The High Cost of Embedded Computers

Every morning I like to go for a nice 10-mile bicycle ride. There are two factors that determine how quickly I will complete my ride. The first is if there is any wind. The second is how many times I get stopped because of traffic. Constantly being stopped because of traffic lights has me despising them more and more. It also has me thinking about the large computers that run them and why they have to be so big and expensive.

This got me thinking about how home and office computers have become so powerful and relatively inexpensive while the functionality required for a traffic light has remained unchanged for decades yet the cost hasn't matched normal computer pricing trends. Furthermore it seems that computers embedded in everyday objects such as cars are equally expensive. When you buy a new car the salesperson will justify the always increasing price with the complex computer inside. The funny thing is that automotive and traffic light computers are really simple and could be handled by the same computer chips found in ancient computers from the 1980's.

If you have never seen a traffic light computer, it is the large box located on one of the corners of the intersection it guards. They are generally about 4-feet tall, 3-feet wide, and 2-feet deep. That's a big box for something that can be run by a less powerful chip than I have in my watch. Now I can understand the size when lights required so much power to remain visible during daylight hours. Now we have ultra-low-power LED lights that don't need much power at all. So what is the big box for? My guess is it has to withstand a car running into it. It probably also goes towards justifying the $70K required for each intersection. Think about it though, if you could run a traffic light off the same computer found in a watch, you could put it in a much smaller box on one of the poles and save taxpayers a significant amount of money.

I know there are a lot of embedded computers that have dropped in price as one would expect. After all we have a lot of toys available that wouldn't be possible without such inexpensive electronics. I just wish those cost savings could be passed along to more things. Things I find I am paying more and more for that I honestly don't really want nor like. 

Two Hurricanes in the Pacific

In the winter time I have one of the tabs in my browser set to the weather page at Alta Ski Area as it guides me on what to expect when I go skiing. That information is useless in the summer time and so instead I focus on hurricanes. While this may not seem to effect me as I reside in the landlocked state of Utah, it actually does. Furthermore hurricanes have a huge effect on vacation and travel plans. An Atlantic hurricane can really screw up flights throughout the entire country.

I have been watching NOAA's hurricane site for about 10 years and have seen something today I have never seen before. There is currently a hurricane south of Hawaii named Iona. Fortunately it is on a westward path and Hawaii is safe, for now. Behind it is the tropical storm Keli. I wouldn't expect there to be hurricanes so close together as the first one should be pulling energy from the ocean that would be required for the one behind it. That is probably why Keli is only a tropical storm and not expected to grow as it continues west and well south of Hawaii.

While I have seen multiple storms in either the Atlantic or Pacific oceans at the same time, I haven't seen two additional storms starting to form with a probability greater than 60% to become named storms. The furthest west storm is just east of Keli and has a 70% chance of turning into a tropical storm. A little bit closer to Mexico the conditions are a bit higher for storm formation as it has a 90% chance of forming into something of concern.

I am not worried about a hurricane making its way to Utah but I have seen storms like that send copious amounts of moisture my way. While it could be devastating for those near the coast, it could provide the Western United States with some badly needed precipitation. For some it will be bad, for others it will be good.

Fortunately I am not headed to Mexico, Hawaii, nor Florida in the near future and so I don't need to worry about changing vacation or travel plans. If I planned to go to Hawaii next week, I would keep those plans as none of the storms seem to be headed that way. If I planned to go to the west coast of Mexico, I might be watching the storm forming there but probably wouldn't change my plans either. The Atlantic has been relatively calm this year so far and continues to look that way now. With that being said, now is a good time to pay attention to hurricane forecasts as this is the time of year when it really gets interesting.  

Enjoying the Tour de France for 2025

I have not bothered watching the Tour de France for the past 15 years. I really felt let down when Lance Armstrong admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs. While everyone suspected it, I had hoped he was beyond such tactics. This year I got back into it because of my youngest son. While not a cyclist, he is a runner and appreciates the athletic effort required for such an event.

A lot has changed in the last 15 years. Back then I had a cable television subscription and could watch the Tour on one of the many stations that came into my home. Since then I have ditched cable and rely on Internet streaming for most of my video entertainment. Fortunately NBC Sports is providing 2 levels of coverage on YouTube: Short 10-minute segments with the highlights and stage finish or 40-minute segments with more in-depth action. That is a far cry from waking up early and watching 4 hours of coverage every day for 3 weeks. I have to say that I prefer the shorter highlights.

