nazgul

@nazgul@infosec.exchange

Passionate about making social media a safe place for everyone.

SWE with a BA in Anthropology.
Four decades on social media.
From Bell Labs intern to Meta TL in Scaled Human Review (it doesn’t). Currently consulting.
Previously nazgul, mooshjan, and coyotetoo (a long time ago) on Twitter. they/he

See pinned post for more details.

Banner Art: ©️ Shadi Fotouhi. Four self-portraits of my daughter depicting various medications and the emotions they are meant to treat.

This profile is from a federated server and may be incomplete. Browse more on the original instance.

Ten, to trans
@Ten@hachyderm.io avatar

This goes out to the other #trans people in the Fediverse, let's destroy the myth that "you're too old" to start transitioning later in life. I started hormones when I was 35 and my changes have been amazing..

..how old were YOU when you started your transition or HRT?

Please boost for visibility :)

#transgender

nazgul,

@lisamelton @Ten My therapist knew someone who transitioned in her 70’s and was happy as a clam.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

If you could pause body aging, what age would you have paused at, and why?

nazgul,

@RickiTarr Certainly before I slipped a disc in my back 10-11 years ago.

Otherwise I’d be happy with anything between my 20’s and 50’s.

nazgul, to random

Couldn’t help sharing this one.

nazgul, to random

My phone is using an AT&T plan.
My WhatsApp does not show location.
I’m in Mexico.

So someone explain to me why I’m getting Spanish spam on WhatsApp when I never did until I started using it here.

nazgul,

@tychotithonus @lauren But it’s wifi in the house, and that’s local.

jwz, to random
@jwz@mastodon.social avatar

People, the story about the toothbrush botnet does not pass the most basic sniff test.
• All articles point to a single source
• Target not named
• Researcher not named

nazgul,

@jwz The number of hacked toothbrushes also seemed large to me.

Are there multiple sources on the zoom deepfakes one? There are more details, but I haven’t seen anything about who or when.

drwhax, to random

The White House just announced visa restrictions on those involved in spyware misuse. Are you a family member of someone misusing or facilitating spyware? You can be sanctioned as well! Great step to further delegitimise the highly invasive surveillance industry!

https://www.state.gov/announcement-of-a-visa-restriction-policy-to-promote-accountability-for-the-misuse-of-commercial-spyware/

nazgul,

@drwhax @rysiek I assume NSA employees are exempt?

nazgul, to random

It’s going to be a very exciting decade for anyone interested in Greek history and mythology. This is amazing.
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00346-8

mekkaokereke, to random
@mekkaokereke@hachyderm.io avatar

Happy !

Day 5:

Why do so many Black people think Abraham Lincoln was a white supremacist? Lincoln?! Abraham Lincoln?! The man that freed the slaves?! Who fought a civil war for Black people?! Frederick Douglass' BFF?! Oh come on! You people are never happy! You can't just call everyone a white supremacist! Words mean things! White supremacist has a very specific definition!

Abraham Lincoln:
https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/109812905776999409

Black History Month Megathread:
https://hachyderm.io/@mekkaokereke/111877545844953639

nazgul,

@CarlMuckenhoupt @mekkaokereke Oddly enough, I have those quotes handy on my phone.

Northern Illinois
“Let us discard all this quibbling about this man and the other man, this race and that race and the other race being inferior, .... Let us discard all these things, and unite as one people throughout this land, until we shall once more stand up declaring that all men are created equal.

Southern Illinois - 2 months later
“I am not, nor ever have been, in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races... I [am] in favor of having the superior position assigned to the white race.”

-- Congressional candidate, Abraham Lincoln

atomicpoet, to random
@atomicpoet@atomicpoet.org avatar

Three years ago, my wife bought a Meta Quest 2 VR set.

We played Beat Saber and Race the Sun. Both were good games. But other than that, the thing gathers dust.

My biggest issue is the motion sickness. I can only last so long before I need to lie down and let the nausea pass. But also, the headset is heavy and the battery only lasts for two hours.

Which is a shame because I bought a big library of VR games on Steam, most which are still unplayed.

And this brings me to why I won’t buy the Apple Vision Pro: not only is it expensive, but I doubt there will ever be a nice library of games on it.

nazgul,

@atomicpoet @atomicpoet I can only play the games where I’m physically moving with the camera. Table Tennis is excellent because you don’t need physical feedback. The exercise apps (Supernatural) are useful. Anything else gives me vertigo.

anildash, to random
@anildash@me.dm avatar

On this day in 2007, Prince delivered the greatest Super Bowl halftime show of all time, delivering the most-viewed musical performance in American history. But the deeper personal, artistic and social themes of his performance elevated it to a cultural milestone. Prince skipped his own biggest hits like When Doves Cry & Kiss in favor of covers from artists across various decades and genres. Here’s the story behind that choice. https://www.anildash.com/2021/02/05/how-prince-won-the-super-bowl/

nazgul,

@anildash I like rereading this every time you post it.

