Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Welcome to the first ever Governing Board election season for the Foundation 🗳
We start with a one week nomination period that opens this Saturday. Read our blog post for a full schedule, details on who can nominate, who can vote, and how to prepare yourself: https://matrix.org/blog/2024/04/election-announcement/
Announcing the 2024 Governing Board elections
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsJosh Simmons (matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Ontario Nature is asking all to contact your MP to make the proposed Highway 413 undergo a federal environmental assessment to scrutinize this six-lane, 52km highway paving over 400 acres of the Greenbelt and 2,000 acres of productive farmland.
Contact your local MP through this convenient form: https://ontarionature.good.do/stopthe413/email/
Ask the federal government to re-designate Highway 413 for an impact assessment
Highway 413 will cause irreversible environmental devastation. Join me in urging the federal government to step in and fulfill its obligations to protect waterways, at-risk species, migratory birds and fish.ontarionature.good.do
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
With the Sun on everybody's mind today, we hope you have a safe viewing of the eclipse this afternoon, with few clouds. Be sure to use official eclipse-rated glasses, and be careful when looking at the Sun. It will just be a partial eclipse here in Waterloo Region, but it still promises to be quite a show, starting at 2:05 p.m. this afternoon.
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Matrix on a graphic calculator, a new synadm release, and the first certified TI-Messenger. That, and much more happened This Week in Matrix!
https://matrix.org/blog/2024/04/05/this-week-in-matrix-2024-04-05?ref=mastodon
This Week in Matrix 2024-04-05
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsThib (matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
German state moving 30,000 PCs to LibreOffice - The Document Foundation Blog
Following a successful pilot project, the northern German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein has decided to move from Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Office to Linux and LibreOffice (and other free and open source software) on the 30,000 PCs used in…Mike Saunders (The Document Foundation)
mnemonicoverload likes this.
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Open source infrastructure *must* be a publicly funded service, and funders need to support maintenance – not just new feature development 📣
This is on our minds this week in the wake of the #xz news, and as we continue to seek funding to support #Matrix.
Read the latest from project lead, @matthew: https://matrix.org/blog/2024/04/open-source-publicly-funded-service/
#OpenSource #FOSS #OpenStandards
Open Source Infrastructure must be a publicly funded service.
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsMatthew Hodgson (matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
‘Privacy. That's Apple,’ the slogan proclaims. New research from Aalto University begs to differ.
The researchers studied eight apps: Safari, Siri, Family Sharing, iMessage, FaceTime, Location Services, Find My and Touch ID
The fragility of the privacy protections surprised even the researchers.
https://www.aalto.fi/en/news/keeping-your-data-from-apple-is-harder-than-expected
Keeping your data from Apple is harder than expected | Aalto University
New study shows that the default apps collect data even when supposedly disabled, and this is hard to switch offwww.aalto.fi
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Here's a fun AI story: a security researcher noticed that large companies' AI-authored source-code repeatedly referenced a nonexistent library (an AI "hallucination"), so he created a (defanged) malicious library with that name and uploaded it, and thousands of developers automatically downloaded and incorporated it as they compiled the code:
https://www.theregister.com/2024/03/28/ai_bots_hallucinate_software_packages/
1/
AI hallucinates software packages and devs download them – even if potentially poisoned with malware
Simply look out for libraries imagined by ML and make them real, with actual malicious code. No wait, don't do thatThomas Claburn (The Register)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Matrix 1.10 is here! Captions for media 🖼️, VoIP improvements ☎️ (a Matrix 2.0 feature! 🔜), and plenty of quality improvements for clients and servers ✨
Read all about it and our Matrix 1.11 roadmap on the blog 🗞️ https://matrix.org/blog/2024/03/22/matrix-v1.10-release/
Matrix v1.10 release
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsTravis Ralston (matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
It’s the end of an era, Signal will now respond to subpoenas and hand over phone numbers when given usernames. I’ve seen first hand how this worked with Wire. Subpoenas come in in high numbers and you can’t fight them all.
The only advantage Signal has over Wire is that usernames are not necessarily visible to contacts. But the problem is still there.
https://theintercept.com/2024/03/04/signal-app-username-phone-number-privacy/
Signal’s New Usernames Help Keep the Cops Out of Your Data
Ephemeral usernames instead of phone numbers safeguard privacy — and makes the Signal messenger app even harder to subpoena.Micah Lee (The Intercept)
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
@nadim
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Gleam v1.0.0 is here! 🎉
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
25 years ago Jeremie Miller made an announcement of what would become the initiation, development and propagation of the #XMPP protocol until today!