I originally started following the Tour de France a year before Lance Armstrong started winning the race. I wanted to see how any of the Americans did. I feel myself doing the same thing this year but also enjoying the success of riders from other countries.

One thing I have enjoyed this year is watching the climbs through some of the most difficult terrain suitable for a bike. Here in Utah there are plenty of mountain climbs that rival those in Europe and so I know how difficult it is to get a bike up those hills. Watching the climbs is always part of the highlights. I just wish they would show equal coverage of the descents as that is where the speed is. Back 15 years ago there were some spectacular downhill specialists that really poured on the speed and it made for quite a show. Perhaps I just need to watch the longer segments and will see more descending.

Yes, the tour has been enjoyable this year so far and I am happy I am making the time to watch it. It is probably something I will continue in future years. Being able to have it on in the background while I take care of routine tasks makes it so much easier to watch. 

Top 10 Lists on the Internet

Last year my wife and I planned to climb Mt. Rainier and we had a wonderful time doing so over the 4th of July weekend. This year my wife wanted to do the Rim-2-Rim hike in the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately wildfires in the area have burned the North Rim lodge and so the area will be closed at least until the spring of next year. That makes it tough to do a Rim-2-Rim with one of the rims closed. Now we are looking at alternative trips as it is really depressing not being able to carry out our plans.

Today my wife sent me 15 bucket-list hikes in the USA. While not all of the hikes are in National Parks, some of them are and it is a pretty good list.  I like how it is divided into hard-moderate-and-easy hikes so you can choose them depending upon your ability. While I like the list, my bucket-list of hikes is much different. Yours probably is too. If you do an Internet search for bucket-list hikes, none of the lists will be the same unless one plagiarizes another. That's okay. All Internet lists should only be treated as a starting point, allowing you to cherry pick your favorites and leave off those you have done or know are not your cup of tea.

In my YouTube channel, I list a number of ski areas that make various top 5 lists. While one may think that I view myself as the absolute expert on each of the resorts, the real power of the channel is when others comment about how their list is different than mine. When it comes to the steepest areas in North America I talked about why I removed Squaw Valley, which is now Palisades Tahoe, from the list. I enjoy the friendly comments with others asking me to add it back. I also enjoy all of the other recommendations, which is why I skied Kicking Horse a year ago. The ski area did not disappoint and made it onto an updated list.

When you come across lists of any kind on the Internet, remember that they are not sacred nor infallible. Instead treat them as mere suggestions. They are starting points for you to create your own lists. My wife and I have a list of vacations we would like to take. As we come across lists of interesting places, we see if there are any additions or changes we need to make. Ultimately our list will become better because of the suggestions of others.

Time For Annual Security Training

As a Sony employee I am required to run through an annual 30-minute training course on computer security. In the past the training has seemed to be the same as previous years. Today I ran through the training again discovering it has been updated and it seemed like a whole new course, which I appreciated.

The course had the usual warnings against clicking on links in e-mails and verifying URL's before going to the sites. This year, they provided some more details that helped understand how different character sets can be different than the regular Latin letters we are used to in English. The example they provided is that a Cyrillic V looks like the letter B. Someone could then create a mischievous website using the Cyrillic V for something like the Better Business Bureau and you wouldn't know you are going to the wrong site. Having a concrete example like that really helped underscore how subtle character substitutions can cause havoc.

A new entry in this year's training highlighted mobile device security. I prefer a full-sized keyboard and so if I can keep my phone in my pocket and use a computer instead, I do. I am not normal though as the average person uses their smartphone 6 hours a day. My usage is down around an hour per day. The training pointed out a number of helpful tips to keep from clicking on malicious links that could open your device to malware and other bad actors. I decided that by doing as much as I can on my computer, I reduce my risk for security issues. Should I get a nefarious text, I now know what to look for.

Finally the training had a section on how artificial intelligence (AI) can be used to create more realistic e-mails. Bad spelling and grammar used to be dead-giveaways of scam e-mails. Now those e-mails can be created to sound exactly like your supervisor or manager. They also warned against voicemails that can sound like the people you work with. That is a sobering thought.

The point of this post is that there are some persistent thieves and crooks trying to get access to your computer, online accounts, and smartphone. It is a good practice to review security best practices to remind you to remain vigilant against those bad actors. If you are not required to run through a 30-minute training session, you might want to find a trusted resource on the Web and do your own training.

