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At first I was a bit confused about why The Onion’s spin-off site had a cloud offering, but that one is called ClickHole.


In theory couldn't it tunnel ethernet over the TB4 cable?


if you're connecting the display to a machine, why not just use the machine's OS at that point?


You could plug the monitor to a router through a Thunderbolt or USC-C to Ethernet adapter. An A13 SOC just for image and audio processing feels overkill, and making the screen autonomous would have been a great way to justify it.

Although making a new user interface on top of iOS is a lot of work. Bare iOS SpringBoard on a $1.6k display won't cut it. tvOS would've been great if the monitor had wireless, but now you need to bump the price, and it feels like you're selling a very overpriced 27 inch smart TV. And I don't think the A13 can smoothly drive a 5k display.


You can now renew your AppleCare+ on eligible iPhones, iPads and Macs at a monthly/yearly rate after the 2-3 year coverage period expires as long as you do it within 30 days of expiration: https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT210580

Would highly recommend extending for a laptop needing this many repairs.


Only in the US afaik...


Very interesting concept, but I'd recommend people check out GRDB[1] if you're in search of a mature persistence layer for your iOS apps. It's a modern SQLite wrapper with a lot of conveniences for application development like value types, Codable mapping, Combine observables, etc.

I've deployed it in production on a few apps so far, and it has been a real joy to use.

1. https://github.com/groue/GRDB.swift


Sure. I like the idea of FlatBuffers. I think GRDB is also good as I'm reading more and more about it. Thanks for sharing.



I would love to see all “Share the Road” signs replaced with “Bicycles May Use Full Lane” [1] signs. This is the law in California but many motorists are unaware, or don’t care.

1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bicycles_May_Use_Full_Lane


This makes it seem like it would be some kind of exception. Bikes can ALWAYS use the full lane!


Perhaps put it on billboards so that it's clear that it applies to all roads, not just that one road.

I'd also suggest putting it on driving tests, but I've never taken a state driving test where they go through and make sure you understand which questions you got wrong.


I agree.

Though my dad thinks you only have to slow for pedestrians where there is a posted sign reminding you of that fact. So you can't win.

("Can't win" doesn't mean you shouldn't try.)


Agree, my personal experience: walking from Walmart parking lot to walmart doors, crossing the hatched pattern section of asphalt exactly in front of entrance, half of the drivers do not stop even after looking at me. Sunny day, perfect visibility. Might be the reason that its a majority white republican county with pickup trucks.


I would appreciate these disclosures a lot more if the author didn’t always include a flippant dismissal of security architecture improvements in macOS. Yes, it’s harder to write software with sandboxing and other modern security techniques, but that doesn’t mean we should go back to how things were.


It's not flippant, read through the author's history: https://lapcatsoftware.com/articles/index.html

This is a serious stance of his, with a lot of serious data and arguments to back it up, from a serious engineer who has written an impressive list of Mac software both for Apple and for Apple's customers.


You did use the word serious enough to make it compelling. But the author’s biography doesn’t mean that his comment wasn’t flippant.

He’s proved that an well-behaved, codesigned app can list file metadata about files in restricted directories. He hasn’t proven the sandbox compromised.

You claim he has so much serious evidence, link us there. Don’t just string adjectives together.

I have great respect for Jeff, but he is one of the more outspoken complainant Apple devs. At least he has a better basis for his commentary than DHH.


A well behaved, codesigned app being able to list metadata about files in restricted directories is a sandbox compromise. In what viewpoint is it not?


As pointed out by the most voted top level comment it's a kernel issue.


That doesn't mean it's not an issue.

I would like Apple to not roll out BS prompts that make my life more difficult until those prompts are actually capable of protecting some of the most sensitive data on my machine.


A kernel issue where it fails to adequately enforce the sandbox?


whatever man. you had a good go at me the other day. you're right I'm wrong, and HN is no longer the place for me


Did I? The only other interaction I had with you recently that I can find is a discussion about Apple's security policies, which seemed fairly reasonable to me.


The biggest issue with the author is that he complains both about the controlling/locked down nature of Apple’s platforms and about any bugs that show up in that system.

I.e. His goal is to criticize Apple no matter what they do, because he dislikes the fact that they are no longer producing the kind of open system he prefers.


I think the angle he has is “Apple should remove these protections because they can’t implement them correctly”.


Yeah, which doesn’t seem reasonable, especially when mixed in with a bunch of assumptions about ill intent.

There are an enormous number of protections and a small number of issues, which do eventually get fixed, and of course the threats are undeniable.

However you are right that Apple is notoriously had at communicating about bugs.


At least in this case, the lack of reaction from Apple shows that his accusations are not baseless. Don't blame it on the messenger.


My thoughts exactly. If this was just an overlooked bug, which was reported to Apple and which Apple then fixed, that would be the system working as intended.

In reality, a very simple bug was reported more than a year ago, and Apple apparently hasn't cared enough to fix it. The only way I can interpret that is to conclude Apple doesn't really care about the integrity of their sandbox.