BlackAzizAnansi, (edited ) to random
@BlackAzizAnansi@mas.to avatar

What's your favorite story about one of your family members?

nazgul,

@BlackAzizAnansi I’ve told this story before here, but FWIW.

My father came down with something that keep him from digesting any food. Other kids with it died. My grandmother and grandfather searched and searched for a cure. One day they stopped by the side of the road to pray, and when they looked up, they saw a sign advertising goats milk*. So they tried it. My father could digest it, just a teaspoon at a time. So my grandfather, former chemist turned English professor, became a goat farmer, while my grandmother started home schooling. It took a year, but my father recovered fully (and always drank large quantities of milk).

According to my 93 year aunt, they were named “Patti, Lillian Carlisle's Beauty, Giceli, Pocahontas, Bearli, Swanli & some others”.

But that’s actually a setup to my favorite story.

Since he was raising goats, my grandfather also got a donkey (Modestine, who my aunt says was a “lonely sad donkey who made a noise like a rusty pump”). He didn’t have a truck, so he transported it in the back seat of his car. Going around a corner the donkey sat on the door and bent it out. It took a little persuading, but the insurance company covered the damage.

Fast forward a few years. The family has moved from Florida to Kalamazoo, MI where he had a new job. But he was still raising goats. He needed to transport them somewhere, so he went down to the local insurance agent to make sure he’d be covered. The man there says, “You know, that’s funny. We have a company newsletter, and a few years ago there was a story in there about a man in Florida with your name who placed a claim on a donkey sitting on his car door.” My grandfather, “That was me!”

  • It turns out goats milk is one of the closest animal milks to human milk.

A young boy with his older and younger sister riding a wagon pulled by a donkey.

wendynather, to random

Started unpacking books today but got stymied by my self-appointed librarian #Caturday

nazgul,

@wendynather @deweyritten I have serious overlap with your bottom shelf. :)

briankrebs, to random

There's a huge disconnect for me rn in the IT space. Companies love to talk about an increasing deficit of smart, talented and skillful people available to help defend the cybers. Welp, a lot of those people are somehow now seeking gainful employment bc they've been laid off. Which is just nuts to me given the sheer scale, resources and effort our adversaries are throwing at everything now.

p.s. AI isn't going to fix anyone's security problems. If anything, it's going to compound them by orders of magnitude (at least in terms of data governance).

nazgul,

@briankrebs @jalcine I hadn’t even thought about “AI” and data governance. What a nightmare. We have large companies so unsure about what data is being shared where that they are trying to build tracking into the runtime engines of the languages they use. Putting a generalized system in place that knows everything, can’t be audited, and is supposed to limit the spread of data to those authorized is insane.

RickiTarr, to random
@RickiTarr@beige.party avatar

What is one of your best rainy day memories?

My Cousin Sarah and I got to stay at our Great Grandma's house together, and it was raining, and she told us we didn't have to be cooped up, we could go play in the rain. This was very exciting, because it's not something our parents would have gone for. So we twirled around and leapt in puddles and licked raindrops off rose petals. When we were done our Gran put us in a hot bath, and made us hot tea and treats. She brought out a big bag of costume jewelry and let us go through it, we tried everything on, and thought we were very fancy, and she let us keep our favorite ones.

nazgul,

@RickiTarr We were camping out at the Montreal Expo (I think? It was in the 60’s and I was a tyke.) There was a torrential downpour and wind storm and most of the tents were flattened and people were hiding in their cars, but my parents had brought a teepee. So in the midst of the gale we were happily sitting around the fire toasting marshmallows.

lisa, to random

This isn’t about the movie. And it’s neither romantic nor a comedy. If only.

Exactly one week after admitting to myself that I’m transgender, I worked up the courage to tell someone else. I came out to my wife on February 2, 2023. Yes, on Groundhog Day.

For all the joy in finally being my true self that day, it did not end well. Shortly after having that conversation, it was clear my wife wanted a divorce.

I hoped she would change her mind. But I suspect my betrayal—hiding who I really was for so, so many years—created too wide of a chasm for her to cross back over.

To be honest, I could understand her feelings. I wasn’t happy, but I could understand. So, I acquiesced to her wishes. And we began our separation that day.

While not simple or easy, untangling two lives after thirty-three years of marriage is at least possible. We committed to making our split amicable. We still talk and text. Whether we’re friends or not, we continue to be friendly with each other. That counts for something.

Our divorce was final on the first of this year, new beginnings on New Years Day it seems. And I feel so many different things about it. Failure, loneliness, anger, relief, joy and even wonder. At what comes next, mostly. My therapist tells me that’s both normal and healthy. I hope that’s true.

Anyway, I don’t think about Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell or Punxsutawney Phil today. I think about something else.

https://lisamelton.net/2024/02/02/groundhog-day/

nazgul,

@lisa @lisamelton 🤗🤗🤗 Even when your spouse has studied gender and queer theory at the PhD level it’s hard. Intellectually she knows what’s right. Emotionally she’s not prepared for how it changes how the world will perceive her in the relationship. We’ve both made compromises. And I’m fortunate that both of us are okay with that, because I know that’s not the case for everyone. It would probably be a lot harder for me if I were younger.

