OT: Gas Craziness 2021

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Thanks, that confirms how I was think of it in terms of cyber attacks.

Physical attacks are a different story.

I worked several months in a transformer factory a long time ago. I always wondered if we have a strategic stockpile of them,and now that all the US facilities that used to make them are closed. I think it all went to China.

Transformers have vulnerability. Large industrial transformers are not quickly replaced, think many, many months or perhaps a year.

This is true. And domestic terrorists have been shooting up transformers at utility substations with increasing frequency for years.

[Peter P.]

Originally Posted by Clean39T

... it'd be nice to see people put the camera down and help their fellow citizen not win a darwin award by accident..

Try it some time and see what happens. People will swear at you/threaten you and tell you to mind your own business. I speak from experience.

[Clean39T]

Originally Posted by Peter P.

Try it some time and see what happens. People will swear at you/threaten you and tell you to mind your own business. I speak from experience.

That makes for good viral content too

[JewrDiddy]

Originally Posted by likebikes

so is the gasoline shortage over or what?

i have 3/4 of a tank left and wondering if i should be worrying or not.

it's over -- onto the next crisis!

[Louis]

Originally Posted by JewrDiddy

it's over -- onto the next crisis!

Better stock up for the coming Fed Govt ban on hamburger...

[oldpotatoe]

Originally Posted by bking

I think as unfortunate as the actions of the lady with a bag of gas, the one on the end of the camera. It's obvious this lady needed some help. Perhaps it would have come to no good, but someone should have tried as chances were good that the woman, or at least the car, doesn't make it all the way home that day.
We whip out cameras now rather than reach out.

Another POY..yup, too many are more concerned about putting some vid on the interweb and getting 'likes' or 'clicks' than actually helping anybody.

For right above..you forgot the or or
or
https://tenor.com/view/bull****-that...e-gif-13612593

[Louis]

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

For right above..you forgot the or or

Added a wink for you.

[tbike4]

Originally Posted by JewrDiddy

it's over -- onto the next crisis!

I'm glad to hear that. ..Driving from Phoenix to Los Angeles it would be good to buy gas in the middle of nowhere on the way.
Apparently the gas problem should not affect California. I had no trouble buying gas in Phoenix although price is suddenly shot up to over three dollars a gallon.

[9tubes]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Isn't the electrical grid much more decentralized and therefore less susceptible to a hacker than a single pipeline.

We're not all screwed if they access the electrical grid. Many people have taken the precautions to have backup power such as generators, solar panels, battery storage systems, wind, etc.

Having lived thru several multiweek outages, a minimal backup makes sense for me even if it is to keep the radiant heat pumps flowing to keep the house warm, a few lights, and keep the Fridge and freezers going. It really does not take much. If you want to A/C, different ball of wax.

Nah, the most vulnerable thing in America are home internet routers. Most big names don't even make their own chipsets or operating system software. They just put the graphical skin on it. That means that large swaths of routers have the same vulnerabilities. What brands? All that you can drive to the store and buy: Linksys, TP-Link, Netgear, ASUS, eero, Belkin, Motorola, D-Link, etc.

Get up from your couch right now, unplug your router, and tell your family that it won't go on again for five months. Report back.

They are easily and remotely accessed. Especially with the trend towards work-from-home, imagine if 20% of America and businesses suddenly had their routers bricked. Or 70%. All the models at Best Buy would have the same problems, there would be no inventory to buy, it would take months or even a year to fix and then ramp up production to produce them and get them to customers. Economy crashed, people pissed off, can't watch tv, can't work, etc. People would switch to cellular internet connections and then overwhelm that system too.

The gov't officials will act surprised but this has been a topic in computing for years. There was even a conference called the SOHOpelessly Broken Conference -- in 2014.

[peanutgallery]

This past week was my annual Henry David Thoreau week. Took my glamper off grid with plenty of beer, food and no internet and came back to this

Maybe "they" just need to turn off the internet for like a week or something. We're idiots

[54ny77]

solution?

Originally Posted by 9tubes

Nah, the most vulnerable thing in America are home internet routers. Most big names don't even make their own chipsets or operating system software. They just put the graphical skin on it. That means that large swaths of routers have the same vulnerabilities. What brands? All that you can drive to the store and buy: Linksys, TP-Link, Netgear, ASUS, eero, Belkin, Motorola, D-Link, etc.

Get up from your couch right now, unplug your router, and tell your family that it won't go on again for five months. Report back.

They are easily and remotely accessed. Especially with the trend towards work-from-home, imagine if 20% of America and businesses suddenly had their routers bricked. Or 70%. All the models at Best Buy would have the same problems, there would be no inventory to buy, it would take months or even a year to fix and then ramp up production to produce them and get them to customers. Economy crashed, people pissed off, can't watch tv, can't work, etc. People would switch to cellular internet connections and then overwhelm that system too.

The gov't officials will act surprised but this has been a topic in computing for years. There was even a conference called the SOHOpelessly Broken Conference -- in 2014.

[peanutgallery]

Unplug your stuff, life improves

Originally Posted by 54ny77

solution?

[unterhausen]

I have a linux computer with two ports that is set up as a router. I haven't used it that way though.

[54ny77]

Thanks but....

I don't "plug in" much to begin with. Enough hours a day in front of computer for day job.

Originally Posted by peanutgallery

Unplug your stuff, life improves

[ripvanrando]

Originally Posted by 9tubes

Nah, the most vulnerable thing in America are home internet routers. Most big names don't even make their own chipsets or operating system software. They just put the graphical skin on it. That means that large swaths of routers have the same vulnerabilities. What brands? All that you can drive to the store and buy: Linksys, TP-Link, Netgear, ASUS, eero, Belkin, Motorola, D-Link, etc.

Get up from your couch right now, unplug your router, and tell your family that it won't go on again for five months. Report back.

They are easily and remotely accessed. Especially with the trend towards work-from-home, imagine if 20% of America and businesses suddenly had their routers bricked. Or 70%. All the models at Best Buy would have the same problems, there would be no inventory to buy, it would take months or even a year to fix and then ramp up production to produce them and get them to customers. Economy crashed, people pissed off, can't watch tv, can't work, etc. People would switch to cellular internet connections and then overwhelm that system too.

The gov't officials will act surprised but this has been a topic in computing for years. There was even a conference called the SOHOpelessly Broken Conference -- in 2014.

No routers in the home might be the best thing ever to happen.

I wasn't trying to suggest any comparative degree of vulnerability but I have been without power for weeks more than once and without heat for 3 weeks in winter. Loss over power trumps internet access for me. Not even close.