patrick.net

Why the fuck this person lets his washing machine access internets?
Patrick says

Bd6r says

Why the fuck this person lets his washing machine access internets?

I just deleted my comment on this after seeing you beat me to it.

Could I piggyback this thread to complain about the complete lack of "dumb" TVs with large size? I think I must have bought the very last dumb 65-inch 4k about 7 years ago. I haven't seen a dumb TV of that size since then and I've never seen a bigger 4k at any time that was dumb. I suppose if I eventually "upgrade" I'll just have to put a password on my WiFi, but I won't be happy with the typical complicated procedure to put it in "just show the video signal (no sound) on HDMI port 1" mode. Right now my universal remote has a single button for the TV: on/off toggle.

SunnyvaleCA says

Could I piggyback this thread to complain about the complete lack of "dumb" TVs with large size?

What's preventing you from not connecting your TV to the internet? As in if you want to stream, use an external box connected to a HDMI port.

SunnyvaleCA says

I'll just have to put a password on my WiFi

Does this mean what I think it does?

Sounds like you want to disable sound for your HDMI connection? Why not just use a non-integrated connection type and not plug in the audio? Also, I believe you can disable wifi on the TV directly.

I have a 50in Plasma, superior picture in many ways. Although there might be more 4k content available now? Dumb as shit. I use a Roku box, but I let networking rules and Pihole throttle everything I don't want be sent, plus a little foam in the speaker on the remote makes our voices inaudible. Although since I'm blocking the recording files from leaving my network, not really needed. We also have a small Samsung that connects only for the internal Plex server. I've setup rules at the router and in Pihole to block ALL external traffic from that device.

https://slaynews.com/news/biden-admin-funding-censorship-network-flag-misinformation-private-messages/

Biden Admin Funding Censorship Network to Flag ‘Misinformation’ in Private Messages

Rather than backing away from the unconstitutional practice, White House officials have been working on more sophisticated tactics to subvert the public’s free speech rights.

Reports are now emerging about companies getting hired to make massive databases of supposedly unwelcome speech in private conversations on messaging platforms like WhatsApp.

The examples of wrongthink are compiled and stored thanks to users effectively spying and reporting on each other.

Benz calls this “a snitch network of citizen informants.”

The information thus obtained is then analyzed using some form of artificial intelligence (AI), resulting in the identification of “misinformation trends.”

In a post on X, Benz explains:

“The US gov’t is paying millions of dollars to censorship mercenary firms to build up a snitch network of citizen informants to report private text messages on WhatsApp for ‘misinformation’ — then create a vast database of banned memes & ideas.”

One of these companies is the Algorithmic Transparency Institute.

The money for the operation comes from congressionally chartered organizations that receive taxpayer-funded grants from the Biden admin.

The need to resort to “old school” citizen-informant methods arises from the nature of the platforms the government would like to spy on, and get content flagged and eventually censored.

The targets of the operation are encrypted private messaging apps like WhatsApp and Telegram.

Due to the nature of these messaging apps, the now-established forms of “monitoring” places like Facebook or YouTube cannot be used.

Critics of this euphemistically dubbed “civic listening” draw parallels with how authoritarian regimes notoriously use people spying on each other even before the digital age.

Now, the spying “format” once used by the likes of Stalin, the Nazis, etc., has reached America.

The principle is simple: In the areas where the government can’t reach, private chat apps’ users themselves are encouraged to report what’s being said.

That flagged “misinformation” data is then fed into the censorship machine with the creation of databases before undergoing AI analyses.

Foundation For Freedom Online singles out US-based non-profit Meedan as being “at the forefront of creating this snitch network.”

The group received $5.7 million in tax dollars as a grant from the Biden admin via the National Science Foundation (NSF).

Among the things flagged by these “censorship mercenary firms” are memes and “claims.”

Now cars are spying on people too:

Just wait until your Tesla starts posting your adultery porn on the internet.

Patrick says

Cameras pointed at politicians? Haven't we seen enough gay porn?

RWSGFY says

Patrick says

Edward, you sorry cunt, you literally live with the KGB dick up your ass balls-deep, so shut the fuck up about being subject of spying upon and that kind of stuff.

Correcting you is pointless, but the only reason that Snowden is in Russia, is that his passport was revoked when he was in a layover in Russia by the United States. He was travelling to Hong Kong.

But you'll lie about it again, because you're dishonest.

NuttBoxer says

Also, I believe you can disable wifi on the TV directly.

In order to use WiFi you have to purposely enable it. It needs the password to access your network.

