Nick @internic@qoto.org

Post News, which sought to be a Twitter alternative, is shutting down. I have 5.8k followers there but rarely use it. I decided I’ve bandwidth for only two platforms after putting my Twitter accounts in suspended automation — Threads is one of them and Mastodon is the other. https://www.theverge.com/2024/4/19/24135011/twitter-alternative-post-news-shutdown

MITRE disclosed that one of their research and development networks was compromised by a foreign nation-state threat actor in January 2024 using Ivanti Connect Secure zero-days CVE-2023-46805 and CVE-2024-21887. Networked Experimentation, Research, and Virtualization Environment (NERVE) is a collaborative network used for research, development, and prototyping. MITRE included a timeline, observed TTP methods (mapped out to MITRE ATT&CK techniques cc: @howelloneill) and their incident response actions. No IOC provided. 🔗 https://www.mitre.org/news-insights/news-release/mitre-response-cyber-attack-one-its-rd-networks and https://medium.com/mitre-engenuity/advanced-cyber-threats-impact-even-the-most-prepared-56444e980dc8 h/t @reverseics

#MITRE #Ivanti #ConnectSecure #CVE_2023_46805 #CVE_2024_21887 #threatintel #cyberespionage

The FTC has cracked down on another telehealth company for misusing patients’ sensitive health data.

Monument, which aims to help treat addiction, revealed info to Meta and Google without users’ consent.

We uncovered that was happening with @STAT: https://themarkup.org/pixel-hunt/2024/04/19/ftc-cracks-down-on-telehealth-addiction-service-monument-for-sharing-health-data

Open access paper titled "The impact of real-time carbon dioxide awareness on occupant behavior and ventilation rates in student dwellings"

Highlights:

- Air quality awareness led to reduced median CO2 levels in 77% of bedrooms.

- Air quality awareness doubled the ventilation rates in 70% of dwellings.

- Display-integrated CO2 monitoring is an effective air quality intervention in student dwellings.

#IndoorAir #IAQ
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0378778824002482

I'm starting to think that having failed to be an astronaut is a bit of a teaching thing. I tried. University astrophysics, RAF basic pilot training thing, bombed out, most people do.
But at their age, 17 or so, I did have a sudden moment of "wait...high school students can at least *try* to be astronauts?!"
Yeah, I "failed" at some point, most people do. But I profited from trying. If you can, apply to one dream job for a giggle.

I also found some *ancient* Usenet maps.

This is a great piece by @micahflee about the significance of supporting ephemeral usernames in @signalapp and the challenges #Signal faces developing the gold standard of private messaging apps.

https://theintercept.com/2024/03/04/signal-app-username-phone-number-privacy/

#privacy #security #encryption #signal

Tell the truth about Biden’s economy. "Trying to make voters appreciate the connection between inflation and wage growth — or the fact that the United States has done a superlative job of navigating a worldwide economic crisis — may be a quixotic task. But it is not an inherently classist or condescending one." https://www.vox.com/24134257/biden-economy-inflation-wages-interest-rate

If only there was a system which made it possible to install software without app stores.

https://www.wsj.com/tech/apple-removes-whatsapp-threads-from-china-app-store-on-government-orders-a0c02100

We just lost another great light of rationalism. Dan Dennett helped get me started in philosophy of mind way back in the late '80s. Dan was right about lots of things. https://dailynous.com/2024/04/19/daniel-dennett-death-1942-2024/

Final coffee thought for this morning is this image popped into my head while someone was giving me unasked for advice and now you must be subjected to it:

imagine I am climbing up the outside of a skyscraper mission impossible style with all kinds of wild gear I made for myself and from inside the skyscraper on the other side of the windows, which they can't perceive, people yell advice based on their experience of navigating to the top by pressing elevator buttons

As you were

Read the original 2023 investigation that exposed how hundreds of soldiers charged with violent crimes were administratively discharged instead of facing a court martial:
https://www.propublica.org/article/military-army-administrative-separation

As @pluralistic reminds us, capitalists absolutely hate capitalism, and they're systematically returning us to their favorite system: feudalism.

https://pluralistic.net/2024/04/18/in-extremis-veritas/

A Rare Nova Explosion Will Soon Bring a 'New Star' to the Night Sky—How to Catch a Glimpse
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-rare-nova-explosion-will-soon-bring-a-new-star-to-the-night-sky-how-to-catch-a-glimpse-180984186/?utm_source=flipboard&utm_medium=activitypub

Posted into Smartnews @smartnews-Smithsonianmag

Vulnerabilities for AI and ML Applications are Skyrocketing: Apparently, the fun of using AI/ML tools makes developers forget everything they know about secure coding practices. Is anyone surprised by this? 🤔 https://securityboulevard.com/2024/04/vulnerabilities-for-ai-and-ml-applications-are-skyrocketing/ #infosec #security

I spent a long time experimenting with AI before finally writing about it in depth. It can be pretty useful — but is it worth it?

https://www.citationneeded.news/ai-isnt-useless/

#ArtificialIntelligence #AI #newsletter #CitationNeeded

I think the whole discourse about defederating Threads is fundamentally a moral panic. It is rooted in disinformation and on a really bad understanding on what ActivityPub is supposed to accomplish.

But it's not because I'm fine with Threads federating that I like Meta. Because I don't.

And the more I see from myself how Meta operates, especially with content creators, the more disgusted I am.

6/6

in a milestone achievement, Quaninuum announced 99.9% 2-qubit physical gate fidelity - and that's on their production system. This is a huge milestone towards enabling error correction

🔗 https://www.quantinuum.com/news/quantinuum-extends-its-significant-lead-in-quantum-computing-achieving-historic-milestones-for-hardware-fidelity-and-quantum-volume
🏷️ #quantumComputing #quantum

This is a great piece, and confirms the broader scale of a piece I did a long time ago: Apple has "must shred" agreements with e-waste recyclers that require them to destroy devices that could easily be repaired/refurbished/reused after having data wiped

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-04-18/apple-iphone-recycling-program-has-secrets?embedded-checkout=true