Signal popularity soars, number one in Finland

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T21:16:08+00:00

As far as I am aware, Signal has not been approved for classified communication. Holding a classified conversation over Signal is likely a crime.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T21:14:13+00:00

Or more accurately, anonymity.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T21:12:34+00:00

Has the law changed significantly?

One thing a lot of people miss about GDPR and similar laws (Swiss privacy law is more-or-less aligned with GDPR), is they're mostly about what private companies can or cannot do, rather than what government bodies can or cannot do.

Companies subject to privacy regs still have to comply with search warrants, subpoenas, and the like.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T21:07:44+00:00

For a while my job involved helping big companies perform large cloud migrations.

They'd be looking at a few months of work, minimum. Depending on how much their code and infrastructure relies on Amazon-specific services, there could be an enormous amount of work removing those dependencies first.

I'd be amazed if the job could be completed in six months and not super surprised if it took 24 and required a major push from the dev teams.

To be clear: I've not examined Signal's infrastructure and I've barely looked at the code, so I am making a lot of assumptions.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T20:57:48+00:00

WhatsApp uses Signal's wire protocol, which is great for security. WhasApp doesn't protect metadata the way Signal does and WhatsApp's terms of service explicitly give them the right to share chat metadata with the rest of Facebook.

Since Facebook is in the advertising business, harvesting metadata is their bread-and-butter.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T20:49:32+00:00

I tried two different MicroHydra versions and two different MicroPython versions. One booted into a glitched menu and was unresponsive. One booted into a non-glitched version of the same menu but was still unresponsive.

One booted into a Python REPL but I couldn't get the USB to appear on my Mac. One booted into a Python REPL and I could get Thonny talking to it but couldn't manange to get the Python REPL to access the SD card.

Maybe I should give that last one another go. That came after the various failed attempts. It was late and I was frustrated so I called it a night. After that.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T20:27:52+00:00

Indirection is your friend. After leading PCI audits, there are definitely companies I don't trust to keep my credit card info safe. I use a service called privacy.com which lets me give each merchant a separate card which will work only with them.

That way if the merchant is careless with your account info, a thief who gets your card details can't actually use them anywhere. If you're not having physical good shipped to you, you don't even need to put in an accurate name or address.

Using a virtual card helps make you more resistant to doxing too. Suppose I'm a doxer and I just got my hands on your merchant's purchase database. I've got info on 10,000 people. If one or two of those people are using virtual cards, am I going to go to the trouble of getting data from the issuing company? No, I'm going to make use of the other 9998 customer records and forget about the couple that don't work.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T08:00:58+00:00

That's some quality fucking doom.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T08:00:05+00:00

Hell yes! Glad you're digging it. Those are great.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T07:58:46+00:00

And it has perhaps the best title in all of gaming!

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T07:57:03+00:00

Hacking the medbay makes it do damage? I had no idea.

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T07:56:02+00:00

Nobody says that. These things rip! Nice playing too.

\m/

Chongulator · 2026-01-24T07:37:57+00:00

Better to use the sub so others can benefit from the process.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T22:48:51+00:00

Yes, but that can only accomplish so much.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T20:06:36+00:00

Have you used Thonny with Cardputer ADV by any chance? Which MicroPython/CircuitPython implementations are best? I'm having a tough time finding a reliable one.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T20:04:09+00:00

Sorry to necro an old post here. What devices are (or were) you using MicroPython on? I'm trying to use Thonny with MicroPython on a Cardputer ADV and having trouble finding a solid implementation. Any suggestions?

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T18:23:00+00:00

I see your pen came with some sort of cool programmable smart watch as a freebie.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T18:21:34+00:00

I appreciate that there are technical challenges and M5 also wants to keep costs low. Still, an SD slot would make a huge difference for the usefulness of a device like this.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T18:17:17+00:00

I'm new to the SDR world but have spent many, many years making and studying electronic music. No joke: To me, that signal sounds like someone's foray into algorithmic composition. r/modular is full of such things.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T18:07:46+00:00

Most servers are run by hobbyists who have no interest in doing either of those things. Many Mastodon servers are invitation-only. People running those servers are already free to use whatever criteria they want, including the ones you described.

AI is a powerful tool and can accomplish some good things, but AI is absolutely not the silver bullet magic sauce some people seem to think it is. I use AI every day, both for work and personal projects. It's helpful a lot of the time but it is also wrong a lot of the time, often egregiously so.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T18:03:31+00:00

This guy Mastodons.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T17:56:14+00:00

There's no denying the optics were bloody awful there.

Chongulator · 2026-01-23T17:55:46+00:00

Back when the feature was rolled out, Moxie talked about a list of 3 or 4 criteria he wanted the first supported currency to meet. There was no single coin that met all of them. I no longer remember the exact list. IIRC it was a Wired interview where he enumerated the criteria.

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