Alec Muffett

@alecmuffett.bsky.social

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everybody deserves good security.
https://alecmuffett.com/about

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What do you do with old @OReillyMedia & other tech books of that kind? I have about 1.5m shelving ancient software guides & manuals… https://alecmuffett.com/article/110046 #parenting

What do you do with old @OReillyMedia & other tech books of that kind? I have about 1.5m shelving ancient software guides & manuals…alecmuffett.com …for legacy stuff like Sendmail 5, RPC, Perl/Tk, JDK1.2, and Ruby on Rails. “WeBuyBooks” is not interested in them, they don’t make much sense to give to charity shops, I don&#821…

Starmer plans to introduce AI bill in King’s Speech | “…tell us what you are testing for…” https://alecmuffett.com/article/110044 #al #llm #regulation

Starmer plans to introduce AI bill in King’s Speech | “…tell us what you are testing for…”alecmuffett.com Labour: we will build a tech economy Also Labour: we proactively understand technology better than you do > Labour’s manifesto outlined plans to “ensure the safe development and use of AI models…

Fitting an Elephant with Four non-Zero Parameters https://alecmuffett.com/article/110042 #fun #maths

Fitting an Elephant with Four non-Zero Parametersalecmuffett.com This is a lovely little mathematics distraction. [PDF] Via:

GoogleOne Darkweb reports coming to all Google accounts soon https://alecmuffett.com/article/110037 #DarkWeb

GoogleOne Darkweb reports coming to all Google accounts soonalecmuffett.com This should be interesting, moreso when somebody from NOYB.EU eventually attempts to demand a takedown under the GDPR.

Honestly wondering how many of the people on this app, pf who are shouting: "TRUMP MUST LOSE" …etc, are doing outreach to their local community to get the Democratic vote out? Being a keyboard warrior is not sufficient. The UK finally worked this out last week.

Etsy’s … head of its trust and safety team Alice Wu Paulus said the policy change was the company’s attempt “to continue to keep our users safe” https://alecmuffett.com/article/110035 #TrustAndSafety #censorship

Etsy’s … head of its trust and safety team Alice Wu Paulus said the policy change was the company’s attempt “to continue to keep our users safe”alecmuffett.com Because of course Etsy products will leap out upon people unawares: Sex product sellers are left scrambling after a sweeping Etsy ban

I am not certain what this portends but it suggests that the separation of DCMS & DSIT a few months ago may have been considered problematic by Labour https://alecmuffett.com/article/110006 #dcms #dsit #internet #regulation

I am not certain what this portends but it suggests that the separation of DCMS & DSIT a few months ago may have been considered problematic by Labouralecmuffett.com Chris Bryant has picked up both departments and it’s like 2020 all over again?

I would like to invite everyone to consider what would have happened in the Brexit referendum if there had been a second round runoff…? https://alecmuffett.com/article/110005 #brexit #france

I would like to invite everyone to consider what would have happened in the Brexit referendum if there had been a second round runoff…?alecmuffett.com The world today would be a very different place. Ian Dunt:

Europol says Home Routing mobile encryption feature aids criminals https://alecmuffett.com/article/110004 #encryption #regulation

Europol says Home Routing mobile encryption feature aids criminalsalecmuffett.com Oh dear. > Home Routing is a system in telecommunication services that allows customers to route traffic (calls, messages, internet data) through their home network even when traveling abroad. W…

My venerable Miele W3444 starts flashing a flood warning and for a service technician — but it’s way out of warranty; the internet & 3D-printing provide a fix… https://alecmuffett.com/article/109995 #3DPrinting #diy #miele

My venerable Miele W3444 starts flashing a flood warning and for a service technician — but it’s way out of warranty; the internet & 3D-printing provide a fix…alecmuffett.com Sometimes I am doing up to 6 loads of laundry in a single day – hello parenthood – and last week our 15+ year old Miele started doing the serious flash two red lights and cease all oper…

Labour rejects Tony Blair’s plan to curb migration | …perhaps @jreynoldsMP could also do us the favour of also ruling out Digital ID and/or an “app”? https://alecmuffett.com/article/109994 #IdCards #identity

Labour rejects Tony Blair’s plan to curb migration | …perhaps @jreynoldsMP could also do us the favour of also ruling out Digital ID and/or an “app”?alecmuffett.com Visit the post for more.

Entrepreneurial Spanish children open a “porn futures” market and hedge-fund based around new age verification porn credits https://alecmuffett.com/article/109992 #AgeVerification #censorship #pornography

Entrepreneurial Spanish children open a “porn futures” market and hedge-fund based around new age verification porn creditsalecmuffett.com I mean, it’s the obvious next step isn’t it? > Porn-viewers will be asked to use the app to verify their age. Once verified, they’ll receive 30 generated “porn credits” with a …

Everybody has seen Yardley where an apparently transphobic, "Workers Party" Disabled Muslim-Convert Blogger-Poet from London nearly unseated local incumbent Jess Phillips, & had his crew ejected from the results for jeering? No? You really should: x.com/Channel4/sta...

