The Spam Thread!

[huckleberrypie]

So remember when Apple servers went down during the Big Sur release? Well, turns out one particular security researcher was able to take a look at Gatekeeper, macOS' built in app checking system that also had issues the very same day, resulting in delayed launches of third party apps. According to this researcher, this apparently lets Apple log all the apps and supposedly can keep track of where you are in the real world. Detailed below:

https://sneak.berlin/20201112/your-computer-isnt-yours/

But, another researcher from Italy wrote up a rebuttal, saying the article above is essentially a misunderstanding of how Apple's use of OCSP works:

https://blog.jacopo.io/en/post/apple-ocsp/

One thing is for sure... having that app certificate information transmitted unsecured is a risk in itself. Apple needs to come forward and explain what is really going on as there's two differing views on this situation.

The insecure cert stuff reminds me of how VTech got pwned by a grey-hat not too long ago.

[cpd2009]

Remember how Nintendo designed the N64 in such a poor way hardware wise? Well, they decided to turn a RAM expansion module into a marketing opportunity! There were some games that had features blocked out without this expansion thing, but overall, the video explains that perhaps this N64 accessory is probably one of the most pointless out there.

I'll take DK64 on the VC, thank you very much.

[huckleberrypie]

Remember how Nintendo designed the N64 in such a poor way hardware wise? Well, they decided to turn a RAM expansion module into a marketing opportunity! There were some games that had features blocked out without this expansion thing, but overall, the video explains that perhaps this N64 accessory is probably one of the most pointless out there.

I'll take DK64 on the VC, thank you very much.

Not to mention that DK64 came with this to work around a stability problem which Rare couldn't for the life of them fix.

[cpd2009]

It's been nearly two weeks since the new Apple processor laptops were announced, and various tech reviewers and the general public have been getting the new computers in the past week or so. One thing has come clear...

The M1 ARM chip is blowing Intel CPUs out of the water in benchmarks. And the MacBook Air may finally be worth purchasing too.

In about a month or so, more reviews from regular users should be available showing real world performance comparisons with Intel/AMD rigs.

Although I do like my 2008 iMac for art stuff, I always envisioned eventually replacing it with a more powerful computer a couple years down the line. I'm curious about the new iMacs that will be announced next year, and if the first gen ARM Macs pack this much performance, I wonder what that will mean for the redesigned iMac?

I also wonder if I should have waited on the video transfer computer. The mid-2011 iMac I got works great for this task so far, but still, the new ARM Mac Mini is a performance beast compared to the previous generations.

---

Don't ever buy USB hard drives off Wish. Not only is the storage capacity often faked, but the construction leaves a LOT to be desired.

[huckleberrypie]

And I've heard that the M1 can emulate x86 software competently, like when Shadow of the Tomb Raider was demoed on an ARM Mac at playable speeds in comparison to how Rosetta for PowerPC-to-x86 ran PPC games rather poorly.

As for faked hard drives, yeah, it also reminds me of some scumbag who sold what appears to be external hard drives only for it to actually contain a (hacked) flash stick and some steel bolts to make it appear heavier.

[cpd2009]

And I've heard that the M1 can emulate x86 software competently, like when Shadow of the Tomb Raider was demoed on an ARM Mac at playable speeds in comparison to how Rosetta for PowerPC-to-x86 ran PPC games rather poorly.

As for faked hard drives, yeah, it also reminds me of some scumbag who sold what appears to be external hard drives only for it to actually contain a (hacked) flash stick and some steel bolts to make it appear heavier.

I only purchase any new external storage from trusted brick and mortar stores, and never online because of fake flash scams. But even retail stores can be victim to fake flash. I remember purchasing a MicroSD card from a convenience store one year in competent retail packaging. But the MicroSD card only had about a quarter of the advertised capacity and was hacked to appear as 4GB. I now stick to reputable brands like Sandisk, Emtec, or Gigastone.

I checked the Menards Black Friday ad as usual, and because of the pandemic, they are extending their deals beyond Black Friday for at least a week. I will not have a chance to head to a Menards because I have decided to stay at my nice, warm apartment for Thanksgiving. Too risky to travel with the current Covid case load in my state, plus some of my family members are recovering from Covid as well. It's a shame, really. Because many people don't care about other's personal health and decide to travel and not wear masks, it makes me uncomfortable to travel now.

Menards also has a 128GB Emtec USB 3.0 flash drive on sale for $14.99. Emtec is one of the more reputable flash brands as I mentioned. I think Emtec was previously known as BASF, which made audio and video tapes in the analog era. If Menards offered this online, I would have bought one by now, but nope. You have to go inside the store to buy it. Who knows if they will still have these six months down the line?

Also, who wants a $34.99 USD Android tablet with an amazing 1024x600 screen resolution?
https://www.menards.com/main/p-155012936...yer_hosted

I may try to get to the local Dollar General on Friday morning, masked up of course and limiting my time inside the store. They have a Wifi Picture Frame that intrigues me.

[huckleberrypie]

And I've heard that the M1 can emulate x86 software competently, like when Shadow of the Tomb Raider was demoed on an ARM Mac at playable speeds in comparison to how Rosetta for PowerPC-to-x86 ran PPC games rather poorly.

As for faked hard drives, yeah, it also reminds me of some scumbag who sold what appears to be external hard drives only for it to actually contain a (hacked) flash stick and some steel bolts to make it appear heavier.

