dhork
@dhork@lemmy.world
- Comment on How did Mahmoud Khalil managed to challenge his (pending) deportation at all, while others were deported without due process? What makes Mahmoud Khalil's case different? 6 hours ago:
If I had to guess, it’s probably because his family was able to lawyer up quickly (either because they could afford it, or knew someone who would work the case for free). Courts can’t act here unless someone files a case over it. There might be other people with valid legal cases to challenge their detention, but if they can’t get their hands on timely legal advice they’re just screwed.
- Comment on Why Do Sites Keep Shoving Features We Don’t Want Down Our Throats? 1 day ago:
They are trying to push engagement. But not just any engagement. You might think that they would prefer active engagement, when you search for a thing and watch the entire thing. But you are actually more likely to skip ads when you do that.
What they prefer is more passive engagement, when you just accept the best thing the algorithm pushes. Because then you are not only more likely to passively consume ads, but also be served content that they were paid to promote.
TikTok, Shorts, and all the things like that seem to be specifically engineered to exhaust your ability to request more things and let the algorithm take over what you watch next. That’s their endgame.
- Comment on What kind of CAPTCHA is this? 3 days ago:
Yeah, doesn’t mshta run JavaScript locally on Windows? This looks like a way to force you to run their script
- Comment on [deleted] 6 days ago:
That’s very generous of you, but I would advise against doing this secretly, for a few reasons.
First of all, the information needed to do this (like their loan account number) is considered personal financial information whose disclosure is protected. There is nothing preventing them from giving you the info willingly, but if you try and find it out without their knowledge you may be breaking the law.
Also, technically any gifts between people who aren’t directly related are treated as income by the US government, and there is technically tax owed on it. And yes, paying off a loan would still count as a gift. The threshold to trigger tax on a gift is high ($19k for 2025), but the tax is the liability of the giver, not the receiver. Depending on how big the gift is, you could be inadvertently opening yourself up for scrutiny by the US IRS. But if you are open about the gift and plan it with the recipient ahead of time, you can also do all the required tax planning to make sure you don’t run afoul of the IRS.
I don’t think I need to remind you that the legal climate regarding foreigners in the US on student visas is precarious right now. It would suck if your attempt at a secret gift ended up backfiring on your plans in the US.
- Comment on U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions 2 weeks ago:
I know plenty of people with a critical outlook on crypto who have a clue what they are talking about.
- Comment on U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions 2 weeks ago:
I shouldn’t feed the troll, but there is a teachable moment here.
Crypto transactions that are direct on a Blockchain, by design, are immutable. Once they are validated in a block, and future blocks are validated on top of that, it is impossible for any entity to change that history unless they control a majority of the validation power of that network. Yes, even the NSA can’t do it. It’s math.
Yes, if the government wants your crypto, it will get it. But the only way to do that is to obtain your private keys. It cannot reverse a transaction, nor reverse-engineer your private keys from a transaction. Yes, not even the NSA can do it. It’s math.
Governments do have other tools at their disposal. But those tools must center on obtaining the key. They cannot “hack” it any other way.
- Comment on U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions 2 weeks ago:
Well, nothing anyone says is going to convince you, because you’re obviously correct. How silly of me to question you!
- Comment on U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions 2 weeks ago:
No, but if the US government sends money into your bank account, they can just as easily take it back.
forbes.com/…/trump-administration-takes-back-80-m…
Crypto was designed to be a peer-to-peer method for immutable transactions. Crypto transactions are irreversible, even for governments.
- Comment on U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions 2 weeks ago:
I’ve used crypto for legitimate transactions in the past. It bailed me out once, big time, when I had to top up a foreign SIM card while abroad and their website wouldn’t take ny US credit card. I found a site selling top-up codes that took crypto and sent some from my phone, and I was back in business. But this was back when people were still using it to transact.
The worst thing that ever happened to law-abiding people using crypto was when it’s price zoomed up. Because for all those early adopters, every individual transaction now has a considerble capital gain attached. That’s why people don’t spend crypto anymore, because it’s been turned by the market into a Store of Value. (And by developers, but that’s a different thread).
- Comment on U.S. Government Removes Tornado Cash Sanctions 2 weeks ago:
This seems to be all about a technicality involving how these sanctions are applied. Sanctions are meant to be applied to people and the companies they run, and a US court ruled that these sanctions couldn’t be applied to a smart contract. This ruling was made back in November, they are just getting around now to removing the sanctions. From what I can tell, the sanctions against the people involved in running the service are still in effect.
- Comment on Would it be a bad idea to show up at a protest outside a Tesla dealership with a sign that says "Deny Musk, Defund Doge, Depose Trump"? 2 weeks ago:
Yes, that would be a bad idea. It shouldn’t be a bad idea. But right now, it would be.
