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Net Work Alan Winstanley This month, our Net Work column muses over the impact that artificial intelligence (AI) is having, provides more practical tips for safeguarding online security and protecting data, and provides more news from the space race and the faltering EV market. T he most overused buzzword in technology today must be ‘AI’; it seems that every aspect of our lives is becoming ‘AI-enabled’. IBM defines artificial intelligence as “technology that enables computers and machines to simulate human intelligence and problemsolving capabilities”. I’ve heard many a disaffected worker say, “I’m not paid to think”, but artificial intelligence systems are actually ‘dumb’ in the sense that they simply do the job they’re designed to do. However, they can also be designed to ‘learn’ and refine their ‘thinking’ as they go along. AI-enabled systems can relieve humans of onerous or potentially dangerous tasks, reduce human errors, vastly increase productivity, or just fob off customers and their tiresome enquiries because not enough human operators are available to answer the phone. The near-human-like machine performance we encounter daily is fast becoming normalised and accepted by everyday users as though AI really is, well, human. Instead of searching Help files or User Guide PDFs, Windows Copilot, now being introduced in Windows 11 updates, sees Microsoft’s next iteration of AI being embedded to help users manage their computers in a far more human-like way. If I ask Bing Copilot to define, say, medieval etymology using a comic style, the machine results are now indistinguishable from human work: “So next time you’re at a Renaissance fair, impress your friends with this tidbit: ‘Did you know “medieval” is just fancy talk for “middle age”? Pass me another turkey leg, good sir!’”. More mundane tasks, such as summarising real-life Amazon product reviews for buyers, analysing – not always correctly – dodgy Facebook posts, or describing items for sale on eBay, have fallen under the spell of AI-powered ‘bots as well. So-called ‘generative’ artificial intelligence (GenAI) goes further by using advanced routines, machine learning and algorithms to create pseudo-authoritative, real-time responses to our queries, online search terms or smart-speaker commands. This is seriously affecting regular news channels, whose online content is being scraped wholesale by GenAI ‘bots looking to re-publish the latest news for themselves. In turn, local news journalism and news-gathering are suffering from a triple-whammy: competing against generative news content scraped online, social media (worryingly, people really do turn to TikTok for their ‘news’) and the slump in traditional advertising revenue. AI is used to summarise product reviews submitted by Amazon customers. It had mixed thoughts about this smoking mainspowered USB charger! (Source: Amazon UK) 8 Flaming hot dogs Enormous advances in technology, electronics, mechatronics and coding are also making AI-powered robots and drones a reality. China has reportedly produced squads of robotic quadrupeds that could be armed with rifles, while in contrast, the American-made ‘Thermonator’ quadruped packs a handy flamethrower that is said to be legal in most USA states but probably nowhere else. You can see them in action on YouTube at https://youtu.be/xEVwkzAcqOQ These ‘robo-dogs’ doubtless have many potential peace-time roles, but I guess it’s only a matter of time before autonomous machines like these could operate in swarms under combat conditions. There’s a cheery thought! ‘Kamikaze drones’ are already being used in combat by Ukraine, with AI-powered seekers that allow them to guide themselves to a target their operator selects, even if their comms are jammed or lost (https://pemag.au/link/ abyh). How long before an AI-equipped drone can simply be unleashed to ‘seek and destroy’? The darker side of AI is seen in the production of deepfake videos or, as I found out myself, the pirating and recopying of textbooks under other titles to cash in on the original work (see Net Work, May 2024). It is still going on now; you can search Amazon for niche subjects such as A cross-haired terror: China’s PLA is developing armed quadrupeds that are not exactly cute or house-trained. (Youtube/<at>carrosshow9598) Practical Electronics | September | 2024 The US-made Thermonator is the world’s first flame-throwing robot quadruped, intended for agriculture, ice clearing and similar uses. Any similarity to the word “Terminator” is purely coincidental! (https://throwflame.com) “Master