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FUNCTION RANDOM - All Things Technological On Your Mind

Started by Camazotz Automat, August 17, 2012, 04:04:35 AM

The monopoly expands. 
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/04/microsoft-has-acquired-github-for-7-5b-in-microsoft-stock/

I don't think it's mentioned in this article, but when I came across a direct link to this info on the 4th on github itself (No longer there,) the M$ CEO that is going to be running Github, was just recently the CTO (I think) of M$'s AI division.
A search of his name should bring it up.

Yeah, I don't know if this is a good thing, or something to be leery of.   ???


Jojo

Quote from: Dr. MD MD on March 18, 2018, 06:57:20 PM
STFU! ::)
If you put a very light dusting of baby powder around the area you want to protect, you will get foot prints if a perp intrudes.  It is better than nothing, as the bottom of some shoes have brand markers, so the sole could be used to identify a perp later if the police catch one leaving your place.  Also, if you see footprints, it will give you an idea part of the perp's description in case you see them again.

Baby powder is easy to sprinkle from the $1 container.  If you do it lightly, a container can last a long time.  You can gently comb a soft broom over the area to reset it.

The most important thing is to sprinkle it very, very lightly so that no perp notices it.  Because if perps see it, they will just smear their tracks.

Best wishes with this pesky problem.  Do you still think I'm a Commie?  Are they polys?

Fourteen


Juan

I’ve used Duck, duck go for years. Many of the suggested alternatives are based in Germany. That’s not a country known for privacy rights.  I pay for my own website and email server. If you’re not paying, you’re the product not the customer.

Quote from: Juan on June 15, 2018, 07:14:28 AM
I’ve used Duck, duck go for years. Many of the suggested alternatives are based in Germany. That’s not a country known for privacy rights.  I pay for my own website and email server. If you’re not paying, you’re the product not the customer.
Right on.  ;)
Yeah, I have a tendency to stay away from German sites.

Startpage and searx.me are also pretty good as far as privacy goes.

https://searx.me/about

https://www.startpage.com/uk/what-makes-startpage-special.html

TOR  can be used as the ultimate anonymity engine, but most people will have to change their browsing habits to maintain that status and not be unmasked.
(Someone needs to write a tutorial on that.)     ;)

'Til tomorrow everyone.     :)

wr250

Quote from: (Sandman) Logan-5 on June 15, 2018, 09:15:21 PM
Right on.  ;)
Yeah, I have a tendency to stay away from German sites.

Startpage and searx.me are also pretty good as far as privacy goes.

https://searx.me/about

https://www.startpage.com/uk/what-makes-startpage-special.html

TOR  can be used as the ultimate anonymity engine, but most people will have to change their browsing habits to maintain that status and not be unmasked.
(Someone needs to write a tutorial on that.)     ;)

'Til tomorrow everyone.     :)
it is not the "ultimate  anonymity engine" , that does not exist.
also i wont use tor as it is funded by the US govt.

albrecht

Quote from: wr250 on June 17, 2018, 08:08:34 AM
it is not the "ultimate  anonymity engine" , that does not exist.
also i wont use tor as it is funded by the US govt.
Yeah.

Call me paranoid but I'm always suspect when there is some moral outcry and you start to see government officials and local news broadcasts about threats, usually salacious or violent, about some software etc. Headlines "Dark Web where you can hire hit man and buy drugs and government cannot do anything about it.)" "Encryption so strong the government can't break it being used by pedos," "Terrorists use social media app and the CIA can't access" etc.

This particular software license is giving some of the higher ups at my gig some heartburn->  http://www.wtfpl.net/

QuoteDO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
                    Version 2, December 2004

Copyright (C) 2004 Sam Hocevar <sam@hocevar.net>

Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim or modified
copies of this license document, and changing it is allowed as long
as the name is changed.

            DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO PUBLIC LICENSE
   TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR COPYING, DISTRIBUTION AND MODIFICATION

  0. You just DO WHAT THE FUCK YOU WANT TO.


Dyna-X

What in the heck happened to the Google image search? Now its turned into a bunch of randomly shaped tiles with lines from websites on a glaring white screen. (For all the reasons I avoid Pinstergram crap kinds of sites - now the disease infects Google)


Jojo

Quote from: Dyna-X on June 25, 2018, 02:45:14 PM
What in the heck happened to the Google image search? Now its turned into a bunch of randomly shaped tiles with lines from websites on a glaring white screen. (For all the reasons I avoid Pinstergram crap kinds of sites - now the disease infects Google)
Did you get an Amazon Fire?  Mine did that for months, until one day it just went back to normal.
Me

Jojo

Quote from: Dyna-X on June 25, 2018, 02:45:14 PM
What in the heck happened to the Google image search? Now its turned into a bunch of randomly shaped tiles with lines from websites on a glaring white screen. (For all the reasons I avoid Pinstergram crap kinds of sites - now the disease infects Google)
since u said  google images you r probly nt using bing but  that is a  thot  to make sure of            COULD  ANYONE  RECOMMEND  A FREE  SUBSTITUTE FOR MCKAFFEE SECURITY?

