PassingThrough

@PassingThrough@lemm.ee

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Hacker advertises alleged database of 89 million Steam 2FA codes⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  So what are the details of the risk here? Can texted 2FA use old codes to math out new ones? Is it just that they know which phone number goes to an account they can do another kind of attack on to get new codes?

  From what I read these are old texted one time codes. Good one time, generally only for a few minutes. Useless now.

  Or is this bad only because there’s a breach somewhere, they don’t know where, and who knows what else they have?

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Low flow toilets⁩ ⁨⁨1⁩ ⁨week⁩ ago⁩:

  Some low flow models are created so that you just press it to run enough water to down a piss, but hold it to unleash all the stored water to down anything more. That was the point of them, save water by fixing the obvious problem of downing a tank of water over a little urine. But unless you bought the toilet or were told, you don’t know that, and that’s where a lot of the issue comes from. Same interface as any other, different expected input and results.

  On the other hand, I once had an old toilet that did require multiple flushes. It was not a low flow, and there was nothing wrong with the toilet. Years of accumulation had restricted the plumbing like 30 feet down. Plumber eventually sorted that out.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Survey for curiosity: How many readers are in a library network that holds video games?⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Mine used to, but they stopped.

  I asked why, and they said in the worst case some people would steal them. Maybe they just kept them or “lost” them, or they returned the cases without the game. With something like the Nintendo chips the theft would be obvious, but a couple of disk style ones had labels forged too. A stupid crime, given the last borrower would simply be fined.

  On average though, there were a lot of difficulties keeping them in working order. Apparently they were reported non-functional more than DVDs, and despite a contract with a cleaning and restoration company still had a high failure rate requiring frequent replacement. Which is really kinda funny given how 90% of the time the disk is just a DRM token for an online download, shouldn’t be that susceptible to failure from minor damage…

  Anyway between these costs and an analysis that physical game media was on the way out the door(probably mostly the costs), the program was discontinued and you can’t borrow games around here anymore.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Reminder if you're leaving Discord for this Revolt server ( Linux + Steam Deck devs / creators)⁩ ⁨⁨3⁩ ⁨weeks⁩ ago⁩:

  Well, you see IRC and forums went together because they filled two different needs and we understood that back in the day.

  IRC was for chatting, short, quick real time communication that would be lost to the ether as soon as you signed off, unless you had a bouncer or log bot.

  Forums were for long information, be that long posts or posts that needed to endure for a long time. Sure you’d get some one liner responses to those posts, but forums were not at all instant like IRC. Though the information did stay much longer, and was much more searchable and organized.

  Discord has spoiled us, being quick and chatty while also allowing for longer posts and being searchable. At least within the Discord client. Shoot they even added those “forum” channels to replicate the old forum feel. But real time.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Receipt checkers trigger me⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I think you have it right. Refusing the check is not alone sufficient grounds, and that is why if you (politely, no reason to be a jerk, they’re just cogs in a machine working for a pittance) refuse and walk away, they just turn to the next one.

  It is, as many have concurred, for show. The idea that you may get asked, the anxiety that develops thinking you might get caught, deters all but the most hardened thieves. Same with exterior lights on a home; before cameras what good did a lightbulb do to stop a thief? Does a lightbulb injure or detain a thief? Call the cops for you? No. It upsets their resolve. The light may make them visible to a witness they aren’t aware of. And a witness might call the cops or hurt them. On to a darker house, then!

  It’s not just about what’s legal for the store employees to do either. Were I a thief, I wouldn’t be worried the manager is going to ban me from the store, or the frail old lady they have at the door is a threat, I’d be more concerned what vigilante schmuck is going to “help” the store by taking matters into his own hands after he overhears me arguing with the greeter or manager. The store gives up after you leave the sidewalk, “hometown heroes” don’t.

  Straight theft aside, I imagine it also helps them recover some losses from mistakes. Any time they catch somebody with legit missed items under the cart and guide them towards fixing it, loss averted. Start noticing it happens a lot from a particular cashier or self checkout supervisor and get them corrected, more losses averted. I imagine you’d need a fairly wide sample set to figure it out?

  It’s not a…totally unfair concept in theory, but they really aught to find a way to make it feel less adversarial and it would be more tolerable.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Receipt checkers trigger me⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I understand that each state makes adjustments to this which may grant more or less powers, but here’s a Wikipedia on the overall concept:

  en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shopkeeper's_privilege

  So for example during the aforementioned security theater at the doors, someone who is legally a representative of the company ownership(generally the managers making salaries are bonded to this) is doing their best to catch someone in the act of stealing, putting something in a coat, loading a cart and bypassing the register, etc, and this gives them grounds for some mild detainment. This apparently covers them stopping you at the door or firmly requesting you join them in their office to clear things up(and wait for the real authorities), and means no one questions if they grab the cart which is company property and doesn’t let you leave with it.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Receipt checkers trigger me⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  I once sat and chatted with one of these guys waiting for a bad downpour to stop. Being stopped sucks, I know, but here’s some insider information:

  They are stopping you for appearances. They absolutely are skimming your receipt, they really don’t care about you personally. It’s all circus.

  If they are looking, they are looking for the big loss items. That TV that gets rung up in the back, was it actually rung up? The water case under the cart coming from self checkout? Another big loser for the company. Coming with a tote or loaded cart from the wrong direction is a little obvious to everyone.

  Every other stop is for show. To remind the tote runner they are watching. To make the TV thief skittish. It’s all about appearances and breaking down resolve. The door guys can’t stop you, but they can make you afraid that they are vigilant and someone who can is waiting(and the salarymen can, shopkeeper’s privilege apparently). It does work, loaded carts abandoned near the doors apparently testify to the effectiveness.

  Some door hosts get by with being passive, they are supposed to be pretty chill and friendly, and dial up the theatrics when someone is reported to be suspicious or when a “frequent flyer” walks in. But that just makes it seem discriminatory and unbalanced so apparently some managers want the theatrics 24/7 to avoid the complaints of unfair treatment.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨[deleted]⁩ ⁨⁨2⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  In the video game Wolfenstein, the side character Tekla goes on a wonderful rant about the continuity of consciousness.

  youtube.com/watch?v=_4oU7sB_AJ0

  If you want a darker aspect, the game SOMA is all about this concept, though it is meant as a horror game, so it explores all the worst outcomes.

• ⁨Comment⁩ on ⁨Crisco in a Terracotta: Decoding the (Mostly) Useless Candle Meme⁩ ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨months⁩ ago⁩:

  It’s not that there is superior heat output, it’s that there is superior heat collection and observation.

  Not familiar with the meme directly, taking your attached picture example I can guess why they think it’s better.

  It’s trapped closer to them.

  Heat, that you recognize exists but rose out of reach to the ceiling, is now trapped near the observation area. The pot is trapping it and radiating it much closer to the person thinking they’ve just solved the universe.

  It’s observable. Like people who don’t understand the need for vaccines because they’ve never personally seen the disease the vaccine helped beat down, a majority of people struggle to grasp theory, and direct observation is all they understand.