### Issue 1251 - Tuesday 17th November, 2020

## In Today's Issue

- Apple makes changes to Gatekeeper app verification program after backlash
- Github has a moment of clarity, restores youtube-dl repo & creates $1m developer legal fund
- ASIO's information campaign to warn of spies posing as headhunters on social media
- Starlink satellite internet beta testers are very pleased with the service
- Cheap refurb iPhone 7, Sony noise cancelling headphones, Edifier active bookshelf speakers, Dell 27" monitor, Theme Hospital

## The News

### Apple makes changes to Gatekeeper app verification program after backlash

Apple must have noticed the nerd outrage regarding its slightly creepy app verification system, because it quietly updated the support document titled "Safely open apps on your Mac" where they explain some bits of Gatekeeper. At the bottom of the page they said that "we have stopped logging IP addresses associated with Developer ID certificate checks, and we will ensure that any collected IP addresses are removed from logs" - which is nice, but should never have been collected in the first place. Apple also mentioned that over the next year they'll create "a new encrypted protocol for Developer ID certificate revocation checks, strong protections against server failure and a new preference for users to opt out of these security protections". Cool, I look forward to the changes, hope it doesn't end up like open sourcing FaceTime...

### Github restores youtube-dl repo after backlash

GitHub has re-instated youtube-dl's repository and created a $1m legal defense fund, fighting back against spurious RIAA takedown notices. In a blog post GitHub said that they're also pissed off with these half-arsed requests to take down repos and will now set a higher bar for shutting down a code repository, notify the affected repo owner, educate them on what's going on and be more transparent about why a repo was taken down. Full credit to GitHub here, the blog post goes into a significant amount of detail about what the DMCA is and everyone's obligations regarding it. The icing on the cake is a $1m donation to the EFF and Software Freedom Law centre to set up a fund for open source developer legal assistance.

### ASIO's information campaign after backlash to warn of spies posing as headhunters on social media

ASIO has launched Think Before You Click, a campaign to remind people "to be mindful of what personal and professional information they post online", because "the friendly, generous young person claiming to be a global head-hunter or thinktank researcher might actually be a foreign spy trying to win your trust and steal your secrets". That's right folks, you have permission from ASIO to call your boss a cunt on LinkedIn and log off for your country! Be a good, compliant citizen and print out these A3 posters then put them up in your workplace so your gullible co-workers don't go selling us out to the Chinese under the pretence they're gonna get the job of their dreams.

## Something I Saw On The Internet

### Starlink satellite internet beta testers are very pleased with the service

Good news for those of us who dream of living in the middle of bumfuck nowhere, but would also hang themselves from a tall tree without a decent internet connection - Starlink's claims aren't the typical Elon Musk bullshit. There are beta testers in the wild now and some of them posted on Reddit about their experience. In bad weather they're finding "upload speeds have varied from 10Mbps to 30Mbps and download speeds from 15Mbps to 120Mbps" with 20ms to 40ms latency. Not bad! The main problem seems to be jitter, which plays havoc with live/unbuffered audio/video like Zoom. This is likely because the full Starlink constellation isn't active yet.

## Bargains

- Refurbished iPhone 7 32GB & $30 Optus SIM - $259 from Cellmate
- Sony WH-1000XM3 noise cancelling headphones - $279 from Kogan
- Edifier R980T active bookshelf speakers - $79 from Amazon
- Dell S2721D 27" 1440p IPS monitor - $219.65 from Dell's eBay store @ 6pm
- Theme Hospital PC game - $2.09 from GOG

## The End

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