Robert Winter @rw@qoto.org

@jonah my word! Those are some chilly temperatures. Layering is your friend. 🙂

@mike thanks for the share. Not a distro with which I was familiar, but one that I will be looking at in the future.

How suitable would it be as a daily driver for a intermediate computer user?

@kev @yarmo @koreymoffett +1 for me too. The Thinkpad is such a road warrior. And while refurbished tech is always a bit hit and miss, the Thinkpad is so rock solid it fairs better than most other devices.

A stimulating and detailed analysis of privacy on the Apple App Store.

Although the offenders in the list of top 25 apps that collect and link data to the user for non-app functionality purposes comes as no surprise; the scope and scale still amazes me...

https://hugotunius.se/2021/01/03/an-analysis-of-privacy-on-the-app-store.html

@dajbelshaw “Again, remember that it is not the weight of the future or the past that is pressing upon you, but ever that of the present alone.”

So true. And with the weight of the Roman Empire on his shoulders, he knew much of the pressures of the present.

@dajbelshaw yes, I find the benchmarks a poor metric when it comes to picking processors. Often they will show a negligible difference, but my system feels snappier for the choice. Or rather that it has more grunt, and as the application load climbs the processor just shrugs it off.

And nice you went Team Red. My choice too! 🤓

Some interesting ongoing work by Mozilla on cross-site tracking. It is this sort of focus that keeps me using Firefox...

https://blog.mozilla.org/security/2021/01/26/supercookie-protections/

@freddy I think you question prompts clarification questions...

Is it just the editor's views that are morally questionable or the site in general? Or is it that the site is small and tightly managed thus practically an extension of the editor's persona?

What is the reach of the site? In some cases, publishing is the lesser of two evils. For example, a publishing house may be owned by a questionable individual, but the output of the house is nonetheless of great literary importance and thus having the morally sound work published to the widest possible audience outweighs the morally questionable conduct of the owner.

It is hard to saw how the Navalny led opposition will end. Sadly, there is no inevitable march of history from despotism to democracy. Freedom is hard won and even harder kept.

But what is clear, is that be it a totalitarian state or paranoid elected government, ‘more repression on the streets, more investment in sophisticated surveillance technology and tighter controls over the information sphere’ remain the tools of repression.

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/the-future-of-navalnyism-in-russian-politics/

#russia #navalnyprotests #surveillance

@danpker my compliments on citing your source. 🙂 Always important to flag our inspiration. I have been using the Nord Theme of late, but might have a play with the retro groove colours to spice things up at some point.

https://www.nordtheme.com/

@freddy I am very much in agreement!

Great piece of historical perspective taking by Niall Ferguson looking at short squeezes from John Law to GameStop.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2021-02-07/niall-ferguson-gamestop-robinhood-reddit-and-the-wind-trade

@danpker @kev like others it seems, I too love your colour palette! 🎨

A panegyric on the benefits of cold showers.

‘Like all human beings, I have days when I’d prefer to lie on a couch and eat Maltesers. I may not give in to the urge, but I do, or rather did, find a dozen ways to delay and faff... I could have faffed for England. Then I started the cold shower experiment.’

My own experiences with them also suggest they reduce the amount of faff in one’s life...

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/the-power-of-cold-showers

@dajbelshaw Be careful Doug, that is a slippery slope. Next you'll be buying a pair of Purdey's and voting Tory. 😂

@dajbelshaw @freemo sounds like very interesting work. Out of interest, is Wikimedia doing much to counter far left or the deep centre (people or groups who take centrist liberal ideology to extremes) from taking over the platform? I am interested in how platforms maintain objective neutrality.

@freemo something like this? https://www.corsair.com/us/en/Categories/Products/Gaming-Mousepads/Wireless-Charging-Mousepads/MM1000-Qi%C2%AE-Wireless-Charging-Mouse-Pad/p/CH-9440022-NA