March 7, 2026
Trust fall with a blob
To update blobs or not to update blobs
Secret code in your gadgets — fix the bugs or invite spies? The comments are raging
TLDR: Hidden device code (“blobs”) gets updates that can fix serious flaws, but users can’t inspect what’s inside. Comments erupted into a split: purists say never trust black boxes, pragmatists say patch or stay vulnerable; everyone agrees the stakes are high because this code controls your hardware.
Today’s nerd fight: should we update the mysterious “blobs” — the tiny, secret programs inside our gadgets — or leave them alone? The article lays out the dilemma: blobs can fix scary bugs, but they’re hidden, non‑open code you can’t inspect. The comment section exploded. Purists shouted “no trust, no install,” warning about backdoors and corporate control. Pragmatists fired back: real people need security fixes, like the SSD flaws researchers found that let encryption be bypassed. LaSombra even dropped a pointer to a Mastodon rabbit hole link. Cue popcorn: one camp says vendors designing hardware where only they can update is a “dick move,” the other says not updating is like ignoring a flashing check‑engine light.
The jokes wrote themselves: “Schrödinger’s firmware — both safer and sketchier,” “mystery‑meat code,” and “update all the things” memes. Meanwhile, tinfoil‑hat energy soared: what if the fix hides a spy? Fans of open devices begged for transparency; practical folks demanded patches now. The vibe: trust fall with a blob vs YOLO security. Others asked the obvious: if the bad code is burned into unchangeable memory, you're stuck forever; if it’s updateable, are you trading freedom for safety?
Key Points
- •Modern hardware often relies on proprietary code stored in ROM, flash, or loaded at runtime, functioning outside the host OS.
- •Most such code is non-free and may be signed or encrypted, limiting user ability to replace or inspect it.
- •Users must decide whether to apply vendor-provided updates without access to source code, relying on trust networks.
- •Immutability of ROM-based code means hostile or buggy firmware cannot be fixed; vendor-only update control is criticized.
- •Real-world vulnerabilities in SSD firmware allowed encryption bypass; vendors released updates to remediate these issues.