🪞The Inner-Critic
@takebackourtech

Ever feel like you don't have something worth sharing? This past year I've been fighting an inner critic when producing content for #TBOT.

He'll say things like “the content isn't good enough, not researched enough, not regular enough, that I'm overthinking it, that people aren't listening. Nobody cares.”

All these things have weighed on me, especially because I want to put out content that is complete. I mean fully complete in terms of integrity, professionalism and production. And with creativity and truth that blows ‘popular media’ out of the water, because let's be honest - TV & movies don't have soul these days.

I'm very grateful to have gotten community support for both #TBOT and Above Phone, the income helps support a creative team who in turn help myself and the mission tremendously.

This is so we can put out a cohesive message, with nice illustrations (no AI, just organic intelligence thanks), motion graphics, written content, and video content. I'm happy to release it all for free.

And we're just getting started - I would like to do stickers and flyers. We have to move past the digital.

Back to the inner critic. The one that that expects perfection but discourages action here and now. I'm moving past him.

I never thought I would be a content creator and could not predict the growth so far. The truth is that this is just the beginning and I'm finally realizing that I have been getting ‘the downloads’ all along - for me it starts as an intuition about a subject that leads to more research.

I have important stories to tell, and important solutions to share!

It feels good to say that, and I hope you feel the same about yourself. I learn a ton from all of you. Thank you for listening to me vent.

I just have two humble requests - our Telegram channel @takebackourtech has been sitting right below 4000 subscribers for the longest time and its been bothering me.

Would you please share this in your favorite group or forward it to 5 friends? It would make my day.

Follow ⚡️ @takebackourtech

And if you've got another few moments, please follow our new Substack:

https://tbot.substack.com

Here's the most recent #TBOT video/article:
- Electromagnetic Radiation - Shield & Educate Yourself, Save A Life

Here's are the two pieces that are in the pipeline:
- What a Google Backdoor Looks Like
- Phone Numbers are Phucked, Call Me On XMPP

Yours,
Ramiro Romani

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⚡️Progressive Web App for F-Droid In Development
@takebackourtech

The F-Droid team is working on a progressive web app for browsing F-Droid repositories.

Progressive Web Apps or PWAs are web applications that look and feel like a mobile app thanks to some tweaks and the ability to add them to the phone's home screen. They're much easier to build than mobile apps.

The app is still in development with the following features:
-displaying basic repository informations;
- Providing a link/QR-code for adding the repository to your F-Droid client;
- Browsing and searching for apps;
- Displaying app details and app downloads.

The most exciting part about this announcement is their plan to expand F-Droid tooling to iOS. This could potentially mean that iOS apps can be distributed through F-Droid.

Since the EU is forcing Apple to allow sideloading apps (getting apps from outside the App Store) in a few years, F-Droid could eventually be home to open-source apps on iOS.

Read more:
https://f-droid.org/en/2023/06/16/progessive-web-client.html

Code:
https://gitlab.com/uniqx/fdroid-webdash

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⚡️Linux Mint 21.2 "Victoria" Cinnamon Released
@takebackourtech

Our favorite 'Windows-like' but better Linux distribution Linux Mint got a refresh.

Linux Mint 21.2 is a long term support release which will be supported until 2027. It comes with updated software and brings refinements and many new features to make your desktop even more comfortable to use.

This latest version improves usability for the login screen, UI updates to the software manager and photo management apps (anyone tried Pix?), and smaller UI improvements across the OS.

New features:
https://www.linuxmint.com/rel_victoria_cinnamon_whatsnew.php

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⚡️ Fedora Wants To Add Telemetry to Its Linux Distribution
@takebackourtech

A recent proposal by a Fedora developer and Red Had Display Systems Team suggests the inclusion of the Endless OS metrics system into Fedora.

The Endless OS system is an optional, anonymous telemetry system where events are recorded locally and submitted to the developer's server. It does not report a specific computer, but an OS image ID which correspond to a specific version of the operating system. The system can record events by individual applications, hardware information, and/or user sessions.

The proposal introduces what metrics it might gather, such as clickthrough rate and hardware components metrics in order to improve usability and performance.

My take -
On one hand, improving software without data or user feedback is definitely a challenge - its almost impossible without actually watching how people use things. And the most common thing i hear from mainstream technology users is that Linux isn't user friendly enough - so would telemetry begin to improve UI?

