Google will verify Android developers distributing apps outside the Play store
Google is increasing security measures around sideloading apps by removing anonymity for Android developers who distribute outside of the Play Store. Starting in September next year, Google will require developers in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand to verify their identities in order for their apps to be installed on certified Android devices via direct downloads or third-party app stores. This requirement will then roll out globally in “2027 and beyond.”Under the new requirements, Android developers will need to provide Google with personal details like their legal name, address, email, and phone number, and may need to upload an official government ID. Identity verification is already a requirement for Google Play, so this change mostly impacts developers who solely distribute their apps outside of the Play Store.
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Inside India’s billion-dollar e-waste empire | India’s booming electronics sector has contributed to a quickly growing e-waste recycling industry worth $1.5 billion
E-waste recycling drives India’s billion-dollar electronics industry - Rest of World
India’s informal e-waste recycling economy turns millions of discarded electronics into profit while exposing workers to hazardous conditions.Kate Bubacz (Rest of World)
Where can I find "fallback emailer" and set it?
Hello everybody!
The question is written in the subject.
See screenshot attached
Can't find it anywhere and have no clues, what the issue is.
NodeBB 4.4.6 latest on-premise. and self hosted SMTP setup.
SMTP is working with no problems.
Kick faces possible $49 M fine after French streamer Jean Pormanove dies on air
Kick faces possible $49M fine after French streamer Jean Pormanove dies on air
Kick could be hit with a $49M penalty after the death of French streamer Jean Pormanove, who died following “ten days and nights of torture.”Michael Gwilliam (Dexerto)
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Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Google will block sideloading of unverified Android apps starting next year
Google says it’s no different than checking IDs at the airport.Ryan Whitwam (Ars Technica)
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How about letting the users decide what to sideload? What the hell?
I hope the EU is ready to also sue Google.
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The EU already forced sideloading to be officially supported on iPhones thanks to the Digital Markets Act, and that law applies to Google as well.
The US will likely apply pressure, just like they are trying to force their death machines to be legalized on European roads. Apple already tried to pressure the union and failed, but the political climate has changed a bit since then, and while EU bureaucrats can be fierce, European leadership tends to be weak as fuck.
But yeah, chances are that this change won't apply to the EU. 😀
Apple is bringing sideloading and alternate app stores to the iPhone
Apple has announced how it plans to change the rules for developers releasing iOS software in the European Union in response to the bloc’s Digital Markets Act (DMA).Jon Porter (The Verge)
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Google is clearly trying to find a loophole here. Their loophole clearly sucks.
In all likelihood it'll end up in front of the Court of Justice of the European Union. And in all likelihood Google will lose again.
The Court of Justice generally seems unimpressed by American lobbyists, so the strategy of finding a dumb loophole is probably doomed to fail.
EU court upholds Italian antitrust decision against Google's Android Auto restrictions
Autonews | Google eventually fixed its problem with Enel but this court decision establishes essential framework about platform accessibility for dominant market players.Wion
Does the law demand unsigned software?
The answer is no. It's not phrased like that. But it's all about ensuring free competition in digital markets. The sole purpose of Google's move here is to hinder competition in their own digital market, and to keep control over it.
So the law does not have a paragraph stating that "unsigned software must be allowed", but it has a bunch of other paragraphs that can be used to strike down on monopolistic behaviour.
Google are aware of the law, and will try to find a loophole by designing a system that they believe technically complies with it. Then someone will sue them, it will end up in the European court, and the European court will in all likelyhood tell Google to get fucked.
It seems american tech companies think they can get away with anything because that's how it works in the US. We are repeatedly seeing that this is not how it works in Europe: the Court of Justice tends to care deeply about the intention of the law, as well as the perceived consequences of their rulings. And they don't seem to care all that much about American capitalists.
But to answer your question very simply: No, it doesn't. But thankfully that doesn't matter at all.
I feel like there should independent signing authorities that the major platforms honor. But that’s its own can of worms. Who runs them, is it the government? A non-profit? How do we prevent corruption of that entity, etc.
And yeah, the tech companies have raced ahead of comprehension. At least the comprehension that reasonable and good lawmakers have. At the same time, it’s increasingly looking like the terrible people in power know just how far ahead tech is. (Thiel)
You can't make laws for every single possible future reality. We need courts that uphold laws even when billionaires try to dodge them using shady techniques. The problem is that big tech often gets away with murder because they can afford expensive lawyers. Especially in the US laws are essentially meaningless for the rich. This is not so much the case in Europe.
I have heard some positive signals from the European Court of Justice that they are taking the challenge from big tech seriously and that they are going the extra miles to understand these issues. If you're particularly interested, many judges talk about this in the Borderlines podcast series by Berkley law. But it gets really dry really fast haha.
I don't believe in signing authorities. It's not effective - Google can't even keep malware off the play store - and it's an authoritarian move. Hell, most apps in the play store spy on their users, profiling usage to sell to advertisers along with ID codes that makes it possible to combine data between apps and build detailed profiles of individuals. The problem is not apps that are not signed - the problem is the whole economy of apps that work as Google intend them to.
Also, it's a basic question of rights. It's my phone, I bought the hardware, I own it, I install whatever the fuck I want on it.
Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads
: Everything's fine, the ad slinger assures usIain Thomson (The Register)
Why exactly do we need signing authorities? Software isn't zero trust like websites. You do need to trust the developer - even a legitimate one. Signing apps with verified developer keys will only hurt small independent developers, open source projects and freedom enabling stuff like user patching.
It only works to solidify monopolies and doesn't protect you against shit.
What exactly do you mean?
Sure, nothing is perfect, but EU legislation has generally been quite good, from the GDPR to the DMA.
The challenges are more related to enforcement - rules on the book are worth nothing if we don't force companies to live by them. In this respect we've seen some pretty sloppy behaviour, but also some victories. It's not a one-sided story.
Another challenge is of course to keep passing good laws, and to avoid terrible ones. Chat control needs to be stopped. Stopping it is a matter of convincing national governments it's a bad idea, as well as members of the European Parliament - everyone should be writing their representatives NOW. But that's another issue entirely. 😀
don't iphones delete your sideloaded apps against your will and along with your data, if you don't use the ibstaller tool at once every week?
if so that's useless for anybody other than developers themselves who otherwise don't even want to use their own app.
I have no idea as I don't follow apple much, but I am aware that they are constantly trying to find ways to avoid complying with EU law, and that it is often rapidly struck down.
What you're describing here is not a failure of the law, but Apple trying real hard to find creative ways not to comply with it. To me it only shows that they are desperate, and that EU law is in fact getting to them.
If they keep at it it'll eventually end up in court, the case will take a couple of years, and they'll be slammed with a fine and asked to get their shit together.
don't iphones delete your sideloaded apps against your will and along with your data, if you don't use the ibstaller tool at once every week?
No? I have an iPhone in the EU and have several sideloaded apps. All still work and have all the data even after not using them for a while.
Not unabated. They are stuck trying to find new loopholes to not comply, which are then struck down. It's a cat and mouse game, and they think they can get away with it because they have the most expensive lawyers.
Again, enforcement is the challenge, not the laws themselves.
Everything takes a long time, but things are happening. If you search for the terms "fine apple EU" or "fine apple EU" in your search engine of choice you'll see there's quite a lot going on.
I have some personal friends who are working with this stuff for the European Commission. It basically takes a long time to build a case against tech giants, and then once the Commission fines them these fines will be appealed in the EU court system, which will take even more years to process.
It's annoying that there's not a magic switch to flick to make Google and Apple comply with EU law, but that's the world we live in. If the EU just banned Google and/or Apple it would probably backlash tremendously (never mind that I doubt they have the authority to do so even if they wanted), so they have to move a bit slowly. 😀
The EU is currently deepthroating Trump so hard that it's completely out of breath and all our clothes are ruined.
With how volatile Trump is this could change literally anyday, but with the current political equilibrium all google would have to do is gift trump a shiny golden thing so he makes a threatening remark about gas exports and the EU would go "uwu yes master right away master, do you want to fuck my gaping asshole while you're at it?".
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It was always intended to be this way.
The beginning was pre-enshittification. We're going from the good ole' days to the future, and the future sure as shit aint for you unless you're in the club... and you aint, none of us are.
There's already a firm divide between the foss/self sufficiency crowd and modern tech.
If this is bad enough, you'd see every foss faithful walking around with a laptop, mp3 player and camera like they're in 2009.
I hardly believe foss faithful people would ever carry a laptop
The whole thinkpad obsession in the linux/foss community isn't visible to you?
I don’t like how tech is evolving…
Yeah, I'm not sure I like how the axe in my hand is evolving. It seems to be going for the internet fiber.
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somewhat
Yes. Only in the EU and only since 2024 when Apple was forced to do it by new laws. It's reasonable to assume Google would be subject to the same laws.
If you live outside if the EU, it's "no sideload for you!" There are computer programs that can do sideloading to iPhones, but they have limitations, like having to refresh the sideloaded apps every seven days.
Wholly incorrect. You’re allowed to sideload up to 3 apps (or 10 appIDs, whichever comes first) without being a developer, and that arbitrary restriction is removed if you pay for a dev license, regardless of which part of the world you’re in.
In the EU you’re allowed to install third party app stores (still have to be notarized by Apple) which isn’t sideloading
The limitations depend on which program you're using - there's more than one - which is why I only gave a simple example. And if you have to pay for a function that is otherwise free to many others, that's a limitation.
Side loading is installing an app from anywhere but the official store. So by definition "third party" is side loading. Whether it's another store or authorised is irrelevant.
The limitations depend on which program you’re using - there’s more than one - which is why I only gave a simple example.
No it doesn’t. It’s in all the documentation, official and otherwise
Side loading is installing an app from anywhere but the official store. So by definition “third party” is side loading. Whether it’s another store or authorised is irrelevant.
You can’t just make up a definition, believe it, and then share it like it’s true. We’re going by the legal definition as that’s the only one that matters.
Apple only allows up to 3 apps or 10 appIDs to be sideloaded, wherever you are in the world. Period.
Youre not getting it. The developers of the tools can and do impose their own additional limitations. They're still limitations of the programs which is what we were taking about.
And it doesn't matter what limitations Apple imposes in its walled garden, their phones can still be jail broken and side loaded in the more traditional way.
The concept of sideloading is a general term that applies to multiple platforms, not something Apple owns or gets to dictate. No one is making up anything here.
twingate.com/blog/glossary/sid…
Sideloading is the process of installing applications on a device from sources other than the official app stores.
dictionary.cambridge.org/dicti…
the practice of putting software on a computer or mobile phone, without using the official way of buying the software
zimperium.com/glossary/sideloa…
Sideloading is the practice of installing mobile apps on a device that are not from the official app stores
Etc.
If your argument requires cherry picking, ignoring key points, and baseless ad homenims, it's not a good point.
What Is Side-Loading? How It Works & Examples | Twingate
Discover what side-loading is, how it works, examples, its risks, and protective measures against unauthorized app installations in this comprehensive guide.www.twingate.com
I said Apple allows sideloading, you tried to correct me, and then changed your argument when you realized you were wrong. It’s just you not getting it.
Your “tools” that bypass the limitations set by apple wouldn’t even be relevant if they were real since you’re arguing with the factual statement that Apple allows you to sideload your apps, regardless of where you are in the world.
P.S. Even your links prove that you’re wrong about sideloading. Unless you’re now trying to argue there’s nothing official about governmentally mandated Apple-certified App Stores, in which case… just walk
Apple allows you to sideload your apps, regardless of where you are in the world.
No, Apple doesn't generally allow you to sideload apps outside of the EU.
perplexity.ai/search/does-appl… (Note that Perplexity cites sources)
Apple officially allows sideloading of apps on iPhones only for users based in the European Union due to the EU Digital Markets Act (DMA) which mandates this starting in 2024. For users outside the EU, Apple does not officially allow sideloading.
If Apple officially allows sideloading outside of the EU, please show us the specific pages where Apple states you can sideload any app and the steps to do it? If you're right, I'll happily spin on a dime and support you and admit my mea culpa. I have no horse in this race, and I'll be happy to learn something new. People think admitting they're wrong is a weakness, when it's actually a strength.
I said Apple allows sideloading, you tried to correct me…
I didn't try to correct you because nothing you wrote was wrong. All I did was try to add information to clarify to other readers what "somewhat" actually means so they have an idea what they might be getting into if they wanted to do it. You know, provide simple helpful extra information, so people don't waste their time trying to find a feature they don't have if they live outside the EU for example. You even agreed that there are limitations, and that people would have to fork out money to overcome some of them.
But if someone correcting you seems to upset to the point where you come out swinging a baseball bat over a trivial matter, maybe the internet isn't the place for you just now.
… then changed your argument when you realized you were wrong
I have no idea what you're referring to here. So being vague again weakens your argument.
Your “tools” that bypass the limitations set by apple wouldn’t even be relevant if they were real…
You seem to be stuck on this idea of Apple setting limitations. I said from the start there were limitations.
The tools are very real:
- perplexity.ai/search/for-peopl…
- Jail breaking tools
- Sideloadly
- AltStore
- SideStore
- Etc.
Even your links prove that you’re wrong about sideloading…
Again, you didn't cite anything specific here in what I linked to. The definitions clearly supported that I wasn't making anything up as you claimed. And all you did was repeat your claim which I've already addressed. You didn't respond to my actual counterpoint or add any additional information. So again, this was vague and pointless.
Ok, this is getting ridiculous. You keep stating incorrect information, you're relying on cherry picking, you've stooped to using yet another ad hominin weakening you argument, and you're getting repetitive and vaguer with each new comment.
I've posted plenty of links to show the reality and limitations I originally mentioned, so people can read them and make up there own minds.
SideStore
An alternative app store that aims to make sideloading apps as seamless as possible.sidestore.io
If sideloading wasn’t allowed, there would be no apps on the App Store
If you read the links your AI provided you, you’d see they’re all confirming what I said. All of them.
