Web Review, Week 2024-25
Let’s go for my web review for the week 2024-25.
Proton is transitioning towards a non-profit structure
Tags: tech, internet, ethics, privacy
Very interesting move. I wish them well!
https://proton.me/blog/proton-non-profit-foundation
Licensing teams will target unwitting Oracle Java users • The Register
Tags: tech, java
Oracle doing Oracle things I guess… The surprising bit to me is the fact that so many people still seem to use Java SE while there are other excellent alternatives.
https://www.theregister.com/2024/06/20/oracle_java_licence_teams/
Microsoft Refused to Fix Flaw Years Before SolarWinds Hack — ProPublica
Tags: tech, microsoft, security
A deep dive into the events which led to the SolarWinds breaches. The responsibility from Microsoft as an organization is staggering. Their handling of security matters massively failed once more. I don’t get how governmental agencies or other companies can still turn to Microsoft with sensitive data.
https://www.propublica.org/article/microsoft-solarwinds-golden-saml-data-breach-russian-hackers
Microsoft delays Recall again, won’t debut it with new Copilot+ PCs after all | Ars Technica
Tags: tech, microsoft, security
Very unsurprising, the harm is probably done though. They’ll have to work hard for their reputation to recover (even though it was probably low already).
Edward Snowden Says OpenAI Just Performed a “Calculated Betrayal of the Rights of Every Person on Earth”
Tags: tech, gpt, surveillance
It was already hard to trust this company, but now… that clearly gives an idea of the kind of monetization channels they’re contemplating.
https://futurism.com/the-byte/snowden-openai-calculated-betrayal
GitHub Copilot Chat: From Prompt Injection to Data Exfiltration · Embrace The Red
Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, gpt, copilot, security, privacy
The creative ways to exfiltrate data from chat systems built with LLMs…
https://embracethered.com/blog/posts/2024/github-copilot-chat-prompt-injection-data-exfiltration/
I Will Fucking Piledrive You If You Mention AI Again — Ludicity
Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, gpt, data-science, criticism, funny
OK, this is a rant about the state of the market and people drinking kool-aid. A bit long but I found it funny and well deserved at times.
https://ludic.mataroa.blog/blog/i-will-fucking-piledrive-you-if-you-mention-ai-again/
Block AI training on a web site
Tags: tech, ai, machine-learning, gpt, self-hosting, criticism
Since there are ways to offset the plagiarism a bit, let’s do it. Obviously it’s not perfect but that’s a start.
https://blog.zgp.org/block-ai-training-on-a-web-site/
How free software hijacked Philip Hazel’s life
Tags: tech, foss, maintenance, life, history
Very interesting piece… shows how someone can end up maintaining something essential for decades. This is a lesson for us all.
https://lwn.net/SubscriberLink/978463/be23210c163a2107/
DDoS attacks can threaten the independent Internet
Tags: tech, networking, security, self-hosting, internet
This is indeed a real concern… with no propre solution in sight.
https://www.macchaffee.com/blog/2024/ddos-attacks/
We don’t know what’s happening on our networks
Tags: tech, networking, security
On the peculiarities of running a network for a university… this is an interesting way to frame it as basically being an ISP with benefits.
https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/sysadmin/OurNetworkTrafficIsUnknown
Why you shouldn’t parse the output of ls - Greg’s Wiki
Tags: tech, shell, scripting
This is indeed an easy mistake to do. It’s better be avoided.
https://mywiki.wooledge.org/ParsingLs
Versioning FreeCAD files with git - lambda.cx blog
Tags: tech, tools, git, cad
Interesting trick for a zip based format containing mostly text.
https://blog.lambda.cx/posts/freecad-and-git/
Joining Strings in Python: A “Huh” Moment - Veronica Writes
Tags: tech, python, memory, performance
Interesting dive into how join() and generator behave in CPython.
https://berglyd.net/blog/2024/06/joining-strings-in-python/
Understanding a Python closure oddity
Tags: tech, programming, python
That’s what happens where references are half hidden in a language. You think each closure get a different copy but in fact they all refer to the same object.
https://utcc.utoronto.ca/~cks/space/blog/python/UnderstandingClosureOddity
Regular JSON – Neil Madden
Tags: tech, json, security
JSON, its grammar and the security implications. The approach of looking at a restricted subset is interesting.
https://neilmadden.blog/2023/05/31/regular-json/
Demystifying Rust’s ? Operator
Tags: tech, programming, rust
Ever wondered how this operator is implemented in Rust? It’s not that complicated.
https://blog.sulami.xyz/posts/demystifying-rusts-questionmark-operator/
I’ve Stopped Using Box Plots. Should You? | Nightingale
Tags: tech, data-visualization
Why box plots are hard to grasp and probably badly designed. There are good alternatives out there though.
https://nightingaledvs.com/ive-stopped-using-box-plots-should-you/
When To Write a Simulator
Tags: tech, complexity, probability, simulation
Some problems are indeed tackled faster by having a simulation allowing to explore potential solutions. It’s tempting to go very formal and theoretical but it’d require more effort and be more error prone.
https://sirupsen.com/napkin/problem-16-simulation
Major version numbers may not be sacred, but backwards compatibility is
Tags: tech, library, api, maintenance
Good musing about major version numbers and backward compatibility. It is indeed important to communicate breaking changes properly and to not have those too often.
https://blog.cessen.com/post/2022_07_09_major_version_numbers_may_not_be_sacred
What’s hidden behind “just implementation details” | nicole@web
Tags: tech, software, programming, work, complexity
It might not look like a lot from the outside, but “just implementation details” in fact hides quite some work and complexity.
https://ntietz.com/blog/whats-behind-just-implementation/
A Note on Essential Complexity
Tags: tech, software, organization, complexity
Very nice piece about the various types of complexities we encounter in our trade, and what we can or should do about it.
https://olano.dev/blog/a-note-on-essential-complexity
Simple sabotage for software · Erik Bernhardsson
Tags: tech, software, management
This is a funny pretense, and yet… If any of this remind you of a real context, this would be paper cuts. Have enough of those and indeed the organization might grind to a halt.
https://erikbern.com/2023/12/13/simple-sabotage-for-software.html
Never, Sometimes, Always - lukeplant.me.uk
Tags: tech, requirements, software, product-management
This is indeed a good way to classify events probability in requirements. It definitely impacts how you handle them in software.
https://lukeplant.me.uk/blog/posts/never-sometimes-always/
Start Presentations on the Second Slide - by Kent Beck
Tags: tech, communication, talk
Nice trick, definitely should use it more often.
https://tidyfirst.substack.com/p/start-presentations-on-the-second
On Ultra-Processed Content - Cal Newport
Tags: tech, information, social-media, criticism
Indeed the analogy from “ultra-processed food” is an interesting one in the information context.
https://calnewport.com/on-ultra-processed-content/
Bye for now!