It's like the American voters looked down at Trump and his Republican lackeys and said, "Shut up, Piggy!"
#USpol

My mother took up knitting several years ago. She's met some great folks and it's part of her social life now. She always has a couple of projects going.

Today, I got a wonderful surprise when this showed up in the mail. The photo doesn't convey how vibrant the colors are or how warm and comfortable it is. I know how much effort, love, and care went into making this, which makes it all the more special. Looking forward to having it keep me warm this winter.
#knitting

Artisans Asylum is hosting a free Fixit Clinic on Sunday, 08/02. Folks will be available to help people repair all sorts of things from jewelry and clothes to electronics and appliances. Details and free registration at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/fixit-clinic-at-artisans-asylum-august-2026-tickets-1993548170242

https://www.artisansasylum.com/

@knizer
#Boston #AllstonBrighton #ArtisansAsylum

It appears ICE is unhappy with people knowing that Jonathan Ross has been identified as the ICE agent who shot and killed Renee Good. They tried to bully an election worker for sharing Jonathan Ross's name. Again, that name was Jonathan Ross.

Look, I get it. You're fascists and therefore bullies. It shouldn't be too tough for you to figure out who I really am. Feel free to drop by anytime and try to intimidate me. I could use the laugh.

https://newrepublic.com/post/212340/ice-poll-worker-election-delete-instagram-post

#USpol #FuckICE

I don't use password based login to GitLab. Unfortunately, they don't provide a mechanism to disable password login so I'm stuck with a credential out there which I don't use but grants access to my code base.

My response was to set it to the value returned by `dd if=/dev/random bs=1 count=128`

I don't know if that's any more secure than some other password, but it made me feel better.

#GitLab #InfoSec

Anyone have recommendations for FOSS, small network monitoring/analysis/IDS tools?

Suricata is interesting but I haven' t found a decent front-end. Wasn't impressed by Suri-Oculus and EveBox isn't baked.

Also looked at Zeek/Rita but, again, wasn't impressed.

Anything more lightweight than above but more advanced than, e.g. wireshark?

#InfoSec #NetSec

Just got an email that made me a bit sad

"... we want to let you know that starting on June 9, these courses will be available exclusively on MIT Learn, MIT’s new AI-enabled online learning platform."

Really? You need to replace a working web site that delivers basic content with something "AI-enabled"?

So glad I'm on the tail end of my time in tech.

#AI #HypeCycle

/rant
FFS vendors. Randomizing a MAC isn't making anyone safer. It just makes it harder for folks to manage their networks.

Up next on Today's Rant, enough with blocking inbound ping. You're not hiding from network probes.

#InfoSec #Security #Networking

Tired of AI agents that aren't actually intelligent causing you pain? Have you just lost data or IP because your AI assistant screwed up?

I have a solution for you. I'm an actual human who understands the underlying technology. Just grant me full access to your code base, infrastructure and systems.

What? You don't trust me? Why not!?

You'll hand all that over to sparkling auto-carrot but not some rando on the net? Give that one some thought.

#AI #SparklingAutocarrot

Back when home movies were actual movies. Ask your (grand)parents.

I've got a lot of family history to dig through here. Haven't even started on the drawer of 35mm slides.

#Photography #Movies #HomeMovies

Oh joy. Google disables spell check in gmail if you opt out of letting them use your email to feed their AI. It's pretty clear many of the features they disable don't require their AI to work, e.g. category tabs. They're just intentionally making the product worse for those who don't comply.

It's their product, they can do as they like. But violating the Wheaton rule eventually loses customers.

#enshittification #BigTech #Gmail

Just got to the local antifa get together.
#USpol #NoKings

Benjamin Franklin said "Those who would give up essential liberty, to purchase a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."

The same could be said of privacy and convenience. Seriously people, don't fall for this nonsense.

#Privacy #Security

Today, Google opted everyone into their AI scraping of emails, etc. Like a lot of folks here, I went in and turned that functionality off. Now inbox categories and possibly junk filtering no longer works. All this stuff worked yesterday and clearly does not require AI scraping. This is literally following the Enshittification Playbook.

Any suggestions for an Android IMAP client so I can get off of Gmail?

#enshittification #Google #Android #Email

I got a disturbing email from the US Social Security Administration today. It's not the content of the email but the address it was sent to. I spin up different addresses for different uses. This email was sent to an addresses I have NEVER shared with the SSA but is known to another agency. The implication is they're consolidating databases.

Given the state of things now, I find that concerning. Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

#USPol #Privacy #InfoSec

Remember kids, the Tor Project is not just for dark web nonsense. Keep yourself safe.

https://www.torproject.org/

#Security #InfoSec #Privacy

Had one of those "life happens" events yesterday and broke a molar. It's no big deal just an inconvenience. I have a good dentist. They were able to see me today. I can afford to pay them and I can take the time off on short notice to go.

Expect I'm preaching to the choir here but it should be this easy for everyone. For a lot of folks this wouldn't be an inconvenience it would be a major hardship. As society, we need to do better.

#Healthcare #HealthInsurance

Thought I saw an ambulance in the mix but it didn't quite make sense until now. They're all at Spalding rehab. As are the news crews.

#Cambridge

Police motorcade with three news helicopters overhead just went through Inman square toward Harvard. Anyone know who rates the security detail?
#Cambridge

It's amusing that there are a couple of bots that pop up in my feed with such perfect timing it's as if they're narrating my life. This happens occasionally with @closedcaptionsbot

However, today it's more like @scream

(Nothing serious. Just that kind of morning.)