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Carpenter here. I got fed up with messengers wanting my phone number, so I built my own. Looking for honest criticism. (lemmy.world)
submitted 4 months ago by to c/privacy@lemmy.world
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Bit of an odd intro: I'm a carpenter, 42 years at the bench. I'm the type who can't stand making the same thing everyone else makes, so I've always chased the technical side too - CNC, laser cutting, and lately building software to run my machines.

At some point I wanted to send my own designs to people without them leaking anywhere, and I went down the rabbit hole of how messaging actually works. What got me was realising how much of the "free" stuff is paid for with our privacy. That annoyed me enough that I decided to build my own messenger, mostly to learn. It grew from something simple into a real thing. I called it Sherlock.

Two things I cared about: proper encryption, and NOT tying it to a phone number - I built a different system for that.

I'm not going to pretend I reinvented cryptography. I'm a woodworker who got obsessed. So I'd rather hear it straight from people who actually know this stuff:

  • How much does the "no phone number" approach really buy you if I get the rest wrong?
  • For a small independent project, what's the bar before any of you would even consider trusting it - open source, audit, something else?

Genuinely here for the criticism, not the pats on the back.

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[–] [S] -2 points 4 months ago (14 children)

You're right that you can tell, and I'm not hiding anything. English is not my language - I think in another one. I don't have a translator built into my head, so yes, I use AI to talk to you here. And I use AI to build the project too. I'm not ashamed of that. I'm a carpenter who can also write software and run my machines with code I made myself - AI is the tool that lets me do more than I could alone.

Honestly, the thing I feel most right now is just glad I can talk to you at all. You and I speak completely different languages, and here we are having a real conversation about something we both care about. I think that's valuable. People connecting and talking - that's a good thing, not something to apologize for.

I know the world is split between people who hate AI and people who use it. I don't think it's going to stop or go away. It will keep going, and it's on us - the humans - how we use it. I'm trying to use it for something positive. If the messenger is good enough to pass an independent audit one day, I'll be proud that a carpenter built it with AI and it still held up.

So - no hiding. Thank you for the honest criticism, and for talking with me.

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  • [–] 14 points 4 months ago (13 children)

    You could prevent people from having this reaction by just putting a note at the top of your text saying:

    "Note: i wrote this in a different language and translated it to english with ai. I apologize if anything is difficult to understand"

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 4 months ago (12 children)

    That's genuinely good advice, thank you - simple and honest, and it heads off the whole thing before it starts. I'll do exactly that from now on.

    Note: English isn't my first language - I write in my own language and AI helps me translate. Apologies if anything reads oddly.

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  • [–] -5 points 4 months ago (11 children)

    You + Ai are better at writing in English than 54% of native speakers. Well done!

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  • [–] [S] -1 points 4 months ago (10 children)

    Thank you, that really means a lot - because honestly, after that last comment I started to feel like an intruder here, like using AI made me unwelcome in this group. So your words landed well.

    I'm not trying to fool anyone. I just use what AI knows to build my own dreams and to get through everyday things. That's all it is for me - a tool, the same way a laser or a chisel is a tool in my workshop.

    I actually have more I'd like to say, but after that last comment I got a little afraid to say anything at all. Your message made it easier. Thank you for that.

    (Note: English isn't my first language - I write in my own and AI helps me translate.)

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago (9 children)
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  • [–] [S] 0 points 4 months ago (6 children)

    I won't argue with how you meant it. I had a feeling and I wrote it the way it sounded to me - if you say it was different, then fair enough, but the other side receives it the way they read it. That's just how it goes, and it's not an attack on you.

    And if some people here don't like AI, I can't help that. I came for advice, for solutions. I'm constantly learning, and I'd say that to anyone who wants to show they can make something. I'm a man who keeps learning - and the fact that I mentioned my grey hair and that I'm a carpenter, I'm proud of that. Proud that I made something I never studied in school.

    That's the whole point for me: I respect people who have no idea what they're walking into and end up doing it anyway - sometimes better than the experts who studied ten years. That person means more to me than someone with "engineer" in front of their name.

    I'm not hiding the AI under the rug. Everything I made, I made with AI. My ideas, my visions - it just helped turn them into something real.

    I don't know you. Maybe you're an engineer, a doctor, an astronaut - I've no idea. To me you're a person I'm talking to, maybe on the other side of the planet, and what made that possible? AI. That's the point. I'm not here to fight or wind people up. Let's just live, not pick at each other over who does or doesn't use a tool.

    If you don't like it, that's OK - we just say hi, goodbye, and our paths part. No hard feelings, and I mean that with a smile.

    One principle I hold: you never really know who you're talking to. I could be a craftsman, a teacher, or a director at a big company. You never know when you might need the other person. And if anyone thinks chats are just a place to hide behind - that's not my style.

    (Note: English isn't my first language - I write in my own and AI helps me translate.)

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (5 children)
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  • [–] [S] 1 point 4 months ago (4 children)

    You're right, and I owe you an apology. My frustration in that earlier reply wasn't aimed at you - it was about a pile of "you're a bot / fraud" comments, and you got caught in the blast. That wasn't fair. Your advice was genuine and useful, and you didn't deserve to be lumped in with that.

    The Matrix-server point is well taken, honestly. You're right that I don't have the experience to find and fix a bad crypto implementation alone - that's exactly why an external review matters before I'd ever tell anyone to rely on it. I hear you.

    Thanks for taking the time, twice. I mean that. Sorry it landed as a lecture - that's on me.

    (English isn't my first language - AI helps me translate.) Sorry

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago* (last edited 4 months ago) (3 children)
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  • [–] [S] 2 points 4 months ago (2 children)

    Thanks, I'll definitely use these - I'll go through them and put them to work.

    You're right that the messenger is the crowded space. The project I'm actually most excited about is exactly the "use the carpentry" one you pointed at: software for CNC and laser machines. I've got a laser at home that's made me a lot of inlays and gifts over the years, and the existing tools (LightBurn etc.) are good but kept missing the technical, specialist features I wanted - so I started building my own. It's called Nexus Studio. That's where my maker side really drives the design, not the messenger. The messenger was where I learned; this is where I solve a problem I live with every day.

    And honestly - I think you know more than I do here, and that's a good thing. I've been learning by making a lot of mistakes, and the small hooks and details I pick up from conversations like this are exactly how I get better. A person learns their whole life. People who know things are worth listening to. Thanks for being one of them.

    (English isn't my first language - AI helps me translate.)

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  • [+] 1 point 4 months ago (1 child)
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  • [–] [S] 1 point 4 months ago

    Sounds like a plan - when Nexus Studio is ready I want to put it on Kickstarter too, and yeah, I'll absolutely want people on forums like this to kick the tyres and tell me honestly whether it's worth anything. That kind of feedback is the whole point.

    On your friend's machine: I can't cut metal on mine - they're optical lasers, so metal's out for me - but the real question is what controller his laser runs. Nexus Studio is built on GRBL, so if his machine is GRBL-based (or I can find out what firmware/controller it uses), I'll do my best to wire it up so he can actually test whether it works on his setup. That would genuinely interest me too - testing it on hardware that isn't mine is exactly what I need.

    So don't worry, I'll reach out. Thanks for the message.

    And if it's not too much of a privacy thing to ask - whereabouts did I reach? US, Australia, somewhere else? Just curious how far my message travelled. I'm in Germany myself (though originally from elsewhere - bit of a hybrid, you can laugh 😄).

    (English isn't my first language - AI helps me translate.)

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