Not entirely as they gave users choices of keyboard, browser, USB-C, etc. Jobs had a very "my way is best for you" attitude.
It’s Never Too Late To Upgrade Your ZX81 Keyboard for a full mechanical one
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/14/its-never-too-late-to-upgrade-your-zx81-keyboard/
I always thought that membrane keyboard was needed to prevent you from filling the keyboard buffer ;-)
#technology #retro #ZX81
How to Download Your Reddit Data and have full text search of it offline
https://www.wired.com/story/how-to-download-your-reddit-data/
Reddit has a form where you can request a copy of your data. The process can take up to 30 days, after which you will get a private message on your Reddit account with a download link. The data comes in the form of CSV files that you can open using Microsoft Excel or any text editor.
If you’d rather not wait for Reddit to deliver your data, or would prefer to keep your data in a searchable archive, you can use Brownman’s tool, reddit-user-to-sqlite. This command line application can download the complete public archive of any Reddit user and compile it in an SQLite database file. Just keep in mind that this method will stop working on July 1, 2023, when the API change occurs (because you don't actually own that content you created on Reddit?).
#technology #deletereddit #Reddit
Samsung Galaxy Watch might soon just save your life: Finally getting irregular heartbeat recognition and notification
https://www.androidpolice.com/samsung-galaxy-watch-irregular-heartbeat-save-your-life/
Starting this summer (Northern Hemisphere?), Samsung will add Irregular Heart Rhythm Notification (IHRN) to its Samsung Health app in 13 markets. The list of countries includes Argentina, Azerbaijan, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Guatemala, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Panama, UAE, Korea, and the US.
It will work in the background by analysing your heart rate, and when it detects signs of AFib, you will be notified to record an ECG.
Yes, this is really way after Apple, and the use of the temperature sensor was also a good year after the sensor appeared on the watches. Samsung does seem to be lagging rather badly on the watch side (despite it being claimed to be one of the best Wear OS watches around).
#technology #Samsung #GalaxyWatch #health #IHRN
Think how much richer Internet searches will be with results from Lemmy, Beehaw, Kbin, etc
https://void.cat/d/LvQ45jJHcKaPvH45cuUe3r.webp
I have found search results to be very good with Reddit links in the past. I get that Reddit needs to pay for their hosting (just like everyone else) but with so many more Internet users waking up to federated sites and truly open APIs, we are seeing a lot of what was on Reddit, now blossoming on the various Reddit alternatives on the Fediverse.
Just like Mastodon had to grow through its multiple waves of growth (thanks to Elon Musk), the Reddit alternatives seem to be going through the same growth spurts now.
Most users seem quite OK with how the alternatives work, as most are active where they joined, and have not fully explored how to follow and interact with other instances (and there is no need to really unless they want to). The key thing with searching for Communities (Subreddits) is to change the default from Local to All at the top, to see all communities no matter where they are, and just subscribe. That's really all there is to it. Carry On as normal.
So, as the communities are growing and flourishing, the content will also start to get richer, and hopefully the search engines will soon also start to show results from the various Fediverse sites as well. It is time that search engines and organisations started to adjust to the decentralised model of social networking. It has been interesting to see which organisations have already been dipping their toes into Mastodon, Bluesky, etc and yes, at some point the advertising is going to also arrive whether anyone likes it or not. One big difference is there is no paid push advertising (but don't underestimate marketing teams!).
For me, it is not just about the cost of the Reddit API, it is about the freedom of use, and the future. We want something that can stay open and not be arbitrarily charged for, or manipulated, by a single individual company. It is much the same reason why I have long supported open standards such as ODF, PDF, ActivityPub, and many more. They help us interact and exchange data more easily and cheaper, whether for recreation or business, and they will endure the test of time for the future.
#technology #Fediverse #openstandards #search
Certainly site specific searches like "site:lemmy.ml reddit" do return valid results.
Docker Mailserver (DMS) is an open-source production-ready full stack mail server that you can self-host in a Docker container
This is a simple containerised mail server (SMTP, IMAP, LDAP, Antispam, Antivirus, etc.). Only configuration files, no SQL database. Easy to deploy and upgrade. I see it is often recommended to others, as I noticed in a Lemmy forum today.
It is receiving regular updates and has quite extensive documentation. It has over 11,000 likes on Github.