SunnyvaleCA says

I suppose if I eventually "upgrade" I'll just have to put a password on my WiFi,

@SunnyvaleCA You DEFINITELY want to put a password on your WiFi regardless. If you don't have one, somebody can put a little device just outside of your house to download unlimited child porn or god knows what, and it will only be traceable to you.

20 years ago I would leave my wifi open so my neighbors could share my internet, and whatever they downloaded, really didn't matter back then. Today, it does.

Patrick says

Been warning you guys for years. Facial recognition is beyond what you even realize. You cannot hide anymore. This is 1984 in real life.

That's why you need to primarily be in rural areas if you can. Get out of cities and suburbs where there are few cameras if any for municipalities. Really hard, but avoid any business with CCTV as well. Vegas has been tracking people almost two decades now with facial recognition. Get used to it.

WookieMan says

Been warning you guys for years. Facial recognition is beyond what you even realize. You cannot hide anymore. This is 1984 in real life.

You know, that's very good news for identifying corrupt FBI agents who refuse to show their ID. Could facial recognition be used to ID these guys?

https://www.aier.org/article/fact-checkers-are-gaslighting-you-on-the-feds-vehicle-kill-switch-mandate/

In November 2021, former US Representative from Georgia Bob Barr wrote a little-noticed political column claiming that buried inside President Joe Biden’s $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure legislation was a dangerous provision that would go into effect in five years.

“Marketed to Congress as a benign tool to help prevent drunk driving, the measure will mandate that automobile manufacturers build into every car what amounts to a ‘vehicle kill switch,’” wrote Barr, who was the Libertarian Party’s nominee for president in 2008.

Like most Americans, I had never heard of this alleged “kill switch” until a few days ago when Representative Thomas Massie, a libertarian-leaning Republican, proposed to strip the mandate’s funding.

“The right to travel is fundamental, but the government has mandated a kill-switch in new vehicles sold after 2026,” said Massie. “The kill-switch will monitor driver performance and disable cars based on the information gathered.”

Patrick says

Eh, turn off FaceTime. Or pick up the phone and dial the number to make a reservation. Any restaurant worth going to is going to have a phone number you can call. You can't bitch out tech you don't like while using tech to try and make a reservation. Makes no sense when there's other means.

WookieMan says

You can't bitch out tech you don't like while using tech to try and make a reservation. Makes no sense when there's other means.

This is correct.

Here's all the tools of the world, the envy of every civilization before us. Make a tiny tiny bit of effort.

People whine and moan about censorship on YouTube, Facebook, Google, and still Twitter. There's alternatives - spend a few minutes, and I mean minutes, to search them out. People you follow being thrown off from sites? They are likely on Bitchute, Rumble, Odysee, Substack - seach them out there FIRST before watching them simply disappear.

25 years ago if companies pulled the shit that companies do now by suppressing content, engineers quit and users left. You're being programmed like a herd of sheep. Make a tiny amount of effort and you can't be controlled, and the effort isn't huge. You're coming out of the television age, finally, but don't fall into the next trap set for you. Google was taken over 15 years ago. Facebook has always been controlled by intelligence. Twitter was designed to be advertisement for celebrities and politicians from the start.

That's not to say Rumble, Gab, Substack, etc aren't another trap. They probably are, just learn to jump ship.

The question is, will you put up with propaganda and bullshit or not? It's your choice. Just recognize what propaganda is. If everybody is saying it, if it's being promoted all the time, that's propaganda. Never been easier to recognize it. False consensus. You know what sources lie to you by now I hope. Russian collusion, vaccines safe and effective, Qaddafi about to cause a humanitarian crisis? You must know. When they lie to you and don't admit "error", abandon them.

Patrick says

A similar thing happens in Android smartphones, which use wifi as part of their location services. Switching wifi off prevents it from connecting to wifi access points, but allows it to continue periodically scanning for access point names to help pinpoint its location.

I want to comment on this part of it. Yes, wifi can identify a location, but turn off GPS, that exactly locates you. You should only use GPS when you need it, it's power hungry anyhow.

Wifi identifies where wifi is available based on GPS, not the other way around. GPS should always be off, and using network services, just costs you money. Wifi should always be turned on, network services and GPS should always be off until you need it. You don't need Wifi turned on when you leave your home, when you have it on and GPS on, it's connecting location to Wifi. It's mapping open Wifi services based off from GPS. They don't bother to use triangulation (I think) to determine your location - why bother, most of you never turn off GPS.

richwicks says

They don't bother to use triangulation (I think) to determine your location - why bother, most of you never turn off GPS.

