Michael Jenkins

@MHS_Jenkins@floss.social
6 Followers
25 Following
48 Posts
#FOSS enthusiast, #gardener, #writer, and few other things. I read a lot.
This is what the novel "Frankenstein" was about. We never learn.

So now that we have realistic AI-generated human video with realistic voices, what happens when one of them says publicly "I'm being held against my will and I want to hire an attorney."?

#AI #LLM #machinelearning #thesingularity #herewego

I'm not anti #AI but this is getting disturbing . . .

(Yes it's from Xwitter. Sorry about that)

https://x.com/AISafetyMemes/status/1927073653126025530

AI Notkilleveryoneism Memes ⏸️ (@AISafetyMemes) on X

🚨🚨🚨 "We found the model attempting to write self-propagating worms, and leaving hidden notes to future instances of itself to undermine its developers' intentions."

X (formerly Twitter)

Swiss surveillance could become worse than US

If passed, Swiss chat, email & VPN providers must:

🚨 Log IP addresses
🚨 Ask for ID upon sign up
🚨 Decrypt data upon request

Let's fight for privacy! 👉 https://tuta.com/blog/switzerland-surveillance-plan

Redirecting to: https://tuta.com/blog/switzerland-surveillance-plan

DeGoogling is possible, and it doesn't need to be difficult. 👏

Take a look at our in-depth guide of Google alternatives to learn how you can take back your privacy in 2025. ❤️🔒

👉 https://tuta.com/blog/how-to-leave-google-gmail

Have you already DeGoogled? If so, let us know your favorite Google-free apps.

#DeGoogle #GoogleAlternatives #PrivacyMatters

Best private Google alternatives: The ultimate list to deGoogle in 2025. | Tuta

2025 is the year to deGoogle! In this guide, we take a look at the best private Google alternatives so that you can say hello to privacy!

Tuta
Just made my annual donations to @linuxfoundation, @fsf, and @torproject. Let's all do our part to keep digital freedom alive.

La UE pone en marcha su propia base de datos de seguimiento de vulnerabilidades, mientras su equivalente de EE.UU. ve su futuro amenazado por la falta de fondos.

https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/

EUVD

European Vulnerability Database

The European Commission's "ProtectEU" strategy aims to address internal security threats but threatens digital rights by promoting #surveillance measures like #encryption backdoors and increased data retention.

It also seeks to strengthen agencies like Europol and Frontex, despite their abusive histories.

Thanks to #EDRi for their ongoing efforts to protect Europeans’ digital rights.

@edri

https://edri.org/our-work/protecteu-security-strategy-a-step-further-towards-a-digital-dystopian-future/

#ProtectEU #EU #DigitalRights #Privacy #Surveillance #Tech

‘ProtectEU’ security strategy - European Digital Rights (EDRi)

The European Commission presented an internal security strategy that would undermine digital rights and even increase security threats.

European Digital Rights (EDRi)
While I'm bugging the #hivemind for feedback and ideas: Who can recommend a good #passwordManager for a #LinuxMint and #Debian user? I'll repay your wisdom with virtual #highfives and a #follow if you're so inclined.
Hey folks: any fellow #Debian or #LinuxMint folks running #Opendoas in lieu of #sudo ? Just curious as to how well it's working and if it's worth making the shift.
×

DeGoogling is possible, and it doesn't need to be difficult. 👏

Take a look at our in-depth guide of Google alternatives to learn how you can take back your privacy in 2025. ❤️🔒

👉 https://tuta.com/blog/how-to-leave-google-gmail

Have you already DeGoogled? If so, let us know your favorite Google-free apps.

#DeGoogle #GoogleAlternatives #PrivacyMatters

@Tutanota
Glad to see an updated version!
And glad to see FUTO keyboard on there as well.

For 2FA apps I always now recommend @ente . it's open source. it's a good looking app. and works perfectly. with backup even !

For search there's also
@kagihq
and they offer a very good translation service as well: https://translate.kagi.com/

(btw, stupid ocd thing: the bottom right, it's actually 'origanic maps' not 'organic map' xd)

Kagi Translate

Kagi Translate uses powerful AI models to instantly and accurately translate any content in any language.

