@TimStone did warren davidson write this sign

"somebody figure out how to make wallcoin a thing"

However my response to that is this

> "I am afraid it will be on my gravestone. 'Rudy Giuliani: He lied for Trump.' Somehow, I don’t think that will be it," Giuliani said in an interview with The New Yorker.

> "But, if it is, so what do I care?" he continued. "I’ll be dead. I figure I can explain it to St. Peter. He will be on my side, because I am, so far … I don’t think, as a lawyer, I ever said anything that’s untruthful."

that's an....interesting why to clear your conscience

@Memor-X can't really be helped now bruh

@TimStone ahahahahaha

AOC is about to be more annoying to trump than henry waxman was to bush

Right? The most charitable interpretation is that he hasn't bothered to find out, which would be Extremely Rudy but also like, my dude, come on

@Ash as a lawyer he didn't, but as everything other than a lawyer, he did?

@Memor-X oh crap, I most certainly shouldn't have said, that it was "illegal"

@Unionhawk ... "it's too hot"

rekt

But can we work in a 2020 election angle?

@TimStone cc RIP @lesspop

🤔

@TimStone uhhhhhhhhh

The only winning move is to play forever

Cuck Schumer, please take some notes, there will be a quiz later

@TrentHawkins not doing the bare minimum security work on a device whose whole purpose is security just seems obviously stupid to me

@murgatroid99 That is, unfortunately, SOP for most security devices.

@murgatroid99 4 digit security code seems short for something as important and full of valuables as a home

@GodEmperorDune the smartphone app by way of a questionably secured no-name mandatory smart hub really seems like the more problematic attack vector

At least with a super simple 4 digit code, most intruders wouldn't spend time typing in thousands of combinations by hand

@murgatroid99 AGILE!

must get out minimally viable product

minimum security has nothing to do with being viable so it's future dev's concerns

@murgatroid99 for sure, along with questionable behavior when it can't phone home

They're often built as consumer electronics products rather than security products too

and the bizarre data collection

why does the door lock need to know what the temperature is?

@GodEmperorDune I think the lock is part of a broader home system thing, rather than the home system existing to serve the lock

@GodEmperorDune It integrates with Nest to track when you leave

@GodEmperorDune It's probably some smart home hey it's cold out today sir

@TimStone but it's the door, of all the things it should know when you leave

Oh, I misread. Yeah, what @Unionhawk said

i'd wager its "collect more data for us to resell"

Hey Alexa what's the current temperature outside alexa asks the lock instead of doing current location weather from Online like a regular search

I really like the part where if the power to the device fails you're actually just screwed

Unless you have a different door

I mean at least it doesn't fail insecure

@TimStone i mean there is no good default state

@GodEmperorDune Except a key for manual entry, no?

Arguably having a normal keyhole counts

Right, that

@Frank slaps roof of device this baby can fit NO PHYSICAL KEYHOLES

@GodEmperorDune Bad device! whack You need a key!

It seems to me that if it's a real security product you fail closed, because that's secure. And if it's a consumer convenience device, you fail open, because that's convenient, and you're not really trying to be secure anyway.

It also has a master code that's also only four digits and programmed into the device as code 1 before installation

@TimStone damn how can i compress 42069

Master keying suffers a similar problem but I haven't checked if our apartment uses master keys or just copies of each individual key

I guess probably master keying since they do go around to do apartment-by-apartment maintenance every now and then, so that's not necessarily a bigger flaw

But I'm not sure how trivial it is to get a key made commercially with a specified bitting versus just figuring out the master PIN

(it's trivial to create a key from a blank with the master bitting though so meh)

@TimStone yeah at that point you either have a master to each door, a master to a keybox, or a comical keyring

Which, probably is stored in a locked keybox

ICE - does very questionable (if not racist) things to immigrants, also thinks the Wall is not a good idea

ofcause, one would argue that this is Obama's ICE Chief so maybe not the same

> Mr Katter said: "In my whole life up to 50, I had never seen or heard of a homosexual person. Now it's fashionable, it's just like a fashion trend - tomorrow there'll be another fashion".

