Tues 29 May 2024 🧵
Good morning! It’s the last day of the #TrumpTrial before jury #deliberations.
Today Justice #Merchan will give #JuryInstructions. Then they will discuss the case among themselves for the first time; they have not been allowed to even discuss it w/each other as yet.
Closing arguments took place yesterday, & the lawyers will have no further opportunity to address the jurors before they determine whether #Trump is #guilty or not guilty of 34 felonies.
Justice #Merchan would likely hand down #Trump’s sentence several weeks after the #guilty#verdict. But it’s possible that any punishment could be delayed.
Trump… will undoubtedly #appeal any #conviction, a lengthy process that could take months or longer & would likely not be resolved before Election Day. In that case, he would likely remain free until the appeal is resolved.
#Trump faces 34 felony counts of falsifying business records in connection w/a #HushMoney payment made to a porn star to influence the 2016 election. The case could be in the jury’s hands as early as Wed.
Justice #Merchan calls in the #jury & instructs them that #Blanche’s comment about sending #Trump “to prison” was “improper” & that they must disregard it. He reminds them that a #prison sentence is NOT required in the event of a #guilty#verdict.
Yesterday, Costello behaved so atrociously on the witness stand that Juan Merchan cleared the courtroom to admonish him & the defense attorneys. Costello is due back on the stand
Defense argues that to reach a #guilty#verdict jurors MUST not only to agree #unanimously that #Trump had falsified records to conceal a #conspiracy to win an election by unlawful means, but also jurors must be unanimous on what the #UnlawfulMeans are; making reaching a verdict nearly impossible.
Trump's attys argued that while that unanimity is not required by #law, Justice Merchan can use his discretion in asking for it.
The photos are stored as JPGs which can be read by any normal graphics program. They also contain the thermal metadata which you can extract with specialist tools.
Here's the full photo taken with the camera. It shows the interior of an office with some computer equipment on a shelf.
Because the optical camera is quite some distance from the thermal camera, it doesn't cope well with close ups - as you can see. Luckily, this can be adjusted in the UI by pressing the up and down keys.
As well as static shots, it will take video - 240x320 resolution and 25fps - well, ish. It looks a bit jerkier than that to me. But it is good enough to see what's going on.
In this video, I've recorded a bath filling up. Towards the end, I've changed the settings so it shows more of the real-colour video with the heat overlayed.
Amusingly, it shows up as 1f3a:1000 Allwinner Technology Prestigio PER3464B ebook reader (Mass storage mode). Nevertheless, the 30GB volume was mountable and had an IMGS/ directory full of JPGs.
There is a Windows app, which I was able to run in PlayOnLinux. It offers a few features, such as being able to change the colour scheme of the photo, and pick out specific temperature points.
The button layout is a little odd. The buttons feel nice and are responsive. But I would have expected the "Enter" button to be in the centre of the directional buttons.
It is a little slow booting up - but then, this isn't designed for quick action shots.
After taking a photo or a video, it asks if you want to save it every time. That's a little annoying. There's 30GB of storage and photos are only about 300KB - so it should be good for about 100,000 photos.
The videos are recorded without sound. A cheap microphone would make it easy to narrate what's going on in a shot.
Weirdly, the bundled app doesn't work on videos.
There's no expandable storage - the 30GB is plenty, but sometimes it is easier to shove an SD card into a computer.
Finally, there's no mounting point. Other cameras I've tried have a connector so they can be attached to a tripod. This is strictly hand-held only.
This costs £200 - £250 depending on whether the algorithm likes you. Astonishingly, that's cheap for a thermal camera of this quality!
If you're into DIY, or you want to check the thermal efficiency of your home, or you just want to see how hot things are - this is a useful bit of kit. It's sturdy and well built. Dragging images and videos off it is a breeze - even if you don't use the official app.
The interface isn't the greatest thing in the world. But all you need to do is point and click. It's the sort of thing that's unexpectedly handy around the house with all sorts of tasks - from checking if the radiators are balanced, to seeing if a hidden plug is spewing heat.
£200ish isn't cheap cheap. But it is cheap enough that most geeks should have something like this. Also worth buying for community groups who want to check for heat leaks in their properties.
If you are happy with the slight user-interface oddities, and don't need a tripod mount, this is an excellent gadget.
Prosecutors in Trump’s #criminal trial say he has violated a #GagOrder barring him from attacking #witnesses, #jurors & others close to the case. Testimony is set to resume later Tuesday morning.
During #Steinglass’s questioning of #Pecker, #Trump's lawyers often objected to prosecutors couching Trump's relationship w/Pecker & #MichaelCohen as a #conspiracy - saying Trump isn’t facing a conspiracy charge.