Join the journey!
https://slashdot.org/story/99/01/04/1621211/open-real-time-messaging-system
Happy birthday,
XMPP!
#chat #jabber #opensource
Open Real Time Messaging System - Slashdot
Jeremie writes "Jabber is a new project I recently started to create a complete open-source platform for Instant Messaging with transparent communication to other IM systems(ICQ, AIM, etc).slashdot.org
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
We ended 2023 with a talk at #37C3. @raphaelrobert and Konrad presented the new standard for end-to-end encryption, Messaging Layer Security (MLS). The room was packed and some people couldn't attend in person – luckily the talk is now online and can be watched again.
🍿 https://media.ccc.de/v/37c3-12064-rfc_9420_or_how_to_scale_end-to-end_encryption_with_messaging_layer_security
Thank you @ccc and all helping hands for the great event!
#securemessaging #encryption #e2ee #messaginglayersecurity
RFC 9420 or how to scale end-to-end encryption with Messaging Layer Security
They call it RFC 9420, we say MLS: A new IETF standard for end-to-end encryption was published in July and brings large improvements in p...media.ccc.de
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
"Has your washing machine broken down, or is your electric kettle, laptop or mobile phone refusing to work?
Well if you live in Austria, the government will pay up to €200 ($219; £173) towards getting it repaired.
The Repair Bonus voucher scheme is aimed at trying to get people to move away from throwing away old electrical appliances - and focusing on getting things mended."
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-67777814
#environment #climate #electronics #repair #mend #reuse #austria
Austrian government launches repair scheme for electronic goods
The Repair Bonus voucher scheme gives people cash towards repairing their electronic goods.By Bethany Bell (BBC News)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
My job is to work toward bringing secure, decentralized, open source licensed communication tools with open governance to the masses with Matrix.
But if folks prefer XMPP or IRC, that's still a win in my book. I think Signal is a step in the right direction, too!
It's open vs. the world, and I'm looking forward to working together to challenge the status quo of surveillance capitalism and proprietary, centralized walled gardens.
reshared this
Matrix protocol has a bunch of flaws, but it's the best we have :)
Still my favorite chat protocol.
I see an interesting similarly with my work on Samba. As Microsoft pushes everyone to the cloud and hybrid deployment of Active Directory with Azure AD, Samba remains on-premises and Free.
I don't really expect we are the great hope on the horizon, but I think we fit in there somewhere.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
I was laid-off a few weeks ago and am looking for a new role. If anyone is looking for an experienced backend engineer who loves to build products & teams then please reach out or connect!
I have experience with #Python, Rust, lots of networking background, and more. Open to remote or hybrid roles in near Boston.
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
The #SMTPSmuggling attack is being mitigated and tracked in the following CVEs:
- CVE-2023-51764 postfix
- CVE-2023-51765 sendmail
- CVE-2023-51766 exim
All three CVEs have been filed *today* by the community and NOT by SEC consult who discovered the flaw in June 2023 but decided to not share their findings with postfix, sendmail or exim. Only after they published their post on 2023-12-18, the communities have become aware and are now working hard to fix what is now more a 0day :(
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
The Matrix Holiday Update 2023
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsMatthew Hodgson (www2.matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Passenger rail is ridiculously unreliable in Canada. 50% of trains are delayed. And every small delay leads to a big one because freight trains get priority on the railway lines.
Glad to see the NDP's Rail Passenger Priority Act getting attention.
Having a predictable and reliable timetable is the first step to making this a viable form of transportation in Canada.
#viaRail #cdnpoli #transportation #Rail #NDP
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/via-rail-bill-people-over-freight-1.7066700
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hello Fediversians, today I come to with some important information:
The Matrix to iMessage Bridge Beeper has been made Open Source:
:github: https://github.com/beeper/imessage
These people have legally reverse engineered Apple's proprietary iMessage Protocol, it's really awesome!
Just a few days ago the app was still a paid service, then they made it free of charge on December 14th, but now Apple :apple_inc: has deliberately changed their protocol in order to prevent any peasant non-Apple users like us to be able to use iMessage and interact with their precious walled-in users.
Naturally, Beeper now made all of their work and progress open source to continue the fight for a free and open interoperable network. Will you join them?
How Beeper Mini Works
For anyone curious or loves to know how things work, we invite you to go under the hood, see how the sausage is made, peek behind the curtain, or in our Beeper Mini technical deep dive.Beeper (Beeper Blog)
what lol? There is nothing to lol about.
