I love the Sim City games (ever since I played the original in school in the early 90s!) I recently grabbed Cities: Skylines on Switch when it was on sale for less than $10 and I haven't dived in yet, but I'm psyched to eventually.
But this time, instead of just jumping in and building whatever (as I often do, recently with both the Sim City mobile game and the Sim City on DS), I'm doing some research on city design, to try and build something in a meaningful way. I want to see what designs I really like most, etc. From what I hear about Skylines, it's super realistic, and I should be able to build a cool, futuristic city that's fully green, sustainable, etc.
Anybody else played Skylines or is a big fan of any of the other Sim City games?
🆕 blog! “Using disposable phone numbers for better security”
Last night I received a call from my bank. They'd detected an unusual transaction and wanted to make sure that it was legitimate. Had I recently purchased £10,000 worth of crypto in the Maldives? What?!!? No! ARGH! I started to panic. All my apes money gone! No. Wait. The other thing. I kn…
#Boston - Weekend events thread: Memorial Day 2024 Edition. There's a ton going on around town, but what's on your radar, #NewEngland?
Friday's going to be hot again in the mid 80s, but Saturday and Sunday should be cooler/cloudier in the mid-upper 70s. Memorial Day Monday might have rainy afternoon cookouts, in the upper 60s.
(Promote this weekend's events with #BostonWeekend to play along 1/?)
I learned this week that there are prepaid SIM numbers that are not showing up in their database hence there is no need to SIM reg.
What is interesting is that, these SIM numbers also doesn't expire. You can use it regularly for SMS and calls, load it, some even have unlimited data (enable a low-tier Internet data and it becomes unlimited).
Here's the kicker, there are people who are looking for these numbers and will buy it for a very high premium. Though I'm suspecting these are from the mobile operators because they are hunting these numbers so they can disable it.
SA Mobile Network Operators recycling Cellphone ‘unused’ numbers without notifying Customers
From Daily Maverick 9 Sep 2023: Vodacom recycles numbers after four months of inactivity, whereas Cell C, MTN and Telkom do so after three months. These operators argue that the practice is driven by the high demand for cellphone numbers from new customers.
🆕 blog! “There's nothing you can do to prevent a SIM-swap attack”
It is tempting to think that users are to blame for their own misfortune. If only they'd had a stronger password! If only they didn't re-use credentials! If only they had perfect OpSec! If only...! Yes, users should probably take better care of their digital credentials and bury t…
As I hope you've already discovered, the Fediverse is nothing like Twitter/𝕏. There is no algorithm automatically forwarding your posts to those who might be interested in them. Also, even though Mastodon has introduced full-text search, it's only slowly picking up.
Instead, the key to post visibility and discoverability is using hashtags.
If you're using OpenSim, and you aren't sure what to tag, here are some recommendations. If I mention a tag explicitly, it most likely already exists.
First of all, of course, #OpenSimulator and #OpenSim. You may use either, but I recommend using both.
Then there's #Metaverse. The OpenSim community has used that word for some 15 years already. Besides, it helps demonstrate three things to those who search for it. One, "The Metaverse" isn't dead. Two, it wasn't invented by Zuckerberg either. Three, it can be done and has been done without a blockchain, a cryptocurrency and NFTs. (If you want to write about Zuck's worlds, use #Horizons or specifically #HorizonWorlds instead.)
I myself also use #VirtualWorlds, and so do some Second Life and OpenSim users.
If you write about a grid or mention it sufficiently, tag it. #OSgrid, #Kitely, #3rdRockGrid, #Groovyverse, #CraftWorld, #Bridgemere, #DorenasWorld, #Dereos, #ArtDestiny, #DiscoveryGrid, #BarefootDreamers, #Neverworld, #Astralia, #AviWorlds, #EtheriaGrid, #TheGridThatShallNotBeNamed (you know which one I mean) etc. This should include dead grids such as #Metropolis.
Sometimes things might get complicated, for example if there's a popular abbreviation or acronym for a grid. In that case, feel free to tag e.g. both #AlternateMetaverse and #AMV or both #GreatCanadianGrid and #GCG. It really only gets complicated with #WolfTerritories, #WolfTerritoriesGrid, #WTGrid and #WolfGrid, all four of which have been used by Lone Wolf himself.
In addition, if you actually write about a grid, you might want to use #Grid. Not so much for fleeting mentions.
Of course, #Hypergrid if you mention that.
Events usually come with their own official suggestions for social media hashtags. This year, for example, we've already had #OSG16B for OSgrid's 16th birthday, #OSFest2023 for OpenSimFest (#OpenSimFest or #OSFest) and #HIE2023 for the Hypergrid International Expo (#HypergridInternationalExpo, #HIE or #HIEOpenSim). The OpenSimulator Community Conference is always shortened to #OSCC, and the year is always two-digit, e.g. #OSCC23. And let's not forget #CornflakesWeek.