or maybe because for most of those 50 years homosexual people were demonized so they stayed hidden

it's comments like that i wish the person who says it has a child who comes out as being homosexual

hello please do not wish shitty parents upon gay children thanks

@Unionhawk good point. maybe adult children who have moved out

@TimStone latest on trump meeting the maga kids: it’s going to happen but timetable unclear

They’re smart enough to not do it during the shutdown

lol

Of course

The typo that led a man to a stranger's stag party

Because we all need something wholesome

I think he's proud that it rhymes

@MadScientist how is it under construction now? if it is you have your funding

lmao

> Corey Lewandowski: "Democrats want to ‘tear down that wall’"

For one, the wall has to exist for Democrats to want to tear it down.

And they'll do it like noted Super Leftist checks notes Ronald Reagan

For two, are you implying that the Republicans are Soviet Russia in this situation?

Actually, you're not wrong...

I've done the math and that checks out

@Yuuki You probably know something I don't but this is very contrary to what I've learned. The Chinese government retains popular support in large part due to high economic growth. The growth has slowed down because as the median wage has skyrocketed, low and medium skill industries like shoes have naturally moved to other countries like Vietnam. I have definitely not heard anything about the Chinese government wanting to slow down growth.

@puzzlepiece87 IIRC, there were some publications awhile back about how the central government intends to slow growth to focus more on a sustainable growth rate but it's entirely possible that this was state news foreseeing the upcoming drop in growth due to tariffs and a maturing economy.

And trying to get ahead of it to shape people's opinions.

I think it's kind of true in the sense that the decrease in growth is not necessarily as big of a deal as implied and also the result of the government not pulling the extreme shenanigans they have in the past to bolster it

Which is actually a good thing since that has historically caused a lot of problems

(but was necessary given the importance the Chinese government placed on highlighting the growth)

gofundme.com/dcta-strike-fund

@TimStone Yeah, it's still 6% growth.

@Unionhawk good luck to you teachers

I suppose they weren't gonna get paid now anyways

jfc

Like we could have just not interviewed the dumb kid but no this is far more normal

Also Trump is really trying to say he can just accept the invitation that Pelosi rescinded which is just amazing

@TimStone he still doesn't get that a joint resolution is required, not just an invitation

Yeah he's kind of dumb. Also thinking that such a "gotcha" would work under any circumstance

he's just not used to listening to "no"

especially from a woman who he can't fire

@GodEmperorDune Really? Including digital only (specifically Ars Technica)?

@MBraedley ironically i can't get through the wall street journal's paywall to confirm, but replies say it includes ars

@Wipqozn i know maduro is a tremendous jerk and has been doing awful things, i have no information about the opposition leader. I'm not surprised trump jumped in to an international mess, but i am surprised by trudeau. i didn't think toppling other govts was canada's jam

cc @puzzlepiece87 on this atlantic piece

@Yuuki I'd 100% bet on this interpretation being the truth.

@TimStone I'm going to #WellActually this too, sorry. The Chinese government is still pulling shenanigans to bolster the growth rate, there's just much less they can practically achieve due to "sorry now that your median wage has quintupled it's now cheaper to make this in Vietnam"

@TimStone Problems caused by Chinese government overaction are not in decline from the past, imo.

@Yuuki "6%"

More like 3.5%

Definitely heard on the radio last night that it was 6%.

@GodEmperorDune @MBraedley @TimStone I'll be sad when Ars is paywalled. :(

@GodEmperorDune I was about to make a joke here but then I realized that the hagfish known for its slime is actually the Atlantic hagfish, not the Pacific.

@Yuuki uhhhhh i didn't know there were multiple types of hagfish

There are multiple species of hagfish, yes.

@GodEmperorDune Thanks for this!

