"Slide" Brombek @brombek@social.privacytools.io

https://thenib.com/statue-of-limitations/

@alexbuzzbee Isn't this just brainfuck with extra steps?

It's actually quite ironic that renewable energy activism tends to completely ignore one critical resource it uses that also happens to be non-renewable: the land surface.

The challenge here is that the best renewable energy source (solar) uses three orders of magnitude (1000x) more land than the best non-renewable (gas).

To replace gas with nuclear you need pretty much the same area. But to replace gas with solar you suddenly need to find 1000x more extra space.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518305512

1. Are they open source to an extent that you're comfortable with? Do they ask you to run proprietary software on your devices? Is the code running on their servers open?

2. If they claim to be open source, do they use an OSI-approved or FSF-approved software license? If not, they're misleading you.

3. Is your personal data handled by such proprietary software? Do you ever transmit your personal data to their servers? Even if open source, they would be able to read and use this data however they wish and you wouldn't be able to tell - do you trust them to? What if they're compelled by law enforcement?

4. Do the needs justify the personal data they are collecting about you? If not, why are they collecting it?

5. If they claim to use encryption for the data which is transmitted to their server - question whether or not it's really private. Do they ever handle the unencrypted data? For example, if an email service claims to encrypt incoming emails, they have an opportunity to read the unencrypted email before they store it. Do they disclose these "gotcha"s, or do they make clear the limitations of their encryption? Is any encrypted information decrypted by software they control, like their web application, or a desktop application which is automatically updated without your consent? If so, they could decrypt it on your computer and transmit the decrypted data back to their servers.

6. Are they responsible for any scarce resources, like an email address, phone number, and so on, which you wouldn't be able to take with you if you leave? Are there ways to provide the same functionality without scarcity, such as the use of your own domain? If so, why aren't they offering them? How important are these resources to your identity, will your friends be able to find you if you choose to stop using the service?

7. How do they make money? What is their motivation for providing services to you? If their circumstances change, will their values change? How likely is change?

@markosaric @freddyym my answer is to use ublock origin to tell them to get fucked, really. If you can't get it through your head that spying on people is not okay then I am not really interested in empathising with you

@freddyym you could get the same info by running awk over your HTTP logs. Client-side analytics is much more invasive.

Rather than trying to reform Facebook/Google/Zoom/Microsoft for their totalitarian leadership, terrifying excesses, breaches of trust, & flagrant abuses of power for shareholder return - clearly a fool's errand - nations should simply do the obvious: stop using them.

That's right. Just stop feeding the machine that's running roughshod over all we (used to) value. We're no where near as helpless as we think. But our gov'ts need to stop listening to the lobbyists. Cooler heads can prevail.

consumer IoT is a path to dystopian hell.

@Ox this surprises me less than it should

RT @_msw_@twitter.com

New - M6g #EC2 Instances, powered by AWS #Graviton2 https://aws.amazon.com/blogs/aws/new-m6g-ec2-instances-powered-by-arm-based-aws-graviton2/

🐦🔗: https://twitter.com/_msw_/status/1259961073827901440

@wolf480pl oh, and you can use sr.ht effectively from a Plan 9 system, the web app is mostly compatible with Mothra and you can use emails for patches and git9 for git.sr.ht and so on.

I ordered my MNT Reform. I am SO EXCITED! https://www.crowdsupply.com/mnt/reform

Where other computing choices are heading in the direction of being locked-down-planned-obselesence--black-boxes, the MNT Reform provides a repairable, tinkerable breath of fresh air.