Electronic Spying - Only if you want it
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So a plasma TV I inherited burned out this weekend. It was our primary viewing station (i.e., idiot box) so I replaced it with an 49" LG 4k Smart TV. You turn it on and it goes through a setup. Aside from local date and time, I aborted the rest. In addition, I didn't give it any sort of connection to the internet. So - when those attempting to reach out to watch what I do in front of the TV - they'll have no connection. Should keep the listening-in down to more traditional levels. Kind of an easy solution. Just because you buy a 'smart' device is no need for you restore symmetry to the universe and allow yourself to become stupid.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
I initially made the mistake of letting my LG TV connect to my LAN when I first got it. Well, not entirely a mistake, I let it go ahead and download the latest firmware. Still not sure what the benefit of that was however; it's not like they publish any sort of "what's new" document. After that I had no use for the internet connectivity. Damned if the TV will let you disconnect or clear any existing setting once it knows your wireless password however. And if you try to redirect it to something that doesn't exist, it'll fail to do the connection (obviously), and then cancelling will make it revert to the settings it already knows about. The path of least resistance for me was to temporarily change my wireless password in the router, tell the TV to use that, then change the password back (otherwise I have countless devices I'd have to change).
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I initially made the mistake of letting my LG TV connect to my LAN when I first got it. Well, not entirely a mistake, I let it go ahead and download the latest firmware. Still not sure what the benefit of that was however; it's not like they publish any sort of "what's new" document. After that I had no use for the internet connectivity. Damned if the TV will let you disconnect or clear any existing setting once it knows your wireless password however. And if you try to redirect it to something that doesn't exist, it'll fail to do the connection (obviously), and then cancelling will make it revert to the settings it already knows about. The path of least resistance for me was to temporarily change my wireless password in the router, tell the TV to use that, then change the password back (otherwise I have countless devices I'd have to change).
Ya know - all things considered. If you agree to connect the TV to the internet they should give you the TV for free. Make their profits by selling your information. Now everyone would be happy.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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So a plasma TV I inherited burned out this weekend. It was our primary viewing station (i.e., idiot box) so I replaced it with an 49" LG 4k Smart TV. You turn it on and it goes through a setup. Aside from local date and time, I aborted the rest. In addition, I didn't give it any sort of connection to the internet. So - when those attempting to reach out to watch what I do in front of the TV - they'll have no connection. Should keep the listening-in down to more traditional levels. Kind of an easy solution. Just because you buy a 'smart' device is no need for you restore symmetry to the universe and allow yourself to become stupid.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
No use for "smarts" in a TV; better to have a separate box for that. We also plan to discontinue cable TV and view only discs and streaming services.
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Ya know - all things considered. If you agree to connect the TV to the internet they should give you the TV for free. Make their profits by selling your information. Now everyone would be happy.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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So a plasma TV I inherited burned out this weekend. It was our primary viewing station (i.e., idiot box) so I replaced it with an 49" LG 4k Smart TV. You turn it on and it goes through a setup. Aside from local date and time, I aborted the rest. In addition, I didn't give it any sort of connection to the internet. So - when those attempting to reach out to watch what I do in front of the TV - they'll have no connection. Should keep the listening-in down to more traditional levels. Kind of an easy solution. Just because you buy a 'smart' device is no need for you restore symmetry to the universe and allow yourself to become stupid.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
W∴ Balboos wrote:
So - when those attempting to reach out to watch what I do in front of the TV - they'll have no connection.
No connection needed to spy on you through your tv.
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W∴ Balboos wrote:
So - when those attempting to reach out to watch what I do in front of the TV - they'll have no connection.
No connection needed to spy on you through your tv.
Enlighten us as to how so! Cell phone towers? A conspiracy! Fortunately, I already sprayed the TV and the homunculus is dead (deep fried, actually).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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No use for "smarts" in a TV; better to have a separate box for that. We also plan to discontinue cable TV and view only discs and streaming services.
We did that a couple of years ago (sans DVD's actually). No way we'll go back! Only one pay service, HuluPlus, has been picked up.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Enlighten us as to how so! Cell phone towers? A conspiracy! Fortunately, I already sprayed the TV and the homunculus is dead (deep fried, actually).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
W∴ Balboos wrote:
Enlighten us as to how so!
A technique that has been around since the 1940's. In the military it is called compromising emanations. To the every day it's called Van Eck phreaking, so named after the guy who first demonstrated it publicly by remotely reconstructing an image from nothing but the EM radiation given off a TV set. No internet connection needed, just someone with a little knowledge of electronics. From there your actions in front of your TV can be deduced by the amount of the EM field you are blocking and the way it is being blocked. Unless you have surgical pins or screws or some such in you, because then you're pretty screwed as they act as an amplifier.
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W∴ Balboos wrote:
Enlighten us as to how so!
