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michaelt

39,341 karma · joined June 20, 2012

Greetings from London, United Kingdom! I'm Michael.

http://www.mjt.me.uk

hn@mjt.me.uk

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michaelt··on 27.5KB language-agnostic WebGPU syntax highlighter
> highlighting 5m lines of code at once is unusual

Speak for yourself, I often accidentally open 50MB JSON files, crashing my text editor as it tries to figure out the syntax highlighting :)

michaelt··on LG TVs caught spying even when offline or on standby
The problem is for TV manufacturers to change their ways, a lot of TVs will need to be returned.

And your average Smart TV buyer is prepared to sign into Netflix, Disney+, Hulu, Prime Video, Crunchyroll, Youtube etc - that's the whole point of buying a smart TV. The only returns will be from the minority who are happy to sign up and sign in for streaming services, but who balk at one more account.

Personally, I'm about to return a smart TV (because it sucks) and replace it with a dumb screen. But realistically - I don't imagine these things get returned in sufficient numbers for vendors to change their ways.

michaelt··on GamersNexus and LG: Or why rooting your TV is a bad idea
> So no responsible disclosure, I see.

If I, a corporation, declare that I only accept security reports carved on clay tablets in ancient greek and hand-delivered to my office in Timbuktu during a total solar eclipse - does that stop responsible security researchers from disclosing their findings publicly?

Of course not.

If the guy sends a clear message to the best public contact address he can find with 15 minutes of searching; and gives them 30 days to patch before publicly disclosing the bug; then he's performed responsible disclosure.

The vendor's corporate policies and release cycles and contact addresses and triage procedures are their problem.

michaelt··on The ColorChecker, photography's most important 24 squares, turns 50
> What are the CIE XYZ coordinates of each colored square?

In the most expensive versions, they measure each individual patch, in case printing imperfections make the colours slightly different. And of course because you can’t get the exact same inks when a product is 50 years old!

> How were the colors chosen?

Skin and foliage; primary colours; greyscale; and miscellaneous.

They also make a 140 colour patch version - the “ColorChecker Digital SG” - that provides more coverage; 14 different skin tones instead of 2 for example!

michaelt··on Space industry lacks workers needed to rebuild satellites lost in war: report
A lot of deterrence credibility depends on at least pretending you think you can get into a fight without it inevitably going nuclear.

After all, if America’s military thinkers all believe if America fought China it would inevitably result in mutually assured destruction - then American security guarantees for Taiwan lose all credibility.

michaelt··on FBI Probes Service Selling 153M+ Drivers Licenses
> They already do that, in Europe. I assume that it works, as I don’t hear about this level of stuff, over there

Often it's straight up the same companies - a Brit's PII is held by Experian, Equifax and Transunion just like an American's is.

And while the rules are strict and complicated enough to be very inconvenient for anyone who tries to follow them to the letter, the fines for even the worst fuck-ups are trivial. We're talking a $5 billion company handing 15 million people's credit reports to hackers, and getting fined $15 million.

michaelt··on FBI Probes Service Selling 153M+ Drivers Licenses
Back In The Day, if somewhere like a car hire agency wanted to record proof of identity they'd photocopy your driver's license on paper, and store it in a filing cabinet. The computer record of a customer's account would just say "driving license checked, on file at branch #1234"

Security-wise this comes with obvious downsides - but as protection against cyberattack, it's pretty much the gold standard.

michaelt··on Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones
> if a bunch of people installed fixed GPS sensors at home

Similar things already exist - although it's used for increasing GPS precision and detecting faulty satellites, moreso than detecting jamming, so the networks might not be dense enough to detect small areas of jamming.

For one state's example, see [1] - choose 'RINEX archives' if you want historical readings.

[1] http://www.wsrn.org/Map/SensorMap.aspx

michaelt··on Cheap GPS jammers are filling the world with navigation dead zones
There are two types of GPS jamming.

There's GPS jamming by the military, mostly in war zones. This seldom effects airliners because they steer clear of active war zones.

Then there's GPS jamming by delivery drivers who don't want their boss watching over their shoulder all the time. When the article mentions jammers as small as a cellphone and costing less than $100, those are sold to drivers.

Delivery drivers don't jam LORAN or VOR, though - so it's not jammed by the second type.

michaelt··on The world may have less time than it thinks on climate change
I have their print magazine right here.