R Programming” or “DIY Lithium Batteries Handbook”, for example, to see a wide variety of similar book covers complete with pseudonyms. You would never know they were all generated by AI before being polished off and uploaded using cheap labour. Established authors are also suffering from the curse of foreign AI-generated books being published using their names. All this AI-enabled computing needs far more ‘juice’, and new data centres are needed to provide the raw data processing power, such as the proposed 185-acre AI data site mentioned in July’s Net Work, destined to be one of Europe’s largest. The personal computer industry is also eagerly cashing in on the AI wave, with the latest tranche of ‘AI PCs’, designed to give Windows Copilot and AI-based apps more headroom to play with. Hence, the term NPU (Neural Processing Unit) now appearing in PC sales blurbs; an integrated processor optimised for data-driven AI-related tasks. A blog entry by computer maker Dell reckons that “the advances from Generative AI will compare to the PC’s introduction 40 years ago, which brought unseen levels of productivity to the world… This [AI] will require you to reimagine how you work with the familiar laptop and desktop of today”. Dell foresees new ways of interacting with technology, including using voice, gestures or visual commands, stating, “Your PC experience will transition from searching to prompting, from reading to understanding, from editing to directing.” The days of pressing F1 for Help are fast disappearing, and AIs like Copilot will do more of the thinking and heavy lifting for you. The idea of Two-Factor Authentication (2FA) to send a One-Time Password (OTP) to a mobile phone is intended to enhance security. In a scam known as ‘SIM swapping’, fraudsters try to transfer the victim’s mobile phone number to another phone to intercept those OneTime Passwords. Network operators have been working hard to overcome this, and London’s Metropolitan Police offers some basic advice (PDF) for users at https://pemag.au/link/abyi Some users dedicate a second mobile phone to receiving 2FA texts rather than using their main one with a widely known number, but the consensus is that using a physical hardware key or an authentication app with biometrics is far more secure than relying on 2FA. Last month, I showed some USB security keys made by Yubico, and the independent Techradar website recently reviewed several software apps and recommendations, including Authenticator by 2Stable, NordPass and Authy, with Google Authenticator classed as a basic, free app. You can learn more at https://www.techradar.com/best/bestauthenticator-apps Last month’s column discussed many security-related concerns that can affect everyday Internet users. I wrote that using passwords to log into websites is becoming increasingly insecure, mainly due to the risk of them falling into the wrong hands or being too easy to guess. I recently noted how even the UK’s National Lottery website, with a EuroMillions rollover prize of some £130 million (€153 million or AUD 247 million!) at stake last month, simply needs Save it securely an ordinary username/ password comStill on the subject of USB devices, bo with no other authentication being someone once berated me online when required. Hopefully, checking the lotI described a 64GB USB flash drive as tery winner’s ID will be more rigorous! being “modern”. My online accuser (Even that can go wrong, as demonstratscoffed and claimed that 1TB is now ed in the famous BBC Guy Goma/Guy the norm. I doubted whether users Kewney TV interview identity mix-up needed that sort of capacity for their at https://youtu.be/e6Y2uQn_wvc). everyday needs unless they handle meWhile any password can theoretically dia files. Still, if I have to store sizeable be ‘cracked’, starting with brute force volumes of data, I use a Samsung Pordictionary attacks, using a string of, say, table SSD, which is far more robust and three English words as a password ofESD-shielded than any USB flash drive fers a good balance between security will be. and ease of use. I’ll maybe take an air-gapped ‘backup Anyone dealing with valuable properof last resort’ for archiving, using stanty transactions, such as a house, antique dard 3½-inch (PC desktop-size) 1TB+ or car purchase, by email should also hard disks stored in rigid plastic casbe wary of fraudsters getting in on the es, accessed using a quality StarTech act. It’s extremely rare, but it happens; a hard disk docking station. Of crook may intercept email communicacourse, many users pay for tions – perhaps