The seas seem to be changing, if only a little. I'm subscribed to the Zerohedge newsletter and they occationally send marketing promotions. Today, I received a promo for a private smartphone and a free webinar on the topic. But the catch is in how they open the promo: "Hidden signs your phone is compromised". You know, like "hidden signs you might have diabetes". -.- Amazing, to what level we've stooped - computers are machines and therefore should be understandable in their totality by humans. But instead, humanity built it's computers in such a direction we now have to look for hidden signs and clues to infer the machine's state, as if it weren't a machine but a living organism. Or as if spirits posses these machines. Warhammer 40k may have been a bit too prophetic about human ignorance of technology. -.- We may need a return to 8-bit machines of the past.
I'm reproducing the edited promo below. I deleted all of the egregious marketing out of it to make it more pallatable for this public, and also to prevent the promo from stealing attention from the degradation of humanity's undestanding of technology. I considered performing Russian copulation on it too (cutting it in half and transposing the halves), but I think that would do too much damage to the flow of the text, so I only went wild with the editing scissors. :)
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Hidden Signs Your Phone Is Compromised
We all know its happening. Intelligence agencies are monitoring worldwide internet and cellular traffic as we speak.
But that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Today's phones scan your photos with AI, track your location in realtime, and install unknown apps without your knowledge.
We have no idea what our devices are actually doing.
And as we head into the inevitable tech winter, its only going to get worse.
You deserve to know what your phone is doing.
That’s why we created Above Phone and build products that are secure and open-source. All of the source code in our phones, laptops, and communication services is completely transparent.
Unlike big tech, we promise there’s no hidden code and no hidden tracking.
In our upcoming free webinar, I’ll go deeper than ever before into the risks that modern devices have.
Is My Phone Compromised Webinar
[time deleted]
I'll show you:
* How the police can break into your phone
* What phones are most vulnerable to spyware like Pegasus and how your phone can get infected
* What you can do to protect your phone
At Above, we’re educating the public and actually building solutions. Since 2022, we’ve supported people just like you to take back their technology. Our phones, laptops, and communication services aren’t just private and secure – they’re easy to use!
Hakeem Anwar
CEO of Above Phone
Regarding a recent ruling, in SFC v. Vizio, Karen Sandler (SFC Director, former GNOME Director), responds to the Linux creator by saying "maybe you didn't read".
More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/
A Microsoft rep made the statement, saying the company would use Al to hit a target of "1 engineer, 1 month, 1 million lines of code". Then quickly went into damage control.
More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/
In the Linux Foundation's 2025 annual report, AI is mentioned 150 times. Linux is only mentioned 40 times. Also: Linux Foundation boasts about scholarships to Trans & DEI orgs.
More from The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.com/
Ads are filling the entirety of the Web -- websites, podcasts, YouTube videos, etc. -- at an increasing rate. Prices for those ad placements are plummeting. Consumers are desperate to use ad-blockers to make the web palatable. Google (and others) are desperate to break and block ad-blockers. All of which results in... more ads and lower pay for creators.
It's a fascinatingly annoying cycle. And there's only one viable way out of it.
Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links? Check here:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm
Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal
Those in power with openSUSE make it clear they will not allow me anywhere near anything related to the openSUSE project. Ever. For any reason.
Well, that settles that, then! Guess I won't be contributing to openSUSE! 🤣
Looking for the Podcast RSS feed or other links?
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4619051/lunduke-journal-link-central-tm
Give the gift of The Lunduke Journal:
https://lunduke.locals.com/post/4898317/give-the-gift-of-the-lunduke-journal
After 20 years together (18 years married), I was finally able to get my lovely wife to watch Die Hard. She never had any interest because of how violent it was, but for whatever reason she was open to it this Christmas. I’m happy to report that she loved it! Yippee-ki-yay everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas, and have a happy New Year.
Hey guys! It's been great hanging out with you all here on Locals, but I am going to switch over to the Lifetime Subscription offer, but on Substack so i can consolidate the sources I follow. I wish the best for you all here. Have a great New Year!
Update on my Amazon score
Woah!
The end of December is almost here!
That means the “$89 Lifetime Lunduke Journal Subscription” deal is about to end!
When the ball drops on New Years Eve, and the calendar clocks over to 2026, the Lifetime Subscription price goes back to normal.
So, you know, grab one before that darn ball drops! (Then check out all of the Lunduke Journal Subscriber Perks.)
Because that deal is re-DONK-u-lous.
-Lunduke
Two quick tidbits on this glorious Sunday:
Lifetime Subscriptions to The Lunduke Journal are currently discounted to $89. For life. Which is… insane. That’s less than 1/3rd of the regular price.
Monthly and Yearly subscriptions are 50% off. Which is also pretty darned snazzy.
On Tuesday I will be recording a long-overdue episode of “Lunduke’s Nerdy Q&A”.
Got questions you’d like asked in the show? No guarantees, but I’ll get to as many as I can!
Retro computing. Current computer news. Ridiculous hypotheticals. Any question is fair game... just make sure it’s good and nerdy.
To make it simple for me, there are two ways you can submit questions for this week’s Q&A:
Add a comment to this thread on Forum.Lunduke.com.
Reply to this thread over on X.
Ok. I lied. There are three ways. You can also reply to this post, right here, on Locals.
Note: Only Lunduke Journal subscribers can access to Forum.Lunduke.com. All of the details on how to gain access are on the Lunduke Journal Subscriber Perks page.
-Lunduke
Time for some Fun Lunduke Journal Facts of Fact-ly-ness!
The “per-month” cost of a Lifetime Subscription to The Lunduke Journal is an asymptotic line. The longer you have that subscription, the closer it gets to $0.00.
The Lifetime Subscription was first introduced 3 1/2 years ago… and is still going strong.
The price of a Lifetime Subscription is currently discounted to $89. For life. That’s less than 1/3rd the normal price.
The earlier you pick one up, the quicker that asymptotic line begins approaching zero. Which is fun.
If you think you might ever want a Lifetime Subscription, now is the time.
Imagine missing this discounted price and missing out on months of, mathematically certain, asymptotic line fun. This is one of those scenarios where Future You (tm) would want to travel back in time to tell Present You (tm) to snag a Lifetime Subscription.
Go. Grab the Lifetime Subscription for $89. That deal is good all December long.
There’s a video of me yammering about it too. Just for good measure.
You’re welcome.
-Lunduke
