https://www.propublica.org/article/the-irs-tried-to-hide-emails-that-show-tax-industry-influence-over-free-file-program?utm_source=pocket&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=pockethits

Hello all,

We have now got five nominees for NZOSS Council's five seats, plus the
two incumbents for the Executive are running again, uncontested, meaning
that we will not require an election. All are elected unopposed.

We do, however, have a substantially rewritten (still being drafted -
join us in #Constitution on https://chat.nzoss.nz if you would like to
be involved) Constitution for the Society on which we require a vote of
75% of a quorum of financial members in support to ratify its adoption.

The voting period for the Special General Meeting will be from 8am Thu
28 until 12 noon Sat 30 Nov 2019. We will provide both a link to the
Constitution to financial members for your review 2 weeks prior to the
election period.

Please note: this will *not* be a secret ballot - administrators of the
NZOSS' survey.nzoss.nz will be able to determine the identify of voters.

If you would like to have a say in that Constitutional ratification, you
can become a financial member now on https://members.nzoss.nz

Thanks,

Dave

I'm generally opposed to censorship. I think there are some narrow
exceptions where the material in question actively promotes harm to others
- e.g. the Christchurch shooter - but otherwise I think it should be up to
the individual to decide what they do or do not want.

More importantly however I think it opens a can of worms of accountability:
as we all know, these things are pretty trivial to work around if you
really want to. Are we setting ourselves up for a case of Joe Smith the
cafe owner being sued by Karen Soccermum because her angel saw a nipple
(because he knows how to use a VPN)? I'm a parent of 11 and 13 year-old
kids myself, but my wife and I think it's far better to educate them on the
dangers of the internet than to try to shield them from it. That kind of
thing just breeds snowflakes who can't deal with real life.

On Mon, Sep 9, 2019 at 11:55 AM Jaco 
wrote:

Hi folks,

I've been keeping largely offline - particularly social media - for a while now, so this might've passed me by until I picked it up in my news feed:

https://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2019/08/porn-crackdown-the-government-s-moves-to-stop-kids-accessing-adult-material.html


The different options being looked at that could make it more difficult to access explicit content include:

* Online Public Areas Safety Bill: Require all retail shops, schools, businesses and public areas which provide free Wi-Fi to the public to ensure appropriate filtering. 
* Online Child Safety Bill: Require internet service providers to make available to all subscribers technology which will allow the parents to monitor and control child's access. 
* Educating Parents on the Harms of Pornography Bill: Directing the state department of education to take a direct role in educating parents of enrolled students on the harms of pornographic material. 
* Government Accountability Trust and Etiquette Bill: Require Govemment agencies to adopt policies that prohibit users from accessing the material.
* School Internet Filtering Accountability Bill: Require schools to adopt policies and implement filters to protect students from pornographic material while using school devices or networks. 
* R18 access to porn websites: Residents will have to provide age ID to have access. 
* Expanding Digital Child Exploitation Filtering System: Internal Affairs already has a targeted filter around child exploitation, child slavery, child sex offences and paedophilia.


Personally I'm in 2 minds about this - I strongly support parents & persons responsible for their connection to have as much control over their connection (I'm using pfblockerNG/PiHole already for this reason), but I get a distinctly uncomfortable feeling if this it's the government cracking down & effectively enforcing censorship "because the children" - particularly given the Chinese govt crackdown taking place in HK & our govt's own comfy relationship; not reading anything sinister into it yet, but it's not a far leap if there's a change in leadership; juxtaposed with legitimate concerns raised around the spread of hate-speech ala what happened around Christchurch incident(s).

What is this long & short of this?  
Are my concerns overblown?
Is simply implementing a DNSBL filter (kb.adguard.com/en/general/dns-providers) sufficient to meet responsible obligations under this?

I've tried looking into various "Net Nanny" sort of systems, and from what I can tell they either implement DNS blacklisting - i.e. block "*.pornhub.com" - or need to break SSL in HTTPS to do full content inspection & filtering (httpS://fb.com), which is where it gets super problematic for a whole BUNCH of reasons.

If it's DNSBL's, a possible solution (& way for us to work WITH govt) may be to ask for a DNSBL feed to be published? (although I can also see how that could be a political self-goal)

Oops, sorry about the noise... I wish mailman would be fixed to so
replies default to author instead of to the list.

D

On 12/08/19 09:27, Daniel Reurich wrote:
> ― 1 file link ―
> 
> Do you know what model the processors are?
> 
> Thanks,	
> 	Daniel

>> We cannot deal with individual inquiries, can only offer this as a large
>> batch. Place is Tauranga.
>>
>> If interested, please contact me directly off-list.

Do you know what model the processors are?

Thanks,	
	Daniel

Hi all

we see a large amount (40+) of desktop computers coming back from
customer installations.

These machines will be replaced before the end of the year because of
running Windows7 but with their specs should be still nice Linux desktops.

