Dear politicians,

your push for surveillance is wrong! Not just morally, but also from a strategic perspective. In a geopolitical environment shaped by digital warfare, the data you collect on citizens will become a threat. Adversaries will try to weaponize those data, and sooner or later, they will succeed.

A transparent society is vulnerable to all sorts of malicious influence.

Privacy supports resilience! Data you don't have cannot be used by or against anyone!
--
#privacy #DataProtection

Tired: “Dogfooding”: Using the software you work on with unbridled happiness and glee, no consideration what it is
Wired: “Catfooding”: Looking at the software and saying “Fuck that shit. I ain’t using that”, and then going for a nap.

🌟 Project Release Announcement Time! 🎉

I wrote a WebUSB extension for Firefox.

This lets web pages access USB devices (with your permission). This has long been supported by Chrome, but Mozilla has not wanted it, at least by default. Fortunately, because add-ons are a thing (for now. make sure to keep fighting for this!), it's possible to change that!

Common reasons for wanting this include programming microcontrollers, 3d-printers, smartphone bootloaders, and similar "physical computing" projects.

This works on Windows, Linux, and macOS

You can get the source code here: https://github.com/ArcaneNibble/awawausb

In order to make this work, you will need to install a small program on your computer. This is explained in the README. You can then install the .xpi file (on the GitHub Releases page) into your browser (which was _just_ auto-approved while I was typing this announcement up).

Please boost (if you want), test, report bugs, etc. etc. (although do keep in mind that this code is entirely written by a single catgirl)

i think this is the perfect type of project to drop late on a sunday / very early on a monday?

1. GenAI is probably going to impact us but how? Nobody knows.
2. The worst thing about GenAI isn't the technology, it's the shitty people: https://karlbode.com/the-problem-with-ai-is-shitty-human-beings [<must-read]
3. We can’t have a grown-up conversation on the subject because the trillion-dollar bet’s fear+greed pressure crowds out truth.
4. When the bubble pops, the shitty people will melt away. Then we can maybe figure it out.
5. We so *SO* need that bubble to pop. Next week would be ideal.

#GenAI

RE: https://social.vivaldi.net/@lproven/116217029716302392

Can LLMs think is a hard question not because we don’t know how LLMs work. But because we don’t know how “think” works

Picard management tip: "That's the way it's always been" is never an adequate reason to continue doing something.

Removing physical buttons from hardware was one of the worst product design decisions in history and everyone involved should be publicly shamed.

Video Game Archive Myrient to Shut Down on March 31

https://hackaday.com/2026/02/27/video-game-archive-myrient-to-shut-down-on-march-31/

I will not verify my identity or age for any online service, other than clicking on an "I am over 18" button, ever. I will simply stop using the service, if it is required.

I encourage you to do the same. It's not "for the children". It's to harvest even more information from you so corporations can try to squeeze even more money out of you and to be able to track you and everything you do.

Do you know what's not accessible? Writing "a11y" in any article or documentation

I will accept it as a convenience in APIs since developers are lazy and can't spell, but fuck off with using it in text

We knew this was coming, but now the clock is running. From Privacy International:

"Yesterday the Trump Administration announced a proposed change in policy for travellers to the U.S. It applies to the powers of data collection by the Customs and Border Police (CBP)."

"If the proposed changes are adopted after the 60-day consultation, then millions of travellers to the U.S. will be forced to use a U.S. government mobile phone app, submit their social media from the last five years and email addresses used in the last ten years, including of family members. They’re also proposing the collection of DNA."

PI linked to and summarized a Federal Register entry describing the proposed requirements:

-All visitors must submit ‘their social media from the last 5 years’

-ESTA (Electronic System for Travel Authorization) applications will include ‘high value data fields’, ‘when feasible’
‘telephone numbers used in the last five years’
-‘email addresses used in the last ten years’
-‘family number telephone numbers (sic) used in the last five years’
-biometrics – face, fingerprint, DNA, and iris
-business telephone numbers used in the last five years
-business email addresses used in the last ten years.

https://www.privacyinternational.org/news-analysis/5713/trump-administration-wants-your-dna-and-social-media

The Federal Register entry says comments are encouraged and
must be submitted (no later than February 9, 2026) to be assured of consideration.

Federal Register entry: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2025-12-10/pdf/2025-22461.pdf

iOS 6 has to be the last iOS with well-designed UI. The UI is intentional and clear. It doesn't try to be anything more than that. It doesn't blur the lines between UI and user content. The UI is actually there as you need it rather than playing peek-a-boo with you. The visual affordances are very much appreciated. You know what is your stuff and what is a control or tool. And it makes *excellent* use of the very small real-estate available to it. It's refreshing to see.

https://www.martinnobel.com/techresearch/ios-6-screenshots