Posts by IamAProton 152 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Apr 2021
I got sick of email 'leaks' and gov. offices building up their own personal address book joining together phones and emails so i signed up with proton mail and i get 10 alias that i can rotate once leaked or i simply get tired of it. Not really throw-away aliases since i use them to register here and there too, but it's a minor hassle to uodate few profiles ( or just delete/abandon) if an email address is compromised
Need to keep in mind the recources/capabilities of the "baddies", with a bunch of source IPs they can avoid rate limitin; need to have a centralized blacklist so once a ip source is certainly related to a bot it can be blacklisted by everybody.
It's going to take time, but "honeypot pages" and tight rate limits (a human will not load more than few pages in a minute) should do the trick.
i think it started with Win7 (perhaps Vista)
OS was preloading all the most used applications at startup, so the total waiting time was the same, but you were experiencing it at every system reboot, even if you just need to quickly check a text file.
MAde a littel sense if you go for a coffee every time while the computer boots.
I wouldn't mind having to use "AI" coding to some extent: I do use copilot as search engine for some stuff (with often poor results) and for what it is designed for: a draft generator (with much better results)
Vibe coding? no way, but i'd be OK with it if only for software that DOES NOT require 24/7 support because fixing shit code ain't fun.
Likely here AI is not a thing :)
Not sure about the emergency services, but with the 2g AND 3g shutdown, only Volte calls are left. Unfortunately the devices that are allowed to make phone calls are cherry picked by the mobile operators, so even new phones might not work if you are traveling there.
Not sure if it's entirely based on commercial agreements or it depends on real technical issues, but VoIP (wich is what colte is) has been areound for quite a while and it's appalling that a brand new device from a major manufacturer doesn't work when you cross the border but a 20 years old Nokia is dependable pretty much everywhere you go
It's actually rather simple, do not accept anything that must be 'always connected' and apply software updates on your schedule.
The automatic update everything is a curse, mostly because software updates are not limited to bugfixes but more often than not they add half-baked non-requested changes or "features"
every **** thing requires logins and complicated passwords and password managers do not really help becasue, if you don't have the password manager handy, you are out of luck.
I have mixed feelings for 2FA with OTP that require an internet connection with the phone.
Sometimes theoretial higher security turns into actual lower security. Force me to write a long passphrase and let me be, the requirement for symbols, numbers etc. is often the reason users picks asdfgh123! as a secure password.
And that's why encrypted backups are good, you have an extra layer of protection in case you/a colleague/the cloud provider end up screwing something up.
Perhaps they just uploaded it as a secondary backup copy and didn't want to do an encrypted db backup just for that... not a good excuse anyways.
Search for the supported devices first, then buy used.
Once installed a clean Rom performances are way better, so a phone that's few years old is no issue.
That's what i did, bought dirt cheap a "phablet" (ugh, "phone" with big screen to use as a tablet) with a shot battery. Changed it myself for cheap, installed custom ROM. Profit!
I know in some countries you have to use a smartphone, but the application should be also available outside of the playstore if it's mandatory to use it to access certain govt. services.
For example, last time i checked in Hong Kong the govt apps are available on Google Play store, Huawei store and as APK.
I know it's a pain, but you might file a formal complain if you must use a certain app but you cannot do it without a google account.
For the banks it's easier, pick a banck that doesn't require an app or do not use their app (you probably shouldn't anyways)
well, there are alternatives, not just as cool or as convenient.
LineageOS or other flavours of Android can be installed without depending on google.
I use one and t's not a big deal...Of course if your main iemail account is Gmail it's inconvenient.
Use proton mail as your main account and install their mail/calendar application. Use openstreetmap instead of google maps. Aurorastore (or other 'tools' like apk pure) to get the apps that are only available in play store etc.
As for VW, if my memory serves, on Passat at least, the spy module should be located under passenger seat, can be disconnected. I'm fairly sure the other sensors can be 'manipulated' in a way that stops the nagging (check with your insurance if that's ok/ what kind of 'manipulation' is acceptable).
"In the last quarter of 2026, the EU will also introduce a €20 three-year visa waiver [...] This will cover most citizens of visa-exempt countries [...]."
So it's a visitor tax since there is already no need for a visa, the 3 year validity it just to make it look like it's a deal since most traveler will need it only once.
if it does we just need to have some innocent 'false positives', make them go viral and then let the fun begin.
With all the muppets addicted to socials, some adversarial pictures can be shared on regular bases by millions without them even knowing.
