Nostr notes by Matt Linton :donor:

Gonna sound like an old, but... I remember when 15% was a good ...

2026-10-26T15:14:38Z

Gonna sound like an old, but... I remember when 15% was a good sit-down restaurant tip, 10% for "meh" service, 20% "I want to impress my date with my generosity".

Having a Square reader ask me to pick between 18%, 22%, or 25% at a coffee kiosk is tip-culture inflation at work.

Wife and I are watching "Alien" (1979) and it's ...

2026-10-24T02:57:52Z

Wife and I are watching "Alien" (1979) and it's hilarious how the entire movie could just have been titled "Stuff would have been fine if any of the men on the ship were willing to listen to a woman" LOL

I was invited to a very fancy restaurant yesterday for dinner, ...

2026-09-15T23:24:22Z

I was invited to a very fancy restaurant yesterday for dinner, and I think I now understand why rich people still seem to be so unhappy.

Dessert was one square inch of cake, with gold leaf on it. And everyone had to pretend that they were super happy about that.

I thought AI was supposed to help me gain an edge over the ...

2026-09-05T23:19:24Z

I thought AI was supposed to help me gain an edge over the attackers

Gemini's answer didn't say the providers are unaware of ...

2026-06-20T18:41:11Z

In reply to nevent1q…sg92
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Gemini's answer didn't say the providers are unaware of these techniques or that they don't leave artifacts.

My understanding of abuse algorithms in practice is usually that there's not always _easy_ artifacts of abuse and there's usually a pool of data that indicates, but doesn't prove, abuse - which you have to tune carefully to make sure you don't false-positive-out real customers, and that usually means accepting and responding to some low-enough-to-still-be-profitable levels of abuse.

That all seems to match, from what I can tell.

Maybe someone on this platform who knows Instacart abuse systems can shed some light?

Ah, I asked Gemini and it seems like there's known scam ...

2026-06-20T18:30:23Z

In reply to nevent1q…k3ng
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Ah, I asked Gemini and it seems like there's known scam details:

Oh, absolutely! My definition of "did the scam work" ...

2026-06-20T18:22:38Z

In reply to nevent1q…hads
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Oh, absolutely!

My definition of "did the scam work" isn't whether the customer lost money though, it's whether the scammer got an enduring payout. So I wonder how this one actually works on the back-end. :D

I mean "must" obviously doesn't count in this ...

2026-06-20T18:01:15Z

In reply to nevent1q…d3g7
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I mean "must" obviously doesn't count in this situation though, because they didn't do that thing and yet still got the money.

I'm wondering if maybe there's a fraud situation where someone figured out how to GPS spoof their app, create a fake identity, and is literally sitting there in some remote country faking deliveries for a day until they get caught and disabled but still running away with the money in the meantime?

I don't know enough about how the supply side of Instacart works to game through the scam here, but there's clearly a scam here because they DID accept my order, I did get charged (and later refunded), and they did provide a streetview photo of the house as their "proof".

I think the apps that shoppers/deliver-ers use these days insist ...

2026-06-20T04:53:17Z

In reply to nevent1q…rawz
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I think the apps that shoppers/deliver-ers use these days insist they provide A photo in order to "close out" their trip.

I ordered some items on instacart and the shopper marked the ...

2026-06-20T00:51:47Z

I ordered some items on instacart and the shopper marked the delivery "Complete" - but it wasn't there. The photo they povided for "delivery location" is a photo of the garage door taken straight from Google Street View.

Are they hoping I'll assume it got stolen & not report it?

I can't emphasize enough about how important it is for ...

2026-06-01T16:28:37Z

I can't emphasize enough about how important it is for cybersecurity/tech folks to have an enjoyable hobby outside of tech (a physical one, if possible). It's amazing how one good solid firefighting drill day (or call!) improves my mood and attitude for _days_ afterward.

One of my biggest worries today is that decreasing job security ...

2026-03-25T17:51:35Z

One of my biggest worries today is that decreasing job security and declining volunteerism are going to multiply one another in ways that severely undercut the fabric of our country. An early indicator: The diminishment of volunteer firefighting.

https://www.nfpa.org/news-blogs-and-articles/nfpa-journal/2026/02/11/volunteer-fire-service-crisis

This trend is understandable. Who can afford to spend the time volunteering when the cost of living fast outpaces wage growth, and when job stability is low?

I'm definitely thinking of the year where a big party room ...

2026-01-11T06:00:44Z

In reply to nevent1q…lwd9
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I'm definitely thinking of the year where a big party room was roped off with a bouncer who told me that it was a "private event for government and active duty military only".

I'm guessing that was the satellite hacking thing.

With all the things going on right now, I'm very very curious ...

2026-01-11T05:39:16Z

With all the things going on right now, I'm very very curious about whether #defcon will continue to have as close and cozy a relationship with DHS and the US Military as they have had in the last few years.

Maui seems to be proving that banning short-term rentals actually ...

2025-09-13T16:11:07Z

Maui seems to be proving that banning short-term rentals actually does drastically reduce housing costs for locals.

https://beatofhawaii.com/maui-condo-market-collapse-what-it-means-for-travelers/

I'm a model if you know what I mean And I bake my GPU in the ...

