[LINK] Has the world just gone light-headed, or completely bonkers?

Scott Howard scott at doc.net.au
Wed Jul 17 12:27:41 AEST 2019


Installing a light build can be done by (most) anyone, without any special
skills, licenses, or tools, and at zero cost (other than the light bulb
itself, obviously)

Any other option requires a licensed electrician, and comes at a
significantly higher cost..

The "temporary" installation also has benefits as technology changes and
matures.  Anyone that installed previous generation hard-wired controllers
(eg, z-wave) may currently be in a position of running devices which known
security issues, and no easy way to replace them.

  Scott



On Tue, Jul 16, 2019 at 7:10 PM Roger Clarke <Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au>
wrote:

> The thing my inadequate imagination isn't coming up with is why I would
> want active silicon inside my light-bulb assembly.
>
> Remote operation of lights can be achieved by installing active silicon
> in a control panel that operates a bank of switches.
>
> ____________
>
>
> > On Wed, 2019-07-17 at 10:21 +1000, Roger Clarke wrote:
> >> If you need to reset the software in your GE smart light bulb --
> >> firmware version 2.8 or later -- just follow these easy instructions
>
> On 17/7/19 11:24 am, Karl Auer wrote:
> > This procedure saves them the cost of a reset switch in the bulb
> > circuitry. A switch that they cannot have people operating in the
> > presence of 240V mains power, so would have to be on the base of the
> > bulb, inaccessible when the bulb is in place.
> >
> > With the switch, the procedure would be "turn off light, remove bulb,
> > set switch, insert bulb, turn on light, bulb will flash three times,
> > turn off light, remove bulb, set switch off, insert bulb".
> >
> > However, this procedure does not ensure that the customer turns off the
> > light before removing or inserting the bulb, so dramatically increases
> > the risk that the customer will electrocute themselves while trying to
> > reset the bulb. As bulb resets are not a function of ordinary light
> > bulbs, these electrocutions will immediately become "GE's fault", and
> > they don't want that.
> >
> > The actual procedure directly incorporates having the bulb in place and
> > safe. The many steps ensure that the bulb is highly unlikely to reset
> > accidentally.
> >
> > So not as insane as it may first appear...
> >
> > Regards, K.
>
>
> --
> Roger Clarke                            mailto:Roger.Clarke at xamax.com.au
> T: +61 2 6288 6916   http://www.xamax.com.au  http://www.rogerclarke.com
>
> Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd      78 Sidaway St, Chapman ACT 2611 AUSTRALIA
>
> Visiting Professor in the Faculty of Law            University of N.S.W.
> Visiting Professor in Computer Science    Australian National University
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