Lance R. Vick

* Security Engineer
* Cypherpunk
* FOSS Advocate
* Founder of #! and Distrust

#infosec #security #opensource #foss #sysadmin #cryptoanarchy #cypherpunk #embedded #puzzles #privacy #locksport #programming #linux #homelab

Public Key

npub1m9dnsslfjpzuq2tmvd8szeljrm4vl8lce7rg7keu9jzacy5kudws5uvnl4

NIP-05 Address

lrvick_at_mastodon.social@mostr.pub

Profile Code

nprofile1qqsdjkecg05eq3wq99akxncpvlepa6k0nluvlp50tv7zepwuz2twxhgpz4mhxue69uhhyetvv9ujumt0wd68ytnsw43qc09aqc

Publishing to

relay.mostr.pub

Author Public Key

npub1m9dnsslfjpzuq2tmvd8szeljrm4vl8lce7rg7keu9jzacy5kudws5uvnl4

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Last Notes

2024-08-07 06:45:35

I think I am ready to admit that every choice in my career has really been about creating a diverse enough skillset to design the things I want to exist in this world just well enough to nerd snipe others into doing them better.
I won't get credit or payment for most of the work I set in motion, but I will always know, and is plenty.
Isn't that so much better than a big paycheck for knowingly making the world worse and being NDA bound to not talk about it anyway?
Fuck your adtech money.

2024-06-23 19:59:57

You ever wait for a couple weeks for something to arrive in the mail, then go to check your recent orders in frustration only to realize you never actually completed checkout?

2024-06-22 07:32:10

I has taken me me a few decades to conclude I am not a capitalist.
That is an awkward thing to admit as a serial founder and shareholder in a number of companies.
We can do better.
Capitalism is just not capable of reaching the destination I am after, but I will hitch a ride with it from time to time when it happens to be headed the same direction in the short term.

2024-06-22 07:21:38

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There are a few people that will never admit to reading this.
You know who you are.

2024-06-22 07:20:10

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No "IP" that stays locked in a box in the hands of a select few is going to make the world better.
Fuck the VCs. Fuck the shareholders.
FOSS || GTFO

2024-06-22 07:17:22

There are times when it seems like swallowing your standards and ethics will lead to a greater good longer term. Just do whatever makes the shareholders happy, take your cut, and you will be happy, right?
That is bullshit, and you know it.
Those of us with the skills the make the world better have an obligation to use them that way.
Doing the right thing will rarely make you a billionaire, but it will make you a little prouder of yourself.
That is the only value that counts in the end.

2024-05-20 05:52:31

We covered yet another flaw in the entropy supply chain of a widely used cryptoasset wallet.
If you write software that requires secure entropy, you need to find out where it comes from!
Check the library, language, compiler, tools that compiled the compiler, the compiler bootstrap machine code, the implementation of the runtime kernel system calls used, the specific hardware sources used, etc, etc.
https://milksad.info/updates.html

2024-05-09 23:25:18

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Like all religions, you are free to declare yourself part of the religion by observing as much or as little of the tenants of the faith as you like, and interpreting them as you wish.
Also as a decentralized religion, anyone may declare themselves as a member with any title they like.

2024-05-09 23:21:50

I hereby declare #! a Religion under Title VII of the US Civil Rights Act.
Our beliefs:
- All Free and Open Source tools and decentralized networks are our diety
- We worship by creating, using, and teaching FOSS tools
- We abstain from proprietary tools to the fullest extent we are able
- We recognize demands that we use proprietary software to lead well educated, socialized, healthy, and productive lives as religious discrimination
Join us:
https://matrix.to/#/#!:matrix.org
https://hashbang.sh

2024-05-06 20:49:23

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@npub1qzc…xykx I have an african grey parrot and a bunch of chickens. Also frequented by hummingbirds and doves in my backyard.
<3 all the birbs.
Also very into fish recently, with multiple aquariums going now.

2024-05-03 22:15:16

Trying to improve physical health without ever taking a break from alcohol is as impossible as trying to improve mental health without ever taking a break from the internet.
Throw your phone in a drawer when you are not working, switch to a dumb phone, or ditch it entirely if needed. Do whatever it takes to ensure you spend several waking hours a day offline, at a minimum.
I strongly suspect you will be happier.

2024-04-25 22:45:53

Feeling very called out
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/112/334/283/925/301/463/original/c7555649c64848b3.jpeg

2024-04-25 07:07:15

I have to wonder how many lawyers defending Trump don't actually support him and are just using him as a vehicle to pen-test, and ultimately strengthen, the US legal system.

2024-04-18 06:41:28

I only ever do anything at all to help Apple users because I don't want to be accused of religious discrimination.

2024-04-17 00:07:36

If your service can't deal with a few skiddies without without handing money and central control of your certs and domains to Cloudflare, it probably deserves to fail.
Nothing good will come from centralizing the internet, particularly on a company with a terrible track record on neutrality, security, and privacy.

2024-04-15 23:35:51

I want it legally mandated that any time a service offers SMS verification, it must get a user to explicitly consent to what a stupid idea this is.
"By giving us your phone number for 2FA, you consent to giving any stranger access to your account, provided they pay a $200 bribe to their pick of tens of thousands of retail employees working below the poverty line"
https://tmo.report/2024/04/t-mobile-employees-across-the-country-receive-cash-offers-to-illegally-swap-sims/

2024-04-05 01:45:24

bad news: I got the first name of a client wrong in an email I just sent
good news: I also got their email wrong

2024-03-22 16:53:34

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@npub12lx…jvjy did you ask for a size 15.71 ?

2024-03-20 23:10:25

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@npub17l2…tqsm not yet as I don't have more information to share at this time.
My mastodon posts for several years are still around. Meanwhile I have like 5 blogs I have started over the years that are long gone.

2024-03-11 20:58:44

It's official. After 3 months of back and forth, a major medical provider has elected to drop me as a patient for not having a Google or Apple device.
It is unclear if this is legal, but it is very clearly discriminatory and unethical.
Any tech journalists or lawyers interested interested in this?
I would like to do anything I can to ensure this never happens to anyone else.

2023-12-30 14:15:59

At #37c3 they have IRC, and Matrix for text and for voice they setup their own LTE/2G/3G/SIP/DECT network where you bring whatever phone-like device and pick a 4 digit phone number.
Meanwhile in the USA for #defcon they just paid Discord money and told everyone to accept their privacy policy, and even the DC Privacy Village asks people to sign up for Slack and Google.
People ask why I fly to CCC from the USA. It is because that is the closest place to find a thriving hacker culture.

2023-08-08 20:23:09

We discovered a major cryptographic flaw in the widely utilized Libbitcoin Explorer (bx) cryptocurrency wallet tool while following up on mysterious wallet thefts.
This is our story, disclosure, and a lookup tool to see if you are vulnerable.
https://milksad.info