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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
hm. there's some noise about a new amazing open-source Linux tablet: www.braxtech.net/open-slate

however

besides the tablet, they have released a phone, the "BraX3", and... it doesn't look good so far ;w; it's mediatekslop with no Linux support, even though they were planning to release it with at least Ubuntu Touch ( and Halium + blobs, i assume ), later changing it to "exact delivery date for Ubuntu Touch is yet to be confirmed

even worse so, the company that pledges to be against planned obsolescence and wants to build sustainable technology doesn't even sell replacement parts, so you can't replace the screen or battery :/

that said, the tablet is also planned to have a MediaTek chipset, a Genio 720 to be exact — and while MediaTek seems to be partnered with Ubuntu to offer some kind of support, i really doubt the device will get proper Linux support on release date, since even the main team is skeptical about it
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
Q: Will there be an easily buildable close-to-mainline Linux kernel?
Will changes be upstreamed to the mainline linux kernel?A: Yes, to both. We’re getting that promise from MediaTek and the integrator they hired for the linux part.
that's... very interesting, to say the least

looking at the support matrix posted by Collabora, even the Genio 700 devboard seems to have plenty of things still missing from mainline kernel, so i doubt a device like open_slate will manage to get device trees and all drivers upstreamed before release ( approx. 2026 Q3 )
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
looked a bit into braxman himself, and immediately what drew my attention was the "privacy focused fully encrypted open source social media" that he was advertising

it looks like a bad grift

and the code is. uh. you can look for yourself

github.com/robbraxman/braxme
the brax.me "social media", with a sidebar on the left showing options like chats, blogs, and people, as well as a chatroom called "New User Lobby", with messages from users Earlehrig, Alec and Starduster. the entire webapp looks like something that was coded in the early 2010s by a single dev, with elements looking odd and out of place, general lack of style and direction
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
i am not sure what version of "encrypted" they are imagining here. is the "encryption" just TLS to the server?
chat with "ptrc2", with a single message, "hello"; underneath, the Firefox developer tools show that the message was sent in plain text to the brax.me server
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
periscope???
bio for Rob Braxman on his own website, advertising his Periscope account, and saying he's a "Gold VIP broadcaster". for context, Periscope was discontinued in 2021, five years ago.
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
also, he seems to have been reselling voip.ms as "Brax Virtual Phone"- wait no he still sells this, with a massive markup as well, lmao
"Brax Virtual Phone Base Subscription" at brax.me, selling for 75 USD, with 1000 SMS and 1000 minutes of calls per year
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
what in the data mining fuck is "cloud based onion routing"

braxman how do you manage to make every single product look like a massive scam

bytzvpn.com
"Bytz VPN" website, selling "Premium VPN + Cloud-Based TOR Routing option" for 89 USD annually, or "Cloud-Based TOR Routing only" for 50 USD annually, with reviews such as: "This is the real deal! It WORKS perfectly on Windows and iOS! You can have this away from home, AMAZING & EXCITING! I support Rob! That’s why many of us are here in the first place! It’s a cheaper alternative to the TOR WiFi Router in the Brax store. Highly recommend it!" besides the big "Buy Now" button, all of the website is written with bland gray text on white background, centered in a narrow column in the middle of the screen
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
279 USD for a Raspberry Pi with OpenVPN + hostapd, "BytzVPN" subscription not included. what am i even reading??

brax.me/f/braxrouter-v5.pdf/T4AZ661084eebc3955.92998246
shop entry for BraxRouter, a Raspberry Pi 4 with "Brax VPN/TOR Router Software and custom case", sold for 279 USD, with a tacky "Brax Wifi" text on the case
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
at this point i feel like the other two guys behind the new company just invited Braxman to have his social media presence backing the project, with no regard to his previous. business ventures, let's say
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
what is this, a crossover episode?
GitHub user "Neustradamus", tagging Rob Braxman and asking "Have you progressed on this?" in a comment posted on November 18th, 2025
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puppy treat research centre @ptrc@treehouse.systems
5mo
( for those who are not familiar, the guy is a massive ass at best and a state actor at worst: github.com/ifupdown-ng/ifupdown-ng/issues/234 )
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Jeder neocat_floof_googly_woozy neocat_flag_agender 🔜 Mizukon @jeder@miau.jeder.pl
5mo
no, caps @ptrc WE NEED TO TALK NOW WHAT'S THE STATUS I WILL SHIT MY PANTS OTHERWISE
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Jeder neocat_floof_googly_woozy neocat_flag_agender 🔜 Mizukon @jeder@miau.jeder.pl
5mo
@ptrc I swear those two guys are the same person
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