Slides from my #debconf20 talk 'My phone runs Debian - and it does phone calls!' (https://debconf20.debconf.org/talks/13-my-phone-runs-debian-and-it-does-phone-calls/) are at https://git.sigxcpu.org/cgit/talks/2020-debconf-mobile/plain/talk.pdf
There's links at the end to the projects / talks i've mentioned.
If you need some #debconf20 entertainment around #phosh and #libhandy, watch this talk by @agx: https://meetings-archive.debian.net/pub/debian-meetings/2020/DebConf20/13-my-phone-runs-debian-and-it-does-phone-calls.webm
Some say that people don't care about #privacy, but Facebook is convinced that enough people won't opt into being tracked that they are removing tracking by unique phone identifier entirely before opt in gets implemented in iOS 14: #powerofdefaults https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/ios-14-privacy-settings-will-tank-ad-targeting-business-facebook-warns/
One promise of neural tech is to supplement humans w/ apps that provide instant skills/knowledge. Imagine Apple and an app company get in a dispute, Apple removes the app, and you lose the ability to speak Mandarin/drive/cook/play guitar/write software?
If a computer can read/write directly to your brain, does it change how you feel about vendor control of which software you can use or whether you can see the code? What about subsidizing hardware/software w/ ads or selling data they access through the computer?
Given what you know about the current state of phone technology and Internet #privacy, which tech company would you trust to control your neural implant? https://www.theverge.com/2020/8/26/21402240/neuralink-august-2020-event-brain-machine-interface-working-demonstration
Making this video took me pretty long but I wanted to correctly underline how great and unique the design of this smartphone is :
https://puri.sm/posts/the-design-behind-a-modular-and-secure-mobile-phone/
It reminds me of standard NSA denials on spying in a particular way "in this program" because they use a different program to do that.
In essence, Google's privacy policy allowed Google app A to grab location data from Google app B, even if you disabled location services from A but not B.
"Documents released also show that Google’s privacy policy was crafted in a way to allow applications that had location tracking turned off from using the location tracking information from another Google application that had location tracking on" #privacy https://www.azmirror.com/2020/08/24/unsealed-google-lawsuit-docs-show-its-own-engineers-were-confused-by-privacy-settings/
3D Gaming on the Librem 5
https://puri.sm/posts/3d-gaming-on-the-librem-5/
The Vivante GC7000Lite GPU in the Librem 5 provides a lot of 3D rendering power while still protecting your #freedom with free software drivers. Here’s a look at how some 3D games run on the Librem 5 today.
#PureOS for Creatives Part 1: Music Production with the #librem15
"In 2020, there is a free software equivalent for every mainstream commercial program on the market today."
https://puri.sm/posts/pureos-for-creatives-part-1-music-production-with-the-librem-15/
The first in a three-part series on PureOS for Creatives by our guest blogger, Tre Scranton
Wow, after a single week of on-campus instruction, student/staff COVID-19 infections went from 10 to 177, prompting UNC-Chapel Hill to move to remote learning: https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/unc-chapel-hill-coronavirus-cluster/2020/08/17/8ebce060-e0ab-11ea-8181-606e603bb1c4_story.html
All the more reason to take control over your own location data and how it's shared, instead of hoping proprietary software funded by your data is operating in your best interests (it isn't): https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/08/secret-service-other-agencies-buy-access-to-mobile-phone-location-data/ #privacy
Social media is going to be intolerable the next six months with all the helicopter parents and celebrities nagging me every day to practice good hygiene, vote and get vaccinated. #yourenotmyrealdad
My uninformed theory about the Mozilla layoffs is that Google waited for anti-trust hearings and then canceled/drastically reduced FF sponsorship claiming COVID cost-cutting, safe in the knowledge that browsers weren't brought up in the hearings. #speculation
"DSP chips are much more vulnerable to risks as they are being managed as ‘Black Boxes’ since it can be very complex for anyone other than their manufacturer to review their design, functionality or code." https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2020/08/snapdragon-chip-flaws-put-1-billion-android-phones-at-risk-of-data-theft/
Technical author, FOSS advocate, public speaker, Linux security & infrastructure geek, author of The Best of Hack and /: Linux Admin Crash Course, Linux Hardening in Hostile Networks and many other books, ex-Linux Journal columnist.