On the other hand, telemetry is a slippery slope - first it gets used to test what settings pages are being used most, but down the line it could be used to optimize certain behaviors on the operating system. There's the added threat that even though the anonymous ID isn't computer specific, the collection of hardware information, what apps they're using could be used to create a fingerprint.

A fingerprint is almost guaranteed seeing that eos-phone-home is an additional package that uses hardware vendor & model, current OS version, and a GeoIP lookup, with an ongoing ping every 24 hours. This is used to measure retention, and is already used in Ubuntu - 90% of users have the full metrics enabled. The IP address does get discarded, and the server side code is open source but again we must take their word that its the same code that's running.

Its a complex issue, at least there is a lot of discussion happening in the community. I personally think the system should be neutered more and an analysis done of how unique user's fingerprints could be.

Interesting points:
- The KDE projects allow users to configure how much they want shared
- Clear ways to present and disable the telemetry are encouraged

What do you think? - share with us on our 🗯 CHAT GROUP
- Should open source software offer telemetry to improve their software?
- What other ways can OSS get feedback?

Link here:
https://discussion.fedoraproject.org/t/f40-change-request-privacy-preserving-telemetry-for-fedora-workstation-system-wide/85320/38

Metrics system:
https://blogs.gnome.org/wjjt/2023/07/05/endless-oss-privacy-preserving-metrics-system/

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⚡️ChromeOS Has More Than Half of The Desktop OS Linux Market
@takebackourtech

I was reading this opinion piece on TheRegister today where the author makes the point that ChromeOS has 4.15% of the market while Linux has 3.08%, and that is something that should be celebrated since ChromeOS is technically Linux.

—
But that's not the case for ChromeOS. Underneath its unique GUI layer – which, unlike the one in macOS, is open source – it's a relatively standard Linux which can run standard Linux apps, out of the box, on both x86 and Arm. As such, it's the most successful desktop Linux there is.

It's not a typical Linux, because typical Linuxes are tools for nerdy hacker types, and that kind of OS will never, ever go mainstream unless someone forces people to use it.

But in every way that matters, it is mainstream, it is commercially successful, it's a polished end-user desktop OS, and it's a Linux.

—
There's a few things that point to ChromeOS' success. One, it has millions of dollars to put into distribution so you can buy it at stores. That can't be said for any other Linux distribution.

The other is, that people are forced to use it. Especially for schools and the workplace, where Google has strong-armed their Chromebooks. These could total up to millions of computers, no wonder they have a significant market share.

Lastly, the author cleverly worded it to imply ChromeOS was open-source when its not, its completely proprietary. We have little idea of what it actually does.

Technically, it may be 'Linux' but philosophically its an imposter.

Instead of promoting user freedom and choice, ChromeOS and Chromebooks serve as another spy device used to extract information from people, especially your kids without parental consent. They were sued in New Mexico for exactly this reason, and its probably this is happening in every state where Chromebooks are being distributed through schools.

While researching this post, I realized there's hardly any discussion of ChromeOS' telemetry. That's worth an investigation.

If you have a Chromebook laying around, here's a tutorial to install Linux.

Let's take back some of that market share.

The article does make a good point that we need a polished end-user desktop OS, I think we are very close to that with the Above Book.

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⚡️I've Lost Count of The Anti-Privacy Bills
@takebackourtech

Hasn't it felt like every few weeks there was a new bill that could undermine the basis of the internet? I've almost lost count at this point but I'd like to go back and do an outline of the different bills in the different countries.

This article from Android Police focuses on STOP CSAM, EARN IT, and Chat Control.

Chat Control - wants client side scanning in encrypted chat apps using a local tool
STOP CSAM / EARNIT - Companies are held liable unless they have automated scanning for the files passing through their services

One day, will encryption will be outlawed? That'll just make us cooler. 😎

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⚡️Windows 11 Telemetry Analysis
@takebackourtech

Earlier this year an analysis was done on Windows 11 Telemetry using the Wireshark tool, used for network traffic analysis.

https://invidious.takebackourtech.org/watch?v=IT4vDfA_4NI

Without anything installed on first boot the machine makes requests to Microsoft, Akamai, Google, TrustedSource (mcAfee), ScoreCardResearch, MSN, Bing, and OneTrust.

Again this just on first boot, your computer connects with all of these third parties. Unbelievable.

This is how Microsoft creates an entire advertising ecosystem tracking you across multiple devices. By partnering with analytics, advertising companies they're able to fingerprint you across the web.