Generally, common knowledge doesn’t need to be cited, so here:
developer.apple.com/support/co…
developer.apple.com/support/dm…
developer.apple.com/documentat…
Also, you should probably learn what Ad Homenim is before trying to use it in a sentence
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hom…
The fact is, and will always be, that Apple allows sideloading on all iphones in all regions, and their limits apply even in the EU. I’m sorry if you feel like that’s a personal attack.
And to finally, to address your attempt at changing subject (because you stopped being vague and finally admitted it), Jailbreaking is not within Apples rules (the hint is in the name). Hope this helps!
I mean, there is still UI/UX, app store policies, and general cost/options.
This definitely makes Android a lot less appealing. But it is also questionable to act like the biggest reason to use android was sideloading apps since the vast majority of users don't even know that is an option (and probably shouldn't since they have no understanding of how to vet them). Especially since Apple isn't any better (?).
So... "the ignorance of the masses" should be combatted by willful ignorance and nonsense that falls apart the moment anyone looks at it?
Get angry. I sure am. Look for alternatives. Graphene sure ain't it but I hope it will be in the next four or five years. But this is something google are willing to futz with for a reason: The vast majority of users don't care about it and even with the changes it isn't significantly worse than the competition.
Yet everywhere I see "Well, I guess I have to buy Apple now" which is just... buy it if you want to but don't pretend this shit is why.
Ui/ux is honestly worse on android compared to something like ios. The playstore is honestly stuffed with ads and seems to be actively regressing in ux (the update apps menu is hidden behind like 3 layers of dialogues). Cost wise a used iPhone is probably a better deal than a cheap new android phone.
I used android primarily because I could install apps Apple basically doesn't care about (and after the 5th time gba4ios broke).
There is a lot wrong with android, but it's super easy to transfer files over USB or just download them. I use Nextcloud personally. Then you can manipulate them with your choice of file manager.
I got a new phone recently, Samsung with Knox, the worst part about it so far compared to other Android has been how it is quick to kill background apps, and the UI is honestly disorienting compared to how I'm used to doing things. I haven't been shown ads yet, but I did go ahead and disable all the Samsung apps I could find. This includes not being able to control how quickly it kills background apps, but it's the lesser of two evils.
I'm not sure what Knox attestation is, but it sounds really unfortunate, and I want to search it now. I agree the phones of today are awful and the only reason I got this one was the price.
Whatever things made people get into Android some 20 years ago are no longer relevant to the majority of people.
The biggest benefit will remain the apps. People love apps. In that regard, their only competition is Apple. It's why no one can make a new phone OS.
The other reason is cost. If you want a cheap device, Apple has no such thing. There are hundreds of Android devices you can buy for a couple hundred dollars.
For those who buy Samsung flagships for more than an iPhone, well those people I can't explain.
For those who buy Samsung flagships for more than an iPhone, well those people I can't explain.
Well, it could be explained before: Flagship hardware without the restrictions of iOS.
Now..... After this bullshit..... yeah.......
Linux phones are moving fast but it feels like Android is moving faster on the other direction 😥
(Yes I know Android is built over Linux, I mean more traditional and open distros like postmarketos)
(I am younger than the iPhone so maybe I don't really know how it was)
Yup my first thought was “Where is your God now?”
Google ditched “Don’t be evil” a long time ago.
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Over half my apps I use would get blocked
Consider many apps are just webpages. You can go to the website directly from a browser and everything is happy.
Obviously won't solve everything, but that covers most apps right there.
My credit union site doesn't scale to mobile screens unfortunately. It is a massive pain in the ass to use the browser
Correction, looks like they finally updated it a few months ago to scale.
GrapheneOS Frequently Asked Questions
Answers to frequently asked questions about GrapheneOS.GrapheneOS
Be careful. I've read reports of at least two Pixel 6a devices bursting into flames.
My mom has a Pixel 7 we are replacing because it gets incredibly hot for no apparent reason.
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and if it will work like the play store, you will need to upload an apk* and download the signed version, so it's not even immediately obvious if they changed anything.
* not really an apk but an intermediate build product
Meanwhile, back at the ranch
Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads
theregister.com/2025/08/26/app…
Malware-ridden apps made it into Google's Play Store, scored 19 million downloads
: Everything's fine, the ad slinger assures usIain Thomson (The Register)
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The opensource apps like Newpipe, SmartTube, termux and many others are the "malware", not the ones with binary blobs on PlayStore that fork VLC, Newpipe and many opensource apps illegally, supposedly "verified" but don't follow opensource license like GPL, creating fake clones with ads and (real) malware.
itwire.com/business-it-news/op…
iTWire - Google ignores licence-violating clones of VLC
Cloned versions of the popular VideoLAN media player, better known as VLC, with ads embedded and in violation of the VLC licence, have been residing on the Google Play Store for a long time with the search company doing nothing about them, it is clai…Sam Varghese (iTWire)
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Real talk, are there ones like that?
Ive seen things like tindie.com/products/zitaotech/… and I REALLY want one....but they are always sold out.
HackberryPi5 with 9900 keyboard by ZitaoTech on Tindie
A Cyberdeck handheld with bb keyboard and can be installed with different operating system!Tindie
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Or we just... ignore them?
LineageOS and GrapheneOS could just be like "well, go on, then."
There's a market for everything and the FOSS and maker markets would eat up an open Android phone, even if the only apps you could install were community-created.
Dumbphone with tethering
A mini laptop/cyberdeck
A modern mp3 player
A small, modern point and click camera
hey gramps, where'd you get that gear, 2007?
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Android developer verification requirements
Use this form to submit questions or feedback about the new Android developer verification requirements announced in August 2025. You can learn more about the requirements in the Android developer verification guide. Sign up for early access here.Google Docs
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Oh hell yeah, I hope this means an exodus of people forking the latest open source software they can, or if not moving to Linux mobile altogether
Edit:
I had meant that I'd like it if people flocked from developing android to developing Linux mobile. I should have clarified that.
If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Ah yeah, I had meant that I'd like it if people flocked from developing android to developing Linux mobile. I should have clarified that.
If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Thats not how most people work.
Just because there's a problem, doesn't mean people seek a solution.
Thats why the majority of people in this country. They can each admit there is a problem. But they do nothing about it. Most don't even try to diet or exercise.
And you want them to switch to an unfinished linux phone system. They aren't going to do that over this change. The vast majority don't use more than 5 apps. What do they care? For most, the cell phone is the replacement for a pc, snd all its used for is to text, and go on tiktok and instagram.
The changes you're suggesting will work well for a certain crowd. That crowd is maybe 5% of the general population. The rest won't even notice. And if they did, they'd just put up with it.
If we could have a solidly performing Linux mobile that has the capability of docking into a full desktop OS, that shit would be an absolute game changer for personal computers.
Give me something like the OG Moto Droid, or hell make it a tablet and I have to carry a bag, I don't care.
That would be my device for everything. I just remote into everything else anyway.
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I have a domain and an email address through it, but my problem is I can't find a domain name I like enough to both keep and give out to others as a long term contact point. The one I have right now is silly, and not easy to communicate over the phone.
It's a me problem, but if I ever figure out something I'm will to keep and is available, that's the goal.
The silly one for personal or non-professional stuff like Steam
The professional one for the ones you are meeting irl.
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Then I use a catch-all so I can give out a mailbox specific to who it's for. Often that looks like YourCompany@MyName.com
That way if I get spammed I know who to blame.
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::: spoiler The ability to filter information using proprietary devices and software in the kernel of all of these garbage devices is the core issue. Trusting the owners of that code is to surrender your right to unbiased and unfiltered information. I am not at all concerned about hacking or security by small insignificant players. I am massively concerned about the extremely powerful using the leverage they have normalized and embedded to become tyrannical neo feudal lords in a fascist society. Google IS the biggest danger by orders upon orders of magnitude. Trusting them is to give up democracy entirely.
All mobile devices are proprietary. Android is a scheme to make a Linux kernel that has everything ready to deploy except the actual hardware drivers for the processor and modem. Manufacturers take this kernel and add their proprietary binaries at the last possible moment. That source code is not available anywhere. The hardware documentation is not available anywhere publicly. Every device model is just different enough that reverse engineering one does nothing transferable to any other. The level of reverse engineering is extreme and requires destroying many devices using things like fuming nitric acid and fluorine solutions just to have a small chance at reading some parts of embedded memory. These are some of the most dangerous and hazardous chemicals humans make, and you still need xray equipment, special microscopes with stepping automation to stitch images, and a ton of time.
This is moving to a tyrannical surveillance state of fascist authoritarianism. Open source software is a major front on the line of real democracy. This is a nuclear bomb released on that democracy. You fear the wrong pirates and criminals. The biggest threats always come from within. Trust as a mechanism is fundamentally antithetical to democracy. Everyone demanding trust is a traitor to democracy. Trust is the key of the fascist kingdom. Once that key is held, democracy has failed regardless of whomever is aware of the situation. Democracy requires fully informed citizens with skepticism and the liberal right to decide for themselves even when they are wrong. This is impossible without full access to information. The source of that information cannot be filtered at any level. We already have the narrowest bottleneck of available information sources in the last 1000 years of history. There are only 2 relevant web crawlers. All search queries filter through one or both of these two and the results from these are not deterministic. Two people searching for the same thing at the same time will get very different and very biased results. This is individualized regardless of any protections people imagine they have in place. Outside of the internet there is no real unbiased media. A dozen people own it all. Even the garbage claiming to comb all sources is drawing the line and dictating what is center right or left is. Anyone at the grassroots level is impossible to find because there are no organic unbiased search results. The results are all filtered junk full of agenda and bias.
This is the real big picture abstract issue in play. When the maga traitors said this was a coup, they absolutely ment that. Mobile devices are all rental garbage someone else controls. Your computer likewise has a secret operating system running in the background that you do not control. In Intel it is called the Intel Management Engines or ME. This started with Intel VPro in 2008. AMD adopted it is 2013. Arm has one too.
All that is left is to steal your right to have a digital front door by eliminating DNS filtering and all of these devices will be controlled and connected directly by someone else that is watching and listening at all times. You are already in tethers as a digital slave that can be bought and sold for exploitation and manipulation without your consent or knowledge using your digital presence. You have not effectively realized the implications of that surrendering of rights to citizenship with full autonomy. The next step is to redefine the word citizen to be functionally equivalent to slave. "You will own nothing, and you will be happy about it" because if you are not, you will be dead. This is the death of democracy. My words will echo in your head years from now. The dystopia to come is beyond anything you can presently imagine and there is no way to stop it now short of taking up arms and playing Luigi if you are able.
The consolidation of wealth is what really made Caesar. That was the death of the republic. It was not Caesar. We are all a product of our time and environment. It was the consolidation of great wealth. All that wealth did not give a shit about Rome, it went to Constantinople for better opportunities at first chance because consolidation of wealth is treasonous. It is as it was, just look at outsourcing and off shoring, or the disgusting mismanagement of banking and housing that have made the American worker completely uncompetitive with Asian counterparts at the same standard of living. No, I have no fear of the boogie man or foreign state actors. I am terrified of the criminal that normalizes domestic trust, actively manipulates and exploits me, and steals my purchased property. That is a real monster.
:::
Increasingly, I think people like yourself should be working to develop systems that don’t just use all this shit. Or systems that use the old shit that doesn’t have all of this modern baggage you speak of.
I know it seems impossible. But it also seems like no one is trying.
For sure. Especially if you want all the modern features, low energy usage profiles, speed, compactness. Etc
I can see why nerds that see what is happening in great detail go off the way they do.
I'm probably going to spam this around a bit, since most people don't seem to know about it, but a reminder that FuriLabs has a (GNU+)Linux phone with decent spec.s and the ability to run Android app.s (from what I've heard) pretty decently: furilabs.com/
Biggest drawback is it's based on Halium. Usual growing pains of a new product/company apply but apparently the company is pretty responsive and their dev.s have worked with customers to get things like calling working with the carrier and bands of their country where it hasn't worked before so improvements move pretty quickly.
Collection of different experiences I've variously seen online over the last year or so:
* clehaxze.tw/gemlog/2025/07-20-…
* news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4…
* reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1f…
* reddit.com/r/linux/comments/1j…
* theregister.com/2025/02/03/fur…
I don't own one, myself, so I can't give any personal experience but I've seen it around for a few years now but most people don't seem to even know about it. Maybe there's a reason for that? But none I've ever seen anyone say.
FuriPhone FLX1: A Debian-powered brick that puts GNOME in your back pocket
: Fun with a FOSS-focused Phosh fondleslabLiam Proven (The Register)
HOLY SHIT IS THAT A HEADPHONE JACK?!
Seriously this ticks boxes Ive given up on. I never thought Id see a phone with all three: waterproof, removable battery, headphone jack. It even has wireless charging which isnt really one of my boxes but is a little extra if you use it.
Yeah; that's totally fair. Mostly, I just want to get it more known; whenever Mobile Linux come up, people namedrop Purism, the Pinephone, maybe UBPorts and the general conclusion is that the spec.s, alone, of what's available are pretty much a non-starter.
There's definitely aspects of this phone that some people wouldn't go for but I'd rather sales be limited by not-the-right-choice than just no one knew it existed; especially when any progress can get sent upstream and improve future projects, as well.
Graphene developers seem enthusiastic to all the bullshit that Google comes up with, and on security/privacy tradeoff they seem to usually choose security. Case in point, the mandatory battery update.
CalyxOS seems to choose privacy first, but that project folded recently.
This might be an issue because f-droid re-signs apps with their own keys...
I mean depends on enforcement I guess.
Did some research and here are your options:
- use custom mod (the new restriction only applies to certified devices). You can use microG (/e/, iode, Lineage) or sandboxing (GrapheneOS) to run apps requiring Google services. Google will still try to kill it but my bet is it will still work for at least a couple of years
- Ubuntu Touch - you can buy new devices with it, it can run android apps using waydroid but you will not be able to run any apps requiring google services. It can run native Linux apps. Native UT apps are build using QML. It has a completely new system API so it's closer to Android then native Linux. It's based on Halium which uses the kernel from Android
- PostmarketOS - native Linux running native Linux apps. Can use waydroid. Few supported devices but everything works on PinePhone Pro and few others phones.
