InfiniteVortex

Dead internet theory

wBlock is a new ad-blocker for Safari. It supports (in general) everything Wipr, AdGuard for Safari/iOS, uBlock Origin Lite can do except for maybe multi-device sync

I can't use anything below iOS 17 because I use SwiftData, probably some other newer APIs too. Sorry.

WebShield shows up as multiple extensions, 1 content blocker for each category, and 1 for advanced blocking (a webextension). This is because each content blocker, I believe IIRC, has a limit of 150k rules.

For Wipr 2, on macOS you can see the rules here: `~/Library/Group Containers/group.wipr2.rules/Rules/` in the JSON files. Kaylee (Wipr dev) sources the blocker list data from these [0] sources.

[0] https://kaylees.site/wipr-acknowledgements.html

Yes! Me and 0xCube created WebShield & wBlock respectively in parallel in close collaboration with each other. They're pretty much sister projects. I do think since I create more free time for myself, WebShield has (some) more features - just off the top of my head: iOS/iPadOS/visionOS support. wBlock does currently have an auto updater for filter lists when you open the app though, which WebShield doesn't have, but I'm working on it!

Well, WebShield is free & open source, those extensions may or may not. It's also a single app/codebase across macOS/iOS/iPadOS/visionOS. If you're happy with your current ad blocking setup for Safari, continue using it. I'm not trying to conquer the world.

Safari ad blocker extensions will never be as powerful as uBlock Origin in terms of the sheer number or types of content they can block, but they can be as performant or efficient, or even more so. To my knowledge, uBlock Origin uses its own custom networking engine through webRequest, WebShield uses Safari's content blocking API which is baked into WebKit. When loading a content blocker in Safari (& thus WebKit) rules are converted into DFA in WebKit [0]. Pretty sure this is the code in WebKit [1]. Yes, the content blocking API is more limited than full blown adblock filter list syntax, meaning its not as powerful, but it is more performant & efficient than uBlock Origin, within the subset of rules that it supports. To complement the content blocking API we use scriptlet/extended css/css/js injection in advanced blocking, similar to AdGuard. The AdGuard guys probably know way more about the specifics of how content blocking works in WebKit than I do though. But I do know that the content blocking API in WebKit & Safari is more performant/efficient than uBlock Origin, subject to limitations on powerfulness in terms of the types and number of content that can be blocked as mentioned before.

I still feel like I need to performance test WebShield more to back my claims, so take it with a grain of salt, but based on what I've seen, it is comparable with or better than uBlock Origin in terms of performance/efficiency, not pure power, but again, please take it with a grain of salt, because I can't believe it.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deterministic_finite_automaton [1]: https://github.com/WebKit/WebKit/tree/04edf7716a74170fb0967f...

Wipr 2 is great! And so is the dev, with who I've talked to before. The difference between WebShield & Wipr 2 is WebShield allows you to specifically toggle on/off which lists you'd like, as well as add your own custom lists. Kaylee (Wipr dev) also has to maintain the lists herself (she sources a lot from other lists), so there is a bit of manual maintenance for her, because Wipr is meant to be an "install & forget" app for the most part. There are tradeoffs that come with this design, for example, all scriptlets (called injectables in Wipr), to my knowledge, are injected as as a content script, whereas WebShield is similar but we inject each scriptlet on demand, cache it (not sure if Wipr does caches too), ensure it doesn't re-inject on the same page (more testing needs to be done with this, and I'm not sure if Wipr 2 already checks for this). That's just off the top of my head.

With that said, Wipr 2 is great and very reliable. If you enjoy using it and it fits all your needs, you tried WebShield and didn't feel the need to switch, continue using Wipr! I'm not trying to conquer the world.

Author here: No, not really. It uses AdGuard lists, SafariConverterLib by AdGuard for converting filter lists to Safari content blocking format. The only difference is that WebShield works on iOS, iPadOS, visionOS, and macOS as one app & codebase (AdGuard has separate apps for Safari on macOS & iOS), and its completely free & open source, albeit I accept donations, but nothing is behind a paywall, and will never be behind a paywall. I'd rather just stop developing than sell out to ad companies (acceptable ads) or put things behind a paywall.