Selling fake credentials is nothing legitimate about it. Beeper is not a feature, it's a bug. There are multiple cross platform messaging apps. I as a iPhone user have no problems whatsoever to have encrypted chats with high resolution videos and photo's and all the mumbo jumbo iMessage has with every Android user.
Clearly the problem is not on Apple’s side but the lack of good messaging apps on Android if Android users prefer to use iMessage 🙄
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Fractal has been completely rewritten with a GTK4/libadwaita makeover.
https://news.itsfoss.com/fractal-5/
Fractal 5: Linux Matrix Messaging App Level-Up with GTK 4 and Rust SDK
Matrix messaging app for GNOME gets an upgrade with GTK4, Rust SDK, and more.Sourav Rudra (It's FOSS News)
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
The notes clearly state that italics (which turned into bold in your article) is new. Your article says
> Viewing images and playing audio or video is now more intuitive, you can directly view/play those from the chat window itself.
It is not “now more intuitive”. This feature was there before.
Thank you for the heads-up, will fix it. Apologies for any inconvenience caused.
— Sourav
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Oh shit, Christmas came early this year!
#Interoperability, #Privacy, & #Security https://www.ftc.gov/policy/advocacy-research/tech-at-ftc/2023/12/interoperability-privacy-security
#FTC
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
https://www.postfix.org/smtp-smuggling.html
"SMTP Smuggling" vulnerability in Postfix allows to spoof senders even in the presence of some DMARC checks. Configuration workarounds exist.
Also, a wholehearted f* you to SEC Consult, who sat on this since June and disclosed it to some closed-source vendors and MSPs, but could apparently not be bothered to give e.g. Postfix a heads-up, publishing this close to the holidays.
Boosts for awareness welcome.
Edit: So this has kinda blown up. and especially because the author of the SEC advisory is going to have a slot at 37C3, I would like to add something important: I intentionally wrote "SEC Consult" above, not "$individual". Do not start harassing that person. For all we know, this is a corporate failure and the individual would actually appreciate guidance and tips. That does not mean to not ask the hard questions, but keep the framing in mind. They might genuinely have been told by their managers that that is how responsible disclosure works.
reshared this
networkException reshared this.
Cool of them to submit this to #37C3 instead of getting it fixed upstream.
https://events.ccc.de/congress/2023/hub/en/event/smtp_smuggling_spoofing_e-mails_worldwide/
MatMaul reshared this.
Governments should use interoperable communications, not proprietary systems.
https://www.process-one.net/blog/instant-messaging-protocols-are-commons-lets-take-them-seriously/
like this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Let's get prepared to elect our first Governing Board and take the next big step in open governance for Matrix 🚀
Also: we're pleased to introduce a couple new tiers of membership, for open source projects and foundations, who will be represented on the Governing Board.
Learn more in our latest blog post: https://matrix.org/blog/2023/12/electing-our-first-governing-board/
#Matrix #OpenSource #OpenStandards #OpenGovernance #FOSS
The Governing Board, our next big step in open governance
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsJosh Simmons (matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
It's the time of the year where Home Alone is on TV or on people's streaming lists as the holidays classic it is.
That means it's also the time of the year where I dust off this incident review of it, before we all blame the movie's parents for being irresponsible: https://ferd.ca/home-alone-a-post-incident-review.html
Home Alone: a Post-Incident Review
A post-incident review of the first Home Alone movie and how parents could leave Kevin behind.ferd.ca
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
I'm very excited to be presenting at FOSDEM in February! I've been working on messaging interoperability for about 2 years now with much of that focus being on developing an open standard for that exact purpose. We'll be exploring how #Matrix works as an existing decentralized open standard for *interoperable* communications, and how other protocol development work interacts with Matrix.
Join me for a technical look at #MIMI, #DMA, and the Matrix protocol: https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-3157-interoperability-matrix/
reshared this
@TravisR Cool! I only heard of MIMI for the first time this week. Looking forward to your talk, it sounds interesting!
I bet some of the first questions that pop into people's minds are:
1) How is MIMI not yet another XMPP
2) How is MIMI not yet another Matrix
3) In general, how does this not suffer from #xkcd927
Have you or someone else already given a talk or written a blogpost that addresses those concerns? I'd like to get a head start until February. =)
@clacke thanks! I'm not sure there's written material on it, but the intention of MIMI is to learn from prior attempts at an interoperable protocol to build something which actually works. XMPP has largely not been adopted in this sphere, though is popular in its own right. Matrix has additional features that don't translate well to other providers as well (we'll talk about this in the talk).
