Author Archives: pappp

‘Collection of Mana’ brings classic action RPGs to Switch

Posted on 2019-06-11 by pappp

Source: Engadget

Article note: OOooh, a real English release of Seiken Densetsu 3 branded as "Trials of Mana" (which, played in fan-translation, was one of my favorite JRPGs, just because of it's interesting party, class, and menu systems). One more reason I need to ~~not~~ have a Switch to sink time into.
Square Enix's RPG nostalgia isn't just limited to revamping Final Fantasy games. The developer is releasing Collection of Mana, a bundle of the first three games in the Mana series, on the Nintendo Switch later on June 11th (that's today, if you're r...
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Apple is making corporate ‘BYOD’ programs less invasive to user privacy

Posted on 2019-06-11 by pappp

Source: Hacker News

Article note: I can't believe people do BYOD employer-managed phones. I understand cost and only-carrying-one-device aspects, but unless there are really, really good privilege separations between the personal and managed, that's insane. Users and work profiles on Android make things a _little_ less absurd, but the general wisdom seems like it should be "If you want me to carry a leash, you can pay for it."
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The US Government’s Database of Traveler Photos Has Been Compromised, CBP Says

Posted on 2019-06-10 by pappp

Source: Hacker News

Article note: Of course.
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Maker Faire halts operations and lays off all staff

Posted on 2019-06-07 by pappp

Source: Hacker News

Article note: Taking VC with the assumption of infinite, unsustainable growth kills all things that do a good job filling a niche.
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Aneng AN8009 DMM with Hacks

Posted on 2019-06-06 by pappp
Aneng AN8009 DMM

I just picked up an Aneng AN8009 DMM as an upgrade to the cheap, cheap (but surprisingly OK) Circuit Specialists branded MY-68 I’ve had as my home on-desk approxometer for ages. It’s a nice meter for $30ish, and can be readily hacked to improve its performance. I tend to point people to mid-range Uni-T DMMs when they asked for decent hobby meters, but now I might switch to one of these plus one of those little $10 Atmega328 based component testers cloned everywhere for ~$10 as basic electronics lab instruments.

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Schools Are Deploying Digital Surveillance Systems. The Results Are Alarming

Posted on 2019-06-06 by pappp

Source: Hacker News

Article note: That is some creepy fuckin' shit we are acclimatizing students to for dubious benefit. It seems like something ripe for civil disobedience DDOS campaigns...
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What does $9bn buy you? For Infineon, a Cypress hill of California semis

Posted on 2019-06-03 by pappp

Source: The Register

Article note: The drumbeat of semiconductor consolidation continues. I know people at Cypress and UK has a bunch of relationships with the local office, so this one is closer than usual.

Mega-chips ahoy: German chip biz takes over piece of US real estate

Munich-based Infineon has said it will cough €9bn for California's Cypress Semiconductor.…

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Behavioral Ad Targeting Not Paying Off for Publishers, Study Suggests

Posted on 2019-06-01 by pappp

Source: Hacker News

Article note: Article suggests "There is no pony in your pile of shit," please stop surveilling and storing. Stop using the "value" to justify and enable surveillance. Also, die.
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One of the dumbest things I’ve ever published

Posted on 2019-05-30 by pappp

Source: Hacker News

Article note: This is an excellent "I was wrong" piece about data collection vs. privacy protection. I'd like it if the stance were a little more "Because the collected data will not be used to optimize for things that benefit anyone other than parasites."
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Google relents slightly on blocking ad-blockers – for paid-up enterprise Chrome users, everyone else not so much

Posted on 2019-05-29 by pappp

Source: The Register

Article note: Feeling good that I already switched [back] to Firefox. Chrom[e|ium] has a slightly more capable engine, but the inability to run extensions on mobile, chatter about reducing content blocking extension power on desktop, and IE-in-the-early-2000s idiosyncratic behavior and market penetration have made its trajectory as a coercive problem clear.

Freeloaders will be limited to less capable content filtering

Google Chrome users will continue to have access to the full content blocking power of the webRequest API in their browser extensions, but only if they're paying enterprise customers.…

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