Windows 10 can't make up its mind
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I turned on my laptop today to see an airplane icon in the notification tray (note that I didn't turn on airplane mode when I turned it off last night). I don't know what the plane icon means, so I hover over it:
Interesting. What happens when I click on it?
I'm still connected to wifi. I know this because I'm uploading these images as I type this. Airplane mode is still on. Clicking it does nothing.
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@bb36e Some planes now have wifi. It's the mobile phone style comms that needs to be shut off. Why does your laptop think it has 3G or LTE?
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Pretty sure that is supposed to be fixed already, or maybe I was reading the change notes on an insider preview build.
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@dkf No clue. It's had an 'airplane mode' option listed in the wifi menu ever since I've had it though.
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@bb36e It says 'Flight mode' on mine
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@bb36e said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
Interesting. What happens when I click on it?
Clicking it does nothing.You must be one of those luddites who expect something to happen when you click on it.
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@LB_ said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
Pretty sure that is supposed to be fixed already, or maybe I was reading the change notes on an insider preview build.
Maybe Windows 10 hasn't auto-rebooted @bb36e 's computer yet. Wait until RANDOM O'Clock for the update.
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This post is deleted!
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@RaceProUK maybe that's an en-CA vs en-GB thing.
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@bb36e said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@RaceProUK maybe that's an en-CA vs en-GB thing.
Because en-US can't spell aeroplane?
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@Zemm said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
ecause en-US can't spell aeroplane?
Not that goofy way, no.
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@dkf said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@bb36e Some planes now have wifi. It's the mobile phone style comms that needs to be shut off. Why does your laptop think it has 3G or LTE?
Because people are stupid and it's simpler to call something that has nothing to do with airplanes "airplane mode" than to try to explain "Well, this is like airplane mode on your phone, just with different frequencies"
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@ben_lubar +1 I lol'd at that one
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@bb36e Android does the same thing. You can simply enable airplane mode (disables all wireless communications), then enable wi-fi without affecting the state of airplane mode. It's pretty silly IMO.
Some day aiplanes will just stop asking people to turn off their phones' radio altogether because it doesn't really matter to the plane, and people born after that will be wondering WTF do airplanes have to do with wireless internet.
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@RaceProUK said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@bb36e It says 'Flight mode' on mine
My laptop says Airplane mode.
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@anonymous234 the flight attendants even admit if asked that it's nothing to do with that, but more if there's an emergency during takeoff and landing (the most dangerous parts) they can get your attention more easily.
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@Arantor That, and mobile devices come out at such a rate that it'd cost a fortune to test them all for safety. So they simply don't test any of them and ban the lot
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@bb36e said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
Clicking it does nothing.
But did you try right-clicking it?
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@chozang Did you try pissing on a sparkplug?
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@blakeyrat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@chozang Did you try pissing on a sparkplug?
Thank you for reminding me of the level of intelligence we've all come to know.
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@chozang said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
Thank you for reminding me of the level of intelligence we've all come to know.
You mean my immense and amazing level of film intelligence!?
WAR GAMES Gen. Beringer SPARK PLUG – 00:03
— Seecipher
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@blakeyrat I think chozang was making fun of the fact that Windows's new Squares™ UI doesn't distinguish between right and left clicks.
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@anonymous234 said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
turn off their phones' radio altogether because it doesn't really matter to the plane,
This is true, however it does matter to the cell towers (which they don't want to spend ten minutes explaining).
Essentially, while you're in range of the cell towers, your phone will try to connect to the one with the best signal, and when you're near the ground lighting up the towers in sequence this can cause... problems, especially when the tower starts dropping connections to existing users to handshake with the 200+ new devices that just appeared in range (and then were not heard of again after a second).
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@Tsaukpaetra Except those metal hulls with tiny windows make excellent Faraday cages. I tried getting a GPS lock while inside once, and didn't get a single satellite. And no, I verified later that flight mode does not disable the GPS receiver.
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@PleegWat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
excellent Faraday cages. I tried getting a GPS lock while inside once, and didn't get a single satellite.
