Toronto Electricians and Electrical Contractors

Hill-Climbing Our Way to Defeating DRM Computer science has long grappled with the problem of unknowable terrain: how do you route a packet from A to E when B, C, and D are nodes that keep coming up and going down as they get flooded by traffic from other sources? How do you shard a database when uncontrollable third parties are shoving records into it all the time? What’s the best way to sort some data when spammers are always coming up with new tactics for re-sorting it in ways that suit them, but not you or your users? One way to address the problem is the very useful notion of “hill-climbing.” Hill-climbing is modeled on a metaphor of a many-legged insect, like an ant. The ant has forward-facing eyes and can’t look up to scout the terrain and spot the high ground, but it can still ascend towards a peak by checking to see which foot is highest and taking a step in that direction. Once it’s situated in that new place, it can repeat the process, climbing stepwise toward the highe...

I ndustrial Control System (ICS) operators recognize the need to improve cybersecurity, but many lack the understanding on how to deploy a system in a secure manner.  Schneider Electric has authored a whitepaper “ Effective Implementation of Cybersecurity Countermeasures in Industrial Control Systems ” that takes asset owners through the system deployment process.  In this blog article, I will provide a brief overview of the concepts presented in the whitepaper. The Implement Phase is comprised of a variety of sub-tasks.  The design and implementation of security countermeasures is a complex project and should be managed as such.  Activities should be planned, documented, and executed throughout the Implementation Phase. Security Requirements – The first step in the implementation phase involves the definition of requirements. Examples of requirements include features tied to the specific countermeasures (firewall, IDS, SIEM, etc.), and requirements that must be...

EFF to Court: The First Amendment Protects Criticism of Patent Trolls EFF has submitted an amicus brief [PDF] to the New Hampshire Supreme Court asking it to affirm a lower court ruling that found criticism of a patent owner was not defamatory. The trial judge hearing the case ruled that “patent troll” and other rhetorical characterizations are not the type of factual statements that can be the basis of a defamation claim. Our brief explains that both the First Amendment and the common law of defamation support this ruling. This case began when patent assertion entity Automated Transactions, LLC (“ATL”) and inventor David Barcelou filed a defamation complaint [PDF] in New Hampshire Superior Court. Barcelou claims to have come up with the idea of connecting automated teller machines to the Internet. As the complaint explains, he tried to commercialize this idea but failed. Later, ATL acquired an interest in Barcelou’s patents and began suing banks and credit unions. ATL’s pate...

For many OEMs, machine design and performance efficiency improvements have emerged as critical success factors for maintaining competitiveness. In order to provide end customers with the machine productivity levels they demand, OEM-built machines have to incorporate motor control automation technologies optimized for rapid time-to-market, operational efficiency and simplification as well as increased machine uptime. Motor control devices such as the new generation of variable speed drives (VSDs) built by industry-leading companies like Schneider Electric, play a pivotal role in driving efficiencies both at the OEM development level and on the end user shop floor. In fact, deployment of modern VSD technologies can boost overall design, installation, and operational efficiency by up to 30%. Identifying the greatest potential for efficiency gains Below are three areas where VSDs serve as a great example of how OEMs can drive up overall design, implementation and performance efficienci...