Other things worth tagging include OpenSim's own mesh bodies: #RuthAndRoth for the whole project, #Ruth2 and #Roth2. #RuthToo and #RothToo or even #RuthTooRC3 and #RothTooRC1. #LuvMyBod. #Max, #Maxine and #Maxwell.
Some more examples for OpenSim-related tags I've used before: #OAR, #HGSafari, #MadeInOpenSim, #ArcadiaAsylum, #LbsaPlaza, #WrightPlaza, #EventPlaza, #Clutterfly, #OpenSimWorld, #BakesOnMesh (feel free to yoink this one, Second Life users), #FirestormViewer (ditto), #PBR (ditto), #LSL (ditto) and #OSSL, #ZHAO (ditto) and #khAOs, #SFposer, #DreamGrid, #Sim, #SimBuilding (good for talking about how a sim is built)... You could also reference what I call #TheGreatGridDyingOf2022.
More generally, there are tags such as #Avatar/#Avatars, #VirtualArchitecture, #VirtualTravel and #VirtualClothing/#VirtualFashion. And if it's related to education, #VirtualWorldsEducation would be the tag.
It is tempting to think that users are to blame for their own misfortune. If only they'd had a stronger password! If only they didn't re-use credentials! If only they had perfect OpSec! If only...!
Yes, users should probably take better care of their digital credentials and bury them in a digital vault. But there are some things which are simply impossible for a user to protect against. Take, for example, a SIM-swap attack.
You probably have your phone-number tied to all sorts of important services. If you want to recover your email, log in to a bank, or prove your identity - you'll probably need to receive a call or SMS. If an attacker can take over your phone number, they're one step closer to taking over your accounts.
I keep saying "your phone number", but that's a clever lie. The phone number does not belong to you. It belongs to the network operator and they define which SIM the number points to.
This means a suitably authorised person at the telco can point "your" number to a new SIM card. That's helpful if you've lost your SIM but bad if an attacker wants to divert your number.
What can you do to stop this attack? Nothing.
Oh, you can have a strong and unique password on your account, and you can hope your telco uses TOTP and PassKeys. But it turns out that it is possible to bribe telco employees for the low, low price of US$1000.
If your security rests on a phone number, you've effectively outsourced your security to the most bribeable manager employed by your telco.
Now, I said there's nothing you can do. That isn't quite true. You can attempt to pen-test yourself.
Go to your phone company's account. Set a long password and complex password. Change your mother's maiden name to HK2BY@]'PU,:!VQ;}baTj. Turn on every security measure you can find. Call the phone company from a different phone and explain that you lost your phone and want a new SIM card. If they ask for your mother's maiden name, say "Oh, I set it to a long stream of gibberish". If they ask where to send the SIM, give a trusted friend's address. If your phone company is negligent and send out a new SIM on the basis of poor verification, then you should move your number to a more reputable provider.
It's good fun to try and social-engineer a call-centre worker for your own details. But it's probably illegal to try and bribe someone to hijack yourself.
Anyway, please try to remove your phone number as a critical lynchpin in your security regime.
"After the deadline, all unregistered #SIMCards will permanently lose access to all telecommunication and #SocialMedia access. For those who will buy a new #SIM, they will still need to provide identification documents before they could activate it." #Philippines#SIMRegistration
Thrive is a free and open source evolution sim from Revolutionary Games Studio that's currently in-development, and a new release has rolled out with v0.6.5 bringing some gameplay additions.
Anyone have a suggestion for an Australian SIM card for use while on holiday over there? Looking for unlimited/large number of minutes calling NZ & OZ. Plus data of some sort.
This line proves that the SIM Registration law is ineffective against spam, "Globe said it was aware of rising cases in the wake of stricter SMS regulation through the SIM Registration Act."
It's looking more and more like the PH government pushed for this law for surveillance of its citizens.
Discuss: What's your favorite Sims game and why?
I'm a big fan of 3, personally, as I believe it has a very solid content base.
Emilia Pinball : A Libre pinball simulator for GNU Linux (github.com)
Emilia Pinball : A Libre pinball simulator for GNU Linux - GitHub - adoptware/pinball: Emilia Pinball : A Libre pinball simulator for GNU Linux
Free and open source evolution sim Thrive gets big new gameplay features in v0.6.5 (www.gamingonlinux.com)
Thrive is a free and open source evolution sim from Revolutionary Games Studio that's currently in-development, and a new release has rolled out with v0.6.5 bringing some gameplay additions.
Monster Rancher 1 - Make any monster without CDs/Optical drive (kbin.social)
I apologize if this isn't cross-posted correctly. New to KBIN and difficult to find how to do this....
KoranMandala.com (t.me)
Bagi warga Bandung yang akan melakukan perpanjangan SIM, berikut informasi mengenai jadwal SIM Keliling Bandung untuk Sabtu tanggal 25 Mei 2024....