Think how much richer Internet searches will be with results from Lemmy, Beehaw, Kbin, etc
https://void.cat/d/LvQ45jJHcKaPvH45cuUe3r.webp
I have found search results to be very good with Reddit links in the past. I get that Reddit needs to pay for their hosting (just like everyone else) but with so many more Internet users waking up to federated sites and truly open APIs, we are seeing a lot of what was on Reddit, now blossoming on the various Reddit alternatives on the Fediverse.
Just like Mastodon had to grow through its multiple waves of growth (thanks to Elon Musk), the Reddit alternatives seem to be going through the same growth spurts now.
Most users seem quite OK with how the alternatives work, as most are active where they joined, and have not fully explored how to follow and interact with other instances (and there is no need to really unless they want to). The key thing with searching for Communities (Subreddits) is to change the default from Local to All at the top, to see all communities no matter where they are, and just subscribe. That's really all there is to it. Carry On as normal.
So, as the communities are growing and flourishing, the content will also start to get richer, and hopefully the search engines will soon also start to show results from the various Fediverse sites as well. It is time that search engines and organisations started to adjust to the decentralised model of social networking. It has been interesting to see which organisations have already been dipping their toes into Mastodon, Bluesky, etc and yes, at some point the advertising is going to also arrive whether anyone likes it or not. One big difference is there is no paid push advertising (but don't underestimate marketing teams!).
For me, it is not just about the cost of the Reddit API, it is about the freedom of use, and the future. We want something that can stay open and not be arbitrarily charged for, or manipulated, by a single individual company. It is much the same reason why I have long supported open standards such as ODF, PDF, ActivityPub, and many more. They help us interact and exchange data more easily and cheaper, whether for recreation or business, and they will endure the test of time for the future.
#technology #Fediverse #openstandards #search
Threadcount bot at https://mastodon.social/@threadcount@botsin.space jus showed 120,000 Lemmy based accounts
"I'm a photographer and I don't care about camera quality when buying a new phone" - Prioritising camera quality severely limits your options
https://www.androidauthority.com/photographer-phone-camera-quality-3330606/
Camera quality has become one of the most important factors when picking a new phone. Android Authority conducted a poll in early 2021, and the results were as they had assumed. About 24% of respondents told them they value the camera above all. Over 50% said it was a key factor in their buying decision, while only about 5% said they didn’t care about the camera at all, and the author of the linked article (a photographer) happens to share this opinion. Let’s talk about why and how not caring about the smartphone camera can be so liberating.
My Galaxy S23 Ultra was chosen mainly because of its camera specifications. It cost me a good 30% to 40% over what I could have paid for a 'good enough' phone.
I've been guilty of this myself, and it does drive you into some expensive decisions. I just have to think of the Pixel line of cameras. They produce some of the best photos, but they do not have the best camera hardware. This is because post-processing software has got so much better. The other thing is that many cameras now on phones, are already 'good enough'.
Maybe we must start prioritising battery life, repairability, length of software updates, etc rather.
#technology #photography #smartphones
Next level Hack: Hackers can steal cryptographic keys by video-recording power LEDs 18 metres away without any probe or radio connections
By carefully monitoring characteristics such as power consumption, sound, electromagnetic emissions, or the amount of time it takes for an operation to occur, attackers can assemble enough information to recover secret keys that underpin the security and confidentiality of a cryptographic algorithm.
The first attack uses an Internet-connected surveillance camera to take a high-speed video of the power LED on a smart card reader—or of an attached peripheral device—during cryptographic operations. The other allowed the researchers to recover the private SIKE key of a Samsung Galaxy S8 phone by training the camera of an iPhone 13 on the power LED of a USB speaker connected to the handset, in a similar way to how Hertzbleed pulled SIKE keys off Intel and AMD CPUs.
So now you know, cover the LEDs etc when you're using a keypad, or better still, cover it with your hat and peek through the side. This is exactly why we used to wear hats!
#technology #hacking #vulnerability #security
These Microsoft Office security signatures are 'practically worthless': Turns out it's easy to forge documents relying on OOXML
https://www.theregister.com/2023/06/13/office_open_xml_signatures/
Five computer researchers from Ruhr University Bochum in Germany – Simon Rohlmann, Vladislav Mladenov, Christian Mainka, Daniel Hirschberger, and Jörg Schwenk – describe this sorry state of affairs in a paper titled: "Every Signature is Broken: On the Insecurity of Microsoft Office’s OOXML Signatures." They were able to identify five ways to attack vulnerable documents to alter their contents and forge signatures.
