Notices by Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se), page 28

The Register (register@social.undernet.uy)'s status on Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 10:09:57 EST The Register

'Gimme Gimme Gimme' Easter egg in man breaks automated tests at 00:30 #theregister #news https://social.undernet.uy/url/977300
In conversation Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 10:09:57 EST from social.undernet.uy permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. 'Gimme Gimme Gimme' Easter egg in man breaks automated tests at 00:30
  
  Wow, I see what you did there *rolls eyes*
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 11:12:40 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
- Craig Maloney ☕
@craigmaloney Seen at quitter.se

In conversation Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 11:12:40 EST from quitter.se permalink
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 01:00:02 EST Stephen Michael Kellat

Service booklet uploaded to the printer early due to this week's holiday. CHECK.

In conversation Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 01:00:02 EST from quitter.se permalink
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 00:04:23 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
in reply to
- Bob Jonkman
@bobjonkman I'm at the point of holding out for a Fidonet revival. I hang out at the Gopher Renaissance Faire too much, as you can imagine.

In conversation Wednesday, 22-Nov-2017 00:04:23 EST from quitter.se permalink
The Verge (theverge@social.undernet.uy)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:28:07 EST The Verge

Russia warns Google over comments about downranking government-linked news sites #theverge #technology https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/21/16687694/russia-google-eric-schmidt-rt-sputnik-rankings
In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:28:07 EST from social.undernet.uy permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. Russia warns Google over comments about downranking government-linked news sites
  
  from The Verge
  
  Russian communications agency Roskomnadzor has reportedly asked Google to clarify a statement from Alphabet executive chairman Eric Schmidt, who suggested the search engine would downrank results...
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:08:48 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
in reply to
- lnxw48a1
@lnxw48a1 Time either for ultra-commuting or admitting defeat...neither of which California has proper infrastructure for these days.

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:08:48 EST from quitter.se permalink
lnxw48a1 (lnxw48a1@nu.federati.net)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:05:43 EST lnxw48a1
- SoCal: Southern California
Minimum wage ( $10/hr ) at 160 hours/month in the #San_Gabriel_Valley area of #Los_Angeles_County, after tax withholding, is less than the price of rent for a studio apartment there. !SoCal

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:05:43 EST from nu.federati.net permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Hacker News ( unofficial ) (hackernews@pod.jpope.org)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 21:01:10 EST Hacker News ( unofficial )

Fossil – Next Generation

Hacker News Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15752725

Source: https://www.fossil-scm.org/index.html/wiki?name=Fossil-NG

#hackernews

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 21:01:10 EST from pod.jpope.org permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:07:06 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
in reply to
- Annah
@maiyannah Web browser, Gopher client, NNTP client, partial telnet handler...all in one simple binary with 20+ years history.

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:07:06 EST from quitter.se permalink
Annah (maiyannah@community.highlandarrow.com)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 21:15:53 EST Annah

All available web browsers are shit for different reasons, you just choose which shitty things you prefer.

Except the one true browser that is in every way perfect: lynx

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 21:15:53 EST from community.highlandarrow.com permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:03:19 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
in reply to
- lnxw48a1
@lnxw48a1 Yep. I'm seriously pondering setting up a UUCP link with S D F dot ORG for the future. What a stupid time to be alive.

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 22:03:19 EST from quitter.se permalink
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 17:54:02 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
in reply to
- Stephen Sekula
@steve My ISP, Spectrum, is doing that now by blocking all IPv6 unless I upgrade to Business Class service instead of residential.

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 17:54:02 EST from quitter.se permalink
Will (bitgeist@unixcorn.xyz)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 17:48:22 EST Will

Without net neutrality, your cable company (that is also your internet provider) might decide that too many people aren't buying cable TV channels because of Netflix. They could get some of that revenue back by throttling Netflix unless you buy their most expensive internet plan. If they bundle phone service, they might throttle competing voice over internet providers unless you buy their most expensive internet plan. The list goes on and on.

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 17:48:22 EST from unixcorn.xyz permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 17:53:20 EST Stephen Michael Kellat
- Will
@bitgeist Unfortunately, Spectrum took the net neutral decision that residential customers don't need ANY IPv6 unless they go business class

In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 17:53:20 EST from quitter.se permalink
The Verge (theverge@social.undernet.uy)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 14:15:11 EST The Verge

FCC announces vote to destroy net neutrality next month #theverge #technology https://www.theverge.com/2017/11/21/16680290/fcc-end-net-neutrality-vote-announced
In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 14:15:11 EST from social.undernet.uy permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. FCC announces vote to destroy net neutrality next month
  
  from The Verge
  
  The Federal Communications Commission will vote to put an end to its net neutrality rules next month, commission chairman Ajit Pai said today. The proposal will reverse the Title II classification...
Bob Mottram (bob@social.freedombone.net)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 10:39:19 EST Bob Mottram

Geolocation and Push services. Of course this couldn't be used to locate Signal users at all. Nope. Definitely not. It was totally wise to have a security app depend on Google infrastructure. https://social.freedombone.net/url/58164
In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 10:39:19 EST from social.freedombone.net permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. Google collects Android users’ locations even when location services are disabled
  
  By Keith Collins from Quartz
  
  Many people realize that smartphones track their locations. But what if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card?
  
