Eric Branson

Citizen, lifelong learner, Wikipedian, 🪿. #Wikidata #AkomaNtoso

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@karolkarpinski @yuanyi_z Compare them to the Utah Territory organic act of 1850 for example. While the territory was run by religious fanatics that among other things granted women the right to vote in 1870 (can't have that!), it was thoroughly American in form. https://t.co/8MX3iZbOkx

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@karolkarpinski @yuanyi_z Which US colonies ever had a US state government system?

The prominent example is that current US territory with more than 200,000 people, which doesn't even have a receiving statute.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@EWess92 "The thing that impressed Winston in looking back was that the speaker had switched from one line to the other actually in midsentence, not only without a pause, but without even breaking the syntax."

[amlal @amlalcc]

@vivekgalatage I would also recommend Levine's linkers and loaders

[Vivek Galatage @vivekgalatage]

Beginner's Guide to Linkers - the definitive reference for understanding what's actually happening when you link.

https://t.co/F0VwEaOxF0

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@danielschuman As seen with the DDC chief judge and Arctic Frost, district court secret orders (eg w/ ECPA gag orders) are little different from classified FISC orders or even certified NSLs.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@andrewarruda From the lore, there's something with the caudate and putamen, along with extremely intelligent seemingly alive machines. Unmentioned in the lore but necessary IMO is active neuroimaging. https://t.co/fPuZkjv5tP https://t.co/zAMCODR2cp

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

Tried river, first with rijan then with canoe. Pretty neat. https://t.co/TAdQ3aWIZW

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

https://t.co/pboHRmRvXn

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@DanLinna Even with official policies, such processes would seem vulnerable to as-applied procedural challenges in grade appeals, which pushes toward informal resolution and unequal outcomes. All in the shadow of these tribunals' unreported jurisprudence.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@GarryPNolan @Renate_FE The conspiracy theorists can skeptic to their little heart's desire. Someone with resources should FOIA the data.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@EWess92 @avi_eisen A set of size 9 is unaffected by outliers. The median is unaffected by value magnitudes, it is affected by cardinality (size of the set) and when values cross the median.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@GarryPNolan @michaelshermer Do not feed the seagulls.

[Bob Ambrogi @bobambrogi]

Huge news for #legaltech today, as @AnthropicAI goes all in on legal, releasing 20+ connectors to legal tech products and 12 practice area plugins, not to mention an explicit commitment to addressing access to justice. https://t.co/RLPpM5s9rB

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@samuelmoyn Beckert is more right, and Robin’s criticism that “capitalism” loses the meaning they hold so closely to their bosom, is also right.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@samuelmoyn These debates on capitalism remind me of the editor wars and other flame wars. Imagine regulating operating systems and languages based on them, and all the excuses when everything became so busted.

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

@Matthuber78 @nytopinion Nah 🦋 is like alcohol. In moderation it’s a hoot, but if you find yourself screaming obscenities at randos, it’s time to pull over.

[GrapheneOS @GrapheneOS]

Apple and Google are gradually expanding their use of hardware-based attestation. They're convincing a growing number of services to adopt it. Google's Play Integrity API and Apple's App Attest API are very similar. Apple brought it to the web via Privacy Pass, which Google intends on doing too.

Google's Play Integrity API requires hardware attestation for the strong integrity level and is gradually phasing in requiring it for the more commonly used device integrity level. Apple already has it as a requirement. Over the long term, this will increasingly lock out hardware and OS competition.

The purpose of these systems is disallowing people from using hardware and software not approved by Apple or Google. This is wrongly presented as being a security feature. Banks and government services are the main ones adopting it but Apple and Google are encouraging every service to use it.

Apple's Privacy Pass brought hardware attestation to the web to help with passing captchas on their own hardware. Many people saw that as harmless since few sites would be willing to lock out non-Apple-hardware users. Apple and Google are both likely to bring broader hardware attestation to the web.

Google's reCAPTCHA is planning an approach where they use Privacy Pass on Apple hardware, their own approach on Google Mobile Services Android devices and a QR code scanning system to require an iOS or Google certified Android device for Windows and other systems:

https://t.co/7rQnioRa8A

Banking and government services increasingly require using a mobile app where they can use attestation to force using an Apple or Google approved device and OS. Apple's privacy pass, Google's 'cancelled' Web Environment Integrity and now reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification are bringing this to the web.

Current media coverage for reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification misunderstands it and the impact of it. They're bringing a hardware attestation requirement to Windows, desktop Linux, OpenBSD, etc. by requiring a QR scan from a certified smartphone to pass reCAPTCHA in some cases. They could expand it more.

Control over reCAPTCHA puts Google in a position where they can require having either iOS or a certified Android device to use an enormous amount of the web. Google defines certification requirements for Android which includes forcing bundling Google Chrome, etc. It's enormously anti-competitive.

Google's Play Integrity API bans using GrapheneOS despite it being far more secure than anything they permit. It also bans using any other alternative. This isn't somehow specific to an AOSP-based OS. You can't avoid this by using a mobile OS based on FreeBSD instead. You'll just be more locked out.

Google's Play Integrity API permits devices with no security patches for 10 years. The device integrity level can be bypassed via spoofing but they can detect it quite well and block it once it starts being done at scale. The strong integrity level requires leaked keys from TEEs/SEs to bypass it.

It doesn't provide a useful security feature, but it does lock out competition very well. Services requiring Apple App Attest or Google Play Integrity are primarily helping to lock in Apple and Google having a duopoly for mobile devices. Play Integrity is more relevant due to AOSP being open source.

Governments are increasingly mandating using Apple's App Attest and Google's Play Integrity for not only their own services but also commercial services. The EU is leading the charge of making these requirements for digital payments, ID, age verification, etc. Many EU government apps require them.

Instead of governments stopping Apple and Google from engaging in egregiously anti-competitive behavior, they're directly participating in locking out competition via their own services. Requiring people to have an Apple device or Google-certified Android device is anti-competition, not security.

reCAPTCHA Mobile Verification will currently work with sandboxed Google Play on GrapheneOS but it clearly exists to provide a way for them to start using hardware attestation on systems without it. People without an iOS or Android device will be locked out when this is required even without that.

This isn't about security or any missing functionality. GrapheneOS can be verified via hardware attestation. Google bans using GrapheneOS for Play Integrity because we don't license Google Mobile Services and conform to anti-competitive rules already found to be illegal in South Korea and elsewhere.

Services shouldn't ban people from using arbitrary hardware and operating systems in the first place. Google's security excuse is clearly bogus when they permit devices with no patches for 10 years but not a much more secure OS. It's for enforcing their monopolies via GMS licensing, that's all.

[Department of War 🇺🇸 @DeptofWar]

https://t.co/rzCVvUU3mu

[Eric Branson @esbranson]

🦋 https://t.co/nckIMuPOkX Semantic search is now live on CourtListener! Search case law using the words you know — No need to know legalese to do legal research.

This surfaces the results you need even when they use different terminology than your query. https://t.co/pjZDwtn5cr