#DitchMicrosoft #YearOfLinux

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⚡️ Satellite Support Coming To Future Androids?
@takebackourtech

Traces of code related to Satellite Connectivity were found in the recent Android 14 release, as first reported by Mishaal Rahman on Twitter.

Currently there's only particular permissions like SATELLITE_COMMUNICATION and BIND_SATELLITE_SERVICE, but no APIs exist for apps to hook into.

Mishaal predicts a satellite API will become available in Android 15. We already know that iPhones have satellite connectivity but only for connecting to emergency services.

Some people might say we're getting a bit 'too connected', others may be excited for satellite communications in a 'grid-down' scenario (i hear that one way too much...)

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⚡️ AI Used To Catch Drug Trafficker
@takebackourtech

Out of New York State, police in Westchester County fed data from an ALPR system (automatic license plate recognition) into a new AI-driven 'roadway intelligence' platform called Rekor.

Read the article

There's 480 ALPR cameras in that region, scanning 16 million cars a week and capture vehicle license plate, number, make, and model. Rekor identifies routes across the state and can mark routes as 'suspicious'.

Cops pulled over a suspect in a small upstate town, finding crack cocaine, a gun, and $34K in cash.

Rekor has contracts with the Alabama, Florida, Missisippi, Ohio, and Pennsylvania DOTs (Department of Transportation), contracts ranging from 400K to over a million per year.

Questions to ask yourself:
- How many false positives were there before an actual crime was caught?
- What characteristics of a route make it suspicious?

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⚡️New Facial Verification System For Eurostar Railway In London
@takebackourtech

Eurostar, a European railway system has rolled out an optional facial verification system in St. Pancras Station, London.

It will use an app that contains their identity document and scan their face and ticket. Before boarding they will be scanned at a terminal.

The train situation out of London has gotten much worse thanks to post-Brexit border checks, and has lead to huge lines that caused many trains to remain empty.

This apparently is supposed to make it faster, although bags will still be scanned by staff, and passports will be checked.

A perfect example of surveillance state logic. 🙄

Searching people is taking too long, let's scan their faces to make it faster.

Read here

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⚡️Filtering 95% of the Dirty Electricity In My Bedroom
@takebackourtech

I've been sleeping with my head next to an outlet that contained ~300mV of dirty electricity. The resulting electric field extends a few feet around the outlet, over my head at night.

Get yourself an Dirty Electricity Meter & Filters
Our recent interview on EMR

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⚡️NYPD Using Drones to Broadcast Weather Alerts
@takebackourtech

After weeks of extreme rainfall in New York City, the NYPD began testing "remote-piloted public messaging capabilities" in the Queens borough.

These drones will broadcast messages through a loudspeaker, for instance telling people to shelter in place before flooding.

Of course there's the stipulation that the drones will only be used in cases of power or telecom failure. We've all heard that one before.

The whole situation reminds me of the videos from China where drones were being used to tell people to stay indoors during their lockdowns.

Read the article

#SurveillanceTech #Police #Drones

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⚡️Join #TBOT at the Extraordinary Tech Conference in August
@takebackourtech

Greetings #TBOT family,

You may know that #TBOT is far more than just digital technology. There's a whole world of advanced technologies that are just becoming availble to humanity. Things like antigravity, clean energy, and quantum technology - domains that have often been overlooked or suppressed in the past.

Sounds exciting right? For me too, that's why I'll be attending the TeslaTech Conference August 9-13, 2023 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. This is an in-person conference over 5 days where the brightest scientists and researchers will be sharing their technical discoveries. Come prepared to learn.

Join us to explore these groundbreaking topics, and let's discuss privacy tech together. Above Phone will be sponsoring the event, and I will have phones in person. I'll also be interviewing conference speakers for #TBOT.

It would be an honor to meet you in person and learn together.
You can find the full conference schedule here:
https://teslatech.info/ttevents/prgframe.html

Conference handout: https://teslatech.info/ttevents/2023conf/2023ETCWEB.pdf

30% Pre-registration Discount Ends July 26!
Preregister at: https://teslatech.info/ttevents/prgframe.html

For assistance, reach out to Steve at steve@teslatech.info

Let them know Above Phone sent you for 30% off the ticket 

I'll also be sitting down with Steve this Sunday, July 23 at 8 pm CST on Steve's Podcast where we discuss the age of Big Brother, unleashed AI, and the uncertain future of privacy. You can watch the interview live! (still working to get them off YouTube)

Hope to see you in Albuquerque!

Have a blessed day,

Ramiro Romani, founder of #TBOT & Above Phone

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