Archive for November 27, 2022

A Follow Up To My Recommendation For ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 Users To Not Install Firmware 3.0.0.4.388.21099

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 27, 2022 by itnerd

You might remember that a few weeks ago I put out a public service announcement for owners of The ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 to not install firmware 3.0.0.4.388.21099 as it was incredibly unstable. In fact, it was so unstable that I recommended rolling back to the previous firmware and provided instructions on how to do so. Earlier this week, ASUS released an updated firmware which is listed as version 3.0.0.4.388.21617 that claims to optimize memory usage and improve stability among other things. You can read the release notes here. Since I suggested to people that they shouldn’t try the previous firmware, I decided to try this firmware. Now first, let me describe how to update the firmware as for whatever reason, if you don’t follow this method you will have issues. More on the issues that you will have in a minute. But here’s my process:

  • Log into the router using a computer and a web browser
  • Backup the configuration using these instructions. 
  • Update the firmware using method 1 from these instructions.
  • After updating do a factory reset of the router using these instructions. 
  • Using a computer and a web browser, connect to the router and using the advanced options in the setup wizard, upload the backup of the configuration that you saved in the first step.

The reason why I recommend going this route is that for whatever reason, ASUS routers do not cleanly update the firmware. And that leads to all sorts of weird issues that are hard to track down. In my case, it breaks HomeKit unless I go through the steps above. Going this route avoids all of that.

Now I have been testing this firmware for a few days, and so far it has been stable for me. And it has been stable for others based on reports from places like SNB Forums. Thus I am cautiously optimistic that you should be okay to update your ZenWiFi XT8 to this firmware. Though I would wait another week or maybe two to see if any issues appear by monitoring the thread in SNB Forums just to be safe.

If you have any feedback about this firmware, please share them in the comments below. And if I notice anything that is a deal breaker, I will will post an update.

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Elon Musk’s Wants To Generate 50% Of His Revenue From Twitter Blue… But It’s Not Going To Happen

Posted in Commentary with tags on November 27, 2022 by itnerd

Elon Musk sees advertisers as a problem when it comes to him running Twitter. Thus he wants to reduce his reliance on advertisers In fact, this is his ideal revenue split:

Musk has said he wants subscriptions to account for 50% of Twitter’s total revenue, according to a message by a VP on an internal company slack.

The message, which was shared on Twitter by Platformer’s Casey Newton, said Musk thought the subscription aim “could help with conversations” and “pay by credit card could help with bots.

There’s two big problems. The fact that advertisers are fleeing the platform isn’t helping this as it reduces the revenue that he has coming into Twitter’s bank account while he makes this transition. And second, there’s the fact that it is very unlikely that Twitter Blue isn’t likely to catch on:

However, a survey from The Harris Poll, a global market research and consulting firm, found half of frequent US Twitter users said they would ditch the platform if it came with a monthly subscription fee.

The firm polled 2,063 US adults, 1,212 of which were Twitter users, from October 20 to October 28, the week Musk took over the company.

Pinar Yildirim, a professor of marketing and economics at The Wharton School, told Insider introducing a subscription model to Twitter could even drive users away from the platform. Yildirim said many users were waiting to see if Twitter becomes subscription-based.

“Worries about subscription changes have caused some users, either of higher status like some celebrities or ordinary users, to express a desire to potentially explore other platforms,” she said. 

“If in the end, the revenue model becomes such that everyone on Twitter has to pay a price,” she said, “that’s going to result clearly in a movement of users who may find it too expensive to simply be on Twitter.”

Well, that’s a problem. Then there’s the fact that the loans that Musk took require a $1 billion interest payment. But…:

If Musk wants to generate enough revenue to pay the $1 billion in interest owed on Twitter’s debt each year, it would need to add about 10 million more paying customers, according to social media expert Matt Navarra. 

I cannot honestly see how Musk squares this circle. With companies not advertising on Twitter, because they don’t need Twitter and Twitter needs them, there’s zero chance that Twitter Blue will make up the difference, Twitter is screwed and so is Musk. But I will guess that we will see this coming Friday as that is when Twitter Blue launches.

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