3 ms·

I like how you can ask it for the country code the power is from

by jshap70 8y ago

userbinator 8y ago
It's scary to consider that whoever added that "feature" was probably thinking of region-locking... Before, I used to think that hardware specifications and protocols would be simpler purely because hardware people don't really like complexity and it would make implementation harder, and that was usually the case. Now it seems like elements of Enterprise Java have slowly creeped in... The fact that the adapter has far more nonvolatile memory than it needs is somewhat unsettling, not just in the wasteful sense but also in the "hidden surveillance device" sense.
- sitkack 8y ago
  Yes. The spec includes cryptographic signatures for the whole signal chain for "authenticity". http://www.siliconch.com/authentication.html http://www.siliconch.com/authentication.html http://www.usb.org/developers/presentations/USB_DevDays_Taipei_2017_USB-C_Authentication_USB_PD_Firmware_Update.pdf http://www.usb.org/developers/presentations/USB_DevDays_Taip...
  - noja 8y ago
    I am genuinely shocked. This is definitely not widely known.
    - jaredlightman 8y ago
      You'll be genuinely shocked only if your country code matches.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    My god. I never thought I'd see the day they DRM power.
  - opencl 8y ago
    And companies have in fact used this to make their devices only work with their own brand of chargers. I know HP has at least, because I have one. Does a pretty great job of defeating the "universal" aspect of the Universal Serial Bus. In addition to preventing the use of third party power bricks, it also makes all of those USB-C docks with power passthrough useless.
- eitland 8y ago
  And meanwhile Enterprise Java has become lightweight and simple (to use at least, - and the fact that TomEE exists implies that it possible to implement and support a compatible server even for a small company/team, as long as they know what they're doing.)

3 ms·

I like how you can ask it for the country code the power is from

by jshap70 8y ago

I like how you can ask it for the country code the power is from

userbinator 8y ago
It's scary to consider that whoever added that "feature" was probably thinking of region-locking... Before, I used to think that hardware specifications and protocols would be simpler purely because hardware people don't really like complexity and it would make implementation harder, and that was usually the case. Now it seems like elements of Enterprise Java have slowly creeped in... The fact that the adapter has far more nonvolatile memory than it needs is somewhat unsettling, not just in the wasteful sense but also in the "hidden surveillance device" sense.
- sitkack 8y ago
  Yes. The spec includes cryptographic signatures for the whole signal chain for "authenticity". http://www.siliconch.com/authentication.html http://www.siliconch.com/authentication.html http://www.usb.org/developers/presentations/USB_DevDays_Taipei_2017_USB-C_Authentication_USB_PD_Firmware_Update.pdf http://www.usb.org/developers/presentations/USB_DevDays_Taip...
  - noja 8y ago
    I am genuinely shocked. This is definitely not widely known.
    - jaredlightman 8y ago
      You'll be genuinely shocked only if your country code matches.
  - TeMPOraL 8y ago
    My god. I never thought I'd see the day they DRM power.
  - opencl 8y ago
    And companies have in fact used this to make their devices only work with their own brand of chargers. I know HP has at least, because I have one. Does a pretty great job of defeating the "universal" aspect of the Universal Serial Bus. In addition to preventing the use of third party power bricks, it also makes all of those USB-C docks with power passthrough useless.
- eitland 8y ago
  And meanwhile Enterprise Java has become lightweight and simple (to use at least, - and the fact that TomEE exists implies that it possible to implement and support a compatible server even for a small company/team, as long as they know what they're doing.)