- Droidian or similiar - Debian running on Halium. Kind of half way between PostmarketOS and Ubunut Touch. Native Linux but running on Android based kernel
Personally, I will stick with GrapheneOS for now (my Pixel still has at least 6 years of support). When I'm unable to run all the apps I need on it I will switch to two phones setup: stock Android for work/car apps, some Linux phone for everything else. When my Pixel dies I will switch to iPhone.
Google has already started killing GrapheneOS by removing device trees from AOSP releases. Android 16 works fine, but for how long?
I would imagine the first thing any custom ROM would do is bypass Google's app restrictions.
I wouldn't be surprised if in 3 years I would need to pass hardware attestation to install a calculator app from the Play store.
Google Locks Pixel Device Trees, Making Custom ROMs a Nightmare for Android Devs
Google drops Pixel device trees from Android 16 AOSP, making custom ROMs nearly impossible—bad news for devs and long-term Pixel phone users.Jose Enrico (Tech Times)
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I would imagine the first thing any custom ROM would do is bypass Google’s app restrictions.
Those restrictions don't apply to custom ROMs. Yes, it's clear Google is trying to kill custom ROMs but I think we still have couple of years. Linux phones are improving fast and I think in 5 years we will end up in the same spot we were with PCs 20 years ago: you will be able do most of daily driving on a Linux phones but some apps just won't be possible to run (Authenticator apps, banking apps, Whats App, Android Auto...). Dual booting will not be possible so most probably I will end up with two phones: daily driver and work/car phone.
There are not going to be apps on Linux phones.
Definitely not banking apps.
Tbh situation looks dire as fuck.
There are not going to be apps on Linux phones.
Definitely not banking apps.
Not with that attitude!
Get either your political ass to demand that in your country banks support more than just two OSes, or your coding ass so that you can get into programming work pipeline and one day code the Flatpak for your bank. Either would benefit you and everyone else.
You really should have thought about that before buying the device. You cannot install a custom ROM on my Samsung device anymore.
You always have to look at what devices custom ROMs support BEFORE buying them.
Kinda?
More like deeply.
Hands down the best experience I have had on a phone was my z10.
Over 10 years later, and I still use BlackBerry's keyboard.
I never had a blackberry, but my HTC Desire Z was peak typing. You slide the keyboard out and have a full keyboard. I typed very fast on that thing, every phone I got after that sucked at typing.
This phone upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia…
BlackBerry Classic is being revived with Android, and it can be yours for $400 - Android Authority
A Chinese company is reviving the decade-old BlackBerry Classic with new hardware and installing Android on it for a modern experience.Tushar Mehta (Android Authority)
Me too. Great hardware and basic productivity apps.
But the whole systen was even more locked down than Android.
Do any alternatives allow using banking apps or android pay or android auto?
I realize there are no substitutes for banking apps, but are there any alternatives for android auto or pay if those cannot be installed? Preferably Linux alternatives.
/e/OS works with most, according to this list.
The founder of /e/OS has a blog where he talks about alternative payment solutions, and he mentions Curve being one.
I just recently ordered the Fairphone with /e/OS, and will be looking into this myself soon enough...
Practical Payment Solutions for Murena and /e/OS Users - Gaël Duval (blog, Murena, /e/OS my data is my data, Mandrake Linux...)
We’re living in an age where every tap and every swipe can feed the data collection practices of Big Tech giants.Gaël Duval (Gaël Duval (blog, Murena, /e/OS my data is my data, Mandrake Linux...))
Curve is not available in US and has terrible reviews on Play store.
I'd switch in a heartbeat, but I can't live without a smart watch and having to pay with physical cc again would be a massive downgrade.
I have a suspicion that all the android clones will become a much worse/unusable experience once Google implements these changes.
Availability in the US might be a bit of a challenge, as the Google/Apple duopoly has solidified greatly over the years there. Europe has the entire BoycottUS movement these days, so there are a lot of attempts at developing something independent there. But as with most new solutions, they have the added difficulty of being compared to these bigger companies who've already had many years to develop and perfect their solutions.
The choice boils down to how much you value your principles over comforts, and whether downgrading to physical cards is worth it. Personally I've recently done just that.
In regards to Android clones becoming worse, I saw GrapheneOS say on Mastodon that it won't affect them in any significant way. Hopefully this is the case for most, and will remain the case.
GrapheneOS doesn't include Google Mobile Services and the requirements for certification aren't relevant to us. We don't follow the Android Compatibility Definition Document rules and only care about passing the subset of the Android Compatibility Test Suite and other Android test suites which make sense for us. We implement lots of disallowed features and work on making sure those don't break apps or if they do break some apps that it's easy to work around it for users.
I will pay hard cash money for some devs to bring postmarketos to quality hardware vendors.
I'm all for buying a pinephone, but man are we missing out on the full potential from some genuinely good OEM hardware stuff like razr flip.
Aside from google doing google things, android has been a bloated java pos toy OS for nearly a decade now. It completely wastes the full potential of superior hardware by running everything on a shitty JVM known as the ART that was designed for when devices had <512mb of RAM. A Nintendo 3DS can do better multi process tasking than modern android which regularly kills app threads for no reason other than to screw with you because you dared to switch to a different app for 5 seconds.
Android was supposed to be the big apple killer because of its closeness to a desktop OS with heavy emphasis on widespread features and functionality. Even technically speaking, rooting got you there if you wanted to run whatever straight on the linux environment or swap kernels.
Its nothing but a ripoff iOS clone now. Android 7/8 was probably the peak of development and usability, and even back then people were complaining it didn't have groundbreaking improvements like 6 or lollipop.
I don't think that it's the lack of quality hardware what is stopping adoption of Linux on phones. There are many resons why I don't consider someting like PostmarketOS viable as a daily driver for most.
First of all some apps are just not available on Linux. Banking apps are a prime example. Most banks are now requiring some form of app where I live and they don't even consider Linux. But that's also another problem in it self.
Secondly: driver support. Drivers aren't something one thinks about when talking about phones. But they are needed and mobile phones being what they are, most manufacturers aren't really open to do anything in that regard.
As an Android developer I'm also annoyed by the restrictive power management of Android. But it's there for a reason. On PostmarketOS my phone would be dead after sitting around all day doing noting. On Android I can maybe squeeze two to three days of use out of the same phone. And that's not even with the OEM rom.
That being said, I hope for a future were all of the current issues can be solved and we finally have a viable alternative to Apple and Google.
To be clear, I'm in no way trying to defend what Google is doing.
I honestly don't care about apps. I switched to GrapheneOS and opted to not use Google Play Services, so my app selection is very limited, especially for things like banking apps. It turns out I can just use the website for the vast majority of them, and I can fill in the gaps with FDroid apps.
The main things stopping me from using a Linux phone (eg PostmarketOS) are:
- MMS compatibility - I use this a lot with family, and getting everyone on Signal or something isn't going to happen
- battery efficiency - the best I've heard is 8 hours with light use, and there are still issues receiving notifications in standby mode
- hardware quality issues and drivers - every phone supported by PostmarketOS either has a bunch of unsupported hardware (ie no camera support), or the hardware is poor (ie the PinePhone has crappy audio)
I don't need a flagship with top tier driver support, I just need basic phone things to work. I'm even okay with poor camera quality, provided I can take pictures of things and clearly read the text later. I don't need much in terms of app support, and I'm willing to help port things I need. But my phone needs to work as a phone, and it needs to do so all day without needing to charge until night.
The only way to log into my bank on the website is to use the phone two factor authentication app, which only works with Google Play Services... 💩
I'm considering getting a dedicated login device which can sit on my desk all day doing nothing else.
That sucks.
Unfortunately (or fortunately) banks here (US) generally only support SMS 2FA and occasionally support email, and a handful use the their app (but fall back to SMS).
I actually switched to Fidelity (a brokerage) as a primary bank because they were the only one I could find that supported real MFA using the Symantec VIP app, which fortunately works fine without Google Play Services.
In Sweden, all the major banks joined together and created BankId. It is now pretty much a monopoly on id verification. Even some government agencies use it, which is problematic for multiple reasons.
Debate by former PM:
svd.se/a/y6VqmE/utredare-infor…
Edit: typos
Utredare: Inför statligt bank-id
Staten måste ta större ansvar för att garantera säkra betalningar. Därför bör en statlig e-legitimation införas, enligt utredaren Anna Kinberg Batra.Joakim Hugert Lundberg/TT (Svenska Dagbladet)
Yeah, I tried to use it as my daily driver a while back and what bugged me most was the terrible battery efficiency. Running the full desktop version of Firefox certainly didn't help. At that point the camera also didn't have any drivers. Since theres been some progress and we now have a work in progress driver for that model. Frankly it's amazing that this works at all and I'm incredibly grateful for anyone working on this.
I've actually been rather lucky and managed to convince most of my friends to join me on Signal so we barely need to rely on SMS anymore. But last time I checked there weren't any real Signal clients availabe for Linux phones. Of course, one could always use the desktop version but that still requires a phone to be linked to. Someone has managed to get the Matrix/Signal bridge working and rely on Matrix for the final delivery but that seems like too much tinkering for me 😁
Don't get me wrong, I think the work that's been done is amazing, my point is that it's still not daily driver ready. I want to help out, I just don't have the time anymore with a full-time job and kids. If it was daily drive-able, I could probably spare a few hours here and there to improve things (port apps, track down bugs, etc).
I hope it gets there before I need a new phone. Last year I switched to a Pixel 8 for GrapheneOS and cut out most of my Google Play apps, so I should be good for a few years, but I'd very much like to ditch Android entirely next time.
For now, I got my SO to use Signal, but that's it.
EU: Thank you Google for complying with the DSA.
commission.europa.eu/strategy-…
This is a a huge part of it, the whole "prevent illegal" parts.
- "easier reporting of illegal content"
- "less exposure to illegal content"
- "level-playing field against providers of illegal content"
The EU isn't going to punish them for this, they will hold this up as the golden standard.
The EU’s Digital Services Act
A common set of EU rules that helps better protect users' rights online, bring clarity to digital service providers and foster innovation for online businesses.European Commission
Where does it say that Google is blocking all side loading?
It says they are blocking the installing of unsigned apps. This is the macOS Gatekeeper being the only option on Android. You can still download and install apps that aren't in the Play Store. So the EU will still love this as 3rd party apps can still exist, but at the same time anything "illegal" can be reported to them immediately.
No, i mean when they forced apple to open their IOS system to side loading custom, unverified apps.
Here, have a read:
support.apple.com/en-gb/117767
The trusted trader scheme only applies if you want to distribute your app via the official apple iOS app store.
Installing apps through alternative app distribution in the European Union – Apple Support (UK)
If you’re based in the European Union, you can install apps from sources other than the App Store on your iPhone or iPad.Apple Support
The DSA requires people offering apps ("traders") to provide certain information. For example: address, email, and phone number must be made public. When Apple introduced that, this also caused some outrage and calls for EU regulation. Despite the fact that this was exactly the regulation called for. Hence, why I mentioned that trusted trader scheme.
Google may be legally required to do this. I'm not sure how the DSA is to be interpreted on this. It's certainly not a stretch (see Article 31). It's out of touch to believe the EU will push against this.
Okay aber schau mal. Die EU hat Apple Verklagt und gezwungen, Nicht-Registrierte, nicht gemeldete Apps und sogar Appstores auf IOS verfügbar zu machen. Für die Apps dort muss niemand irgendwas angeben, du kannst dir einfach irgendeine App von Github kopieren und auf deinem IPhone ausführen, dank dem Urteil von vor c.a. 10 Monaten.
Warum sollte dann jetzt, wenn Google das Sideloaden von Custom Apps streichen möchte, die EU plötzlich fein damit sein? Ich meine, sie haben in einem langen Prozess Apple dazu gezwungen, genau das zu ermöglichen und die Monopolstellung als einziger App-Distributor angeklagt.
Und das spannende ist ja: Diese Entscheidung wurde nach August 2023 getroffen, also nach der offiziellen Einführung und Anwendung des DSA. Heißt: Hier wurde entschieden das Sideloaden kein Bruch des DSA's darstellt.
Hast du da eine Quelle dazu? Soweit ich weiß, verlangt Apple, dass alle Apps "notarized" sein müssen. Also das, was Google jetzt auch einführt.
Für Apps im offiziellen Store ist das explizit EU-Vorschrift. Warum sollte die EU was dagegen haben, wenn das freiwillig ausgedehnt wird (falls es freiwillig ist)?
Stimmt - Du hast recht.
Laut Apple Hier müssen die Apps tatsächlich verifiziert sein, auch wenn sie über alternative Wege distributiert werden.
Das wusste ich nicht, ich habe das damals so verstanden, dass die Apps nicht zertifiziert sein müssen und installiert werden können wie bei Android.
Hm. Na super. Dann wird die EU wohl nicht dagegen vorgehen, im Gegenteil. Dachte das wäre unter dem Digital Markets Act anders... Na da freu ich mich ja schon drauf
The EU waltz.
One step forward.
One step to the left.
Two steps to the right.
Three steps back.
Repeat.
That's not exactly true. There are several FOSS mobile OSes, such as PostmarketOS, Mobian, Ubuntu Touch, and the various Android ROMs. Once it's compatible, keeping that OS updated is relatively simple.
The issues with mobile OSes are:
- many phones lock their bootloadersl, and every phone mfg seems to do things a little differently
- so many different phone models with different hardware includes, none of which has manufacturer support in Linux
- closed firmware for cell modems, which have their own little OS that needs to work with the main OS; trying to touch this runs into regulatory issues
Basically, supporting a new phone has a lot of upfront work with very little ongoing work.
Web browsers, on the other hand, need to stay updated with constantly shifting web standards, they're a huge malware target so they need to keep up on CVEs, and pages are getting more complex causing performance and rendering issues, and everyone blames the browser. Supporting a new platform is generally trivial, but the ongoing work is immense.
They're very different beasts.
