Paul Tötterman @ptman@librem.one

RaptorCS's redemption: the POWER9 machine works

https://drewdevault.com/2019/10/10/RaptorCS-redemption.html

For the unintiated:

https://www.usenix.org/system/files/1311_05-08_mickens.pdf

https://mickens.seas.harvard.edu/tenure-announcement

James Mickens is a treasure

Let's talk about HTML5 live streaming. There are two competing technologies for it: DASH and HLS. They are terrible.

When both were implemented, there already existed several established, simple, standardized, and broadly supported options for live streaming video. Browsers wanted none of it.

Instead, Apple came up with HLS. It splits your video and audio into separate streams and then cuts them up into N second chunks (usually 5-30 seconds). Then it uses JavaScript to poll a playlist file for the list of upcoming segments, then munges them into a non-live <video> and <audio> element in real time.

This garbage is patent encumbered.

Therefore, Google made basically the exact same thing except they used XML, fucking XML, for the manifest.

This is what's happening behind the scenes of all live video you watch on the internet. This is also in no small part responsible for livestreaming video murdering any low-powered devices you try to play it on. Because JavaScript is king and standards are for losers.

Firefox for Android has decided to disable its own navigation buttons on all pages, and the system back button now always exits back to home screen. A browser in which you can only navigate forward by clicking new links. As cheerfully optimistic as this sounds, I am quite disappointed.

Here's a simple security privacy thing which I think should be possible, but the rockstars have not aligned.

Was setting up Uber on a new phone (for reasons). I need to enter a credit card. Every app now has a feature where I can take a picture of the card, but this requires camera access. Can be revoked, but requires digging through settings. But all the app needs is a number. Why no option for letting the app read a number through the camera?

A lot of privacy concerns could be alleviated by only providing processed data, not sensor access. Mobile OS service architecture seems built for this as well.

@nikolal @jonah Matrix and the clients are two different problems... ;) Riot is not exactly the best example of what could be done, it's just what's available...

That said, matrix is the best decentralized chat option at the moment till someone makes something better...

"U.S. attorney general William Barr has said consumers should accept the risks that encryption backdoors pose to their personal cybersecurity to ensure law enforcement can access encrypted communications." 🙄 https://techcrunch.com/2019/07/23/william-barr-consumers-security-risks-backdoors/

me: I lost my phone. I need a new SIM card.
shop assistant: phone number please.
me: +436...
he: here is your new SIM. we will charge 10 € on your next invoice.

don't trust phone numbers as identifiers. #signal #whatsapp