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Apple Intelligence waitlist due to PCC rollout

Hacker News - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 6:24am

Private Cloud Compute[1] is insanely next level from a server engineering perspective. I really think it's on the order of the transition to stateless architecture 30 years ago or microservices 15 years ago.

Now that clouds are operating at planetary scale we need to turn our attention to the privacy and security vulnerabilities that have become a regular feature of web server architectures. Until now it's basically been "take an open system and lock it down". PCC is basically ripping things up and rearchitecting everything in from the perspective of "an airtight node that is cryptographically provable to not share data with any other node and leaves no trace of your data."

Here's how insane this is:

* Apple uses custom chips that it manufactures with secure elements, providing a hardware foundation of trust.

* There is a deployment trust ceremony that helps ensure data center hardware is authentic.

* Server binaries are publicly auditable and clients verify nodes are authentic and running audited binaries before sending requests.

* Client requests are anonymized and well distributed across the cloud to ensure attackers cannot target a specific user without compromising the entirety of data center hardware.

* There's no shell you can log into these nodes with or PII in server logs/metrics.

* All request data is encrypted with node-specific private keys that are impossible to read or share with other nodes, and also rotated regularly, wiping any inadvertently retained data.

* The only state that is even potentially kept is a caching layer that is encrypted with a public key provided by the client, thus unreadable without the client's private key provided on the next request.

From a SRE perspective it's Nightmare Mode (that's a Doom reference), so you better have very good metrics enabled.

Anyway, today is a big buttcheek clenching day for Apple server engineers as this is a major new 1.0 cloud architecture on custom hardware (impossible to buy GCP/AWS instances) getting deployed to tens of millions of users. This is no doubt the reason for the waitlist that iOS 18.1 upgraders see. They are controlling the rollout to ensure it is scaling in a healthy manner.

[1] https://security.apple.com/documentation/private-cloud-compute

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41982112

Points: 1

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Categories: Hacker News

Mortgage Refinance Rates Move Higher: Mortgage Refinance Rates for Oct. 29, 2024

CNET Feed - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 6:24am
Multiple benchmark refinance rates trended upward this week, but rates are still well below last year's highs.
Categories: CNET

Show HN: Check Out Our New Open-Source Project: GroupTrack

Hacker News - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 6:19am

Hello, HN Community!

We're excited to introduce GroupTrack, our new open-source family safety app that emphasizes secure location sharing and effective communication! As developers passionate about creating impactful solutions, we've put a lot of effort into creating an app that helps stay connected with families and friends.

What Is GroupTrack? GroupTrack is designed to enhance safety and connectivity among loved ones through precise location tracking and real-time updates. Here are some standout features:

- Group Management: Users can effortlessly create or join groups using a simple invitation code.

- Real-Time Location Tracking: Keep tabs on where friends and family are at any moment.

- Geofencing Alerts: Users receive notifications when group members arrive at or leave specified locations.

- Integrated Communication: Support for both group chats and private messaging enhances user interaction.

- Journey History Access: Users can view historical travel data for group members, enriching the safety experience.

Dive into our GitHub repository to explore the implementation details and see how we've built these features: GroupTrack GitHub Repo.

Looking Ahead We're focused on continuous improvement and have a roadmap filled with exciting features, including:

- End-to-End Encryption: Ensuring privacy with secure messaging and protected journey routes.

We're eager to hear your insights on how we can make GroupTrack even better. Any thoughts on features, performance, or best practices would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you for taking the time to check out our project. We look forward to your feedback! Happy coding! https://github.com/canopas/group-track-android

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41982063

Points: 2

# Comments: 0

Categories: Hacker News

Mortgage Rates Increase for Prospective Buyers: Mortgage Interest Rates Today for Oct. 29, 2024

CNET Feed - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 6:19am
Some key mortgage rates are moving up. Here's what to expect if you're in the market for a home loan.
Categories: CNET

Graph RAG API for voice AI

Hacker News - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 6:06am

Article URL: https://duohub.ai/graph-rag-api

Comments URL: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41981892

Points: 1

# Comments: 1

Categories: Hacker News

TCL QM8 (2024) Review: Mini LED TV Gets Brighter, Richer Picture

CNET Feed - Tue, 10/29/2024 - 6:00am
Truly bright, with excellent image quality and a not-ridiculous price makes the TCL QM8 Series (2024) a TV for other LCDs to aspire to.
Categories: CNET

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