@DanielRThomas@social.coop
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

DanielRThomas

@DanielRThomas@social.coop

Lecturer at the University of Strathclyde, Computer & Information Sciences. Measuring security and cybercrime ethically. Volunteer board member for Loco Home Retrofit. I like active travel. Environmentalist. Christian.

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DanielRThomas, to random
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

Lots of beautiful flowers across Glasgow at the moment but I am unable to shake the feeling that something is very wrong: Where are all the bees?! Just not natural to have so many flowers and nearly no pollinators...

DanielRThomas, to random
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

I now have an official work S/MIME certificate for signing my email :-) (and digitally signing documents). Possibly one of only 2 or 3 people across the uni with this (I needed it to sign a letter for someone from a country where digital signatures on documents are normal).

Edent, to random
@Edent@mastodon.social avatar

UK friends - do you have an air conditioner?
If so, which one?
There are so many different options and I don't know how to choose!

Boosts, as ever, appreciated.

(UK replies only, thanks. Not interested in fans & ice-cubes. Will be run off solar power, so I'm comfortable with the energy usage. Yes, I hate having to ward off reply-guys with these long disclaimers.)

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@Edent A ground source heat pump can provide you with "free" passive cooling in the summer (if configured correctly) as it stores the heat away in the ground for use in the winter. Capital outlay is higher but if you don't already have a heat pump then it could be a good option.

waldoj, to random
@waldoj@mastodon.social avatar

Trumpism is taking over American Christianity, which in turn is driving many Americans away from Christianity. Affiliation with the religion has dropped precipitously in the past decade. https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2024-04-07/trump-s-brand-of-christian-conservatism-is-driving-people-from-church

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@waldoj What surprises me the most is that the Bible has detailed descriptions of what bad leaders look like and how to avoid them and I think Trump matches every single one of those red flags.

DanielRThomas, to random
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

Ross Anderson was someone people would go to talk to when they had a Problem. Over the years many large organisations that tried to steamroller "little people" found to their surprise that their steamroller had a large dent in it because Ross and his friends had that person's back. Sometime that helped put those steamrollers beyond use and saved many thousands of people from ever experiencing it.

DanielRThomas, to random
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

Exactly: 'The fact that the majority of web users block ads reveals a strong preference for not being spied on ("users just want relevant ads" is such an obvious lie that doesn't merit any serious discussion)' https://pluralistic.net/2024/01/24/everything-not-mandatory/#is-prohibited @pluralistic

mattblaze, to photography
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

I just got a complaint about my posts, which I concluded came from a troll, but perhaps I’m actually coming off in a way that rubs people the wrong way here.

The complaint was that by posting high resolution images and describing in detail the processes used to create them, I’m merely “showing off” in a way that isn’t useful to most people.

I indeed do rather niche photography, using relatively esoteric gear. I think some people are interested in process and enjoy the results.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mattblaze While it is not what I followed you for, it is very interesting and I enjoy it. Bring your whole self. 🙂

MishaalRahman, to random
@MishaalRahman@androiddev.social avatar

The Pixel 8 series launches with Android 14 and will get 7 years of software support, including annual OS updates, monthly security updates, and quarterly Pixel Feature Drops. This means they'll be supported till 2030.

I can't emphasize enough how big of a deal this is.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@MishaalRahman 7 years is a huge improvement in support length, but Fairphone is offering 10 years, so still a long way off the market leader in long term support.

briankrebs, to random

We're all just a bunch of frogs sitting in a pot as it gently warms on the stove, too stupid or lazy or comfortable to jump out just yet. But soon to be part of the stew.

In this "enshittified" world, we don't actually own any of the things we buy. The vendor either sells all customer data up front, or what's sold is offered mainly on a subscription basis, even as they're reselling that data. Any terms, prices or promises can be changed on a dime, and your only "choice" is "okay" or not to use the thing.