I only purchase any new external storage from trusted brick and mortar stores, and never online because of fake flash scams. But even retail stores can be victim to fake flash. I remember purchasing a MicroSD card from a convenience store one year in competent retail packaging. But the MicroSD card only had about a quarter of the advertised capacity and was hacked to appear as 4GB. I now stick to reputable brands like Sandisk, Emtec, or Gigastone.

I checked the Menards Black Friday ad as usual, and because of the pandemic, they are extending their deals beyond Black Friday for at least a week. I will not have a chance to head to a Menards because I have decided to stay at my nice, warm apartment for Thanksgiving. Too risky to travel with the current Covid case load in my state, plus some of my family members are recovering from Covid as well. It's a shame, really. Because many people don't care about other's personal health and decide to travel and not wear masks, it makes me uncomfortable to travel now.

Menards also has a 128GB Emtec USB 3.0 flash drive on sale for $14.99. Emtec is one of the more reputable flash brands as I mentioned. I think Emtec was previously known as BASF, which made audio and video tapes in the analog era. If Menards offered this online, I would have bought one by now, but nope. You have to go inside the store to buy it. Who knows if they will still have these six months down the line?

Also, who wants a $34.99 USD Android tablet with an amazing 1024x600 screen resolution?
https://www.menards.com/main/p-155012936...yer_hosted

I may try to get to the local Dollar General on Friday morning, masked up of course and limiting my time inside the store. They have a Wifi Picture Frame that intrigues me.

The fact that people remain defiant and still buy into whatever bullshit yellow "journalists" tell about COVID disgust me.

Anyway, yeah, flash scams are rife and it's hard to tell who to trust these days. As for the Sylvania tablet, I am not surprised if it's running on one of those bottom-tier MTK or Allwinner SOCs.

[cpd2009]

So I got the Sylvania picture frame from Dollar General. $50 normally, cut down to $30 on Thanksgiving day.





I'll get pictures of the frame in action tomorrow, but it's a bare bones digital picture frame that uses some kind of weird Android-based firmware called "Frameo". Frameo is yet another social IoT service that is licensed to multiple manufacturers. My digital picture frame is Sylvania branded, though the actual company is Curtis International.

The whole gimmick of Frameo is that once you get your picture frame set up, you begin to add "friends" who also use Frameo using their associated smartphone app. Whoever is on your Frameo contact list can send pictures directly to your own photo frame, while you can send photos back to your contacts for display on their frames. I know of no one who uses Frameo, and this was the first time I've heard of this IoT service. In fact, when I was starting to read the manual, I thought Frameo was a typo at first!

There is a good side to this though. You don't have to even use the friends feature. All you need is a microSD card or a USB flash drive (with an OTG adapter they don't include, of course) to import photos to the device. Once you get your pictures on the device, it can work as a standard digital photo frame. This ensures that if Frameo ever goes under, you can still use the photo frame for it's intended purpose offline as there is no kind of account creation when you set up the frame itself.

Frameo appears to use some kind of code generator that is unique to each frame, which really reeks of the cumbersome Nintendo Wii "Friend Codes" of the past. You pass these codes on to any others you know that have Frameo, and they enter the code to add your frame as a contact. They also claim to use end to end encryption as well. The frame has built in Wifi to facilitate your contacts sending pictures to your frame and vice versa.

As for the frame itself, it's definitely low end, and perhaps it should be sold for $30 every day. The viewing angle is rather poor from the sides, thanks to using a standard TFT LCD with 1024x600 resolution. The OS is listed as Android 6.0, but it's using the custom Frameo UI with no way to sideload APKs or install third party launchers without hacking the device outright. Performance as a general Android tablet would suck anyway. The box only lists basic specs, but the manual shows the CPU as a Rockchip 3126 ARM SoC with only 512mb DDR3 RAM. The Frameo UI is responsive enough in menus and slideshows, but lag does appear when importing lots of photos from external storage.

So yeah, it's yet another cheap tech device made to appeal to Black Friday shoppers looking to save a few pennies. As a basic digital photo frame, it does the job and the screen resolution is much higher than regular digital frames, but who knows if anyone else is familiar with Frameo.

[huckleberrypie]

I love how they just threw in off-the-shelf Android components for what is effectively a picture frame without any provisions for upgrading short of outright hacking it.

[cpd2009]

Lately, Google has been plugging Chromebooks to no end on YouTube. The ads feel misleading, showing off people doing office work and playing high quality AAA games like you could on a real laptop. They also tout "built in virus protection", which adds to the false image that Chromebooks can be full laptop or desktop replacement.

But Chromebooks require an internet connection to use most of these advertised features. And if you want to play real AAA games on these, you need to use a cloud gaming service. Chromebooks simply aren't powerful enough to run major AAA games natively. They are more designed for things like Angry Birds or Candy Crush. And as Google Stadia has proved, cloud gaming still has a way to go before it becomes the norm. There is still issues with input lag and video lag during time-sensitive games.

I never have been comfortable with Chromebooks due to their online-only requirement. I also hear that after five years or so, Google stops sending ChromeOS updates to older Chromebooks, which is another form of planned obsolescence. Look at my old Gateway laptop. It was a baseline Pentium dual-core laptop from 2012 that would still do well with MS Office and YouTube, provided you give it necessary upgrades. It would run even better on Linux, and you can still install Windows 10 on it without much issue, granted if you have an SSD.