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macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

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Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#41
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even at times. It's all the time. Theres many threads where the actual information is sparse but people sound extremely confident about their conclusions. Makes me realise that much of the time people are just making stuff up, there's just nobody to call them out.

Yeah and to be clear, that's not merely an HN thing, or an internet thing. People - even people who seem very clever - generally have no idea what they're talking about. It's sort of exhilarating to truly understand just how much of the world is built on absolute bullshit.

> It's sort of exhilarating to truly understand just how much of the world is built on absolute bullshit.

Exhilarating perhaps if the goal is to bullshit through life. Fake it until you make it, as it were.

If you hate bullshit, on the other hand, it's exhausting.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even at times. It's all the time. Theres many threads where the actual information is sparse but people sound extremely confident about their conclusions. Makes me realise that much of the time people are just making stuff up, there's just nobody to call them out.

You’re not kidding. From the earlier discussion: > this is the exact same technology Apple lets China use to hunt down their religious and political minorities > one thing is for certain; Apple doesn't treat privacy as a human right. If you can live with that, then more power to you. Something tells me people won’t use this as an excuse to accuse Firefox of human rights abuses though.

Anything Apple gets peoples hackles up. I think it’s because “favourite tech stack” is such a tribal thing, and there’s so many more Windows/Linux/Android users in tech communities

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#43
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even at times. It's all the time. Theres many threads where the actual information is sparse but people sound extremely confident about their conclusions. Makes me realise that much of the time people are just making stuff up, there's just nobody to call them out.

Yeah and to be clear, that's not merely an HN thing, or an internet thing. People - even people who seem very clever - generally have no idea what they're talking about. It's sort of exhilarating to truly understand just how much of the world is built on absolute bullshit.

You're right of course.

However, I think it's more dangerous on sites like HN where it's wrapped up in this illusion of rationalism, intelligence and elitism along with HN reputation for a "higher level of discourse" which makes people more likely to believe.

Turns out HN falls prey to all the same human biases as everywhere else.

A quick way to see it in action is find a thread about something you know deeply and read the comments.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#44
post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In a now deleted tweet, the person was also ridiculing security researchers who were DMing him for more information, painting them as lazy, as if they hadn't tried to reproduce themselves. But nobody could reproduce the issue.

""" lololol @ the "security researchers" sliding into my DMs asking me to run shell commands and send them the output Go run your Little Snitch and WireShark and tcpdump and mdimport and mitmproxy and system_profiler on yourself; I'm not your SOC. """ https://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:e2HBeu...

uh wow. It goes without saying that you should know what the commands do before you run them and should not ask for help and then be hostile when people offer to help.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#45
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even at times. It's all the time. Theres many threads where the actual information is sparse but people sound extremely confident about their conclusions. Makes me realise that much of the time people are just making stuff up, there's just nobody to call them out.

Yeah and to be clear, that's not merely an HN thing, or an internet thing. People - even people who seem very clever - generally have no idea what they're talking about. It's sort of exhilarating to truly understand just how much of the world is built on absolute bullshit.

Just read through the comments on any popular hacker news post. So many divergent opinions, many conflicting. People are sure they are right.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#46
post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah and to be clear, that's not merely an HN thing, or an internet thing. People - even people who seem very clever - generally have no idea what they're talking about. It's sort of exhilarating to truly understand just how much of the world is built on absolute bullshit.

You're right of course. However, I think it's more dangerous on sites like HN where it's wrapped up in this illusion of rationalism, intelligence and elitism along with HN reputation for a "higher level of discourse" which makes people more likely to believe. Turns out HN falls prey to all the same human biases as everywhere else. A quick way to see it in action is find a thread about something you know deeply and re…

At the risk of falling into the age old Eternal September trap, I do feel like I've become significantly more disillusioned in the last year or so at the quality, or rather the lack thereof, of discourse on HN. It's as tribal as Reddit is, and not consistently higher quality discussion.

What we do have here is dang, though, which is a lot more than Reddit generally has.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, now how do we solve it? I’ve been thinking about this problem a lot. It seems to me you either go full send on the privacy front -> use FLOSS operating systems and self-host Nextcloud, or you want the comforts of modern apps and services -> buy into Apple’s or Google’s ecosystem. There exists no option where you get to keep your privacy and enjoy modern technology.

I'd love Apple to build iCloud hosting via your home mac or a new version of the server they used to sell. That way all data sits on and is processed by a machine you control. Admittedly wishful thinking but I can dream.

I wish I was smart enough to reverse engineer iCloud so I could self-host. This would, of course, also be a massive security flaw.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not even at times. It's all the time. Theres many threads where the actual information is sparse but people sound extremely confident about their conclusions. Makes me realise that much of the time people are just making stuff up, there's just nobody to call them out.

You’re not kidding. From the earlier discussion: > this is the exact same technology Apple lets China use to hunt down their religious and political minorities > one thing is for certain; Apple doesn't treat privacy as a human right. If you can live with that, then more power to you. Something tells me people won’t use this as an excuse to accuse Firefox of human rights abuses though.

> one thing is for certain; Apple doesn't treat privacy as a human right. If you can live with that, then more power to you.

You're inferring that the commenter deduced this solely from the new (incorrect) info. It seems a lot more plausible that they already hold the view (as I do) that Apple's privacy-friendly image is overblown, and used a separate issue to belabor that pt.

Though I do agree that this incident seemed unlikely w/o further evidence, even given Apple's traditional disdain for the user's control over their own system. And Apple has firmly joined the ranks of bigtech cos that HN threads are absolutely deranged about.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#49
post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You’re not kidding. From the earlier discussion: > this is the exact same technology Apple lets China use to hunt down their religious and political minorities > one thing is for certain; Apple doesn't treat privacy as a human right. If you can live with that, then more power to you. Something tells me people won’t use this as an excuse to accuse Firefox of human rights abuses though.

Anything Apple gets peoples hackles up. I think it’s because “favourite tech stack” is such a tribal thing, and there’s so many more Windows/Linux/Android users in tech communities

I doubt it. All of bigtech gets the same deranged treatment: Google, Facebook, Microsoft, etc.

It was a weird moment when I found myself defending fb on hn more often than I criticized them (I think they're atrocious), but the comments on bigtech stories are just that stupid.

Re: macOS scanning and following downloaded QR codes has been retracted

#50
post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

OK, now how do we solve it? I’ve been thinking about this problem a lot. It seems to me you either go full send on the privacy front -> use FLOSS operating systems and self-host Nextcloud, or you want the comforts of modern apps and services -> buy into Apple’s or Google’s ecosystem. There exists no option where you get to keep your privacy and enjoy modern technology.

How is using good Linux based OSes and self hosted FOSS not "enjoying modern technology". The systems are very nice honestly, because they give you much more control (e.g. windows vs Linux).

Well, because using any popular service or app is right out?

Just looking at my own phone, payments, banking, planning transit rides, ordering cabs, keeping in touch with (online and offline) friends, streaming videos and music, gaming, ordering groceries, ordering takeout, translating documents, getting breaking news, taking (good) photos, and reporting vandalism to the city are all proprietary apps.

I don’t see a straightforward way to replace any of these with FOSS, and getting rid of them all would necessitate some serious concessions in my lifestyle.

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