@Yuuki 6% according to the Chinese government

said government having a noted interest in high growth rates to sustain its popular appeal

@Yuuki i would imagine that a site called fish base was about soups, but here we are

From 2016, experts vs. official Chinese government GDP growth numbers

@puzzlepiece87 They are making efforts to reign in shadow financing for LGFVs, which is the most risky historical behaviour due to the absurdly large debt bomb it's created. They still have a ways to go and the typical misrepresentation aspect is still at play, of course

> Nobody knows for sure, but when we look at things that are harder numbers to fudge...our estimate is growth probably about 3.5 percent versus roughly 7

> Not only does China's NBS refuse to respond to inquiries, Straszheim said, but the statistics unit will announce only its total GDP growth figure — not the components of that number. "If you don't have the components, how can you have a total? And if you have the components, which would add to the total, why are they not publicly available?" Straszheim asked.

@TimStone That's good, but also not, imo, a key determinant of their economic slowdown. Opinions can differ.

@TimStone This said there's also been an issue with public-private partnerships as an alternative where the "private" partner is just owned by people in or in proximity to local government so ehh

(Where by slowdown I mean still very fast growth compared to more developed economies)

@TimStone Absolutely. You can't have a medium or above sized business in China without being absolutely ready to respond to what the government asks of you, including that you get their lackeys into ownership.

@TimStone oh the "train a local company for X years" and then the contract is never renewed because the local company knows exactly how to do the thing?

It's a large issue because a significant portion of expenditures occur at the local government level, so whatever production/services are being created are likely in some way impacted by that spending

@GodEmperorDune This also, but that's separate! It turns out economic corruption in China has multitudes!

@TimStone Yes absolutely but also the whole totalitarian state thing. Both/and.

Don't cooperate and get Wen Xiabao'd wait wrong name, let me find it.

Trying to find the name of that guy who was a top party official and got too popular and then he and his wife got put away for both "corruption" and corruption.

And I think they also tried to flee to a US embassy last minute and request asylum

Oh yeah, it was Bo Xilai, that's what happens to you if you don't cooperate in China.

maybe now that the "invitation" is rescinded, trump will understand?

@GodEmperorDune love 2 promote democracy by checks notes just openly doing a coup

again

Emergency declared near Portland for measles outbreak in anti-vaccine hotspot

Jail for everyone involved

or severe financial penalties or something

Most people are willing to bend on their beliefs when money is involved

@Unionhawk rereading this i realized i confused maduro and bolsonaro, i don't know much about maduro

@GodEmperorDune lol

@GodEmperorDune They're like sweet plantains.

Dunno why they don't just call them bananas instead of "sweet plantains" but whatever.

State intelligence agency tests mobile malware on own personal phones and then leaves the uploaded data on their command and control servers LOL

tfw when all of your contacts and messages between state intelligence agency personnel are there for security researchers to read

@Yuuki now i have sweet transvestite stuck in my head (but with the plantains word substituted)

@TimStone nice going there cocaine mitch

Mexico has likewise reaffirmed support for Maduro

Was there elections?

I don't remember anything in the news about elections.

Yeah

Today or yesterday iirc

I think

hang on

no

final answer is no

opposition leader just declared themselves president

I too am now President

Ah, cool, cool

@Unionhawk Yeah, Maduro is terrible but this is a dumb move by the US and Canada, tbh.

That classic thing that makes things better for people on the ground, doing a coup

I'm not surprised by the United States or Brazil, that was always happening

@Unionhawk look there's a first time for everything, clearly we've never done this before and don't know any better

oh wait

we need to wash the taste of getting our asses handed to us doing regime change by doing one in South America, where we've actually succeeded (in getting a lot of people killed)

@GodEmperorDune Yeah, we haven't interfered with South American politics since... checks notes Why you'd just hand me a ticker labeled "Days Since Last Incident" set to 0?

