Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

I bought and plugged Echo in tonight
And she hears every whisper of each quiet conversation
She streams a song, then books a flight
Her LEDs reflect the stars that guide me toward salvation
I stopped an old man along the way
Hoping to find some old forgotten words to reclaim privacy
He turned to me as if to say
"Foolish boy, it's listening to you!"

OK everyone, time to reset your face and fingerprint. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/aug/14/major-breach-found-in-biometrics-system-used-by-banks-uk-police-and-defence-firms

After decades of suffering through ipchains/iptables syntax, and seeing how easy fw and ufw made common firewall workflows, it's disappointing that the best Debian's iptables replacement can do is:

nft add rule inet filter input tcp dport 22 accept

When syntax for common workflows is complicated, you increase the chance the admin will make a mistake that exposes them to attackers. See S3 bucket permissions for more examples of this. #infosec #devops

I really appreciate all of the kind and generous offers to host Linux Journal mirrors. For that matter many of the ex-staff (including me) have the knowledge + resources to mirror, but site hosting is up to the parent company as they own it, not the ex-staff.

I can't speak for the rest of the @linuxjournal archive, but I own the decade+ worth of articles I wrote. A lot of them are just as relevant today (I refer to them myself quite often). Would anyone be interested in some kind of "Best of Hack and /" polished and updated compilation?

The Register covered my article announcing @linuxjournal closing and included a number of quotes from my first goodbye that add extra context. https://www.theregister.co.uk/AMP/2019/08/08/linux_journal_closes_again_editor_says_os_buried_under_proprietary_software/

Here's to an amazing 25 year run @linuxjournal, cheers!

I'm so sorry to say it, but today @linuxjournal closed down for good. As you can imagine we are all so sad that this is the end. You can read my final goodbye here:
https://www.linuxjournal.com/content/linux-journal-ceases-publication-awkward-goodbye

I had accepted that machines will take over many jobs in the coming decades but tasting whisky? That's the last straw. https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/is-that-rare-whiskey-bottle-the-real-deal-this-artificial-tongue-can-make-the-call/

The lengths some will go to escape vendor lock-in: Two men bribed AT&T employees over $1 million to install malware that unlocked iPhones. https://www.zdnet.com/article/at-t-employees-took-bribes-to-plant-malware-on-the-companys-network/

My #FOSS roots must run deep, because I just bought a corded jigsaw to avoid the vendor lock-in from the incompatible lithium ion battery systems in modern power tools.

The quid pro quo between Ring (gets police 911 data) and the police (gets access to Ring customer devices) is more troubling then either arrangement by itself. #privacy https://gizmodo.com/cops-are-giving-amazons-ring-your-real-time-911-data-1836883867

It's not too late for bug bounty companies to source practical grasshopper-plague-related swag. Swatters, bug spray, mesh netting: #infosec #plagueoflocusts #defcon #blackhat https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/27/us/grasshoppers-vegas.html

Paige should have watched Hackers. You don't hack a bank across state lines from your house, you'll get nailed by the FBI. Posting evidence on your personal Github is universally stupid. https://www.engadget.com/2019/07/29/capital-one-data-breach/