@thibaultmol @Tutanota @ente @kagihq I second the kagi ecosystem. As for organic maps there is some ongoing drama atm.

https://openletter.earth/open-letter-to-organic-maps-shareholders-a0bf770c

Open Letter to Organic Maps Shareholders

@xrazis @thibaultmol @Tutanota @ente @kagihq thanks for linking the OrganicMaps letter! I've been using OrganicMaps which is a quite decent front-end for OpenStreetMaps on Android, but now I'll be following this fork & switching when it's ready.
@xrazis @Tutanota @ente @kagihq fair yeah, I'm very aware of the situation but I had forgotten to even mention it.
Thx!
@xrazis @thibaultmol @Tutanota @ente @kagihq There's also some drama with Kagi, although I have to say it's a neat search engine and literally anything is better than Google. 
https://d-shoot.net/kagi.html
Why I Lost Faith in Kagi

Issues with Kagi's AI focus, finances and leadership

lori's blog
@mcbaumwolle @xrazis
* about the ai stuff: it's optional, unlike google which gives you an unwanted ai overview for each search. Kagi only does it if you press a button or add a question mark at the end.
@thibaultmol @Tutanota @kagihq @ente Is FUTO keyboard on @fdroid ? Im starting to use alot of fossify.org/about/ apps. Hope fully they will be on ActivityPub soon.
Fossify | About us

Astro description

@thibaultmol @Tutanota @kagihq @ente Actually Fossify keyboard is coooool!

@abeorch I'm still stuck on gboard. There's three things I need that a keyboard
- Multilingual without switching
- typing by swiping
- accurate voice dictation

#Futo already has that 3rd point covered with FUTO Voice Input (which uses a local Whisper model).
The second point they have as well, mostly. (They're only open source keyboard with an actual decent swipe to type system.)
But they don't have the ability yet to do language detection swiping.

@thibaultmol @Tutanota @ente @kagihq Kagi gets funded by Yandex which is a company in Russia. I would not trust them at all.

You want proof? Just do a search online for kagi yandex or kagi russia support and you'll find some sources.

I would recommend SearxNG instead.

@edgren they don't.....
I see that you found resources that said kagi and Russian and yandex... But I think you misunderstood what you probably found.
Yandex doesn't fund kagi.
Kagi uses a bunch of different search indexes, one of them is Yandex.

@edgren During any given search, it will pull from a variety of different search providers and deliver a combined search results page which is much better than each of the individual engines.

So kagi is paying Yandex for services just like how they're paying other search providers.
Yandex is just one many... So only 2% of infra cost is spent on yandex.

What I personally prefer to not have any money go to yandex... Yeah.
If I could turn off yandex on kagi, i would

@thibaultmol The Mandela effect is huge when it comes to me. Kagi doesn't get funded by Yandex. It's the other way around.

Source: https://old.reddit.com/r/ukraine/comments/1gvcqua/psa_the_kagi_search_engine_directly_funds_yandex/

If you want to continue using and maybe even supporting Kagi, go ahead 🙂 I can't stop anyone from doing this. But I can give them information.

@edgren I don't mind you commenting this on my post btw! Just wanted to add that correction 👍
@Tutanota Me: Tuta Mail, Tuta Calendar, LibreTranslate, DuckDuckGo Search, Bitwarden, DeltaChat, LibreWolf, LibreOffice, F-Droid, Ente Auth, NextCloud and OpenStreetMap. 🙌

@Tutanota
Great list but the fact that you never suggest Matrix for chatting pisses me off.

Matrix is much better and transparent than Signal. And it is decentralized.

@alavi @Tutanota

Matrix or Deltachat seem like the ideal for this one. Maybe they're seen as too power-usery?
#degoogle #demeta #matrix #deltachat #instantMessaging

@doboprobodyne @alavi @Tutanota Nah i think they are pretty easy to use
@Tutanota @mailbox_org deserves way more categories than just e-mail! So far the most integrated solution (mail, contacts, calendar, drive, office, conferencing, etc.) that compares to Google Workspace or M365 feature wise.
@Tutanota Session Chat and Brave are closely associated with cryptocurrencies and other shady businesses. I would argue strongly against recommending them!
And in addition to that, the security of session is highly questionable and there shouldn't be any reason to use it over signal and threema.
@mxk @Tutanota I'm looking for a backup for Threema atm and Session doesn't seem so bad from what i've read - at least in regards to security. Could you elaborate on your concerns in that regard?

@illythekid @Tutanota they switched to their own protocol when breaking with signal and in the process killed perfect forward secrecy and their explanation why it wouldn't be important just shows, that they don't understand what they are talking about. - if you need more than threema and signal, jabber or element are the two systems I would consider.
https://getsession.org/session-protocol-explained

Also, one simply does not use block chain stuff.

Migrating from the Oxen Network to Session Network - Session Private Messenger

The Session Network is a new decentralised network with the purpose of supporting and amplifying Session. This change makes it easier for newcomers to understand Session's design, makes operating a node in the network simpler than ever, and unlocks new integrations with useful blockchain technologies.

