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Time to start de-Appling

heatherburns.tech

241–250 of 471 posts

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#241
post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I think the answer to this is the very simple: they think it will lead to more money. I'm sure someone in a board meeting saw something about GrapheneOS and LineageOS and Cyanogen and feels like if they de-open Android, some (or most) of those users will move to vanilla Android, and that will lead to profits. I'm not saying that they're right about this; I think ultimately very few (if any) people actually kn…

I don't have exact numbers, but I'm sure Graphene, Lineage, and all of the mods combined are much less than 1% of all android users; as well as these customers being less profitable than average as a marketing target. Posting this from my lineage phone.

I don't dispute that at all. I don't think it matters, it just needs to look like they're doing something to avoid forks and the like.

That said, there might be stuff that's actually using open source Android for profit. For example, the Nook Glowlight Plus, which runs a modded version of Android, doesn't appear to have any direct or even indirect references to Android anywhere (and I had to contribute a bit to the discourse to even get the rooting to work [1]). I have no ideas about the inner dealings of Barnes and Noble, but it wouldn't surprise me if they're running a completely forked version of FOSS Android and aren't paying a dime to Google for it.

I suspect these are the things that Google is trying to crack down on.

[1] https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=360563&pa...

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#242

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The very Wikipedia page you link explains in great detail why, although we can never know for sure, it's actually unlikely that he committed suicide, and more likely that his death was an accident. The suicide story will probably never go away, because it's too good a story. It fits so neatly into popular culture.

From the wikipedia article: > Turing may have inhaled cyanide fumes from an electroplating experiment in his spare room How would he have put himself quietly to bed if he had gotten a fatal dose of cyanide in the spare room where the electroplating was taking place? Wouldn't there be very fast respiratory distress?

A highly acute dose could kill in seconds, but a lower dose can cause confusion, headaches, dizziness and more prior to inducing a coma and death.

It is not outside the realm of possibility that he became confused and in pain, decided to lie down to sleep it off, then died in his sleep. My own father in law suffered a significant blow to the head and, despite knowing all the signs of a concussion and what to do about them, got up and slept it off- the very last thing one should do. He was simply too confused to do anything else.

His story had a happier ending than Alan's, but it goes to show that the accidental death theory isn't implausible.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#243
post #157

Taking inspiration from the East India Company, Apple should colonize the UK and take over the government - the iGovernment, if you will. Citizens will regain their right to e2ee privacy, they will not have to deal with voting for mediocre politicians to lead them. Instead, Tim Cook will be their new leader, and every morning over the mandatory installation of HomePods in each home, citizens will be greeted with an e…

Wanted to go shopping but iPass wouldn't open the gate on account of insufficient prostrations before the Steve Jobs iShrine.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#245
post #240

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean, I think the answer to this is the very simple: they think it will lead to more money. I'm sure someone in a board meeting saw something about GrapheneOS and LineageOS and Cyanogen and feels like if they de-open Android, some (or most) of those users will move to vanilla Android, and that will lead to profits. I'm not saying that they're right about this; I think ultimately very few (if any) people actually kn…

I don't have exact numbers, but I'm sure Graphene, Lineage, and all of the mods combined are much less than 1% of all android users; as well as these customers being less profitable than average as a marketing target. Posting this from my lineage phone.

Yes. They have 99.9% of the mobile phones.

The phone was the end of open computing, the tech companies obtained an iron grip on the platform, this time with fully accepted total monitoring and data collection down to everything you say, hear, everywhere you go, and with smartwatch biosensors, everything you feel. The only thing left is to get smart glasses and they will know everything you see. Smell they can probably interpolate.

It happened over a decade ago, and that might as well be 100 years ago in modern attention spans. All the governments have to do is pay the companies money, or simply force-legislate, or threaten under the table for all that info, and for permanent forever access to active tracking and monitoring.

AI provides all the analysis they need to watch the firehose. It's all there.

At this point it doesn't matter if an alternative comes. It'll be such the minority, that the social graph will fill all the holes. And they can simply track your IMEI regardless from the towers, listen in with other nearby microphones/phones. There is no escape.

All that remains is for the key to be turned for worse-than-1984 authoritarianism. It's right there, ready for the AI-empowered 50% of consumption controlled, 90% of stocks owned oligarchy to use.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#246
post #157

Taking inspiration from the East India Company, Apple should colonize the UK and take over the government - the iGovernment, if you will. Citizens will regain their right to e2ee privacy, they will not have to deal with voting for mediocre politicians to lead them. Instead, Tim Cook will be their new leader, and every morning over the mandatory installation of HomePods in each home, citizens will be greeted with an e…

“Introducing, Apple Governance, a truly magical experience, and the best government Apple has ever made!”

Our plan is to install our government under the tyrannical rule of a dictator, then fire that dictator, slowly collapse for a dozen years, and then rehire the dictator. Then we just sit back and let him cook.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#248

> Hi, I'm Heather Burns — yes, that one. Ok, I was going to ask, but taking "yes, that one" seriously I suppose confirms the author is the actress Heather Burns best known for playing the best friend role in a string of successful romantic comedies. https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122688/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Burns Kind of weird to be reading some blog post about tech privacy from such a well known actr…

[deleted]

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#249
post #227

I know this is a tangent but honestly, this is why the Google decision to de-openify Android is insane even from Google's point of view. Who would want to be an iron clad gate keeper when the world is descending into authoritarianism? You just paint a giant target on your back for the authoritarians to come after. If Apple had supported open iCloud alternatives for backup and other services from day one, it woudn't e…

The tech bros are of the opinion that they can ride the rising authoritarianism like a Fremen riding a sandworm.

Re: Time to start de-Appling

#250
post #156

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The right way to respond to this reality would be to stop UK government from being insane by electing a more sane government. Stopping using iphones is going to help only for a short term - once encryption is de-legalized, they will come for everybody who they deem worth coming for, sooner or later. If it'll require introducing licenses to run encryption software and mandating key escrow, they'd do that. Yes, you sti…

That isn't a reasonable response because governments can't be changed in a whim and aren't controlled by a single person, two good things.

UK government had been consistently working in this direction for decades. It's not "on a whim", it's a known and consistent policy, and yet there's no substantial resistance and pushback. The only reasonable conclusion is that the majority of the population is OK with what's going on.
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