Inside of the cover (page 2), ad saying portugal is the smart choice for data centres and ai computing. Page 11, two NGO job ads and an ad for timeshare holiday homes. Page 75, ad for Economist Education Online Courses. Page 75 (back cover) ad for a cruise.

Last week's edition: Rolex, page 2. Page 11, executive recruitment network ad, NGO job ad, teaching job ad. Page 11-12, ad for timeshares. Page 15, barclays bank account ad. Page 20: Ad saying amazon employees' working conditions are good. Page 25: Ad for 'securing identity for the ai enterprise'. Page 32, ad for european cybersecurity investments, page 84 (back page) ad for Oracle.

So there are some ads - not many, but some.

michaelt··on Calibrate Before You Accelerate: Bias Toward Action in a New Role
> But ultimately if you're dealing with an opaque system, which most companies are,

While most companies have elements that are hard to see clearly [1], I would hope 95% of what the company is doing would be transparent to the CEO.

The CEO should easily be able to tell which divisions/projects are profitable, which are on track to hit their goals, how those goals combine into a coherent strategy, which areas are getting the most complaints and refunds, and so on.

[1] intangible concepts like 'innovation' and 'culture' for example

michaelt··on Aptera announces a $44M to design and build a solar electric vehicle
This is clearly not a winning idea if you're a spreadsheet-loving engineer that can run the numbers, and is interested enough in clean tech to do so. But that's 5% of the population, tops.

To the 95% of people without the inclination or knowledge to check the figures, this looks great! It's a car with zero fuel costs, it's EV charging for people who don't have off-street parking, it's a fix for EVs sitting in workplace car parks at times of peak solar output, and it's most of the benefits of covering car parks in solar panels.

michaelt··on DHS is using obscure law to snoop on journalists, non-profits, unions
> No, unless you're arguing that the government should be barred from even making voluntary requests at all?

IMHO the third-party doctrine is an area where legislators ought to be passing laws to broaden constitutional protections, in suitably nuanced way, to keep up with the times. In the modern age, people reveal a great deal of information about themselves to third parties in the course of carrying out mundane tasks.

The idea that fourth amendment protections apply to physical mail, but not to e-mail [1] doesn't really make much sense.

Unfortunately this is the sort of thing change that really needs to come from legislators, and the legislative process isn't very effective at the moment.

[1] except for the 0.1% of people who self-host their own e-mail server in their own home

michaelt··on DHS is using obscure law to snoop on journalists, non-profits, unions
> there is basically no incentive for them to fight the summons

Ehhh, seems to me a cloud provider that wants to back up my documents, communications, photos, passkeys etc has a very strong business case for ensuring the data is as safe with them as they would be in my own home.

michaelt··on Stripe said to abandon $50B pursuit of PayPal
> There is absolutely no reason for them to accept money only in cash in 2026,

When I was young, cash was beloved by some as a matter of principle because of the fact you didn't need any authority's permission to accept it; coupled with its anonymity.

If you were running the city's only LGBT bookshop, you didn't want your till full of signed, dated checks - and card processors wouldn't do business with you even if you wanted to accept cards.

michaelt··on My Business Is Dying
> I charge per outcome now

Are you perchance paid by number of distinct metaphors used?

michaelt··on 76% of 623 EU software vendors have no security.txt ahead of the CRA 24h rule
Those of you who publish a security.txt - how many reports do you get, and what's the typical quality level?

If I push to add one to my employer's website, will our security team thank me for doing so?

michaelt··on iCloud+ Hide My Email addresses will remain on icloud.com
The ad business has a lot of people chasing after the same ad spend.

Superbowl ads, TV ads, radio ads, print ads, billboard ads, public transit ads, youtube ads, podcast ads, search ads, e-mail ads, social media ads, in-app ads, in-store ads, sports team sponsorship, individual athlete sponsorship, stadium naming, product placement ads, elevator ads, cinema ads, bathroom ads.

And Coca-Cola doesn't increase their advertising budget just because someone finds a new place to slap ads on - they just re-allocate their spending.

Sure, Google and Facebook make a good chunk of money from ads. But it's a very, very competitive business.

michaelt··on Where did all the public bathrooms go?
And yet when I want to do some photography, as is my right in public spaces, everyone gets all indignant.
michaelt··on Where did all the public bathrooms go?
Some measures that mitigate a problem are associated with places where said problem is a frequent occurrence.

If a place has tornado drills and tornado shelters, it's a safe bet that tornados are at least somewhat likely.