🚨⇉ But Steinglass said on record one of the election statutes the case is based on does in fact have a conspiracy provision. That could prove important later when the #jury is instructed on the #laws they must consider in reaching a #verdict.
The good folk at WAVLINK have sent me their Dual-Screen USB-C adapter to review. Plug it in to a USB-C socket and you now have two extra monitor ports. It'll even work on a USB-A socket, if it is USB 3.0.
The USB cable has a dongle which converts it from C to A. That's handy if you don't have enough C ports. But the cable being so short means it is sort of awkward to place. If you're on a narrow desk, the weighty adapter will just be left swinging.
On the back are four ports - two DisplayPorts and two HDMI.
But you can only use two at a time. I stuck a DP in the left and an HDMI in the right and (eventually) it worked! I was able to get 4k @ 60Hz and 1080p @ 60Hz on my screens.
It also passed through audio, although I couldn't find a way to select which monitor received the output.
There's also the requisite blue LED to let you know it is working.
Sadly, it is a bit of a faff to get set up because it is a DisplayLink adapter, rather than a USB-C hub. The manual spends 11 pages talking about driver installation!
Plugging it in to Linux shows 17e9:6000 DisplayLink USB3.0 5K Graphic Adapter - so it was detected without issue. That said, there were some warnings in dmesg:
Warning! Unlikely big volume range (=672), cval->res is probably wrong.[7] FU [USB Audio Playback Volume] ch = 6, val = -10752/0/16
But plugging it in doesn't give you extra screens. Instead, you need to visit DisplayLink.com to download the drivers. They are only available for Ubuntu Linux. There are also drivers for Windows, ChromeOS, Mac, and Android.
Despite my best efforts, I couldn't get them to work. It looks pretty buggy. Instead, I downloaded a random GitHub repo which installed the right drivers and got it working.
Once that was done, my laptop happily detected both external screens - one HDMI, one DisplayPort. It was able to change resolution, rotation, and refresh rate using Wayland. It even worked through the USB-A socket as well as the C.
It's hard to know who this adapter is for. On the one hand, it does its job brilliantly. It turns your USB3 / USB-C port into a dual output device for two 4k monitors. On the other hand, that's all it does.
Installing the DisplayLink software is a pain. USB-C means that I should be able to plug in an adapter and have it just work. With this, you have to manually install drivers and reboot before it will work. Good luck getting those drivers installed on a corporate laptop!
In theory, it can go up to 5K (5120x1440) on each DisplayPort - but I don't had a screen to test it on. If you need that sort of resolution, that's the only reason I can think for buying this.
It works - but it isn't plug-and-play, the drivers are a pain, USB cable is too short, it has limited functionality, it is too bulky, and is over-priced.
Matter is coming to fix all your smarthome woes! A single IoT standard, working across multiple radio protocols, bringing together different products from many different manufacturers.
And… it works!
Mostly
These are the Meross 315 Smart Plugs. They are small(ish), cheap(ish), and easy(ish) to use.
As soon as I plugged them in, before even configuring them, my home went crazy. I got a pop-up on my phone asking if I wanted to control them with Google Home.
I wanted to add the plugs using the Meross app. Not because it is particularly good (it's basically fine) - but because of a couple of limitations in Matter. Here's a page from the plugs' manual.
At the moment, Matter doesn't support firmware updates. That's probably fair. You don't want some random app bricking your device - so it is restricted to the manufacturer's app.
Luckily, HomeAssistant came to the rescue! Because the Meross API is well documented, my local SmartHome Pi was able to get a realtime view of how much power was flowing through the plug.
The power toggle - and activity LED - is on the left side of the plug. That makes it a little awkward to press and obscures the view of the LED. I guess putting it on top would make it too easy to accidentally activate?
The energy monitoring doesn't seem to update in realtime in the app.
I renamed the plug in the Android app, but that name doesn't seem to be exposed in Matter. Nor was it picked up by HomeAssistant.
In order to connect the device to WiFi, your phone needs to be on that specific WiFi network. Because the devices only support 2.4GHz, I needed to swap SSIDs on my phone. But, on the plus side, I didn't have to manually enter any passwords.
For about £32 for a two-pack (depending on whether the algorithm favours you) these are pretty good value for money. They were easy to set up, quick to get working in other apps, and had a firmware update waiting for me.
I got some Meross plugs about 6 years ago and they've kept trucking all that time - so I'm pretty confident these will last. And, even if Meross disappears, Matter means that another app can easily control them.
