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John Richard

@ timewarp @lemmy.world

Posts
6
Comments
547
Joined
3 yr. ago

  • Bluesky’s active user base is shrinking as its focus expands beyond the app: 10.4 million monthly active users worldwide in June 2026, down 27.2% year-over-year.

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  • For a long time it felt like BlueSky was just a Blue MAGA version of X. It has gotten a bit better and I see more progressive discourse, but circa the 2024 election it was just a bunch of what I'm guessing were campaign-funded influencers/bots and then people that thrived off that bubble without realizing they were in an echo chamber. I think it is great that alternatives exists, especially since I got banned from X for criticizing Musk. It is at least reassuring when I see various companies/politicians not merely relying on Twitter/X these days.

  • Open-source stealth USB hides an encrypted partition behind an 8GB decoy drive Phantom Drive appears as a regular USB stick until you create a text file to unlock the hidden data

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  • You’re completely confusing device classes and how forensic acquisition works.

    First, it's a USB Mass Storage device, not a USB HID (Human Interface Device). Mass Storage operates via SCSI block commands wrapped in USB packets.

    Second, even if the custom firmware successfully fakes the LBA table to report 8 GB, it fails at the protocol level. Forensic tools don't just read files—they issue low-level SCSI INQUIRY and MODE SENSE commands. Commercial flash controllers (Phison, Silicon Motion) have hardcoded ASIC signatures and proprietary descriptors. A generic CH569 MCU running C code trying to fake these descriptors or pass off software-bridged microSD reads introduces packet latency, timing jitter, and missing SCSI pages that log protocol anomalies during raw acquisition.

    Finally, software doesn't matter if they look at the hardware. Modern 3D CT/X-ray baggage scanners visually isolate silicon footprints instantly without opening the casing. A standard commercial drive is a single integrated ASIC on NAND. A board with a generic CH569 MCU, voltage regulators, UART test points, and a physical microSD socket stands out.

  • Open-source stealth USB hides an encrypted partition behind an 8GB decoy drive Phantom Drive appears as a regular USB stick until you create a text file to unlock the hidden data

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  • Do you think TSA/CBP is going to check the flash data lines to see if the MCU is scanning the flash internally?

    This isn’t a standard USB flash controller… You would need to break the casing and physically probe it to figure out that something was off as far as I can tell. It’s not like the MCU broadcasts that it is scanning to the USB port.

    You would have to be hitting the stick pretty hard, not just a normal file scan to notice the timing being slightly too long in a small portion of the scans. The bigger problem would be that the flash drive would be brand-recognizable if it ends up being mass produced that they might auto-confiscate it, and of course the default file that it searches for being known.

    You’re proving my point. The device actually fails both ends of the threat model.

    If it’s a casual check, custom hardware is total overkill. You take a standard 1 TB off-the-shelf drive formatted to its full 1 TB capacity as a single partition. You put normal files on it and hide the encrypted header—plus a lightweight host-side decryption utility/bootloader—inside a single JPEG using steganography. To any border agent, OS, or disk tool, the drive is just a healthy 1 TB partition containing readable files and residual random data from a quick format. There are no custom drivers installed, no modified media file sizes, and no missing drive space to trigger software or system flags. Once at your destination, you simply extract the utility from the JPEG on a trusted machine to mount the hidden sectors.

    If it’s a high-scrutiny check, this custom hardware actively guarantees you stand out. CBP doesn't need software checks—non-destructive X-ray imaging is standard screening. Under a scan, a mass-produced thumb drive shows a single integrated ASIC on NAND. The Phantom Drive immediately reveals a generic CH569 microcontroller, buck regulators, UART test points, etc.

    It visually stands out like a neon sign under basic physical imaging. It doesn’t defeat the threat model—it actively creates the physical hardware anomaly.

  • Open-source stealth USB hides an encrypted partition behind an 8GB decoy drive Phantom Drive appears as a regular USB stick until you create a text file to unlock the hidden data

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  • No it isn't. It will be treated like any other drive where encryption is nothing new. In fact, to look for a text file and then make something accessible means it is likely much easier to detect that something is off about it than regular encryption that just looks like random data. Whether it tries to hide it's true storage capacity or boots its own internal OS to present storage, people often think they're being clever when really they're just making themselves stand out.

  • NetworkManager Adopts Policy For AI Coding Assistants

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  • Hey what do you know a reasonable take that people will still complain about

  • Nobody Asked for AI

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  • "A Luddite is someone who opposes new technology, computers, or automation. The word comes from 19th-century English textile workers who smashed factory machines that threatened their jobs, though today it is often used as a general label for anyone who dislikes or resists tech."