Even if you turn it off you're tracked. Above my level of knowledge personally. But my neighboring county has over 1M people and I know the 911 call center people at that office. Not gonna name the person or position as it could dox me, but high up. Even turning all the crap off doesn't stop police and first responders from tracking you. Unless your phone has legit dead battery, even off, you're trackable.

I don't think people understand this. If you want privacy you shouldn't have a phone. That's really all there is to it.

richwicks says

Wifi identifies where wifi is available based on GPS, not the other way around. GPS should always be off, and using network services, just costs you money. Wifi should always be turned on, network services and GPS should always be off until you need it. You don't need Wifi turned on when you leave your home, when you have it on and GPS on, it's connecting location to Wifi. It's mapping open Wifi services based off from GPS. They don't bother to use triangulation (I think) to determine your location - why bother, most of you never turn off GPS.

All this is based off an assumption that you CAN turn these off, and keep them off. We know for a fact that Apple collects location data. We know that the NSA has backdoors and is passively collecting everything. Unless you install a ROM like GrapheneOS, turning these services, and even your phone off is not a guarantee of privacy.

Don't give out your real name, or real address. Start there and you have a chance at privacy. Leave it up to your devices, no chance at all.

richwicks says

They don't bother to use triangulation (I think) to determine your location

Around here, the emergency services can locate you even if you just have a flip phone. I presume that is by triangulation.

I called 911 once when I had an old phone, guy had fractured his arm on a basketball court. Because I had turned off sharing location with emergency services, I had to give them directions. But this was like 15 years ago.

richwicks says

Wifi identifies where wifi is available based on GPS, not the other way around

That does not make any sense. There is no GPS database of all home and business WiFi locations, and every Android or IPhone I used would list any WiFi that they sensed was in range. If a close enough neighbor just now switches a new router with WiFi, I will see it appear on my phones WiFi list. Nothing to do with GPS.

HeadSet says

richwicks says

Wifi identifies where wifi is available based on GPS, not the other way around

That does not make any sense. There is no GPS database of all home and business WiFi locations, and every Android or IPhone I used would list any WiFi that they sensed was in range. If a close enough neighbor just now switches a new router with WiFi, I will see it appear on my phones WiFi list. Nothing to do with GPS.

And the guy is supposedly an engineer in the field. :facepalm:

Cell phones can determine your location using Wi-Fi through a process known as Wi-Fi Positioning System (WPS). Here’s a simplified explanation of how it works:
Scanning Wi-Fi Access Points: Your device scans for nearby Wi-Fi access points and records their signal strength.
Creating a List: It creates a list of these Wi-Fi access points along with their signal strength at your current location.
Contacting Location Servers: Your device then contacts online servers that have a database of Wi-Fi access points and their geographical locations.
Determining Your Location: By comparing the list of Wi-Fi access points your device has detected with the database, the system can pinpoint your precise physical location.
This method is particularly useful when GPS is unavailable or unreliable, such as indoors where GPS signals may be weak or blocked. The Wi-Fi positioning system leverages the extensive Wi-Fi infrastructure in urban areas to provide accurate location information12.
It’s important to note that while this system can be very accurate, it also raises privacy concerns, as it means your location could potentially be tracked by businesses or other third parties if you’ve given them permission to do so2

RWSGFY says

Your device then contacts online servers that have a database of Wi-Fi access points and their geographical locations.

So there is a database of WiFi locations? Is this just for some predetermined and registered commercial spots? I do not see how home and business WiFi devices would automatically be added.

Do you know how much data collection your ISP is doing? Your cellular provider? Google, Apple, Microsoft, etc, etc...

You should be surprised if this doesn't exist.

HeadSet says

RWSGFY says

Your device then contacts online servers that have a database of Wi-Fi access points and their geographical locations.

So there is a database of WiFi locations? Is this just for some predetermined and registered commercial spots? I do not see how home and business WiFi devices would automatically be added.

Provider knows.

HeadSet says

That does not make any sense. There is no GPS database of all home and business

Of course there is. Google maps is the most obvious example.

Traditional addresses are basically obsolete. They are used for mail, and that's it.

richwicks says

HeadSet says

That does not make any sense. There is no GPS database of all home and business

Of course there is. Google maps is the most obvious example.

Traditional addresses are basically obsolete. They are used for mail, and that's it.

My complete sentence was "There is no GPS database of all home and business WiFi locations"

Do not truncate the sentence to imply I was talking about home and business locations alone, so you could make that inane reply. You goofed bigly with that statement "Wifi identifies where wifi is available based on GPS, not the other way around."

Own you error and move on.