Boozilla

The Facebook bots are probably trying to make every lesser site feel bad about itself by comparing them to the much cooler and popular sites.

I checked my “content library” and I still have the option to download. Which is good, as I back everything up in Calibre. Maybe there are some regional factors here, or it may depend on which Kindle device(s) you own?

Thank you for the update! I would like to keep using it. I’ve been very happy with Bitwarden both as a password manager and a TOTP authenticator. I have even recommended it to my boss as an enterprise solution for us to use at work, and so far we are planning on replacing our current password database solution with Bitwarden.

Unfortunately, with “enshittification” being so common these days, it was very easy to believe they were also going to the dark side. I will remain cautiously optimistic after learning it was a packaging bug.

Here’s a link to the post on X (yes, I hate X, too) in case anyone else is doubtful:

https://x.com/Bitwarden/status/1848135725663076446

Yup, thanks. Was thinking along these same lines.

Goddammit. It’s getting to the point I’m going to have to figure out how to write my own app for this.

I’m not against passkeys. They have some real advantages. And I understand more than you think.

My comment is primarily about the preferred ecosystems that tend to come along with these newer solutions (like Apple’s iCloud or Google’s Password Manager) and how the corporations take advantage of user laziness and bandwagon jumping.

They may not force you to be exclusive with them, but they definitely want you to be. And over time they will likely make it more and more inconvenient not to be locked in with them.

For contrast, I use BitWarden for password management and Bitwarden Authenticator for TOTP (and I keep safe copies of TOTP secret keys elsewhere). This is a generic open-standards-first approach to things, with relatively easy recovery should you lose something. You can export your passwords. You have copies of your secret keys. You are in no way locked in to BitWarden forever.

Passkeys can also work within that type of operational framework! Like TOTP which normally uses RFC6238, Passkeys tend to use CTAP or WebAuthn. All of the above are open standards. And this is a good thing!

But do you really think Apple, Google, Microsoft, etc, want to play nice long term? Hopefully they will. But I have also run into evil nonsense like LastPass, which even though they also used open standards, their software would not allow you to do simple things like recover your own secret keys, export your data, etc. (Not to mention the embarrassing security breach they had and the wretched response, the main reasons to dump them).

While I am not directly comparing an idiot company like GoTo Tech with Apple et al, they all have the same types of big brain MBA types working for them who love to constantly brainstorm new ideas on how to screw the users over by taking features away and calling it a “software upgrade”.

So, passkeys as a security mechanism: sure, this gets my vote. But trusting the big corporations not to change the rules on us later…come on, get real. They love limiting or removing portability and recovery options whenever they can.

Bottom line: don’t assume passkeys are inherently good or bad. It’s simply a security standard that can work well if implemented correctly. Passkeys make logging in easier. But will they also make recovery / export / migration easier…? Because if it’s not easy, people won’t do it.

Whenever I read an article about security (and read the comments, even here on Lemmy) I’m constantly frustrated and depressed by a couple of things.

1. Corporations making things shittier with the intention of locking customers in to their stupid proprietary ecosystem. And of course, they are always seeking more data harvesting. Security itself is way down the list of their priories, if it’s even there at all.

2. Users being lazy trend-followers who quickly sacrifice their security on the altar of convenience and whatever shiny new FOMO thing is offered up for “better security”.

It’s a very bad combination. Doing security right is a bit inconvenient (which users hate) and expensive (which corporations hate).

At reddit, line must go up. So user experience must go down.

And all things Meta.

More hilarity: as of about a week ago, it appears the reddit algorithm has also started boosting posts with negative karma on their horrible mobile app. Guessing it’s a move towards ‘negative engagement’. I have not seen it myself (I don’t use the reddit app) but I see users complaining about it.

https://old.reddit.com/r/RedditAlternatives/comments/1frcdxs/it_looks_like_reddit_is_currently_trying_new_ways/

The only way to win the reddit game is to not play.

Alternative headlines:

• Dell wants to contribute to global warming for no good reason.
• Dell wants to expose workers to death by automobile for no real reason.

Thanks for the followup!

I’m with you, I think it’s probably BS. But I suppose it could be taking highly compressed low resolution snapshots.

The article which was removed for misinformation got me curious. So I finally downloaded and installed LibreWolf (which is Firefox under the hood). After using it for full day I really like it so far. Another user (thanks, @RustyNova@lemmy.world ) gave me some good tips to pay attention to the two icons to the left of the URL bar, which was very helpful.

Thanks, for the tips! I’m familiar with UBlock Origin, have been using it for ages. Good to know about the cookies and persistent login.

I’ve been meaning to try LibreWolf, here’s my chance.

Wow, I still use paint.net. My needs are pretty humble, and it still hits that sweet spot between MS Paint and Gimp.

There’s been a trend towards simplicity/minimalism in UX for a long time. Sometimes it works really well. Other times it makes it difficult to find things like setting preferences (or they just don’t implement them because the assholes think they know better than you).

For me, MS is a mixed bag. Some of the UX changes are good, some of it is horrible.

But I love a well done minimalist UX. Obsidian and Reaper are two examples that come to mind.

That’s also true. It’s less of a problem in pedestrian-heavy walkable cities and towns. But in the average American city or town covered in stroads where car is king, it’s a big problem.