It definitely feels a bit like XKCD 927, but this time we're going to interoperate with all of them :)
More Instant Messaging Interoperability (MIMI) using HTTPS and MLS
This document specifies the More Instant Messaging Interoperability (MIMI) protocol, which allows users of different messaging providers to share membership in rooms and send messages to one-another.IETF Datatracker
clacke: inhibited exhausted pixie dream boy 🇸🇪🇭🇰💙💛 reshared this.
Bridging exists. Matrix had a nice seamless interaction with IRC for example (now matrix.org do not host it, but can still be selfhosted).
Especially when both XMPP and Matrix are on the way to implement MLS encryption in the future.
@Nagito 💣 @TravisR That's fair! But that's just the initial phase. If everyone wants to interoperate, that means m×n bridges.
Then someone tries to systematically enable interoperability and writes a shared vocabulary for the bridges, and then someone else will go "screw it, I'll just implement the shared vocabulary directly" and that's how a protocol pidgin turns into a protocol creole. Arguably that's what happened with e.g. TCP/IP.
In the case of Matrix they tried to leapfrog this whole process and make themselves the bridge protocol.
I'm no expert on IM at all, but when looking at IM protocol specs and seeing a key role for a Room at protocol level, I always wonder whether that isn't overly limiting the versatility of the protocol. In Matrix you see apps where richer social networking use cases are being modeled, but deep down everything should be rooms. But idk enough, maybe that's no issue at all.
Room is not only a chat room, it's just a name for a "container" of some data, I think.
In Matrix rooms have chronological events, non-chronological states and members with permissions. This can also be group for posting, game lobby or user profile with interactions, basically anything.
@didek @smallcircles @clacke this^. MIMI is highly focused on messaging, so it picks a term like "room" to best describe the container. It may in theory be able to transmit more than messages, but it's not the purpose.
Matrix is very much meant to be a generic communications layer. It happens to be that messaging works really well here, but it's not the only focus. We use "room" mostly because no one has decided to rename it following the early proof of concept demos :p
@smallcircles @didek @clacke MIMI's content format is still very much a WIP, and is fully intended to be focused on messaging.
Matrix however just calls everything an "event". Even within a messaging-focused room there are events that users don't see, like the events to set up VoIP calls or ensure threads work.
Critically, Matrix lets you define your own event types and use them - nothing will break from doing that. Matrix is essentially a distributed JSON database in this respect.
Yes, I like that event extensibility. I am just wondering about that Room abstraction. But my musing on whether this abstraction is too leaky is just gut feeling, as I am not that well-informed.
Just quickly skimmed #Commune by @erlend and e.g. it looks like a Space is also a room, and a space subsequently has rooms.. https://github.com/commune-os/commune-server/blob/main/app/space.go
#PubHubs has Hubs which have rooms, and which aren't currently federated, but I suspect they'll become rooms in the msgs too.
@smallcircles @didek @clacke @erlend XMPP is very similar to Matrix. Matrix's "room" concept is nothing more than a name - it just holds events. Currently those events are JSON objects with a freeform type to give them meaning.
We also specify a number of events which are applicable to certain situations, like messaging, but it's possible to build your own too.
There's a bit more detail here: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec/issues/416
spell out that 'rooms' are not chatrooms · Issue #416 · matrix-org/matrix-spec
at the least, we should clarify this. ideally we might rename rooms to be a more generic term, but the horse has probably bolted on this one. Plus we can't rename all the m.room.* events out thereGitHub
@smallcircles @didek @clacke @erlend sure :D
We needed a place to put users, so picked "room". Users send events and can set aliases on the room so others can join more easily. Aliases act as doors, to continue the analogy.
Sometimes it can be useful to think of rooms as a routing tag for an event. Each room has an ID and subscribers (members) interested in that topic - sending an event with that room ID routes the object to them equally :)
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
mnemonicoverload likes this.
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
We've all been there: it's puzzle time, but once you dump out the pieces and start laying them flat, you realize you don't have enough space on your table. Join me as we use physics to find out ✨HOW BIG A TABLE YOU NEED FOR YOUR JIGSAW PUZZLE ✨
https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2312.04588
#SciComm
How big a table do you need for your jigsaw puzzle?
