Paramdeo Singh @oedmarap@fosstodon.org

#psychedelics

Sunday nights with beer and a #GratefulDead playlist. 👌

I hardly change my background, so #screenshotsunday is the same as last time; just with more GNOME Shell Extensions...

Only recently realized[0] that you can self-host[1] GoatCounter's analytics script; which means that adblockers won't nuke it since it's not loaded from the "zgo.at" domain.

Just as well, they recently changed their free-tier model to allow unlimited log retention up to 2.4M pageviews in a rolling manner, so I decided to re-enable it on my site now that it's basically Same-Origin.

[0] https://paramdeo.com/notes/20210401a

[1] https://goatcounter.com/code/countjs-host

I'm sorry but why does a banking app need to see a list of system-wide packages? And for what security purpose?

If all apps were tightly sandboxed in the first place then this wouldn't be a problem that requires an edge-case solution using "privacy protections" from #Google.

My prediction is that #Facebook will now roll out a dedicated wallet app — along with regular wallet functionality it will gleefully take advantage of this exact loophole.

Anyone who's into #IoT and Smart Home devices should learn just enough about networking in order to place each device on its own little Class C subnet; so that your smart bulbs, TV, vacuum, and other appliances only see themselves on the network and nothing else.

#screenshotsunday

About to dive into some personal work for the rest of today. ☕ 🎵

New Side Project: https://netfind.in/

A search helper with URL-based context switching.

Because boredom, OCD, coffee, and "let's see how long this will stay on the free tier of Cloudflare Workers..." 👀

New Blog Post: Managing Dotfiles with Git and GNU Stow

https://paramdeo.com/blog/managing-dotfiles-with-git-and-gnu-stow

GNU Stow is an intelligent symbolic linker that can be combined with Git for dotfiles management.

https://adamsilver.io/articles/the-disadvantages-of-single-page-applications/

IMHO the default approach should be considerate use of JavaScript and CSS that follows the guidelines of Progressive Enhancement — instead of gigantic resource-intensive libraries that destroy the role of the browser (and browsing itself) in the process.

Worth noting that the article is circa 2014, and yet is still relevant in today's bloated web that's awash with ever-evolving JavaScript monstrosities.

https://utkusen.com/blog/security-by-obscurity-is-underrated.html

Good defense is created by defense-in-depth; and #security by obscurity doesn't cost much inasmuch as it deflects "rudimentary" acts of reconnaissance — which unsurprisingly makes log parsing easier as there is less noise to work with.

I also appreciate the author's visual metaphor w.r.t. real-world examples, since that's always been the inspiration for the insertion of obscurity into a larger, more robust information security posture.

https://web.dev/declarative-shadow-dom/

A very intriguing way to instantiate separate "shadow" root objects in order to do things like parsing, hydrating, or other manipulation of elements.

Coupled with HTML Templates and Custom Elements, this is a pragmatic (read: native) way to fully utilize the HTML spec.

I've setup a subdomain for vanity URL forwarding (e.g. go.paramdeo.com/digitalocean as an affiliate link) using Netlify's built-in syntax.

Quick blog post about the steps involved: https://paramdeo.com/blog/configuring-vanity-subdomain-redirects-using-netlify

https://lkml.org/lkml/2021/3/3/1332 is making the usual rounds but also #TIL "Tags, unlike branch names, are a global namespace in git."

Also tangential but "swap partitions > swap files" as expounded on by Linus in the same thread.

"Everything happens for a reason" is the quintessence of bullshit.

You are in control of your destiny. Your actions have consequences, and the choices you make define the path you take.

So choose wisely; don't leave anything to fate. Fate is someone else making choices for you.

Finally got around to putting some of my amateur #photography in one place: https://suffu.se

Afternoon mood: #StillCorners

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPRlCBII-fE