donn's recent activity

  1. Comment on Proton Mail helped US FBI unmask anonymous ‘Stop Cop City’ protester in ~tech

    donn
    Link
    Payments are kind of the weak link in any privacy-focused operation I've seen. Like whatever precautions you take; no logging, E2EE, etc your users will eventually need to pay money, and that will...

    Payments are kind of the weak link in any privacy-focused operation I've seen. Like whatever precautions you take; no logging, E2EE, etc your users will eventually need to pay money, and that will typically be done through the most auditable system in existence.

    30 votes
  2. Comment on Ayatollah Ali Khamenei killed in Israeli and American joint strikes in ~society

    donn
    Link
    Welp. No need to restate the obvious vis-a-vis international law but what's the endgame for a decapitation strike here? I have a terrible sinking feeling about all of this because if the end game...

    Welp. No need to restate the obvious vis-a-vis international law but what's the endgame for a decapitation strike here?

    I have a terrible sinking feeling about all of this because if the end game is a new government, it would be stuck in a quagmire of a civil war with the IRGC; and sectarian civil wars tend to leave a vacuum for actors like Al-Qaeda who are already recovering from the war on terrorism under the Taliban's aegis.

    I think the best that could be hoped for here is this goes the Venezuela route in which case a new Ayatollah is able to most levers of control but is more pragmatic about dealing with the US.

    8 votes
  3. Comment on Ladybird chooses Rust as its successor language to C++, with help from AI in ~comp

    donn
    Link Parent
    Swiftbros it has never been more over

    Swiftbros it has never been more over

    12 votes
  4. Comment on Phil Spencer is leaving Microsoft/Xbox in ~games

    donn
    Link
    Can't say he had a particularly easy job cleaning up the absolute disaster Don Mattrick left behind, but gotta say, I don't think buying up a ton of studios to try to get people hooked on a $30/mo...

    Can't say he had a particularly easy job cleaning up the absolute disaster Don Mattrick left behind, but gotta say, I don't think buying up a ton of studios to try to get people hooked on a $30/mo subscription service was a particularly good direction for Xbox either. I'm sure there'll be a couple good articles assessing his legacy shortly.

    9 votes
  5. Comment on Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen releasing February 27th on Nintendo Switch in ~games

    donn
    Link Parent
    The Berry Glitch was fixed in later prints of RS and that's definitely the release they'd use.

    The Berry Glitch was fixed in later prints of RS and that's definitely the release they'd use.

    2 votes
  6. Comment on Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen releasing February 27th on Nintendo Switch in ~games

    donn
    Link Parent
    Emerald desperately needs a reprint, the only legal way to play it is $250 cartridges which is psychotic

    Emerald desperately needs a reprint, the only legal way to play it is $250 cartridges which is psychotic

    6 votes
  7. Comment on Pokémon FireRed and Pokémon LeafGreen releasing February 27th on Nintendo Switch in ~games

    donn
    Link
    Oh, excellent. Pokémon LeafGreen has a special place in my heart. Wow, super faithful experience too. Just like when I was 9, I won't be able to trade with anybody!

    Oh, excellent. Pokémon LeafGreen has a special place in my heart.

    Online play is not supported.

    Wow, super faithful experience too. Just like when I was 9, I won't be able to trade with anybody!

    25 votes
  8. Comment on The watchers: how OpenAI, the US government, and Persona built an identity surveillance machine that files reports on you to the feds in ~tech

    donn
    Link Parent
    I got Corridors of Time from Chrono Trigger and I think pausing that is illegal in some parts of the world

    I got Corridors of Time from Chrono Trigger and I think pausing that is illegal in some parts of the world

    2 votes
  9. Comment on Need a replacement for my old macbook pro, should I just get another one? in ~comp

  10. Comment on PS2Recomp: Playstation 2 static recompiler and runtime tool to make native PC ports in ~games

    donn
    Link
    Does anyone have any link or write-up as to how they're working around the classic challenges of static recompilation? Like whenever I think about solutions like these I'm like "how do relative...

    Does anyone have any link or write-up as to how they're working around the classic challenges of static recompilation? Like whenever I think about solutions like these I'm like "how do relative branches and jumps work" but there are projects like Banjo-Recompiled which are ridiculously impressive and seem to work fine. Do they tackle them manually or sth?

    3 votes
  11. Comment on Microsoft gave US FBI keys to unlock encrypted data in ~society

    donn
    (edited )
    Link Parent
    The demand from the FBI back then was updating the software to remove the timeout between password attempts. Phone pins can be cracked within seconds without this limitation because they're on...

    The demand from the FBI back then was updating the software to remove the timeout between password attempts. Phone pins can be cracked within seconds without this limitation because they're on average 4-6 digit numbers.

