frontpage.
newsnewestaskshowjobs

Made with ♥ by @iamnishanth

Open Source @Github

fp.

Open in hackernews

Time to Start De-Appling

https://heatherburns.tech/2025/11/10/time-to-start-de-appling/
80•msangi•2h ago

Comments

spankalee•1h ago
Something's wrong with the CSS on this page. The end of every line is cut off.
tempfile•1h ago
Same for me. You can get around it by zooming in.
tonyedgecombe•38m ago
It works with an Apple browser ;)
daemonologist•30m ago
.site-content .post has `overflow: hidden;`, .site-content .entry-content has `max-width: 965px;`, and .wide-content has `margin-right: -34.0740%;` Disabling the margin-right or, preferably, the max-width rule will fix the layout. Or make your browser less than 1700px wide.

(Crazy rats nest of CSS rules, I assume this is a wordpress/wordpress template thing.)

fwip•25m ago
If you resize the window to a narrower width, it will wrap more normally.
iwontberude•54m ago
Wouldn’t it be easier to just move away from the UK? (I jest, but actually…)
dhosek•46m ago
Changing countries is not a simple matter. Immigration to most nations is highly restricted (and UK citizens lost a lot of options after Brexit, although it is, at least, easier for them to go to other Commonwealth nations but still a challenge).

I’m in a position where I may end up emigrating thanks to the US regime making life very uncomfortable for my ex-wife and mother of my children who’s here legally but because government thugs have been given the green light to kidnap people who look like her off the streets and have been doing so in our upper middle class suburban neighborhood leaving her reluctant to do things like go to Mexican businesses or even go for a walk in the neighborhood. Fortunately, because our kids qualify for Mexican citizenship through their mother, they serve as anchor babies for my emigration. If my wife were merely Latino and only had US citizenship, we would not have that option.

noir_lord•36m ago
As bad as things feel here in the UK (partner is Hungarian, came and settled way pre-brexit, worked continuously and is many ways more British than me even though I was born in England) I'm not at the "Will random unaccountable group working for the prime minister snatch her of the street" levels yet (though I view reform with absolute fucking horror for many reasons).

I hope you and yours are OK though.

exasperaited•24m ago
Not as many easy paths anymore for a British worker, tech or otherwise, thanks to The Foolishness.

And the most popular choice -- the USA -- is off the table for the majority of Brits, I think, who cannot comprehend The Other Foolishness. (Mind you, the ones it encourages... I hope they follow their hearts)

ceuk•12m ago
No need to leave, move up north and wait for all the shenanigans to blow over. Hard to be annoyed at the government and the corporations when you're walking through the Yorkshire dales on a sunny day
waffletower•51m ago
Like most posts, acronyms are flung without disambiguation. "Tucker Carlson Network" searches higher than the intended target of "TCN" in the article.
gertrunde•20m ago
Technical Capability Notice

[ https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/investigatory-pow... ]

fwip•19m ago
If you google it with the words next to it, 'Home Office TCN' (no quotes necessary), the proper definition comes right up.

It's written for a UK technical audience, who is likely familiar with these terms. An American article doesn't bother to define "FBI" or "USDA," and an article about breaking Python news doesn't expand "PEP" or "RFC."

reboot81•45m ago
Apple obeys the law. Policians set the law. You vote for politicians.

So nu, it makes no sense to blame Apple here.

jjtheblunt•43m ago
it does if you're clickbaiting via ragebait, like she is?
veleek•34m ago
I think it’s a stretch to say the author is blaming Apple in the title and she explicitly calls out in the very first section:

> But I will say that the shutdown of ADP is Apple being on the right side of the geopolitical fight, as inconvenient as that may be to you and me.

cbsmith•34m ago
> But I will say that the shutdown of ADP is Apple being on the right side of the geopolitical fight, as inconvenient as that may be to you and me.

I don't think there's any blaming of Apple going on here. This is about dealing with the practical realities of the circumstances for people in the UK.

cjs_ac•28m ago
Unlike most writing about politics, the article isn't arguing that 'those are the bad people over there'. The article describes a current aspect of reality and how it came about, and suggests a way of responding to that reality.
criddell•24m ago
The writer isn't blaming Apple.
sedatk•14m ago
The title certainly disagrees.
dare944•5m ago
I does not in the slightest. Rather, It suggests it's time to start removing Apple entanglements from your digital life, for reasons that are described in the article.
caconym_•2m ago
No, it doesn't.