Then again, you are probably in for Domestic Terrorism charges for simply protesting against the Car of the People. It’s up to you whether you want to dial it all up to 11.
- Comment on What would happen if the Supreme Court sent a US Marshall to arrest a member of the executive branch? 2 weeks ago:
Individual US States are a party to some of these lawsuits, and they have their own duly sworn law enforcement officers. I bet a Federal judge would be able to find NY State Troopers or Massachusetts State Police willing to enforce their orders if there is a judgement in favor of that State in court.
- Comment on How North Korea Launders Billions in Stolen Crypto 2 weeks ago:
These agencies are sometimes able to retrieve stolen funds. In the case of the Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack in 2021, the Department of Justice (DOJ) was eventually able to recover almost 85% of the bitcoin (BTC) ransom paid to Russian cybercriminal group Darkside. It’s unclear how investigators obtained the hacking group’s private keys.
Probably the old-fashioned way
- Comment on Starlink is now accessible across the White House campus, which was already served by fiber cable, after service was “donated”, as some cite security concerns. 2 weeks ago:
I can believe areas of the White House have no cell service, on purpose. Remember when they found those fake cell towers around DC?
www.wired.com/…/dcs-stingray-dhs-surveillance/
I bet at some point they installed some cell phone jammers specifically to limit the amount of foreign spying that could be done by fake towers, and they simply “forgot” to tell the incoming Trump administration…
- Comment on [deleted] 3 weeks ago:
You have to pick a leader somehow. In authoritarianism, the leader is often the one who can take over by force, and can maintain that force over time (even across generations, for hereditary systems). While it’s possible for someone who takes over that way to be benelovent towards their people, it’s far more likely they will be violent and overbearing, because that’s how they got the gig in the first place.
- Comment on Judges Are Fed up With Lawyers Using AI That Hallucinate Court Cases 4 weeks ago:
But this is exactly what AI is being marketed toward. All of Apple’s AI ads showcase dumb people who appear smart because the AI bails out their ineptitude.
- Comment on 4 weeks ago:
There’s nothing illegal about cryptocurrencies. It’s just random numbers and code.
However, those random numbers have actual value, and governments regulate some transactions, particularly ones that cross national borders, to make sure those transactions do not hide a crime or go to individuals who the government has put under sanctions.
Some people of a Libertarian bent get involved in Crypto to keep their governments out of their business. But those laws still apply, no matter what the medium of exchange is, or how much those people whine about those laws.
- Comment on Bybit Sees over $4B 'Bank Run' After Crypto's Biggest Hack 5 weeks ago:
Actually, this is good news, because they were able to fulfill all those redemptions. It means they were not doing shady things with all those deposits.
- Comment on Crypto exchange Bybit says a hacker took control of one of its cold Ethereum wallets, resulting in what analysts estimate was the loss of ~$1.5B worth of tokens 1 month ago:
Do I understand this correctly, then, that this was some sort of MITM attack where valid requests to the multisig parties were replaced by malicious code while still appearing to be valid to the signers? That must be an inside job.
And this is the first time I have heard the word “musked” in this context…
- Comment on Crypto exchange Bybit says a hacker took control of one of its cold Ethereum wallets, resulting in what analysts estimate was the loss of ~$1.5B worth of tokens 1 month ago:
Well, either it wasn’t as offline as they all thought, or someone pulled off an epic inside job.
- Comment on Why doesn't phones numbers have a "DNS" servet so we can just type in words like we do with the internet? 1 month ago:
Because when the telephone system first was developed, all you had were dial phones, which could only send numbers 1 through 0 (10). So every call needed to be addressible using only numbers.
AT&T came up with the numbering system in the 40s…
- Comment on Why are there silly license requirements? 1 month ago:
When the State licenses things like that, it’s usually because whatever activity is being licensed utilizes shared resources, and the State has an interest in making sure those resources are used in the common interest.
Radio licenses are essential because the RF spectrum is a common resource. The State wants to make sure that certain frequencies are only used for certain purposes, and that those who use them have the proper training.
Some communities use pet licensing as a tool to make sure all pets are properly vaccinated, to reduce the spread of rabies (which really is a horrible way to go…)
Hunting and fish licenses are a way to help control the overall wild animal population, and make sure they are not overharvested and preserve rhe availability for future seasons.
- Comment on If Kodak came back with a Camera tomorrow, what would you be awaiting from a company like them? 1 month ago:
Ah, I know a bit about Kodak, being a resident of Rochester, NY (and a former employee). Go back 100 years, and George Eastman was the Steve Jobs of his day. Kodak was just like Apple, bringing the obscure technology of photography to the masses.