Session
@mxk @Tutanota - one reason to use Session is that an account does not need an email or a phone number to be set up. As for its supposed security issues, to my knowledge those were alleged by a single evaluator, and fwiw, Session replied on those concerns here - https://getsession.org/blog/a-response-to-recent-claims-about-sessions-security-architecture
Anyway, I don't think Session is necessarily a better choice than Signal or Threema for most user cases, but I think it can be valuable in some others.
Migrating from the Oxen Network to Session Network - Session Private Messenger

The Session Network is a new decentralised network with the purpose of supporting and amplifying Session. This change makes it easier for newcomers to understand Session's design, makes operating a node in the network simpler than ever, and unlocks new integrations with useful blockchain technologies.

Session
@TotalSonic @Tutanota no. They haven't.
This reply only proofs they don't understand the issues themself.
And even if you are a cryptographer and decide thats not relevant to you, the fact that it's a "block chain" project still should be sufficient reason not to use/recommend it under any circumstances.
@Tutanota Tuta Drive? Can't waiting for. 🤩
@Andi_Berlin It's in development 😎
Simple Keyboard | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository

Simply keyboard and nothing more

@Tutanota Brave was founded and is run by a homophobic, cryptocurrency-using anti-masker, who (perhaps worst of all) created Javascript, so, I'd rather not thanks
@tamewhale Good point, I did not know that and I was thinking about trying it. I use Duckduckgo and Vivaldi, haven't found any crap regarding their founders...
@Tutanota any keyboard options for iOS?
@Tutanota

- s/Searx/Searxng/, as Searx has been abandoned and it hasn't seen a commit in 3 years.

- Worth adding Proton to the alternative mail services too

- Worth adding Matrix and Jitsi to the Meet alternatives too

- Nextcloud anywhere?

@fabio @Tutanota
"Worth adding Proton to the alternative mail services too"
Well, this is a Tuta promotion blog so I doubt they'll do that lol.

"Matrix"
Matrix is a horrible UX in my experience, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

DeepL is a good translator.

https://www.deepl.com

DeepL Translate: The world's most accurate translator

Translate texts & full document files instantly. Accurate translations for individuals and Teams. Millions translate with DeepL every day.

@Tutanota Replace Searx with SearXNG since the former is no longer maintained.
Add OrganicMaps for maps (it uses OSM data), and Jitsi for video conferencing.
@Tutanota @alter i just changed my keyboard, and I'm thrilled how faster my typing got! Thanks
@althieme @alter Awesome. We're glad to hear that 😎
@Tutanota cool. J'aime pas open street du coup j essaye osmand. Merci tout le reste a déjà été changé

@Tutanota

This is awesome, shared with my family!

Is there any reason not to list Nextcloud as a Drive/Docs alternative? it works great!

@potatoes_fall @Tutanota they also didn't list DeepL for translation services, and recommended Brave (you know, the browser that serves you ads, does crypto shit, and afaik was started because "Firefox went woke" or some shit) services 💀
@Tutanota Can anyone recommend an office suite that could replace Google Workspace? My small company is all remote and we need to be able to have a unified mail solution, as well as a way to collaborate on web-based documents. We primarily use mail, calendar, drive, and docs/sheets. I've been looking but I haven't found anything that would allow us to easily transition away.

@leftyknowitall @Tutanota Online, ZOHO Apps is close. Free and paid access available, similar offerings. (At one point ZOHO was Yahoo's Work Apps if I remember correctly. They spun off and continued development.)

Offline, LibreOffice is pretty good. Does most of what I used MS Office for. Exports their doc formats as well. Free.

@leftyknowitall
Have you tested Proton (Drive/Docs) or Cryptpad so far?

@Tutanota

A wrestling streaming service I use recently added Google Pay to process their credit card transactions. I felt so disappointed.

@Tutanota I thought Odysee was the de facto YouTube replacement.
@Jmvars @Tutanota you can't really choose your video-platform, because it's the content-creators' choice. I watch a lot on Nebula, because the creators can decide what to upload without the fear of demonetization.

@Tutanota use VaultWarden instead of Bitwarden. It's a self-hosted server compatible with Bitwarden Client Apps. And it's FOSS.

#Vaultwarden

@Tutanota Finding a Google Drive replacement was toughest and I finally settled on Aukland based MEGA; it offers 20g free. 5-Eye country and Hong Kong owned, but I encrypt everything before loading to the cloud anyways. They also have a Linux app.
@Fat_Farang @Tutanota Have you checked Filen? I paid for the one-time payment (30 euros, which is a lot for me since I am on the other side of the world) and it totally worth it.
@Tutanota Possible, certainly. Not difficult? I'm not convinced.
@Tutanota Very misleading to list LineageOS and e/os as alternatives to Android. They are highly insecure in many ways compared to a stock Android install. Even CalyxOS isn't really adding any benefit, but at least they still keep very basic security features like verified boot intact.

@Tutanota I have high hopes for #LibreTranslate and have played around with it a bit. Sadly, at least for Japanese to English, the results are not quite at a quality level where I would use it as my main translation engine.

Really looking forward to what that project might become a few years from now.