The paper is scheduled to be presented at the USENIX Security Symposium in August.
And with Microsoft Office for macOS, document signatures simply weren't validated at all. The researchers found they could add an empty file named sig1.xml to an OOXML package – which consists of multiple zipped files – and the Office for Mac would show a security banner proclaiming that the document was protected by a signature.
"The attacks' impact is alarming: attackers can arbitrarily manipulate the displayed content of a signed document, and victims are unable to detect the tampering," the authors explain in their paper.
Microsoft, they claim, acknowledged the findings and awarded a bug bounty, but "has decided that the vulnerabilities do not require immediate attention." And the researchers say they've not heard from OnlyOffice since October 2022.
#technology #Microsoft #security #OOXML
What Is a GaN (gallium nitride) Charger, and Why Should You Buy One?
https://www.reviewgeek.com/155216/what-is-a-gan-charger-and-why-should-you-buy-one/
When you’re on the hunt for a new USB power adaptor, you may come across a few options with gallium nitride (GaN) technology. These charging bricks tend to be a bit expensive. But due to their reduced size and increased charging ability, a GaN charger may be your ideal purchase. It could even help you save money in the long run.
Most USB chargers use silicon semiconductors. Gallium nitride (GaN) is simply a power-efficient alternative to silicon. It allows a charger to achieve small size without a reduction in charging speed or thermal performance. A GaN charger is ideal for travelling or powering several high-wattage devices, such as laptops.
With more and more laptops charging through USB-C, and more phones making use of ultra-fast charging, you'll start to notice that the silicon based chargers can get really hot during charging these devices.
Instead of buying a large silicon-based charger that only has two ports (with a shared throughput), you can buy a GaN charger with four, five, or even six high-speed charging ports.
#technology #chargers #GaN
What is Signal? The basics of the most secure messaging app: Modern phones can easily have multiple messenger apps on them
https://mashable.com/article/what-is-signal-app
Today, most messaging apps have true end-to-end-encryption (Telegram's must be activated per contact for Secret Chat), but what really differs now is how many can tie your communications back to you through metadata. Obviously those which require a phone number or an e-mail address, do have your activity tied to you potentially.
WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram and similar do require this for registration. Partly it is for authentication, finding friends, and also for resetting access if access is lost. What data you can see after a reset, gives an indication of what the provider has access to. For Signal, you won't be able to read any of your older messages. Signal indicates in this linked article, though, that they only keep the very minimum of information (tested by a legal subpoena). Telegram has more access as that is how all your chats get restored, but they have been banned in various countries because they don't hand over the information. WhatsApp, of course, we all know about their passing of detailed metadata upstream to Facebook (it's in their terms and conditions). I've done a post before about the risks and the monetary rewards around harvesting metadata. Just by registering on WhatsApp, you have also shared all your friends' phone numbers to Facebook, along with how often and how long you contact them, where you are when you contact them, etc.
We've also seen lots of secure messengers emerging that require no phone number and also no e-mail address, eg. Briar, XMPP, Jami, Threema, SimpleX, Nostr, and many more. Many mainstream users don't adopt them because the common problem is, you can't find your own friends easily (who do you chat with then?).
So this is one of the reasons why Signal has been pretty popular as a secure messenger. It requires a phone number, but retains virtually no information about you to sell or leak, and you can very easily find all your friends using it. So no, it is not THE most secure messenger, but it is certainly the most secure of those requiring a phone number or e-mail address for registration.
But the main takeaway is, unlike with an SMS app where only one app may be the active SMS app, your phone can have 10 or more instant messengers installed, so there is no reason not to also have Signal installed. It helps your friends, who are more privacy conscious, to stay in contact with you via Signal. Whether a message notification pops up via WhatsApp or Telegram, It's still going to pop up, unless you have a friend that insists on contacting you through two apps at the same time. Most modern messenger apps use push notifications, so they are not constantly polling, which uses data and battery all the time.
Go ahead, try more than one messenger, and you may be amazed that there are often better and more interesting features to try. Many of your friends will thank you.
