JackA's recent activity
-
Comment on Police are not primarily crime fighters in ~life
-
Comment on Dune: Prophecy | Official teaser in ~tv
JackA Link ParentThat's where you lose me and I ask us to look in the mirror for a second about how we're thinking about what is objectively a form of art... Regardless, I'm also not sure the Dune movies can be...This is a money making venture, not an art peice
That's where you lose me and I ask us to look in the mirror for a second about how we're thinking about what is objectively a form of art...
Regardless, I'm also not sure the Dune movies can be categorized as a small portion of the zeitgeist anymore. For comparison, they've each made more money than the spider-verse films and so far Part 2 is the highest grossing movie of the year. Anecdotally at least in my circles the universe is all over social media and I've heard separate organic word of mouth from multiple different friend groups and at work. Maybe capitalizing on that hype will work out right now, but I truly think Dune relies on a lot of mystique that even a minor over-saturation of media could harm.
-
Comment on Dune: Prophecy | Official teaser in ~tv
JackA LinkHonestly haven't even watched this teaser yet, but good lord can we at least finish the main adaptions before we start milking the IP for everything it's worth. Dune Part 2 just had a huge...Honestly haven't even watched this teaser yet, but good lord can we at least finish the main adaptions before we start milking the IP for everything it's worth.
Dune Part 2 just had a huge cultural moment, not letting it breath a bit seems like they're not learning any lessons from the franchise fatigue we just saw with Star Wars and Marvel. Although seeing now that it was ordered before Dune Part 1 even came out makes sense.
Maybe it'll be awesome, I'm just worried it'll strip away a lot of the unknowns that make Frank Herbert's original series so magical before we ever get to experience that wonder on the big screen with the characters we're already attached to.
-
Comment on ‘TunnelVision’ attack leaves nearly all VPNs vulnerable to spying in ~tech
JackA Link ParentI think it's fair to acknowledge however that 99% of Android phones will never have a new operating system installed on them to extend their lifespan beyond the few years of security updates the...I think it's fair to acknowledge however that 99% of Android phones will never have a new operating system installed on them to extend their lifespan beyond the few years of security updates the original manufacturer provides. For the non-enthusiasts Android phones become bricks remarkably sooner than iPhones do. Or worse, continue being used for years without security updates because "it still works" and there's no central authority forcing them to upgrade for their own good.
Personally I don't mind Apple's controlling but utilitarian approach to security, it results in the average person having a secure phone for the entire reasonable lifespan of modern technology without having to think about it. It can at times frustrate me as an enthusiast, but the same simply cannot be said for most Android devices.
-
Comment on ‘TunnelVision’ attack leaves nearly all VPNs vulnerable to spying in ~tech
JackA Link ParentA worthy thought, and thinking of your ISP as hostile is good practice, but I don't think it applies as a vulnerability in this case. The DHCP information your gateway receives from your ISP isn't...A worthy thought, and thinking of your ISP as hostile is good practice, but I don't think it applies as a vulnerability in this case. The DHCP information your gateway receives from your ISP isn't passed on to clients, it has it's own DHCP settings configured that apply to the LAN. So the clients will already be routing all of their traffic into the VPN tunnel on their own device before it ever hits the gateway's WAN port where any routing rule could do anything to try to bypass it.
Now if you're using an ISP supplied router that's incredibly locked down and pulls its entire config from your ISP (which already means you don't care about security/privacy), that could be a concern. But honestly I doubt they'd be bold enough to implement such a malicious and potentially discoverable exploit into people's home networks when most people don't use a VPN there regardless, it's not a large amount of data that corporations would stand to profit from compared to all the other data they get freely and aboveboard without risk of exposure. The nation states that could force their hand already have plenty of tracking mechanisms that work whether you're on a VPN or not that most people aren't aware of that they needn't bother with the potential exposure of this.