This fairly describes your privacy expectations for commercial services in the USA. We are long overdue for a Privacy Bill of Rights that says quite simply, if you sell it and it actively collects and transmits data, you have to up front offer consumers the option to turn all it off. Full stop. And then respect that decision in perpetuity.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@briankrebs The only electric vehicle option without spyware is the electric (cargo) bike, but that requires a well designed city to work well.

DanielRThomas, to poetry
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

I have waited for you
too long
cried out to you
in all the ways I know
but no response
so now I press you
gently
for six brief seconds
and you are gone
briefly mourned
then restarted

briankrebs, to random

We're big supporters of the EFF, but I can't get on board with the idea that somehow it's wrong or a slippery slope for Tier 1 ISPs to be blocking Kiwifarms.

https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2023/08/isps-should-not-police-online-speech-no-matter-how-awful-it

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@briankrebs How did he end up running that AS... I wonder if there is murkiness there to uncover.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@briankrebs Yes but to have an OG number and plenty of IP space means taking something over and there is more than one way to do that.

mjg59, to random
@mjg59@nondeterministic.computer avatar

It's cheaper to buy a seat and a room supplement on the Caledonian Sleeper than it is to just book the room directly, is there any reason this is a bad idea?

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mjg59 There might be a risk of no rooms being available when you go to buy the supplement and one does not willingly travel twice in one of those seats. The rooms are nice but the seats are designed to encourage you to buy an upgrade. If you are visiting Glasgow then you would be welcome to visit Strathclyde, but I am sure you have more exciting things planned.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mjg59 The supplement comes with the allocated room number? If so sounds good. Never tried that but travel on the sleeper semi-regularly.

TaliaRinger, to random
@TaliaRinger@mathstodon.xyz avatar

Me: I'm having some weird anxiety about this course though

Professor for the other section of the same course: oh that's not weird anxiety, that's normal anxiety

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@cohomologyisFUN @TaliaRinger A colleague at another university was first told they were giving an introductory talk to new students 15 minutes before they were scheduled to give the talk and as they were outside and not on campus they ended up having a clown unicycle through the back of their video... Not quite as bad as your nightmare though.

timnitGebru, to random
@timnitGebru@dair-community.social avatar

We got an email from someone who was falsely accused of using ChatGPT to generate their essays.

My name is XXX I am a XXX year old XX student at XXX. I am currently being falsely accused of using Artificial Intelligence (AI) on an assignment of mine. The AI detector is used through the company "Turnitin".

I am contacting you because I am interested in discussing this subject with someone who is willing to listen.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@timnitGebru How can that university stand that up as an academic process? Turnitin's AI detector is useless as it can present no evidence that AI was actually used and is well known to have a high false positive rate. If a student at Strathclyde appealed such a broken process they would easily win. We of course have disabled as broken Turnitin's AI detector along with most (all?) UK universities.

Nifflas, (edited ) to random
@Nifflas@mastodon.gamedev.place avatar

When an app asks for permissions, the OS should not only let you answer yes or no. Every category should have a "yes, but feed the app fake data" option.

Want my contacts for no reason? Have these generated fake ones! Wanna listen to my microphone? Here's random ambiance sounds! Location? I'm on a tiny 5x5m island!

Hell yeah! Put it all in your databases mfers!

Actively punishing services wins over boycotts any day. Didn't want that junk in the database? Don't ask for it!

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@Nifflas There was a nice academic project doing this on Android in about 2012 but I don't think it took off.

briankrebs, to random

Long rant/observation....

You know what secretly holds much of the financially-oriented cybercrime world together? It's the relatively few evil code wizards who are really good at making malware look benign. They call them cryptors, or encryptors, and their services are known as "crypting."

Crypting is a core method by which malware purveyors try to evade antivirus and security tools, and virtually all serious malware that is deployed for use in data stealing at some point needs to be crypted. Because if you're not doing stuff to obfuscate your malware before sending it out, it's probably going to mostly get caught by antivirus. So, if you're not crypting it yourself (challenging), you probably need to pay someone else to do that.

