amartya916 (u/amartya916)

amartya916 commented on Chrome Users Beware: Manifest V3 Is Deceitful and Threatening (2021) eff.org/deeplinks/2021/12... · Posted by u/tambourine_man

aqfamnzc · 2 years ago

I would welcome it too, but it's never going to happen. The masses just don't care enough to change their habits, especially when there's any friction to switching. It's why tactics like MS's aggressive edge pushing actually work to some degree.

amartya916 · 2 years ago

Agree completely. Additionally, there is a massive Chromebook user base (with the default Chrome browser) that basically has a chokehold on the K12 education space. Conjecture: I think this gets students used to the model of Chrome + Google Docs that they carry forward to their computing use/experience for the future.

amartya916 commented on We are retroactively dropping the iPhone’s repairability score ifixit.com/News/82493/we-... · Posted by u/fraXis

mschuster91 · 2 years ago

There is also another issue why Apple is restricting "part harvesting": theft. iCloud locks or Samsung's KNOX lock entered the field because the manufacturers were pretty pissed that customers using their devices in public became a target for "enterprising" robbers who'd factory-wipe the devices and flip them to a pawn shop or second-hand store in a matter of half an hour. When people are afraid to use your products because it paints a phone-sized target on them, they won't buy your product.

That cut down on a lot of the robbery bullshit, but then criminals simply found new buyer classes - they'd simply part stolen devices out and resell everything but the iCloud/Knox/whatever locked mainboard. Displays, cameras, speakers, batteries, flex cables, cases, everything.

So now, at least Apple is tagging the most "valuable" parts in new phones, simply to make stealing them unattractive for thieves, which frankly sucks but is necessary because it's a public safety issue.

(If anyone at Apple is reading this: ffs, allow the legitimate owner of a device to "unpair" all components in their phone in iCloud so that legitimate second-hand shops can strip a broken device at least for its parts)

amartya916 · 2 years ago

I would be surprised if Apple does what you suggested, but I do think it's an excellent suggestion, thank you. It just won't be a priority unless some sort of legislation forces their hand.

amartya916 commented on Is Google’s 20-year search dominance about to end? economist.com/business/20... · Posted by u/i13e

revskill · 3 years ago

It's not much about Microsoft. At least it improved human life in serious ways (Typescript, VSCode,...). What did Google bring to my life ? Nothing except for spam stuffs from Ad, Email,...

You're responsible for your data, not Google, not Microsoft.

amartya916 · 3 years ago

While it might be fashionable to hate on Google, the question "What did Google bring to my life" seems really odd. I can't believe I have to say this but search, and more importantly good/fast search, is to Google's credit. Typescript and VSCode all have, and will continue to have alternatives, but for a long time, Google was (some may argue it still is) the bleeding edge of search. Anyway, there might be a generational thing at play here, if so, I meant no condescension.

amartya916 commented on uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox addons.mozilla.org/en-US/... · Posted by u/nixcraft

AnIdiotOnTheNet · 4 years ago

Oh, I think I see the issue. If your post is anything to go by then people think I'm talking about tech or even just the web. That's understandable since both are frequently the target of my ire, however in this instance I am specifically talking about the advertising and marketing industry.

amartya916 · 4 years ago

Ah sorry, I misunderstood as well. Makes sense!

amartya916 commented on uBlock Origin becomes top addon on Firefox addons.mozilla.org/en-US/... · Posted by u/nixcraft

AnIdiotOnTheNet · 4 years ago

Nothing says "our entire industry[0] is a blight upon human society" like a thriving ecosystem of popular software existing for the sole purpose of shutting you the hell up.

[0] advertising and marketing industry

amartya916 · 4 years ago

I think I know why you are being downvoted, but I just wanted to chime in and say that I get exactly where you are coming from. On certain days, I cannot shake a similar thought from my mind as well.

Today though, I'd recommend skimming through uBlock Origin's Github readme: https://github.com/gorhill. Note the "Free. Open source. For users by users. No donations sought." in the About section. Our industry reflects our collective condition: some good, some bad, and some in between. The oft used Mr. Rogers quote about "look for the helpers" seems particularly appropriate for uBlock Origin and its creator (and maintainers :)).