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It doesn’t matter which party is in power, the UK for the time being will remain hostile to the Internet; but at least there will be change elsewhere https://alecmuffett.com/article/109991 #GeneralElection2024 #politics

It doesn’t matter which party is in power, the UK for the time being will remain hostile to the Internet; but at least there will be change elsewherealecmuffett.com The Labour government will expend at least one cycle attempting to crack the whip harder — to “bring American billionaire tech companies to heel” and to “make the internet safer f…

Nick Cave, advice columnist and agony uncle https://alecmuffett.com/article/109989 #NickCave #parenting

Nick Cave, advice columnist and agony unclealecmuffett.com Highly recommended. Go read:

Yes populism is on the rise around the globe, but freshly enabling it with the tools of totalitarian surveillance will be totally worth it if we save just one child – John Carr, child safety activistalecmuffett.com Paraphrased; here is what he actually said, with which I disagree > The mistrust of state institutions and Big Tech is entirely understandable, not only but particularly in those countries in th…

Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks | Reuters https://alecmuffett.com/article/109986 #ComputerHistory #bureaucracy

Japan declares victory in effort to end government use of floppy disks | Reutersalecmuffett.com This speaks volumes about the nature of government bureaucracy everywhere:

The more I read from them the more I believe that the worst thing ever to happen to the Internet was its discovery by Law Professors https://alecmuffett.com/article/109985 #FreeSpeech #TimWu #regulation

The more I read from them the more I believe that the worst thing ever to happen to the Internet was its discovery by Law Professorsalecmuffett.com I wonder what Henry V would have thought about airline regulation? The NetChoice Decision Shows the First Amendment Is Out of Control The reasoning in the decision in the NetChoice cases marks a ne…

VOTE TACTICAL

Voices, some calling Macron a Cameron-style fool for “handing France to the fascists,” others think him astute for forcing the issue, the centrists, & the left to pull their shit together at speed. Which is it?alecmuffett.com A lesson from British politics is that if you let right-wing weirdoes present themselves as unrepresented victims then they can & will slowly grow their base¹ by engaging those who mindlessly h…

Labour plans to make tech giants liable for reimbursing victims of online fraud, report | …what could possibly go wrong? https://alecmuffett.com/article/109982 #fraud #regulation #techlash

Labour plans to make tech giants liable for reimbursing victims of online fraud, report | …what could possibly go wrong?alecmuffett.com It also proposes expanding the Economic Crime Act to include an offence for tech companies that fail to prevent scams on their platforms.

Is there anything about life in Europe which requires one to go around proving one’s identity at regular intervals? https://alecmuffett.com/article/109980 #AgeVerification #identity

Is there anything about life in Europe which requires one to go around proving one’s identity at regular intervals?alecmuffett.com Here in the UK I have hauled out my passport once this year to close a bank account, and I will need a driving licence in a few days to vote. Therefore I’m not aware of a great “digital…

Conservative party mailshot adopts look and feel, passing itself off as HMRC circular https://alecmuffett.com/article/109977 #conservatives #misinformation

Conservative party mailshot adopts look and feel, passing itself off as HMRC circularalecmuffett.com It’s quite an impressive piece of misrepresentative misinformation and it doesn’t even involve the internet:

LinkedIn invents the Wiki https://alecmuffett.com/article/109976 #linkedin

LinkedIn invents the Wikialecmuffett.com It’s not a terrible idea. It might take off.

Polymorphic LLMs? | llama.ttf is both a font AND an LLM, usable in WASM browsers https://alecmuffett.com/article/109974 #LlamaTtf #ai #llm #regulation

Polymorphic LLMs? | llama.ttf is both a font AND an LLM, usable in WASM browsersalecmuffett.com Authoritarian “Safety” people who expect to be able to control / broker access to models are going to flip out.

FOR ANYONE WHO IS HATING ON AI, WORK OUT HOW YOU WOULD PHRASE THIS QUESTION AS A GOOGLE SEARCH:

UK politicians still do not understand the Streisand Effect https://alecmuffett.com/article/109973 #StreisandEffect #conservatives #politics

UK politicians still do not understand the Streisand Effectalecmuffett.com 1/ You wrote something we don’t like 2/ We will ignore you so you don’t get a story 3/ We will gloat about doing so 4/ You will now have a story

From @camwilson on Mastodon | … more evidence that Australia is a land of online safety contrasts https://alecmuffett.com/article/109968 #OnlineSafety #australia

From @camwilson on Mastodon | … more evidence that Australia is a land of online safety contrastsalecmuffett.com > As both the prime minister and the opposition leader signal their support for under 16 social media ban, the eSafety Commissioner just published a report on 14-17yo LGBTIQ+ children using the …

“Google: Stop Burning Counterterrorism Operations” | @mncoppola | … Remember, Kids: bad guys exploiting bugs is BAD, but when we do it, it’s GOOD https://alecmuffett.com/article/109963 #cybersecurity #regulation

“Google: Stop Burning Counterterrorism Operations” | @mncoppola | … Remember, Kids: bad guys exploiting bugs is BAD, but when we do it, it’s GOODalecmuffett.com Anyone who thinks the linked blog post is insightful or sensible should watch all of Marcus Ranum’s “Cyberwar: You’re Doing It Wrong” from 2012, especially from 12:42 on th…

“all of the thriving EU-based smartphone & OS makers can jump in & compete on merit now, without Apple the gatekeeping bully in their way” https://alecmuffett.com/article/109962 #DigitalMarketsAct

“all of the thriving EU-based smartphone & OS makers can jump in & compete on merit now, without Apple the gatekeeping bully in their way”alecmuffett.com Gruber nails the wishful thinking of the DMA: Daring Fireball: The EU Is Reaping What It Sows With the DMA: Uncertainty