Alec Muffett
@alecmuffett.bsky.social
đ€ 5125
đ„ 1152
đ 3650
everybody deserves good security.
https://alecmuffett.com/about
reposted by
Alec Muffett
about 6 hours ago
I'm always amazed how the public perception of kids is somehow to dumb to get through AV but also super geniuses at tech that need to teach thers parents at the same time?
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
Heather Burns
about 7 hours ago
Please remember that the purpose of the OSA was not child safety, it was to create a captive market for the AV and content scanning sectors, and sales pitches were what shaped the law, as I wrote here.
internet.exchangepoint.tech/the-dog-that...
They want their ROI and they want it now.
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The Dog that Caught the Car: Britain's 'World-Leading' Internet
Billed as a âworld-leadingâ child-protection law, the UKâs Online Safety Act has instead normalized surveillance and ID checks. âTech policy wonk" Heather Burns writes that the model is spreading acro...
https://internet.exchangepoint.tech/the-dog-that-caught-the-car-britains-world-leading-internet/?ref=internet-exchange-newsletter
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Oh.
www.threads.com/@stephen_dea...
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Stephen Deakin (@stephen_deakin_composer) on Threads
This picture is here because I promised a friend I would post it. I will block anyone that comments adversely. The UK has around 19,000 district and county councillors. It has 100,000 Parish and Town ...
https://www.threads.com/@stephen_deakin_composer/post/DYEmdUNjSp3?xmt=AQG0yaHjqL4nTSVLZo6GVdu8Gqt7kohDB6uG-FMkisuFi41BISsM5iFY0-8yAIRf1dA3C90W&slof=1
3 days ago
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Not bad for a Raspberry Pi: 22:16:11 up 837 days, 10:11, 2 users, load average: 0.12, 0.24, 0.16
3 days ago
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It's 38 years since I first had to do it, and I just built and installed NMH / the RAND Mail Handler, because it's the least invasive and the most robust solution for local mail UX on Unix. And the wrapper I wrote for it in 2000 still works.
3 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
ĆéåĆ
5 days ago
I cannot repeat enough how bad it is that we put the "ban Firefox to stop prostitution" guy in charge of this stuff.
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
TJ McIntyre
5 days ago
For non-Irish readers: the gormless minister trying to ban social media for teenagers is the same one who tried to ban open source browsers a few years back:
www.limerickpost.ie/2014/01/24/o...
add a skeleton here at some point
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
Gosh, ÂŁ1.37 per litre. That's approximately what we were paying in the UK prior to Trump starting his little escapade in Iran, so that now we are paying ~ ÂŁ1.59 per litre / 16% more
bsky.app/profile/john...
add a skeleton here at some point
7 days ago
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"agentic is the new metaverse." Discuss.
10 days ago
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Yes please.
add a skeleton here at some point
11 days ago
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alecmuffett.com/article/110094
Flashback to 2017 and that time when anti-malware and antivirus companies complained to the European Union that Microsoft was making Windows too innately secure nowadays, which was monopolistic behaviour and blocking out their market opportunities. Gosh, how terrible
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2017: âEU: New antitrust complaint looms over Microsoftâ | âŠthe smoking gun to which Microsoft alludes re: CrowdStrikeâs kernel modules
Quoting this article which clips this paywalled content â it seems that Microsoft are telling the truth; also itâs interesting to note that Apple locked-out third party kernel modules startinâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/110094
12 days ago
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Donât take away our freedom to play games when we want | 38 Degrees
https://alecmuffett.com/article/157789
#GamersVoice
#OnlineSafety
#OnlineSafetyAct
#censorship
#footloose
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Donât take away our freedom to play games when we want | 38 Degrees
Gamerâs Voice; and absolutely nobody is talking about âteaching our kids to laugh at, and circumvent, authorityâ. Quote: If ministers use these powers, it could mean: Young peopleâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/157789
12 days ago
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TFW when you are running an LLM at home analysing Ă la Recherche du Temps Perdu and it's coming in between 30 and 45 hours per half volume; but on the other hand it's free, and it is sending you push notification updates
13 days ago
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After 15+ years of solid use I'm finally giving up on
#Homebrew
on MacOS; it was once the first thing I installed on any new Mac but now it's hindering me running older-but-still-capable machines. The surprising thing so far has been how little I'm missing it.
19 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
I am very here for this analysis by etymology nerd:
www.tiktok.com/@etymologyne...
/Cc
@etymologynerd.bsky.social
25 days ago
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I am very here for this analysis by etymology nerd:
www.tiktok.com/@etymologyne...