A technique that has been around since the 1940's. In the military it is called compromising emanations. To the every day it's called Van Eck phreaking, so named after the guy who first demonstrated it publicly by remotely reconstructing an image from nothing but the EM radiation given off a TV set. No internet connection needed, just someone with a little knowledge of electronics. From there your actions in front of your TV can be deduced by the amount of the EM field you are blocking and the way it is being blocked. Unless you have surgical pins or screws or some such in you, because then you're pretty screwed as they act as an amplifier.
And this information will be picked up by whom? Where? Like the compromise of voting ballots - what happens to the old data when the next person votes? Where is the receiver for this signal . . . the induction cooker I just got? I'd be more concerned with laser-Doppler being used to eavesdrop on conversations from window vibrations. Who's running all of these? But I'm not concerned. If I were specifically targeted - then game is over for me. If not - this is no telephone conversation already streaming - it's a latent image of questionable persistence and even more questionable value. The sun will die out some day - I'm not worried about that, either (yet).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Your argument is based on ignorance (both of the UK and also how much of US TV is controlled by corporations and to what extent) so there isn't any point in addressing it.
The BBC definitely has it's own agenda that it pushes on everyone.. there's no way anyone can say it's an unbiased source of information. [Criticism of the BBC - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism\_of\_the\_BBC) Not only that but outside of the UK the BBC acts as a commercial company already.
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
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The BBC definitely has it's own agenda that it pushes on everyone.. there's no way anyone can say it's an unbiased source of information. [Criticism of the BBC - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Criticism\_of\_the\_BBC) Not only that but outside of the UK the BBC acts as a commercial company already.
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
Cool story bro. But Pepsi still don't dictate what we see on our TV.
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So a plasma TV I inherited burned out this weekend. It was our primary viewing station (i.e., idiot box) so I replaced it with an 49" LG 4k Smart TV. You turn it on and it goes through a setup. Aside from local date and time, I aborted the rest. In addition, I didn't give it any sort of connection to the internet. So - when those attempting to reach out to watch what I do in front of the TV - they'll have no connection. Should keep the listening-in down to more traditional levels. Kind of an easy solution. Just because you buy a 'smart' device is no need for you restore symmetry to the universe and allow yourself to become stupid.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
Yeah, I kind of do the same. I've got home built DVRs (Beyond TV based) for our TVs. I don't watch TV at all, but the wifey is addicted. With our setup, she can be recording up to 6 channels at once. Keeps her happy while I'm up in my computer room either programming or playing games.
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Cool story bro. But Pepsi still don't dictate what we see on our TV.
F-ES Sitecore wrote:
Cool story bro.
Story? :confused:
F-ES Sitecore wrote:
But Pepsi still don't dictate what we see on our TV.
If it was Pepsi, then it's agenda would be obvious. I think that whoever is pulling strings at the BBC has a much wider agenda. I'm personally more worried about that than anything Pepsi could come up with. You should be too.
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
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Actually not - I have Roku on my sets. Both TV's are plugged into enegy saving power strips. The TV is main - when I shut it off a bunch of other things are shut off (including the Roku). Power it up and they get their power back. Roku's more channels than the TV, anyway - not just those who paid to have their sight put on my screen. Of course - if the roku can be persuaded to send a signal to my TV to enable the spy-stuff I'm doomed. NAS based: I have a media box on one set (Patriot thingee) and a USB port in the LG that plays my movies if I wish. Not via broadcast - but quite good enough.
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
FYI: HDMI 1.2+ cables have a data channel in addition to A/V for Consumer Electronic Control features. If you're not using a 4k set you might be able to find an old HDMI 1.1 somewhere (which has audio support, but not data). Just saying, that'd protect you from a CIA Roku hijack, and hopefully will help feed the paranoia.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli
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F-ES Sitecore wrote:
Cool story bro.
Story? :confused:
F-ES Sitecore wrote:
But Pepsi still don't dictate what we see on our TV.
If it was Pepsi, then it's agenda would be obvious. I think that whoever is pulling strings at the BBC has a much wider agenda. I'm personally more worried about that than anything Pepsi could come up with. You should be too.
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
Wow, you really have no idea, do you? First off America's media has just as much left-wing bias as the BBC (look at the recent election coverage for example), but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the makers of TV programs not covering certain topics in their shows for fear of corporations withdrawing advertising. If Pepsi don't like the message your sitcom is giving then your sitcom drops those messages. If Visa don't want Mythbusters testing the security of contactless payments then Mythbusters don't test the security of contactless payments (*). What you see on mainstream shows is controlled by big corporations and their individual political agendas, you just don't know it. * I know you're now going to google this and tell me that story isn't true as it was redacted by Adam Savage, but who is to say he didn't do that from the influence of their legal team and the proof of the pudding is that when they did finally look at contactless payments the security aspect of it was left out.