#technology #privacy #messengers #chat #Signal
Easy Deepfake Voice Cloning technology is an emerging risk to organizations
https://void.cat/d/XhyujambiizbpgSiTzMQm3.webp
It is interesting how easy this has got with a popular service like Prime Voice AI, and when you realise that many use voice recognition for authenticated access to systems, we can see where the risks come in. Like most technology, there are lots of positive upsides, but it always opens up the negatives as well. As Steve points out in his commentary in the linked article, the bad actors are often quicker than anyone else nowadays to take advantage of these new developments.
No end in sight for the upward trajectory of careers in security and vulnerability consultants.
See https://www.grc.com/sn/sn-924.htm
#technology #security #voicecloning
A newly declassified report from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence reveals that the federal government is buying troves of data about Americans - It sounds Orwellian as in circa 1984
https://www.wired.com/story/odni-commercially-available-information-report/
#privacy
Why You Should Use Bionic Reading in Chrome (or Any Browser): An extension to highlight the most important parts of words
https://www.howtogeek.com/882688/why-you-should-use-bionic-reading-in-chrome-or-any-browser/
Bionic Reading is a new way of reading text that uses a patented algorithm to highlight the most important parts of words, making it easier and faster to read. The method was developed by a German software developer named Renato Cukar, who was inspired by the way the human eye reads text.
Bionic Reading works by highlighting the most important parts of words, which helps the eye to follow the text more smoothly and efficiently. This makes it easier to read longer passages of text, and can also help to improve comprehension.
Bionic Reading is available as a free Chrome extension, as well as a mobile app for iOS and Android. It can also be used on websites and in PDFs.
#technology #bionicreading #reading
Pixelfed social network can now import photos, captions, and hashtags from your Instagram account
https://pixelfed.social/site/kb/import
With the Import from Instagram feature, you can seamlessly transfer your photos, captions, and even hashtags from your Instagram account to Pixelfed, ensuring a smooth transition without losing your cherished memories or creative expressions.
There may be a maximum import number depending on the Pixelfed instance.
See https://pixelfed.social/site/kb/import
What's Pixelfed? I did a video overview at https://youtu.be/JErOvoH7_Vw
#technology #Instagram #Pixelfed #socialnetworking
Can watch Subreddits going dark in a live stream on Twitch at
https://www.twitch.tv/reddark_247
#Reddit #protest
You can now play DOOM on a Hyundai head unit using the car's steering wheel controls
https://hackaday.com/2023/06/11/hyundai-is-doomed-porting-the-1993-classic-to-a-hyundai-head-unit/
Amazing, this can run without formatting or affecting your head unit's existing functionality, and will use the various steering wheel controls to play the game (just don't do this while driving).
In the natural order of the world, porting DOOM to any newly unlocked computing system is an absolute given. This a rule which [greenluigi1] understands all too well, leading to presumably the first Hyundai to be equipped with this all-time classic on its infotainment system. This follows hot on the trail of re-hacking said infotainment system and a gaggle of basic apps being developed for and run on said head unit (being the part of the infotainment system on the front dashboard). Although it is a Linux-based system, this doesn’t mean that you can just recompile DOOM for it, mostly because of the rather proprietary system environment.
When it came to drawing pretty graphics on the screen, this was decidedly easier since the system uses Qt5 and thus offers the usual ways to draw to a QPixmap, which in this case maps to the framebuffer.
#technology #opensource #Doom #Hyundai #gaming
My video overview of Nostr: A simple, open protocol that enables global, decentralized, and censorship-resistant social media
Nostr is unique in that it has a global public key ID that replicates posts (notes) via relays, so it is scalable, resistant to censorship, and the user fully owns their identity profile. There are only two parts to the network, namely relays and clients, with the Nostr protocol linking them. Every post is signed, and every client validates these signatures.
In this video I explain more about Nostr is, why it is probably one of the easiest networks to get registered and going on, I compare it with some other protocols, and I demonstrate a few of the web as well as Android mobile apps. There are no servers at all needing to be chosen, and it is truly irrelevant which client app is used. I'll also explain where cryptocurrency may come in, but why you need not worry about it all, or even use it at all.
#technology #Nostr #socialnetworks #alternativeto #decentralised