Notices by Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com), page 16
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Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Oct-2017 02:40:03 EDT 
Mike Gerwitz
The number of times I get screwed when signing #Git commits by either entering my smartcard PIN incorrectly or forgetting I changed it... On failure, Git aborts entirely. If you write detailed changelog-style commits like me (which can take a decent amount of time to write), you'll get a heart-sinking feeling when you go to commit again and find that your commit message wasn't retained.
So any time there's a failure, I immediately back up the contents of .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG, where the last message was stored. You will lose it if you try to commit again before this. You can also use `git commit -F .git/COMMIT_EDITMSG`, but note that comment lines aren't removed then, so you'll probably want to edit it before or amend after.
This is something I've been doing since I first learned Git, but hopefully the tip's helpful to someone. -
Free Software Foundation (fsf@status.fsf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2017 12:56:12 EDT 
Free Software Foundation
We want YOU, yes, YOU, to submit a talk for #LibrePlanet 2018! Get help with your proposal from experienced speakers at our upcoming office hours: https://u.fsf.org/2cd -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Oct-2017 01:54:08 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
Nicholas Weaver on KRACK:
https://www.lawfareblog.com/dont-worry-about-krack
So, don't worry about the vulnerability because your password is probably already worthless and can be brute-forced. What the hell? While this _is_ realistic, it is dangerously dismissive and promotes the completely wrong attitude toward security. There's not even a mention of ways to improve your password security---instead, it almost makes people seem silly for having random passphrases by calling them a "cat's hairball".
How about some useful advice that'll actually help the reader rather than make them think "oh, okay, insecure as usual; carry on": choose a better password, and update your shit. -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2017 00:41:32 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
@nev @pineapple It needn't be a taboo to be a privacy concern. If we remove facial recognition and shift to typography: people use aliases for writing or posting online, and bridging those aliases is problematic too. It's whether someone has an _expectation_ of privacy, regardless of what it is.
There are places I have no expectation of privacy where I'd be unhappy if it becomes indexed too. For example, security cameras in stores. I don't care if someone in or around the building sees me entering. I care if the whole world does, even though I'm probably doing something pretty uninteresting, because it violates my expectation of privacy (even though I know that expectation can be easily violated). If I expect that store managers are going to post videos of me online everywhere I go, I may change how I go about doing things. "Shock value" certainly contributes to how violated a person feels, but isn't a precondition. -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Tuesday, 17-Oct-2017 00:20:51 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
A very enjoyable read about typecasting and typesetting:
http://www.practicallyefficient.com/2017/10/13/from-boiling-lead-and-black-art.html
I have great interest in typesetting, and have gotten great joy out of TeX. Unfortunately, most of today's text is belched onto users' screens using HTML, which will hopefully one day be able to produce a somewhat respectable rendering.
(Though, most everything I do is plain text on a VTE.) -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Oct-2017 13:30:26 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
@stragu I do now! Thanks---these look like some interesting perspectives. I'll have to at least skim through them. Any highlights that interest you the most? -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Sunday, 15-Oct-2017 13:28:07 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
http://www.pewinternet.org/2017/10/04/automation-in-everyday-life/
Some really interesting results regarding automation of various aspects of life from the Pew Research Center. I don't have time to summarize any of the interesting points, but it's worth a skim. -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Saturday, 14-Oct-2017 21:54:25 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
Pornhub is using facial recognition (and other methods) to index people in videos:
https://social.mikegerwitz.com/url/30018
The article brings up important points. Porn actors often have different identities. What about amateur/revenge porn? This is a much more intimate example of the privacy threats that already exist. People seem to care a lot more when it affects them on such an intimate level, even though this is already being done in non-pornographic settings.
I've been thinking for well over a decade about people who place themselves in porn videos---be it professionally, or just for fun---and how their lives will one day change when everything they have ever posted online, even if it was a lifetime ago, is indexed and searchable. Privacy can't be retro-active---technology is advancing at too great of a pace. By the time you know to be concerned, you've already lost. And there's nothing you can do about that. -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Oct-2017 23:55:34 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
https://social.mikegerwitz.com/url/29932
Damnit, and here I was advocating that free software was a prerequisite for any respectable definition of "security". Back to the drawing board. Hopefully my whiteboard's design wasn't reviewed by foreign powers.
(In all seriousness: this is a security company hiding in obscurity. Antivirus software is one of the greatest security threats to your system.) -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Oct-2017 14:44:49 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
Took this whole week off to unwind and spend some time with the kids (my youngest was starting to ask each day if I'd "spend time" with him, or if I was going to work). I've been able to spend a lot of time with the kids without feeling like I have to get things done, so it'd been great for them and for me.
I've been complaining about burnout for months. I'm feeling refreshed and it's only Wednesday, so hopefully this finally gets me out of it, and hopefully it doesn't come back shortly after returning. -
Free Software Foundation (fsf@status.fsf.org)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Oct-2017 13:03:40 EDT
Free Software Foundation
UPDATE: Motion for summary judgment denied in #GNU General Public License #GPL compliance case Artifex v. Hancom. https://u.fsf.org/2c8 -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Wednesday, 11-Oct-2017 11:38:04 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
Google Home Mini recording nearly everything in a user's home 24/7 due to a hardware malfunction:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2017/10/10/google-nerfing-home-minis-mine-spied-everything-said-247/
I'm not a tinfoil hat person---I don't _need_ to be; there's plenty of legitimate concern out there (https://mikegerwitz.com/talks/sapsf.pdf). I accept their explanation that it was a hardware malfunction on a touch component; it wouldn't make sense for them to intentionally do this type of thing, especially when users can see logs, transcripts, and audio recordings.
The privacy (and security) issue is that this is even possible to begin with. A bug isn't necessary: the firmware can be remotely updated in a targeted attack or compromised by attackers. Audio is being send to remote servers, not being processed on the device. -
Mike Gerwitz (mikegerwitz@social.mikegerwitz.com)'s status on Friday, 06-Oct-2017 21:35:00 EDT
Mike Gerwitz
I can't even remember the last time I used AIM, but it was a program/protocol that served as a social pillar of my childhood---it was the social media of my generation, which I can recall using as young as the age of nine. (I'm turning 28 this month.) MSN Messenger and YIM were in there too. Good fun was had back in the day hacking IRC bots for MSN Chat. (That's actually the only time I've written Perl---an upgrade from mIRC scripting!) MySpace came around at some point, but the real communication happened on AIM/YIM/MSN. And IRC for a select group of friends.
It's an entire world I lost long, long ago. And while I had no intent on trying to go back to it (not that it was an option anyway), the finality of AIM's sunsetting does bring on nostalgia, despite my last use being over a decade ago.
I'm starting to make myself feel old. (Nevermind the 17yo employee at work that didn't know what the modem sound of a fax was. That's the sound I heard when dialing in to chat on AIM!) -
Free Software Foundation (fsf@status.fsf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Sep-2017 12:10:54 EDT
Free Software Foundation
Give #Replicant, the free software #Android project a hand: donate at https://u.fsf.org/1h1 -
Free Software Foundation (fsf@status.fsf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Sep-2017 10:00:44 EDT
Free Software Foundation
Congrats to the #Replicant Free Software #Android team on the 6.0 update! This release more than doubles the number of supported devices and contains a few important fixes and improvements. https://u.fsf.org/2bh -
Free Software Foundation (fsf@status.fsf.org)'s status on Tuesday, 19-Sep-2017 17:07:27 EDT
Free Software Foundation
Today's big announcement: #LibrePlanet 2018!!! This year's theme is Freedom. Embedded. https://u.fsf.org/2bk
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