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#fud
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Deception, Obfuscation & Misdirection
This is a concatenation of posts I originally made in 2016-2017--even more relevant today...
Most are familiar with the concept of #FUD—short for #Fear, #Uncertainty & #Doubt. It summarizes a strategy often used in marketing and political propaganda. Its effects are pernicious, divisive and lead to exploitation. Examples abound. Fear is a strong motivator! To resist FUD one must understand how it is practiced using the principles of #Deception, #Obfuscation and #Misdirection.
https://mdpaths.com/rrr/commentary/deception_obfuscation_misdirection/index.html
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@menel @patrick and #Signal despite their #FUD and #MarketingLies is a very #cebtralized, #SingleVendor & #SingleProvieer system relying on #GAFAMs and their #API|s as well as neither allowing #SelfCustody nor #SelfHosting.
Not to mention it's toxic followers that avt like cultists!
Infosec.SpaceKevin Karhan :verified: (@kkarhan@infosec.space)Content warning: Rant re: Signal Shills being dangerous Tech Illiterates
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@dzwiedziu @fj @signalapp not really, as the #Metadata #FUD cited by #Signal is mitigateable with proper measures.
- You can't even run Signal over @torproject and even if that point is moot when you're forced to quasi-#KYC by virtue of a #PhoneNumber aka. #PII they have neither legitimate interest nor technical reason to demand in the first place!
Every claim that things like #ITsec, #InfoSec, #OpSec & #ComSec can be solved with "Just use Signal!" is "#TechPopulism" at best if not being a "#UsefulIdiot"!
- All #centralized, #SingleVendor & #SingleProbider systems are inherently insecure!
@osman If your #OpSec, #InfoSec, #ComSec and/or #ITsec relies on @signalapp and/or @Mer__edith risking jail or worse, you fucked up!
- If #Signal was secure, it would've been shutdown like #EncroChat & #SkyECC.
Seriously, to me #Signal stenches #Honeypot like #ANØM & #CryptoAG.
- All Signal fans do is #FUD #PGP/MIME and#XMPP+#OMEMO which are truly #decentralized and allow real #SelfHosting as well as #SelfCustody for complete control of all the data and keys...
That's why I get people setup with it!
Twitterthaddeus e. grugq on Twitter“I’m gonna tell you a secret about “logless VPNs” — they don’t exist. Noone is going to risk jail for your $5/mo
https://t.co/Q2aOQJkG4g”
@scottwilson @mozillaofficial Peeps are ofc entitled to be protective of "their" #Firefox, given the passion which many of us rightfully feel about #FOSS. #Mozilla have demonstrably been disappointing many of its ardent userbase for many years, & this recent imbroglio obvs has not helped re reputational damage. All that said though, the last month'ish of global hysteria & anger has been ridiculous. The amount of conspiracy-theory'ing has been astonishing, & commonly based on nothing but #FUD. So many peeps decided that Mozilla already are evil & so choose to wilfully misinterpret every subsequent misstep as something more than it is, then refuse point blank to accept the explanations.
Meanwhile, those of us unswayed by FUD, & not interested in cutting off our nose to spite our face, simply calmly evaluate the explanations, cautiously accept them, but take the simple precautionary step as well of disabling #AI, disabling #telemetry, then continuing on with our day.
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@hoernchen72 @fasnix @expertenkommision_cyberunfall EXAKT DAS!
Oft sind das #Betrüber die Menschen dazu überreden (#SocialEngineering / #SocialHacking) und/oder entsprechend #FUD machen.
- Gibt da genug Kanäle wie "#JimBrowning" und "#ScammerPayback" die aktiv diese Dinge zerlegen.
Ist nix anderes als die #Schockanruf-Taktik, nur halt 'irgendwas mit #Cyber' und sei's nen Fake-#Popup.
- Deshalb sind #AdBlocker auch #Notwehr & #Nothilfe!
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@mauro Otoh i am officially #FUD-free.
#FirefoxNightly + #Mv2 #uBO + #Sidebery + #FirefoxSecondSidebar = THE best browsing & sophisticated tab management + Web Panel UX i've ever had, easily eclipsing Vivaldi, 
#Floorp, 
#ZenBrowser, Waterfox, LibreWolf... ergo = 
#FirefoxNightly + #NativeVerticalTabs + #uBlockOrigin + #FirefoxSecondSidebar = Very usable already as of Feb 2025, albeit less powerful than Sidebery, ergo =
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@thelinuxEXP @ryanleesipes This was just great, Nick. Kudos for doing it. IMO nothing is going to silence the #FUD from the most egregious FUDsters who emerged over the past week or so, but for those of a less conspiratorial bent, who simply were confused, more info like this should help.