Here's the plan. I'm going to plug this into my Tumble Dryer and tell HomeAssistant to monitor its energy usage and send me a message when the drying is done.
A #Manhattan#jury found 3 top execs of the National Rifle Association liable in a lengthy #civil#trial that focused on alleged corruption & the misspending of millions of dollars.
Longtime NRA leader #WayneLaPierre, a key architect in the nonprofit's hardline #gun rights agenda who stepped down as CEO last month, was central to #NY state's case.
Jurors found that #LaPierre "violated his statutory obligation to discharge the duties of his position in good faith."
They concluded that he had caused ~$5.4M worth of #harm to the nonprofit group's finances — though they also found that LaPierre had already repaid roughly $2M.
LaPierre sat in the courtroom looking on as the #jury#verdict was read.
👀 Jury reaches #verdict in trial against the #NRA and Wayne #LaPierre
Jurors deliberated for five days in the civil corruption trial in New York against the National Rifle Association and its executives. #legal
"There is a VERDICT in #Carroll v. Trump case.
It is expected to be read aloud in court in five minutes, per the court.
Trump isn't in court right now as we await the recitation of the verdict."
Via Inner City Press @innercitypress
4:36 PM · Jan 26, 2024
"Judge Kaplan: I'm advised the jury has reached a verdict. We will have no outbursts in these proceedings, we will maintain decorum. Bring in the jury.
Jury entering!
Judge Kaplan: Please hand the verdict to Andy... Thank you. Clerk will read the #verdict."
Inner City Press @innercitypress
4:40 PM · Jan 26, 2024
"Andy (clerk): 7.1 million... 11 million... punitives: $65 million
Judge Kaplan; Members of the jury, there was years ago a respected judge of this court would made it a practice never to thank a jury. Judge Weinfeld thought it was a duty - I think juries should be thanked."
(In court👉🏼)Andy: Did Ms. Carroll prove, by a preponderance of the evidence, that 1. Ms. Carroll suffered more than nominal damages as a result of Mr. Trump’s publication of the June 21 and June 22, 2019 statements? Answer Yes.
Trump stands up and walks out during Roberta Kaplan's closing. “The record will reflect that Mr. Trump just rose & walked out of the courtroom,” #JudgeKaplan says. This is an unusual breach of decorum, & Roberta Kaplan continues as though nothing unusual happened.
$83.3 million is a major number. There may be more to come: Trump’s other civil trial, the outcome has yet to be determined. #Trump could be on the hook for hundreds of millions more.
“I will not comment on the #verdict you have reached,” #JudgeKaplan says, but he praises the #jurors for their attention & focus, saying that they have given “all we can ask.”
The lovely people at Mokin keep sending me their USB-C hubs to review, and I'm happy to do so. They work splendidly with my Linux and Windows machines, and they provide more ports than I ever thought necessary.
Plug your power adapter into the hub, and then the hub into your laptop. With most hubs, that's it; you've lost a C port. This has an extra USB-C port - so you don't lose anything. Personally, I'd prefer more USB-C ports.
Instead, you get 3x USB-A 3.0 ports, and 2x USB-A 2.0 ports. That's a lot of room for peripherals. They're all well spaced out, so you should be able to cram everything in.
All these sorts of hubs tend to have an SD slot and a microSD slot. Read and write speeds hit the limit of the cards I had - but you may be better off using the USB 3 ports if you really need speed. Speaking of which...
Obviously, if you have a hundred gadgets plugged in - and only one USB-C cable - there's a limit to the total throughput. That said, the Ethernet port topped out my 650Mbps broadband - and I don't have anything much faster than that!
There are two HDMI ports and a legacy VGA port. I'll be honest, I can't remember the last time I needed to plug my laptop into an analogue video cable. But I guess if you go to lots of crappy conference venues it might be useful?
My old laptop was able to drive two monitors at the same time, which was pretty useful. You're limited to one at 4k@60Hz - if you're using two HDMI, you'll only get 30Hz. But if you're happy with 1080p, you'll get 60Hz on both.
USB's Power Delivery mode is a still a bit confusing. I used a 100W Dell charger and, USB-C PD tester saw that about 80% of the power was making it to the laptop.
With the power unplugged, the hub drew electricity from the laptop in order to charge all the gadgets.
Weirdly, the analogue sound out didn't show up for me in Linux. I'm not heartbroken by that - either my laptop has a speaker out or the HDMI device does. But it is a bit weird that it didn't show.
