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Review Geek’s Wise Response to the Wyze and eufy Security Failings with their Cameras

The article’s closing is spot on:

And frankly, every company is “one bad day” away from the same situation. It all depends on how they handle disclosure. For now, in all transparency, I can only tell you that I own Wyze cameras, and they are still plugged in. I know the risks, and I’m willing to take them.

But that’s not the same thing as recommending them to anyone else. No recommendation should start with, “this is a good option, but first, you should know some things.” And that would be a requirement. The only safe bet you can take is to not place security cameras in your home at all.

Emphasis mine, Source: Why Review Geek Can’t Recommend Wyze or eufy Cameras Anymore – Review Geek

Go read the whole thing if you’re interest in a great summary of the details. Another great article from Josh Hendrickson, Editor in Chief of Review Geek.

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We Blew It

What does the existence of these new subvariants mean for the pandemic? First, basically – we blew it. Our COVID response was not a complete failure, but the initial response was, and later compliance was simply not enough to really knock down the virus. Lackluster vaccination rates are what has allowed these subvariants to multiply.

Go read the rest, The Subvariants Are Coming | Science-Based Medicine, then go get vaccinated/boosted,

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Musk Shows He Does Not Understand COTUS

Elon Musk does not understand how the USA legal system works. Take a look at the basic fundamental error in this quote from him.

Musk suggested earlier this year that companies should align policies with laws like the First Amendment, because he says it’s what users want.

“If people want less free speech, they will ask government to pass laws to that effect,” Musk tweeted in April this year. “Therefore, going beyond the law is contrary to the will of the people.”

Source: Musk’s one-on-one with Kanye signals naïveté moderating Twitter hate speech | Ars Technica

That’s not how it works Elon. If US citizen’s want less free speech they can ask the congress to write a law and if the president signs it then it’s law, but only temporarily. That’s because of the First Amendment, something he clearly does not grasp at even an elementary school level. A lawsuit would promptly follow the law’s signing, probably from the ACLU or a similar org. If need be it will be appealed all the way to the SCOTUS who will promptly overturn the law based on the First Amendment.

See Elon you’ve got it exactly backwards, the 1st restricts what speech laws can be enforced by government, it doesn’t permit the government to restrict speech (with a miniscule number of exceptions).

The real way this is supposed to work:

If people do not want to listen to speech they find offensive they can NOT get help from the government, PERIOD. Instead they use capitalism to avoid the problem. Since the 1st Amendment only applies to governments in the USA, and a tiny subset of business functions (e.g. telephone wire providers), nearly all businesses and all individuals can restrict speech in any way they want.

Elon, you claim to support free speech but you actually don’t want to allow the inseparable part of free speech, the right not to speak or publish speech you don’t like. No right to do something is valid unless there is the right to not do that thing. Freedom of religion or speech is non-existent if they do not include the right to not have a religion and the right to not speak or promote speech with which you disagree. Businesses have these rights and your wanting to take those rights away makes you anti-First Amendment, you typical rich white authoritarian asshole.

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Re-configuring Email for Modern Authentication and MFA

I slowly lost some of my email functionality over the past year and just didn’t have time to fix the problems until now.

The first problem was no longer being able to use Thunderbird for updating my offline Mbox format email archives for my job. I handle all current email, work and personal, via web clients. But for long term storage and future readability nothing beats Mbox, my archive goes back to 1997. My client of choice for my Mbox archives is Thunderbird.

Over time as the security for Office 365 tightened I stopped being able to connect and move current mail to the archives. I’d searched a bit for solutions but all I found either didn’t work or was too insecure for me. Today I looked again and found these great instructions. Configure Thunderbird for Modern Authentication and MFA

The other problem was with my first custom IoT device, a monitor for the basement dehumidifier. My cable ISP provided an IP secured SMTP server since the beginning but over the last year it slowly has been changed. This meant the daily status, and water collection tray full, emails were no longer working.

I’ve settled on the App Password solution for my custom Python code as described here: G-Mail and less secure sign-in technology – Raspberry Pi Forums. I would like a more secure solution but so far I haven’t found one that’s free.

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A Spot On Review Geek Article

I can’t even quibble with any of the details in the article. To be environmentally friendly, I use rechargeable AA’s & AAA’s in most of my devices.

It’s getting harder to find battery-powered keyboards. And I mean keyboards that run on AA or AAA batteries, not the rechargeable monstrosities that constantly beg for a USB cable. Wireless keyboards that use disposable batteries last longer than their rechargeable counterparts, and frankly, they’re a lot better for your wallet and your sanity.

Go read the whole article: Why Wireless Keyboards Should Use AAA Batteries – Review Geek

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I Worry that Mr. Silverglate is Suffering Age Related Mental Issues

Otherwise how can he now no longer believe in freedom of expression for all.

As Ken White’s article illustrates it appears that he now believes only his free expression rights matter. So sad to see this from a person who I formerly admired due to there insistence on free expression for all. Now he appears to be climbing on the money making faux-outrage persecution complex tour that is so popular lately with wealthy privileged people.

Source: The Philosophical And Moral Incoherence of “How Dare You Walk Out Of My Speech” (“Cancel Culture” Has Victims, But You’re Probably Not One Of Them)