P.S. In case this comes across as a lecture, I assure you that this was just as much for myself as a reminder, as it was for the community here :).

amartya916 commented on You’ve Never Seen the Opioid Crisis Like This Before: A Review of Empire of Pain nursingclio.org/2021/08/1... · Posted by u/benbreen

peter_l_downs · 5 years ago

It probably wouldn't be that hard to build one. I trained the world's dumbest clickbait classifier a few years ago if you want some ideas https://github.com/peterldowns/clickbait-classifier

amartya916 · 5 years ago

This is great! I liked the "know it when I see it" comment :).

amartya916 commented on Sailfish 4 sailfishos.org/... · Posted by u/nabla9

0des · 5 years ago

Please do not take this as me being flippant, but it is also an option to reclaim your independence and not use a smartphone, or any phone at all. Since I started doing this, the effects on myself were as expected, better focus, etc, but the secondary effects on my social circle were unexpected. People take more care to be on time when they say they are meeting me places, no more calls as I arrive saying "oh okay, youre there? Im walking out the door". No more "drive by" social interactions that spawn new storylines and gossip that I dont need to be a part of.

What was most unexpected is how, unprompted, a lot of the most ardent phone abusers in my social circle started gradually releasing themselves from their phones, putting them in a drawer, or just outright turning them off for weekends.

I have a single prepaid phone that my wife has the number to, it has no apps, no email, no scrolly things. When we are apart, it is turned on, otherwise, my time is otherwise occupied.

amartya916 · 5 years ago

Thank you for taking the time to share this idea with us; it certainly made me think.

amartya916 commented on Key Modi rival Rahul Gandhi among potential Indian targets of NSO client theguardian.com/news/2021... · Posted by u/jbegley

amartya916 · 5 years ago

In case some of the community members are not fully aware of the background of the comment about mass murder: Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat when there were religious riots in 2002 [1]. Of course, him being a Hindu nationalist it's pretty obvious that many Muslims were persecuted/killed. Since then he's tried to clean his image internationally while systematically taking the world's largest democracy's democratic values to the brink. The Bush administration had denied him a diplomatic visa in 2005 [2] for his role in the riots. Finally, the UAPA [3] act that was referred to the parent post is a way to imprison activitsts/journalists/political opponents etc. A strategy long developed and honed by all sorts of autocrats.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2002_Gujarat_riots

[2]: https://2001-2009.state.gov/p/sca/rls/rm/2005/43701.htm

[3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unlawful_Activities_(Preventio...

amartya916 commented on Firefox 76 mozilla.org/en-US/firefox... · Posted by u/kalimatas

joveian · 6 years ago

Personally, I don't like operating systems that train users to enter login credentials while using the system as this increases the chance of someone capturing those credentials via spoofing.

I used to think Firefox trying to protect the entered passwords made some sense, but I've been convinced it isn't really such a good idea. Better would be a full profile being protected (with all files encrypted), or just rely on an OS level lock screen for inactivity lockout.

I'm not sure if the current system actually prevents recovering the passwords. Do they require this authorization even to use a show password option on a website or the equivalent effect via bookmarklet-style javascript? I suspect they don't and it doesn't try to protect from intentional theft only casual viewing of passwords. This might still be valuable for some people, but it would be more valuable to fully protect the profile. I worry that people will think they are more protected than they actually are and that this effect will be increased by the use of system login credentials.

Also, IMO the list of sites that you have passwords for should be treated as just as sensitive as the passwords themselves. I think as is you can often see the sites with accounts, visit them, and have the current password autofilled into the old password field of the change password dialog.

The "generate password" option is great, even though personally I would make it 21 characters rather than 15 (there might be an option for that?). IMO, no one should ever choose a password.

amartya916 · 6 years ago

Thanks for taking the time to pen a thoughtful response. I really appreciate the point about training users to enter login credentials, how it might be risky, and also that this could lead to a false sense of security.

That being said, I do think that these features will overall lead to better password hygiene for people who do not have access to the kinds of info we have (especially where FF warns about passwords shared across sites; that's a feature that iOS does fairly well; in KeyChain, they show a warning label next to a password shared between multiple sites).

P.S. The point about securing a list of sites that you have passwords for is fantastic as well.

amartya916 commented on Firefox 76 mozilla.org/en-US/firefox... · Posted by u/kalimatas

amartya916 · 6 years ago

Thank you to the Firefox team, this seems like a really nice release. I am very happy about the "If you don’t have a master password set up for Firefox, Windows and macOS now requires a login to your operating system account before showing your saved passwords." change. It might seem like a small change, but it's one of those friction points (another password to remember!) that will lead to (hopefully) more people using the built-in password autofill. Thank you again!

Anyone with a security background or someone who has thought through this more: what are the implications of making the OS level authentication the default, and then only ask to make a master pwd if there are no OS level login pwds? Is one or the other more secure?