Dr. MD MD

Quote from: 14 on June 29, 2018, 06:04:50 PM
   since u said  google images you r probly nt using bing but  that is a  thot  to make sure of            COULD  ANYONE  RECOMMEND  A FREE  SUBSTITUTE FOR MCKAFFEE SECURITY?

Sure! I recommend fucking yourself with a rusty chainsaw.

Metron2267

Quote from: 14 on June 29, 2018, 06:04:50 PM
   since u said  google images you r probly nt using bing but  that is a  thot  to make sure of            COULD  ANYONE  RECOMMEND  A FREE  SUBSTITUTE FOR MCKAFFEE SECURITY?

Certainly yes - AVG.

https://www.avg.com/en-us

Or the always effective Avast.

https://www.avast.com/en-us

If you use Avast you'll want to turn off the ad in the sig. file of emails.

Quoteit is not the "ultimate  anonymity engine" , that does not exist.

Sure it does.  ;)
(I get what you're saying though)

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify. 
Let's break down exactly what I posted.

QuoteTOR  can be used as...
The operative words here are "can be used".
I should have italicised the phrase to draw emphasis to it and to make my meaning more clear.
This phrase was meant to imply it takes a particular knowlege that most people don't have, or even care about. They just expect to be able to use it 'out of the box' like they would a normal browser. You have to RTFM and do some research on how to use it to maintain your anonomyzation. Things also change fast, what's good one day may not apply the next.

Quote...as the ultimate anonymity engine...
Let's go to the definition of "ultimate".
Merriam-Webster gives these definitions:

1 a : last in a progression or series : final
    their ultimate destination was Paris

b : eventual
    they hoped for ultimate success

c : the best or most extreme of its kind : utmost
    the ultimate sacrifice


d : most remote in space or time : farthest


2 : arrived at as the last result
    the ultimate question

3 a : original 1
    the ultimate source

b : basic, fundamental
    the ultimate nature of things â€"A. N. Whitehead

c : incapable of further analysis, division, or separation

So we've got 8 definitions according to M-W.
The definition I was going for was 1c; the best or most extreme of its kind.

I didn't call it the ultimate, I said it can be used as the ultimate anonymity engine because it's the best available to the public at this time.
When an encrypted, decentralized, mesh network, browser, becomes available, that may possibly be the better of the two, depending on how it's implimented. But for now, onion, and garlic routers, + Freenet, are what we have generally available.  ;) (...and the last two run on Java.)

As to maintaining anonymity, most people don't know how to use TOR and they pretty much unmask themselves. Once again, a person needs to RTFM. You also need to know your threat-model.

Do you need to bridge ?
VPN ?
Anonymous operating system ?
Dedicated machine ?
IDS ?
What happens when you mix deepnet and clearnet links ?
How many tabs can you safely keep open at the same time ?
What if a site requires Javascript to view ?
What about browser fingerprinting and addons ?
Do you need to change your mac address ?
VM, Live disc, bare metal, or host OS ?


These are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself.
This is just too much work for most (and I barely touched the surface of what you need to know.) They just want to fire it up and go cruising.
Lack of knowlege about how TOR works is the greatest threat to your anonymity, when you are using it.

As far as it being funded by the government. Absolutely correct (to a major extent.) But it's also funded by privacy advocates.

https://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2014/11/17/who-funded-tor/
(Lots of good research links at the end of that article for those that are interested.)

https://www.onion-router.net/History.html


You're right though, there is no uncrackable security, or perfect anonymity, especially when dealing with state actors.

Ask any prior military; CYA.   ;)

=============================================================

QuoteCall me paranoid but I'm always suspect when there is some moral outcry and you start to see government officials and local news broadcasts about threats, usually salacious or violent, about some software etc.