As with all modern devices, it is plug-and-play. All my gadgets worked fine with it. This is what Linux sees:
ID 0bda:8153 Realtek Semiconductor Corp. RTL8153 Gigabit Ethernet AdapterID 2109:0817 VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub ID 2109:0817 VIA Labs, Inc. USB3.0 Hub ID 1a40:0801 Terminus Technology Inc. USB 2.0 Hub2109:8817 VIA Labs, Inc. USB Billboard Device ID 2109:2817 VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub ID 2109:2817 VIA Labs, Inc. USB2.0 Hub
It's a neat little halfway house between a small adapter with a couple of ports and a massive docking station. But if you don't need all those ports, there's probably something cheaper.
I guess this is aimed at people plugging in to all sorts of weird screens on their travels. I think a DisplayPort would have been a better choice than double HDMI.
So a bit of a mixed bag. If you need these options, it is close to perfect. But it may be excessive for some.
You can never have too many USB-C ports, right? It's rubbish having a cheap laptop with only a single USB-C port. So, the good folks at Mokin have sent me a gadget which turns your single and lonely USB-C port into FIVE USB-C ports.
As will all modern hubs, there's nothing to install. Plug it in and it starts working. Copying a large file from a USB 2.0 phone got a respectable 90mbps.
When plugged into ethernet, it got up to 660Mbps - which is about as fast as my broadband goes.
And I don't think I have any faster devices than that to check!
I used my USB-C PD tester. I plugged in a 100W capable charger into the hub's PD socket, and the output into my laptop. The hub passed through about 80% of the power I got when I was plugged in normally. So there is a bit of a hit in the power delivery.
That said, it happily charged the laptop and all the devices attached to it. Even without power attached, the hub drew power from the laptop and charged the gadgets.
It doesn't support "Fast Role Swap". So if you disconnect the power from the hub, your devices will briefly disconnect and reconnect again. Usually not a problem unless you're in the middle of a file transfer.
You can get this for about £20 on Amazon depending on whether the algorithm likes you or not.
For the price, I think it is excellent. I can't find anything so cheap or slim which does support video. Or has as many ports.
If all you need are a bunch of extra C ports, this is perfect. Speeds are good, power transfer is good, and it works on Windows and Linux flawlessly. If you need video, try Mokin's USB-C Docking Station.
No noticeable hiss. Captured my voice perfectly. It picked up a little clack from my keyboard as I typed. Colleagues could hear me clearly - even if they were somewhat distracted by the pulsing LEDs. I don't play any instruments, so I'm not sure how well it would do with your acoustic rendition of Wonderwall.
USB-C! This is the main reason I wanted to review this bit of kit. I've fully embraced the USB-C lifestyle. I have a single cable which does data and power for my phone, laptop, eReader, printer, electric screwdriver, battery pack - and now my microphone! I can be sure that wherever I go, I'll always have the right cable.
The RGB lights are... well, I think they're fun! If you're a serious business executive you might want to turn them off. But life's too short for boring conference calls, right?
The mute button on the top is handy. Of course, if you mute in hardware it doesn't necessarily show in software - so you'll look like you're unmuted on Teams.
The volume control on it works. I'm not quite sure why you'd ever want to fiddle with it, but it's there.
Finally, there's a monitor connection. This is also a clever addition. Plug a pair of analogue heaphones in there and you can hear your own voice - so you can check how loud it is. What's special is that this microphone is also an output device! You can hear your colleagues (or music) and get a latency-free monitor of your voice. Nice!
The base is sturdy and it comes with a few bits if you want to connect it to an existing microphone stand.
As normal for Linux, it was a plug and play experience. No weird drivers needed.
A quick lsusb shows it to be 3142:00a8 fifine Microphones fifine Microphone. My recording software showed it as either a digital (S/PDIF) or analogue stereo source.
It also acted as a USB audio output for the monitor connection. Stereo audio was delivered flawlessly.
There isn't really worth complaining about here. Perhaps it might be nice if the RGB acted as a visualiser and reacted to your voice? The volume knob and colour changer are at the other side of the pop-shield, so you'll need to reach around to fiddle with them.
The mic mute at the top is handy, but you have to tap precisely on the LED. I'd have preferred to have the whole top as a sensor.
For about £50 (depending on whether the algorithm likes you) it's a decent bit of kit. Sound quality is excellent. And, yes, if you don't like shocking pink it also comes in boring black or white.
Oh look! It's yet another #bullshit#Trump#lawsuit that's going absolutely nowhere. This dude has the worst legal track record in the world. This is just another platform for him to attack his perceived enemies, and rally his base around. In the end, they'll either drop the lawsuit to avoid another humiliating loss, or they'll lose the #verdict. Trump and #Elon should just get together and poke each other in the eye instead of engaging in these absurd legal actions.