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Gosh, Greg, do you think I'd let any unambiguity go unpunished ?
«One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.» Salvador Dali
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My dad bought a 2020 Hyundai Palisade back in the fall, and the salesweasel convinced him he needed to get rid of his old flip-phone and get a smartphone to use "Blue Link", Hyundai's proprietary software for...Lord only knows what. Checking the status of the door locks and such, it seems.
I don't know how many times I've told him since it doesn't sound terribly useful, and that it's not going to provide him with anything he needs. About 2 weeks ago he got himself some Android phone anyway, and now wants me to install the Blue Link app on it.
It's rated rather poorly (2.5 stars out of 5), and the only positive reviews are all from people, it seems, who only want a single function, the remote starter (which you can use with the keyfob anyway, no app required). The app reviews are all otherwise trashing it. Despite my warnings, he got me to install it...and it's absolutely useless. You can't even launch the app - it crashes back to the main screen after some splash screen. Try to restart it enough times, and eventually it'll try to relaunch itself in a loop, actually rendering the phone unusable unless you're quick enough to switch back to Google Play and hit Uninstall.
I'm trying to make my dad understand that no, the fact that his car isn't yet registered in the app probably has nothing to do with the constant crashing, since you can't even get far enough to even try to register it.
Maybe they haven't tried the app on this particular phone or OS version (it's running Android 9, and the phone's still new, so it hasn't even yet had a chance to get any crapware installed on it yet), and while it's certainly possible they'll manage to get it launching eventually, the fact that the app has existed since 2017 (I believe) and still rated so poorly doesn't give me much hope.
I've always believed that car guys shouldn't be writing software, any more than software guys should be making cars. What I'm seeing does nothing to change my perception.
Anyone here working in the automotive software industry?
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Quote: any more than software guys should be making cars Some car makers in Detroit shouldn't be making cars. (I am speaking from bitter experience.)
modified 23-Dec-19 16:20pm.
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Well, there's that too.
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Could it be that your dad isn't so much interested in the app, but uses it as an excuse to buy a smartphone, be hip and maybe spend some time with his son?
I'm guessing your dad isn't stupid and understands that the app is useless and doesn't work well, so the app is likely to be a cover up for another motive
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My dad's avoided a smartphone until now, and had been taking pride in showing off his "dinosaur".
He's a retired mechanic (after working for 40+ years for the same car dealer), and while he's got no interest in working on his own vehicle (this not being "his brand"), he does get impressed by little software things. I put together his (first ever) contact list on his phone, and he found it so impressive that the entries showed up in alphabetical order...his mind was blown when I entered the phone numbers for a few businesses, and Google pulled down/filled in the rest of the details for those that had a match.
He'd been thinking about changing phones for years, but I'm pretty sure it's the fact that he was promised he could interact with his car through a smartphone that's finally sealed the deal for him. He's still convinced he can just call the manufacturer to get his vehicle registered against the app to get it working.
But to your point, yeah, he's no dummy. To keep busy, he's installing remote car starters, and he manages to follow cryptic wiring diagrams, solder everything, and program the modules and still make it worth his time.
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dandy72 wrote: Anyone here working in the automotive software industry?
Here I am.
dandy72 wrote: I've always believed that car guys shouldn't be writing software, any more than software guys should be making cars. What I'm seeing does nothing to change my perception.
So much this. You can't and don't want to know the s*** I am shoveling each day away from ECU firmware - a connectivity ECU which interfaces the CAN network to the world (including Internet access) through LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth and a couple of GPS.
I worked in HMI too and the situation is the same: they don't know how to manage a software project, how to design software, how to write software and hardware requirements... and I worked for most of the major EMEA/NAFTA manifacturers.
GCS d--(d+) s-/++ a C++++ U+++ P- L+@ E-- W++ N+ o+ K- w+++ O? M-- V? PS+ PE- Y+ PGP t+ 5? X R+++ tv-- b+(+++) DI+++ D++ G e++ h--- r+++ y+++* Weapons extension: ma- k++ F+2 X
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You're pretty much confirming most horror stories being written about the field. It's no wonder vehicles are getting hacked, and hacked remotely. I'm just waiting for it to happen for seriously nefarious purposes.