-
Comment on ‘TunnelVision’ attack leaves nearly all VPNs vulnerable to spying in ~tech
JackA (edited )Link ParentThe site* headline is, the issue itself and information within the article is not. The vulnerability is suspected to have been open since 2002 and no such mitigations (no matter how easy to...The site* headline is, the issue itself and information within the article is not. The vulnerability is suspected to have been open since 2002 and no such mitigations (no matter how easy to develop in hindsight or how easy to deploy now) have been widely used publicly in the past. Any attacker with control over DHCP on a public network could have been utilizing this attack to peek into traffic that people thought was being routed safely through their VPN.
-
Comment on Chevrolet Malibu heads for the junkyard as GM shifts focus to electric vehicles in ~transport
JackA Link ParentI don't know, I'm a fan of sedans (which are rapidly dying) so maybe I'm just defensive that the form factor change is being conflated and framed positively as part of the EV transition. I'm...I don't know, I'm a fan of sedans (which are rapidly dying) so maybe I'm just defensive that the form factor change is being conflated and framed positively as part of the EV transition. I'm willing to accept that I'm reading my own biases into it.
-
Comment on Chevrolet Malibu heads for the junkyard as GM shifts focus to electric vehicles in ~transport
JackA Link ParentThe article is kind of a weird framing though no? They could absolutely just electrify the Malibu or introduce a separate midsize sedan EV but it's kinda subtlety framed as if they need to make...The article is kind of a weird framing though no? They could absolutely just electrify the Malibu or introduce a separate midsize sedan EV but it's kinda subtlety framed as if they need to make SUV's in order to shift focus to EV's.
-
Comment on ProtonMail discloses user data leading to arrest in Spain in ~tech
JackA (edited )Link ParentThe weakness was that they added a separate insecure and identifiable email as their recovery email for their Proton account. There are many ways to use almost all privacy tools in ways that will...the literal weak link was their e-mail address hosted at Proton
The weakness was that they added a separate insecure and identifiable email as their recovery email for their Proton account. There are many ways to use almost all privacy tools in ways that will lower or completely remove their privacy protections. It pays to be aware of them, especially if you know you're going to be targeted by a government agency.
-
Comment on Hey GM: If you want to beat Apple, give people the buttons CarPlay can’t in ~transport
JackA Link ParentI share your frustration with the stupid direction notification focus issue. I'd like to join you and vent my frustration with Spotify's ridiculous "Smart Shuffle" implementation in CarPlay which...I share your frustration with the stupid direction notification focus issue.
I'd like to join you and vent my frustration with Spotify's ridiculous "Smart Shuffle" implementation in CarPlay which requires you to click through the shuffle button twice in order to turn off the regular shuffle mode (with a lag between presses for god knows what reason). Mazda's implementation then exacerbates this by losing my current focus between presses and requiring a re-targeting of the shuffle button with the knob each time.
The limited lists also drive me insane. Presumably this was done to stop people from spending too much time "browsing" in CarPlay instead of looking at the road. But when I want to put on a playlist (which siri is rarely able to parse) and CarPlay refuses to show it in the list for me, I have to pick up my damn phone. It's bad UI that realistically makes more people use their phones while driving, it just shifts the liability away from Apple. Don't even get me started on Spotify's complete lack of Siri support or their own voice command to be able to queue a song instead of completely changing what you're listening to.
-
Comment on AT&T announces $7 monthly add-on fee for “Turbo” 5G speeds in ~tech
JackA (edited )Link ParentTo be fair that's specifically for the "Extra" unlimited plan which is clearly advertised as only 75GB of high speed internet. The highest "Premium" plan has no such restriction. I think there's a...To be fair that's specifically for the "Extra" unlimited plan which is clearly advertised as only 75GB of high speed internet.
The highest "Premium" plan has no such restriction.
I think there's a lack of understanding around this entire topic honestly. The QCI 7 data priority you're paying for with Turbo is not bypassing any artificial bandwidth caps, it's just the priority level your traffic takes when the network is under heavy congestion. This is a way to make sure you have the best chance of getting service at large events and in dense urban areas.