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@fnwbr And yet, here i be, revelling in the delightful UX that is my , with all the #telemetry disabled, the #AI disabled, numerous other parameters hardened via my #userJS, with the exquisite #Sidebery & its infinitely-nestable tree-tabs & multiple #Workspaces on its LHS, & the brilliant project #FirefoxSecondSidebar with my 21 #WebPanels on its RHS. It's such a great daily browsing UX, unfazed by the last ten days of global #FUD [all the so-called nasties can be disabled, either via simple clicks in the Settings UI, or otherwise via about:config / user.js]. Herd-mentality is a ridiculous trait of humans.
#FirefoxNightly + #Mv2 #uBO + #Sidebery + #FirefoxSecondSidebar = THE best browsing & sophisticated tab management + Web Panel UX i've ever had, easily eclipsing Vivaldi, #Floorp, #ZenBrowser, Waterfox, LibreWolf... ergo =
#FirefoxNightly + #NativeVerticalTabs + #uBlockOrigin + #FirefoxSecondSidebar = Very usable already as of Feb 2025, albeit less powerful than Sidebery, ergo =
Have decided to give #ZenBrowser another go, but with conditions:
- #Sidebery, not its unreliable* & not-my-cup-of-tea native tabs
- #FirefoxSecondSidebar https://github.com/aminought/firefox-second-sidebar, not its unsatisfactory native #WebPanels
In case anyone wonders, this [temporary?] change from my hitherto daily [#FirefoxNightly + #Sidebery + #uBlockOrigin + #FirefoxSecondSidebar] has nothing to do with the recent global #FUD wrt Mozilla's #TOU / #EULA, but instead is due to the aesthetic pleasantness of & the desire to use its #SplitTabView #TabSplitView #TabPaneView; two undeniable advantages over Nightly.
* the Zen subreddit is full of users posting that Zen spontaneously lost all their tabs, or all their pinned tabs, or all their unpinned tabs. In my own past months of using Zen with its native #Workspaces & tabs, it also happened to me, twice, & it is most exasperating.
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@nekohayo Sigh.
Firefox's reputation is in ashes
Only in the minds of peeps more influenced by #FUD than facts.
tab workspaces (a.k.a. tab groups
Workspaces are not the same as tab groups. #FirefoxNightly has had viable native #TabGroups now for several weeks [for both H & V tab arrangements], but still has no #Workspaces. If you want actual proper literal Workspaces, you need to use any of Vivaldi, #Floorp, or #ZenBrowser. However, be aware:
- Zen is only based on FF 136, so unlike Nightly, atm does NOT have properly working Tab Groups.
- Floorp 11 is based on FF ESR, so uses its own in-house #VerticalTabs, & has no tab groups [but good Workspaces]
- Floorp 12 is atm in Beta, is based on FF 136, so does have FF's native vertical tabs, but like Zen, atm its Tab Groups are very broken [like they also once were in Nightly, but now are good, so eventually they will also come good here]. It does have Workspaces already, but atm they & many other features in this early Beta are not working properly.
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Great write up on why the #EU should adopt #GNOME as a foundation for an alternative operating system to reduce reliance on American tech corporations and as a matter of strategic autonomy and control over digital infrastructure.
https://ergaster.org/posts/2025/02/28-prosthetics-that-dont-betray/
#GNOME is a polished modern and friendly than ever before. Its developers have adopted a more minimalist approach, while #KDE, historically at least, was more tweak-able.
In fact, #Linux on the desktop could have and should have been more ubiquitous. But #microsoft has historically waged war against it when the free software movement started picking up. Most notably the 2003 "Get the Facts"— a #FUD spreading disinformation campaign, comparing Windows to #Linux on cost, security, and reliability.
Back then the worst U.S. companies like microsoft could do was to threat to close a research center in a country in which the government was exploring alternatives. That was often enough for governments to abandon their plans. #Israel in fact is a great example of that submissiveness to U.S. demands.
There’s no doubt the U.S. is using its leverage this way. It’s never been a true competition for free software, and Linux on the desktop never stood a chance for sure. Though specific needs persist, organizational dependency on proprietary systems is a conscious choice.
I’ll pin this post and overtime will add short reviews of some of the amazing software built for GNOME I’m using or coming across.
ergaster.org · Prosthetics that don't betrayTech takes a central place in our lives. Banking, and administrative tasks are happening more and more online. It's becoming increasingly difficult to get through life without a computer or a smartphone. They have become external organs necessary to live our life. I believe computers & smartphones have become prosthetics, extensions of people that should unconditionally and entirely belong to them. We must produce devices and products the general public can trust.
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@tokyo_0 Why are peeps stating then requoting this utter bollocks? Bloody hell.
inescapable ad telemetry
Here's how to opt-out, directly in the FF Settings / Preferences UI [pic].
Here's how to force it [if you QAnonly distrust the UI] via either about:config or in a user.js file:
user_pref("browser.send_pings", false);
user_pref("beacon.enabled", false);
user_pref("datareporting.policy.dataSubmissionEnable", false);
user_pref("datareporting.healthreport.uploadEnabled", false);
user_pref("accessibility.force_disabled", 1);
Has nobody on the interwebz got any critical thinking skills left? 
