#23

Dear Frog, This Water Is Now Boiling
The day that Stallman and Doctorow have been warning us about has arrived this week. It’s been a slow and gradual process, but we are finally here. You will receive no further alerts.

i just got a new machine and ubuntu is calling

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#24

AFAIK the same behavior is already present in the current/older versions of macOS. It’s just that apps like little snitch still have the capability there to block it which is gone since the new update.

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#25

i am reminded of @neauoire and Rekka’s experiences at sea with limited internet and trying to maintain their software.

also some other general things i’ve done that others may consider:

  • use Brave for your browser. i switched on all devices a year or two ago. it is excellent.
  • use Duck Duck Go for your search engine. this was a huge adjustment at first, not due to quality of results but just the shock of a (slightly) different layout.
  • consider a vpn. i use Warp / 1.1.1.1
  • get Signal and convince your closest loved ones to also get it
  • use strong passwords and a password manager.
  • use encryption.
  • pay with cash.
  • listen to drone.

ps don’t update to macOS Big Sur until at least 2021. i know Native Instruments stuff isn’t compatible yet. there’s gotta be others.

21 Likes
#26

Any password manager you’d recommend?

#27

i’ve been really happy with 1Password (been using it many years) even though i hate that it is subscription based. i’d love to find “the signal of password managers” but i don’t think it exists yet.

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#28

I’m using 1Password through work. I thought I would hate it at first but I’m pretty pleased with it.

#29

I’ve had a really good experience with LastPass but I haven’t done a broad comparison or anything.

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#30

Somewhat related:

#31

I don’t know if it has been mentioned in this thread yet but keepass (https://keepass.info) is definitely the best password manager out there. It stores an encrypted database file (you could sync it using a cloud service if you want). It has a bunch of advanced features if you want to dig in. It also supports using a text key + a master key file for an added layer of security (ex you could have the database in the cloud, and the key file on your machine). Best of all it’s free and open source.

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#32

I have been using keepass.
No cloud sync, so it is a plus.

Edit: didnt see the above post, sorry.

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#33

There’s also Macpass, which is native Keypass version for Mac

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#34

Thanks for this list! Is this the Signal you’re referencing?

Edit: Never mind. I see that it is, as it’s linked in the Jeffery Paul article linked in OP’s initial post.

#35

I’ve moved over to Signal and taken nearly all my friend groups over, which is great.

I’m surprised there hasn’t been more tech/media coverage of this Apple stuff. There was an article on Macrumors the other day, but only really talking about the “outtage” of Mac services, not the privacy aspect of it.

Is there a way to pi-hole block these things since LittleSnitch doesn’t work on newer OSs?

I’m still on Mojave, but am getting my laptop replaced (finally taking me out of the butteryfly keyboard era) since it has gotten fucked so many times, and it will presumably come with Catalina at least, or more-than-likely Big Sur at this point.

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#36

So what’s there to do now? I think we’ve long passed the point where we could fix these problems more easily and our data is now in the hands of a few corporations and governments. Pretty much everybody needs a computer nowadays and almost none of us are savvy enough to set up and run an alternative like Linux, let alone willing to accept the inconveniences of such an alternative.

Some ideas and plans for myself:

  • quit social media as much as possible to not feed the algorithm and waste my time. Already started two years ago and it’s going super well. Don’t miss Facebook, Instagram and Twitter at all for example. I’m even getting bored online now, which is cool.
  • actually delete unneeded e-mails to reduce online clutter. Already deleted over 10.000 of those.
  • use DuckDuckGo search engine
  • use DuckDuckGo browser on iOS
  • block all cookies if possible and only allow necessary ones. Very inconvenient sometimes, but I’m still okay with it.
  • better passwords
  • delete unused internet accounts (message boards, services, etc.). I’ve done this as well for over 100 accounts already, jumping through hoops, etc. to get my data deleted (apparently).
  • try to move away from Google etc. Hard … The alternatives I tried suuuuck so much.
  • not buy a new iPhone once my one fails and look for an alternative in the meantime
  • maybe get a laptop or desktop for work (probably needs to be a Mac), to separate work data from private data
  • maybe find an alternative to the iPad (I love this thing and its awesome apps unfortunately). Maybe a MS Surface Book, which can also be used as a proper “computer” for non-work stuff. This would also kind of fragment the data collected/spied over several entities (Apple, MS, Google, etc,), so no one has “everything” on me.

It’s all very inconvenient of course, but that might even slowly persuade me to get off the internet more :wink:

5 Likes
#37

I’ve been a heavy 1Password user for many years now—since long before they switched to a subscription/cloud model. They seem to be good people and their stuff works, but at this point, I think their offering has grown over-complicated for a single user.

However, if you’re trying to implement password (and other secure info) management for an organization or family—or both at the same time—1Password may be worth looking into, because they can support multiple/shared vaults that sync pretty transparently. For example, I have access to my stuff, family stuff (shared with wife and parent), and a client’s stuff (shared with a few colleagues) across my phone, tablet, laptop, and desktop computers. It’s convenient once it’s set up, but a bit complicated to get set up and mastered.

#38

I think it’s healthy to start thinking through what you’re doing and what you maybe shouldn’t be doing, but this is damned complicated, nuanced stuff. Worse, the right formula is unique for everybody—generic lists of do’s and don’ts can’t really be blindly followed. Some of the “ideas and plans” you list may well fall into the “cutting off the nose to spite your face” territory.

I’m all for good password management, of course, but we’re drifting way off-topic (even if these are all worthy topics). Good passwords are necessary for your own security, but the topic is Apple and data privacy, and that’s only indirectly related to your passwords.

What about Microsoft and data privacy? What about Linux and data privacy? What about Android and data privacy (LOL)? Out of the frying pan and into the fire!

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#39

This really depends on the Linux distro. There are many mature, user friendly ones like Ubuntu that are pretty painless to set up and use.

I recommend identifying your mission critical apps and exploring alternatives for each; that’s always been the hard part for me. And even then, there’s Wine and VMs for things that can’t be substituted.

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#40

There’s nothing like the protracted fiasco of trying to “switch” to the Linux desktop to make one appreciate how good you had it before!

It can work for computer-centric people (highly computer literate… programmers, engineers, system admins, hobbyists etc.) with extremely narrow needs and interests that just happen to align with those bases that Linux has covered. It can work for task-specific installations (e.g., a computer that runs Bitwig and only runs Bitwig.) Otherwise, for “civilians”, there’s no promised land there. I’ve run Ubuntu desktop, I use Linux daily, and I’ll stick with my Macs for all my general purpuse computing, thanks. :wink:

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#41

That’s a good point. It’s a very personal decision.

I’ve tried and failed to integrate Linux as my daily driver a few times in the past. For what it’s worth, I’m on Arch now and I have very little OS envy, but it was definitely a bit of a battle at first. At this point the greener grass is mostly games that haven’t been ported, and my Switch fills that gap for now. The only audio apps I use regularly are SuperCollider, Reaper, and Renoise, and they all work beautifully on my old Thinkpad.

I apologize if that came off as entitled; I’m just pretty happy with this setup.

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#42

Sounds like you happen to fall within the sweet spot.

1 Like