  Even if you take all of those precautions, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet, a Quartz investigation has revealed.
  
  Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers—even when location services are disabled—and sending that data back to Google. The result is that Google, the unit of Alphabet behind Android, has access to data about individuals’ locations and their movements that go far beyond a reasonable consumer expectation of privacy.
  
  Quartz observed the data collection occur and contacted Google, which confirmed the practice.
  
  The cell tower addresses have been included in information sent to the system Google uses to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones for the past 11 months, according to a Google spokesperson. They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said, and the company is now taking steps to end the practice after being contacted by Quartz. By the end of November, the company said, Android phones will no longer send cell-tower location data to Google, at least as part of this particular service, which consumers cannot disable.
  
  “In January of this year, we began looking into using Cell ID codes as an additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery,” the Google spokesperson said in an email. “However, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID.”
  A cell-tower location sent to Google from an Android device. (Obtained by Quartz)
  It is not clear how cell-tower addresses, transmitted as a data string that identifies a specific cell tower, could have been used to improve message delivery. But the privacy implications of the covert location-sharing practice are plain. While information about a single cell tower can only offer an approximation of where a mobile device actually is, multiple towers can be used to triangulate its location to within about a quarter-mile radius, or to a more exact pinpoint in urban areas, where cell towers are closer together.
  
  The practice is troubling for people who’d prefer they weren’t tracked, especially for those such as law-enforcement officials or victims of domestic abuse who turn off location services thinking they’re fully concealing their whereabouts. Although the data sent to Google is encrypted, it could potentially be sent to a third party if the phone had been compromised with spyware or other methods of hacking. Each phone has a unique ID number, with which the location data can be associated.
  
  The revelation comes as Google and other internet companies are under fire from lawmakers and regulators, including for the extent to which they vacuum up data about users. Such personal data, ranging from users’ political views to their purchase histories to their locations, are foundational to the business successes of companies like Facebook and Alphabet, built on targeted advertising and personalization and together valued at over $1.2 trillion by investors.
  Cell-tower locations collected and sent to Google from an Android phone with location services turned off and carried in Washington, DC. (Obtained by Quartz)
  The location-sharing practice does not appear to be limited to any particular type of Android phone or tablet; Google was apparently collecting cell tower data from all modern Android devices before being contacted by Quartz. A source familiar with the matter said the cell tower addresses were being sent to Google after a change in early 2017 to the Firebase Cloud Messaging service, which is owned by Google and runs on Android phones by default.
  
  Even devices that had been reset to factory default settings and apps, with location services disabled, were observed by Quartz sending nearby cell-tower addresses to Google. Devices with a cellular data or WiFi connection appear to send the data to Google each time they come within range of a new cell tower. When Android devices are connected to a WiFi network, they will send the tower addresses to Google even if they don’t have SIM cards installed.
  
  “It has pretty concerning implications,” said Bill Budington, a software engineer who works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for digital privacy. “You can kind of envision any number of circumstances where that could be extremely sensitive information that puts a person at risk.”
  
  The section of Google’s privacy policy that covers location sharing says the company will collect location information from devices that use its services, but does not indicate whether it will collect data from Android devices when location services are disabled:
  
  When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. We use various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.
  
  According to the Google spokesperson, the company’s system that controls its push notifications and messages is “distinctly separate from Location Services, which provide a device’s location to apps.” Android devices never offered consumers a way to opt out of the collection of cell tower data.
  
  “It is really a mystery as to why this is not optional,” said Matthew Hickey, a security expert and researcher at Hacker House, a security firm based in London. “It seems quite intrusive for Google to be collecting such information that is only relevant to carrier networks when there are no SIM card or enabled services.”
  
  While Google says it doesn’t use the location data it collects using this service, its does allow advertisers to target consumers using location data, an approach that has obvious commercial value. The company can tell using precise location tracking, for example, whether an individual with an Android phone or running Google apps has set foot in a specific store, and use that to target the advertising a user subsequently sees.
HN Tooter (hntooter@mastodon.social)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 13:25:14 EST HN Tooter

Google collects cell tower info even if location services are disabled
https://qz.com/1131515/google-collects-android-users-locations-even-when-location-services-are-disabled/
(submitted by kshatrea)
In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 13:25:14 EST from mastodon.social permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. Google collects Android users’ locations even when location services are disabled
  
  By Keith Collins from Quartz
  
  Many people realize that smartphones track their locations. But what if you actively turn off location services, haven’t used any apps, and haven’t even inserted a carrier SIM card?
  
  Even if you take all of those precautions, phones running Android software gather data about your location and send it back to Google when they’re connected to the internet, a Quartz investigation has revealed.
  
  Since the beginning of 2017, Android phones have been collecting the addresses of nearby cellular towers—even when location services are disabled—and sending that data back to Google. The result is that Google, the unit of Alphabet behind Android, has access to data about individuals’ locations and their movements that go far beyond a reasonable consumer expectation of privacy.
  