/Cc
@etymologynerd.bsky.social
25 days ago
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I'm not a fan of iOS but in attempting to keep track of my kid's beloved plushie I'm at the cusp of buying a refurbished iPad & a batch of AirTags in order to keep track of it; unless anyone has better suggestions?
27 days ago
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âVon der Leyen Announces the EUâs New Age Verification App Claiming it is âCompletely Anonymousâ & users âCannot be Trackedââ | âŠthe EU is about to have its âClipperâ moment
https://alecmuffett.com/article/156478
#AgeVerification
#ZeroKnowledge
#clipper
#eu
#oops
#rofl
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âVon der Leyen Announces the EUâs New Age Verification App Claiming it is âCompletely Anonymousâ & users âCannot be Trackedââ | âŠthe EU is about to have its âClipperâ moment
Who is going to be this generationâs Matt Blaze? :-) The Clipper Chip was announced on April 16, 1993. 33 years, less 1 day:
https://alecmuffett.com/article/156478
27 days ago
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I will add to the sentiment expressed by several other commenters that I hate that I can read this.
add a skeleton here at some point
28 days ago
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The Tech Outrage Playbook wins again:
alecmuffett.com/article/139710
add a skeleton here at some point
28 days ago
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Oh.
add a skeleton here at some point
28 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
And yes, Joe, you are absolutely right: back doors suck. But only tangentially because of AI and instead more directly because they are a state-centric parochial affront to liberty and privacy and integrity.
28 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
Also I can recommend this thread:
bsky.app/profile/ciar...
add a skeleton here at some point
28 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
The amplification of security intrusion is an old problem and we will survive because we will adapt. Blog post from 2004:
alecmuffett.com/article/733
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Crypticide I: Thirteen Years of Crack
Thirteen years ago, on 15th June 1991, I posted v2.7a of Crack to the newsgroup alt.sources [groups.google.com] â I messed-up the posting process a bit, since these were the days when people âŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/733
28 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
1991: "releasing crack and other password cracking and security tools onto the net is like throwing guns into a daycare for the kids to play with" and similar sentiments.
28 days ago
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From 2019: âIf there were 5 million âbad peopleâ on Facebook â terrorists, criminals, drug-dealers, whatever â that would be 0.2% of the userbaseâ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/156179
#OnlineSafety
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From 2019: âIf there were 5 million âbad peopleâ on Facebook â terrorists, criminals, drug-dealers, whatever â that would be 0.2% of the userbaseâ
99.8% would not be âbad peopleâ. This is âscaleâ. Occasionally people need reminding how this works.
https://alecmuffett.com/article/156179
29 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
"if it requires a government document and a selfie in order to register for a service, then it should require a government document and a selfie to close your account"
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
<laughs in online safety act age verification>
bsky.app/profile/mayo...
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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I find it bizarre that the AgeVerification (AV) industry says âplatforms donât want AV because they donât want private dataâ â BUT civil society says âplatforms DO want AV because they want priva[âŠ]
https://alecmuffett.com/article/156094
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I find it bizarre that the AgeVerification (AV) industry says âplatforms donât want AV because they donât want private dataâ â BUT civil society says âplatforms DO want AV because they want private dataâ
Itâs like those criticisms of the BBC where they receive conflicting hate from both sides, so you have to start wondering whether the platforms arenât simply doing the right thing to haâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/156094
29 days ago
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Trump posts graphic video of slaying to argue for stricter immigration policies | BBC News
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155924
#OnlineSafety
#trump
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Trump posts graphic video of slaying to argue for stricter immigration policies | BBC News
âHey, dâya remember the good old days back when journalists, politicians & civil society would rage that platforms âmust do more to take down violent contentâ â inâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155924
30 days ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
Clearly you are not double-checking because I did explain why; it's curious that you wish to critique how I choose to use my time.
bsky.app/profile/alec...
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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I find it disappointing that so many folk in "digital rights" today are defining themselves wholly via opposition to [phenomena & entities] rather than in pursuit & support of [liberties & capabilities]; it's tragically narrow, limiting, & strategically unwise.
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
I'm having the absolute time of my life, the past 10..15 years have been globally impactful and I've helped improve the lot of security and privacy. Mostly: by being willing to take the fight to people and pursue what I believe in rather than pursue consensus. I hope you do/get-to-do likewise.