There are countless cybercriminals who've hung out their shingles as crypting service providers, but most of these people are really not very good at what they do, and are soon out of business. Still, there are a fair number of crypting services that have been around for a while and do a passable job, with somewhat unreliable results.

However, it's crazy how many different big time cybercrime outfits turn to a fairly small number of super-scary crytpers who've been doing malware a LONG time (15-20+ years).

One thing I have discovered in all my lurking on the forums is that the best cryptors are independent contractors who tend to have arrangements with multiple, often competing cybercriminal operations.

In short, if you want to really kneecap a number of cybercrime enterprises all at once, go after the top crypting service providers, and take them off the board.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@briankrebs We found something similar with the server operators holding the booster market together, but the difference between them and the crypter purveyors would be very interesting to investigate.

csperkins, to random
@csperkins@mastodon.social avatar

"Academic Conferences in a Late-stage Pandemic" – some thoughts on the transition back to in-person only conferences and what we should have learned about organising hybrid and safe events https://csperkins.org/research/misc/2023-06-18-conferences/

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@csperkins All @StrathCyber group meetings and public talks are hybrid and almost every week that enables at least one person who would not otherwise be able to attend at all to come. Completely agree with your post.

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

Here I am, trying to find an acceptable balance in my bedroom of ventilation (which lowers CO2 but increases AQI) and active HEPA filtration (which lowers AQI but increases irritating fan noise).

This future we’re living in sure is amazing.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mattblaze Whole home Mechanical Ventilation with Heat Recovery (MVHR) systems solve this problem but are a faff to install in existing properties and not something you can do at short notice.

dave_andersen, to random
@dave_andersen@hachyderm.io avatar

Day 2 of owning a cargo e-bike: WHEEEEEEEE! Wish I'd bought it years ago. Still don't have the proper seat, so can't haul 5yo around, but took 10yo to school (2mi round-trip) and violin (7-8mi round-trip) today and it was fantastic. As fast or faster than using the car (b/c was during rush hour). Totally fun. I'm in love.

Rough estimate is that I'm getting the equivalent of 1,100 MPG. 🤓 Love it.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mattblaze @dave_andersen Trailers are often cheaper but I prefer a cargo e-bike as then you always know exactly where all your wheels are.

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

"Grading is so much fun!" is my duress code.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mattblaze In the UK there is a marking and assessment boycott over pay at many universities. Doesn't help with your marking though.

helenczerski, to climate
@helenczerski@fediscience.org avatar

I keep thinking back to this Microlino at Fully Charged Live. Reusable water bottles became acceptable, being vegan is now cool, and so is wearing vintage clothes. So who is going to step up to the critical task of making small cars fashionable? The trend towards giant SUVs is ludicrous, incredibly wasteful and dangerous, and bad for our cities. If you must use a car, it should be as small as possible. Where are the micro-car visionaries/influencers? WE NEED YOU.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@helenczerski You are quite right. I worry about the incentives being different from the good examples you mention: small cars are cheaper and usually sold by companies that also make larger more expensive cars.

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

I've had a very long couple of days being brigaded by a group of trollish sociopaths. (I'm still getting hate email).

If I fail to give you the benefit of the doubt in the next little while and unfairly presume the worst of you, I apologize. I'll try not to do that, but I feel like that's a risk at the moment. Thanks for understanding.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mattblaze I want you to know that I really appreciate the things you post and enjoy following you. I came for the election security research but have enjoyed the other things that I wasn't expecting such as the photography. Sad to hear about all the hate you get.

mattblaze, to random
@mattblaze@federate.social avatar

My decision about whether to try Bluesky depends on what everyone else does. I just want to be where everyone else is, and not be around too many Nazis. My needs are simple.

DanielRThomas,
@DanielRThomas@social.coop avatar

@mattblaze Yes. I am also satisfied where I am and so don't want to faff with another thing.

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