Jigsaw puzzles are typically labeled with their finished area and number of pieces. With this information, is it possible to estimate the area required to lay each piece flat before assembly? We derive a simple formula based on two-dimensional circul…arXiv.org
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
@platkus this is a weird hill to die on, the parameters are very clear both in the paper and later in this thread
https://mastodon.social/@mbonsma/111564845145935604
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
A Dendrite release, elm-matrix-sdk reaching 1.0 beta, and etke updating their offering… that and more happened this week in Matrix!
https://matrix.org/blog/2023/12/15/this-week-in-matrix-2023-12-15/
This Week in Matrix 2023-12-15
Matrix, the open protocol for secure decentralised communicationsThib (matrix.org)
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Over the past few months, we've been working hard to introduce support for @rust into @thunderbird.
Come join me in the Rust devroom at @fosdem 2024, to learn how we got there, how we're using Rust to improve our contribution experience, and what this means for the future of Thunderbird!
https://fosdem.org/2024/schedule/event/fosdem-2024-2469-thunderbird-how-to-exchange-rot-for-rust/
tadzik likes this.
reshared this
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
The Polish hackers who heroically fixed a series of NEWAG passenger trains that the manufacturer had artificially bricked with DRM are now being threatened with lawsuits from NEWAG. NEWAG has also filed a complaint with Polish authorities and has demanded the trains be removed from service.
Hackers fixed the trains *with permission from the trains' owner*
Repair expert told us this is "classic OEM bullshit," just on a train this time
Polish Hackers Repaired Trains the Manufacturer Artificially Bricked. Now The Train Company Is Threatening Them
After breaking trains simply because an independent repair shop had worked on them, NEWAG is now demanding that trains fixed by hackers be removed from service.Jason Koebler (404 Media)
reshared this
Ah, but it's not a train. It's a revenue stream which, irritatingly, they have to build a train to obtain like there's some sort revenue-stream dispensing machine but it's big and takes train-shaped tokens.
An old-school robber baron understood that they had to produce something for which people would willingly exchange money, however bad the terms. This lot are into formalized highway robbery ("your money or your life") at best. (Health insurance is your money AND your life.)
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hello Mastodonians! I am trying to have a 30-60min zoom conversation on developing the Canadian Disability Benefit with anyone who identifies as having a disability living in Canada for an organization called Disability Without Poverty
This conversation would likely take place on Tuesday December 12th somewhere between 12-3. Following the conversation you will be compensated $25 from the org!
Please Boost this and let me know if you know anyone. I have probably 1 person and the minimum for a conversation is 2 and max is 4.
https://www.disabilitywithoutpoverty.ca/
Disability Without Poverty | Nothing About Us Without Us
We are a movement led by people with disabilities supported by our families, friends, service providers, allies and organizations.Amy Ma (Disability Without Poverty)
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
https://blog.beeper.com/p/beeper-mini-is-back
Kudos to #Beeper for their competitive compatibility hijinks as of late.
No doubt they’re intentionally building a case for regulators. They’ve forced Apple’s hand, effectively showing that cross-platform comms is a matter of willingness, not technical limitation.
Seeing as Apple’s company policy is provably anti-competitive, we the users rely on state-mandated policies to overrule them in favor of adversarial interop.
cc @pluralistic
Beeper Mini Is Back
Bug fixes and other improvements We've created an updated version of Beeper Mini that fixes an issue that caused messages not to be sent or received. You can get the update directly from beeper.com/update on your phone.Beeper (Beeper Blog)
reshared this
They could have built a case for regulators if they had offered the app without subscription costs. But that gives strong argument for Apple, since they are using Apple’s non-public services and APIs without co-operation or any permissions.
Basically Apple pays the ongoing fees of their App, while they make money from it.
It feels more like trying to make some money while hoping that people side against Apple and forget what is usually allowed as ”fair use” of services. Even if Apple is well-known for its anti-competitive methods, some methods are not good ways to fight it.
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
https://www.theverge.com/2023/12/8/23994089/apple-beeper-mini-android-blocked-imessage-app
Apple has seemingly found a way to block Android’s new iMessage app
Apple on Friday managed to block Beeper Mini from sending and receiving iMessages from Android phones — just days after the new app was released to the public.Chris Welch (The Verge)
Hubert Chathi reshared this.
MTRNord (they/them) likes this.
Andy Airey
•This was the last update AFAIK: https://element.io/blog/the-eu-digital-markets-act-is-here/
The EU Digital Markets Act is here.
Matthew Hodgson (Element Blog)The Matrix.org Foundation
•Thomas Frans 🇺🇦
•uqlel
•CIMB4
•