2025-08-26T16:35:24Z

I'm a model if you know what I mean
And I bake my GPU in the crosstalk
In the crosstalk
Yeah I bake my GPU in the crosstalk

I, too, loved those three maniacs 🥳

2025-08-23T18:04:52Z

In reply to nevent1q…nn0k
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I, too, loved those three maniacs 🥳

My friend was offended that I said meeting "Weird Al" was ...

2025-08-23T17:38:15Z

My friend was offended that I said meeting "Weird Al" was more meaningful to me than meeting Pres. Obama.

Obama was amazing but he didn't inspire me through my formative years when being weird was mostly looked at as being a violence-worthy offense to humankind. Weird Al did.

Is this a store or a detective show? ...

2025-08-10T04:05:42Z

Is this a store or a detective show?

This NextDNS blocking UX feels like a trap. It defaults to ...

2025-07-12T17:43:52Z

This NextDNS blocking UX feels like a trap.

It defaults to "on" and you have to either accept web censorship based on unknown third-party criteria OR essentially say "I DO want to see child abuse material".

It's the "Yes or no: do you still beat your wife?" of UX settings.

IOT: "This is great, the oven will tell me when it's ...

2025-06-18T00:19:53Z

IOT: "This is great, the oven will tell me when it's preheated!"

(Later)

"Aw hell no, I do not like this."

Bummer: I actually like to use em-dashes in my writing and now I ...

2025-06-17T02:17:43Z

Bummer: I actually like to use em-dashes in my writing and now I can't because it makes my stuff look AI generated.

Excellent: I also habitually double-space after periods, and now that's a sure sign that I am human!

Whenever a big company tells me my complex and long password ...

2025-06-08T18:22:58Z

Whenever a big company tells me my complex and long password "has expired and needs to be changed" and there was never any hint of password expiration periods before - I will automatically assume they have been breached and aren't admitting it.

RIP To that amazing time in history when camera phones became ...

2025-05-31T19:52:39Z

RIP To that amazing time in history when camera phones became ubiquitous and high quality enough for us all to see amazing rare things captured by lucky people, but before AI video became ubiquitous enough that everything amazing captured on video must be assumed to be faked. 😭

Question, is it uncouth to solicit on LinkedIn for volunteer ...

2025-05-27T03:02:32Z

Question, is it uncouth to solicit on LinkedIn for volunteer roles?

I'm trying to find an early-career tech helper for the bird rescue I work with. Happy to trade genuine mentorship in good faith for the work, but it's not a paid role.

I can't shake the feeling, when I see AI music & video ...

2025-05-23T18:19:33Z

I can't shake the feeling, when I see AI music & video generators, that we have crossed the precipice of creating the "Versificator" machines from Orwell's "1984" and are now about to find out exactly how accurate his other prognostications were.

"Mission creep" claims another victim today, as a family ...

2025-05-18T18:44:45Z

"Mission creep" claims another victim today, as a family member of mine has chosen to disable emergency alerts entirely on their phone after being awakened by a mass alert for a missing elderly person 50 miles away.

For the "Immigration enforcement isn't an issue if ...

2025-05-12T15:37:47Z

For the "Immigration enforcement isn't an issue if you're a US Citizen" crowd: I just received my first scam call attempting to convince me that they were US Border Patrol and had incarcerated my child and needed payment to release her.

Trump on Hillary: "Her careless storage of emails could have ...

2025-03-24T20:29:28Z

Trump on Hillary: "Her careless storage of emails could have caused security issues!"

Hegseth: "Hold my 13 empty beers."

I have a hard time explaining what I do to non-tech folks b/c ...

2025-01-27T00:22:07Z

I have a hard time explaining what I do to non-tech folks b/c there is so muchcontext wrapped up in "Incident Response & Forensics for a global scale tech company."

DFIR folks: How do you explain your job to laypeople?

Publicly announcing that the 5% of your employees you plan to lay ...

2025-01-15T00:32:16Z

Publicly announcing that the 5% of your employees you plan to lay off are the "lowest performers" is probably the meanest thing a company leader could do. First they lose their jobs, then the CEO intentionally tarnishes their reputation in the market so they can't find another?

The hardest part of calculating time-to-payoff amortization for ...

2024-12-20T05:33:48Z

The hardest part of calculating time-to-payoff amortization for solar panels and battery storage in California, is that you have to recalculate it every couple months as PGE rugpulls everyone.

At this rate I'll be fully amortized by next June.

Juniors, here's why it's always better to raise your ...

2024-10-10T02:38:43Z

Juniors, here's why it's always better to raise your mistakes early and get help: You're very unlikely to be fired over a mistake you owned up to.

Me helping you fix your mistake is cheap.
Recruiting your replacement costs more.

But recovering from a cover-up is REALLY costly.

Career tip: If you like those unboxing videos where somebody ...

2024-09-03T16:22:33Z

Career tip: If you like those unboxing videos where somebody documents the entire process of getting something out of a package and turning it on, you will LOVE digital forensics.