Installed in early 2015
Mid tower case
AMD Quad Core @ 3.7Ghz
4GB RAM
128GB SSD
Win7 license

SSDs might be removed.

We cannot deal with individual inquiries, can only offer this as a large
batch. Place is Tauranga.

If interested, please contact me directly off-list.

Regards
Michael

Oops, sent to wrong list... Apologies!

Dave

On 25/07/19 3:08 PM, Daniel Reurich wrote:
> ping.
> 
> So what's the story Dave?  Context seems to be missing...
> 
> cheers,
> 	Daniel
> 
> On 25/07/19 14:59, Dave Lane wrote:
>> Thanks Danny and Steve for your responses... any word from either Carl
>> or Tim?
>>
>> Cheers,
>>
>> Dave

ping.

So what's the story Dave?  Context seems to be missing...

cheers,
	Daniel

Thanks Danny and Steve for your responses... any word from either Carl
or Tim?

Cheers,

Dave

Apologies for the potential SPAM - but figured there are probably a few interested people on this list who may want to attend the free mini-summit customer events Red Hat NZ is running next week in Auckland and Wellington. 

This will be a half day session with networking nibbles at the end. Going over Technology in Rhel8 and OpenShift4 and a panel Q&A around industry trends. 

Reg required https://red.ht/techtalknz


regards

-Joel

Here is an illustration of the concerns we should all reflect on:
- large companies forcing a decision upon 'our valued customers'
- embodying an access mechanism beyond the 'owner's' control
- encumbered data

Microsoft is about to shut off its ebook DRM servers: "The books will 
stop working"
https://boingboing.net/2019/06/28/jun-17-2004.html

An article of possible Open Data interest:-


How data exchanges can level the digital playing field
28 Jun 2019
     Murat Sönmez
     Managing Director; Head, Centre for the Fourth Industrial 
Revolution Global Network, World Economic Forum

As we move further into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the role of 
data becomes increasingly important. Just as data is exploding in volume 
from the internet of things, mobile and other sources – so-called Big 
Data – so too is the pace of the technical transformation expanding at 
an exponential rate, making our interaction with machines and 
information more common, natural and powerful. Data is the basis for 
many revolutionary AI applications, from gene-sequencing to robotics, to 
modelling climate change, developing autonomous vehicles and improving 
agricultural yields.

Subsets of AI, machine-learning algorithms and especially deep learning 
neural networks require huge datasets for training. The more data, the 
more accurate their predictions. The more X-rays of tumours a neural 
network can analyse, the more likely it will accurately characterize the 
next one it is shown. Less data means less accuracy – which, 
realistically, means a disadvantage.
...
https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/06/data-exchanges-digital-ai-artificial-intelligence/

Here is a chance to get involved with LCA2020 which is being held over
in the wonderful Gold Coast next January.

CALL FOR SESSIONS AND MINICONFS NOW OPEN!

  The linux.conf.au 2020 organising team is excited to announce that the
linux.conf.au 2020 Call for Sessions and Call for Miniconfs are now
open! These will stay open from Monday 24 June to Sunday 28 July
Anywhere on Earth [1] (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anywhere_on_Earth
[1]).

Our theme for linux.conf.au 2020 is "Who's Watching", focusing on
security, privacy and ethics. As big data and IoT-connected devices
become more pervasive, it's no surprise that we're more concerned about
privacy and security than ever before. We've set our sights on how open
source could play a role in maximising security and protecting our
privacy in times of uncertainty. With the concept of privacy continuing
to blur, open source could be the solution to give us '2020 vision'. 

CALL FOR SESSIONS

Would you like to talk in the main conference of linux.conf.au 2020? The
main conference runs from Wednesday to Friday, with multiple streams
catering for a wide range of interest areas. We welcome you to submit a
session [2] proposal for either a talk or tutorial now. 

CALL FOR MINICONFS

Miniconfs are dedicated day-long streams focusing on single topics,
creating a more immersive experience for delegates than a session.
Miniconfs are run on the first two days of the conference before the
main conference commences on Wednesday. If you would like to organise a
miniconf [3] at linux.conf.au, we want to hear from you. 

HAVE WE GOT YOU INTERESTED?

You can find out how to submit your session or miniconf proposals here
[4]. If you have any other questions you can contact us via email. 

linux.conf.au [5] 2020 Organising Team 

  

Links:

Can you get the website back up please?

Hello everyone,

The NZOSS interim council is calling a Special General Meeting for the
period of Sun 18 - Sat 24 August 2019. The purpose of that meeting will
be to
1. update the NZOSS Constitution
2. elect a Council
3. elect an Executive

Constitutional Change

We have a bug in our current Constitution related to the Council
representation to achieve Quorum (usually stated in term of percentage
of the total number of Councilors, but in one place specifying a number
of seven (7) being required - see
https://nzoss.org.nz/content/nzoss-constitution - Structure and
government -> Council Meetings. Given that we only have 6 Councilors at
present, the creates a legitimacy issue.

