Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration I get there is still ADB installation as an option, but that often requires a cable connection and disabling security in the Dev settings of the phone. The whole philosophy around Android was having the freedom of choice to do what you wanted with your phone (a bit like some countries used to have freedoms of choice and speech). Many countries for example have abortion as a perfectly legal procedure, and those countries want the choice to freely access abortion apps if they want to. I get too that Android is proposing a free alternative for Devs that would still allow sideloading, but this has serious restrictions in terms of how the app can be distributed there, including limited numbers of installs. The biggest loss here would be for privacy. Apps like Bitchat are intended to be 100% private with zero registration or exposure, and the app can be directly sent to other users. The new proposal completely kills this method of transfer. I do also realise that many average/mass users do maybe need more protection from rogue apps, but then just pop up a message to make it more difficult, and to inform the user of possible risks. But let users decide whether they want to take the risk or not. There are also web apps yes, but they require online access, and usually also don't do push alerts. Google has already not been very popular since they ditched their “Do No Evil” slogan, and this just screams of more control, wanting to know who everybody is, etc. Imagine if your desktop OS would only allow you to install apps from the official store? Linux would collapse, as it was founded on the freedom to choose! As it is, Microsoft is now apparently wanting to restrict users to not being able to register their Windows OS with offline account registration. I'm for protecting mass users, but I am also FOR other users being able to exercise their own choices at their own risk. That is called a win-win. See

Hackaday

Google Confirms Non-ADB APK Installs Will Require Developer Registration

After the news cycle recently exploded with the announcement that Google would require every single Android app to be from a registered and verifie...

#technology #Android #privacy #freedoms

Mastodon social network is bringing quote posts to the Fediverse "Mastodon is officially rolling out quote posts. Starting next week, you’ll see an option to quote another user by selecting the repost — or “boost” — button, allowing you to add your thoughts to someone else’s post.” I know there were concerns about this, but it does seem to be the way to go. For influencers or bloggers, it does at least link back to their original post for attribution, which is important to them. It also seems users will have the option to disable it for their posts, so surely this choice to have or not have, is the best of both worlds. ActivityPub, which is what powers the Fediverse including Mastodon, is quite significant as it is an open standard and is probably the most used social network protocol outside of the centralised social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, etc. See

The Verge

Mastodon is bringing quote posts to the fediverse

Quote posts on Mastodon are finally happening.

#technology #Mastodon #socialnetworks

New Movie “Python: The Documentary” Traces the Language’s Story “Some things in the open-source ecosystem are absolutely foundational—they’ve shaped it into what we know today. One of the biggest is the Python programming language. And now, it’s giving its global community something a little different—and pretty exciting. A movie!” This is one of the most popular programming languages in the world, and known for its quirky sense of humour. The documentary should be entertaining to watch. There is a link to the movie in the linked article below. See

Linuxiac

New Movie “Python: The Documentary” Traces the Language’s Story

“Python: The Documentary” is a new 90-minute film that tells the story of how a side project evolved into one of the world’s most influential...

#technology #Python #programming

A Love Letter To Internet Relay Chat — The Original Social Media That Is Still With Us Today “Although kids these days tend to hang out on so-called “Social Media”, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was first, by decades. IRC is a real-time communication technology that allows people to socialize online in both chat rooms and private chat sessions. As a decentralized communication protocol, anyone can set up an IRC server and connect multiple servers into networks, with the source code for these servers readily available ever since its inception by a student, and IRC clients are correspondingly very easy to write.” Yep, even though it was the first, and was around before today's youngsters were even born, the fact is IRC is still around. With so many becoming disenchanted with all the trackers, adverts, high bandwidth requirements, and bloat of modern social networks, there is still IRC, and it works much the same as it did way back when. It's true, it is more a network that people escaped to, and not from. I actually use IRC daily, even if it is just posting to my own two channels I manage there. I also suspect that IRC will be around still long after other networks have disappeared. Not only that, but I'm just wondering if it won't get “rediscovered” by today's youth at some point, in the quest to find something simpler and more pure as a social network. There are quite a few IRC clients around, but something that may help with onboarding of brand-new users is also having a really user-friendly client that obscures some of the slash commands. I know IRC purists will turn their noses up at this, but remember attracting new blood also often means offering new interfaces. My channel is called #gadgeteerza and is on the Libera IRC server. If you want to try IRC out without installing a client or a server, you can just head to

Kiwi IRC

in your browser and try listing and joining channels. There is an interesting video to watch about IRC at the linked article below. See

Hackaday

A Love Letter To Internet Relay Chat

Although kids these days tend to hang out on so-called “Social Media”, Internet Relay Chat (IRC) was first, by decades. IRC is a real-t...

#technology #IRC #socialnetworks

[URGENT] DEF CON Researcher Exposes How Password Managers Betray Your Trust "Czech security researcher Marek Tóth demonstrated at DEF CON 33 how a single click on any malicious website can steal passwords, credit cards, and 2FA codes from 40 million users of major password managers, with vendors like 1Password and LastPass refusing to fix the vulnerabilities." What this brings home yet once again is, in regard to security, the easier something is to use is usually not better for security. In this case, much of the issue is around the autofilling of passwords on page loading (because that is easier). So, to some extent, this is all helped along by settings we choose to set. Again for subdomains vs exact domain, it is easier to match to just the base domain… Many password managers will be addressing these issues in the coming week or two, but it is worth rethinking your "ease of use" settings on your password manager so long. See

Sam Bent

[URGENT] DEF CON Researcher Exposes How Password Managers Betray Your Trust

Czech security researcher Marek Tóth demonstrated at DEF CON 33 how a single click on any malicious website can steal passwords, credit cards, and...

#technology #security #vulnerabilities

You can once again buy an official Commodore C64 "Basically, there is a whole gamut of ways to get some part of the C64 experience, ranging from emulator-only to a full hardware DIY or pre-assembled format. Each of which come with their own price tag, starting at $0 for running VICE on your existing system. With so much choice we can only hope that the renewed Commodore company will become something more than Yet Another C64 Experience." The video in the linked article gives a good run down of the various Commodore C64 options up to now, before ending with the details and cost of the revived "official" C64. Apart from holding the world record for the most microcomputer sales of all time. I had one as well, after my ZX81, and it was a major breakthrough with colour graphics, sound, etc. I have very happy memories from that C64, although I must say I did enjoy my Amiga 500 a lot more as the game quality was just that much better, and it had a lot of games. I still play some of those Amiga games today such as Ports of Call every now and again on my Linux PC using an emulator. So the question is, would there still be interest in 2025 for the C64? Well it certainly has been modernised a bit with regard to HDMI and peripheral support, and apparently many thousands of the unofficial C64s are still being sold. See

Hackaday

Commodore Is Back Selling New C64s, But Should You Buy Them?

It’s hard to argue with nostalgia, but you can toss a bucket of cold facts over it. In the case of the recent rescuing of the Commodore brand...

#technology #Commodore #retrocomputing