Best wishes on your journey. Know that you’re an inspiration to everyone who hasn’t taken those big steps. And I’m certain there’s a wonderful future for you, because you’re an amazing woman.

nazgul, to random

A friend of my daughter’s is missing in Seattle area. Please share this and be in the lookout.
Thank you.
——
Margaret is missing, She was last seen leaving work in Seattle at 4:30 pm on January 26. Il you have seen Margaret please contact the Auburn police department 253-288-2121.

Please be patient when caling police.

Height: 5’0”
Weight: 150 lbs
Hair color: dark brown
Eye color: dark brown

nazgul, to random

On the drive to Guanajuato MX from Texas US I saw bear warning signs, cow warning signs, and…butterfly speed limit signs.

I didn’t have a chance to take a picture myself, but here is one from https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fevo.2019.00273

https://www.frontiersin.org/files/Articles/457504/fevo-07-00273-HTML/image_m/fevo-07-00273-g004.jpg

deweyritten, to random

wtf is a traction control system?

nazgul,

@deweyritten My Subaru has it. When it detects that a wheel is slipping, it applies pressure to the other wheels instead (and makes a weird grating noise to let you know).

You can turn it off because in some conditions (e.g. driving in sand, deep snow) you want to get full power to all wheels no matter what).

Leastwise that’s my understanding and how I use it. I’m sure the Subaru site has more to say.

nazgul, to Synology

Taking your Apple TV to another country and running TailScale on it works like a dream. As far as the AppleTv apps are concerned, they’re still in Washington State.

Caveats.

  1. I tried using the (wired) Apple TV at home as the exit node and performance was a bit fuzzy (on a 4K tv). I didn’t try again, I just changed my exit node to my Synology at home and it’s been crystal clear.

  2. Once you’ve turned on the exit node, restart the Apple TV. Some apps may have already run and they don’t check their location after startup (I mean, why would they?).

#TailScale #VPN #Synology

futurebird, to random
@futurebird@sauropods.win avatar

These farmers have smartlocks on the barn and BLE tags on each cow. So maybe we should say:

"till the cows all log back in to the barn node"

nazgul,

@futurebird @courtcan A friend visited a farm where the cows could wander in to get milked any time, and the system would reject them if it was too early, or milk them if the time was right, and the feed them. All automated.

nazgul, to llm

I’ve been reading a lot of non-computer-related informational and how-to sites the past few months, and I’m starting to realize why LLM generators have such a verbose and roundabout description style. They didn’t make it up, that’s become the voice of the web and they adopted it.

The other day I was looking for tips on reducing back pain while washing dishes and the site went on for pages before saying “use a step stool”.

The old style web, similar to old style newspaper articles was to immediately get to the point, and then provide increasing levels of detail. This allowed the reader to immediately learn what they needed to know, and then get more information if they wanted it, up to the depth they wanted.

The new style is to make the article large to increase SEO, and to put the answer at the end to increase advertising revenue.

I hate it.

Although at least nobody will ever suspect my writing to be generated by a generic LLM.

There’s a great printer review on the web where the author was recommending the best laser printer for a home-office. The answer was clearly (and I happen to agree) a Brother laser printer. The author didn’t care about the additional ad revenue, but they couldn’t ignore the SEO issue. So they answered the question in the first paragraph, then told the reader to stop reading, and the let an LLM generate fill for the rest. (Read it, it’s amusing, in a dystopian way. https://www.theverge.com/23642073/best-printer-2023-brother-laser-wi-fi-its-fine).

The down side of LLM-generated content of course is that now every time you see something odd in an article, you start to wonder if it’s generated and shouldn’t be trusted. And while there’s something to be said for trusting stuff less, this isn’t the right path.

Today I was reading a helpful article about plumbing S-Traps vs. P-Traps and I hit this gem.

> Do you live in a very dry climate?
>
> Then it would be great to check the level of water within the trap.
>
> There’s a chance all the water from there will evaporate.
>
> If this happens, flush a large amount of money through the line and refill the trap.

Human mistake? Easter egg? LLM. I don’t know, but I laughed at least.

Random thought: If you want to make something useful from “AI”, make a browser plugin that reformats articles to work the old way.

#LLM #AI

nazgul,

@cobalt It works. But I have a friend who writes one of those blogs, and of course if you do that, she doesn’t get any ad revenue (I assume it strips out the ads, maybe I’m wrong).

Unfortunately the web is perverted by a rather unholy combo of search engines and ad engines.

And of course the new “AI” searches are simply an extremely expensive way to do what cooked.wiki does, except with more errors and less attribution.

nazgul,

@muiiio Check out cooked.wiki. But keep in mind that like the “AI” search engines, it’s taking away ad revenue.

nazgul, to random

@vruz Please tell me they didn’t take the Facebook route of “we’d like you to write it, but we won’t let you see it without a screen reader”.

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