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I work on products in the Medical Imaging field, regulated by the FDA. The processes set up to ensure correct development procedures, product quality, responsibility for failures and so on is often painful to software developers, but it comforts me to know, that these processes are in place.
It would sure make me feel better if Automotive Software was under the same level of scrutiny as Medical Devices.
I am SoMad
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Yet there's no shortage of stories about how insecure medical devices are.
I'm not making the claim that stories about hacking medical devices are constantly hitting the mainstream. Just sayin' that the few who bother are saying they're ridiculously easy to hack.
Some use the ban of wireless devices in hospitals as proof - if devices were secure, there wouldn't be a need to impose any outright ban of otherwise innocuous devices.
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I am not here to defend the industry and I don't want to get drawn into a debate, but I was not talking about hacking devices specifically. Sure, securing devices against intrusion is part of it and there is more and more focus on that, but it takes time before that really takes effect across the board.
I am SoMad
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upvote for "salesweasel"
When I was growin' up, I was the smartest kid I knew. Maybe that was just because I didn't know that many kids. All I know is now I feel the opposite.
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My dad spent his entire adult life working at the same dealer as a mechanic. The sales people are the ones making dealers look bad.
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dandy72 wrote: I've always believed that car guys shouldn't be writing software, any more than software guys should be making cars. What I'm seeing does nothing to change my perception. That applys for many other things.
And even in Software branches, different departments could be included to that too.
M.D.V.
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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Almost two weeks ago, my uncle died on a plane flight home to Tenerife.
He still had a home in the Netherlands and he was visiting family.
Today was his cremation.
Apparently, he died of double pneumonia, not something that should kill you unless you ignore it and get on a plane.
His sister, my aunt, said he looked awful and he should see a doctor, apparently my uncle, his brother, said the same.
He didn't feel so good either so he had a call with his wife who said he should stay here, see a doctor and she'd come over to the Netherlands.
Of course, he didn't want to see a doctor, but he agreed with his wife he'd see one in Tenerife.
He never made it to that doctor, although his body technically still made it to Tenerife.
I'm from a pretty stubborn family (both sides), but sometimes it's good to be a little less stubborn, especially when it comes to your health.
Be stubborn about your code (always use braces), about your frameworks and languages (C# .NET Core with EF Core), about your methodologies (Scrum, DevOps), but not about your health.
The former are just wrong if you do anything else I just said, the latter might literally kill you
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It does not solve my Problem, but it answers my question
modified 19-Jan-21 21:04pm.
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I'm sorry for your loss.
Just to add to what you're saying: without your health, you have nothing. Make your health priority #1.
Jon Sagara
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Thanks, but I wasn't close with him.
I think I saw him once every few years on average.
It felt a bit awkward sitting at the front at the cremation because I'm family, while his closest friends who were obviously more upset than me had to sit in the back
My cleaning lady has some "wisdom" on her WhatsApp image.
Freely translated: When you're healthy you have a thousand wishes, when you're sick you only have one.
I guess that's true.
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Sorry for your lose!
I'm also one of those stubborn types.
They call me different but the truth is they're all the same!
JaxCoder.com
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Just be careful about your health!
If your body tells you something is wrong don't ignore it.
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Been peeing blood for 2 months and waiting on VA to schedule testing.
Sometimes you can't control things!
They call me different but the truth is they're all the same!
JaxCoder.com
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Wow, 2 months seems an awful long time to be waiting for something like that. I've had lots of kidney stones but none caused those symptoms for that long. Best of luck with that.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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That's how the VA does things, if they wait to treat you die and that's just one less to deal with.
They call me different but the truth is they're all the same!
JaxCoder.com
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Nothing says thanks to our vets like 'hurry up and die", that's so f**ked up.
"the debugger doesn't tell me anything because this code compiles just fine" - random QA comment
"Facebook is where you tell lies to your friends. Twitter is where you tell the truth to strangers." - chriselst
"I don't drink any more... then again, I don't drink any less." - Mike Mullikins uncle
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