Not to mention just about every "serious" app (gov't, banking, etc) check safetynet before even turning on. (Hell I've had a gov't app refuse to start because I had developer options enabled, on a completely 'clean' phone)
So emulating them isn't gonna work and websites do not always prioritize working on mobile anymore ("just install the app")
They are in the same room with all the third-party support for them, ESPECIALLY from state-built applications that are increasingly being required to do administration stuff and mandatory banking apps that are required for online payment and even opening their websites these days.
That room does not exist.
Where are all the open source phone OSes? Where are the OS agnostic capable hardware phones?
In the "waiting for funding" room.
If people don't care enough to finance projects like Fairphone, etc... while they are still in the growing pains, then those projects will never be able to last during a digital consumer war, let alone provide a product that has enough mass appeal that it makes sense to build and commercialize on auto.
There needs to be a massive project dealing with making phones platform agnostic.
My current phone, a Pixel 7a, cost me around 350€ (let's say it's roughly the same in $). There is definitely cheaper options. And most of these options will give you a decent phone.
A $200 computer will bring you to basic office stuff and playing facebook games.
Two things especially worth noting from the article.
If you have a non-Google build of Android on your phone, none of this applies.
This means that at least GrapheneOS will be unaffected for now. Other ROMs without gapps will be unaffected only as long as you don't install gapps. Since Graphene has a sandbox for them, I'm assuming it'll be fine. That is, unless Google decides to lock the bootloader entirely.
In September 2026, Google plans to launch this feature in Brazil, Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. The next step is still hazy, but Google is targeting 2027 to expand the verification requirements globally.
So most users worldwide still have at least 1.5 years until it's implemented. Plenty of time to get a Pixel and install Graphene on it. Or to figure out some other plan.
Don't get me wrong - this is insane, unreasonable and horrible news for everyone. We should push back as hard as physically possible against it. However, at the very least we still have some time to figure things out before the policy rolls out.
Yes. Would be a protest buy.
I would spend more money and get Chinese os to just not fund Google.
The way I see it this is the last drop in the bucket for android openness anyways.
Consider a Volla Phone with UBPorts.
UBPorts can also be installed on Fairphone.
Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone
A few months ago, I made a phone with Raspberry Pi that was able to call and text. It had limited functions and overall did not look like a phone.hackaday.io
Google says it's no different than checking IDs at the airport.
Fucker, if I own the airport, own the planes in the airport, am the only person using my own planes in my own airport, then nobody is asking for my ID.
Our phone, our software choice.
There it is, haha.
Gave me a good chuckle as i'm with you here.
I have a similar sentiment when it comes to ads, my device, i pay for the internet and the device is inside my home. I'll decide if you get to show me ads.
For ads at least the argument can be made that the content you consume is not yours and as such you should not be allowed to choose how it is monetized.
Google unilaterally deciding this is like Firefox or chrome adding ads to websites. Which is like no... They're the medium through which content is consumed.
Fucker, if I own the airport, own the planes in the airport, am the only person using my own planes in my own airport, then nobody is asking for my ID.
Okay, but what if Google owns the airport, the planes, and thinks it's entitled to own the people flying on them, to boot?
Our phone, our software choice.
Read the contracts you sign when you buy your phone
Contracts? Unless I'm buying a subsidized phone where a mobile phone plan is required, I'm not sure what other contract I'd be signing. I never got one from Samsung, OnePlus, Google, any used marketplace, or Amazon.
They get paid, and I get hardware to do what I like with it. If I can't do what I want with it, then I'm renting, and I should be paying a rental fee, not a "full price".
The Android ecosystem has been feeling more like an invasive chaotic advertisement machine the past few years. The play store is a cesspool, the weather app switch was poorly executed, Google Podcasts went to the graveyard, and Google pay getting shut down meant I had to switch back to vomits Venmo.
I still have Android gaming handhelds, but why wouldn't I just get an iPhone the next time I go to replace my phone? I can't believe I'm even saying that after being so die hard Android so for years.
why wouldn’t I just get an iPhone
Jumping from the frying pan straight into the fire.
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It is a tough choice, both companies are gigantic and kind of scumbags. Funny story though, I was also in the market for a new computer recently as my 10 year old Windows 10 tower was really starting to show its age. My frustrations with Windows had also peaked.
I have been doing a more photo and video editing for fun, and I ended up taking a leap. I got an M4 Pro Mac mini. Mac OS is definitively better (IMO) for home use than Windows, and the M series processors are like wizardry. I liked it so much that shortly after I bought a used M2 Max MacBook Pro off of a coworker.
Coincidentally, a few months after I got my Macs LTT also switched over first to Snapdragon-based Windows laptops and later to Macs for a 30-day challenge and they ended up staying on the Macs.
I am an IT manager and I don't think I would ever want to deploy Macs at scale in my workplace, though it is the only computer I look forward to using now.
I feel much better knowing that Tim Apple isn't reading my texts and monitoring my bank apps so they can target me with ads.
That’s some Grade A crack you’re smoking there, my dude.
I'm sure we all have a different perception, but my current view is that Google sells you a phone that they need to push ads and harvest vast amounts of data from you in order to make money on the phone, and Apple somehow needs to do this less.
Which company do you feel takes privacy more seriously? From what I understand, Google primarily makes their money from advertising.
I've never owned an iPhone, but I 100% agree with you. The reason I choose android is because of the freedom to use my phone how i want (for the most part).
Apple is a walled garden, but their security is good, they're not an advertising company in the same way google is and don't have as much of an incentive to harvest and sell your data. If android is going to be a walled garden like iOS, I trust apple more than i do google and If in the future I can't find a phone that has all the features i want anyway, then i may as well just get an iPhone.
Agreed across all points. Android's main advantages after the changes go through with side loading will be:
1. choice of manufacturer and
2. the still-deeply-flawed-but-far-superior implementation of a work profile in Android.
I love being able to press one button and have all of my containerized work apps shut off. It is also quite nice that a remote wipe from M365 could be limited to the work app container rather than the entire phone.
androidcentral.com/apps-softwa…
They migrated people over to the wallet. What was shut down was the app called "Google Pay"
Google Wallet explained: Licenses, banks, new features, and the Google Pay shutdown
Google Wallet replaced Google Pay, which will shut down soon. Here's all the latest news and added features you need to know.Michael L Hicks (Android Central)
First they implemented chrome restrictions for adblockers with manifest v3, then restricted AOSP sources. Looks like they are pretending to be Apple now.
You might be joking but you could build the Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone.
"A simple smartphone that you can build yourself! Can do everything a normal smartphone can!"
Raspberry PiPhone: a DIY Android Smartphone
A few months ago, I made a phone with Raspberry Pi that was able to call and text. It had limited functions and overall did not look like a phone.hackaday.io
The phone I have now is half way paid off... I will say it. It is a Samsung S23. I didn't want it. It is just my other phone literally died from a single drop of water! I won't get into the details. But I want grapheneOS or the most private OS I can.
Right now I have been carrying my phone less than before. I used to take it even to grocery store trips, but I am just getting sick of the endless monitoring, even if I am a terminally online person. I literally cannot leave my apartment without being on camera since my landlord has all the corridors and exits/entrances on 24/7 surveillance.
I know that a phone can be tracked even when on a private OS. And the EU's rules on wanting a copy of every single message sent out from all messaging apps (including signal) will still affect non-EU people, too. It fucking sucks.
I learned the hard way many, many, many times just what even a simple 'hello my name is (name), and I am a (job title at company)' to the wrong person that you'd think could not have had any negative consequences whatsoever ended up causing absolute hell for me. I've been robbed, lied about and had my reputation utter destroyed, been a victim of identity theft by people I knew personally, had my family stalked and harassed, and even had multiple hit and run attempts done on me by people actively stalking me. Not to mention how anything and everything I said, no matter how innocent it seemed absolutely can be twisted against you. And I mean ANYTHING.
And I did nothing wrong, nothing illegal, nothing shady. I just had people calling me antisocial and so I made conversation with them, talking about my day, my studies, what I ate for lunch... and fuck me you would not believe what people can do with simple information like that.
There is a reason some people clam up at even the simplest question posed to them by anyone. I did try to ask simple information about people above, even things as damn simple as what their (real) names were because apparently it turned out they didn't tell me their real names and they got VERY violent the moment I probed into anything. The people who claim that 'nothing to hide nothing to fear' are also the most secretive people who absolutely will not allow anyone an inkling about themselves. This is why.
BTW you want to know how simple info like what ate for lunch can be used against you? I once said that I wanted to work at little overtime because I wanted to earn back the money I paid for an unplanned lunch...
Now you might say 'how the fuck could that statement be used against you?'. Well the guy said I was acting unprofessionally and said I needed to run to the cafeteria to pay for a lunch I took without paying for it. Basically accusing me of dining and dashing.
Best part? Management believed him... they believed him despite the fact that I had WRITTEN that in a work chat and they presented the screencaps to me. I didn't say anything during the investigation because... I have no idea what to say. I had already told people I was trying to save money by not buying lunch and also working overtime. But even that was interpreted as an insult by me against them because they thought I was calling them lazy and useless with money. They just kept making accusations like that, and while initially management said 'wow that guy is an asshole' they never dismissed what the others said. So after dozens of bullshit accusations my credibility just kept dropping and theirs rising.
And all of this could have been avoided if I simply refused to talk to anyone.
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They are very different.
GrapheneOS' whole thing is security and privacy. It's big on sandboxing apps and browser sessions. Google Play and most Android features are opt-in (Google Play Services are also sandboxed). Just check their features.
LineageOS doesn't have most of the above. It's mostly just a regular barebones Android distribution without all the vendor bloat, and a great alternative if you just want more control and less BS (if you've used a Samsung device you will know what I mean - absolutely horrible distribution imo).
GrapheneOS features overview
Overview of GrapheneOS features differentiating it from the Android Open Source Project (AOSP).GrapheneOS
Because of using Shelter, this will make my phone practically unusable.
This is fucking ridiculous
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Replace your phone app to FOSS😀
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Generally speaking sure but the Gmail to Tuta one is not really helpful. Tuta is a completely different provider, I am not saying you shouldn't switch but this isn't switching your app but instead your whole e-mail presence.
Maybe a better choice would be Thunderbird as mail app instead of Gmail if you don't want to switch addresses.
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It looks like if you purchase the Tuta low end premium plan (~3.50 USD / month) you can use a custom domain and that could help you out with switching around in the future, but yeah it doesn't help you today if you're on an @gmail.com address.
Gmail (as a service) is definitely one of those that is really hard to replace once you've bought in.
Also, I'm a huge Signal fan-person.
GitHub - NeoApplications/Neo-Store: An F-Droid client with modern UI and an arsenal of extra features.
An F-Droid client with modern UI and an arsenal of extra features. - NeoApplications/Neo-StoreGitHub
Another +1 for posteo!
Although, I actually use both posteo and tuta in combination with anonaddy
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I've seen a few of these lately, and it's always a nice reminder that I'm doing things right!
But can we please give immich more love!?
I'm sure ente photos is great, but more love for the self hosted options like immich, nextcloud, Standard Notes, Jellyfin etc.
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Me now: oh
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Once it stops just 1 school shooter then all schools will have them.
It would be great for law enforcement to use as a non-lethal use. If they use tranquilizer darts for people with a knife and mental unstable.
I predict this will end in complete success.
We shall define "success" later.
Yeah this will go swimmingly. Especially if you’re the supplier of drones to the schools.
These will be purchased, sit in a cabinet and never be charged or maintained. When they are “needed”, no one will know how to operate them or what they can do.
This is a waste of money from the hit git go.
Fucking stupidest idea I ever seen.
The US has more guns than its total population. Real GUN CONTROL is needed.
How does one even come up with this idea?
How do we keep kids safe when something happens in a school?
Wait wair, first. How do we keep us safe when something happens in a school?