    EDIT: Forgot a detail, usually 10 failed attempts would also trigger the secure enclave to delete encryption keys, essentially wiping the device. They requested that be removed too iirc

    11 votes
  12. Comment on Microsoft gave US FBI keys to unlock encrypted data in ~society

    donn
    (edited )
    Link
    Apple is also vulnerable to [EDIT: subpoenas similar to] this unless you turn on "Advanced Data Protection" btw, so Mac folks on here may want to make sure that's turned on:...

    Apple is also vulnerable to [EDIT: subpoenas similar to] this unless you turn on "Advanced Data Protection" btw, so Mac folks on here may want to make sure that's turned on: https://support.apple.com/en-us/108756

    It is unavailable only in the United Kingdom because it is illegal under the Investigatory Powers Act.

    16 votes
  13. Comment on Iran’s supreme leader signals harsher crackdown as protest movement swells in ~society

    donn
    Link Parent
    Thank you for sharing. This is horrifying to read and the fact you still have to worry about exams in the middle of all of this is like… I can't even find words. Just stay safe, man.

    Thank you for sharing. This is horrifying to read and the fact you still have to worry about exams in the middle of all of this is like… I can't even find words. Just stay safe, man.

    8 votes
  14. Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society

    donn
    Link Parent
    I deleted the posts. I would like to apologize again for "open season" because that was objectively an insensitive turn of phrase. But yeah, perhaps I'm ill-equipped for this argument.

    I deleted the posts. I would like to apologize again for "open season" because that was objectively an insensitive turn of phrase. But yeah, perhaps I'm ill-equipped for this argument.

    12 votes
  15. Comment on Federal officers kill another citizen in Minneapolis, National Guard activated in ~society

  16. Comment on RetroDECK 0.10.0b is a ground-up rewrite, not just an update in ~games

    donn
    Link Parent
    Felt like procrastinating today, so I ran the 7zip benchmark on a Linux VM on an M4 Mac mini: nix-shell --system {aarch64,x86_64}-linux -p _7zz --run "7zz b -mmt1 -md26" Native total score is...

    Felt like procrastinating today, so I ran the 7zip benchmark on a Linux VM on an M4 Mac mini:

    nix-shell --system {aarch64,x86_64}-linux -p _7zz --run "7zz b -mmt1 -md26"

    Native total score is 9531, x86-64 w/ Apple Rosetta is 6106, x86-64 w/ FEX (Valve-backed) is 5746 and x86-64 w/ box64 is 4967. Not indicative of gaming performance of course but that's still pretty damn impressive of FEX to almost match Rosetta

    4 votes
  17. Comment on Sony’s TV business is being taken over by TCL in ~tech

    donn
    Link Parent
    That's a spiritual successor the Xperia Play specifically - the Xperia phones were a line of otherwise normal phones. Just with the really good Sony camera app and headphone jacks. But yeah the...

    That's a spiritual successor the Xperia Play specifically - the Xperia phones were a line of otherwise normal phones. Just with the really good Sony camera app and headphone jacks.

    But yeah the whole Ayaneo thing stinks. Their business model is like designing a limited-run handheld twice a year or something, crowdfunding it, then having the next crowdfunded project be up before they've shipped the current one. I don't know how a tiny company can reasonably do that with good QC.

    They seem to at least acknowledge the issues their customers have recently presented and are engaging constructively but like imo just grab a Steam Deck, ROG Ally or Analogue Pocket for probably cheaper. https://www.reddit.com/r/ayaneo/comments/1qa8t1j/ayaneo_2026_service_improvement_plan/

    EDIT: like seriously look at this thread. four crowdfunded products in flight. how is this sustainable

    2 votes
  18. Comment on As Hitman 3 turns five years old, we surely have enough hindsight to declare it – this is one of the greatest of all time, right? in ~games

    donn
    Link Parent
    If there was a theoretical subreddit for discussing such things there would be a good guide on it. Theoretically of course.

    If there was a theoretical subreddit for discussing such things there would be a good guide on it. Theoretically of course.

    3 votes
  19. Comment on Sony’s TV business is being taken over by TCL in ~tech

    donn
    Link Parent
    I agree; as further evidence the iPhone got its start using Samsung SoCs and panels with Apple's secret sauce and became a massive success. Sony had the opportunity to do something similar but it...

    The point of buying a Sony TV over the others, though, was the far better design of their accessory components. Sony had one of the best upscalers, for instance, so your old media would look just a bit better on theirs than their competition with the same exact panel.

    I agree; as further evidence the iPhone got its start using Samsung SoCs and panels with Apple's secret sauce and became a massive success. Sony had the opportunity to do something similar but it seems TVs have become hopelessly commoditized in the eyes of the average customer, making the R&D investment into making the best upscalers and TV software worthless. It's sad.

    6 votes
  20. Comment on As Hitman 3 turns five years old, we surely have enough hindsight to declare it – this is one of the greatest of all time, right? in ~games

    donn
    Link
    It's one of the best games ever made, slightly hampered by the fact you need a goddamn PhD to learn how to buy it.

    It's one of the best games ever made, slightly hampered by the fact you need a goddamn PhD to learn how to buy it.

    26 votes