Author here (I'm not OP): It converts filter lists to Safari's content blocking API using SafariConverterLib (by AdGuard) and stores advanced blocking (scriptlets, extended css, css & js) in a json file. The WebExtension then reads the json file through native messaging and injects the scriptlets, extended css, css & js. This means that things like YouTube ads can be blocked too, whereas using just the content blocking api won't allow YouTube ads to be blocked

Hey everyone, author of WebShield here! I had no idea this was posted here. Feel free to ask any questions, I'll be more than happy to answer them here (including any that have been posted), if/when I get the time.

What an incredibly specific application!

I never knew him, but it’s incredibly saddening to see someone around my age take their own life, or at any age for that matter. He seemed like he was a bright soul who fought for what he believed was right. We need more people like that. They’re the ones who inspire others to enact change, even if we disagree with them. Rest easy, Suchir.

regardless of what you think of it, the drama is at least entertaining!

LonelyFans is the one of the more depressing platforms to exist.

I’m shocked that the ruling dynasty fell as quickly as it did, along with the military being ineffective and unwilling to stop the rebels given how long the civil war has been going on for. Incredible.

The fact that they even required a login in the first place is crazy for a terminal. I doubt this is going to convert users that previously didn't use Warp because it required a login.

So it was not nearly abolished, if it was nearly abolished it would've passed the Senate exceeding the two-thirds vote required, which it didn't, and then would've nearly been ratified by two-thirds of the state legislatures, which it didn't. It was filibustered and died in the Senate.

Somewhat related: I hope there will be more news coverage/attention on the whole Ravio situation. It totally seems like something that should be reported on. Raivo, marketed as open source, despite never being OSI-defined open source, created by a computer security professional & expert sold it (2fa app) to a shady & unknown guy from Morocco, who put people's codes behind a paywall. Crazy story. And we (probably) found out the guy behind it too.

I wonder how much he was fine (if he was - they also have caning as a penalty). Singapore is known to be incredibly strict with criminal punishments. There was a recent $8 billion money laundering case that garnered international headlines because SG is known to be corruption-free for the most part. I'm sure you can find the reasons for verdict (SG has no jury trials) and reasons for sentence. Generally, an incredibly well run state IMHO. (Yes, it has its downsides, criticisms and controversies). It'll be interesting to see how PM Wong will govern compared to LKY & LHL.

I was one of the main people that tried to port uBO Lite to Safari. uBO isn't possible to port because Safari doesn't support the relevant APIs. uBO Lite is also not possible, despite supporting _most_ of the APIs (IIRC), the ones that are essential for a MVP aren't available on Safari. With that said though, it's possible to use Apple's Safari-specific API to build an ad blocker for Safari that might actually be better than uBO Lite.

I think the Justice Minister's reasoning is that if we pardon every crime in the past that we deem permissible today, it would legitimize people to break laws they find unjust today, stating that they (perpetrator) did it "because the future will see it as ok". It feels like weak reasoning from my part, but I can't get into the Justice Minister's head. It's just speculation.

With that said, and Turing having been pardoned by the Queen (posthumously), I wonder if pardons in the UK also carry the "imputation of guilt" that pardons in the US carry as defined by the SCOTUS [0]?

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burdick_v._United_States

Interesting to note that the Justice Minister Lord McNally didn't consider a pardon appropriate, but the Queen eventually pardoned Turing after an outpouring of public support (and with the advice of the Government) [0]. (Turing was convicted for committing homosexual acts. Based on my cursory reading it seems like it was one of the reasons why he likely committed suicide. It's a tragic story of a great man, whom we all owe our gratitude.)

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alan_Turing#Government_apology...

I've reported his GitHub account [0], & reported Raivo (on his first account) [1] but I haven't reported an app from his second account [2] because I have yet to see evidence of wrongdoing, but I would be surprised if there is absolutely no wrongdoing of any kind. Additionally he controls the following domains [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]. If his real name isn't Soufiane Benabid, whatever his real name is, he (MobiMe) also uses the name Soufiane Benabid to publish other apps on the App Store under that respective account.