If I get up in the morning and say "time to get out of the house" I am not blaming my house for anything; I am simply articulating that I want or need to be somewhere else, for whatever reason.

thenthenthen•15m ago
Apple obeys the law. They operate in countries where you can not vote.
encom•12m ago
England has been speedrunning the dystopian surveillance police state for a while now, through numerous governments. Voting is pointless.

Same (but different) in Denmark where politicians vote to give themselves more money[1], snoop on everything[2], violate our constitution unpunished[3], delete evidence of corruption[4], open the borders[5], etc. etc. etc. I used to care - a lot - I really did. But I'm done.

[1]https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/ny-aftale-politikeres-loen... [2]https://www.justitsministeriet.dk/pressemeddelelse/i-dag-tra... [3]https://www.information.dk/indland/2020/12/jurister-ja-grund... [4]https://www.dr.dk/nyheder/politik/politisk-flertal-presser-m... [5]https://integrationsbarometer.dk/tal-og-analyser/INTEGRATION...

nsxwolf•45m ago
While waiting for this site to come back up can someone explain the word “appling”? Is that a typo?
colechristensen•43m ago
"Apple-ing"

turning a name into a verb is common these days

liotier•32m ago
You mean verbing a noun ?
wizzwizz4•12m ago
Verbing weirds language.
waffletower•42m ago
'Appling' - using Apple products. In this case iCloud SaaS products I believe.
veleek•31m ago
In the context of the article de-appling is what you should do after de-googling.
croemer•20m ago
https://archive.is/8SI66 if you don't want to wait
codexb•30m ago
Sounds more like people need to de-UK. It's going to be a problem with any company or technology.
advisedwang•25m ago
Ah yes, 70 million people find a country they are eligible to move to, quitting their jobs, uprooting their families. Definitely the most straightforward fix. Thankfully other countries have no problems either, or they'd have to leave from those too!
jajuuka•21m ago
Granted it would be more impactful that to stop using Google and Apple services.
benoau•23m ago
It's more likely to be a problem with Apple (and Google) because they have put themselves in a position where they are a gateway to everybody. There are multitudes of online storage providers outside of the UK's reach and jurisdiction but 0% of iPhone users back up to them because of technical limitations that inhibit iCloud competitors or any compatible storage solution.
stavros•12m ago
> 0% of iPhone users back up to them because of technical limitations that inhibit iCloud competitors or any compatible storage solution.

To clarify, by "technical limitations" here you don't mean "it's not possible with our current technology", you mean "Apple purposely blocks this".

benoau•5m ago
Allegedly it's deliberate, according to a pair of legal actions they face in the UK (hearing in 9 days) and US (hearing in August 2026).

> 13.1 a set of technical restrictions and practices that prevent users of iOS from storing certain key file types (known as “Restricted Files”) on any cloud storage service other than its own iCloud and thus ensuring that users have no choice but to use iCloud (a complete monopolist in respect of these Restricted Files) if they wish to meet all their cloud storage and/or back up needs, in particular in order to conduct a complete back-up of the device (“the Restricted File Conduct”); and/or

> 13.2 an unfair choice architecture, which individually and cumulatively steer iOS Users towards using and purchasing iCloud rather than other cloud storage services, and/or limit their effective choice, and/or exclude or disadvantage rivals or would- be rivals ( “the Choice Architecture Conduct ”). See further paragraphs 6 to 9 and 97 to 132 of the CPCF.

https://www.catribunal.org.uk/cases/16897724-consumers-assoc... (via summary of ruling of the chair)

> 30. By sequestering Restricted Files, and denying all other cloud providers access to them, Apple prevents rival cloud platforms from offering a full-service cloud solution that can compete effectively against iCloud. The cloud products that rivals can offer are, by virtue of Apple’s restraints, fundamentally diminished because they can only host Accessible Files. Users who want to back up all of their files—including the basic Restricted Files needed to restore their device at replacement—have but one option in the marketplace: iCloud.

