Working all this weekend and next; slightly mad to think something that started with me drawing shapes on a wall in New York to a sceptical audience has now turned into data that enables all aspects of a chunky 12 figures (do the math) worth of investments. Nice to see something through.
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Originally posted by Lao Lao View PostLeo for Business and Enterprise as far as I know.
It looks like FF will be taking housing and health which if happens, could be a master stroke by FG as they are two poisoned chalices. They may be able to make some inroads on housing but health will always be a basket case.
Mrs D3 was noting that it's all back to the usual turf wars now with nothing getting done."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
On (1), they did ask for this, there was an application form they had to fill in, no-one just magicked them money
On (2), 350 a week is the minimum wage. There's no tax due on the minimum wage. If someone was earning less before the covid payments then they can't possibly have exceeded the threshold for paying tax."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View Post
The ironic thing about health is that they just proved they can do it - when suitably energised, motivated and organised, they can really rise to the challenge.
Mrs D3 was noting that it's all back to the usual turf wars now with nothing getting done.
my wife is an ot and there is a huge back log in assessments and therapy - lots of kids have had no therapy in months so there will be long term impact on their development. Some parents and caregivers in serious need of respite too.
all elective, explorative and quality of life procedures were stopped so again a huge backlog and a lot of long term impacts for people who could have had problems detected early. This cleared out the hospitals but we will be back to over capacity instantly.
I am not trying to take away from the incredible effort and results (nursing homes aside) but I would imagine the return to normal will be far more difficult and if we hit a second wave I don’t know if they could take the same measures again.
real positives in changes to gp care being done remotely, electronic prescriptions and hypochondriacs being to afraid to go to hospitals and clog them up.
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TikTok seems super shady
So I can personally weigh in on this. I reverse-engineered the app, and feel confident in stating that I have a very strong understanding for how the app operates (or at least operated as of a few months ago).
TikTok is a data collection service that is thinly-veiled as a social network. If there is an API to get information on you, your contacts, or your device... well, they're using it.- Phone hardware (cpu type, number of course, hardware ids, screen dimensions, dpi, memory usage, disk space, etc)
- Other apps you have installed (I've even seen some I've deleted show up in their analytics payload - maybe using as cached value?)
- Everything network-related (ip, local ip, router mac, your mac, wifi access point name)
- Whether or not you're rooted/jailbroken
- Some variants of the app had GPS pinging enabled at the time, roughly once every 30 seconds - this is enabled by default if you ever location-tag a post IIRC
- They set up a local proxy server on your device for "transcoding media", but that can be abused very easily as it has zero authentication
The scariest part of all of this is that much of the logging they're doing is remotely configurable, and unless you reverse every single one of their native libraries (have fun reading all of that assembly, assuming you can get past their customized fork of OLLVM!!!) and manually inspect every single obfuscated function. They have several different protections in place to prevent you from reversing or debugging the app as well. App behavior changes slightly if they know you're trying to figure out what they're doing. There's also a few snippets of code on the Android version that allows for the downloading of a remote zip file, unzipping it, and executing said binary. There is zero reason a mobile app would need this functionality legitimately.
On top of all of the above, they weren't even using HTTPS for the longest time. They leaked users' email addresses in their HTTP REST API, as well as their secondary emails used for password resets. Don't forget about users' real names and birthdays, too. It was allllll publicly viewable a few months ago if you MITM'd the application.
They provide users with a taste of "virality" to entice them to stay on the platform. Your first TikTok post will likely garner quite a bit of likes, regardless of how good it is.. assuming you get past the initial moderation queue if thats still a thing. Most users end up chasing the dragon. Oh, there's also a ton of creepy old men who have direct access to children on the app, and I've personally seen (and reported) some really suspect stuff. 40-50 year old men getting 8-10 year old girls to do "duets" with them with sexually suggestive songs. Those videos are posted publicly. TikTok has direct messaging functionality.
