Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

Customers are asking us about the recent GRUB2 vulnerability so I wrote a quick post explaining how it works and why @purism hardware isn't affected. For even more details, check out Dan Goodin's excellent Ars Technica article I link in my post.

https://puri.sm/posts/why-the-grub2-secure-boot-flaw-doesnt-affect-purism-computers/

@johns When your garden is surrounded by a wall you don't control, you have to sneak in plants through the side door.

TikTok offers 3rd parties to audit their code to quiet #privacy concerns. Auditability, not just of TikTok w/ hand-picked regulators/experts, is critical for software we rely on. For real privacy and security, you want software w/ a #FOSS license. https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/07/29/tiktok-privacy-antitrust-china/

We're just a grasshopper nation wondering why we can't have the same outcome as ant nations without putting in the work.

@murph I take pictures, keep them offline, and share with family/friends via a private self-hosted album under my full control, just like you would an old-fashioned photo album you'd bring out when the grandparents come over.

@crunklord420 There can be good reasons to have an online persona associated with your real identity. I'm making a calculated risk when it comes to managing my own online persona.

I appreciate this view might seem radical to some. But I prefer people get my consent before posting pictures of me, and I'm extending the same courtesy to my child, recognizing he can't yet consent. I err on the side of not sharing, since you can't unring that bell.

You don't own your child's persona. You are entrusted with protecting it. Their images belong to them, sharing them w/o consent (age of consent rules apply here) could harm their future when they take ownership of their permanent online record.

I'm glad to see mainstream pieces on the #privacy issues behind sharing kid pics. I treat my child's online persona like a financial trust in his name: I am a trustee charged to manage/protect it until he is old enough to take ownership. https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2020/07/27/four-things-keep-mind-when-posting-about-your-kids-online/

So now car companies will be faced with the choice of harvesting and selling our data, or leaving money on the table and facing shareholder wrath. Does @purism needs to make a car with hardware kill switches? #privacy https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/m7jpmp/car-companies-want-to-monitor-your-every-move-with-emotion-detecting-ai

Apple may say it's doing something because of privacy or security, but it always comes back to control: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/07/24/apple-find-my-competition/

I'm excited to announce that our Librem 14 laptop will now feature BIOS and EC flash chip write protection via a dip switch on the motherboard: https://puri.sm/posts/librem-14-features-bios-and-ec-write-protection/

I've been using a cheap repeater to boost Wifi in my van, but I just replaced it w/ a USB WiFi card w/ a weatherproof antenna mounted under my cellular booster. Inside it's connected to my RPi media PC and the onboard RPi WiFi is configured as an access point. #vanlife #geeklife

@yaelwrites I'd be curious to hear your thoughts on an older piece I wrote back when they were called "systems administrators" and whether you think career arcs have changed between now and then: https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/sysadmin-101-leveling