How about I call you hyper-aware, instead.  ;)

QuoteHeadlines "Dark Web where you can hire hit man and buy drugs and government cannot do anything about it.)" "Encryption so strong the government can't break it being used by pedos," "Terrorists use social media app and the CIA can't access" etc.

Those kind of crap, sensationalist headlines, are obvious examples of click-bait.
But, you're right. Most people no longer have the common sense to see them for what they are.

Tor is a tool to accomplish a specific purpose, and like any tool, it can be dangerous if improperly used. A heavy dose of skepticism is a healthy thing. ;)

Another thing about Tor, there is a lot of information that went dark when the website regulation started. Things that have been wiped, or forced shutdown of sites on the clear-net, have a tendency to pop up on the Deep-net. I personally stay away from the Dark-net as I have no use for it.
But like I implied, properly set up, and properly used, Tor can be a useful tool.

===============================================================

https://theintercept.com/2018/06/25/att-internet-nsa-spy-hubs/

LOL - Yup.  :)



Jojo

Quote from: (Sandman) Logan-5 on June 30, 2018, 04:28:48 PM
Sure it does.  ;)
(I get what you're saying though)

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify. 
Let's break down exactly what I posted.
The operative words here are "can be used".
I should have italicised the phrase to draw emphasis to it and to make my meaning more clear.
This phrase was meant to imply it takes a particular knowlege that most people don't have, or even care about. They just expect to be able to use it 'out of the box' like they would a normal browser. You have to RTFM and do some research on how to use it to maintain your anonomyzation. Things also change fast, what's good one day may not apply the next.
Let's go to the definition of "ultimate".
Merriam-Webster gives these definitions:

1 a : last in a progression or series : final
    their ultimate destination was Paris

b : eventual
    they hoped for ultimate success

c : the best or most extreme of its kind : utmost
    the ultimate sacrifice


d : most remote in space or time : farthest


2 : arrived at as the last result
    the ultimate question

3 a : original 1
    the ultimate source

b : basic, fundamental
    the ultimate nature of things â€"A. N. Whitehead

c : incapable of further analysis, division, or separation

So we've got 8 definitions according to M-W.
The definition I was going for was 1c; the best or most extreme of its kind.

I didn't call it the ultimate, I said it can be used as the ultimate anonymity engine because it's the best available to the public at this time.
When an encrypted, decentralized, mesh network, browser, becomes available, that may possibly be the better of the two, depending on how it's implimented. But for now, onion, and garlic routers, + Freenet, are what we have generally available.  ;) (...and the last two run on Java.)

As to maintaining anonymity, most people don't know how to use TOR and they pretty much unmask themselves. Once again, a person needs to RTFM. You also need to know your threat-model.

Do you need to bridge ?
VPN ?
Anonymous operating system ?
Dedicated machine ?
IDS ?
What happens when you mix deepnet and clearnet links ?
How many tabs can you safely keep open at the same time ?
What if a site requires Javascript to view ?
What about browser fingerprinting and addons ?
Do you need to change your mac address ?
VM, Live disc, bare metal, or host OS ?


These are just a few of the questions you need to ask yourself.
This is just too much work for most (and I barely touched the surface of what you need to know.) They just want to fire it up and go cruising.
Lack of knowlege about how TOR works is the greatest threat to your anonymity, when you are using it.

As far as it being funded by the government. Absolutely correct (to a major extent.) But it's also funded by privacy advocates.

https://www.whoishostingthis.com/blog/2014/11/17/who-funded-tor/
(Lots of good research links at the end of that article for those that are interested.)

https://www.onion-router.net/History.html


You're right though, there is no uncrackable security, or perfect anonymity, especially when dealing with state actors.

Ask any prior military; CYA.   ;)

=============================================================

How about I call you hyper-aware, instead.  ;)

Those kind of crap, sensationalist headlines, are obvious examples of click-bait.
But, you're right. Most people no longer have the common sense to see them for what they are.

Tor is a tool to accomplish a specific purpose, and like any tool, it can be dangerous if improperly used. A heavy dose of skepticism is a healthy thing. ;)

Another thing about Tor, there is a lot of information that went dark when the website regulation started. Things that have been wiped, or forced shutdown of sites on the clear-net, have a tendency to pop up on the Deep-net. I personally stay away from the Dark-net as I have no use for it.
But like I implied, properly set up, and properly used, Tor can be a useful tool.

===============================================================

https://theintercept.com/2018/06/25/att-internet-nsa-spy-hubs/

LOL - Yup.  :)
When I saw TOR terms of service, there was an extreme limitation on freedom of expression.
And no erotic stuff...

