Kenny
@kennyqin.com
Platform Engineer | Privacy Advocate | FOSS Enthusiast
📍 Sydney, Australia
💬 Signal/Threema
I provide commentary on social issues that mostly relate to digital technology. A follow is not indicative of endorsement.
📍 Sydney, Australia
💬 Signal/Threema
I provide commentary on social issues that mostly relate to digital technology. A follow is not indicative of endorsement.
Got a mouse to use with MacOS and forgot that you can't have separate "natural scrolling" settings for trackpad and mouse. I want to throw this whole setup in the bin now. No, I can't use a utility to fix it. This machine is locked down.
November 18, 2025 at 3:36 AM
Got a mouse to use with MacOS and forgot that you can't have separate "natural scrolling" settings for trackpad and mouse. I want to throw this whole setup in the bin now. No, I can't use a utility to fix it. This machine is locked down.
I joined a tech interest group today. Most of the participants were 70+. Surprisingly, they were quite informed on a lot of topics.
Despite mistakenly claiming that Facebook and Google are owned by the same company, one ~80 year old said his social group shies away from FB due to privacy concerns!
Despite mistakenly claiming that Facebook and Google are owned by the same company, one ~80 year old said his social group shies away from FB due to privacy concerns!
November 3, 2025 at 10:46 AM
I joined a tech interest group today. Most of the participants were 70+. Surprisingly, they were quite informed on a lot of topics.
Despite mistakenly claiming that Facebook and Google are owned by the same company, one ~80 year old said his social group shies away from FB due to privacy concerns!
Despite mistakenly claiming that Facebook and Google are owned by the same company, one ~80 year old said his social group shies away from FB due to privacy concerns!
Call me slow but I just found out that #AppleEarPods have a USB-C variant. I grabbed one immediately due to its reasonable price and I'm already convinced that it'll be my go-to for voice calls on Android as well as for as for voice chats when gaming on my #SteamDeck. Such a great product!
October 31, 2025 at 4:23 AM
Call me slow but I just found out that #AppleEarPods have a USB-C variant. I grabbed one immediately due to its reasonable price and I'm already convinced that it'll be my go-to for voice calls on Android as well as for as for voice chats when gaming on my #SteamDeck. Such a great product!
A friend linked an Instagram post with no context whatsoever that I ignored. The next time I saw them, they mentioned a restaurant that apparently they'd messaged me about. I had to kindly tell them that I can't view Instagram posts because Meta makes you log in...
October 27, 2025 at 5:52 AM
A friend linked an Instagram post with no context whatsoever that I ignored. The next time I saw them, they mentioned a restaurant that apparently they'd messaged me about. I had to kindly tell them that I can't view Instagram posts because Meta makes you log in...
Just switched my default browser search engine to noai.duckduckgo.com. This isn't an anti-AI move. I'm just trying to be mindful of the additional compute being used all the time.
DuckDuckGo - Protection. Privacy. Peace of mind.
The Internet privacy company that empowers you to seamlessly take control of your personal information online, without any tradeoffs.
noai.duckduckgo.com
October 16, 2025 at 12:16 AM
Just switched my default browser search engine to noai.duckduckgo.com. This isn't an anti-AI move. I'm just trying to be mindful of the additional compute being used all the time.
@ente.io is a media management tool that I've been using for 2 months now. I love that I can organise and share (with others) my photos and videos knowing that everything is private.
The price is affordable and I can see myself using for many years to come. 🤞
This post was not sponsored. 😅
The price is affordable and I can see myself using for many years to come. 🤞
This post was not sponsored. 😅
October 3, 2025 at 8:36 AM
@ente.io is a media management tool that I've been using for 2 months now. I love that I can organise and share (with others) my photos and videos knowing that everything is private.
The price is affordable and I can see myself using for many years to come. 🤞
This post was not sponsored. 😅
The price is affordable and I can see myself using for many years to come. 🤞
This post was not sponsored. 😅
Reposted by Kenny
It's Signal. It's worth using. Good interview with @Mer__edith
https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-09-14/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-in-technology-its-way-too-easy-for-marketing-to-replace-substance-thats-whats-happened-with-telegram.html
h/t
#signal
https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-09-14/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-in-technology-its-way-too-easy-for-marketing-to-replace-substance-thats-whats-happened-with-telegram.html
h/t
#signal
Signal president Meredith Whittaker: ‘In technology, it’s way too easy for marketing to replace substance. That’s what’s happened with Telegram’
The app best known for respecting privacy looks to grow, despite anti-privacy efforts
english.elpais.com
September 15, 2025 at 12:27 PM
It's Signal. It's worth using. Good interview with @Mer__edith
https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-09-14/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-in-technology-its-way-too-easy-for-marketing-to-replace-substance-thats-whats-happened-with-telegram.html
h/t
#signal
https://english.elpais.com/technology/2025-09-14/signal-president-meredith-whittaker-in-technology-its-way-too-easy-for-marketing-to-replace-substance-thats-whats-happened-with-telegram.html
h/t
#signal
TIL about what3words. I quite like the concept but it's proprietary and the company behind it will take legal action against you down for stepping outside their ecosystem making it a nonstarter for me; not to mention that their app doesn't work on my phone without installing more proprietary crap.
