USB-C All cables are not created equal.

Basically, you get what you pay for so don't go cheap. It could cause you some major issues.

Luckily their is a Google Engineer on a mission to test as many USB-C cables as possible and give sound advise via Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/pdp/profile/A25GROL6KJV3QG/ref=cm_cr_rdp_pdp

Handy as I caved and purchased a OnePlus 3 thats on-route here (Dash 4A charging). It'll be my first proper dual-sim phone and it'll apparently have a impressive finger print reader, so should be my go-to phone over the 6S Plus.

New USB hub for bitcoin mining.

Got my new powered hub (Plugable® USB 2.0 7-Port Charging Hub) for my Raspberry Pi Bitcoin mining. Works perfectly!

ThePiHut's HUB hub simply didn't have enough Amperage to give each ASIC miner plugged the power it wanted.

I'm running a mix of miners that I found cheap on eBay which I thought might be an issue but cgminer seems to be handling them fine.

Hopefully when I have some more funds I can start looking at renewable energy sources as currently the power draw, even on a Raspberry Pi doesn't seem economical for the gains. For the moment i'm not in it for that, just for the fun of experimenting!

Solarbox london phoneboxes get solar powered charging

I think it would be better implemented in bus stops with a larger top surface area and where people would generally be waiting around. 

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-10/03/solarbox-london-phone-chargers

The next home-networking revolution will be wired

Anything to reduce the amount of cables I have behind my Amp and computer is considered a big step forward!

It has great potential, especially with the built in PoE! You could power, TV's, VoIP phones, games consoles etc with no need for all those separate power cables!

The real plus is for PC's that can function on less than 100W. You eliminate the display / power / network cable and just have one for them all. (I didn't mention audio as HDMI can carry that).

It's doesn't quite match up to DisplayPort's 17.28 Gbit/s transfer rate as it only manages 10.2 Gbit/s bit i'm sure as the standard develops it will catch up. Its good enough for 4K. 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036527/the-next-home-networking-revolution-will-be-wired.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HDBaseT

http://www.hdbaset.org/spec2

My 10 Miliion plus Simoleon‎ SimCity

Not massively hard when you get the balance of the game leaning in your favour. It's a tricky one though and I don't feel like I have it properly yet in terms of a well run city. Check the recent transactions in the below pictures and you'll see what I mean. I also have a radiation issue due to a er....upgrading the nuclear power plant by demolishing the old... 

I currently run the city on a loss while the processors and TV's I manufacture offset my costs.. I needed the TV's for Arcology at first but once I had enough they were all exported for profit. 

Arcologies take a fair bit of power and water from your surrounding cities as well. As I'm keeping it going with one, it requires a fairly beefy power output! 

Say goodbye to power cords with USB 3.0 update

http://www.neowin.net/news/say-goodbye-to-power-cords-with-usb-30-update

AMD diversifying

It had been a little while since I regrettably gave up on AMD until my recent graphics purchase. They do seem to have quite a wide portfolio at the moment which is hinted at in the read below.

It focuses more on AMD's look towards using the ARM architecture for processors.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/23/amd-reveals-g-series-x-embedded-chips/

Shuttle SP35P2 Vs VTX3D HD 7870 Black Edition 2 GB

Time to see if a VTX3D HD 7870 will fit in my Shuttle. It's in the post. It'll be replacing a Nvdia Asus GTX 275. It recommends a 500W power supply and the shuttle has a 450W gold PSU so it'll be an interesting combo. I just hope it fits! 

Replacing my old GTX 275:

Graphics upgrade?

OK so I have some fairly hefty constraints on what I can upgrade my ageing Shuttle PC with.

First and foremost is power constraints with only a 450W PSU in the case ...
Then comes dimensions...With a precarious motherboard power connected in the lower left. I barely got my GTX 275 in there!

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-275,2266-14.html

http://www.nvidia.co.uk/object/graphics_cards_buy_now_uk.html

I'm thinking this Zotac will fit the bill in terms of size and power draw.

http://www.ebuyer.com/393783-zotac-gtx-660-ti-2gb-gddr5-dual-dvi-hdmi-displayport-pci-e-graphics-zt-60801-10p

Opinion on USB 3 micro connector...

Who the hell thought this form factor was a good idea... Thats ridiculous and mobile phone manufactures will hate it! The whole point of them pain painstakingly designing normal sized USB 3 ports into the same form factor was for compatibility. Why they couldn't have miniaturised and split the extra contacts around the edge of the current form factor I don't know... 

Picture source: Wikipedia

Update: I wonder if Apple can fit USB3 down the lightening connector. If they pull it off I think other manufactures will be up in arms wanting a smaller form factor for their devices. Circuit board space matters to them! 

If you buy a new Lumia and didn't get a free wireless charger

check this URL on the 16th: www.nokiafreecharger.com

BT Wholesale want to look green, I call it cost cutting.

See the think broadband article here .

From a diagnostic standpoint it's a potential nightmare without well formatted readouts from diagnostic tools, Root cause analysis will not just involve simply looking at the individual line, but more increasingly their neighbouring lines as well to see if there power state changes are effecting your customers line.

Yes it is green and good but if it's causing a bigger headache then I feel it'll not be worth. Think about all the petrol consumption of those SFI (Special faults Investigation) engineers. With the switch to fibre surely they should be concentrating of reducing power output there with increase performance instead of tampering with what will hopefully be a redundant technology in the next 20-30 years.

http://www.broadband-forum.org/technical/download/TR-202.pdf