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
In a X/Twitter post that garnered over 3.2 million impressions, EFF declares X isââŠno longer where the fight is happeningâ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155764
#TakingMyBallAndGoingHome
#eff
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In a X/Twitter post that garnered over 3.2 million impressions, EFF declares X isââŠno longer where the fight is happeningâ
A startling revelation: if folk who are supposed to be fighting for your rights abandon the battlefield in fear & despair, then there will no longer be a fight. Who would have guessed? SupposedâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155764
about 1 month ago
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Something something respawn something
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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In a X/Twitter post that garnered over 3.2 million impressions, EFF declares X isââŠno longer where the fight is happeningâ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155764
#TakingMyBallAndGoingHome
#eff
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In a X/Twitter post that garnered over 3.2 million impressions, EFF declares X isââŠno longer where the fight is happeningâ
A startling revelation: if folk who are supposed to be fighting for your rights abandon the battlefield in fear & despair, then there will no longer be a fight. Who would have guessed? SupposedâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155764
about 1 month ago
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So I rode a kick scooter up a disused airport runway whilst mushing a sprinting Yorkiepoo who was loving it. How was your day?
about 1 month ago
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I'm amazed to learn that professional philosophers pursue their efforts out of a love of rational enquiry, whereas my work is almost wholly motivated by the Festivus dictum:"I got a lotta problems with you people & now you're going to hear about it"
about 1 month ago
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A bug on the dark side of the Moon
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155136
#apollo
#bugs
#software
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A bug on the dark side of the Moon
The Apollo Guidance Computer (AGC) is one of the most scrutinised codebases in history ⊠We found a bug in it that had been missed for fifty-seven years: a resource lock in the gyro control code thâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/155136
about 1 month ago
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The trial lawyers come for online free speech | Blaze Media
https://alecmuffett.com/article/154743
#Section230
#censorship
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The trial lawyers come for online free speech | Blaze Media
Trial lawyers are poised to accomplish in courtrooms nationwide what politicians have thus far failed to write into statute. The effects of this effort â undertaken without the deliberation of the âŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/154743
about 1 month ago
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New Mexicoâs Meta Ruling and Encryption | Schneier on Security
https://alecmuffett.com/article/154741
#EndToEndEncryption
#censorship
#encryption
#meta
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New Mexicoâs Meta Ruling and Encryption | Schneier on Security
Mike Masnick points out that the recent New Mexico court ruling against Meta has some bad implications for end-to-end encryption, and security in general:
https://alecmuffett.com/article/154741
about 1 month ago
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I don't know how many people this will resonate with, but it's probably quite a narrow set who'll appreciate why the most revolutionary app I've adopted in the past 12 months has been
#Zotero
for Android. And also why I need more sleep.
about 1 month ago
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#AgeVerification
#Apple
about 1 month ago
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Age Verification causing people to stop installing security updates on iPhone
https://alecmuffett.com/article/153062
#AgeVerification
#OnlineSafety
#OnlineSafetyAct
#censorship
#irony
#surveillance
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Age Verification causing people to stop installing security updates on iPhone
What could possibly go wrong?
https://alecmuffett.com/article/153062
about 1 month ago
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
Simon Gray
about 1 month ago
Most of the discourse about the (proposed) social media ban(s) has been about steps to verify that people are over 16 to enable them to participate in adult social media. Iâve not seen anything about steps to verify that people are *under* 16 to enable them to participate in child social media.
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
rahaeli
about 1 month ago
I really fucking wish reporters would stop repeating the lie that the law only affects 10 sites when it's literally every site that allows UGC
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reposted by
Alec Muffett
Australian eSafety: âIt is a âdark patternâ to permit people to 1/ amend mistakes 2/ be in control of information about themselves 3/ be obliged to validate abuse reportsâ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/152831
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Australian eSafety: âIt is a âdark patternâ to permit people to 1/ amend mistakes 2/ be in control of information about themselves 3/ be obliged to validate abuse reportsâ
Clearly the perspective which the Australian eSafety Commissioner brings to the table is âusers are untrustworthy scum and must be whipped into controlâ â basically like MPs, thenâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/152831
about 1 month ago
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Australian eSafety: âIt is a âdark patternâ to permit people to 1/ amend mistakes 2/ be in control of information about themselves 3/ be obliged to validate abuse reportsâ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/152831
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Australian eSafety: âIt is a âdark patternâ to permit people to 1/ amend mistakes 2/ be in control of information about themselves 3/ be obliged to validate abuse reportsâ
Clearly the perspective which the Australian eSafety Commissioner brings to the table is âusers are untrustworthy scum and must be whipped into controlâ â basically like MPs, thenâŠ
https://alecmuffett.com/article/152831
about 1 month ago
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It's April 1st & I'm doing my best to stay off social media today, because I'm already angry enough at all the real badness in the world that I don't want to risk adding fake badness to the heap. Good day to be doing garden work.
about 1 month ago
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Spent much of the last 12 hours drinking coffee & reading too many papers on metaphysics, came to the conclusion that not enough philosophy students watched
#StarTrek
when growing up. Especially the "transporter/replicator accident" episodes like "Second Chances".
about 1 month ago
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