All the plans below those top two "unlimited" plans (only Premium is actually unlimited at high speed) were already prioritized at a lower level, as is every single MNVO hosted on ATT's network (think Cricket Wireless).
ATT is an incredibly scummy company don't get me wrong, but this isn't really a big deal. It's their previously completely unadvertised internal prioritization system being ever so slightly adjusted as they realized there was a demand from techies who were figuring out which plans had which QCI levels. Previously this was something that would randomly change as plans shuffled about with no visibility, now it's being sold as an add-on outright which seems to make sense. Yeah it makes them extra money now that they've clarified the benefit and are selling it explicitly, but that just seems like regular business.
ATT has the best network in my area, and I'm the sort of tech nerd that's going to pay for the best possible connection within an attainable price (I'm not going to set up a business for those plans though lol). Being able to pay for that directly instead of researching videos from enthusiasts doing testing between different plans or trying to find rumors about insider info from ATT employees isn't something I'm too mad about even if it's going to cost me extra.
-
Comment on Key moments from landmark US Supreme Court arguments on Donald Trump’s immunity claims in ~news
JackA (edited )Link ParentYou've sent me down a rabbit hole with this comment that has certainly landed me on another list lol. Reading into the "Disposition Matrix" (kill list) developed under the Obama administration is...You've sent me down a rabbit hole with this comment that has certainly landed me on another list lol.
Reading into the "Disposition Matrix" (kill list) developed under the Obama administration is terrifying.
As reported previously, United States citizens may be listed as targets for killing in the database. Suspects are not formally charged of any crime nor offered a trial in their defense.
An American journalist and Syrian Civil War war correspondent Bilal Abdul Kareem reported drone assassination attempts by the U.S. military, which killed random civilians that were present nearby, including two attacks on vehicles he was traveling in, including one where the car he was sitting in was blown up by a missile shot from a drone. In 2017, he filed a lawsuit against the United States government in the District of Columbia, claiming they had attempted to assassinate him, and requesting his removal from the Disposition Matrix.
The government filed a subsequent motion to dismiss arguing that the case could not go forward because the relief sought by Kareem (information about whether he was on the kill list, presentation of the evidence that was used to put him there, a description of the process that was used to put him there, and removal from the list) along with any evidence that might be used in the case were all protected by the state secrets privilege. The court sided with the government and dismissed the case, leaving Kareem without any recourse:
"Without access to the privileged information, Mr. Kareem is unable to establish whether he has targeted by the lethal force or what information was considered in reaching the alleged decision to target him. Mr. Kareem is "incapable of demonstrating that [he has] sustained a violation of" his constitutional rights without the information ... He 'has alleged, but ultimately cannot show, a concrete injury amounting to either a specific present objective harm or a threat of specific future harm. in this instance, in which the relevant information is solely in the control of the United States and is protected by the state secrets privilege, Mr. Kareem is left with no method to obtain it to pursue his case, which must therefore be dismissed."
Our mechanisms of justice are already completely incapable of penetrating the veils of the executive branch.
It's like any single link you click on that page brings you down a different path of public information exposing ongoing pure evil that you cannot do anything about and nobody around you will ever acknowledge. Every line of text in our constitution is an exercise in wishful thinking and a platitude in the face of the people holding real power, all of whom will continue to be idolized by one significant portion of your peers or the other for the rest of your life.
-
Comment on Former naturalists/materialists, what changed your view? in ~humanities
JackA Link ParentI don't mean to fully activate my inner argumentative atheist, but faith still fascinates me so I must ask. If you've taken this as a religious sign to reaffirm your belief, have you pondered at...I don't mean to fully activate my inner argumentative atheist, but faith still fascinates me so I must ask. If you've taken this as a religious sign to reaffirm your belief, have you pondered at all on why you were given this vision allowing you to bypass the requirement of blind faith while other's weren't?