Here's the thing though.. they don't want you to know how much information they're collecting on you, and the security implications of all of that data in one place, en masse, are fucking huge. They encrypt all of the analytics requests with an algorithm that changes with every update (at the very least the keys change) just so you can't see what they're doing. They also made it so you cannot use the app at all if you block communication to their analytics host off at the DNS-level.
For what it's worth I've reversed the Instagram, Facebook, Reddit, and Twitter apps. They don't collect anywhere near the same amount of data that TikTok does, and they sure as hell aren't outright trying to hide exactly whats being sent like TikTok is. It's like comparing a cup of water to the ocean - they just don't compare.
tl;dr; I'm a nerd who figures out how apps work for a job. Calling it an advertising platform is an understatement. TikTok is essentially malware that is targeting children. Don't use TikTok. Don't let your friends and family use it.Last edited by Opr; 27-06-20, 19:09.
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostCome on dude. Boredpanda, and a link to a reddit account of a user who mainly writes about his mundane hobbies with no sign of tech brilliance and he is 'reverse-engineering' the most popular app in history and finding secret traps that Google and Apple haven't noticed.Last edited by Opr; 27-06-20, 20:39.
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Well here are the research papers documenting the code and each of the use cases outlined.
Do you really think a private app company in China cares about jurisdictional law?
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Got through the day. In the new house now. Loving the peace and serenity here, I'm one mile from the centre of the town and I feel like I'm in the middle of nowhere.
I'm gone past the tiredness now and can see myself maybe even watching UFC tonight.
It's my birthday tomorrow so taking the day off. Then finish off cleaning the old place on Monday.
'Mental Toughness is doing the right thing for the team when it's not the best thing for you' - Bill Belichick
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I don't know why they need funding. It seems almost certain from that report that they are owned by the Alibaba group under the hood? I mean in this part of the paper he shows you the exact classes, the data they are collecting and points to classes which clearly show this being the case. They provide the links to download the source code.
https://penetrum.com/tiktok/Penetrum...whitepaper.pdf
To be honest I am not sure that it is a huge amount more than Google/FB collect other than the really concerning reports of them being able to remotely execute code on devices with the app installed. The report points to a data breach which contained all the information described which happened very recently.
With the US currently dismantling laws around personal privacy, I don't trust anyone in regard to data and especially not the big tech firms. Then you are asking me to trust a company that is run from a surveillance state is on the up and up.
Edit - Read the Alibaba bit wrong. They host their servers.Last edited by Opr; 27-06-20, 21:45.
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Hitch , CCP aren’t paying you enough, Sterling work
adults who use Tick Tock deserve to have their privacy traded away tbh, It’s all just pathetic attention seeking , it’s a good tool of subversion, turning people in to thirsty attention whores , degrading their attention spans even more
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Originally posted by Wombatman View PostI mean should the "Big 4" not just be disbanded or declared illegal organisations at this stage........??
https://www.irishtimes.com/business/...ndal-1.4289784
would love a handy number in there all the same, have fuck all relevant qualifications and was pretty poor at maths but I’d say that would be considered a plus point by the looks of it
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There was an interesting report today that Facebook has lost 7 billion in revenue recently due to companies boycotting them. There does seem to be quite a bit of discontent on the internet with many people asking how to decouple from their service but considering they also own Instagram and Whatsapp that is easier said than done for some people. Signal is an interesting option on the messaging front which seems to be the one of choice recommended for people who want to stop using Whatsapp. Completely open-source. I have my doubts though that anything will come of it in the long term as I don't think outside forums on the internet that the general public is that aware or even care that much about any of this at the moment.Last edited by Opr; 27-06-20, 22:16.
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View Post
I think we agree that the base assumption is that no tech company should be trusted! My doubt is about singling out a Chinese company just because they've made an app that everyone likes and then applying a geopolitical story to it. I'm also a surprisingly huge fan of the app - their algorithms are ridic good at showing you stuff that you actually want to see.
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Originally posted by Strewelpeter View Post
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Originally posted by hotspur View Post
Why did you have to go to Vietnam for a month for your new job?Last edited by Hectorjelly; 28-06-20, 11:32.