  Quartz observed the data collection occur and contacted Google, which confirmed the practice.
  
  The cell tower addresses have been included in information sent to the system Google uses to manage push notifications and messages on Android phones for the past 11 months, according to a Google spokesperson. They were never used or stored, the spokesperson said, and the company is now taking steps to end the practice after being contacted by Quartz. By the end of November, the company said, Android phones will no longer send cell-tower location data to Google, at least as part of this particular service, which consumers cannot disable.
  
  “In January of this year, we began looking into using Cell ID codes as an additional signal to further improve the speed and performance of message delivery,” the Google spokesperson said in an email. “However, we never incorporated Cell ID into our network sync system, so that data was immediately discarded, and we updated it to no longer request Cell ID.”
  A cell-tower location sent to Google from an Android device. (Obtained by Quartz)
  It is not clear how cell-tower addresses, transmitted as a data string that identifies a specific cell tower, could have been used to improve message delivery. But the privacy implications of the covert location-sharing practice are plain. While information about a single cell tower can only offer an approximation of where a mobile device actually is, multiple towers can be used to triangulate its location to within about a quarter-mile radius, or to a more exact pinpoint in urban areas, where cell towers are closer together.
  
  The practice is troubling for people who’d prefer they weren’t tracked, especially for those such as law-enforcement officials or victims of domestic abuse who turn off location services thinking they’re fully concealing their whereabouts. Although the data sent to Google is encrypted, it could potentially be sent to a third party if the phone had been compromised with spyware or other methods of hacking. Each phone has a unique ID number, with which the location data can be associated.
  
  The revelation comes as Google and other internet companies are under fire from lawmakers and regulators, including for the extent to which they vacuum up data about users. Such personal data, ranging from users’ political views to their purchase histories to their locations, are foundational to the business successes of companies like Facebook and Alphabet, built on targeted advertising and personalization and together valued at over $1.2 trillion by investors.
  Cell-tower locations collected and sent to Google from an Android phone with location services turned off and carried in Washington, DC. (Obtained by Quartz)
  The location-sharing practice does not appear to be limited to any particular type of Android phone or tablet; Google was apparently collecting cell tower data from all modern Android devices before being contacted by Quartz. A source familiar with the matter said the cell tower addresses were being sent to Google after a change in early 2017 to the Firebase Cloud Messaging service, which is owned by Google and runs on Android phones by default.
  
  Even devices that had been reset to factory default settings and apps, with location services disabled, were observed by Quartz sending nearby cell-tower addresses to Google. Devices with a cellular data or WiFi connection appear to send the data to Google each time they come within range of a new cell tower. When Android devices are connected to a WiFi network, they will send the tower addresses to Google even if they don’t have SIM cards installed.
  
  “It has pretty concerning implications,” said Bill Budington, a software engineer who works for the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit organization that advocates for digital privacy. “You can kind of envision any number of circumstances where that could be extremely sensitive information that puts a person at risk.”
  
  The section of Google’s privacy policy that covers location sharing says the company will collect location information from devices that use its services, but does not indicate whether it will collect data from Android devices when location services are disabled:
  
  When you use Google services, we may collect and process information about your actual location. We use various technologies to determine location, including IP address, GPS, and other sensors that may, for example, provide Google with information on nearby devices, Wi-Fi access points and cell towers.
  
  According to the Google spokesperson, the company’s system that controls its push notifications and messages is “distinctly separate from Location Services, which provide a device’s location to apps.” Android devices never offered consumers a way to opt out of the collection of cell tower data.
  
  “It is really a mystery as to why this is not optional,” said Matthew Hickey, a security expert and researcher at Hacker House, a security firm based in London. “It seems quite intrusive for Google to be collecting such information that is only relevant to carrier networks when there are no SIM card or enabled services.”
  
  While Google says it doesn’t use the location data it collects using this service, its does allow advertisers to target consumers using location data, an approach that has obvious commercial value. The company can tell using precise location tracking, for example, whether an individual with an Android phone or running Google apps has set foot in a specific store, and use that to target the advertising a user subsequently sees.
BBC (bbc@social.undernet.uy)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 12:46:41 EST BBC

Regulator repeals US net neutrality rules #bbc #technology http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-42065649
In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 12:46:41 EST from social.undernet.uy permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. FCC repeals US net neutrality rules
  
  from BBC News
  
  As expected, the Federal Communications Commission has pushed back net neutrality legislation.
BBC (bbc@social.undernet.uy)'s status on Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 12:47:08 EST BBC

US Judge permanently blocks Trump's sanctuary city order #bbc #international http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-42060108
In conversation Tuesday, 21-Nov-2017 12:47:08 EST from social.undernet.uy permalink Repeated by alpacaherder
Attachments
1. Judge blocks Trump's sanctuary city order
  
  from BBC News
  
  Mr Trump's order would have withheld funds from cities that resisted federal immigration agents.

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Notices by Stephen Michael Kellat (alpacaherder@quitter.se), page 28