Last year we failed to achieve the necessary 75% of all full members
required to approve our original Constitutional bug fix... Note, no
members who voted voted against it.

Because we're having to re-run the Constitutional vote, the interim
Council is proposing to make some additional updates to the Constitution
at the same time that we deem important. Those changes will include
removing unnecessary specific (e.g. membership categories) that should
not be set in the Constitution, and to update our purpose to recognise
other areas of "openness" beyond software that we can champion, like
open hardware, data, standards, and government.


Call for Nominations!

We are hereby calling for nominations. If you are not sure what the
Council or Executive roles involve, please see
https://nzoss.org.nz/content/nominations-for-nzoss-executive-and-council

The nominations are open to any nominators or nominees who are current
full members. Self-nomination is welcome!

Please send nominations - with a position statement from the nominee and
ideally a picture of them suitable for voter information - via email to
secretary@nzoss.nz including the name and contact details of the nominee
and nominator to allow the current council to followup.

If you would like to become a full member to participate, you can do so
at https://members.nzoss.nz/shop (payment by credit card online or bank
transfer).

You can also check your membership status here by logging with your
account details (you can request a password) - if you do not have any
you are not currently a member. If you are unsure, you can contact
secretary@nzoss.nz

Nominations will close midnight Friday 12 July, and we will publish the
list of Nominees by 14 July.


Constitutional Update

We will publish our proposed updated Constitution on or before Sun 4
August for review by the NZOSS community and will consider suggestions
until midnight Fri 9 August. We will publish the final version for
review on 10 August.


The SGM vote

During the period from noon Sun 18 to noon Sat 24 August we will hold an
online vote via our survey tool at https://survey.nzoss.nz to
1. seek a positive vote from 75% of the membership
2. elect a general council of 4-5 members
3. elect an executive of vice president and president

Please note - in the event we do not have a surplus of Council nominees
or the nominees for Executive are unopposed, they will be elected by
default, removing the need for a formal election. The Constitutional
vote, however, will proceed regardless.

We look forward to your participation!

Dave

And, not to conflate *internet-based* voting with DARPA's project,
https://www.schneier.com/blog/archives/2019/03/critical_flaw_i.html shows
the Swiss government's system to be hoplessly flawed, so the goalposts
started moving ...

This is important because some part of the election process is computerised almost everywhere. Often the decisions about the technology used is made by people who are not well informed, and perhaps not even well intentioned. I have had the uneasy experience of casting a ballot that would be counted by an untrustworthy proprietary system, and I hope I never have to do so again..

Tom

Even if you're right about this development Matthew; thanks Peter for continuing to watch out, because we desperately need a better way.
Democracy is long overdue for a digital transformation.

The idea that we elect a Govt, and then sit back and allow them to make so many significant decisions on our behalf, seems so 19th Century.  At best, they stick to their manifesto, so we get a lot of what we expected.  But that isn't always the case, so they can mislead us with impunity, subject only to what happens "next time around" in the ballot box.

Note that this is voting machines, not online voting, so actual direct utility to NZ is pretty much zero. Going from our robust, reliable, verifiable system to an electronic one for the sake of introducing technology would be beyond ridiculous.

On 15 March 2019 9:00:47 AM NZDT, Peter Reutemann  wrote:
>Just came across this news snippet:
>
>'For years security professionals and election integrity activists
>have been pushing voting machine vendors to build more secure and
>verifiable election systems, so voters and candidates can be assured
>election outcomes haven't been manipulated. Now they might finally get
>this thanks to a new $10 million contract the Defense Department's
>Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has launched to
>design and build a secure voting system that it hopes will be
>impervious to hacking.
>
>The first-of-its-kind system will be designed by an Oregon-based firm
>called Galois, a longtime government contractor with experience in
>designing secure and verifiable systems. The system will use fully
>open source voting software, instead of the closed, proprietary
>software currently used in the vast majority of voting machines, which
>no one outside of voting machine testing labs can examine. More
>importantly, it will be built on secure open source hardware, made
>from special secure designs and techniques developed over the last
>year as part of a special program at DARPA. The voting system will
>also be designed to create fully verifiable and transparent results so
>that voters don't have to blindly trust that the machines and election
>officials delivered correct results.'
>
>-- source: https://news.slashdot.org/story/19/03/14/181201
>
>Cheers, Peter
>-- 
>Peter Reutemann
>Dept. of Computer Science
>University of Waikato, NZ
>+64 (7) 858-5174
>http://www.cms.waikato.ac.nz/~fracpete/
>http://www.data-mining.co.nz/
>
>――
>View topic http://groups.nzoss.org.nz/r/topic/7mDers5kIAr8FO8YAFOe2P
>Leave group mailto:openchat@groups.nzoss.org.nz?subject=Unsubscribe
>
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