mattblaze

mattblaze, 1 year ago to photography

The recently opened Moynihan train hall at NYC's Penn Station.

Depressingly high resolution version at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51205135362

#photography #DevoidOfAllColorAndJoy #RemindsUsThatWeAllWillDieOneDay #Sorry

mattblaze, 9 months ago (edited 9 months ago) to random

This may be obvious, but I recently started routinely adding "-youtube" to google searches. This eliminates most pages with links to garbage YouTube-monetized videos that try to attract people looking for basic instructions on how to do simple things. Greatly improves the quality of search results.

mattblaze, 7 months ago to random

Been hearing whispers all weekend, some from people who I'd definitely listen to, of a remote execution 0day in the Signal desktop and possibly also mobile app. Mitigation is supposedly to disable link previews (under settings->chats).

I have no more details. What I've heard doesn't completely make sense, but disabling link previews should be at worst harmless and seems prudent until this is clarified.

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

Something must be in the water, because I just got ANOTHER flare up of people asking me about Faraday bags to prevent phone tracking.

Short answer: A Faraday bag probably doesn't solve your problem; they require great care to use effectively. and your phone can be tracked as soon as you remove it.

But if you DO need one, you want one that actually works. Here's a short writeup I did a while back on the theory and practice of testing them:

https://www.mattblaze.org/blog/faraday/

TL;DR: Science is fun.

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

Mastodon poster: The default UI here emits a painful electric shock when I click on the like button. That’s kind of bad.

Replies: you can turn off electric shocks in the advanced settings

Poster: ok, but they really should be off by default. Electric shocks are unnecessary and dangerous.

Replies: go back to Twitter if you don’t like it here.

mattblaze, 11 months ago to random

On the off chance that you end up banging your head against this the way I did this morning:

The current generation Anker USB PD GaN chargers (models 735, 737, etc) will NOT correctly negotiate 12V. You get 9V instead. The other PD-negotiated voltages appear to work correctly. They claim to do 12V, but they don’t.

When it comes to cheap electronics, trust but verify.

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

@AbandonedAmerica I inadvertently blocked (and then unblocked) your instance, so you may need to follow me again if you still want to.

mattblaze, 1 year ago to photography

The One World Trade Center tower, occupying its place in the lower Manhattan skyline.

Enough pixels to reach the sky at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/49291055921/

#photography

mattblaze, 7 months ago to photography

Park Junction, Philadelphia, PA, 2010.

The southern end of the former Reading Railroad.

All the pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4472088022

#photography

mattblaze, 7 months ago to photography

AT&T Long Lines Oak Hill Tower, San Jose, CA 2021.

This unusual Brutalist tower was part of the former AT&T terrestrial microwave network that once carried the bulk of US long distance telephone traffic. The (long since disconnected) horn antennas are too big and heavy to remove.

Too many pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/51261791084

#photography

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

For some reason, I got a ton (or at least several ounces) of people asking me about Faraday bags for phones the last couple days.

While I’m not in the Faraday bag testing business, you might find this writeup I did a couple years ago helpful, mainly to explore how you can think about what Faraday bags do and don’t do and how to measure them. Go science!

https://www.mattblaze.org/blog/faraday/

mattblaze, 7 months ago to random

This shouldn't need to be said at this point, but given the new Speaker's apparent beliefs, it bears repeating:

While there are weaknesses in US election infrastructure, there is simply no evidence whatsoever that the 2020 presidential election was "stolen" or that technical attacks in any way altered its outcome.

58 of my colleagues and I wrote this shortly after these nonsensical conspiracy theories began to spread in 2020. It remains as true now as it was then. https://www.mattblaze.org/papers/election2020.pdf

mattblaze, 7 months ago to photography

Ruins of Santa Fe Railroad Carfloat Slip, Point Richmond, CA, 2011.

Until 1984, railroad freight traveled between the East Bay and San Francisco on barges (called "carfloats"). Then there was a fire, and that was that.

All the pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/5484488587

#photography

mattblaze, 7 months ago to random

I had a meeting today in which it was brought home to me that there are senior security people who don't remember the Morris worm because they were like eight years old when it happened.

You can get off my lawn now.

mattblaze, 9 months ago to random

People who criticize me for being concerned about getting a disease that could harm or permanently disable me or my loved ones get instantly blocked. There's no "both sides" here. If you do that, you're an asshole, and I will remove you from my life in every way I can. Period.

mattblaze, 10 months ago (edited 10 months ago) to random

Just saw Oppenheimer. Somewhat mixed reaction.

Utterly gorgeous, and definitely deserves and benefits from a proper theatrical screening. Story is compelling and relevant, and the oerformances are terrific. Three hours goes by quickly.

But I think the edit was rather a muddle. It often felt like a three hour trailer for itself - series of short cuts, each ending on a quotable, profound line, with the score often overwhelming the action. It's like it didn't trust itself with the material.

mattblaze, 7 months ago to random

35 years ago today, I walked in to the CS department where I was a grad student, and bumped in to my advisor, who asked, somewhat worriedly, "Matt, did you do this?" I had no idea what he was talking about, which is exactly what I would have said if I had done it.

Happy wormiversary, to all those who celebrate.

mattblaze, 6 months ago to random

The Supreme Court code of ethics uses the word "should" 53 times and the word "shall" 0 times. https://www.supremecourt.gov/about/Code-of-Conduct-for-Justices_November_13_2023.pdf

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

In bringing charges against former president Trump, Special Counsel Smith has created a dilemma that threatens to further divide our already fractured nation.

I mean, of course, should the future federal Indictment Day holiday be celebrated on the anniversary of the date of the grand jury's filing, the date it was unsealed, or the date of Trump's first court appearance? Or should it be observed on a Monday, to guarantee all Americans a long weekend?

I hope we can resolve this peacefully.

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

The phone-based COVID exposure notification system was never as effective as hoped, but this mad rush to rip out every last bit of pandemic mitigation infrastructure is just stupid.

Still masking.

mattblaze, 7 months ago to random

Hmm. Chesebro just flipped, following Powell, in Georgia. Definitely not good news for Trump.

mattblaze, 6 months ago to random

In 2020, the emergence of COVID-19 gave us a stark, terrifying, but very valuable lesson in how thin our collective values are once push comes to shove. Within WEEKS after lockdowns started, the op-ed class repeatedly suggested that

• We should suspend child labor laws (they claimed, incorrectly, that children weren't harmed by COVID)

• The elderly have already lived long enough and should be willing to die now to help the economy.

• The weak and compromised should be regarded as expendable.

mattblaze, 8 months ago (edited 8 months ago) to random

The senate finished voting around 9pm, which gives the president about 3 hours to receive, sign, and return the bill before funding for the federal government expires at midnight.

How does this actually work? I'm imagining there's some clerk on the Senate floor furiously re-installing drivers for a frozen-up printer, or perhaps searching for an unexpired cyan toner cartridge in time to get a printout ready to drive down to the White House before the deadline.

mattblaze, 10 months ago to random

I live in a country, ostensibly run by adults, where a major political party can't decide whether it's Mickey Mouse or Barbie that poses the greater threat.

mattblaze, 1 year ago to random

No, Trump was not selling classified documents. His retention and mishandling of those docs was extremely bad, but that's a long way from "he was giving them to Putin" or whatever. That's just silly.

Even if you think Trump is/was (implausibly) a Russian asset, Intelligence orgs don't want original stolen docs. That's the LAST thing they want someone to take. That means someone will likely figure out they're missing. Which makes the information in them MUCH less valuable.