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Sweet Jesus if BT switched to making kids TV instead of sports programs they would make a fortune
Wall of fans waving and giving banal opinions, actual fucking grown-up's sitting at home waving to camera like 3 year old on a first trip to the zoo
Failing species, dying planet!
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Originally posted by Elshambles View PostSweet Jesus if BT switched to making kids TV instead of sports programs they would make a fortune
Wall of fans waving and giving banal opinions, actual fucking grown-up's sitting at home waving to camera like 3 year old on a first trip to the zoo
Failing species, dying planet!
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Originally posted by Opr View Post
Have you been since? What do you make of the Glasto experience in comparison to other festivals? Done loads of festivals but nothing ever compares on the scale, atmosphere, and variety on offer.
The scale of it is what puts me off as my festival experience revolves around getting to see as many acts as possible. Glasto sounds too big to comfortably manage it. I'll bang on about how good primavera is for that til the cows come home.
Reading 2000 was my consolation prize for not making it to Glastonbury, that was a hell of a festival
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Five K
Warmed up, ready, in a skin soaked singlet, dripping with June morning rain.
Push the button on the mat and bounce with hope and bluster.
Striding the centre of the road, a camber either side.
Splashing summer puddle water cooling on my calf.
Reeling in and reeling out, confidence and casting doubt.
Bluster broken a mile inside, the distance is in charge.
Rain sheltered scattered applause as the turn is met,
headed now for home.
Eyes not meeting those behind, all focusing on the pain.
The last mile and the hope lifts, the pain dulls and
the brain shifts, into what ifs, into calculations, into permutations, into the last stretch, into the final few, the gantry view, the best is on if I can only push, if I can only squeeze, if I can only get there.
The clock turns, while my heart burns.
If I can only get there.I hold silver in tit for tat, and I love you for that
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Teller speaking about the cups and balls. From Penn & Teller's Magic and Mystery Tour. Check out http://youtube.com/watch?v=Ts1UME4_2WM for Teller speaking i...
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I want something a bit more heroic of a Monday morning
maybe repurpose Horatius on the bridge to something topical
Alone stood brave Hectorius,
But constant still in mind,
— Thrice 250 metres road before,
And the broad Liffey behind.
“Down with him!” cried false Solksjaer,
With a smile on his pale face;
“Now yield thee,” cried Lazare Porsena,
“Now yield thee to our grace!”
etc and so forth"We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Took a stroll into town on Saturday afternoon to have a look at the new Toons Bridge shop on George's St. It's a good set up and while not cheap, it's probably about what you expect to pay for that kind of produce. Picked up a few cheeses, some meats and some pesto which were mostly consumed Saturday night with the remained polished off on Sunday. They had run out of bread so I popped around to La Maison who are selling freshly made bread - Hard to go wrong with €1.50 for a baguette and €3.50 for a sourdough. We also picked up an ice cream in three twenty on Drury St and stopped to eat it.
It seems that Drury St, South William, Exchequer St, & Wicklow St, Castle Market, Coppinger Row, Clarendon St, Chatham Row and Chatham St have become one large outdoor walking pub with a few bars selling take-away pints and cocktails that then must be drank at least 100m away from the premises. This was leading to a few crowds building up and Gardai from the Public Order Group were going around telling them they had to move on. They weren't saying they couldn't drink on the street, just that they had to move on. This led to people just walking around drinking pints which was a bit bizarre. We saw one couple three times walking around drinking the same drink.
Each to their own and all but I just don't see the point to this, especially as with nowhere open to use the toilet, this will surely become an issue sooner or later?
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostEverything so far, from packing some nice books to read, making sure Google Drive has some decent shows to catch up on, to the hotel-style check in at the hospital, has failed to persuade me I'm not off on a nice holiday. Will just try to keep up that pretence for the next two days until brutal reality in the form of a surgeons saw kicks in.
2020 these things are a daily procedure - be grand . I'll get da mudder to light a candle for you . GG WP HH
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