grant
whatsaspacebar.bsky.social
grant
@whatsaspacebar.bsky.social
51 followers 430 following 1.2K posts
Once more into the fray Day Job: Data Science Also: Neuroscience, Respiratory Health, AI/ML, Trust & Safety, Gaming, Disability Rights No patience for: ableism, casual eugenics, scientism, or bigotry of any kind
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You’re just repeating what I told you.
And you need to understand basic networking: it doesn’t matter if Threema’s servers are cloud or not, they still have to interact with infrastructure that is in order to pass messages.

Apple doesn’t force the backup. They can exclude their app from the backup if they choose to, just as signal does.
And WhatsApp once swore they’d never put ads in the app.

That’s what they say now. They can just as well change their mind tomorrow.
It doesn’t “give” the data anymore than threema does. Your claim has no technical basis and is contradicted by the links you provide, which show the Threema apps back up to the cloud whereas Signal does not.
And Threema might be sold at any time. Since they’re in it for money with a paid app, they are no less suspecting. The are no indications the nonprofit behind Signal is in danger of insolvency.

Again, your preference is fine, but pretending Threema is immune from fault is silly.
And Signal is a 501c3, meaning it’s finances are publicly disclosed by law, plus their public algorithm dev blogs. Your claim that Threema has no ulterior motives is opinion, nothing more.

There’s nothing wrong with preferring Threema, but your claims that it’s technically better aren’t compelling.
As for whether 72 permissions is a lot, it depends on where you draw the line. According to Exodus, Threema has 44 permissions, and the differences seem to be permissions for things like badges, settings updates, screen adjustments, and other things that aren’t particularly interesting re: privacy.
If the information provided is inaccurate, then that’s grounds to get it removed from the App Store. Threema has more of a conflict of interest here to lie, because their app is paid.

The “you can’t trust what they say” argument cuts both ways.
That contradicts the info on the link you provided, which says the data is backed up. Centralized servers or not, the data packets have to pass by other cloud providers before arriving there.

Furthermore, for the iOS version, Threema collects more information than Signal.
You’re also implicitly acknowledging the comparison site you linked is out of date, which explains why some of the info about signal is out of date.
If you use it in the US or you’re on an Android phone, that doesn’t matter. They can make the destination whatever data center they want, but they can’t guarantee none of the priority infrastructure you mention is in the route. You also ignored the backup storage I mentioned.
Threema is backed up to the same cloud providers you just mentioned, and according to your link hasn’t had an independent security audit in nearly five years.
In honor of WhatsApp inserting ads into their app, I’m starting a recurring $5 monthly donation to @signal.org
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i hate having pronouns in my video game slop now i have no choicr but to support putting all immigrants in labor camps
I will permit at most one more decade for the announcement of a remake until I riot
Strictly speaking, the Ouroboros is the final boss.

But yeah, God and the literal archangels we’re important too I guess.
It’s funny because depending on your perspective this gif shows 1, 2, 3, or 15 powerful women #iykyk
Reposted by grant
Theoretical physicist who also does research in humanities using critical theories.

It’s interesting how when it comes down to it, no one is mad at quantum field theory being confusing — for physicists too — but they’re mad at humanists for also having analytic frameworks that take time to learn.
Critical theory is notorious for this especially. I have never seen important ideas that should be widely spread locked behind absolute microsubject definitions and word salad that is completely inaccessible to pretty much anyone who doesn't spend a lot of time reading on the subject.
Reposted by grant
Don't just listen to players. If given the option, they'll optimize the game out of their games, and the story out of their stories. It's our job to filter information and data and feedback into good work, and while we'll sometimes miss it's better than blindly following surveys.
I once worked on a visual novel game where all the surveys and focus groups said that nobody wanted romance, they only wanted mystery and sci-fi.

Then 75+% of clicks in-game went to stories with explicit romantic or sexy themes.

www.pcgamer.com/gaming-indus...
'These kids do not care about romance': Game devs want to know what today's teens want, and surveys say sex and romance isn't it
Young people want stories about friendship more than romance, say researchers and industry execs.
www.pcgamer.com
Why bluesky is one of the more trustworthy networks I have right now.

Note: this is the browser version, so I can’t confirm the app has no tracking.
Reposted by grant
This commission statement refers to people with Autism, ADHD, asthma, auto-immune disease, and chronic illness as a “dire threat to the American people and our way of life”.

This is a manifesto against disability.

This is the language of eugenics.
Establishing the President's Make America Healthy Again Commission
By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered: Section 1.
www.whitehouse.gov
Seeing as it’s a hotel, I could believe they know exactly the audience they’re going for. More likely to call room service, I’d bet.
The easiest way is simply to deactivate the account. There are third party tools, but nearly none of them are free due to the cost of the X API.

My personal rec is to request an archive in settings, download, and deactivate. If you like, you can repost your tweets on bluesky, like I’ve done.
Thinking of the many people afflicted by long #COVID who persevered to make initiatives like this happening. Incredible work that should serve as a beacon to established NIH investigators (assuming the NIH survives the next four years).
www.nytimes.com/2024/11/26/o...
Opinion | Donate This Holiday Season: Long Covid Research Need Your Help
A group of long Covid patients is financing research and making progress.
www.nytimes.com