Ring Doorbell For the Win

Looking at my last post regarding my Ring doorbell, I believe I have a love-hate relationship with the device. Today it came to my aid and kept from interrupting me while doing important work. Of course in order for that to happen, I had to have my smartphone connected to it so I could use the camera.

Lately my neighborhood has had a string of door-to-door salespeople ringing doorbells and interrupting my work. Normally it is too much of a hassle to open the Ring app on my phone and see who is at the door so I walk from my basement office up to the door only to get upset about being interrupted. Due to large bombs being exploded out in the Utah desert this week, I have been logged into my Ring app to see what others in my neighborhood are saying about the loud noises we are all hearing.

Today when I got the doorbell notification while working on something very important, I just pulled up my phone and quickly spied my front porch. When I saw 2 people I didn't recognize nor expected, I continued working. About 10 minutes later I finished my task and checked the door to see if they left something. Sure enough they left a brochure about something I am not interested in learning more about.

My Ring doorbell doesn't always work the way I want it to. Sometimes I have to go through and extensive login process just to get access to the camera and that can be frustrating. Fortunately today the stars aligned and it kept me working when I didn't need to get up. Today I like the device. 

Time for a New Exercise-Focused Smartwatch

I have loved my Suunto 9 Baro watch and use many of the features on it almost daily. Towards the end of ski season, I noticed the barometer in the watch stopped working. I would ski multiple runs but the device couldn't keep track of them. Instead I would have to look at my GPS path and count how many times I rode the chairlift. Then I started training for a trip my wife and I plan to take this fall: the Grand Canyon rim-to-rim hike. The amount of vertical feet I hike is a very important metric and so I decided to get a new watch.

I am a fan of Apple products as I have an iPhone and am typing this on a Mac computer. However I am not a fan of their smartwatches for one simple reason: short battery life. I need something I can use for multiple days without having to worry about charging my watch. With that in mind, I started researching a replacement watch.

When it comes to exercise-focused smartwatches there are 4 major brands: Suunto, Garmin, Fitbit, and Coros. I have not had much experience with Coros and so I wondered if I should take a chance and try one out. They seem to provide a lot of features at a low price point. After reading a number of reviews and comparing features, I decided to pass. I also passed on a Fitbit as my experience with the brand is not positive.

I am a sailor and when it comes to the most accurate GPS devices for sailing, Garmin wins every time. One of the people I ski with has a Garmin smartwatch and so I could compare notes. My wife also has a Garmin watch but unfortunately it does not have a built-in GPS and is very cumbersome to use. Ultimately I would have been willing to give a Garmin watch consideration except for one thing: I am invested in the Suunto ecosystem and wanted to continue using the same app on my smartphone.

Another factor that played into my decision is price. As an Eagle Scout, I get a 35% discount on Suunto watches and a 25% discount on Garmin. For those interested in how to get such a discount, comment and I will be sure to get back to you on details. Just make sure you have your certificate proving the accomplishment.

After weeks of looking, I narrowed my watch choice down to the Suunto 9 Peak Pro, the Race S, or the Vertical. I liked the 9 Peak Pro because is the follow-on to the watch I already have and I assumed it would be similar enough I wouldn't have to learn how to use it. I liked the battery life but it is a couple years old and is probably due for a refresh soon. I liked the battery life on the Vertical and all of the features specific to mountain climbing and hiking uphill on skis. Unfortunately it is also a few years old and the most expensive of the 3. Ultimately I decided on the Race S. It does not have the greatest battery life but is the newest and has some fixes that I wanted. The heart-rate monitor on my 9 Baro is very inaccurate and will double count heartbeats. This makes my fitness level rank with the worst of couch potatoes. The Race S has fixed that. It also had the best price of the 3.

I received the watch a week or so ago and my wife saved it for me to give as a gift for Father's Day. The first thing I noticed is how much smaller the new watch is vs. my old one. I used to have trouble wearing dress shirts because the size of the watch. The new one is very nice and will fit under the sleeves of my shirts. The second thing is how much more accurate the heart-rate monitor is. I went for a run and didn't spend the whole time with a heart rate of 212 beats per minute, which is well above my maximum.

Unfortunately I have only had a couple of days to test the watch but so far I really like it. Ski season is over so I won't be able to test that functionality for 4 or 5 months but I prefer the Suunto features over the Garmin so I am sure I won't be disappointed. While the Garmin does track alpine skiing, the Suunto has separate ski touring and alpine skiing settings and it is helpful to have both. If the watch doesn't live up to my expectations, I'll be sure to provide an update here.