>Serif fonts are often perceived as more traditional, but they are also more demanding to use effectively. While a skilled typographer can, in theory, produce excellent results with Times, using it in its default digital form is not considered professional practice.
This reads like your CEO is mixing an argument against serifs with an argument against Times specifically. Later on they make a case against Times' lack of support for more modern features in digital fonts, which is a fine argument, but a question comes to mind: is the solution a sans-serif font?
It seems to me upon reading the article that Rubio's staff, or Rubio himself, is being overly specific with the font and I suspect that, being uninformed, what they really want is a serif font rather than Times New Roman, specifically. Maybe I'm wrong.
In any case, I'd like for you/your CEO to make it clearer, if you will: do you believe official government communications should use a sans-serif font altogether or is it just a problem with Times? Or both?
On a more personal note, is there any serif font you'd suggest as an alternative?
> ...according to an internal department cable seen by Reuters...
The jab at the DEIA is petty, sure. But if the only intent was to smear them, why didn't they even announce it publicly? It was the choice of Reuters and HN to make an MS Office font change(!) a big deal.
>SMS is banned.
Really? I didn't know that. Can you point me to a document that states that? I'd greatly appreciate it.
>SafetyNet or Play Integrity
A few days ago I did inspect the NovoBanco (Portuguese) apk, and I did look for SafetyNet specifically. They didn't use it. But since I'm not that familiar with the android eco-system I couldn't really tell if Play Integrity was used instead. But I did find a LOT of HMS (Huawei Mobile Services) stuff, and some if it was definitely related to security.
I might take a look at it again tomorrow.
I was curious if I could sideload the app without logging into a google account, meaning without using google services, but all I did was a tiny bit of static analysis instead of actually trying it.
If you have any write-ups on crazy hacks for foss systems, again it would be awesome if you could share them and greatly appreciated. Cheers
Also, is using HMS a normal thing in android development? Last I checked Huawei was persona non grata in the west, at least when it came to hardware like network equipment and consumer devices. I was surprised when I saw HMS in the apk.
Effectively, if the client doesn't download the App, they will never be able to log into the homebanking website again. The bank enforced this and now if you login normally it will redirect to a page where you can download the app or use up one of three remaining chances to login. I am down to two. From now on, I'm only able to use ATM's or go to an actual teller to make payments and such. The app requires that I have a Google account or an Apple account and I think that's just messed up, specially for a Portuguese bank.
The app on the google store is pt.novobanco.nbsmarter if anyone is curious. It has interesting permissions as well.
You say "The bank"... does this mean Portugal only has one bank? If not, wouldn't this be a good reason so change banks? Maybe to a credit union (bank co-op) if they have those in Portugal as the members generally have much more of a say.
When I wrote "the bank" I meant, the bank in question, which is the one mentioned in the URL. Hope this makes it clearer for you.
As for alternatives, yes there are, I'm still figuring which ones do not require an app on the smart-phone, though.
I believe I've found a fair alternative after asking a few friends but, I have to account for other factors as well, like, how secure their infrastructure is.
This is because offline 2FA keyfobs were never that popular in Portugal (to my knowledge), unlike 2FA via SMS which I find less secure that keyfobs, but now with the SCA directives from the EU, most banks are jumping on the App 2FA bandwagon. Some do offer a government issued alternative [0] but it still requires an app. I'd be perfectly happy to sign in with my Citizen's ID card reader but that is also rarely implemented (bank-wise), specially since the Chave Movel Digital app from the government [0].
Bottom line, most major banks are going in one direction (deploying their own apps onto customer devices), while smaller banks are staying put (with SMS 2FA) but their security was never that great. So I'm still prospecting and yes, there's a bank co-op on my list also.
Oh, and by "security" I'm mostly going by feel here. Like, if the web interface is a bit jankie I don't feel secure. I'm not going to look into obfuscated .js and pretend like I know anything about web security.
Not sure where gp lives. But most banks here restrict you to 4 digits as the password. So basically a PIN. If you are lucky, you get 6 digits or even letters. But be careful: if you use “fancy letters” (symbols, umlauts, …) you risk locking your account: you will be able to set this password, but the actual login form won’t allow you to enter it. Banks here are highly regulated, so don’t hope for competent competition.
They mitigate the obvious security thread with mandatory 2fa (actually mandated by regulation). Some use this as an opportunity to push their apps: no separate 2fa method, but only integrated in their bloated app, that checks for rooted devices and only supports the newest OS.
It’s quite hard to find out in advance, what 2fa methods with which fees each bank actually requires. I remember that some of them had funny ideas, what a customer should be billed for 2fa SMS. I think it was 50 cents per SMS.
I assume a banking app needs (temporary) permission to use the camera for check photos or things of that nature ... and possibly (temporary) use of location data.
I would be alarmed if it requested microphone or access to either contacts or photo storage ...