(CW: Sexual assault) Expose of known scumbag director Bryan Singer with 50 sources and a year of reporting

@Yuuki I need to find the video but there's some american thinktank conglomerate essentially whose only job is to install right wing governments in south america (and had many hands in brazil)

@puzzlepiece87 into the SEA

I don't remember what they're called

GEO Group or something like that

some 5/10 on the "this sounds shady" scale name

@puzzlepiece87 It was pretty telling that Rami Malek accepted the Best Drama award at the Golden Globes for Bohemian Rhapsody instead of Singer.

@Unionhawk AEI?

Came across like Hollywood was just waiting for the shoe to drop.

@puzzlepiece87 his response has been a rerun of spacey's "they're coming after me because i'm gay"

Yes, Singer's being silenced by the noted anti-gay bastion of... checks notes Hollywood.

@Yuuki homophobia is still a thing, even in hollywood, but being gay also doesn't turn one into an abuser

hahaha crypto man is running away from govt because IRS is pushing charges on him for not paying taxes for 8 years

@Ave RIP McAfee for President 2020, 2018-2019.

I mean, if we're being serious, it should be 2018-2018 like anyone expected it to go anywhere but whatever.

@Ave is this a parody account?

did the whale sex thing not work out?

@GodEmperorDune it's an official one

sadly

this guy... whew

@Ash i don't have an answer for you

some theories that have been floated

@puzzlepiece87 hmmm, which is better, having your unproven theory that the vaccines causes autism is true or death. i would personally choose the former coming from someone who had a allergic reaction to routine childhood vaccination which set back development milestones and who's parents was told that i would not be able to cope with normal school

sure an allergic reaction that sets back development milestones may not be the same as autism but people with autism can live normal-ish and full lives

forcing republican senators to vote to either vote against trump by reopening the govt OR stick with trump and keep the govt shut down is lose-lose so he is blocking the vote altogether to shield them

In this specific case he's waiting until the vote they're already scheduled to do tomorrow

Which will fail

the govt shutdown is actually not that bad for republican party goals (demonstrate federal govt disfunction, remove federal govt power), so they're not in a hurry

And then we just sit on our hands or whatever

@TimStone yeh was about to post that

> After watching House Democrats pass those bills for more than four weeks, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is eager to flip the script and have Democrats vote “no” on a bill to reopen the government — a day before federal workers impacted by the funding lapse will miss their second paycheck.

he'd rather do more votes to permanently appoint conservative judges because it is the most lasting way to entrench conservative power long term

and you know what Trump is going to tweet

@Memor-X i doubt its going to work as he imagines

@GodEmperorDune This would also have become a matter of urgency if he feels like he's screwed either way, which is very possible

I don't think based on what he's done so far he thinks he can effectively deflect blame here as he usually would because typically the President wouldn't be so stubborn and they could coax Dems into a concession as Dems are wont to do

@TimStone i mean usually he lets blame slide off his turtle shell and still wins his local race

Most people would go "Hmm maybe I should try and limit the damage" in this situation but most people aren't monsters so

@GodEmperorDune He's usually in control of the situation because he's a manipulative asshole. But you can't control dumb egotism

I'm sure they thought they could going in but lol y'all

@TimStone From an argument like that, I think you can reasonably argue that the Democrats should just accept Trump's ridiculous "compromise"

mcconnell_waving_cowboy_hat_riding_the_dropped_bomb.gif

@murgatroid99 That would require the assumption that Trump wouldn't turn around and do this exact same thing again which he absolutely would

@murgatroid99 i guess obama getting burned by the republican congress over shutdown fights so many times taught them something

So I think the better gamble here is to try and force McConnell's hand

@TimStone Sure, but at least the government would be functional

It's just gonna suck in the mean time

they probably have the votes to override a trump veto now

except for mcconnell's, which is the one that counts

@murgatroid99 At the expense of the president recognizing he can indeed use them as pawns though, so idk. Obviously I'm not the one not getting paid so it's much easier to say that but I also don't think it's good if they have to worry about that happening over something dumb next time either

laughs in valid parking

@TimStone Yeah, I recognize the political downsides here. I'm just starting to wonder if conceding here would be the right thing ethically, even at that political cost.

