Matt Panhans @mpanhans@librem.one

The FTC has stayed taking Ls (losses) in recent years. A judge just dismissed the FTC’s attempt to block Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision.

This is what happens when instead of focusing on its mission of protecting consumers, the FTC succumbed to the anti big tech narrative being pushed my media like the NYT.

And now it keeps getting embarrassed by losses in court.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/7/11/23779039/microsoft-activision-blizzard-ftc-trial-win

Whoa. Sophos researchers just announced that they’ve uncovered 133 malicious drivers signed with legitimate digital certificates, and found 100 of of those 133 drivers were signed by Microsoft.

https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2023/07/11/microsoft-revokes-malicious-drivers-in-patch-tuesday-culling/

From the post:

"Today, Microsoft issued Security Advisory ADV230001 as part of their July Windows Update that addresses Sophos’ discovery of more than 100 malicious drivers that had been digitally signed by Microsoft and others, dating as far back as April 2021."

"They also released Knowledge Base article 5029033, which includes new, more detailed information on the technical measures Microsoft has taken to protect against these malicious signed drivers. Sophos has had protection measures in place since 2022 that could detect the presence of, and block the installation of, these drivers."

https://msrc.microsoft.com/update-guide/vulnerability/ADV230001

https://support.microsoft.com/help/5029033

I wrote recently about one of the bigger names in signing malware as a service:

https://krebsonsecurity.com/2023/06/ask-fitis-the-bear-real-crooks-sign-their-malware/

Here we go again.

Tons more malware signed by Microsoft again. Good on Sophos here for telling them.

Microsoft have got to sort this out. Aside from being super embarrassing for them, it’s pretty woeful that they keep trying to sell us on the idea they block malicious drivers when they keep directly signing them. At least flag packed files, MS.
https://news.sophos.com/en-us/2023/07/11/microsoft-revokes-malicious-drivers-in-patch-tuesday-culling/

Why Don’t We Build Skyscrapers Out Of Wood?. This is Ascent Milwaukee. A gorgeous combo luxury apartment and retail space. But if you look closely, you might notice something special about this building… Figured it out yet? It’s made out o... https://undecidedmf.com/why-dont-we-build-skyscrapers-out-of-wood/

I am not open to your ahistorical take on Google Chat and XMPP.

Google didn't do anything wrong by using an open standard.

They didn't do anything wrong by building a good interface that people liked to use.

And they didn't do anything wrong by disconnecting from the network when the spam and harassment outweighed the benefit to their users.

We, the XMPP community, failed to capitalize on success by diversifying the network. It's our own fault not enough nodes were there.

The wheel turns for blogs and social media https://crookedtimber.org/2023/07/08/the-wheel-turns/

Rabbits can swim..

It’s REALLY important that #Vancouver’s Downtown Business Association, who were originally AGAINST downtown bike-lanes, later became one of their most vigourous supporters, because of EVIDENCE that bike-lanes are better for downtown business than any street parking they replace.

#cities #bikes #downtowns #cars #BikeLanes

Fairphone is coming to America

Fairphone teams up with the developer of the /e/ Android fork to enable US sales.

https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/07/fairphone-is-coming-to-america/?utm_brand=arstechnica&utm_social-type=owned&utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=social

Sir Isaac Newton's "Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica" was published #OTD in 1687. Often referred to as just “the Principia,” it presents Newton’s laws of motion and his universal law of gravitation.

336 years old and we still teach its main results!

An important note!

The “publication date” of July 5, 1687 is a convenient starting point for a discussion of Principia. But as @rmathematicus explains in this blog post, it is not a publication date in the sense commonly understood today.

Rather than spoil the punchline, I encourage you to read the post:

https://thonyc.wordpress.com/2014/07/05/published-on/