> 31. There is no technological or security justification for Apple mandating the use of iCloud for Restricted Files. Apple draws this distinction only to curtail competition and advantage its iCloud product over rival cloud platforms.

https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/68303306/felix-gamboa-v...

thw_9a83c•30m ago
From the article:

> Otherwise, please make sure you de-Apple, de-Google, and de-American Stack yourself when you have time, clarity, and focus to do it. Start today.

I don't understand the core of this advice. So if you're in the UK and do all the above, can you suddenly get similar E2EE cloud storage from a different provider without a UK government-mandated backdoor?

benoau•27m ago
Hopefully pretty soon Apple will have to provide the same functionality iCloud monopolizes so you can have an equivalent service. But right now you can do an encrypted transmission to a privately-owned NAS like Synology and then E2E cloud storage provider of your choice, with the caveat that things like background syncing are strategically monopolized and no app may backup your full phone.

https://www.catribunal.org.uk/cases/16897724-consumers-assoc... (hearing in 9 days)

thenthenthen•18m ago
I have done all this. All inhad to do was provide my passport scans, fingerprints, photos of my face, phone number so now I can use tencent cloud in china! /s
croemer•20m ago
https://archive.is/8SI66 (to bypass HN hug of death)
sedatk•18m ago
> You need to start that because, as we recently learned, at some point in the very near future Apple is withdrawing its Advanced Data Protection (ADP) feature from the UK altogether as a result of the Home Office TCN through the Investigatory Powers Act.

So, a UK-only advice, and it strangely assumes that any other service in UK wouldn’t be bound by the same laws.

omnicognate•12m ago
I can encrypt anything and store it in anything that provides storage. Why are people acting like "end to end encryption" is a feature you need a cloud service to provide to you. Rather the opposite - it's really something you can only do yourself.
culi•8m ago
Sure, but almost no one is managing their own keys and knows enough about the various e2ee algorithms to make these decisions on their own.

Do you know of a good piece of software or tool that lets a layperson interface with any cloud storage provider?

jank199x•1m ago
https://github.com/restic/restic
lloydatkinson•15m ago
Just to clarify, she's advocating people stop using Apple, quite literally the only big tech company with a slightly better focus on privacy compared to all the others and with a reputation for saying no to the latest authoritarian power grab by the UK government?
ZebusJesus•10m ago
Seeing as the UK is part of the 5 eyes alliance I wonder how long until this is attempted in the other countries
tantalor•10m ago
> Hi, I'm Heather Burns — yes, that one.

Ok, I was going to ask, but taking "yes, that one" seriously I suppose confirms the author is the actress Heather Burns best known for playing the best friend role in a string of successful romantic comedies.

https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0122688/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heather_Burns

Kind of weird to be reading some blog post about tech privacy from such a well known actress.

Am I missing something?

dmbche•7m ago
https://heatherburns.tech/
small_scombrus•6m ago
> Am I missing something?

A joke? A fun tagline? A little zing for under the heading?

IncreasePosts•3m ago
I wouldn't classify "best known for playing a side character in some 90s movies" as a well known actress. Also, different Heather Burns.
joncrane•9m ago
"— yes, that one."

? Who is this person?