But that tech was very much dependant on chemical processes, specifically the Silver Halides used in film. Although Steve Sasson invented the digital camera whike at Kodak, Management basically told him “Great job! Here’s a bonus. We’re not gonna sell it, though, this will ruin our business”.
Ridge Road in Rochester is full of factories with large roll coating machines to make film which are now functionally obsolete. As far as I know many of those buildings arw still there, but in teuth its been a while sin pce I’ve been up there. Kodak sold off bits and pieces of that factory space over the years, even before the bankruptcy. But they tore down much more factory space, entire buildings, because the property taxes were cheaper on vacant lots than on buildings. Yet they haven’t gotten around to divesting it all.
Kodak still technically exists after the bankruptcy, but is far less relevant to the local economy now. Back in the day, when Kodak Park ran 3 shifts making film, local car dealers timed their promotions around Kodak’s “Wage Dividend” bonus. But it turns out their technological advantage had an expiration date.
George Eastman’s influence is seen all over Rochester, though. His name is all over various buildings in town, as well as the University of Rochester and the Eastman School of Music. And when he decided his health was declining and his work was done, he shot himself to end it all in the most efficient matter possible. Even most Lemmings, who abhor the rich, might have a soft spot for an insanely rich person who not only gave back to his community, but also took it upon himself to end it without being a burden to anyone.
- Comment on If the United States has Cuba banned from things, how does Guantanamo Bay exist? 2 months ago:
slate.com/…/how-did-the-u-s-get-a-naval-base-in-c…
The US took the area by force during the Spanish-American War, and then signed a “lease” with no end date with the Cuban government at the time.
I bet every time Cuba says they want to take it back, the US says “Yeah? You and what army?”
- Comment on Judge Rejects Sale of Infowars to The Onion 3 months ago:
He would never accept a deposit from the interested parties before making this decision. That would be a bribe, and extremely illegal.
He will accept his deposit from the interested parties after making the decision. That is a gratuity, and is now totally legal, thanks to SCOTUS.
- Comment on Why is Trump orange? 3 months ago:
Have you ever looked at the makeup that theater or TV performers use? It is layered on super thick, so that it looks good from far away, but up close it looks overly made up.
Trump has been on TV so much that he knows all about that. He wants to project an image of vitality, so he layers that stuff on as thick as he can to mask his natural pallor.
- Comment on Assassination is a Leaky Abstraction 3 months ago:
There is nothing wrong with making a profit. People have to be paid, after all, and that includes the ownership who put the money at risk in the operation to begin with. The problem is when making a profit becomes the only motive.
Every company is established with the purpose of offering a product or performing a service that makes their customers’ better or simpler. If is successful, it grows from nothing to something in a relatively short period of time. Then it gets the attention of the Investor Class, who shovels money into it with the expectation that it will sustain that growth. Now, the focus is on Building Shareholder Value, and the customer is seen as a necessary evil toward that goal.
The worst thing that ever happened was when we decided that public corporations had a duty to maximize shareholder value above everything else. It renders all those mission and vision statements irrelevant. No matter how much the CEO says the firm’s goal is to make the world a better place through selling stuff, we all know it’s a lie. Their goal is to enrich tthemselves, at our expense.
- Comment on Backdoor slips into popular code library, drains ~$155k from digital wallets 3 months ago:
It truly is SOL
- Comment on Backdoor slips into popular code library, drains ~$155k from digital wallets 3 months ago:
Socket, a security firm that helps detect supply-chain attacks, said the back door is “believed to be the result of a social engineering/phishing attack targeting maintainers of the official Web3.js open source library maintained by Solana.”
That’s super interesting. From the sound of it, the Maintainers must have been targeted to force a malicious Pull Request to be accepted. That article showed some of the code from the commit. I am not a Solana developer but understood enough to know what it was doing and that no maintainer should have approved it willingly.
I wonder if those maintainers will end up having any liability for the hack.
- Comment on If Orange Dickhead dies before taking his oath again will sucession still be applicable? Like Vance the new pres and Johnson the new VP? 4 months ago:
It has never happened before, so we don’t really know. What I think would happen is that Vance would just get immediately sworn in as the President on Jan 20 if God exercises His Ultimate Veto on Trump’s second term.
But the Presidential Succession Act only covers vacancies for the Presidency. Once the office of the President is filled again, nothing else happens. It’s not like everyone else “moves up” a slot. Mike Johnson would probably see the VP position as a demotion honestly.
The Office of the VP would remain vacant until President Vance nominates a candidate, and then it must be approved by both houses of Congress in order for the position to be filled.