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Beware of that double-edged sword! Aside from our having PBS (no commercials, public donations support), the same problem with the likes of Pepsi and Dominoes deciding what to sponsor also means they'll cow-tow to the public's norms. Still no nipples and nudity (at least until late at night). Also, we've so many cable stations that whatever you want to see can be seen. vs. Your BBC is (de facto) completely government run - so you'll see what they want you to see and think what they want you to think. I doubt Brexit will clear that up very much. Two glass houses - lots of stones. What would Putin say?
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
"Your BBC is (de facto) completely government run" Up to a point, Lord Copper. It's interesting that, despite the right wing Tory government apparently "running the BBC", Tories always accuse the BBC of left wing bias and anti-Tory sentiment. Conversely, the left see the BBC as having a bit of a right-wing spin and being pro-establishment. So it's probably about right in its even handedness. The BBC is run by a board of trustees and has a board of governors. I'm sure the government of the day, whatever hue, would like to control it's output and propaganda, though.
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FYI: HDMI 1.2+ cables have a data channel in addition to A/V for Consumer Electronic Control features. If you're not using a 4k set you might be able to find an old HDMI 1.1 somewhere (which has audio support, but not data). Just saying, that'd protect you from a CIA Roku hijack, and hopefully will help feed the paranoia.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli
Actually, the CIA is never my worry. NSA has been aware of my existence for decades (I even visited their non-existent DC Headquarters). It's ROKU I'd be most worried about.
[edit] Actually - now I'm afraid. What if the CIA hacked the ROKU and made me only able to watch "Happy Days" ! [/edit]"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
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Actually, the CIA is never my worry. NSA has been aware of my existence for decades (I even visited their non-existent DC Headquarters). It's ROKU I'd be most worried about.
[edit] Actually - now I'm afraid. What if the CIA hacked the ROKU and made me only able to watch "Happy Days" ! [/edit]"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
No no, all wrong. The CIA needs things like SmartTVs. The NSA just knows. They just use quantum matrix resolvers that contain a record of all things that you have, are, and will say and do. They just need to open a record for it to coalesce into reality! The only way to prevent that sort of surveillance is to only do things that you won't do, which then become things you will do and therefore are included in the predictive matrix, which means that you can't prevent it.
"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics." - Benjamin Disraeli
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Wow, you really have no idea, do you? First off America's media has just as much left-wing bias as the BBC (look at the recent election coverage for example), but that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about the makers of TV programs not covering certain topics in their shows for fear of corporations withdrawing advertising. If Pepsi don't like the message your sitcom is giving then your sitcom drops those messages. If Visa don't want Mythbusters testing the security of contactless payments then Mythbusters don't test the security of contactless payments (*). What you see on mainstream shows is controlled by big corporations and their individual political agendas, you just don't know it. * I know you're now going to google this and tell me that story isn't true as it was redacted by Adam Savage, but who is to say he didn't do that from the influence of their legal team and the proof of the pudding is that when they did finally look at contactless payments the security aspect of it was left out.
F-ES Sitecore wrote:
Wow, you really have no idea, do you?
I'm British, I do have an idea. I've lived and worked around the world so I'd suggest that you tone the arrogance down a notch or two.
F-ES Sitecore wrote:
I'm talking about the makers of TV programs not covering certain topics in their shows for fear of corporations withdrawing advertising.
As opposed to media companies changing or suppressing news items that don't suit their agendas? That's happening every day here in the UK.
Ah, I see you have the machine that goes ping. This is my favorite. You see we lease it back from the company we sold it to and that way it comes under the monthly current budget and not the capital account.
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And this information will be picked up by whom? Where? Like the compromise of voting ballots - what happens to the old data when the next person votes? Where is the receiver for this signal . . . the induction cooker I just got? I'd be more concerned with laser-Doppler being used to eavesdrop on conversations from window vibrations. Who's running all of these? But I'm not concerned. If I were specifically targeted - then game is over for me. If not - this is no telephone conversation already streaming - it's a latent image of questionable persistence and even more questionable value. The sun will die out some day - I'm not worried about that, either (yet).
"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein
"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010
W∴ Balboos wrote:
And this information will be picked up by whom? Where?
By anyone smart enough to create a receiver, for weak signals you have to be quite close, but TV is anything but a weak signal. Any electronic display can be recreated by this method. By whom? Anyone who wants to see what you do in front of your TV or what you watch.
W∴ Balboos wrote:
Like the compromise of voting ballots - what happens to the old data when the next person votes?
The same can be applied to electronic voting booths, if you want to see what button people are pressing behind the curtain. The receiver is just a tv with the tuning controls replaced with manual oscillators. Only thing needed is a knowledge of electronics. and that data can be recorded for later use. Do some reading, it's quite interesting.
W∴ Balboos wrote:
I'd be more concerned with laser-Doppler being used to eavesdrop on conversations from window vibrations.
The laser technique also doesn't require a closed window. If you aren't worried about being spied on, why did you disable the ability for your tv to connect to the internet? So you're worried about some forms of surveillance but not others? Van Eck phreaking is a whole lot easier than breaking into your tv.