9rx•5m ago
The person whom you went out of your way to reach out to.
numbers•7m ago
just noticed your CSS has an issue on wide screens that cuts off some of the words at the end of a line, here's the culprit:

``` @media screen and (min-width: 1200px) { .site-content .entry-content .wide-content, .alignwide, .alignfull { margin-right: -34.0740%; } } ```

that margin-right is causing some of the content to move too far to the right and gets hidden in `.entry-content`

Reexamination of the 9–10 November 1975 Storm Using Today's Technology (2006) [pdf]

https://www.michiganseagrant.org/lessons/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2019/07/Reexamination-of-the-...
1•shagie•30s ago•0 comments

Show HN: A daily newsletter for random content across the web

https://randomdailyurls.com/
1•RandomDailyUrls•44s ago•0 comments

Show HN: Toktop – a LLM usage dashboard in your terminal

https://github.com/htin1/toktop
1•hchtin•54s ago•0 comments

Belgian AI scientists resist the use of AI in academia

https://apache.be/2025/10/24/belgian-ai-scientists-resist-use-ai-academia
1•todsacerdoti•1m ago•0 comments

Show HN: JavaScript&Drugs, a humor novel about devs

https://www.javascriptanddrugs.com/sample
1•robertBosiljak•5m ago•0 comments

Downwinders and Atomic Testing

https://history.byu.edu/downwinders
1•CGMthrowaway•6m ago•0 comments

The Floating Head Phenomenon

https://michaelestrin.substack.com/p/the-floating-head-phenomenon
1•sitch_norm•6m ago•1 comments

What is a graph database? [video]

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Mm6uVNEeGc8
1•raeroumeliotis•9m ago•0 comments

Can Grafana Run Doom? – Grafana Labs

https://grafana.com/blog/2022/03/31/can-grafana-run-doom/
1•rbanffy•9m ago•0 comments

Trump pardons top allies who aided bid to subvert the 2020 election

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/11/10/trump-pardons-top-allies-who-aided-bid-to-subvert-the-20...
5•throw0101d•11m ago•0 comments

Living with the water: the Netherlands' floating futures

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/nov/10/living-with-the-water-the-netherlands-floating-futu...
1•NomDePlum•12m ago•0 comments

America's cybersecurity defenses are cracking

https://www.theverge.com/policy/816882/cisa-cybersecurity-elections-infrastructure-shutdown
2•01-_-•14m ago•0 comments

UK military looking for tactical comms, systems suppliers deal worth up to £9.6B

https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/10/uk_military_seeks_tactical_comms/
1•Bender•16m ago•0 comments

Half-Life of Frameworks

https://rsdoiel.github.io/blog/2025/11/07/half-life-of-frameworks.html
2•speckx•17m ago•0 comments

Canadian military will rely on army of public servants to grow its ranks by 300k

https://ottawacitizen.com/public-service/defence-watch/canadian-military-public-servants
3•Teever•19m ago•0 comments

Another chance for JPEG XL? PDF will support format as 'preferred solution'

https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/10/another_chance_for_jpeg_xl/
4•Bender•19m ago•1 comments

Python Based Robotics Framework

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s42A4ooGUJo
1•sdasdas•19m ago•1 comments

Frugal Async Rust

https://worm-blossom.org/frugal_async_rust.html
3•rklaehn•19m ago•0 comments

Environmental lead risk in the 21st century

https://www.nature.com/articles/s43247-025-02735-x
1•PaulHoule•21m ago•0 comments

Cisco warns of 'new attack variant' battering firewalls under exploit 6 months

https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/06/cisco_firewall_ongoing_attacks/
1•Bender•21m ago•0 comments

Show HN: AI Dev Tools – Free Regex and SQL Generator (no login, open models)

https://dev-brains-ai.com
1•rampandu•22m ago•0 comments

Apple TV – Mnemonic branding – Behind-the-scenes [video]

https://vimeo.com/1133324242/5bac5319d0
1•ChrisArchitect•23m ago•1 comments

Trial Demonstrates Intranasal Influenza Vaccine in Generating Broad Immunity

https://www.medschool.umaryland.edu/news/2025/-early-stage-clinical-trial-demonstrates-promise-of...
1•geox•23m ago•0 comments

Why a lot of people are getting hacked with government spyware

https://techcrunch.com/2025/11/10/why-a-lot-of-people-are-getting-hacked-with-government-spyware/
3•speckx•26m ago•1 comments

Ask HN: Why aren't more ONCE-style products being built?

1•kyrylo•26m ago•1 comments

TrigpointingUK: Triangulation Stations in the UK

https://trigpointing.uk
1•kaycebasques•27m ago•0 comments

Natural Language, Semantic Analysis, and Interactive Fiction (2006) [pdf]

https://worrydream.com/refs/Nelson_G_2006_-_Natural_Language,_Semantic_Analysis_and_Interactive_F...
1•todsacerdoti•27m ago•0 comments

Choose a Small, Efficient Model

https://web.dev/articles/ai-model-selection
1•nearestnabors•28m ago•1 comments

Show HN: Wtg – a CLI to trace release that shipped the fix you crave and more

https://github.com/mishamsk/wtg
1•mishamsk•28m ago•0 comments

ClickHouse acquires LibreChat: The open-source Agentic Data Stack

https://clickhouse.com/blog/librechat-open-source-agentic-data-stack
8•samaysharma•29m ago•3 comments