All the time. Nothing political about the Punch mission, or the current solar maximum spewing out a bunch of flares last year. Actually it's a bit of a shame the Punch mission wasn't launched sooner, so we could see amazing flares in 3D. But that's just me, I like sun stuff.
The point is, if you seek political stuff you'll find it, even a political spin on a recent flare that is being yet again compared to the Carrington Event. I'm here for the sun stuff and other space stuff. I'm here all the time, before and after the dust settles. I'm here for the "boring" stuff. If you have to ask that question, you're a tourist. Sorry if it comes across as gatekeeping. But it really looks like that to me.
Sure the thing's been politically amplified into oblivion by the parties involved. That doesn't mean ranting about the gulf of america and all the other things the author doesn't like about the current political situation in that arstechnica article, is a good suggestion to be bumped into a top comment. Neither is burying exodust's comment which I think has a very good point that I agree with.
Quote from the arstechnica article: "This is why we can't have nice things.". Yes it is. This is exactly it. Guess I'll just have to wait for the tourists to go elsewhere. Anyone who came for political reasons and stayed for the boring stuff is very much welcome, as always.
I cannot imagine anyone soldering with SAC at 300ºC. Not even leaded solder with pre-heating as merely an option. But somehow those values crop up from time to time.
I'm not going to debate them though, I'll just dump my values, it might help someone.
My job involves soldering at least once a week from through-holes to SMDs(mostly), 1.6mm to 0.8mm pcb thickness, from 1206 smd to 0402 (imperial) sizes. From flimsy 0402 resistors to beefy 1cm² all metal casing inductors from hell.
To do all this I use a JBC soldering station with C245 and C210 tips. I also use a non-brand hot-air station for TSSOP ICs with exposed pad on the underside for heat transfer. Sometimes I use a hot-plate as well, and a reflow oven while we're at it.
On the JBC:
For leaded solder: 350ºC on both C245 and C210 tips. I do increase it to +/- 360ºC on occasion to solder near big stubborn ground planes on the pcb. Less than that is impossible without pre-heating because I can't afford to spend more than a few seconds on each soldering op, both because have other things to do and because I can't overheat components. Overheating is also dependent on the time you spend on each component. Might bump it up to 380ºC on those inductors and switch the tips to beefier ones like the chisels and the knives.
For unleaded SAC: 360ºC to 380ºC on those same tips, and I might bump it up to 400ºC again on those inductors.
On the hot-air station:
For leaded: 275ºC
For SAC: 282ºC
On the hotplate: 240ºC for both SAC and leaded. (Mostly repair work after pcbs come out of the oven.)
On the oven: It's a temperature curve and I only use leaded solder paste. Peak at 240ºC.
NOTE1: All the soldering wire I use is flux cored. I tend to use extra flux a lot (Chipquik SMD291), even if it's not really necessary. But on lead-free SAC it's always obligatory.
NOTE2: We don't have any fancy setup where I work and it's overall barely professional in my opinion. Pre-heating is not used much if at all so, I don't have any temperature values to share in that regard.
NOTE3: The SAC solder wire I use is Sn99Cu0,7Ag0,3 EVO11 from CYNEL. I like the brand but I feel the need to try other formulations for different use-cases so I can get away with using lower temperatures on specific temperature sensitive components. On leaded I don't feel that need at all.
It's curious how you use such a big temperature range. I've never used a pinecil despite having friends telling me very good things about it, which picked my interest a bit.
Can you tell us what exactly do you solder at 320ºC and what is the exact type of solder you use and/or Pb and Sn percentages?
Also, is your pinecil calibrated? And which tips do you use at that temperature?
Anecdotally, what usually happens to me at lower temps is the tip and/or the solder wire sticking a bit while I'm soldering which I take as a sign that the liquid solder won't flow correctly and that I have to spend more time giving it heat from tip, than I should.
I use 63/37 solder with a flux core. The Pinecil is amazing, it holds heat really well and gets to 320 C in eight seconds. I didn't calibrate my tip in boiling water, and I don't remember which tip I use now, it's the one that comes by default (B2?).
I only bump it up to 400 C because that was the default, I never use it for more than two or three seconds so the temperature hasn't mattered much. I haven't noticed solder stick, it just sometimes fail to melt properly with large ground planes, so that's when I bump the heat.
This reads like your CEO is mixing an argument against serifs with an argument against Times specifically. Later on they make a case against Times' lack of support for more modern features in digital fonts, which is a fine argument, but a question comes to mind: is the solution a sans-serif font?
It seems to me upon reading the article that Rubio's staff, or Rubio himself, is being overly specific with the font and I suspect that, being uninformed, what they really want is a serif font rather than Times New Roman, specifically. Maybe I'm wrong.
In any case, I'd like for you/your CEO to make it clearer, if you will: do you believe official government communications should use a sans-serif font altogether or is it just a problem with Times? Or both?
On a more personal note, is there any serif font you'd suggest as an alternative?
Thank you. (And sorry if I read this wrong.)
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