Doesn't really fixex teh problem if the goal is backdooring encryption for 'general use' though
I have a google-free android device (not used as a phone, mind you, I use a 'dumb' phone)
I don't like google position and I have no problem quitting entirely the 'smartphone', but i do not accept a bank that 'requires' and app, nor any other service.
Not sure for how long I can hold my position because 'people' but at least I feel like I'm more part of the solution rather than part of the problem...
The markup is the info, the styling is a suggested way of rendering it, depending also on the device, the (sadly) omnipresent Javascript is also optional (many sites work even without it).
Altering the way the information is presented (or not) on the client side is one of the main point of HTML/browser/websites. Sure, now we have those stupid websites that must have JS on because 'special effects', but how is disabling JS or blocking some domains a violation of copyright?
Imagine a book publisher suing people because they read books in a Duffy Duck's voice, or skip a sentence here and there. Indeed skipping a sentence make 'your version ' of the book very similar to the copyrighted one, so you gotta pay royalties!!!1!1
IIRC Triumph had some "left handed" kit for motorbikes (swap accelerator, front brake and clutch) but you could have it only if you provide a medical certificate proving you are left-handed.
Can't quickly find references, except for the 'switchcubes' available on ebay
Imagine a car company swapping pedals position because some UI evangelist said it's more ergonomic... or the gereas positions in the gearbox... not a single muppet in the world would do that.
With software we still have a very long way to go before it will become a well understood tool people can rely on
What's the difference between an "evengelist" and an experienced, responsible software engineer?
I'd say the former "gamble" with a "vision" rather than sticking with what works unless the benefit of a new thing is really big.
If the gamble is sucessful take the credit otherwise blame MS?
Not a fan of MS lately, but as a business they have to try new things and see what sticks.
I agree with Bluesky choice of using the worst provider for age verification (I'm assuming 'better' ways are available')
Users will either suck it up or make a fuss about it once they realize what 'age verification' actually means, either way it's a win for BS (pun intended?)
Exactly.
The drivers and bios updated delivered through WU are already a curse. Got several computer ruined because of that and there is no way to disable only that evil functionality.
Now you can't even keep an older version of an application you use/like if you have windows updates on.
Looks like we go back to the Win98 era, when the recommended thing was to disable the updates right after installing the OS
I will definitely try to download a working image for those games i can find, I'm not going to waste time trying to read 30 years old floppies and perhaps end up with partially working games.
This is one of the games that i have to get: https://www.myabandonware.com/game/p-p-hammer-and-his-pneumatic-weapon-67c
I remember I got stuck in a certain level (perhaps 18?), so that's a 30+ years old open issue that needs to be addressed :)
can't watch video now, Do you mean that the Pimiga 'package' has many games images already included so i can just run those in winuae/aros?
My goal is to save/play those games on emulator (if still readable). ll keep the amiga hardware for the time being, is not gonna be trashed but will not be used either.
In the past I used some software ( can't remember what) and connected the amiga with a null modem cable and i remember i managed to make a working image of 1 floppy, but I think i did't keep going with the rest because it was taking way too much time /the process was too complicated to repeat it for hundreds of floppies.
I'm ok to buy some hardware if reasonably priced. will look into this Greaseweazle and see if the process is streamlined enough that my lack of time/patience does not become a show-stopper :)
If the fine is less than what a company earns with these shady tricks, why should they stop?
Start with 5X the estimated revenue and a note front and center in all their websites/apps and in every email sent from them for a couple of months, then maybe something will change
I got mildly sick of IT in general and the direction towards 'digital everything'.
The last thing I want in my future is that every bureaucrat (whether form govt. or private companies) is able to write custom software to collect, analyze, cross reference any sort of data, so - downvote me all you want - I think if this 'vibe coding' bs gets a hold of the market it might be beneficial in some ways (slow down the digital-everything by creating trainwrecks).
they can get a warrant and, exactly, i do not have to help them.
If I have encrypted my data they will have to find something else, same story if an 'analog citizen' shredded the papers with all his travel expenses. I am against criminals as much as I am pro privacy and, sadly, seems that the meaning of criminal is expanding while the privacy is shrinking.
Are they going to also ban cursive because it might be too hard to read?
Police shouldn't have access to any of the digital data, same as it is for the 'analog' data.
They can access mandatory financial docs that companies must keep and 'data' that alleged criminals left accessible.
It's the same in digital and 'analog' world. They cannot access paper documents that have been burnt or hidden in the same way they cannot access encrypted data.
Sure, all that sweet data is a juicy target, but it's not their data whether it's useful to them or not.
On the other end we, citizens and salary payers for those unelected bureaucrats, should have much greater visibility on their data since it seems that once they are elected they tend to forget who are they working for...
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