Recent submissions

Comment · 3 hours ago
Sure, it doesn't contradict what I said. The number of Signal users connecting through Corvus is probably a rounding error for Signal, it's not worth doing anything against it.

Signal is a non-profit. They won't shut you down because they want to make profit. They may shut you down if they think you lower the quality of their service. I'm pretty sure that with Corvus you're not on their radar because probably almost nobody is using Corvus, right? Or do you have tens of thousands of users?

Comment · 7 hours ago
"forgot" :D
Comment · 7 hours ago
> The scientists found no evidence that frequent ejaculations mark an increased risk of prostate cancer. In fact, the reverse was true: High ejaculation frequency was linked to a decreased risk. Compared to men who reported 4–7 ejaculations per month across their lifetimes, men who ejaculated 21 or more times a month enjoyed a 31% lower risk of prostate cancer.
Comment · 8 hours ago
I think they wouldn't want a third-party client to become mainstream. That a few people bridge matrix to signal is not exactly a problem.
Comment · 9 hours ago
You can totally fork their projects! You just can't call yours "Signal" (trademark I guess?) and you can't connect to their servers. Molly seems to be tolerated, somehow? Maybe because it is niche.

But clearly connecting to the Signal servers with an outdated, modified fork is against Signal's goal.

Comment · 10 hours ago
It explains perfectly why Signal does not want third-party clients.

To the haters: I am not saying that it is perfect, in an ideal world we could have secure third-party clients. I am just saying that it is pragmatic: in our world, we don't.

Signal has forever been a pragmatic approach to private messaging, and it succeeded at that: Signal literally put E2EE on the map!

Signal has a threat model, and they do the best app they can addressing that threat model. Which means that they cannot accept third-party clients or federation. They don't say "you cannot use XMPP or SimpleX or Matrix on the side", they just say "we provide this, if you benefit from it, use it for free".

Still, there is a very vocal minority that takes every opportunity they take to explain how "insane" that is, and how they "cannot imagine how anyone with some kind of intelligence wouldn't be revolted". I believe it is the same posture as those complaining about Android or GrapheneOS not giving root access ("even in the advanced settings"). The fact is that if you want root access on your phone, you should install a system that gives you root access, and not select a system that does not and then complain.

Signal is great at what it does. It's okay to also want something else while acknowledging that Signal is great at what it does.

Comment · 12 hours ago
> Rather than stand themselves, the students pulled together a slate of trusted figures—not just academics, but also farmers, lawyers, artists, teachers, and a former basketball player.

I came here to say that it's not "just academics", as many of the comments here seem to imply.

Comment · 12 hours ago
Academia actually involves a lot of politics... just not the kind that says it's all the immigrants' fault.
Comment · 12 hours ago
> That the PHDs will be overly confident

Definitely a risk, but politicians are professionals at being overly confident. With this selection (there are not only PhDs, and not only academics), there is actually a chance of... actually trying to understand the problems?

Comment · 12 hours ago
> Politics is a skill

It very much is, but I don't believe it is the skill of "solving problems" or "making society better".

Politics is about getting elected. Convincing the people that it's all the others' fault, that you know better, that you will save the world. And then when they get elected... we naively expect them to solve problems. But we selected them for their capacity at being selected, not their capacity at understanding the big problems society is facing...

Comment · 1 day ago
Agreed. And let's not forget that those are engineers who develop stuff like electronic cigarettes or... well... bombs.
Comment · 1 day ago
> actively detrimental for climate advocacy IMO.

Wow... actively detrimental?

Comment · 1 day ago
I mostly agree, but I would like to mention that we are destroying our planet also because of the other fields of engineering :-).

Sure, software has a lot more malpractice ("let's ship barely-tested, unfinished stuff"), but let's not say that "the other engineers" are making the world a better place merely by "being real engineers".

Comment · 1 day ago
I disagree. It's about believing in something and making their way to the uncomfortable truth.
Comment · 1 day ago
I think it's good that you have reached that point. Now, if you don't mind my asking (I'm curious):

Did it take 17 years for you to get there, or was it a while ago and you just say now that you were into crypto 17 years ago?

And I don't mean to be offending here: people routinely take years or decades on similar things. I have been observing that with climate change for 20 years now. And I see many many people who are still in that process. Actually I would argue that most people out there haven't reached the point where we can have the discussion, they seem to be in the "denial" phase still.

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