disegni picrossici con miku, fuori dal telefono escono sorprese (asset rip giochino Mikulogi)
Prima (cioè, l’altro ieri, ormai si sa come va la roba qui) ho voluto estrarre gli asset da un giochino che ho sul telefono (forse il più gustoso che ho lì, a dire il vero), Hatsune Miku Logic Paint… cioè la fusione delle mie due più grandi passioni — almeno, dopo il rotting, l’avere segreti, […]
octospacc.altervista.org/2025/…
disegni picrossici con miku, fuori dal telefono escono sorprese (asset rip giochino Mikulogi)
Prima (cioè, l’altro ieri, ormai si sa come va la roba qui) ho voluto estrarre gli asset da un giochino che ho sul telefono (forse il più gustoso che ho lì, a dire il vero), Hatsune Miku Logic Paint… cioè la fusione delle mie due più grandi passioni — almeno, dopo il rotting, l’avere segreti, ed un’altra che non dirò. Difatti, il Picross con Miku è alquanto sfizioso, ma prenderne i file per altri usi lo è ancora di più, e nel farlo si scoprono svariate cose. 🤗Innanzitutto, il gioco è fatto in Unity; chi mai lo avrebbe potuto immaginare? È buono però, perché è bastato dare in pasto ad AssetRipper la cartella estratta dall’APK per ottenere tutti i bei PNG, la musica, e… tutte le griglie dei puzzle in formato TXT (con 0 per indicare caselle vuote, 1 quelle piene, e virgole per fare da padding), evviva!!! (Oltre ad altri metadati in CSV, come i nomi dei puzzle e stringhe varie.) Questi torneranno sicuramente utili per fare una cosa che per motivi octosi non voglio spoilerare (e che per motivi legali non potrei fare, ma dalle cose octose non deriva mai lucro, quindi me ne sbatto il mikuleek). 🤪
Poi, però, ho visto una cosa meno divertente… tutti, e dico tutti, gli asset grafici, proprio gli elementi UI, sono rovinati dalla compressione, almeno in qualche misura! Ci sono ovunque piccoli artefatti di compressione che, a dire il vero, giocando sul telefono non si notano, ma che sono così evidenti anche solo ficcando il naso tra i file, senza zommare chissà quanto per alcuni, che sono pronta a scommettere che giocando sul mio tablet da 10 pollici li vedrei. (Attenzione, sono pronta a scommettere ma non a provare, mi secco ampiamente.) La cosa bella è che sono tutti PNG, non JPEG o WEBP o VFFNCL, quindi… a meno che non sia AssetRipper ad averli forzati in PNG, chi ha lavorato al gioco non è proprio del mestiere. Persino in una manciata di file che nel nome hanno “Uncompressed” (come questo) trovo artefatti, anche se non di tipo JPEG classico. 😪
Insomma, lo hanno fatto un pochino sciatto questo coso… e a dire il vero forse torna tutto, vedendo le altre sviste di design che ci sono, come la musica che si ripete ad appena qualche secondo, cosa che da alquanto sui nervi, o che completando i picross si sbloccano delle immaginine dei vocaloid (con nessun tasto per condividere o boh, impostare come sfondo) anch’esse molto compresse (e per queste si, lo si nota anche dal telefono). Lato codice francamente penso sia ben fatto, perché bug non ne ho trovati e la UX è ben rifinita… anche se una svista pure lì c’è, e cioè che lo stato in corso di un livello non è salvato se non premendo indietro; in altre parole, se blocco lo schermo del telefono per qualche minuto, e quindi la MIUI di merda uccide la app, quando vado per continuare devo puntualmente ricominciare da capo, perché ho scordato di chiudere per bene. 😶Boh, veramente boh, però comunque è un giochino okei. Ha 25 puzzle 5×5, 25 10×10, 100 15×15, e 4 compositi di 25 puzzle 25×25, quindi per chi ha 2,79€ in punti premio Google da spendere (“oggi offre Alphabet“) consiglio di provarlo… altrimenti, per i pirati c’è l’APK… o, ancora altrimenti, per gli octosi c’è—NO SPOILER! (E per chi vuole semplicemente frugare tra gli asset, come si nota in foto li ho caricati su Pignio, su pignio.octt.eu.org/item/mikulo…… e si, dovrei sia aggiungere un tasto per scaricare un’intera cartella come ZIP, che in generale migliorare la vista delle cartelle supportando le sottocartelle, ma per ora godetevi il miscuglio disordinato e pace.) 👾
#assets #game #HatsuneMikuLogicPaint #MikuLogi #mobile #picross #puzzle
Memo by ██▓▒░⡷⠂𝚘𝚌𝚝𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚞𝚛 𝚠𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚜⠐⢾░▒▓██
AssetRipper, a tool for extracting assets from Unity serialized files and asset bundles and converting them into the native Unity engine format: + https://assetripper.github.io/AssetRipper/ + https://github.Memos
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity: how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.
The University of Cambridge’s Social Decision-Making Lab collected over 62,000 public posts from the Facebook accounts of hundreds of US politicians, commentators and media outlets before and after these events to see how they affected online behaviour.*“We wanted to understand the kinds of content that went viral among Republicans and Democrats during this period of high tension for both groups,” said Malia Marks, PhD candidate in Cambridge’s Department of Psychology and lead author of the study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
“Negative emotions such as anger and outrage along with hostility towards opposing political groups are usually rocket fuel for social media engagement. You might expect this to go into hyperdrive during times of crisis and external threat.”
“However, we found the opposite. It appears that political crises evoke not so much outgroup hate but rather ingroup love,” said Marks.
Just after the Trump assassination attempt, Republican-aligned posts signalling unity and shared identity received 53% more engagement than those that did not – an increase of 17 percentage points compared to just before the shooting.
These included posts such as evangelist Franklin Graham thanking God that Donald Trump is alive, and Fox News commentator Laura Ingraham posting: “Bleeding and unbowed, Trump faces relentless attacks yet stands strong for America. This is why his followers remain passionately loyal.”
At the same time, engagement levels for Republican posts attacking the Democrats saw a decrease of 23 percentage points from just a few days earlier.
After Biden suspended his re-election campaign, Democrat-aligned posts expressing solidarity received 91% more engagement than those that did not – a major increase of 71 percentage points over the period shortly before his withdrawal.
Posts included former US Secretary of Labor Robert Reich calling Biden “one of our most pro-worker presidents”, and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi posting that Biden’s “legacy of vision, values and leadership make him one of the most consequential Presidents in American history.”
Biden’s withdrawal saw the continuation of a gradual rise in engagement for Democrat posts attacking Republicans – although over the 25 July days covered by the analysis almost a quarter of all conservative posts displayed “outgroup hostility” compared to just 5% of liberal posts.
Trump shooting and Biden exit flipped social media from hostility to solidarity
Research reveals how political crises cause a shift in the force behind viral online content ‘from outgroup hate to ingroup love’.University of Cambridge
One long sentence is all it takes to make LLMs misbehave
Logit-Gap Steering: A New Frontier in Understanding and Probing LLM Safety
New research from Unit 42 on logit-gap steering reveals how internal alignment measures can be bypassed, making external AI security vital.Tony Li (Unit 42)
DM me on Spotify: Spotify launches a messaging feature.
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36348361
DM me on Spotify: Spotify launches a messaging feature.
Introducing Messages, A New Way To Share What You Love on Spotify with Friends and Family — Spotify
Recommendations have always been at the heart of the Spotify experience. Friends and family share their favorite music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more from Spotify millions of times each month.Lauren.Peterson@groupsjr.com (Spotify)
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which I hate.... especially the "shorts"....
tween daughter has adhd, easily falls into tiktok brainrot hellholes. Has trouble with self-regulation and self-control.... I still want her to have music to listen to and do things (some lofi to study/chill to, etc)... but now, Spotify is yet another vector for distraction that consumes her.
People be like "parent's should take responsibility for their kids"... I'm like "mf, I'm trying, but every app in the world is trying to be social media" And the parental controls they offer are shiiiiiiiit. Because it's not in a companies best interest to provide parents with tools to limit features.
Such as?
I’ll start:
Tidal, SoundCloud, Deezer (has ties to Russian oligarchs so gotta be careful)
Bring back the ruthless top 8 friends.
I just had my 8 variations of parodied Jesus.
...the websites that host stuff and do it free and efficiently.
It's never free. The instance you're using isn't free; it's paid for by donations. ISPs and server hosts don't just give bandwidth out of charity or for the public good. One way or another, these for-profit companies are getting their pound of flesh, typically by selling targeted ad space.
The fact that these companies are adding chat features means they're now going to try mining conversations for additional consumer profile data points, which they can then sell to advertisers.
This new change is gross, and I hope nobody uses it.
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Which they can sell to ~~advertisers~~ LLM and AI companies.
It's not talked about too much, because it is not in the best interest of the stockholders. But AI as it was popularized by openAI and both images and text generators already reached a boundary of data availability. There's no more human made data. They are now resorting to synthetic data, which is to make one first generation LLM model create tons of data to train newer or more tailored weighs models. With the issue that this new models develop problems from inbreeding of the data. Training models on other genAI products poisons the models and corrupts their generative power in just a few generations. This is why genAI images are increasingly turning yellow, the same reason newer models are more fragile and hallucinate or go psychotic more easily than old models. So, the AI companies need new sources of human made data to mix in with the synthetic data.
The main problem is that we ran out, there's no more data made by humans to train AI with. Humans don't create new data fast enough to train all the new models with the new doodads and features the AI companies want to sell. So now these companies will pay anything just to get their hands on new fresh stuff. These is why any app in the planet will now pivot to do anything they can to get chats going. It's a new source of data to sell to data brokers.
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what alternative did you end up going with?
I had a script to convert my main Spotify playlist (5000+ songs) to download from soulseek but...yeah that would take a VERY long time and I really didn't feel like being a soulseek asshole going that route.
If there was something out there where I can take my spotify playlist and just convert it and use it on another/better platform I'd switch right now.
Deezer | Écoute de la musique en ligne | App de musique
Télécharge Deezer, notre app de streaming, crée ton compte et écoute ta musique gratuitement en accédant à des millions de titres, playlists et podcasts.Deezer
I switched to Qobuz. They use soundiiz.com/ to migrate, I think it was free transfering to them?
I think it reported a 90% success rate + a few that it picked, but got wrong. It mostly failed on my instrumental stuff, standard stuff was fine.
Soundiiz - Transfer playlists and favorites between streaming services
Convert playlists and favorites between different music platforms. Import your playlists and favorites from Apple Music to Spotify, TIDAL, YouTube Music, Deezer and many more!Soundiiz
I've been a happy Tidal user for years fwiw. The app is great as is music availability and discovery. I went back to Spotify for a while because I was missing its discovery features like discover weekly, but Tidal has greatly improved since then, and now features a daily discovery playlist (10 tracks, which I greatly prefer to Spotify's weekly 30), plus 8 custom mixes based on genres you listen to. Track radio is also solid.
Also, it's maybe the only subscription service that instead of creating new tiers, merged the two it had before into one, keeping the upper tier's features at the lower one's cost
The last loop I'm trying to close is notifications for new releases from artists I subscribe to.
I found this, but it has no documentation so I haven't tried it yet: github.com/provokateurin/music…
Edit: Nevermind, I somehow missed the Explore page in ListenBrainz that does this automatically (and has its own RSS feed).
Apple music. High bitrate and aptx on android. And they pay artists more than Spotify. I moved over a while ago but I used some website to transfer over all my music.
Edit: looks like apple music might have the ability to transfer your music built into it now?macrumors.com/2025/08/26/apple…
Apple Music Transfer Tool for Switching From Spotify Now Available in US and 8 Other Countries
Apple has quietly expanded availability of its music transfer tool to seven additional countries, allowing users to import playlists and libraries...Tim Hardwick (MacRumors.com)
use ymusic with no ads for youtube
YMusic listen YouTube video in background - Android
Listen to your favorite music video in YouTube without consuming addition data for loading video streamymusic.io
Zawinski's law: Every program attempts to expand until it can read mail. Those programs which cannot expand are replaced by ones which can.
This is just the modern equivalent: Intra-site messaging.
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No.
On another note: Apple Music migration tool will finally help Spotify users switch
Not saying it’s the best alternative, but at least there’s one escape route being built.
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That's absolutely insane that there's 3B+ people on Facebook. I honestly don't believe that number is accurate at all.
Am I underestimating how many people have phones/internet access at this point?
Everyone. Damn near everyone has a phone at this point, Facebook even handed them out to keep the user numbers growing at one point
People who live in dirt floor huts walk to churches or other gathering places to charge them. The cheapest smart phones are essentially worthless, so there's no point stealing or selling them.
And cell service isn't all that expensive to run, so it's priced to what people will pay
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All I wanted was cd quality audio (which I’m willing to pay for)…
You know you’ve screwed up when the lazy people (me) actually get off their butts to switch.
I've been telling people for years to buy 1-2 albums a month, and then after a couple years you have a sizable library. Spotify is renting.
But spotify is easy and fast, and some people think they listen to way more music than they do. I wonder how many people are paying spotify $10/month to listen to the same 4 albums for years.
There’s something to be said for curated “auto” playlists, both for background and discovering stuff.
That being said, Pandora is waaaay better at this. So are free broadcasts/channels like Radio Paradise.
I don't trust spotify not to fill those playlists with AI slop, now. I also personally prefer to go deeper on a band, rather than thoughtlessly drift through a bunch of stuff I'll never hear again.
I do like bandcamp's "people who bought this also bought this" recommendations, though.
But spotify is easy and fast,
So you mean it's convenient. That's a valid reason. Evil shit aside, that's literally why music streaming exploded the way it did.
Unfortunately, the evil shit is pushing me away. Why can't we just have a regular music streaming service that doesn't inevitably suffer from feature creep and enshittification? Why does everything have to constantly increase profits?
Why does everything have to constantly increase profits?
I think that's the nature of publicly traded for profit companies. The shareholders don't care about the product. They just want their portfolio's value to go up.
The leadership doesn't care much about the product. Not in the long term. They get paid a big salary, and the higher-ups have equity they want to go up in value. So long as they cash out before the product dies, they're golden.
The actual labor building the product might care. Some are just working for a paycheck. (I knew a guy who worked at spotify, actually. He didn't personally care much about music. He was just a database guy). But the ones who do care don't have any power.
So most of the forces that would push the company towards being long term good don't have power. The forces that want more profits, now, do.
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There is no ethical consumption under capitalism.
At least tidal pays the artists more
There was a short time period, during which Spotify would automatically start playing reel-like demos of song releases with audio, when you open the app.
Imagine following artists with explicit lyrics, and it starts blasting in the public, because you just wanted to show an album to your friends. Maybe I am wrong, but I think it also included artists that are popular in your area, which makes even worse, as a lot of people here listen drill music.
Luckily, they reverted the stupid change.
When you see things like this remember that you're paying for this. Stuff like this is why the price has gone up again.
They had a good thing near perfect but they kept adding useless features and bloating the app and price. I need to cancel this shit but my grandma loves it.
Once they brought on Podcasts and wouldn’t stop shoving Joe Rogan on every screen I absolutely cancelled. I never listened to a single podcast on there yet they were the overwhelming majority of my recommendations. I was also getting annoyed with the random pop-ups of ‘hey wanna try this band that sounds absolutely nothing like anything you’ve ever listened to on our platform before?’…nope! Didn’t need Audible either. The price just kept going up…like guys, I want a music app. That’s it. Nothing else.
Uninstalled Spotify over a year(or 2 or 3?) ago…don’t really miss it.
My post was not supposed to be that TikTok specifically is bad.
my point was every platform (that uses attention as money generator) would eventually be some kind of short videos which emulates pov of user (vertical interface instead of TV horizontal interface) that encourage "engagements"
Apple vs. Facebook is Kayfabe
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36347295
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews.
:::
Apple vs. Facebook is Kayfabe
::: spoiler Comments
- Hackernews;
- Lobsters.
:::Apple vs. Facebook is Kayfabe
Apple vs. Facebook is, and always was, kayfabe. In reality, Apple is Facebook's chauffeur; holding Zuck's coat while Facebook wantonly surveils iPhones owners. How can we be sure? Because Apple continues to allow wide-scale abuse of In-App Browsers.Alex Russell
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someone asked me how it's going...
LINDA MCMAHON IS THE SECRETARY OF EDUCATION.
