryption such as Nord, Express, PIA and several others. They've all been tested and receive generally high marks. How can they be useless, as many of you say? This enquiring mind seeks answers. For those types of VPN the encryption is only between your PC and the VPN provider. From there it flows across the public Internet, just as it would if there were no VPN. VPNs hide your IP address (there's a NAT gateway at the provider). They don't provide any more connection security than an HTTPS connection, but are popular for use with geographically restricted services (e.g. get US Netflix from some country where it isn't offered). There are also enterprise VPNs (which were around first), where the VPN provides a tunnel between a client and an enterprise network (or between enterprise networks). Those encrypt all traffic crossing the public Internet, so are basically as secure as being directly on the enterprise network.553Views0likes0CommentsRe: HTTPS and VPN
Gdetrailer wrote: A VPN is no more "secure" than an open wifi, period. A lot of people don't get that, though. I'm assuming the current popular use of "VPN", which is a simple attempt at disguising where you're geographically located. VPNs are just fine, if they connect to the endpoint's network. Otherwise, they add exactly zero additional security (or perhaps less than zero, since they introduce an new "choke point").553Views0likes0CommentsRe: HTTPS and VPN
GordonThree wrote: a lot of users have become conditioned to accept and ignore certificate errors, including self signed certificates. Can't do anything about foolishness. All modern browsers throw up huge red flags for cert errors. If someone is going to ignore cert errors, they're going to also ignore any advice on when to avoid WiFi connections. And, of course, MITM attacks can occur even on password connected WiFi connections, so encouraging people to think that "secure" WiFi prevents MITM is no different than encouraging them to ignore cert problems.285Views0likes0CommentsRe: HTTPS and VPN
GordonThree wrote: Now the hacker can run a MITM attack against those people, injecting a fake certificate in front of a bank or credit card real certificate, and copy all the juicy details. So, please do tell where one gets a certificate signed by a well-known (i.e. included with OS/browsers) root authority for www.mybank.com, but can't get one for www.myvpn.com.285Views0likes0CommentsRe: HTTPS and VPN
So much misunderstanding here. VPNs are protected with the same sort of encryption/AAA (Authorization, Authentication, Accounting) as are links to (well managed) sites. A VPN basically hide your physical location when browsing, but it really makes no difference in security. The most a VPN provides in that case is that the site doesn't know were you are physically. Adding a VPN to an already encrypted connection adds no security, unless you think nation-states are trying to snoop on you, because if someone can break the encryption of either, they can break the encryption of both. It's like people putting in a stronger deadbolt, when there's a glass window right next to the door.284Views0likes0CommentsRe: Nuts and bolts. SAE, Metric, or both
time2roll wrote: What bugs me is the imports long used 10, 12, 14, 17mm wrenches and the US factories went metric with 9, 11, 13, 15, 19 mm. Seems like a conspiracy of the tool makers. So it is like we need three sets now. The standard ISO/ANSI sequence is 7, 8, 10, 13, 16, 18, 21, 24, 30 DIN (Germany) is 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 17, 19, 22, 24, 27, 30 JIS (Japan) is 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 17, 19, 22 So, much depends on what you're working on, even the age. Old VWs commonly used 10, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21. Newer ones started using 16 and 18. I had never used a 12 until my wife got a Toyota.1KViews0likes0Comments
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