Maybe things have changed. I maintained a solid lock with 6 plus satellites for the duration of the flight on my Garmin Nuvi 200 (discontinued because apparently nobody wants a GPS that small in their car). This was a little while ago though (2011 I think?) I'll have to test again, though it might have helped that I was in a window seat...
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@Tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
though it might have helped that I was in a window seat
Y'think? :P
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@RaceProUK said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
Y'think?
Well with the way he worded it made it sound like the holes in the "Faraday cage" called an airplane didn't matter, so 🚩
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@Tsaukpaetra I think I tried it next to the window too, though I didn't have a window seat myself, but I don't recall for sure. It's also well possible the GPS antenna in my phone is crap.
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@PleegWat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
It's also well possible the GPS antenna in my phone is crap.
Science must commence!
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@PleegWat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
It's also well possible the GPS antenna in my phone is crap.
And/or the receiver. SIRFStar IIs couldn't get a lock unless they were touching a window. More modern ones are significantly better indoors, although with A-GPS it's getting harder to tell.
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@PleegWat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@Tsaukpaetra I think I tried it next to the window too, though I didn't have a window seat myself, but I don't recall for sure. It's also well possible the GPS antenna in my phone is crap.
If it's an iPhone, it's not the antenna, you are holding it wrong.
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@Arantor said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@anonymous234 the flight attendants even admit if asked that it's nothing to do with that, but more if there's an emergency during takeoff and landing (the most dangerous parts) they can get your attention more easily.
That's not the real reason, though. It's just the reason that the flight attendants tell people because it sounds more reasonable and the real reason is stupid.
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@TimeBandit said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@PleegWat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@Tsaukpaetra I think I tried it next to the window too, though I didn't have a window seat myself, but I don't recall for sure. It's also well possible the GPS antenna in my phone is crap.
If it's an iPhone, it's not the antenna, you are holding it wrong.
No, if it's an iPhone, the GPS receiver is disabled because it's in Airplane Mode. And no, you can't turn the GPS receiver back on. You have to turn Airplane Mode back off for it to start working again.
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@Tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
@anonymous234 said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
turn off their phones' radio altogether because it doesn't really matter to the plane,
This is true, however it does matter to the cell towers (which they don't want to spend ten minutes explaining).
Essentially, while you're in range of the cell towers, your phone will try to connect to the one with the best signal, and when you're near the ground lighting up the towers in sequence this can cause... problems, especially when the tower starts dropping connections to existing users to handshake with the 200+ new devices that just appeared in range (and then were not heard of again after a second).
That would be the FCC's problem, rather than the FAA's problem.
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@PleegWat said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
What do you take me for?
ObApple: We take you for a
sucker with too much moneyvalued potential customer!
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@Tsaukpaetra said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
Essentially, while you're in range of the cell towers, your phone will try to connect to the one with the best signal, and when you're near the ground lighting up the towers in sequence this can cause... problems, especially when the tower starts dropping connections to existing users to handshake with the 200+ new devices that just appeared in range (and then were not heard of again after a second).
What about other forms of mass transportation? I'm currently sharing a train with 600+ people and there would be dozens of towers on this route. Granted, we are traveling at around 80-100km/hr instead of a plane's hundreds, but there are black spots and handovers.
Edit: I typed that this morning (9 hours ago) but had went into a tunnel so my connection had dropped and couldn't reconnect before I got off the train.
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@Zemm There's also the fact that you have line of sight to a hell of a lot of towers when you're above them all
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@Jaloopa said in Windows 10 can't make up its mind:
you have line of sight to a hell of a lot of towers when you're above them all
That too.
Hello? Any towers nearby?
I am! (x60)
AAAHHH!!!! I can't figure out who to connect to it's so noisy!
Um, lets try again... Hello? Any towers nearby?
I am! (x58) Why are you asking again? Is there a problem? (x30) I'm sorry, but I can't register your address, seems another tower is using it and already transitioning the connection to someone not me... (x15)