Do Not Learn To Code

PinePhone Pro announced Specs

• 6" 1440x720 IPS display w/ Gorilla glass
  • Replacement display costs $35
• 1.5GHz 6-core CPU
• 4GB LPDDR4
• 128GB internal storage (with SD slot that accepts up to a 2TB SD card, wtf)
• 13/5MP cameras
• 3AH battery

While mobile Linux isn’t in a state that could satisfy most mainstream electronics consumers, we recognize that a sizable portion of our community is ready to make the jump to a Linux-only smartphone today. The PinePhone Pro has the raw horsepower to be your daily driver, granted you’re ready to accept the current software limitations. … There is a long road ahead of us, all of us, and it will require time and effort for the software to reach a degree of maturity that would satisfy mainstream users.

If you depend on proprietary mainstream mobile messenger applications, banking applications, use loyalty or travel apps, consume DRM media, or play mobile video games on your fruit or Android smartphone, then the PinePhone Pro is likely not for you.

Tasks such as opening applications, browsing the internet, interacting with the user interface or watching videos are on par with recent mid-range Android smartphones. Many of you will also be happy to hear that native Linux games as well as popular retro game emulators work great on the PinePhone Pro – be it SuperTuxKart, PSP, or Dreamcast emulation, you’ll be in for a treat.

When docked and connected to an external monitor and keyboard and mouse, the PinePhone Pro performs well when surfing the web, using the terminal or an office suite, watching 1080p videos, and even in light photo editing. The perfect pocketable Linux computer on the go.

• 8-core 2.2GHz CPU
• 6/128 and 8/256GB options available
• 3.9Ah battery
• 6.3" 1080x2340 display
• 2x48MP/25MP cameras
• 579 euro/ 675USD
• 5 year warranty

Fairphone also has a spare parts store. Replacement display for the Fairphone 4 isn’t yet listed, but the one for the Fairphone 3 is 89 Euros.

The Double Ratchet algorithm is used by two parties to exchange encrypted messages based on a shared secret key. Typically the parties will use some key agreement protocol (such as X3DH [1]) to agree on the shared secret key. Following this, the parties will use the Double Ratchet to send and receive encrypted messages. The parties derive new keys for every Double Ratchet message so that earlier keys cannot be calculated from later ones. The parties also send Diffie-Hellman public values attached to their messages. The results of Diffie-Hellman calculations are mixed into the derived keys so that later keys cannot be calculated from earlier ones. These properties gives some protection to earlier or later encrypted messages in case of a compromise of a party’s keys. - Double ratchet specification

The problem is…

I’m not OK with LibreSignal using our servers, and I’m not OK with LibreSignal using the name “Signal.” You’re free to use our source code for whatever you would like under the terms of the license, but you’re not entitled to use our name or the service that we run.

If you think running servers is difficult and expensive (you’re right), ask yourself why you feel entitled for us to run them for your product.

– Moxie Marlinspike, May 4th, 2016

What is Matrix?

Matrix is an open standard for interoperable, decentralised, real-time communication over IP. It can be used to power Instant Messaging, VoIP/WebRTC signalling, Internet of Things communication - or anywhere you need a standard HTTP API for publishing and subscribing to data whilst tracking the conversation history. – https://matrix.org/faq/

The protocol received praise mixed with some cautionary notes after it launched in 2014. Reviewers noted that other attempts at defining an open instant messaging or multimedia signalling protocol of this type had difficulties becoming widely adopted—e.g. XMPP and IRCv3—and have highlighted the challenges involved, both technological and political. – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_(protocol)#History

The open Matrix network has more than 20M users on it and is growing fast (adding another 1.7M or so with the arrival of Gitter!) – Welcoming Gitter to Matrix

The frog actually hops out of the water before it gets too hot, unless it can’t. If we follow this metaphor, if we really are like frogs in a boiling pot of privacy-invading tech companies, we should be “hopping out”, unless something is either keeping us from realizing the water is warming (for example, an anesthesized frog may not feel the heat), or are being physically restrained from doing so.