IMO, this more than justifies the author's accusation of "security theater". My browsing history is among the most sensitive data on my machine—certainly more private than anything in my Documents folder, which Apple felt the need to protect in a highly-disruptive way. I agree that it can be worth trading some degree of usability for privacy and security, but only if those privacy benefits are real. If they're not, then we're left in the worst of both worlds.

It's really quite damning.


> The only way I can interpret that is to conclude Apple doesn't really care about the integrity of their sandbox.

There are many other ways to interpret it. Here is one completely made-up example that I created just now for this reply:

"Apple can't lock this down further without breaking open() calls in the majority of existing applications; therefore, they made a pragmatic choice to allow this issue to exist until their long-term roadmap plan to remove direct disk access to protected folders ships in a future macOS update; while declining to share their decision with the reporter, as is completely normal for Apple."

If you define "security theater" as "any practice that would not stand up to a human attacker", then all security is guaranteed by definition to be security theater, since all security protections will be found to have weaknesses, compromises, and design decisions that could be theoretically exploited. That definition is clearly non-viable in reality, and so all security decisions — even Apple's — will have unpalatable outcomes that do not invalidate the relevance of security.


> while declining to share their decision with the reporter, as is completely normal for Apple

This is completely normal for Apple, but that doesn’t make it OK for them to treat security fixes like product launches where they can choose an arbitrary timeline and keep the reporter hanging forever.


Sure but it also doesn’t justify innuendo about Apple not caring about privacy.

You know as well as I do that this stuff is complicated.


Yeah, it probably is; maybe it requires substantial changes in the kernel or something. The issue is that Apple never communicates this, they just sit on bugs until they fix them. This is a really poor experience for people reporting issues.


These security features are only nominally about protecting the user. Apple implements them to protect their services and platforms from competition and sells them via the privacy argument.

Does it happen to improve the security situation? Yes, for many people it does. Is it worth the cost? That's debatable, especially because of Apple's apparent apathy (and occasional hostility) towards the community.


> These security features are only nominally about protecting the user. Apple implements them to protect their services and platforms from competition and sells them via the privacy argument.

Stallman[1] and others[2] have talked about just this issue for over a decade now.

[1] https://www.gnu.org/philosophy/can-you-trust.en.html

[2] https://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/tcpa-faq.html


This is explicitly untrue.


Haven't you ever thought that the flippant attitude is exactly why you are able to learn of this now (and not 10 years later/if at all)? If everyone was "policy abiding" folks who will give a megacorp the benefit of the doubt, these won't be disclosed for years.

The flippant attitude is exactly why and how you are reading of all these vulnerabilities now.

Knowledge of the issue (but enduring "flippancy") or not knowing it at all? You pick.

What I'm really saying is that this "flippancy" is the agency that's making someone write a blog post, sign their name to it, put it out there with code samples, etc. You dismissing "flippancy" is insulting the agency of this. Without that emotion, that idea where they thought Apple wasn't treating them well, that is the source where people find the energy to publish, to publicise.

Every single word takes strength to write. In this case, the flippancy was the driving force and it shows clearly.

Why would you dismiss that energy?

And no, it's not the author's job to "shield" you from the wrath of their flippancy. I take it and I thank "flippancy" for disclosing this issue.


We shouldn’t put the burden on the bug finder to be “nice” and persistent about doing Apple’s job for them. We should put the burden on Apple - the first trillion dollar company - to take bug reports seriously. Given that iOS and macOS have pretty novice security vulnerabilities (allowing apps to view Safari browsing history, allowing iOS apps to detect if a device is jailbroken), why is it up to the bug finder to be nice about it?


Then you should probably stop reading security disclosures. Security researchers tend not to be terribly considerate of egos.

> but that doesn’t mean we should go back

I don't think you understand the author's stance.


If you’re concerned about your carbon footprint and live within 2.5 miles of work, you might want to consider a bicycle instead! Regular cycling has made a profoundly positive impact to my life, and I would highly encourage you to explore that as an option.


I think you're right. I've been thinking for a while that the real future in electric vehicles is not Teslas or any EV to replace a car but Ebikes. Cheap, great range and you're getting some exercise and for every person on a bike. Other traffic flows better.


I'll go a step further and say that this is in a way more wasteful. For the previous commute, driving was at least necessary. Driving 2.5 miles is like having a gas-powered robot fetch the morning newspaper.


Ebikes are good options too


If you’re concerned about your carbon footprint

If he was concerned about his carbon footprint, he would think producing 2 tons of CO2 a year through programming to be unimportant.


If you keep a customer with a recurring subscription for a year, Apple reduces its cut to 15%. This applies to all developers: https://www.apple.com/ios/app-store/principles-practices/


But based on the articles I've read, it sounds like it's 15% for all new subscriptions too, not just recurring subscriptions over a year.

https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/30/21348108/apple-amazon-pri...

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-07-29/apple-con...


Yes but Apple has stated that it’s a special program for video subscriptions that other developers can and has joined even before Apple (eg: Canal+). The terms are not public but it looks like they’re made available as an option to developers that have apps in that market. It looks like the discount is available if your app implements all features in the Apple video ecosystem (AirPlay2, Apple TV native app, etc.)


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