NOT FUCKING GOING WELL.
Cyberattack on state systems bring Nevada’s official websites & phone lines down; officials rely on social media to issue updates
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36349616
Source.
Cyberattack on state systems bring Nevada’s official websites & phone lines down; officials rely on social media to issue updates
Source: Governor Lombardo Press Office on X/Twitter.
Cyberattack on state systems bring Nevada’s official websites & phone lines down; officials rely on social media to issue updates
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36349616
Source.
Cyberattack on state systems bring Nevada’s official websites & phone lines down; officials rely on social media to issue updates
Source: Governor Lombardo Press Office on X/Twitter.
Chinese Hackers Hijack Web Traffic to Spy on Foreign Diplomats
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36349920
In March 2025, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) identified a complex, multifaceted campaign attributed to the PRC-nexus threat actor UNC6384. The campaign targeted diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities globally. GTIG assesses this was likely in support of cyber espionage operations aligned with the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC).The campaign hijacks target web traffic, using a captive portal redirect, to deliver a digitally signed downloader that GTIG tracks as STATICPLUGIN. This ultimately led to the in-memory deployment of the backdoor SOGU.SEC (also known as PlugX). This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing certificates, an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack, and indirect execution techniques to evade detection.
This blog post presents our findings and analysis of this espionage campaign, as well as the evolution of the threat actor’s operational capabilities. We examine how the malware is delivered, how the threat actor utilized social engineering and evasion techniques, and technical aspects of the multi-stage malware payloads.
In this campaign, the malware payloads were disguised as either software or plugin updates and delivered through UNC6384 infrastructure using AitM and social engineering tactics. A high level overview of the attack chain:
1. The target’s web browser tests if the internet connection is behind a captive portal;
2. An AitM redirects the browser to a threat actor controlled website;
3. The first stage malware, STATICPLUGIN, is downloaded;
4. STATICPLUGIN then retrieves an MSI package from the same website;
5. Finally, CANONSTAGER is DLL side-loaded and deploys the SOGU.SEC backdoor.
~Figure 1: Attack chain diagram~
Chinese Hackers Hijack Web Traffic to Spy on Foreign Diplomats
In March 2025, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) identified a complex, multifaceted campaign attributed to the PRC-nexus threat actor UNC6384. The campaign targeted diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities globally. GTIG assesses this was likely in support of cyber espionage operations aligned with the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC).The campaign hijacks target web traffic, using a captive portal redirect, to deliver a digitally signed downloader that GTIG tracks as STATICPLUGIN. This ultimately led to the in-memory deployment of the backdoor SOGU.SEC (also known as PlugX). This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing certificates, an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack, and indirect execution techniques to evade detection.
This blog post presents our findings and analysis of this espionage campaign, as well as the evolution of the threat actor’s operational capabilities. We examine how the malware is delivered, how the threat actor utilized social engineering and evasion techniques, and technical aspects of the multi-stage malware payloads.
In this campaign, the malware payloads were disguised as either software or plugin updates and delivered through UNC6384 infrastructure using AitM and social engineering tactics. A high level overview of the attack chain:
1. The target’s web browser tests if the internet connection is behind a captive portal;
2. An AitM redirects the browser to a threat actor controlled website;
3. The first stage malware, STATICPLUGIN, is downloaded;
4. STATICPLUGIN then retrieves an MSI package from the same website;
5. Finally, CANONSTAGER is DLL side-loaded and deploys the SOGU.SEC backdoor.
PRC-Nexus Espionage Campaign Hijacks Web Traffic to Target Diplomats
A social engineering campaign leveraging signed malware, evasive tactics, and captive portal hijacking.Google Threat Intelligence Group (Google Cloud)
Chinese Hackers Hijack Web Traffic to Spy on Foreign Diplomats
cross-posted from: programming.dev/post/36349920
In March 2025, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) identified a complex, multifaceted campaign attributed to the PRC-nexus threat actor UNC6384. The campaign targeted diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities globally. GTIG assesses this was likely in support of cyber espionage operations aligned with the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC).The campaign hijacks target web traffic, using a captive portal redirect, to deliver a digitally signed downloader that GTIG tracks as STATICPLUGIN. This ultimately led to the in-memory deployment of the backdoor SOGU.SEC (also known as PlugX). This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing certificates, an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack, and indirect execution techniques to evade detection.
This blog post presents our findings and analysis of this espionage campaign, as well as the evolution of the threat actor’s operational capabilities. We examine how the malware is delivered, how the threat actor utilized social engineering and evasion techniques, and technical aspects of the multi-stage malware payloads.
In this campaign, the malware payloads were disguised as either software or plugin updates and delivered through UNC6384 infrastructure using AitM and social engineering tactics. A high level overview of the attack chain:
1. The target’s web browser tests if the internet connection is behind a captive portal;
2. An AitM redirects the browser to a threat actor controlled website;
3. The first stage malware, STATICPLUGIN, is downloaded;
4. STATICPLUGIN then retrieves an MSI package from the same website;
5. Finally, CANONSTAGER is DLL side-loaded and deploys the SOGU.SEC backdoor.
Chinese Hackers Hijack Web Traffic to Spy on Foreign Diplomats
In March 2025, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) identified a complex, multifaceted campaign attributed to the PRC-nexus threat actor UNC6384. The campaign targeted diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities globally. GTIG assesses this was likely in support of cyber espionage operations aligned with the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC).The campaign hijacks target web traffic, using a captive portal redirect, to deliver a digitally signed downloader that GTIG tracks as STATICPLUGIN. This ultimately led to the in-memory deployment of the backdoor SOGU.SEC (also known as PlugX). This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing certificates, an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack, and indirect execution techniques to evade detection.
This blog post presents our findings and analysis of this espionage campaign, as well as the evolution of the threat actor’s operational capabilities. We examine how the malware is delivered, how the threat actor utilized social engineering and evasion techniques, and technical aspects of the multi-stage malware payloads.
In this campaign, the malware payloads were disguised as either software or plugin updates and delivered through UNC6384 infrastructure using AitM and social engineering tactics. A high level overview of the attack chain:
1. The target’s web browser tests if the internet connection is behind a captive portal;
2. An AitM redirects the browser to a threat actor controlled website;
3. The first stage malware, STATICPLUGIN, is downloaded;
4. STATICPLUGIN then retrieves an MSI package from the same website;
5. Finally, CANONSTAGER is DLL side-loaded and deploys the SOGU.SEC backdoor.
PRC-Nexus Espionage Campaign Hijacks Web Traffic to Target Diplomats
A social engineering campaign leveraging signed malware, evasive tactics, and captive portal hijacking.Google Threat Intelligence Group (Google Cloud)
Chinese Hackers Hijack Web Traffic to Spy on Foreign Diplomats
In March 2025, Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) identified a complex, multifaceted campaign attributed to the PRC-nexus threat actor UNC6384. The campaign targeted diplomats in Southeast Asia and other entities globally. GTIG assesses this was likely in support of cyber espionage operations aligned with the strategic interests of the People's Republic of China (PRC).The campaign hijacks target web traffic, using a captive portal redirect, to deliver a digitally signed downloader that GTIG tracks as STATICPLUGIN. This ultimately led to the in-memory deployment of the backdoor SOGU.SEC (also known as PlugX). This multi-stage attack chain leverages advanced social engineering including valid code signing certificates, an adversary-in-the-middle (AitM) attack, and indirect execution techniques to evade detection.
This blog post presents our findings and analysis of this espionage campaign, as well as the evolution of the threat actor’s operational capabilities. We examine how the malware is delivered, how the threat actor utilized social engineering and evasion techniques, and technical aspects of the multi-stage malware payloads.
In this campaign, the malware payloads were disguised as either software or plugin updates and delivered through UNC6384 infrastructure using AitM and social engineering tactics. A high level overview of the attack chain:
1. The target’s web browser tests if the internet connection is behind a captive portal;
2. An AitM redirects the browser to a threat actor controlled website;
3. The first stage malware, STATICPLUGIN, is downloaded;
4. STATICPLUGIN then retrieves an MSI package from the same website;
5. Finally, CANONSTAGER is DLL side-loaded and deploys the SOGU.SEC backdoor.
PRC-Nexus Espionage Campaign Hijacks Web Traffic to Target Diplomats
A social engineering campaign leveraging signed malware, evasive tactics, and captive portal hijacking.Google Threat Intelligence Group (Google Cloud)
DM me on Spotify: Spotify launches a messaging feature.
Introducing Messages, A New Way To Share What You Love on Spotify with Friends and Family — Spotify
Recommendations have always been at the heart of the Spotify experience. Friends and family share their favorite music, podcasts, audiobooks, and more from Spotify millions of times each month.Lauren.Peterson@groupsjr.com (Spotify)
Google is ending sideloading on Android
Fuck this shit, Fuck Big Tech and fuck the rich.
The global elite have finally gone fully mask off.
https://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments/1mzw7sc/google_wants_to_make_sideloading_android_apps/
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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“Google says it has calculated the energy required for its Gemini AI service: Sending a single text prompt consumes as much energy as watching television for nine seconds.”
That's pretty staggering when you consider that it's no longer possible to do a Google search without generating an AI summary. Google processes something like 8 billion searches per day, so if each one of those triggers a prompt equivalent to watching 9 seconds of television, every day the total power cost is equivalent to about 2200 years of TV watching. Per day. And that's just search, for just one tech company.
likely the entire
Surface of the
earth will be
Covered with solar
panels and data
enters."
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
The PR Machine Powering Big Tech’s AI Energy Story
Google doesn't want you to think AI uses up much energyWilliam Fitzgerald (Hard Reset)
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Apple vs. Facebook is Kayfabe
- Hackernews;
- Lobsters.
:::
Apple vs. Facebook is Kayfabe
Apple vs. Facebook is, and always was, kayfabe. In reality, Apple is Facebook's chauffeur; holding Zuck's coat while Facebook wantonly surveils iPhones owners. How can we be sure? Because Apple continues to allow wide-scale abuse of In-App Browsers.Alex Russell
Will Smith's concert crowds are real, but AI is blurring the lines
- Hackernews.
:::
Will Smith's concert crowds are real, but AI is blurring the lines - Waxy.org
Will Smith is being accused of generating fake fans with AI, but it's complicated: the crowds are real, but the videos were manipulated by Smith's team and YouTube itself.Andy Baio (Waxy.org)
New Flagships Redefine Form and Function
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Þe user's first, and only, post. Its oþer contribution is a single emoji reply comment.
80% chance AI bot.
Kick faces possible $49 M fine after French streamer Jean Pormanove dies on air
Kick faces possible $49M fine after French streamer Jean Pormanove dies on air
Kick could be hit with a $49M penalty after the death of French streamer Jean Pormanove, who died following “ten days and nights of torture.”Michael Gwilliam (Dexerto)
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A fine isnt enough. This platform needs to be permanently shutdown.
This place is breeding grounds for morons, bigots, predators, and other social rejects, and it lets all of them continue thriving. By no comprehensible measure should that be normal, but somehow it is.
But I don't understand why don't they go after the abusers, instead of imposing a fine to the platform. This looks like a criminal case, it's not just a matter that should be left in the hands of the platform to begin with.. so why focus on blaming the platform?
Someone got bullied so hard they died, and the response is to simply ban them and then punish the platform? It sounds like an approach designed by lawyers who just want to make money, instead of actually an attempt to fix/correct the problem.
It's like blaming the email provider for allowing the exchange of messages and video files in a mailing group that was organizing crime.. instead of actually investigating the people who committed the crime and enacting laws / setting precedent that could act as deterrent, independently of which channel was used while committing the crime. Then punish the platform if they are not collaborating or if they are found to be complicit (while investigating the criminals).
Kick faces possible $49 M fine after French streamer Jean Pormanove dies on air
Kick faces possible $49M fine after French streamer Jean Pormanove dies on air
Kick could be hit with a $49M penalty after the death of French streamer Jean Pormanove, who died following “ten days and nights of torture.”Michael Gwilliam (Dexerto)
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They kinda did. The dudes were taken in as part of an ongoing investigation but were then released. I can see why it’s fared for the cops when even the victims are saying it’s by their own choice. But it’s no excuse for kick.
ctvnews.ca/sci-tech/article/ou…
The investigation, opened in December, is looking into “deliberate violence against vulnerable persons” and “spreading recordings of images related to offences involving deliberate violations of physical integrity,” Martinelli’s statement said. It did not specify why Pormanove could be considered vulnerable.The statement said two co-streamers allegedly involved in the case were briefly taken into custody in January but were released pending further investigation.
In parallel, the Nice prosecutor said, investigators interviewed Pormanove and one of his co-streamers who both appeared to be victims of violence and humiliation. They “strongly denied being victims of violence, stating that the events were staged in order to `generate a buzz’ and make money.”
French streamer’s on-air death provokes outcry as authorities probe allegations of abuse
The death of a French streamer during an extended broadcast prompted soul-searching and controversy, as a government minister said he had been “humiliated and mistreated for months” on air and a judicial investigation delves into alleged abuse.The Associated Press (CTVNews)
execution of the law is always more complicated than we want it to be. They could have been let off as the investigation continued if the victim told the cops "i did everything with full consent and it was all an act for the entertainment of the stream.". Cops/W/e the french version of DA is would possibly need to continue the investigation to show that either he was unable to consent to the actions or it was a lie that there was consent.
I'm just a layperson and maybe it was more cut and dry and the cops really dropped the ball. It just doesn't seem so cut and dry legally to me. Will be interesting to see the outcome of the investigation from this.
- Algorithm shows a preview of a chaotic scene where the content isn't easily identified.
- You open / interact / linger on it to figure out what is happening before identifying it as something you don't want to look at.
- Algorithm detects increased interaction and happily serves up more.
I play a little game with Instagram sometimes. I click on one (1) thirst trap bikini girl post in the search reel. Then I see how many times I have to press the little 3 dot menu and pick "not interested" on allllll the other thirst trap bikini girl posts that immediately appear.
