Don McCollough ✅ @DonMcCollough@fosstodon.org

The web browser Brave is marketed as a privacy-friendly ad-free alternative, but that's pretty disingenuous.

Brave exists not to protect privacy, but to make money from selling ads.

Brave is a commercial company funded by venture capital. Its business model is selling advertising and cryptocurrency investment.

One of Brave's owners is Peter Thiel's Founders Fund. Thiel is also the head of Palantir (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palantir_Technologies) and on the board of Facebook.

I do not recommend using Brave.

#Brave

The @gnome foundation need some help naming a new initiative. Find out more over on their shiny new(ish) discourse. Get your creative juices flowing and see if you can help. 🤔https://discourse.gnome.org/t/help-needed-naming-a-new-gnome-initiative/759?u=popey

Ubuntu 19.04: What's New? [Video] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCscb_zmoIA

Tempted to try Ubuntu 19.04? Check out our list of the top things to do after you install https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/things-to-do-after-installing-ubuntu-1904

IMPORANT ANNOUNCEMENT:

At approximately 13:00 BST (08:00 Eastern) tomorrow, Tuesday 16th, we will be doing a database migration that will result in around 30 minutes of downtime.

Huzzah! A new Map Men episode is out. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9DqZYsckBwI

If you want to support #Fosstodon, we still have some #stickers available for purchase from the Hub:

https://hub.fosstodon.org/stickers

"Code caching for JavaScript developers" by Leszek Swirski https://v8.dev/blog/code-caching-for-devs

I'm glad Chrome finally wrote something public about their bytecode cache. This is one of the biggest inside-baseball perf optimizations that browsers do, but web developers aren't very aware of.

Facebook plans to pass your photographs to advertisers and make users the stars of online ads, patent reveals

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2019/04/09/facebook-plans-pass-photographs-advertisers-make-users-stars/

Apparently human staff at Amazon Alexa listen to what people say, even very intimate things (https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-04-10/is-anyone-listening-to-you-on-alexa-a-global-team-reviews-audio).

Alexa uploads your speech to be analysed on Amazon's servers. Siri, Cortana, Bixby etc also do this.

A better alternative is Snips, which doesn't upload your voice anywhere:

https://makers.snips.ai

https://github.com/snipsco

You install it on a Raspberry Pi, and access it directly or from your other devices.

(n.b. It's still in beta and requires tech knowledge to set up)

Apparently, setting `pointer-events: none` on an element prevents uBlock Origin's "Block this element" picker from being able to, well, pick it, and some websites have started to (ab)use this to make it harder for us to block their ads.

The workaround is of course to go into developer tools and manually allow pointer events on the ad, then block it via uBlock Origin.

An Ubuntu watch face for the Samsung Galaxy Watch https://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/2019/04/ubuntu-terminal-watch-face-for-samsung-galaxy-watch-watch-active

Look at this sexy Fosstodon sticker by yours truly! LOOK AT IT! BASK IN ITS RADIANT ADORABLENESS!!!
In the near future one just like it can be yours if you're a Fosstodon supporter (and why wouldn't you be?)
Check @mike or @kev s accounts in the near future about how you too can have the cutest laptopsticker ever made

#mastoart

FYI folks, #GameOfThrones spoilers will result in an instant ban!

Joking aside, if you post spoilers, please put them behind a CW. 👍

With #Nextcloud Social you can connect to the #Fediverse including users on Mastodon and other servers! This alternative, decentralized social network is fun for home users and can help businesses improve internal cohesion.
https://www.techrepublic.com/article/nextcloud-social-is-a-promising-collaborative-feature/

The once despised Chinese internet has become a shining example for governments in the West that wants to tighten their grip on the web even more. Reducing the internet to a glorified TV in the hands of a few huge companies. A wet dream for every capitalist but a night mare for every freedom loving person.

https://boingboing.net/2019/04/09/constitutional-monarchs-r-us.html

#freedom #internet