Comments on: Annotated 39-14

By: Thrawcheld

Thrawcheld — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 13:09:28 +0000

I’ve been saying all that for literal decades, but unfortunately network effects are unavoidable. Sure, anyone can host their own Jabber server, but if all your friends only use MSN Messenger, then that’s what you have to use to talk to them. Same with Zoom: there’ve been SIP-based solutions for ages, but even my technophobe mum can use Zoom, and so do all the people she wants to talk to.

TBH I’ve never been all that concerned about Zoom/Microsoft keeping a record of video conversations because a) that would be highly illegal, and b) there’s no way they have that much storage.

By: Zahin

Zahin — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 05:32:10 +0000

Much thanks. Looking forward to it.

By: T

Mon, 29 Nov 2021 01:33:29 +0000

I’ll see if I can swing this later. Still a bit tired and busy after a weekend with family.

By: Zak McKracken

Zak McKracken — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 01:01:26 +0000

On another note, I think JJ made a blunder there.
Had he not get carried away, he could have used Kaye as a hostage to pressure the others into doing what he wants them to. Now, he’s left himself no option but to kill them all. Shanna and Xan don’t know Kaye, but they still wouldn’t be able to just shrug it off and do their thing.

By: Zak McKracken

Zak McKracken — Mon, 29 Nov 2021 00:55:14 +0000

Whaaaa…unmute *other people*? I think I’M glad I never used Sykpe.
Not that Teams or Zoom were so much better but … gee. If I mute myself or turn off my camera, it’s because I *want* the microphone to be muted and the camera to not film me. Nobody else should be permitted to change that setting.

And on that note, a PSA:
Please, people, don’t use Teams or Zoom. There’s Jitsi and BigBlueButton (and Signal and Threema and a few others for 1:1 communication), both of which have a concept of privacy, are open source, self-hostable, and there are a bunch of companies out there who will gladly host a server for you if you like to, instead of using a service run by a company who’s currently making only a fraction of the money needed to keep the servers running but is valuated at 60 times their yearly turnover — thus economically forced to either make money off the data they extract from users, or to get into a position where it can’t be easily replaced, and then sell out to MAGAF, who will then “keep it as an independent unit”, i.e. cross-correlate any data point they can lay their hands on with any other data point they already have to try and get you to hitch up to the matrix or sell you shit, or flood you with propaganda, or rat you out to the authorities, depending on what country you live in and what the service happens to believe you happen think of its government.

Sorry, I had to get that out of my system. Private communication is only private if no megacorporation keeps a record of everything you say. Ask Xan, he knows I’m right.