I ask almost out of envy, as I would love to be shown a sign that would instantly truly prove a truth of the universe and allow me to accept an external purpose to existence, yet despite years of begging in prayer during my youth as atheist thoughts developed it simply never came. I'd have to posit the question from your perspective as to why you were "saved" from atheism while so many of us were "abandoned" to let our faith wither and die. No church service ever granted me visions and I never made the choice for my developing brain to start questioning faith, why must I now be punished?
-
Comment on US House approves $95 billion aid bill for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan (gifted link) in ~news
JackA LinkThe passing of aid without border reform is a major blunder for Republicans no? Either that or a seemingly tacit admission that they want the border to remain an issue to use for political means...The passing of aid without border reform is a major blunder for Republicans no? Either that or a seemingly tacit admission that they want the border to remain an issue to use for political means right?
They had a similar aid package bundled with border reform that Democrats were ready to compromise on, and they rejected it out of hand ostensibly because Trump didn't want to give Biden a win. Now they've passed this bill which seems to have barely required compromise from Democrats.
Am I missing something? I'm also very curious about what influenced Johnson's hard flip on aid in a very short timeframe.
-
Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
JackA Link ParentAnother vote for Apple maps here from a long time Google maps user who held that same superiority for years based on an outdated understanding of Apple maps. It gives better more detailed...Another vote for Apple maps here from a long time Google maps user who held that same superiority for years based on an outdated understanding of Apple maps.
It gives better more detailed directions, looks better, integrates into the Apple ecosystem better, and isn't always directly selling my location data like Google maps is.
-
Comment on I just switched to an iPhone, what should I do to make the most of this change? in ~tech
JackA Link ParentI've thought this was just an SMS bug for years... Thank you so much, as someone who regularly chooses to ignore my phone buzzing for a bit the double notifications would always make me think...iPhone will ding a text message again after a few minutes if you don’t pick your phone after the first time. It can mislead you as to how many texts you’ve received.
I've thought this was just an SMS bug for years... Thank you so much, as someone who regularly chooses to ignore my phone buzzing for a bit the double notifications would always make me think someone was urgently trying to get a hold of me. I've disabled it.
-
Comment on US Senate Republicans furious over Donald Trump derailing FISA bill in ~misc
JackA Link ParentEven just on the web browsing side all it takes is very well known (at least in the tech space) fingerprinting techniques to almost completely render VPN's and privacy extensions useless for...Even just on the web browsing side all it takes is very well known (at least in the tech space) fingerprinting techniques to almost completely render VPN's and privacy extensions useless for preventing tracking. Websites can easily identify exactly who you are, and those common end to end encryptions (that do still help) only protect you until your traffic reaches the company providing the service. Most of those company's then just directly sell your data to corporations and state actors, and many of those that don't very likely have incredibly top-secret backdoors installed allowing government surveillance that even they may not know about. We have proof the government has been doing this in recent history, there's no reason to think they've stopped now that their tools have only gotten stronger.
-
Comment on US Senate Republicans furious over Donald Trump derailing FISA bill in ~misc
JackA (edited )Link ParentFor context my understanding of the compromise is that they lowered the length of their re-authorization from five years to two. Their thought process is that this will allow Trump to revisit the...For context my understanding of the compromise is that they lowered the length of their re-authorization from five years to two. Their thought process is that this will allow Trump to revisit the issue during his presidency if he gets elected.
The amendment to prevent warrantless spying on Americans failed in a 212-212 tie, the passed bill does not include those protections. It's not totally through the House however as a Republican representative filed an unexpected motion to reconsider that will require the House to vote once more before heading to the Senate, but as the compromise passed 273-147 it is expected to carry to the Senate without additional amendments.