starting weeks earlier online cloud storage – and impersonate the genuine party, but slightly changing a domain name for a similar-looking one, maybe replacing the letter ‘l’ with a digit ‘1’ or a zero ‘0’ in place of a letter ‘O’. An email from conveyancing<at> myso1icitor.co.uk could easily fool a busy or stressedout person. The rule is to be very vigilant and trust your instincts. Does something pass the ‘sniff test’? When there’s any doubt, a golden rule is to phone the party directly on a pre-established Samsung Portable Solid State Drives (SSDs) are number and confirm the situa- more robust than USB flash drives and are probably tion first. a better bet for longer-term data storage. Practical Electronics | September | 2024 9 Remain vigilant Using the Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media icon will avoid data corruption when removing USB drives. This Flash Drive/Card Tester software will check the read/write performance of USB memory and flag any hardware errors it finds. crypts data at hardware level. A small keypad captures a 7- to 15-digit user PIN, and after 10 failed attempts, the PIN is deleted, although access can still be granted with a second ‘Admin’ PIN. The metal-bodied USB 2.0 device has an IP57 rating. The advanced DataShur BT uses smartphone biometrics to access it, noting that ten failed logins cause a total device reset. Retail prices start at £55 + VAT for 16GB, although my more affluent online opponent might like a 1TB version with a keypad and 1TB microSD slot instead for a mere £720! Some of the iStorage range is listed on Amazon, or you can buy direct from the UK supplier, including bulk and customised versions of the devices, at https://istorage-uk.com With a more modest budget in mind, I keep in my briefcase a legacy Kingston DataTraveler Locker+, a tough metalclad, hardware-encrypted USB key that requires a PIN before a secure drive letter can be accessed. A PIN screen prompt and ‘lost and found’ contact details are available to users. The latest IronKey Locker versions also have an Admin override and USB-to-cloud backup. However, I have mixed feelings about relying on cloud services, as history proves that in the system tray (although, from Wininstead, but it can be slow and pricey dows 10 onward, you should be able to (and possibly also insecure). safely unplug them after activity stops). There are plenty of USB flash drives Sometimes you might have personal to choose from, and I sometimes buy data or computer files that you want a pack of 32GB or 64GB flash drives, to keep safe and secure, away from always from a reputable brand such as prying eyes. One way is to use an enIntegral, Verbatim, SanDisk or Kingscrypted USB flash drive that can only ton, to share files between PCs or hand be accessed by the authorised user. them out to coworkers, friends or famiThey may require a PIN to access them, ly. I avoid buying anonymous or oddlywhile some may use biometrics, such branded ones as they may fail without as the fingerprint reader used in the warning or they might even have fake Lexar JumpDrive Fingerprint range. capacities (something that co-writer The Datashur USB range by the speBarry Fox covered in March 2021). cialist UK company iStorage includes I have also seen some very convinchigh-security and high-end encrypted ing counterfeits of genuine products. USB keys, starting at about £40 for Readers might like to try the Fake Flash a 4GB version (32GB maximum). It Test program (from https://pemag.au/ works on any operating system and enlink/abyj), which can check the drive’s capacity. There’s also the USB Flash Drive Tester from Virtual Console, downloadable for free from https://www.vconsole.com/ download Remember to run these Windows programs in Administrator mode, or they won’t work. The Kingston DataTraveler Locker+ G3 is a lower-cost Integral ‘Neon’ drives are encrypted USB flash drive; IronKey Locker is the latest version. cheap and cheerful, for tossing around the desktop, and the Integral ‘Fusion’ range has a tiny form factor and metal casing, which I use for playing MP3s in the car – equivalent to holding 50 or 100 CDs worth of music tracks on something not much bigger than a thumbnail! Most, but not all, flash drives have an LED activity light, so avoid unplugging them when the light is flickering, as data could be corrupted. The best way to remove them in Windows The iStorage Datashur is a highis to click the ‘Safely Remove Integral’s Neon USB flash drives are cheap and cheerful; the grade PIN-protected USB flash Hardware and Eject Media’ icon tiny Fusion is aluminium-clad for ruggedness. drive for storing data securely. 