That's not entirely correct. There are also updates to the baseband, bootloader, binary driver blobs, etc. E.g., the bootloader for the FP3 was set to trust roms signed with the AOSP test keys (https://forum.fairphone.com/t/bootloader-avb-keys-used-in-ro...). That's not something fixable by the OS / rom maker.
The security issues stemming from such things are likely real, as well. There was a paper released some time back, about binary blobs, that found:
> Our results reveal that device manufacturers often neglect vendor blob updates. About 82% of firmware releases contain outdated GPU blobs (up to 1,281 days). A significant number of blobs also rely on obsolete LLVM core libraries released more than 15 years ago. To analyze their security implications, we develop a performant fuzzer that requires no physical access to mobile devices. We discover 289 security and behavioral bugs within the blobs. We also present a case study demonstrating how these vulnerabilities can be exploited via WebGL.
Great site - I am reading all your posts about the LAN party house now. Do you have the real estate listing of the house when it was up for sale? I'm just curious as to where it was located - you mentioned a sliver of land, and I saw the asking price ($2M in Palo Alto) so I'm curious to see what it looked like from the outside and its location, if you don't mind sharing!
Hmmmm even though it's not mine anymore, posting the address doesn't feel right... seems like it'd be violating the privacy of the new owners of the house. Yes, even though I did post the address publicly when selling it -- that listing is gone now so arguably privacy has been regained. (Or if not, maybe you can find it, heh.)
Look under "Residential - Palo Alto". But note that the furniture in these pictures was staging furniture that the real estate agents put in there to sell the house, NOT stuff I ever chose or used! (I hate it.)
@kentonv, if you see this, it looks like your father's website is potentially broken on mobile. See https://photos.app.goo.gl/3tcui1CXypZC3PfE9 - the photo is a tiny thumbnail on the right hand side. If I switch to desktop mode, it's bigger, but still pretty small. Probably due to the left sidebar being a fixed size and always on the left. I'm using a Pixel 2, but with the latest Android and Chrome version.
Yeah, I know. He's not a computer person, but somehow he managed to set up this web site without any help from me, which is kind of a miracle. Obviously the tech isn't great though. He doesn't actually need it to get clients or anything, he's retired, so whatever.
Maybe I'll help him put together a better site after the new house is done and ready to go on it...
Thanks! Your father's site and his work is amazing, including your house! And yes, I did end up finding the address and listing through a basic search, but your Dad's site actually has more and better pictures ;)
When you build your new Austin LAN-party-pad would love to see that.
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