It would have horrific consequences for people applying for asylum too though, so that's on the other end of the ethical scale

Oh, I didn't really realize that the asylum changes were part of the proposed funding bill

Yeah, it's his "compromise" in which he made it even worse than the original goal, because of course

One of the GOP senators even admitted that the bill was a "strawman" proposal meant to form a starting point for further debate in the Senate but it's unclear to me why everyone's acting like there's no sense of urgency

I suspect that if it were merely a smaller amount of money specifically for building the border wall Democrats would have caved already, at least in the Senate, which would have put pressure on Pelosi. But the WH's position isn't giving anything to the Democrats, so it's really absurd

@TimStone kushner too.... lol

looks like i'll have to bounce to firefox

Hmm somehow this is real and yet I'm not sure why 🤔 But yes the president should absolutely do the SOTU from a racist highschool's gym, it's pretty frickin' representative of the state of the union :|

Two things here first why is Jack doing so many interviews we still hate you my dude and two uhhhhhhhhhhhh what the hell Zuckerberg?

Oh my god

RIP @TimStone ??? - 2019

Epitaph: His veins fought heroically but in the end it was too much

@GodEmperorDune I honestly think the reactions to this event are very paranoid. People are reading so much into a proposed API change with security and performance implications

@murgatroid99 yeah there is still time for community feedback to change things

@puzzlepiece87 This might actually do me in, all we need is for Rudy to start live tweeting it

@GodEmperorDune This is exactly what I was talking about in the other room: the way people jump so baselessly from "this would be one impact of this change" to "this was the intention of the change"

Well this should be fun especially for the actual diplomats who they're now using in a game of chicken

@murgatroid99 i'm happy to give google the benefit of the doubt, it's just heightened sensitivity with anything relating to ads so long as google makes most of its money from ads

@TimStone are they even being paid or are they part of the shutdown?

@GodEmperorDune It's not even just about giving Google the benefit of the doubt, it's about treating engineers like actual people and not soulless corporate ad money machines

@GodEmperorDune Since they're state department employees I assume not but I'm not sure?

@GodEmperorDune or get a non updating version of Chrome

though would be curious how they would do this

@Memor-X forked chromium i imagine

@murgatroid99 so the soulless corporate ad money machines are higher ups and the engineers are just following orders?

I'm just not impressed with the track record of throwing out complaints because they've already decided what the goal is :/

@GodEmperorDune no i mean actually prevent adblockers from running

like they would do the same as AdBlockPlus

This has happened many times and it really sucks

the tech industry as a whole needs to grapple with taking responsibility for the impact of the things that we build rather than just "well that's not our intention, whoops"

@Memor-X the article explains it

lol

> Ad blocker extensions like uBlock Origin work by reading network requests sent from ads on a web page to a user’s computer and filtering them according to the user’s preferences through a Chrome application program interface (API) called “webRequest.” In the new version of Chrome, however, extensions will still be able to see the network requests sent to a user’s computer via webRequest, but they will no longer be able to block them.

> Instead, ad blockers will have to rely on an API called “declarativeNetRequest” which requires them to specify which types of network requests from ads they should block in advance, rather than allowing the dynamic blocking capabilities found in uBlock.

> Moreover, as Hill noted, the declarativeNetRequest API limits the number of specific requests that can be blocked to 30,000 unique types. This is not enough to enforce EasyList, a popular list of basic rules for blocking unwanted content on the web, much less more sophisticated blocking rule lists.

@GodEmperorDune OK, the point I'm trying to make here is that there is no evidence here that this action was taken on the instruction of a higher-up, or with the goal of impacting ad blockers.

@murgatroid99 sure, i can agree with that

@GodEmperorDune also, yes, except that I resent the allusion to Nazis

@TimStone we already had the drunken interviews from a trump admin official in 2017. next.

lol I don't know that any more blatantly guilty set of people has ever been assembled

@TimStone carter page looks like a super guilty jeff bezos

yes, they caught the asshole

@TimStone what a jerk

right after buzzfeed dropped those good scoops too