data1701d (He/Him)

@ data1701d @startrek.website

Posts

45
Comments

893
Joined

2 yr. ago

"Life forms. You precious little lifeforms. You tiny little lifeforms. Where are you?"
Lt. Cmdr Data, Star Trek: Generations

data1701d (He/Him) @startrek.website 14h ago

Let’s give him a statuette of Gul Dukat called “National Award for Supreme Attainment in Bajoran Statue Nonextancy”.

15h ago

Star Trek writers explaining how they got their ideas

data1701d (He/Him) @startrek.website 15h ago

Although we haven’t really started it yet beyond session 0 yet, the chief medical officer I made in Star Trek Adventures campaign I have with my siblings is a Pandronian who really hates being asked about the three parts thing.

18h ago

Star Trek writers explaining how they got their ideas

data1701d (He/Him) @startrek.website 18h ago

Oh, my gosh. That video is hilarious. Makes the episode 10 times funnier, and it was already beautifully campy to begin with.

And don’t forget the sequel episode in TAS, in which the planet tries to kill them because it’s depressed about its creator dying. Although it’s not as hilarious an episode as the one where Captain Kirk literally defends the human rights of Satan.

19h ago

Grub and the Microsoft Ransomware

I was talking less install a bootkit and giving it back to be and more just straight-up stealing the laptop and seeing if they can get any personal info they can sell before formatting it and eBaying it.

Still, your points are totally valid.

19h ago

Discord gets improvements for video on Linux PCs and Steam Deck

I would ditch Discord, but the TMBW server is just so darn good and I can't leave that behind. Maybe I could convince them to set up a Matrix bridge (they already self-host MediaWiki), but then they'd probably end up basically doing this just for me.

My university's Linux User's Group is on Discord, but they have it bridged with a Matrix server; due to the current state of things in the US, they only allow political discussion in certain encrypted channels that are exclusive to the Matrix server.

19h ago

Star Trek writers explaining how they got their ideas

So an ancient alien technology that can literally bring people back from the dead doesn't count as "fancy"?

19h ago

Grub and the Microsoft Ransomware

The password thing is pretty based, honestly. What you say is probably not possible, as the NT kernel would have to support LUKS, I'm pretty sure, which it doesn't.

1d ago

Grub and the Microsoft Ransomware

Precisely. I just use probably as a catch all.

1d ago

"I'm not Jimmy-Jim-Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jim-Jim. He's Jimmy-Jim-Jimmy-Jim-Jim-Jim-Jim." - Gonzo

Maybe Muppet Orville would be more viable, since they’re both Disney?

And we have Seth McFarlane play the Kermit the Frog plush on his desk. Not a plush of Seth McFarlane, but a full-size Seth McFarlane wearing a Kermit onsie and sitting on the desk. (Although then, it breaks what makes Muppet adaptations good - the humans taking their roles entirely seriously.$

Although Kermit’s too nice to be Ed, and Mrs. Piggy is a really bad fit for Kelly. Okay, maybe a lot of the characters on The Orville would be really hard to map to Muppets.

1d ago

Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season Three Arriving on Digital, DVD, & Blu-ray

Me waiting for Star Trek Lower Decks Volume 2, or at least a repressing of volume 1:

1d ago

Grub and the Microsoft Ransomware

It really shouldn't matter. I know what they're talking about and it's true.

1d ago

Grub and the Microsoft Ransomware

It's not malicious or "ransomware", and this is perfectly normal, default behavior for most devices - both macOS and Windows implement full disk encryption in a default install these days, and your key is almost always in your Microsoft Account on the Microsoft website. While Microsoft does a lot of crap wrong, in this case, Windows's failure to decrypt under GRUB is security features actually kind of doing their job. Basically, trying to boot Windows through GRUB confuses the TPM, causing it to not want to give the keys in case the Windows boot partition has been tampered with by bad actors. Thus, you have to boot directly through Windows Boot Manager, not GRUB

Also, secure boot and TPM aren't just some conspiracy by Microsoft to block Linux; they are attempts at implementing legitimately necessary security features. Full disk encryption supported by correctly implemented secure boot and an encryption chip are essential to having modern security. Linux is not blocked by TPM and Secure Boot; it is certainly possible for Linux distributions to take advantage of them to enhance their own security. I have implemented automatic LUKS full disk encryption that similarly fails to unlock if the partition has been tampered with on my Debian install. In theory, they can actually be used to help improve your security.

That is not to say I think TPM and secure boot are good, though. The really obnoxious thing about secure boot is that all the certificates are controlled by Microsoft rather than a standards body or a group of certificate authorities. While so far, Microsoft has kept it relatively open by providing the third party CA and the shim binary in order to avoid having its neck snapped by the FTC, considering the current administration, we don't know how much longer they'll keep it up, and they could actualize the much-feared blocking of Linux.

The other big problem with TPMs and secure boot is that often, there are so many different implementations and frequently major security flaws in their implementations that weaken their protection. A typical petty thief stealing your laptop still probably won't be able to decrypt your drive, but a nation state can probably find a way. It doesn't help that Windows doesn't encrypt communication between the CPU and the TPM (luckily, the Linux kernel does that by default). Despite these issues, I'd say TPM and Secure Boot is better than nothing for most devices; not using them (EDIT: or a non-M$-controlled alternative, like a memorized drive password AND/OR FIDO keys, which may be better) at least in part means your device is more vulnerable to physical access and bootkit attacks than even most Windows laptops, and they are often the only tools at your defense

EDIT: An addendum: Now the really smart thing I've heard people do is to keep the boot partition on a flash drive (possibly with a keypad or biometrics) that you keep with you at all times.

1d ago

The joys of childhood

Yes, all 100 years of them, because that's the only thing they can look forward to in their careers.

2d ago

Absent father to what's-his-name...

2d ago

Star Trek writers explaining how they got their ideas

Indeed, and where despite supposed to be getting married, Lwaxana spoils Alexander, and in doing so, is a better parent than Worf ever was.

And somehow, it all works out, and Worf, Alexander, Deanna, and Lwaxana all end up in a mud bath in a holodeck program that gives the vibes of the aliens' version of Alice in Wonderland.

2d ago

(Cue mysterious banjo intro to "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles)

Martin Freeman’s 2005 film portrayal, which I admittedly don’t hate, but still think Jones does a better job overall.

2d ago

(Cue mysterious banjo intro to "Journey of the Sorcerer" by The Eagles)

Oh. Duh.

2d ago

Absent father to what's-his-name...

Sounds like a Cheekface song... or at least a lyric..

2d ago

The joys of childhood