A reminder: please check the computers belonging to your elderly-but-computer-using #relatives. Ensure there aren't digital nasties on there. And when I say "check", I mean look yourself, don't just ask the #relative about it.

With age, people tend to lose some of their mental #sharpness, but it's not just poor memory or fuzzy thinking. They seem to lose some critical #thinking skills, and become more #trusting than they should, or more naive. I think this is what makes older folk the favourite targets of #scammers.

Yesterday, a relative called me in a panic about their laptop. This is someone who was a very high-ranking federal police officer, in charge of investigations for a large swath of the country - not someone to be easily taken in by smooth-talkers, at least not in the past.

I went over today and asked him what happened. "Some kind of warning came up" -- i.e. the "oh noes, this is #Microsoft, your #Windows is #corrupted, please call us so we can fix it" one. I asked "Did you do anything they asked you to? Download any programs, or run any commands, or anything like that?"

"No, no, I just phoned them and after they started asking for my address I got suspicious, I didn't do anything they said."

1/x

#TechSupportScam #TechSupport #RemoteDesktop

Having an unscrutinized users' archive in 2026 is wishful thinking.

That was true years ago as well. It is not different from GitHub, but I'm afraid distro users are generally optimistic, and the availability of an immediate build script for installing the universe encourages that optimism. I would simply avoid installing anything from there.

https://fossforce.com/2026/06/arch-says-alls-clear-after-aur-malware-incident-affects-1500-packages/

I also wrote about trusting FOSS authors, which is not trivial at all.

https://lovergine.com/how-to-trust-foss-players-and-the-security-implications.html

#security #aur #trusting

Time for a fresh #introduction.

They tell me I’m chronically #trusting and #optimistic 🤜 🤛 . It’s a weakness I feel no need to address.
After the first 10 years my wife said she wasn’t going to explain my jokes any more 🙅‍♀️ , since I didn’t seem to care if anyone laughed anyway. That was a while back, and our #kids now have the same policy.

Professionally I’m what happens if a #scientist 🥼 looks at themselves and asks what that’s for. Spoiler: it ended up being about people, and how #technology can make our world better 🌍.
My last ricochet took me from #digital #economy to the one place that hasn’t been corrupted by capitalism: #space! 🚀 🛰️ 📡 .

I've become a delocalised European 🇪🇺 🇬🇧 🇪🇸 who rarely sleeps five nights in the same bed these days. Not even for the fun reason.

But I came here in the Great Relocation of 2022 to escape from all that, and to hear about your #pets 😻 and #hobbies 🧶
It’s quiet here, away from the road noise and the shouting. You can hear the birds sing 🐥 🎵