September 11, 2025 at 1:37 AM
TIL about what3words. I quite like the concept but it's proprietary and the company behind it will take legal action against you down for stepping outside their ecosystem making it a nonstarter for me; not to mention that their app doesn't work on my phone without installing more proprietary crap.
I found this government dataset on Telstra Wi-Fi payphones. You can export the data as GPX and import it into an app like @comaps.app. Super cool!
data.wpcouncils.nsw.gov.au/explore/data...
data.wpcouncils.nsw.gov.au/explore/data...
Find a Telstra Wi-Fi payphone near you
This dataset captures the rollout and usage statistics of Telstra's free Wi-Fi service available at public payphones across Australia. Initiated in August 2022, the program began with approximately 3,...
data.wpcouncils.nsw.gov.au
September 3, 2025 at 11:10 PM
I found this government dataset on Telstra Wi-Fi payphones. You can export the data as GPX and import it into an app like @comaps.app. Super cool!
data.wpcouncils.nsw.gov.au/explore/data...
data.wpcouncils.nsw.gov.au/explore/data...
The elevation graph feature is something I'm greatly looking forward to being added to @comaps.app. Sadly, it seems like there are blockers before it can be added.
codeberg.org/comaps/comap...
codeberg.org/comaps/comap...
August 16, 2025 at 11:54 AM
The elevation graph feature is something I'm greatly looking forward to being added to @comaps.app. Sadly, it seems like there are blockers before it can be added.
codeberg.org/comaps/comap...
codeberg.org/comaps/comap...
TIL: After installing Fedora Silverblue, you should almost immediately install the Flathub version of Firefox if you want a functional browser for video streaming. This is because there are a bunch of dependencies that are a pain to manage that just work out of the box with the Flathub installation.
July 7, 2025 at 11:18 PM
TIL: After installing Fedora Silverblue, you should almost immediately install the Flathub version of Firefox if you want a functional browser for video streaming. This is because there are a bunch of dependencies that are a pain to manage that just work out of the box with the Flathub installation.
Tell me you're an evil company without telling me you're evil. People often ask me why I disallow them to take photos of me. It's because of bullshit like this. 👇
Facebook is starting to feed its AI with private, unpublished photos
Facebook is starting to feed its Meta AI with private, unpublished photos
Facebook users opting into “cloud processing” are inadvertently giving Meta AI access to their entire camera roll.
buff.ly
June 28, 2025 at 5:31 AM
Tell me you're an evil company without telling me you're evil. People often ask me why I disallow them to take photos of me. It's because of bullshit like this. 👇
Unpopular opinion: Steam sales need to stop being glorified. Games are often on sale throughout the year and often cheaper on other legitimate websites. This has been true for many years now.
June 27, 2025 at 1:30 PM
Unpopular opinion: Steam sales need to stop being glorified. Games are often on sale throughout the year and often cheaper on other legitimate websites. This has been true for many years now.
Just had a scramble to join a video call because Zoom no longer seems to allow Android devices to join through the browser by using "Desktop site". I, relunctantly, installed the APK which didn't work anyway. I then resorted to joining the call without a webcam on another device. Boo. 👎
June 23, 2025 at 6:00 AM
Just had a scramble to join a video call because Zoom no longer seems to allow Android devices to join through the browser by using "Desktop site". I, relunctantly, installed the APK which didn't work anyway. I then resorted to joining the call without a webcam on another device. Boo. 👎
Reposted by Kenny
Use Signal. We promise, no AI clutter, and no surveillance ads, whatever the rest of the industry does. <3
June 16, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Use Signal. We promise, no AI clutter, and no surveillance ads, whatever the rest of the industry does. <3
Reposted by Kenny
Blog: Changes to Kubernetes Slack
Changes to Kubernetes Slack
Kubernetes Slack will lose its special status and will be changing into a standard free Slack on June 20. Sometime later this year, our community will likely move to a new platform. If you are responsible...
www.kubernetes.dev
June 16, 2025 at 7:18 PM
Blog: Changes to Kubernetes Slack
I've been waiting like 5 years for this. lol
You can now use authenticator apps to keep your account and your glorious DRM-free library safe forever! 🔐
Learn how to enable it here: bit.ly/GOG_2FA
We hope you enjoy this new feature 💜
Learn how to enable it here: bit.ly/GOG_2FA
We hope you enjoy this new feature 💜
You can now use authenticator apps to keep your GOG account secure!