I generally have to press "not interested" about 15 times before my feed reverts to only having bikini girl thirst traps once every 20 or so posts.
Facebook goes wild if you don't really interact with it other than to browse.
Pause for a microsecond over something, welp I guess that's your hobby now. For some reason mine always shows me chess. I have never played chess. Hate it. A family member on my Facebook friends list likes chess. FB just goes "chess? how about chess?" like it's got nothing else to really offer other than flag waving racism.
It’s similar to fear factor—you can authorize quite a lot of things in a contract.
The medical examiner has said that they don’t think his death was caused directly by the treatment during the stream.
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“Salut maman, Comment tu vas ? Coincé pour un moment avec son jeu de mort, avait-il déclaré. Ça va trop loin. J’ai l’impression d’être séquestré avec leur concept de merde. J’en ai marre, je veux me barrer, l’autre il veut pas, il me séquestre”. (“Hey Mom, how are you? Stuck for a while with his death game,” he said. “This is going too far. I feel like I’m being held captive with their shitty concept. I’m fed up, I want to get out, the other guy doesn’t want me, he’s holding me captive.”)
"J’en ai marre je veux me barrer, il me séquestre" : les derniers mots glaçants de Jean Pormanove avant sa mort - Closer
Lundi 18 août 2025, le streamer Jean Pormanove est mort à 46 ans alors qu’il était en live sur une plateforme de streaming. Avant sa mort, il avait envoyé un message glaçant à sa mère.GR (Closer)
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He actively wanted out as seen by the desperate text sent to his mother saying how he "felt like a hostage" that was read aloud by one of his abusers on stream, but due to coersion both financially and socially. In one of the streams his abusers openly brag about how if he doesnt participate in their "game" they'll take the keys for his car and his apartment until he does.
There's generally a lot of factors that add up to staying in an abusive situation. From his point of view its likely that there didn't seem much of an option for him outside of this.
Can somebody explain to me why, emotions aside, the French guy is not responsible for his own choices? Unless it comes to light that he was coerced into staying on the show, why are other parties being held responsible instead of himself?
I'm not looking to be controversial, I'm honestly curious if there's some rational logic to it that I can understand, or this is all emotional.
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Because they profited from his torture and subsequent death?
To your point though, they aren't responsible in the moral sense that you're implying. However, they committed a crime when they platformed, promoted and profited from it.
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some stuff against said terms
Like mastercard and their ban of all purchases of items that could reflect negatively on their brand. Like porn.
I’d argue the main difference is that it involves a crime.
I’m not completely sure that torture itself constitutes a crime (though I’d be surprised if it wasn’t), but manslaughter/murder is. With few exceptions for medically assisted death, killing someone is a major crime. Presumably, we don’t want to promote people profiting from extreme suffering and death.
I also think there is a time and place for censorship (ex CSAM).
“Objectionable” is a subjective term, but “illegal“ is not.
There's 2 different parties under discussion here, the other streamers and the platform.
Regarding the streamers, I agree there might be room for a manslaughter charge. IANAL, much less in French law. Personally though, I don't see how it differs substantially from any other high risk group activity. If you're free-climbing (or maybe some other activity that involves more chance and less skill), and you're doing it voluntarily, knowing the risks, is it really fair to blame the survivors if somebody dies?
Regarding the platform, up until the point where a death actually occurred, what could they have reasonably done that would not have constituted some form of censorship? At that point, aren't we back to the censorship discussion of how much power platforms should have over the content we have access to?
I can kind of see what you are trying to say, but I don’t really agree with your conclusion.
I’d make the distinction that free climbing, while dangerous, is a recreational activity. I can reasonably conceive of people watching that for entertainment. There also isn’t anything morally questionable about it.
On the face of it, I don’t think you could reasonably argue that torture is a pastime.
All of that aside, torture is against international law. It is illegal in all circumstances.
From the United Nation Convention Against Torture:
“No exceptional circumstances whatsoever may be invoked as a justification for torture.”
For that reason, I would say the platform did have an obligation to de-platform it.
Arguably, the police should probably have put a stop to it as well.
They aren't deciding, they're being held to laws that they didn't create nor necessarily agree with.
I'd assume that, given the option, they'd like this kind of thing to be legal so they can continue making money from it legitimately
What? I think you've misread something.
The argument against them, as I understand it, is that they should not have allowed the streaming to happen. As this was pre-death, that would have required them to make a decision about what content they allowed that most people would consider censorship.
Yes, that is the law. You are required not to broadcast death and to create circumstances in which the likelihood of this is minimised.
That's not calling for censorship because it doesn't preclude a level of consensual harm that doesn't lead to high risk of death.
As I said earlier, your point stands: it is not for these platforms to act as moral compasses for viewers of consensual but provocative content.
However, that's irrelevant to the law which wants to avoid incentivising people dying / being killed on broadcast streams for a profit.
I think this is ratified by the fact that there will be less of a burden of blame on the service provider if this proves not to be the case
In those cases broadcasters take one of two roads:
- Don't broadcast it - many extreme sports are simply not broadcast by many, many broadcasters.
- Properly mitigate the risk to an acceptable level - this is done frequently for sports and other media. This is the reason you can watch Jackass and Dirty Sanchez even though the risk of death for many stunts is non-zero.
Once the death occurs though, they can only rely on their demonstration of #2 here to offset legal culpability. They are also then generally bound to remove the material and not re-air (in this case, Kick did make the content available again for whatever reason)
It seems like this is the road the defense will take in this particular case is to prove the death (illegal to air if preventable) was not caused by the preceding consensual torture (legal to air, seemingly).
Okay, you asked why others are held responsible and not the dead guy and what is the logic behind it.
I don't get what's not to get about that.
The platform didn't put a stop to torture on their platform. They are responsible for that.
The others streamers tortured a guy to death. They are responsible for that.
What exactly do you think the the dead guy is responsible for?
I don't get what's not to get about that.
No need to be a condescending jerk.
The platform didn't put a stop to torture on their platform. They are responsible for that.
Why are they responsible for a grown adult making his own choices? What about an audience who directly funded the activity? Are they not even more directly responsible for the event that occurred?
The others streamers tortured a guy to death. They are responsible for that.
Yes, there's probably some question about whether manslaughter laws might apply.
Given it was a voluntary participation, how is this different from any other activity that involves potential self-harm? If a bunch of people freeclimb a deadly mountain with a 20% chance of death and stream it, and one of them dies, is that illegal? Assuming not, what's the difference here?
What exactly do you think the the dead guy is responsible for?
His choice to participate in an activity that killed him.
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No need to be a condescending jerk.
I was serious. Sorry, didn't meant to come of this way.
Why are they responsible for a grown adult making his own choices? What about an audience who directly funded the activity? Are they not even more directly responsible for the event that occurred?
They aren't but they are responsible in the sense that they shouldn't give that shit a platform.
Yes the audience is responsible too.
Given it was a voluntary participation, how is this different from any other activity that involves potential self-harm? If a bunch of people freeclimb a deadly mountain with a 20% chance of death and stream it, and one of them dies, is that illegal? Assuming not, what's the difference here?
The question falls apart with the word self-harm. Other people did that to him.
And freeclimb metaphor doesn't work as well as harm is not the goal of free climbing. The goal is to reach the top. Dying is a risk you take. Besides if you would stream free climbing and egg the other person on to do stupid shit or make it more difficult to climb for the other person, and that person dies because of that, you would be partly responsible for that death.
His choice to participate in an activity that killed him.
Yes he is responsible for that.
But I think this is not a this-one-person-is-responsible-situation. Everybody in the chain of events that lead to this mans death is responsible in some way. Everybody who knew and did nothing.
There is a gradient of responsibility, of course. The person just watching isn't as responsible as the person who is acting, but everybody is guilty to some degree. And to that degree people should be punished.
They aren't but they are responsible in the sense that they shouldn't give that shit a platform.
This statement could be used about literally any topic that certain groups of people find objectionable. The US is currently providing a very clear example of what happens when you use that argument.
Other people did that to him.
Seeing as he was an active participant in it, this is the core of my questioning. Why is it considered 'something others did to him', and not 'something he did to himself'? He could have left at any time, but he chose to stay and remain in the activity.
freeclimb metaphor doesn't work as well as harm is not the goal of free climbing. The goal is to reach the top. Dying is a risk you take.
Harm was not the direct goal of this stream either. The goal was to see how long they could stay awake. Heck, take boxing. Boxers still die every year, and that's a much more obvious example of harm being the direct goal of the activity. Nobody is seriously suggesting that boxing should be criminalised, or that participants should be prosecuted.
But I think this is not a this-one-person-is-responsible-situation. Everybody in the chain of events that lead to this mans death is responsible in some way. Everybody who knew and did nothing.There is a gradient of responsibility, of course. The person just watching isn't as responsible as the person who is acting, but everybody is guilty to some degree. And to that degree people should be punished.
I agree that everybody involved is in some way indirectly responsible. However I'm unclear that it's actually illegal. Morally reprehensible, but morality is a very subjective opinion and one I'm very hesitant to let platforms start deciding on my behalf.
This statement could be used about literally any topic that certain groups of people find objectionable. The US is currently providing a very clear example of what happens when you use that argument.
Maybe but in what way my statement could be used has nothing todo with the conversation we are having.
I used it specifically in the context of torture.
Seeing as he was an active participant in it, this is the core of my questioning. Why is it considered 'something others did to him', and not 'something he did to himself'? He could have left at any time, but he chose to stay and remain in the activity.
Quoting the article:
On August 18, 46-year-old Raphaël Graven, better known as Jean Pormanove, died in his sleep while live on Kick. In the days and even months prior, he had reportedly endured extreme violence, sleep deprivation, and forced ingestion of toxic products at the hands of two fellow streamers known as Naruto and Safine.
Because letting someone do something to you is still another person doing something to you.
As long as we don't know why he stayed we can't be sure if it was because of trauma or greed.
Harm was not the direct goal of this stream either. The goal was to see how long they could stay awake. Heck, take boxing. Boxers still die every year, and that's a much more obvious example of harm being the direct goal of the activity. Nobody is seriously suggesting that boxing should be criminalised, or that participants should be prosecuted.
That's the stated goal but from context/article it is reasonable to assume that fucking with the guy was a goal too.
Well I don't think saying because one fucked up thing exists that makes it okay that we tolerate other fucked up things is a good point. There is certainly a discussion to be had about the morality of boxing. In my opinion at least.
I agree that everybody involved is in some way indirectly responsible. However I'm unclear that it's actually illegal. Morally reprehensible, but morality is a very subjective opinion and one I'm very hesitant to let platforms start deciding on my behalf.
Well I think there are some things we can all agree on are not okay. Torture for example.
Maybe but in what way my statement could be used has nothing todo with the conversation we are having.I used it specifically in the context of torture.
Yes, but was it illegal? The point being that our opinions of morality don't, and shouldn't, matter. The only thing that should matter is whether it breaks the law, and any ramifications of that.
Because letting someone do something to you is still another person doing something to you.
Consent is a thing. If you agree to something, and physical harm happens as a reasonably unexpected outcome, the other party is usually not held responsible.
That said, depending on circumstance I can see the other streamers having some responsibility for his death.
What I don't see is how the platform is reasonably expected to make judgement calls about this sort of content without descending into censorship. Prior to death, none of what had been done was illegal. Expecting them to cut off the stream would have been no different from other corps removing material they find morally objectionable.
There is certainly a discussion to be had about the morality of boxing. In my opinion at least.Well I think there are some things we can all agree on are not okay. Torture for example.
I agree with you about the morality. That's not the point. Censorship is a major problem in the world today, and encouraging more of it is something we need to be wary of. Self-censorship is especially insidious, and expecting companies to self-censor leads to all sort of undesirable outcomes. That's why we have laws, so that it's (mostly) clear and unambiguous where the line is.
In the EU platforms can be found guilty for what they publish though. It is the platform's responsibility and duty to check whether their content is violating the law or not.
If a German newspaper were to publish an ad advocating for the murder of an ethnic group, both the creator of the ad and the newspaper would face charges.
I can't say much more about the rest but there are certainly legal standards for boxing that need to be abided for a boxing event to be legal. This includes having medical staff on site, a referee which manages the match, gloves being mandated for the boxers etc. If these standards aren't held, you can charge a boxer for participating in an illegal fight and manslaughter should the other boxer die.
there are certainly legal standards for boxing that need to be abided for a boxing event to be legal. This includes having medical staff on site, a referee which manages the match, gloves being mandated for the boxers etc. If these standards aren't held, you can charge a boxer for participating in an illegal fight and manslaughter should the other boxer die.
Fair point. Given how quickly these trends can pop out of nowhere, countries probably need to start creating laws covering general physical stupidity.
Because they by running a business are responsible to ensure that they don't promote or willfully ignore harm brought about wholly or in part by their actions or negligence.
For actually moral folks the minimum the law requires is a starting point not the last word.
Eg moral folks ask is there anything I am doing that causes harm or anything I'm not doing that I reasonably ought to do to prevent it.
Smart people too as many governments take a dim view of dodging responsibly and will invent new laws to regulate you.
For actually moral folks the minimum the law requires is a starting point not the last word.Eg moral folks ask is there anything I am doing that causes harm or anything I'm not doing that I reasonably ought to do to prevent it.
So... Like the payment processors banning all immoral transactions from their network? Is that what we're supporting?
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It's a difficult situation to explain, and it will be even harder to judge.
What seems to be true is that they had a hold on him. They seemed to abuse his mental weaknesses, and regularly made themselves look like benefactor for "saving him from himself" and making him earn a lot of money.
Sure he could have technically walked out any day, but when you're under the influence of manipulative "friends", I'm not sure it's that easy.
Bear in mind that I'm not stating 100% proven facts.
Yeah, depending on circumstance I can definitely see a case being made for the streamers having some responsibility.
I don't see how the platform should be responsible without opening up a can of worms involving censorship. Mastercard has proven we do not want fucking corps having that power.
It depends. Do you consider Twitch's moderation to be to extreme? They definitely wouldn't have let this slide. I'm pretty sure they used to stream on twitch and got banned there.
