@hdm @npcomp Yeah, although I wonder if we're rationalizing it to some extent.

I don't think it was all fun and games back then; as you note, there were people with mental health issues chasing these conspiracies, there was bullying, there was crime.

Even when we knew it's not serious, it was pretty messed up. Take the Time Cube guy - a mentally ill, raging antisemite invited to lecture at MIT for the lulz? I mean, yeah, it's a part of my culture - but objectively, pretty messed up? Today, every person involved in something like that would be canceled from orbit.

And while it did not have the same scale or the same impact, we kinda created the blueprint for others to follow. From UFO BBSes, to AboveTopSecret, to Infowars.

A cynical take is that we haven't gotten wiser - we've just gone from anti-establishment to being the establishment.

The internet culture in the 1990s was built on conspiracy theories. Many of the most influential hackers believed in UFO coverups, the deep state ("shadow government"), cryptids, and more. No govt rationale for anything - no matter how benign - was to be taken at face value.

And I'm not gonna tell you that it was good or that it was bad... but having been there, it's just kinda funny how many of the same folks now express concerns about misinformation on the internet - or lead govt or tech initiatives to keep it in check.

The Democrats love to tout their achievements, but let me remind you that systemd happened under Obama

EDIT: Tentatively claimed!

Do you know a kid trying set up an electronics workshop? I have a modern, digital Tektronix 1052B oscilloscope (50 MHz) and a BK 4005DDS function generator (5 MHz).

Free to a good home (US-only), just cover shipping (~$30). DM me in interested and tell me what you have in mind.

@malwaretech @jerry webrings!

@puppygirlhornypost2 @catsalad I have it on good authority that the usual process for construction regulations works like this. First, there's the usual way of doing things. Ten thousand injuries later, OHSA shows up and says "this should, like, require training?" and then some company records a 60-minute training video and you pay them $50 to watch it and get a laminated card. Another ten thousand injuries later, OHSA shows up again and says "and maybe, like, hard hats?"

@puppygirlhornypost2 @catsalad Source of approval: a guy saying "eh, it will hold"

The answer to most questions about passkeys is "it depends on how your OS, your browser, and your service providers implement it".

But if prior art teaches us anything, the answer to that answer may be "it will be done in the least convenient and least interoperable way"

Math quiz - most people get it wrong! Which number is larger: π without a decimal point, or 4 without a decimal point?

@JackEric Some examples include Glasswire, Netlimiter, Portmaster, Fort - with the disclaimer that I have not tried them all.

In response to my earlier post, some Twitter folks asked why I'm "so afraid of telemetry".

For one, it's because I've seen first-hand what ends up in it. Crash reporting is particularly bad: it's nearly impossible to reliably scrub of sensitive info - URLs, auth tokens, etc.

Worse, a lot of other "telemetry" is deliberately privacy-violating. "Don't worry, we only collect anonymized GPS routes". Except, you know, a buyer of this data can filter by tracks originating from my home.

But above all, I just don't want the mental burden of figuring this out for every piece of software I install, so I hate that it's the new norm.

If you want a peek at how I'm using your software, meaningfully ask, instead of sneaking it in on page 38 of the EULA.

You know, for Windows users, I strongly recommend installing a third-party firewall app that shows you prompts for outgoing connections.

Not because it makes you more secure, but because it reveals the absolutely insane scale of telemetry collection on the platform.