You can now use authenticator apps to keep your GOG account secure!
bit.ly
May 19, 2025 at 2:47 PM
I've been waiting like 5 years for this. lol
I've seen a bunch of people and orgs make a huge deal out of the Steam "leak". They even go so far as to link to Steam's official announcement where Valve says it's all a load of nothing. 🤦
May 15, 2025 at 7:51 AM
I've seen a bunch of people and orgs make a huge deal out of the Steam "leak". They even go so far as to link to Steam's official announcement where Valve says it's all a load of nothing. 🤦
Thank you to the person who let me use their Windows machine to install the "XBox Accessories" Windows app so that I could update the firmware of a few official XBox controllers so that they could pair with my Linux machine over Bluetooth.
April 28, 2025 at 2:59 AM
Thank you to the person who let me use their Windows machine to install the "XBox Accessories" Windows app so that I could update the firmware of a few official XBox controllers so that they could pair with my Linux machine over Bluetooth.
The "Limited Access" to Contacts feature in iOS 18 is great. It should be the default and users should be warned when giving apps full access. Users should be responsible for the contacts shared with an app. In reality, most people will just give full access.
support.apple.com/en-au/guide/...
support.apple.com/en-au/guide/...
Control access to your contacts on iPhone
On iPhone, you control which of your contacts an app can access.
support.apple.com
March 29, 2025 at 12:49 AM
The "Limited Access" to Contacts feature in iOS 18 is great. It should be the default and users should be warned when giving apps full access. Users should be responsible for the contacts shared with an app. In reality, most people will just give full access.
support.apple.com/en-au/guide/...
support.apple.com/en-au/guide/...
Reposted by Kenny
Right now there are a lot of new eyes on Signal, and not all of them are familiar with secure messaging and its nuances. Which means there’s misinfo flying around that might drive people away from Signal and private communications. 1/
March 25, 2025 at 10:52 PM
Right now there are a lot of new eyes on Signal, and not all of them are familiar with secure messaging and its nuances. Which means there’s misinfo flying around that might drive people away from Signal and private communications. 1/
I've found that LinkedIn becomes a lot more tolerable once you've configured your notifications properly.
Those LinkedIn Premium ads though...
Those LinkedIn Premium ads though...
March 26, 2025 at 9:42 AM
I've found that LinkedIn becomes a lot more tolerable once you've configured your notifications properly.
Those LinkedIn Premium ads though...
Those LinkedIn Premium ads though...
Finally some movement on an F-Droid build of the official Bluesky Android client. I'm hyped!
github.com/bluesky-soci...
github.com/bluesky-soci...
[Android] F-Droid release · Issue #898 · bluesky-social/social-app
Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Yes, can't download android app without Google Playstore. Describe the solution you'd like Bluesky is made available through F-Droid. ...
github.com
March 25, 2025 at 12:27 PM
Finally some movement on an F-Droid build of the official Bluesky Android client. I'm hyped!
github.com/bluesky-soci...
github.com/bluesky-soci...
Overnight, a bunch of Australian Mullvad servers started being blocked by Reddit. Back to using frontends. Redlib has been working well so far.
March 21, 2025 at 7:10 AM
Overnight, a bunch of Australian Mullvad servers started being blocked by Reddit. Back to using frontends. Redlib has been working well so far.
My current, temporary desktop setup is a Steam Deck with a basic M/KB combo connected to a UGREEN USB hub connected to a GL-MT300N-V2 via Ethernet. My Android phone works well as a webcam. I have a notebook but it doesn't satisfy the gaming itch. It all just works. 🤓
Sent from my Steam Deck.
Sent from my Steam Deck.
March 20, 2025 at 6:03 AM
My current, temporary desktop setup is a Steam Deck with a basic M/KB combo connected to a UGREEN USB hub connected to a GL-MT300N-V2 via Ethernet. My Android phone works well as a webcam. I have a notebook but it doesn't satisfy the gaming itch. It all just works. 🤓
Sent from my Steam Deck.
Sent from my Steam Deck.