Benn Jordan longs for the days of tech that didn’t spy on you
Benn Jordan longs for the days of tech that didn’t spy on you
本·乔丹（Benn Jordan）怀念那个科技不会监视你的时代
Benn Jordan may have initially gained notoriety for his music as Flashbulb and later, reviewing synths and effects pedals on YouTube under Benn and Gear. But about five years ago, Benn decided to take his YouTube channel in a different direction. He didn’t stop covering music gear overnight, but as time progressed, his channel became more focused on science and technology investigations. He even turned the entire enterprise into a nonprofit.
本·乔丹最初因其以“Flashbulb”名义创作的音乐而闻名，后来又在 YouTube 频道“Benn and Gear”上评测合成器和效果器踏板。但大约五年前，本决定让他的 YouTube 频道转向不同的方向。他并没有在一夜之间停止报道音乐设备，但随着时间的推移，他的频道变得更加专注于科学和技术调查。他甚至将整个事业转型为一个非营利组织。
While there will still be the occasional video focused on music or audio — say, poisoning AI music systems or storing data in bird song — lately Benn has been largely focused on the surveillance state. He’s uncovered glaring security flaws in Flock’s camera systems, demonstrated how easy it is to hack a Ring camera, and seemingly confirmed a conspiracy theory that Unitree’s robot dogs are secretly sending data back to servers in China.
虽然偶尔仍会有关于音乐或音频的视频——比如“毒害”人工智能音乐系统或将数据存储在鸟鸣声中——但最近，本主要关注的是监控国家（surveillance state）议题。他揭露了 Flock 摄像头系统中明显的安全漏洞，演示了黑入 Ring 摄像头是多么容易，并似乎证实了一个阴谋论：宇树科技（Unitree）的机器狗正在秘密地将数据传回中国的服务器。
In short, Benn Jordan has gone from being one of the best music gear YouTubers to one of the best cybersecurity YouTubers. He was kind enough to take some time away from proving all of our worst fears about government and corporate surveillance true, to answer our weekly questionnaire.
简而言之，本·乔丹已经从最优秀的音乐设备 YouTuber 之一，转型为最优秀的网络安全 YouTuber 之一。他非常友好地抽出时间，暂时放下那些关于政府和企业监控的、令我们最担心的调查工作，来回答我们的每周问卷。
What is the first app you install on a new phone or computer? (Do not count pre-installed software like Gmail) 你在新手机或电脑上安装的第一个应用程序是什么？（不包括 Gmail 等预装软件）
On a new Windows PC, Ninite. Which is basically like you giving me one wish and me wishing for more wishes. Ninite is a free tool that quickly installs a customizable list of things you’d spend the next few hours installing on a new PC.
在新的 Windows 电脑上，我会安装 Ninite。这基本上就像你给我一个愿望，而我许愿要更多的愿望。Ninite 是一个免费工具，可以快速安装一份可自定义的软件列表，否则你可能需要花上几个小时在新电脑上逐一安装这些软件。
What is one thing you wish you could change about your phone? 你希望改变手机的一点是什么？
That it was easily unlockable and rootable.
希望它能更容易地解锁和获取 Root 权限。
What is your happy place online? 你在网上的“快乐老家”是哪里？
Strudel.cc. It’s a 100 percent free, powerful, and wonderfully documented musical programming language that runs completely in-browser. It’s an excellent way to procrastinate and even accidentally learn to code.
Strudel.cc。这是一个完全免费、功能强大且文档详尽的音乐编程语言，完全在浏览器中运行。这是拖延时间甚至无意中学习编程的绝佳方式。
What is your favorite gadget you’ve ever owned? 你拥有过的最喜欢的电子产品是什么？
The original Pebble Watch. It didn’t harvest my data or track anything. It told me the time and date, told me when I have a new message, and lasted a week on a single charge. Which happen to be the only three things I desire from a watch.
初代 Pebble 手表。它不会收集我的数据或进行任何追踪。它能告诉我时间和日期，提醒我有新消息，而且充一次电能用一周。而这恰好是我对手表仅有的三个需求。
Which was the most disappointing? 哪一个最让你失望？
The Amazon Echo Show (3rd gen). I only bought one for pentesting, but it’s an incredibly laggy and awkward-looking device that basically exists to spy on you, show you ads, and ask you to pay for features it was advertised to already have.
亚马逊 Echo Show（第三代）。我买它只是为了进行渗透测试，但它是一个极其卡顿且外观笨拙的设备，其存在的基本意义就是监视你、向你展示广告，并要求你为那些广告中声称已具备的功能付费。
What creation are you most proud of? 你最引以为傲的作品是什么？
At least on YouTube (which is probably what got me an invite to answer random questions for Verge): In 2022, a scammer pretending to be Rolling Stone’s Andy Greene reached out to me on Instagram, telling me he wanted to write a piece about my music. Knowing the real Andy Greene, I decided to just follow the scam as deep as I could and then tell Andy the story.
至少在 YouTube 上（这可能是我受邀回答《The Verge》随机问题的缘由）：2022 年，一个冒充《滚石》杂志 Andy Greene 的骗子在 Instagram 上联系我，说他想写一篇关于我音乐的文章。因为我认识真正的 Andy Greene，我决定尽可能深入地追踪这场骗局，然后把这个故事告诉 Andy。
I thought it would be a video where I’d scam a scammer, but it ended up being a video about West African oppression, Sakawa culture, and at one point, I was literally drinking my own blood on a WhatsApp call with a Ghanaian witch doctor while sitting at Chili’s with my partner’s family.
我原以为这会是一个我“反向诈骗”骗子的视频，但最终它变成了一部关于西非压迫和 Sakawa 文化的纪录片。在视频的某个时刻，我甚至在与加纳巫医进行 WhatsApp 通话时喝下了自己的血，而当时我正和伴侣的家人坐在 Chili’s 餐厅里。
The video didn’t get many views, but the whole thing kind of defined the structure of what my channel is now.
这段视频的观看量并不高，但整件事在某种程度上定义了我现在频道的风格结构。
What is your current obsession? 你目前沉迷于什么？
Spectrometry and interferometry. Particularly relating to using extremely subtle changes in invisible light waves to pick up and demodulate sounds.
光谱学和干涉测量法。特别是关于利用不可见光波中极其细微的变化来拾取和解调声音的技术。
When was the last time you went somewhere without your phone? 你上一次没带手机出门是什么时候？
I actually try to do this every day!
事实上，我每天都在尝试这样做！
What do you think is worth splurging on? 你认为什么东西值得花大钱购买？
A tripod. It’s hard to imagine what could possibly justify the huge price difference between a midrange tripod on Amazon and something like a Sachtler. It turns out that it’s extremely justifiable and, over a decade, probably more affordable than all the midrange ones you’ll be replacing or incrementally upgrading to and from.
三脚架。很难想象亚马逊上的中端三脚架和 Sachtler 这样的专业品牌之间巨大的价格差异是如何产生的。事实证明，这种溢价是非常合理的。从十年跨度来看，它可能比你不断更换或反复升级的那些中端三脚架更划算。
What would the tagline for your biopic be? 如果拍摄你的传记片，宣传语会是什么？
“If Jon Hamm were for sale on Temu.”
“如果乔恩·哈姆（Jon Hamm）在 Temu 上打折出售。”
What’s the last GIF or meme you used? 你最近使用的一个 GIF 或表情包是什么？
Not sure if this is a meme, but I always use the triangle diagram with an option for each corner, but you can only have two simultaneously.
不确定这算不算表情包，但我总是使用那个三角形图表，每个角代表一个选项，但你只能同时拥有其中两个。