    Interesting lecture about meaning of words there bro.

  • Nobody Asked for AI

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  • AI has been around a lot longer than most people realize. Grouping all AI into whatever cloud garbage silicon valley tech bros are selling makes them look like Luddites.

  • Microsoft warns hackers are targeting hotel Wi-Fi networks: What to know

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  • How do I warn people that Microsoft is targeting Windows users with adware, spyware, security vulnerabilities and surveillance?

  • Microsoft responds to LG monitors installing McAfee ads on Windows

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  • Great, add it to the list of hundreds of others.

  • US accuses American of allegedly wiping his phone using a 'duress' password during border search | TechCrunch

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  • Exactly. Even then, many phones including those by Google and Samsung have the option to wipe themselves after too many failed attempts. Whose to say they didn't type it in wrong or the individual under duress couldn't remember their password? Or that the cops intentionally wiped the device to claim the individual was hiding something that they weren't. I don't see how any reasonable judge can believe anything the feds claim after they've already admitted to lying in court, when they ignore the law and judges orders, oh and on top of it all they protect pedophiles like Trump!

  • US accuses American of allegedly wiping his phone using a 'duress' password during border search | TechCrunch

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  • So it's illegal to not help the feds investigate you? I'll give em my password. It's FuckUFascistScum8647

  • Flock Says Its Cameras Worked 'Correctly' When Police Tracked and Ambushed Me for No Reason

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  • By companies that buy reviews. Not journalism.

  • Flock Says Its Cameras Worked 'Correctly' When Police Tracked and Ambushed Me for No Reason

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  • That isn't journalism. That is corporate PR and marketing.

  • Removed

    Torvalds challenged the haters to fork Linux. Someone said 'hold my beer'

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  • It's really pathetic honestly seeing all these Luddites that claim to be progressive, which I'm guessing many are likely foreign operatives, act like a bunch of regressive Republicans.

  • Flock Says Its Cameras Worked 'Correctly' When Police Tracked and Ambushed Me for No Reason

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  • I know people here want to talk about flock, but does no one find it questionable a journalist got loaned a $150k vehicle to review? And then another alleged journalist according to the story got pulled over in a $105k Land Rover they were loaned to review? As a journalist, do they also receive homes and women to review? Sounds like some serious corruption right there.

  • T-Mobile Just Ripped 8 Million Customers Off Their Grandfathered Plans – and Raised Their Bills

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  • You may be right but pretty much everyone who was on this likely just never read the contract they signed, so if they really want to fight it the lawsuit likely wouldn't be successful.

  • Class Action Lawsuit Accuses The Three Largest RAM Manufacturers Of Colluding To Drive Up Prices

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  • Heck, they may just hand over a brown bag full of cash, get caught on camera, and still face no consequences.

  • Big Tech is a thief and a liar, says New York Times publisher — ‘Hijacking of the public square is made possible by the original sin that animates their AI products, a brazen theft of intellectual pr…

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  • NYT is still a dog shit pro-genocide publication. I think people are just waking up to the fact that mainstream media organizations overwhelmingly represent the Epstein-class and not the average American.

  • Microsoft punishes idiots who purchased a "perpetual" license of Office 2019 for Mac by disabling it next month, pirates unaffected

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  • I get it. You're absolutely right it doesn't make them idiots. Even I'm being hyperbolic to an extent. The real issue is much bigger and doesn't stop at Microsoft. I get why people feel so powerless and end up going along with the status quo. Really, the fact that we've allowed it is more of a reflection on our collective Idiocracy.

  • memes @lemmy.world
    John Richard @lemmy.world

    Musk Is In Bread

  • Today I Learned @lemmy.world
    John Richard @lemmy.world

    TIL companies can still discriminate against people born out of wedlock or if their parents divorce

  • Ask Lemmy @lemmy.world
    John Richard @lemmy.world

    Are people here pro-conscription?

  • politics @lemmy.world
    John Richard @lemmy.world

    Trump has taken the lead over Harris for first time in 538 forecast.

    projects.fivethirtyeight.com /2024-election-forecast/
  • politics @lemmy.world
    John Richard @lemmy.world

    Biden drops out of the 2024 presidential race | CNN Politics

    www.cnn.com /2024/07/21/politics/joe-biden-drops-out-election/index.html
  • Technology @lemmy.world
    John Richard @lemmy.world

    CrowdStrike Isn't the Real Problem