Andy Balaam

Makes coding videos, podcasts, free software. #fedi22

Home: https://artificialworlds.net
Blog: https://artificialworlds.net/blog/
Videos: https://video.infosec.exchange/a/andybalaam/video-channels
OpenPGP: 078C05BC7BC6CD49A8D83441FC8DD3B1BA7F5E13

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Last Notes

2026-07-27 10:30:26 UTC

Want to write open source Rust for a living?
https://apply.workable.com/elementio/j/41EF6FAB51/
#rustlang #fossjobs

2026-06-12 10:46:06 UTC

https://www.thatprivacyguy.com/blog/chrome-silent-nano-install/
Google Chrome silently installs a 4 GB AI model on your device without consent. At a billion-device scale the climate costs are insane.

2026-05-21 16:19:51 UTC

Fricking github doesn't fricking work

2026-05-13 09:31:08 UTC

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My team has been working on this for ages, and we finally got it done!.
Now, you can be invited to an encrypted room and read the history, if the room settings allow it.
Other encrypted messengers can't do this.
If you're interested in the security implications, there are details in the spec proposal: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/4268
#matrix

2026-04-24 12:49:57 UTC

For a NOAI.md, how about something like this?
https://codeberg.org/andybalaam/noai.md

2026-03-03 13:13:14 UTC

Build times in a Rust project can be long. Sometimes even several minutes.
In my experience build times in an Android project average about a day.

2026-02-18 12:59:39 UTC

Have you made something recently? Maybe a FOSS project you started or contributed to? Or some knitting?
I'd love to hear about it.
Go on, cheer me up.

2025-12-19 11:21:10 UTC

I just wrote up some docs on how to hide images in public rooms on Matrix in several clients.
https://matrix.org/docs/chat_basics/public-rooms/#hiding-images-by-default
If anyone was able to add info for more clients that would be awesome. Here's my change for reference: https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix.org/pull/2971

2025-12-19 11:08:24 UTC

Have you seen my video series "Writing a programming language"? I write the smallest, simplest possible language I can think of, and walk you through it.
https://video.infosec.exchange/w/p/asvKDVo4awUoZ5fCQb89db
#coding #video #python

2025-11-19 10:37:44 UTC

Did I mention that Exclude Insecure Devices is coming?
https://matrix.org/blog/2025/11/exclude-insecure-devices/
#matrix

2025-10-20 14:33:25 UTC

Important message from my talk!
Exclude Insecure Devices is coming!
After April 2026 (or maybe even sooner), if your Matrix device is unverified, you will not be able to talk to someone who is using Element!
Or any other client complying with MSC4153
#Matrix
https://files.mastodon.social/media_attachments/files/115/406/974/937/207/835/original/75ee35c95e92dc58.png

2025-10-18 15:12:56 UTC

Why do I have 2 passwords? How to talk about encryption in Matrix https://media.ccc.de/v/matrix-conf-2025-72671-why-do-i-have-2-passwords-how-to-talk-about-encryption-in-matrix
My talk on the concepts and words we should use to talk about encrypted messaging on Matrix.
#MatrixConf2025 #matrix #video

2025-10-18 15:11:01 UTC

Invisible Crypto: can Matrix be both secure and easy to use? https://media.ccc.de/v/matrix-conf-2025-72625-invisible-crypto-can-matrix-be-both-secure-and-easy-to-use
My talk on our progress to make Matrix's encryption better and easier to use.
#MatrixConf2025 #matrix #video

2025-10-16 08:20:52 UTC

My talks at #MatrixConf2025 are tomorrow 14:00 CET and 16:00 CET. I am talking about our progress on "Invisible Crypto" and agreeing a shared terminology to talk about Matrix encryption. Watch live at https://conference.matrix.org/watch/ . Recordings will be available later too.
#matrix

2025-06-26 10:18:06 UTC

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it looks to me like a bug in the spec change that introduced OIDC for authentication: as part of that change, there should have been a deprecation of this endpoint, because it doesn't make sense in this context.
I'm not saying that matrix.org should be the de facto standard, I'm saying that (I think) there is a bug in the real standard, which has become visible when matrix.org implemented it.

2025-06-26 09:41:48 UTC

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Maybe a bug logged against the spec is the right way to track this? https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec/issues

2025-06-26 09:36:23 UTC

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at first glance it looks like deprecating that endpoint was missed in the spec proposals for OIDC login.

2025-06-26 09:14:30 UTC

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I tried to understand what you're saying but I can't figure it out without more context.
Is there a bug logged against Synapse?

2025-06-06 08:32:11 UTC

Nice post on checking the security of your connection to an XMPP server from @npub1067…v57n
https://blog.jmp.chat/b/mitigating-mitms-in-xmpp

2025-06-04 09:15:42 UTC

Submitted two(!) proposals for talks at the Matrix Conference[1]. If any are accepted I guess we'll find out whether I really am ready for the pre-talk stress (from which I have been taking a break for a year or so).
[1] https://cfp.2025.matrix.org
#matrix

2025-05-19 15:41:41 UTC

Poorly-copied answers ripped off from stackoverflow and wrapped in a patronising tone are putting stackoverflow out of business.
https://devclass.com/2025/05/13/stack-overflow-seeks-rebrand-as-traffic-continues-to-plummet-which-is-bad-news-for-developers/
meaning there will be no more information to rip off.

2025-01-15 15:44:58 UTC

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is active on fedi!

2024-12-04 15:11:30 UTC

Musings on the order of messages in Matrix
https://artificialworlds.net/blog/2024/12/04/message-order-in-matrix/
It's surprisingly hard to say which message came first!
#matrix

2024-11-13 12:31:29 UTC

https://fishtank.heg.cool/

2024-11-12 12:32:28 UTC

If you want to learn how #matrix works, I really recommend https://uhoreg.gitlab.io/matrix-tutorial/index.html by @npub1e6k…9kpc

2024-09-20 09:31:04 UTC

Really sorry to be missing the Matrix Conference, but at least able to watch on the live stream!
https://2024.matrix.org/watch
#MatrixConf

2024-09-06 11:31:33 UTC

I have been shepherding a Matrix Spec Change that tries to choose easy-to-understand wording to explain Cryptographic concepts to non-technical users.
I think the first draft is ready! Comments and suggestions welcome.
https://github.com/matrix-org/matrix-spec-proposals/pull/4161
#matrix

2024-09-02 09:17:39 UTC

What is the oldest FOSS project you've worked on?
Doesn't need to be old, just the oldest you've worked on!
Tag it with #MyOldestProject
Follow up from https://mastodon.social/@npub1r2j…c6nd/113023430756357736