Jojo

Quote from: Metron2267 on June 29, 2018, 08:33:19 PM
Certainly yes - AVG.

https://www.avg.com/en-us

Or the always effective Avast.

https://www.avast.com/en-us

If you use Avast you'll want to turn off the ad in the sig. file of emails.
Thanks!
Unit 14

Metron2267

Quote from: 14 on July 01, 2018, 12:39:43 AM
Thanks!
Unit 14
QuoteQuote
Quote from: 14 on Today at 10:18:50 AM
What does this have to do with the thread, hmmmmmm?
First of all, Waters was not "ultraviolent" and committed no violence.
LIAR BITCH!

“Already, you have members of your Cabinet that are being booed out of restaurants,” Waters said in LA last Saturday, as the crowd erupted, “who have protesters taking up at their house, who say, ‘No peace, no sleep. No peace, no sleep,'” she continued.

“And guess what,”  “we’re going to win this battle because while you try and quote the Bible, Jeff Sessions and others, you really don’t know the Bible.

“God is on OUR side!” “On the side of the children. On the side of what’s right. On the side of what’s honorable.”

“And so, let’s stay the course. Let’s make sure we show up wherever we have to show up and if you see anybody from that Cabinet in a restaurant, in a department store, at a gasoline station, you get out and you create a crowd and you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anymore, anywhere,” she yelled.

“Mr. President, we will see you every day, every hour of the day, everywhere that we are to let you know you cannot get away with this!”



wr250

Quote from: (Sandman) Logan-5 on June 30, 2018, 04:28:48 PM
Sure it does.  ;)
(I get what you're saying though)

Thanks for giving me the opportunity to clarify. 
---snip---
But like I implied, properly set up, and properly used, Tor can be a useful tool.

===============================================================

https://theintercept.com/2018/06/25/att-internet-nsa-spy-hubs/

LOL - Yup.  :)

i aware how things such as tor *should* be used, however the US govt employs some very crafty programmers and i just dont trust the US govt . sorry , but with major spying scandals in the past and present (att/nsa hubs anyone), i cant justify using that software.


who knows how long they have known about exploits such as intel ME and spectre/meltdown; i suspect at least 10 years. ive no need to get on the "dark web" for any reason; and if i want to hide my tracks, i will use (multiple) vpn(s) to do so. ive not found that reason to use multiple vpns yet, i have reasons to use a single vpn (pokes verizon in the eye).

wr250

Quote from: wr250 on July 02, 2018, 06:31:21 PM
who knows how long they have known about exploits such as intel ME and spectre/meltdown; i suspect at least 10 years.

to inform those who wish to know about the intel ME exploit:
its a exploit to put malicious code on the motherboard itself, bypassing the installed os. if you thought windows was the most popular operating system, you would be wrong. the os running on intel chips is the most popular os (minix). runs on every intel motherboard since the p75 way back in 95(?). since it runs on the motherboard, it can:
access and decrypt encrypted data
keylog
immune and undetectable to virus scanning software
phone data home
and anything else any other malware can do.
its purpose is to allow sysadmins to remotely format drives, install a main operating system adjust bios , and other such low level tasks. it has its own webserver to do so, which is unaffected by any onboard firewall such as the windows firewall. once exploited the motherboard will need to be updated and reflashed (not sure how well this works) or replaced.

spectre/meltdown runs on intel chips (and to a much lesser extent amd) and can access encrypted data , and decrypt it. both can be made with javascript (and any other language), and can run from a web browser. all of the major browsers have patched against this, so this (the browser) threat is minimal. however black hats (including the govt paid ones) and security researchers  continue to find ways around this.

it is my belief that the us govt has known about these exploits , and used them for at least 10 years. i have no evidence of this, thus its a belief, not a fact.