Some safety and security measures have the effect of making a place feel unsafe and insecure, for this reason.

michaelt··on Ask HN: Why do corporate failures always seem to punish the wrong people?
If an army general orders a disastrous assault that completely fails, they might get demoted or relieved of command. The infantry that were ordered to charge the machine guns pay a much higher price (as do the junior officers that lead the charge). Hell, perhaps nowerdays they'll have a 'blameless postmortem' to 'learn lessons' and there won't even be a demotion.

Us folks who work for a living aren't charging any machine guns, thankfully - but if my boss's boss's boss can't get our division to make a profit the entire division is at risk, no matter how good my area of the division may be.

Or hell, maybe nobody in my 'chain of command' made any mistakes at all. We could be the world's greatest manufacturer of airplane seats - but if the plane they're put into has a few crashes, and orders dry up, there's no money to pay my wages.

Is it just? No - it's just the nature of work.

michaelt··on Why is Anthropic's public writing style so unlike Claude's?
AI companies seem eager to perpetuate the fantasy that all users carefully review all LLM output, and supervise all tool calls.

Anthropic certainly isn't planning to take responsibility for Claude's mistakes - that's the user's responsibility. Describing everything as 'collaborating' is I think part of their efforts to emphasise the user's role in the process.

michaelt··on Wi-Fi 8 is the first wireless upgrade in years that isn't chasing speed
If wired Ethernet shows less than 1Gbps, something is wrong. This stuff is super reliable.
michaelt··on Iranian hackers shut down UK power plant for 4 days
Those same MPs decided, for example, that it should be mandatory for EV chargers to be internet connected.

They could do with a dose of reality, IMHO.

michaelt··on Canada will match US tariffs 'dollar for dollar' as trade talks break down
> Manufacturing has never really declined in US, not in absolute terms.

Is a factory making 2GB RAM chips twice as productive as one making 1GB RAM sticks?

Because if manufacturing output is merely constant while chipmakers’ output has skyrocketed (on paper, as PCs went from 32MB RAM to 32GB over a few decades), other manufacturing output must have fallen a great deal.

michaelt··on Felony charges for citizen deleting phone data at US Border
> Reliable deletion of data requires setting it up to be reliably deleted later on

I mean - yes? If you design a subtle duress pin that only hides certain things, users would have to choose what.

I myself want the bank apps, password manager and email to disappear without a trace, but I don’t care about the social media, photos or web browser history. Other people, though, will have different priorities.

michaelt··on Felony charges for citizen deleting phone data at US Border
I mean, it sounds like it would be even better if the duress response was more subtle.

A duress code might let me wipe my phone when someone holds a gun to my head and demands I unlock it. Problem is, there’s still someone holding a gun to my head.

michaelt··on WPD won't replace stolen Flock cameras, citing public trust
> I mean ALPR's have worked wonders in my town [1]. So I'll keep supporting them

With flock, citizens are concerned by the privacy implications of the state keeping a dossier of each citizen’s movements.

But once we assure citizens the flock cameras have already issued 500,000 speeding fines in a single town this year, no doubt they’ll come to support the cameras.

Perhaps the cameras could also automatically issue parking fines, to garner even more popular support!

michaelt··on AliExpress runs silent WebAudio fingerprinting that breaks Bluetooth multipoint
> I'm assuming "playing silent audio" is a sufficiently common thing for websites to do to have motivated browsers into doing the slightly more complicated thing of actually analyzing audio streams for content

When most sites do browser fingerprinting using audio, they use an 'OfflineAudioContext' - which unlike a normal AudioContext, doesn't run in real time and send its output to system's loudspeakers; instead, it runs faster-than-real-time and outputs to an AudioBuffer. So the browser can easily tell no sound is being played.

For example - you can tell the browser to create a 10kHz square wave, feed it to a GainNode then a DynamicsCompressorNode, output to a buffer, then hash the contents of that buffer - which gives you a browser fingerprint, because of subtle differences between browsers.

michaelt··on OpenRouter is joining Stripe
The other thing OpenRouter gets you is: Access to loads of models via a common API/sign-up/prepayment mechanism.

I want to know which vendor/model does best at my extracting-facts-from-text task? Which does best at my OCR-a-text-document task? Which can deal with a safe-for-work beach photo without a censorship system false alarm?

OpenRouter lets me run my tests against openai and anthropic and google and x and bytedance and qwen and llama, with a single sign-up and a single payment.

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