Software Endorsements

[Bender]

I took a look at it and it seems like a clunkier and slower IrfanView with less features.

Fair enough, I like it because it just displays pictures, if I wanted to do anything more I'd use Paint.NET or something, but to each their own.

Edit: And the lead developer's name is Phap Duong which is an unfortunate, but hilarious, name.

 

[Captain Chromosome]

Just got an Amazon Fire 10 for work. Any recommendations for minimizing the Glow in the darks? Or just convenience apps in general.

 

[Meat Poultry Veg]

ProtonVPN for VPN (it's got a free version, but it's somewhat limited)

How's the paid version?

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

I took a look at it and it seems like a clunkier and slower IrfanView with less features.



MPC still works great, VLC has some great features that MPC doesn't have but there are things in MPC that, to my knowledge, VLC doesn't have. Like pressing a button to find subtitles in any language for what you are watching right now. That is pretty good.



That's spotty on SSD's as far as I know, but I might be wildly out of touch, I will admit to that. Secure delete is another option and something that many miss or don't think of is pruning the NTFS file table. Because it is not possible. Unless it is spammed with millions of garbage entries and that is hardly discrete if someone is trying to hide something. BleachBit should be doing that, but I don't know.

This was several years ago and my memory is hazy, but I seem to remember that I did a full wipe and reinstall on one laptop but the NTFS table was largely untouched, it was when I first started thinking about this. The laptops were going to be sold, there was nothing sensitive on them, they had been secure erased so data could not be recovered, but paths, size and filenames were still there. That intrigued me, how can you manipulate the file table? By writing a script that floods it with garbage, as it turns out. Or fully reformating, that works as well.

Either way, name your spergy revolutionary white supremacist or communist manifesto BrittneySpearsSextapeFacialLinkinPark.rm and place it in a folder called pr0n, the glowies won't know what to make of it.



7zip is alright.

The only way to securely wipe an SSD is to make a call to its controller to do a secure erase, usually done via a tool from the SSD manufacturer. A standard zero-write operation won't catch everything due to the way SSDs have a firmware abstraction layer to the actual data; when you zero it out it just zeroes out the FTL address and the underlying data is still present, just not obtainable by standard read operations. I keep seeing people say ATA secure erase from hdparm works but I've got reservations about that since you're relying on the SSD's secure erase to be properly implemented with no easy way to confirm it is.

 

[AnOminous]

The only way to securely wipe an SSD is to make a call to its controller to do a secure erase, usually done via a tool from the SSD manufacturer. A standard zero-write operation won't catch everything due to the way SSDs have a firmware abstraction layer to the actual data; when you zero it out it just zeroes out the FTL address and the underlying data is still present, just not obtainable by standard read operations. I keep seeing people say ATA secure erase from hdparm works but I've got reservations about that since you're relying on the SSD's secure erase to be properly implemented with no easy way to confirm it is.

A hammer is a pretty good substitute if you don't have a metal shredder.

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

A hammer is a pretty good substitute if you don't have a metal shredder.

Just make sure the hammer actually hits the flash memory chips, my go-to is to just pry off the chips and snap them in half.

 

[NSJAP]

Common scene, browsing sketchy sites with turned off scripts/through VirtualBox (with Linux Mint inside) as antivirus
Pirated Photoshop CC 2018 for image editing
Pictus for image viewing
PIA for VPN
Firefox with privacy tweaks from this video https://youtu.be/tQhWdsFMc24 for general browsing. Ublock has 3rd-party scripts and 3rd-party frames turned off globally
Brave with multiple profiles for sites where I logged in (one profile for YouTube/google stuff, second for twitter, third for discord and so on)
Ungoogled-chromium for browsing without VPN
VLC for videos and AIMP for music
qTox for messaging
KeePassX for password management
7zip for decompressing files
Thunderbird for email client
Cock.li/mail.ru for registration on sites ( new email for new site )
SimpleWall as firewall with whitelist

 

[a_lurker]

You don't have free SIM cards where you're from? I can walk into a network provider's shop and leave with as many PAYG SIM cards as I can carry, each with their own phone number.

eastern europe or china?

 

[Bender]

eastern europe or china?

Close, but no.

 

[a_lurker]

Close, but no.

I know in the US they're iffy about burner phones, and greedy enough to charge $10 for sims for pre-paid plans, and iirc the EU would want an ID.
Asia, former soviet, or some "wild uncivilized land" not subjected to the prying eyes of the EU or US government.

 

[Coffee Anon]

I was able to create an account through the Tor hidden service.
Thanks for allowing that @Null.

Are there any plans to create a lokinet address as well, or is that particular mixnet just a meme?