[0] https://github.com/mobime-org

[1] https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/mobime/id1502822219

[2] https://apps.apple.com/us/developer/soufiane-benabid/id93880...

[3] https://mobime.org/

[4] https://mobime.ma/

[5] https://plantme.ai/

[6] https://cryft.com/ (see https://cryft.com/terms & https://cryft.com/privacy)

[7] https://benabid.me/

I was one of the users who also participated in the discussions, while also participating in inquiries to discover who MobiMe actually is. I think we affected users figured it out, and the person behind MobiMe is the same person listed as the Key Principal for MobiMe's profile on Dun&Bradstreet [3]. There's also other corroborating evidence, while circumstantial and coincidental, that was noteworthy and generated a further sense of suspicion. He would delete every post containing BENABID's full name, and then lock the discussion or delete the discussion entirely. (Don't worry, his name is in public records for the company, it was never private information)

Throughout the entire ordeal, from the beginning of responding to users, to the very end, he continued to lie, attempted to deceive, and assumed that we, the damaged users, were fools. I really don't know what he was thinking. Or if he was partially using an LLM to generate responses. If you look at the series of events, from the App Store log of Raivo, to his enumeration of the problematic events in question & their causes, which changed multiple times throughout the timeframe of his responses, you would come to the conclusion that he was not acting in good faith at all (which I presumed was happening from the beginning). Any reasonable and impartial observer would come to the same conclusion. Some users lost their 2fa codes, and were locked out of accessing some of their most sensitive and valuable data. Yes, there is an element of personal responsibility (having backups codes, etc), but the actions committed by MobiMe were and are against not only the App Store TOS, but are also morally wrong (as if he cares about that), and perhaps legally wrong (civilly wrong or even maybe criminally wrong if there is more we don't know). IANAL -- we all know that practically no legal action, civil or especially criminal will ever come of this. I'm almost certain he is living in an unfriendly jurisdiction that does not enforce cybercrime laws.

Ultimately in the end, like I mentioned above, he eventually deleted all discussions (after previously deleting all issues), then closed all PRs, blocked many users from interacting with the repository, and prohibited anyone from forking the repository and creating a PR. He also reseted/removed all poor reviews of Raivo on the App Store. Basically he did everything he said he wouldn't do. Then again, I'd be surprised if he actually kept his word.

Hopefully if enough people report Raivo OTP to Apple, the new/current dev in control of the project (MobiMe aka Soufiane BENABID), he won't be able to intentionally lock out users from their 2fa tokens, because he wouldn't have an Apple Developer account. He currently operates 2: the first is MobiMe, which operates Raivo and some other apps, and the second is Soufiane Benabid, which operates some apps that are very similar to the apps under MobiMe. Basically the theme with him is that he tries to squeeze as much money out of the user as possible. He controls a few domains under his belt too (literally just ~4 IIRC).

In sum, he sucks & the (impulsive?) decision to sell Raivo (which was never open source to begin with, despite marketed that way) to a super shady company without a proper transition, coupled with said shady company proceeding to turn the app into ransomware-lite is just an unfortunate and regrettable series of events.

If you want to read the lore regarding this entire incident (you've already read enough of this comment), here you go [0][1][2][3].

[0] https://archive.ph/fGnO3

[1] https://archive.ph/m8xk6

[2] https://archive.ph/X8shn

[3] https://archive.ph/094wM

This is the correct answer LOL

If I received a legitimate job recruitment email for an AI role in all-lowercase I would put in the spam folder lol. sam altman typing in all lowercase letters shouldn't influence people to do the same in semi-professional environments & situations. I think Altman is trying to appear as casual, friendly, and attract the zoomer market by typing in all lowercase, it's just my speculation and perhaps I'm over-reading into it.

Very interesting developments. I wonder how good X Elite's performance per watt is compared to the M3. Then again, Apple will soon restock all Macs with M4-level processors (reported, take it with a grain of salt). M4 beats the X Elite, but its not really a fair comparison since the X Elite is meant to compete with the M3. It seems like the X Elite is close to M3, but uses much more power [0].

[0] https://nanoreview.net/en/cpu-compare/qualcomm-snapdragon-x-...

this is the answer lol