Here is the party breakdown of the amendment vote to require warrants for American citizens ("Ayes" in this vote would increase protections for American Citizens):
Party Ayes Noes Present Not Voting Republican 128 86 0 7 Democratic 84 126 0 6 Here is the party breakdown of the final vote with the lowered authorization length ("Ayes" in this vote allow warrantless spying on American Citizens for the next two years):
Party Ayes Noes Present Not Voting Republican 126 88 0 4 Democratic 147 59 0 7 And here is the breakdown of which Representatives voted which way for the final bill if like me you wish to see who should be primaried or sent emails. Here is the breakdown for the amendment.
-
Comment on I ported thousands of apps to Windows 95 in ~comp
JackA Link ParentDisabling YouTube watch history also disabling recommendations was such a huge improvement in my life, highly recommend to anyone looking to increase their intentionality around consuming media....Disabling YouTube watch history also disabling recommendations was such a huge improvement in my life, highly recommend to anyone looking to increase their intentionality around consuming media.
Crazy to think I was mad when YouTube rolled that out as a way to force people to re-enable watch history. I held firm purely out of spite and now my screen time averages multiple hours less per day. Those recommendations "that are really high quality and I love to discover" or that "I'd really hate to miss out on" turned out to just be an addiction causing more harm than good for me. I almost want to thank Google for forcing my hand lol.
This channel is absolutely one that stays for entertainment in my now heavily curated subscription list though.
-
Comment on "Dune: Part Three" in the works, in addition to Denis Villeneuve adapation of "Nuclear War: A Scenario" in ~movies
JackA Link ParentAs someone who has never read the books I'll say this part seemed incredibly clear to me during the movie. The movie definitely didn't imply anything about Chani continuing to be his "concubine",...especially about the end without clarifying that Paul was marrying the princess just for politics to officially rise from Duke to Emperor
As someone who has never read the books I'll say this part seemed incredibly clear to me during the movie. The movie definitely didn't imply anything about Chani continuing to be his "concubine", but it also didn't do anything to take that off the table as she is visibly conflicted at the end of the movie. I see no reason they couldn't have Chani's story go exactly as you've described. I also didn't pick up even a hint of love towards Irulan from Paul that would make me think their marriage would be anything but political in the very brief interaction they had.
It sounds like they just left it a bit more open ended than the books may have due to runtime constraints, but that shouldn't limit the next movie at all. For all we know the next movie may briefly start prior to the timeskip just to wrap up those story beats you feel were missed.
On the other hand though part of me dislikes any kind of selective enforcement. Allowing police to give verbal warnings to some while ticketing others inherently means their personal and societal biases become an institutional part of law enforcement.
I'm not sure I'm committed to this argument as I haven't fully thought it through, but it could be argued that police should never even be allowed to give verbal warning. They further discrimination and allow unjust laws to remain on the books because they don't get applied to the people in power or their supporters who always get off with warnings.
If tax dollars are going to be spent enforcing a law, shouldn't that enforcement always be subject to the laws we've enacted as a society through our democracy? If we currently think those laws are too harsh to apply to everybody, shouldn't they be rewritten to be more lenient instead of letting people be singled out for disproportionate punishments? They could be more explicit in what specific actions are worthy of a higher punishment, and codify a warning system through democratic law-making processes instead of hoping you don't catch a cop on a bad day.
Instead we outsource judicial powers to law enforcement via selective enforcement. Those laws never end up getting rewritten because they aren't applied to the people who can exert the political will to change them. Law enforcement's hold on selective enforcement powers almost reminds me of corporate self-regulation where they implement a half-solution for optics (that's still unjust) to avoid attracting enough ire for real regulation.
Obviously there's downsides and risks to making police into enforcement robots, but I think it would at least help towards getting people to actually utilize our democratic methods to fix systemic problems that could then be pinned down to specific laws instead of undocumented behavior. Frankly though I've lost so much faith in the American police already that I don't ever really trust their judgement simply by means of their choice to participate in the current system. Anything that makes us rely less on their judgement feels like it would be a win to me now.
Idk, I'm open to thoughts. I can certainly see this falling into the "doesn't work in practice" category that I'm a bit too blinded to see in my current mindset.