 

[Ineedahero]

MPC still works great, VLC has some great features that MPC doesn't have but there are things in MPC that, to my knowledge, VLC doesn't have. Like pressing a button to find subtitles in any language for what you are watching right now. That is pretty good.

Wait what button is that? I just started watching elementary, but the sound mix on the torrent I got is shit, so I have been using plex to watch it for exactly that reason. But I only really have plex for my mobile devices and family, I would much prefer to watch it with mpc or vlc.

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Wait what button is that? I just started watching elementary, but the sound mix on the torrent I got is shit, so I have been using plex to watch it for exactly that reason. But I only really have plex for my mobile devices and family, I would much prefer to watch it with mpc or vlc.

It should be D or ctrl-d by default but I changed it a long time ago. Just go into file - subtitles - download subtitles (the shortcut is written next to that). You can enable a couple of other subtitle databases in the options menu.

Thumbnails on how it looks on PC.

 

[AnOminous]

MPC still works great, VLC has some great features that MPC doesn't have but there are things in MPC that, to my knowledge, VLC doesn't have. Like pressing a button to find subtitles in any language for what you are watching right now. That is pretty good.

mpv does all I need to do.

 

[Leibowitz]

I just migrated from NordVPN to MullVad after two years on Nord. Like many others, I wasn't really comfortable with how mainstream they were becoming, and the announcement of that hack coincided conveniently with my service expiring. MullVad is a bit less feature rich, and the beta Android client is rough around the edges, but I am satisfied so far.

 

[cjöcker]

Transmission is another excellent no nonsense BitTorrent client.

 

[nonvir_1984]

If this had already been posted, then mark me late and I'll delete this, but I don't have time to go through 29 pages of shit.

Youtube Vanced. It's an excellent Android YouTube app with adblock and background/screen off play built into it. Does not requite root, extremely easy to install.

The only issue I've come across is that it seems like you can't superchat from this app (but who fucking cares about that shit), and I haven't look all that hard, but I don't think there's an IOS compatible version.

Really great app, I can't recommend it enough.

Edit:
Also Startmail for an e-mail client/provider. You get up to 10 e-mail aliases and optional key phrase encryption. They've been testing out a beta version of their service that is mobile friendly and it seems to work pretty well
It's not free (I think it's like $60.00/year, but I'd rather pay for email that is secure than get a free one that some dickhead company is using to sell every bit of marketable information about me.

Tech friend recommended Tutanota and also Posteo. With Tutanota you can get a free account; with Posteo, it costs about 20 Euro per year. Anyone have experience with them? I've used Tutanota and it seems OK.

For folks who are a bit adventerous (and have an old laptop or pc) there is a linux system that might be worth a look: https://www.pureos.net/
I read about in on a privacy/anonymity/security forum. I have had a bit of a play and it seems like it might be (a) easy to use and (b) configured for privacy - but no guarantees, it's just what they say. You download it, burn it to a USB and can try it from that - you do not have to install it.
Another one i had a play with was pixel by raspberry pi. That make a desktop: https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspberry-pi-desktop/
Again, this can be burnt to a USB, using etcher - and will run OK. I've had a bit of a play and it is easy to use. But I do not know about the security side of it. Maybe someone here has had a play.
The reason I use linux is not because I'm some tech but because i am too stingy to pay for windows and won't use a Mac.

 

[Shoggoth]

Tech friend recommended Tutanota and also Posteo. With Tutanota you can get a free account; with Posteo, it costs about 20 Euro per year. Anyone have experience with them? I've used Tutanota and it seems OK.

Tutonota are in Germany. I don't trust.

 

[Wingus Dongshire]

For folks who are a bit adventerous (and have an old laptop or pc) there is a linux system that might be worth a look: https://www.pureos.net/
I read about in on a privacy/anonymity/security forum. I have had a bit of a play and it seems like it might be (a) easy to use and (b) configured for privacy - but no guarantees, it's just what they say. You download it, burn it to a USB and can try it from that - you do not have to install it.
Another one i had a play with was pixel by raspberry pi. That make a desktop: https://www.raspberrypi.org/downloads/raspberry-pi-desktop/
Again, this can be burnt to a USB, using etcher - and will run OK. I've had a bit of a play and it is easy to use. But I do not know about the security side of it. Maybe someone here has had a play.
The reason I use linux is not because I'm some tech but because i am too stingy to pay for windows and won't use a Mac.

Is Tails not the definitive preassembled privacy distro anymore?

 

[AnOminous]

Is Tails not the definitive preassembled privacy distro anymore?

TAILS is still the paranoid's choice imo as it still remembers nothing from session to session unless you go out of your way to make it. Having some security related add-ons isn't the same as being entirely for the purpose of security.