Author: Spencer Dailey

Privacy

Don’t even “Dismiss” the “How is Claude doing this session?” prompt, as it may compromise your chat session’s privacy

Spencer Dailey

You have to be obsessive compulsive to avoid the privacy landmines that companies like OpenAI and Anthropic spread throughout their products. Yesterday I wrote a blog post about how the “How is Claude doing this session?” prompt seemed like a feature just designed to sneak more data from paying Claude users who had opted out… Continue reading Don’t even “Dismiss” the “How is Claude doing this session?” prompt, as it may compromise your chat session’s privacy

Privacy

Assume that “How is Claude doing this session?” is a privacy loophole

Spencer Dailey

I am a power user of AI models, who pays a premium for plans claiming to better-respect the privacy of users. (Btw, I am not a lawyer.) With OpenAI, I pay $50/month (2 seats) for a business account vs a $20/month individual plan because of stronger privacy promises, and I don’t even need the extra… Continue reading Assume that “How is Claude doing this session?” is a privacy loophole

AI Tools

Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT can get it wrong (or very wrong) about your product

Spencer Dailey

[If you’re here for the worst AI fail, I’ll spoil it: ChatGPT hallucinated my app’s purpose and basically described it as some sort of keylogger, which it absolutely isn’t 🤷‍♂️. Google AI Overviews also failed both of my tests. There is some discussion of it here. Now, the article:] Google search isn’t what it used… Continue reading Google AI Overviews and ChatGPT can get it wrong (or very wrong) about your product

Apple

Apple starts pushing AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 owners into Transparency or Noise Cancellation modes repeatedly, without an easy opt out

Spencer Dailey

(If you want to skip directly to the fixes, click here. If you want to skip to some genuine praise of Apple, feel free to jump to the next section. There’s a lively discussion on HN here and 9to5mac here.) A couple of weeks ago I noticed my pair of AirPods Pro 2 aggressively switching… Continue reading Apple starts pushing AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods 4 owners into Transparency or Noise Cancellation modes repeatedly, without an easy opt out

Bitcoin · Security

Napkin math suggests Bitcoin will perish unless its mining incentives change

Spencer Dailey

For years, analysts have gone on channels like CNBC calling Bitcoin “digital gold”, and many everyday crypto investors truly believe that. But gold has been a “store of value” for millennia. Could Bitcoin, as we know it today, retain its value long term, say even just fifty years? The simple math tells us it likely… Continue reading Napkin math suggests Bitcoin will perish unless its mining incentives change

CurrentKey Stats

Presenting CurrentKey Stats, my (and hopefully your new) Mac app!

Spencer Dailey

Hey there! I post musings here and edit at Techmeme, but I also write software! Today I’m proud to present CurrentKey Stats, in the Mac App Store! It helps you organize and keep track of: Whatever your accomplishing on your Mac! Here, the demo describes it pretty well: Because it listens to AppleScript, it enables… Continue reading Presenting CurrentKey Stats, my (and hopefully your new) Mac app!

Security

Companies embracing SMS for account logins should be blamed for SIM-swap attacks

Spencer Dailey

[UPDATE Since this was posted in 2024: Major US telcos like AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon have suffered a months-long breach (the ongoing Salt Typhoon attack). These companies, of course, pass along the unencrypted SMSes vital to countless log in flows, account re-activations, and password resets. They are now known to themselves be compromised. With all… Continue reading Companies embracing SMS for account logins should be blamed for SIM-swap attacks

Apple

Apple’s new iOS feature to charge battery up to an “80% Limit” shouldn’t just be for the iPhone 15

Spencer Dailey

[There is very lively discussion on Reddit, where it’s trending at #1 both on r/ios and r/apple. There are a bunch of worthy suggestions there on how to improve the feature even more, but one thing’s clear: iPhone users would love to see this come to more devices.] Apple has recently made bold claims about… Continue reading Apple’s new iOS feature to charge battery up to an “80% Limit” shouldn’t just be for the iPhone 15

Apple · Browsers

As a web game dev, one point in favor of an App Store debut (and many against)

Spencer Dailey

As I round the corner on my latest (yet to be announced) game, I’m faced with a harsh reality: needing to publish to the Play & App Store. Why? Unlike my first two games, this upcoming one relies on swiping mechanics, where the player needs to reliably input left/right & up/down gestures. Certain aspects of… Continue reading As a web game dev, one point in favor of an App Store debut (and many against)

mediagazing

Meta and LinkedIn will never rival Twitter for reporters, unless they copy TweetDeck

Spencer Dailey

As a professional media gazer, I have noticed many people leave Twitter over the last six months, amid the platform’s chaos. But many have decided to return in some capacity. I love Mastodon, but I am not a writer needing to care about large audiences. The nerdy, club atmosphere of the fediverse is just what… Continue reading Meta and LinkedIn will never rival Twitter for reporters, unless they copy TweetDeck