Quote from: wr250 on July 02, 2018, 06:31:21 PM
i aware how things such as tor *should* be used, however the US govt employs some very crafty programmers and i just dont trust the US govt . sorry , but with major spying scandals in the past and present (att/nsa hubs anyone), i cant justify using that software.


who knows how long they have known about exploits such as intel ME and spectre/meltdown; i suspect at least 10 years. ive no need to get on the "dark web" for any reason; and if i want to hide my tracks, i will use (multiple) vpn(s) to do so. ive not found that reason to use multiple vpns yet, i have reasons to use a single vpn (pokes verizon in the eye).
Good points;all.  ;)

Quote from: wr250 on July 02, 2018, 06:56:47 PM
to inform those who wish to know about the intel ME exploit:
its a exploit to put malicious code on the motherboard itself, bypassing the installed os. if you thought windows was the most popular operating system, you would be wrong. the os running on intel chips is the most popular os (minix). runs on every intel motherboard since the p75 way back in 95(?). since it runs on the motherboard, it can:
access and decrypt encrypted data
keylog
immune and undetectable to virus scanning software
phone data home
and anything else any other malware can do.
its purpose is to allow sysadmins to remotely format drives, install a main operating system adjust bios , and other such low level tasks. it has its own webserver to do so, which is unaffected by any onboard firewall such as the windows firewall. once exploited the motherboard will need to be updated and reflashed (not sure how well this works) or replaced.

spectre/meltdown runs on intel chips (and to a much lesser extent amd) and can access encrypted data , and decrypt it. both can be made with javascript (and any other language), and can run from a web browser. all of the major browsers have patched against this, so this (the browser) threat is minimal. however black hats (including the govt paid ones) and security researchers  continue to find ways around this.

it is my belief that the us govt has known about these exploits , and used them for at least 10 years. i have no evidence of this, thus its a belief, not a fact.
Excellent write up.
Don't forget the Mossad.  ;)
https://www.zdnet.com/article/israel-inside-a-history-of-intels-r-d-in-israel/

Jojo

Seems like ordinary household technology has gotten out of hand.  Hotmail has weird deep links popping up, Hotmail barely works with Explorer.  Like, very recent emails don't appear, regardless of what format/upgrade email style.  But they really are there bec if I keyword search them, they come up.  Chrome doesn't have a convenient copy/paste function (Cntl-a, whoever heard of that...), and Word Online doesn't save real well even though it saves as you go and saves when you close.  Does anyone else here use Word Online?  It's free, which is the best I can do here, but seems so unreliable in saving.  And, Word Online storage is confusing too.  And mega-systems like Google or Outlook try to get you to "logon" just to use basic services, which isn't really necessary.  And You Tube having a different interface on different browsers.  Is it my imagination or has storage space for saved items gotten confusing?  Sometimes it seems like an image or doc is in a different place even thought I saved it the same way as the last time.  And Recent Docs is being useless, with nothing listed.

It's not all bad if I remember to keep trying different things, but the process takes way more time than inputting content.

Unit 14

GravitySucks

Quote from: 14 on July 03, 2018, 04:39:46 AM
Seems like ordinary household technology has gotten out of hand.  Hotmail has weird deep links popping up, Hotmail barely works with Explorer.  Like, very recent emails don't appear, regardless of what format/upgrade email style.  But they really are there bec if I keyword search them, they come up.  Chrome doesn't have a convenient copy/paste function (Cntl-a, whoever heard of that...), and Word Online doesn't save real well even though it saves as you go and saves when you close.  Does anyone else here use Word Online?  It's free, which is the best I can do here, but seems so unreliable in saving.  And, Word Online storage is confusing too.  And mega-systems like Google or Outlook try to get you to "logon" just to use basic services, which isn't really necessary.  And You Tube having a different interface on different browsers.  Is it my imagination or has storage space for saved items gotten confusing?  Sometimes it seems like an image or doc is in a different place even thought I saved it the same way as the last time.  And Recent Docs is being useless, with nothing listed.

It's not all bad if I remember to keep trying different things, but the process takes way more time than inputting content.

Unit 14

Recent docs only works if uou open or save a file while word or excel is open. If you open it by double clicking the filename instead of the <open> in the menu and then don’t make any changes to the file, you won’t see it in recent files even if you have word installed on your computer. And of course you would need to be signed into word for it to know which user you are to provide a recent file list.

Metron2267

Quote from: 14 on July 03, 2018, 04:39:46 AM

It's not all bad if I remember to keep trying different things, but the process takes way more time than inputting content.

Unit 14
Traitor:

QuoteQuote from: 14 on Yesterday at 10:40:03 AM
Booing people out of a restaurant and verbally pushing is not "violence".
Trump has incited violence.  Here is your link again:  https://www.elitedaily.com/p/the-video-of-maxine-waters-reading-a-list-of-times-trump-incited-violence-is-a-must-watch-9585426
It's perfectly acceptable to say that regardless of how I feel about Waters antisocial comments, they don't sound prosecutable.  Reasonable people are pragmatic.

Don't confuse fun with phony.

Unit 14

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