Kick is currently very lax when it comes to moderation (it's their niche, their way of existing even with Twitch's dominance), and I don't think banning channels promoting group punching a dude would be a bad thing to censor.
Idk, I don't watch videos so I'm unfamiliar with it.
don't think banning channels promoting group punching a dude would be a bad thing to censor.
I don't think so either, but experience has taught me not to give companies any more power than necessary. If it needs to be done, pass a law for it.
Whenever you do something that results in the death of another human there needs to be an investigation. From what I can tell no culpability has been found yet, but there is at least some evidence that this person was being held against their will.
However, lots of European countries treat violence like the US treats porn so this could easily be something similar to the pearl clutching that would happen here if somebody was asphyxiated during a BDSM livestream.
From libé article:
Raphaël Graven, 46, known under the pseudonym Jean Pormanove, died near Nice during a live broadcast on August 18 on the Australian video platform Kick after more than 12 days of live streaming showing him and another man being assaulted and humiliated by two people. Followed by nearly 200,000 viewers, the “Jeanpormanove” channel had for months shown Raphaël Graven being insulted, beaten, having his hair pulled, threatened, and even being shot at without protection with paintball projectiles. According to the channel’s promoters, the content was staged.Deputy Minister for Digital Affairs Clara Chappaz on Tuesday announced her intention to sue the Kick platform for “breach.” She made the announcement after a meeting convened at Bercy with officials from several ministries (Justice, Interior, Economy) and two independent authorities, accusing Kick of violating the 2004 Digital Trust law.
I feel completely out of the loop when stuff like this happens.
I went looking around and found an article that expanded a lot on this topic, maxread.substack.com/p/who-kil…
Story of my life. Major story drops, article provides little to no context, and everyone in the comments already seems to know what's going on.
This happens constantly in my life, both online and offline; why does it seem like I'm always being left out? I've missed out on so many parties and events because of this issue.
courage the dog’s owner
Now I feel a little better Eustace he scared me as a kid
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What changed between the 'months of torture' and Naruto and Safine being arrested, and the '10 days ' leading up to his death?
It sounds sick that the French government would decide a man is being tortured yet they're not obligated to intervene... while at the same time they fine a company for not stepping in.
If this man was negligently killed, authorities and kick are to blame, but it's the authorities that should've been the failsafe, not the company. I guess it makes sense that French politicians are Very Mad™ and Seriously Considering Bigger Punishments™.
Exactly. Law enforcement investigated and found no wrongdoing. They’re the ones who dropped the ball here. Was there something else Kick was legally obligated to do? I agree that there was a moral fuck up here resulting in somebody dying. But torture between competent consenting adults is legal. Just like we’re saying BDSM is okay
Also someone else mentioned the TV show Jackass and I just wanna know how some are drawing the line here. So are some of the dangerous stunts on Jackass ok or not? Why?
Boxing ,MMA.etc ?
espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/459…
Two Japanese boxers die from brain injuries suffered on same fight card - ESPN
Japanese boxers Shigetoshi Kotari and Hiromasa Urakawa have died following brain injuries sustained while competing on the same card, although in different fights, at Korakuen Hall in Tokyo on Aug. 2.Andreas Hale (ESPN)
Can someone point out the part where this wasn't voluntary or the guy was held captive & not free to leave or end the voluntary abuse at any time?
It looks like idiots kink-playing too hard with extra fines to some platform while the morons try to escape accountability.
Viral compilation threads have shown Pormanove being hit, strangled, and fired at with paintball guns while streaming with Naruto and Safine, whose lawyers claim they hold “no responsibility.”
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Violence is fine. What's not fine is the permanent disfigurement or death of participants and the lack of preventative controls against that.
In a cage match, a participant would never be ignored long enough to stop breathing, like they did here.
This comment might provide some insights:
lemmy.zip/comment/21080783
Also, IMO, voluntary or not, this goes over the edge, especially on the streaming part. If someone genuinely enjoys this, they can do it in private, and exactly as they like.
When money and popularity get involved, this prompts more extreme behavior, turning a willing masochist into a victim, and a game into a trap.
Besides, authorities could have at least checked up on him.
If I understood properly the guy was a kinda homeless person that the two fuckers "hosted" in their house in exchange for participating (being tortured) in their streams. He was disabled or mentally challenged too, and there was another victim of theirs that was handicapped in the flat too.The alarm has been raised for at least 8 months but neither the police nor the national agencies nor the minister contacted either did or decided to do anything. Every time the police came the victims were saying that all was good and they gave their consent to anything, but on stream they were often asking to call the cops, an ambulance or trying to leave and the two fuckers barred them the exit and threatened to beat them or throw them back to the streets. So they were basically held hostage.
The whole thing is a disgrace. It was the most viewed French language stream on Kick for months, two vulnerable people being tortured on stream and nobody did anything.
Kink playing is ultimately the responsibility of the top, if this was that.
It's not, because they disregarded that person's state of well-being in a continued way.
His streams were about self deprecation, humiliation and abuse. He let those two guys abuse him to the limit and apparently they went over the limit.
It was with consent but they still be charged with murder and probably get convicted too.
This went on for weeks, months, and nobody interfered. They just gave a platform for the abuse.
If I understood properly the guy was a kinda homeless person that the two fuckers "hosted" in their house in exchange for participating (being tortured) in their streams. He was disabled or mentally challenged too, and there was another victim of theirs that was handicapped in the flat too.
The alarm has been raised for at least 8 months but neither the police nor the national agencies nor the minister contacted either did or decided to do anything. Every time the police came the victims were saying that all was good and they gave their consent to anything, but on stream they were often asking to call the cops, an ambulance or trying to leave and the two fuckers barred them the exit and threatened to beat them or throw them back to the streets. So they were basically held hostage.
The whole thing is a disgrace. It was the most viewed French language stream on Kick for months, two vulnerable people being tortured on stream and nobody did anything.
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From what I understood the two fuckers will probably get a 25 to 30 years of jail sentence, and some of the people who donated money to them to encourage them in the torture also risk prison time. Which I fucking hope they get.
Someone took upon himself to save all the worst clips and try to raise the alarm, they have more than 300 hours of stream capture with evidence of torture and other wrongdoings.
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There is even a sequence where the two fuckers try to force him to say that "if he dies on stream, it won't be their fault" but the fault of his "shitty health situation". He flat out refused.
They perfectly knew they were in the process of killing him.
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Kinda homeless? The victim is the largest french gaming streamer and definitely not homeless. There's indications of mental health problems but it's only visible on camera. There are no documents verifying it unfortunately (though it seems evident). The two killers are people he's known and hung out with for years.
Edit: The apartment was rented specifically for this stream.
It's sort of an extension of lolcow culture. This is a vid I recommend to watch to understand it.
Revenue != profit
Depending on margins, it can make a company unprofitable pretty quick if they're hit by a fine of nearly 30% of their revenue.
I mean, Kick probably could be suspending people who stream for an unhealthily long time, maybe suspend his abusive friends, but they didn't force him to take any actions resulting in his death imo.
What exactly is the crime?
Yes. I saw a video on getting around Flock's AI cameras and he mentions the numerous million dollar lawsuits that regularly result from misuse of their data and the glitches that cause people to have guns pointed at their heads by police.
It is a cost of doing business. Saying 'I'll sue you!' To them is as threatening as charging someone a little extra for that order of coffee they made.
Sci-Hub Blocked in India, Founder Tells Plaintiffs to Expect Disappointment
Sci-Hub Blocked in India, Founder Tells Plaintiffs to Expect Disappointment * TorrentFreak
The High Court in Delhi has ordered the country's ISPs to block Sci-Hub as part of a copyright case filed in 2020 by major publishers.Andy Maxwell (TF Publishing)
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She was played. Now it's time to say "fuck it" and continue as normal. The system was rigged from the start.
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Perplexity's AI-powered Comet browser leaves users vulnerable to phishing scams and malicious code injection — Brave and Guardio's security audits call out paid AI browser
Perplexity's AI-powered Comet browser leaves users vulnerable to phishing scams and malicious code injection — Brave and Guardio's security audits call out paid AI browser
Brave and Guardio have revealed serious vulnerabilities in the AI-powered Comet browser.Nathaniel Mott (Tom's Hardware)
How are you "supposed" to download your treasures? Download managers? Or just let the 100GB file sit in firefox download list and potentially get cut off mid-download?
I can never seem to get a download manger to work. I remember I used to be able to do that on windows, but SteamOS is giving me a headache, I'm a noob in linux.
But then again, idk if pausing would even be possible with these 🏴☠️ sites.
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This thread seems to heavily recommend wget.
forum.endeavouros.com/t/a-down…
A download manager for linux that actually works?
It’s the Java UI, and maybe you heard that it has ads in it. The AUR package has stripped out the popup style ads. Now it just has ONE unobtrusive ad that I forgot about until I started writing this. Very negligible.EndeavourOS
curl can also resume downloads stackoverflow.com/questions/19…
How to resume interrupted download automatically in curl?
I'm working with curl in Linux. I'm downloading a part of a file in ftp server (using the -r option), but my connection is not good, it always interrupts. I want to write a script which resume down...Stack Overflow
Downlaod managers can work with most downloads. If a site is really badly coded it still wont work. Bittorrent is good for this. I recomend qbittorrent on linux/windows, or flud on android.
With bittorrent you want to configure your settings. Set you max upload to half of what your connections upload speed is, or lower, you might have to experiment with this to see what your router and connection can handle. Activate "exit on finish" limit your max connections to 50-100 if you dont have a router with a strong CPU. Enable "require encryption" or use encryption and dont allow non encrypted connections. (Keeps your isp from throttling and helps keep you safer) Disable automatic start when you device boots up (very important)
Then you are all set. Just remember to make sure you dont run it all the time, bittorrent is hard on your router, not that it will mess it up but it will load up the CPU, honestly not much worse then windows built in spyware these days, and try to place the files where you actually want them when creating a download, so that you can reupload to the world. If you move the files after downloading them, then the client cant reupload to other users. You could even consider setting your max upload slots to something reasonable like 24 with a max upload rate of 200 KB/s, and let it run all the time. Be careful when hosting copyrighted content unless you have a VPN always active. You really should these days, they are cheap. I think i payed $80 for a year of proton VPN, a swiss company that isnt as beholden to the giant global intelligence network. You should also support artists so dont pirate unless you dont have a good option for getting your content. Pirated content also has a risk of containing malware and getting you sued.
As someone who lives in the U.S and is always on the road for work, i constantly have to deal with terrible and 3rd world internet infastructure. I am very familiar. Half of my state has about a 40% packet loss rate or something. Idk. Its bad. It drops out completly multiple times per day, cell towers, ISPs, credit card machines, etc. Sometimes you might just need to download from a better connection in another part of your state or something.
I dont have any recomendations for a download manager for PC, but for android ADM, advanced download manager seems to work well. On PC i usually just use torrents. Using a VPN in exclusivly TCP mode can also help, UDP is a lower latency lossy connection, TCP will resend packets until all of them get through. Using a vpn with TCP can help if you have a crappy connection. It wont help much if you are getting multi second drop outs. For that you really need bittorrent, or a download manager. If the zite doesnt work with download managers, and you cant get a torrent, you can try to find a mirror of the download somewhere else. Tey searching for the file name in quotes, like "filename.zip" and then use -website name to remove results from spammy sites. A search might be like, ( "filename.zip" -website1.com -website2.com )
Enable “require encryption” or use encryption and dont allow non encrypted connections.
In my experience, that would just stop all traffic. I guess the other clients on the swarm don't support encryption.
I use Varia as my graphical download manager. It has download acceleration built in thanks to aria2. I get often double or triple the download speed (depending on the website). For example, when I downloaded the Fedora Workstation ISO from fedoraproject I got download speeds from 18mbs normal to 60mbs with Varia. Free and open source of course, available on Windows and Linux.
Website: giantpinkrobots.github.io/vari…
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There's also a link on the official website without all the crapware but it's very well hidden... I found JDownloader really bad and the UX/UI not very user friendly and looks shady...
Too bad there isn't any IDM alternative for linux, and that's also why I stopped DDL and wen't back to torrenting on private trackers... There isn't any simple download manager that looks sleek, feels good and doesn't put your system at risk !
ASRock's $40 16-pin power cable has overheating protection designed to prevent meltdowns — company claims a 90-degree design ensures worry-free installation
ASRock's $40 16-pin power cable has overheating protection designed to prevent meltdowns — company claims a 90-degree design ensures worry-free installation
Only compatible with ASRock Taichi and Phantom Gaming power supplies, thoughZhiye Liu (Tom's Hardware)
Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen – „Dein Weg“ (2010)
Der einzige Grund für mich, diesen Film zu sehen, war die Konstellation: Martin Sheen vor der Kamera, Emilio Estevez dahinter. Vater und Sohn, die gemeinsam einen Film schaffen, so direkt und sichtbar, ist eine Seltenheit in Hollywood. Der Jakobsweg dagegen wirkte eher wie eine Zumutung. Überstrapaziert von Selbsterfahrungsberichten, überhöht von Kirchenfolklore, in Deutschland endgültig re-popularisiert durch Hape Kerkelings Bestseller. Ein Trend, der mich eher abschreckt. Zumal mir meine ziemlich katholische Kindheit ohnehin wenig Lust auf Pilgerwege hinterlassen hat. (ARD)
How the gas lobby captured the energy crisis response - Corporate Europe Observatory
[00:13:55]
This episode tells the amazing story of how the EU took the brave step of using the climate and cost of living crisis as an opportunity to move away from destructive fossil fuels all together! Obviously, this didn’t happen, but it could have.This is the forth episode of Corporate Europe Observatory's new podcast series “What's going wrong, and how to put it right?”.
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
julian
in reply to Twissell • • •Re: Where can I find "fallback emailer" and set it?
Twissell I think the "fallback emailer" is literally just searching for a "mail" executable on the machine.
It's pretty outdated now, since emailing directly from your machine is a good way to just get your emails to land in a spam bin somewhere. We should probably just update this to ℹ️ or ⚠️ instead of an error.