10 Practical Electronics | September | 2024 In-flight refuelling: Grumman’s Mission Robotic Vehicle (left) would use a robotic arm to fit a Mission Extension Pod (centre) onto a customer’s satellite before sending it on its way again. such third-party vendors are prone to discontinue services at short notice. Their Amazon prices currently start at £30, or you can learn more about the devices or buy direct from Kingston at https://pemag.au/link/abyk If all you want to do is encrypt data on any form of removable media (USB, CF, SD etc), Virtual Console offers AES-256 Encryption software for USB flash drives for $15.00 per licence. You can download it from the website https://www.vconsole.com/download although I have not personally tried it. Space News This month’s news of the space race starts with China’s success in returning two kilograms of soil samples from the far side of the moon, a world first. A YouTube video documentary at https:// youtu.be/cTqvz7Qtd2o (there are others available) showcased the ‘unboxing’ of the returned capsule. China has offered to share samples with the international scientific community, but America’s Wolf Amendment legislation raises questions over whether NASA can cooperate with China this way. Apollo’s manned moon missions obtained a total of 382kg of moon soil and rocks, starting in 1969 when Apollo 11 returned 21.5kg to Earth, the first soil collected from any celestial body. You can take a virtual tour of NASA’s sample lab at https:// curator.jsc.nasa.gov/lunar/index.cfm The spacenews.com website points to China’s recent application to create a 10,000 satellite constellation called HONGHU-3. China is also investing heavily in SpaceX-style re-usable rocket launches; a carrier rocket successfully completed a 10km VTOL flight test in northwest China in early July, and a larger version is set to launch in 2025. Earlier, a ground test of a privately produced Tianlong-3 VTOL rocket went awry when the rocket broke away from its moorings and launched into the air before crashing again in a huge fireball (shown in the BBC video at https://pemag.au/link/abyl). The direction of travel (into orbit) is Practical Electronics | September | 2024 clear; coupled with several earlier mysterious satellite launches, there are major concerns that China is constructing an advanced surveillance network that could eventually track and take highresolution photos or videos of anything in the Indo-Pacific region. Meanwhile, Boeing’s maiden voyage of the Starliner crew capsule is now into extra time. The June 5th launch to the ISS was intended to last about a week, but problems with thrusters and minor helium leaks are causing flight engineers to cautiously extend the mission to 45 or even 90 days onboard the ISS while risks are assessed. There are no reports of any other problems, including with power or food. Four years ago in Net Work, June 2020, I reported on the Grumman Mission Extension Vehicle (MEV), a space tow truck that can physically dock with orbiting satellites running low on fuel to extend their working life. The vehicle is compatible with 80% of orbiting geostationary satellites. Grumman has plans for a nextgeneration space breakdown truck: a proposed Mission Robotic Vehicle (MRV) will use a robotic arm to dock with a client’s spacecraft, providing robotic inspection, relocation, repair, debris removal and filling up. Mission Extension Pods (MEPs) could also be applied to extend life up to six more years. How Grumman expects the in-flight refuelling service to work is shown at https://youtu.be/ hieqTEaEBQo The NASA spacecraft Voyager 1 and Voyager 2, launched 46 years ago in 1977, are now the only craft to fly in interstellar space. The current status of these truly remarkable vehicles can be tracked at https://voyager.jpl.nasa.gov/ mission/status/ The Voyager program was led by NASA/ JPL scientist Ed Stone, who passed away on June 9th this year. JPL pays a fitting tribute at https://pemag. au/link/abyn EVs: static electricity Recently, I saw a BYD electric car making its way silently through my rural village, a sure sign that the Chinese EV onslaught is edging ever closer. The EV market continues to falter, though, as high purchase prices, poor residuals, the usual worries about range anxiety and a patchy charging network dampen demand for these expensive new vehicles. Remember that the UK has even failed so far to roll out a dependable national smart meter network! The bulk of EV sales now go to fleet buyers. Owners also face intense insurance and