Kyle Rankin @kyle@librem.one

Here's a fun pull quote: "The AI system was deliberately designed without a manual override to "provoke thought and learning in the test environment""

Who had "US Air Force launches SkyNet" on their 2020 bingo card? https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/12/16/air-force-artificial-intelligence/

My big fat Greek reading list. (Actually almost finished with Durant, and this will be my second time reading The Iliad, but first time with Fagles translation.)

Want to take a COVID test at home? You must install an app to get the results: "Ellume’s test requires users to download an app on their smartphone to learn their test result. That app automatically sends data by Zip code to the cloud"

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2020/12/15/covid-home-rapid-test/

It's also because tight control w/ trust rooted in the vendor is "easy mode" for lazy security engineers. It's much harder to design security measures that treat end users like adults.

It's because most vendors think of customers as children that must be protected from themselves by removing as much agency and control as possible. This also makes customers completely dependent on them.

Have you noticed that a parent's default way to protect a child's security w/ tech (lock the device, tightly restrict what they can do, spy on everything) is exactly the same approach most vendors use to protect an adult customer's security?

Apple always uses security and privacy as a cover for more control: "Apple says it must tightly control the way software is installed ... to protect its customers from ... viruses and other security threats and ... apps that invade its customers’ privacy." https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2020/12/10/cydia-apple-lawsuit/

When it's particularly cold in my office, either my desk or my Model M keyboard contract unevenly such that the keyboard is no longer flat on the desk and wobbles until the office warms up.

I strongly approve the high density of puns in this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/12/08/shakespeare-britain-pfizer-coronavirus-vaccine/

Fragmentation is a massive problem in computer software development that has only gotten worse with mobile computers. In this article I talk about how we've avoided fragmentation with the Librem 5 by using the same OS we use on our laptops. https://puri.sm/posts/preventing-fragmentation-with-the-librem-5/

"Based on your recent purchase, follow the authors Homer and Aeschylus to get their latest updates."

One very cool thing about the Librem 5 compared to other phones is that when you run into a problem, all of the standard Linux troubleshooting techniques and tools work just like you'd expect. "This is UNIX. I know this."

I disagree with part of the quote. Apple is expanding its business in addition to hardware, not instead of it. They need complete control of hardware to enforce how competitors can use their platforms.

Ouch: "They [Apple] claim it's about privacy, but it's about profit. ... We are not fooled. This is all part of a transformation of Apple's business away from innovative hardware products to data-driven software and media." https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2020/11/apple-moving-forward-with-plan-to-limit-creepy-user-tracking/

The ancient Greeks had spirits; we have apps:

"What oppressed the pious Greek was the cloud of spirits that surrounded him, ready and able, he believed, to spy upon him, interfere with him, and do him evil." -- Durant