repair problems, and trade wars may yet break out with US and EU tariffs threatening to curb demand even more. In January 2022, I featured the GWM Ora, a cute, chic-looking EV made by China’s Great Wall Motors that was undergoing type approval for UK sales. So far this year, fewer than 900 Ora cars (0.9% of all YTD sales) have been sold in Britain, and Great Wall is now closing its European HQ in Munich at the end of August due to poor sales. The EV market’s woes don’t end there. After managing just 259 UK sales of their £36,000 cars, Fisker, an EV start-up whose stylish ‘Fisker Ocean’ came with ‘green’ credentials (see Net Work, May 2022), has filed for bankruptcy. Bloomberg reports on the sorry tale at https://pemag.au/link/abym Perhaps that same Net Work column was jinxed, as the promising ZipCharge Go ‘powerbank for EVs’ that I also showed never got beyond the prototype stage, nor was there any sign of electric trucks being trialled on my local motorway either. There’s some better news from Britain’s electricity generation network. The Electricity System Operator (ESO) expects it will have more ‘headroom’ to cope with contingencies this coming winter compared with last year. The role of Demand-Side Response 11 is to balance electricity supply with demand, and the ‘Demand Flexibility Service’ was created urgently following the Ukraine energy crisis to incentivise consumers by offering them a modest cash inducement to reduce their power usage. It worked; during the crucial winter period of 2022/23, 1.6 million households and businesses participated in the service by shifting demand, saving over 3300MWh of electricity, says the ESO, and in winter 2023/24, 2.6 million users saved over 3700MWh. The ESO has now confirmed there will be no need for the Demand Flexibility Service during the coming winter 2024/25 period. Still, they intend to develop the concept as a commercial service throughout the coming year and encourage users to habitually economise as a matter of course. The energy providers are also incorporating state-of-the-art battery energy storage systems (BESS) into their networks to provide backup energy sourced from renewables. One example is Tesla’s Megapack, which offers pre-manufactured 3.9MWh battery packs off-the-shelf. These are already being used in Europe’s largest battery storage farm in Cottingham, England, a project that has reportedly taken seven years to complete. Other redundant sites are also being given over to battery farms. If we think we have problems in the UK with planning permission, Australia’s Victorian Government commissioned a Tesla BESS farm for its Victorian Big Battery (VBB), treading carefully on hallowed ground to respect the Wadawurrung people, traditional owners of the land on which VBB operates, they are at pains to acknowledge. During commissioning in July 2021, a liquid coolant leak caused electrical arcing, with one of the battery packs ‘failing safe’ after catching fire. As regular Net Work readers will know, Li-Ion batteries can thermally run away and cannot readily be extinguished. So, Tesla’s advice was to let it burn itself out over six hours, which it did, incident reports state. Normal operation was then resumed. Next month That’s all for this month. From the next issue, I’ll be at the wheel of a shorter Net Work (steering?) column, as after 28 years and half a million words, I’m easing off the accelerator in the ESR Electronic Components Ltd All of our stock is RoHS compliant and CE approved. Visit our well stocked shop for all of your requirements or order on-line. We can help and advise with your enquiry, from design to construction. 3D Printing • Cable • CCTV • Connectors • Components • Enclosures • Fans • Fuses • Hardware • Lamps • LED’s • Leads • Loudspeakers • Panel Meters • PCB Production • Power Supplies • Relays • Resistors • Semiconductors • Soldering Irons • Switches • Test Equipment • Transformers and so much more… Monday to Friday 08:30 - 17.00, Saturday 08:30 - 15:30 Station Road Cullercoats North Shields Tyne & Wear NE30 4PQ Tel: 0191 2514363 sales<at>esr.co.uk www.esr.co.uk hope that regenerative braking will recharge my ageing batteries! Practical Electronics will also reach another milestone in the forthcoming November issue, but I’ll bring more news about that next month! In the meantime, the author can be reached via email at: alan<at>epemag.net PE Transform Your Passion into Expertise with Our Embedded Software Mentoring Programme! Join Us Today – Perfect for Beginners, Enthusiasts, Future Professionals! 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