Software Endorsements

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

Thanks for the heads up, that is a decent deal for a 1 year PIA sub. Everything else there seems like total bloatware rubbish though, on first impression. Aside from maybe the backup services but I feel like if you are super paranoid and passionate about cyber security then you would rather backup your stuff locally to other devices and not to a cloud server.

Haven't people talked shit about PIA for a while now?

 

[Snacker]

Haven't people talked shit about PIA for a while now?

Not sure. I've heard conflicting things. They are based in the USA so straight away that has some people's alarms going off, but I've also heard that they have refused to give up logs (because they don't keep any) when pressed to do so. I don't know enough about the subject to know if they are one of the better VPN services or not but overall I have heard more positive comments than negative.

 

[AnOminous]

Not sure. I've heard conflicting things. They are based in the USA so straight away that has some people's alarms going off, but I've also heard that they have refused to give up logs (because they don't keep any) when pressed to do so. I don't know enough about the subject to know if they are one of the better VPN services or not but overall I have heard more positive comments than negative.

I would honestly trust somewhere in the U.S. over anywhere in Europe.

Nowhere in the world is safe from the combo of the FBI/NSA/other shady DHS branches. However, none of those guys give a single flying fuck about lolcows, so it should be sufficient for any reasonable purposes, i.e. if you're not planning a terrorist attack. Even if they have compromised it, they're not going to fuck up their own spy operation and reveal that they have compromised it because someone made a lolcow mad.

 

[Yeeb-Renzo]

Firefox Extentions list:

Dark Reader: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/
Makes it so that pages with white or bright colors can be inverted to darker colors, makes it easy on the eyes. I preferably leave it on "Dynamic mode" so that images won't get inverted and doesn't invert already dark colors on webpages.

Decentraleyes: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes/
• Protects privacy by evading large delivery networks that claim to offer free services.
• Complements regular blockers such as uBlock Origin (recommended), Adblock Plus, et al.
• Works directly out of the box; absolutely no prior configuration required.

Video DownloadHelper: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/
Extension used to quickly grab and download any kind of videos present on webpages.

Multi-Account Containers: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/
Facebook Container: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/
Google Container: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-container/
All three of them help stop tracking by "containing them" into their own separate tabs so that companies like Facebook or Google can stop monitoring you and your other tabs.

VTZilla: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vtzilla/?src=search
Scan files, links, pages and downloads to see if they are free from any viruses.

Page Cache Archiver (Basically Archive.is extension): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/archiver-menu/
Really helpful for archiving pages quickly instead of having to go through the process of copying page link > go to Archive.is > paste link > then get the archived link. Instead, just click on the extension to send the link to Archive.is and it'll automatically bake the link for you. There's also other features like "save as a PDF" or archive it in other websites like the Wayback Machine.

Google Search Link Fix: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-search-link-fix/
Prevents Google and Yandex search pages from modifying search result links when you click them.

Old Reddit Redirect: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/old-reddit-redirect/
Just as the name suggests, this add-on automatically reverts back to the old Reddit design instead of having to live with the new one.

Resurrect Pages: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/resurrect-pages/
Resurrect dead pages with archived cache.

SoundCloud MP3 Downloader: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/soundcloud-mp3-downloader/
Download SC tracks with a click of a button.

View Image: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/view-image/
Adds back the "View Image" button on Google Images.

Unpaywall: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/unpaywall/
Unblock research papers that are behind a paywall.

Dark Theme: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/native-dark/
Change the color of FireFox's UI (I.E. colorizes the title bar, tabs, and URL)

Minerblock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/minerblock-origin/
Blocks cryptocurrency miners all over the web.

Enhancer for YouTube: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/enhancer-for-youtube/
Tons of features added to Youtube such as speed adjuster, pinning a video to corners of your screen when you're scrolling, and go into cinematic mode.

 

[Leibowitz]

Just an FYI, NordVPN starting blocking Kiwifarms.net sometime yesterday when the CyberSec feature is activated. "CyberSec" is basically just a DNS block list implemented via VPN rather than a hosts file, it (was) a convenient alternative to rooting my phone for AdAway.

 

[AF 802]

If anyone is looking for a good seedbox provider, I don't know if Feral Hosting has been recommended yet.

Pros:

• Easy enough panel to setup.
• Decent transfer rates (with unlimited transfer).
• A lot of space (1TB) for 10 GBP a month (~$12-15 USD).

Cons:

• Servers based in England, which is worrysome incase of shutdown.

 

[AnOminous]

Roccat Browser for Mac

If your browser begins to get sluggish and lock up with over 50 or so tabs, this blindingly fast browser may be what you want. I have no problem with 100 and over, even using an eight year old MacBook Pro. It has some minor aesthetic issues and is not exactly bleeding edge as far as the latest HTML crap, but it works fine for forums and imageboards and similar sites, such as this one.

 

[spiritofamermaid]

Roccat Browser for Mac

If your browser begins to get sluggish and lock up with over 50 or so tabs, this blindingly fast browser may be what you want. I have no problem with 100 and over, even using an eight year old MacBook Pro. It has some minor aesthetic issues and is not exactly bleeding edge as far as the latest HTML crap, but it works fine for forums and imageboards and similar sites, such as this one.

What's the highest you've tested it with? I frequently get up to about 200-400 tabs open, so I usually am a bit wary of trying browsers out. Also I might just be an idiot but my OS is Windows, so is there a Windows version? I couldn't find it, all I got were searches for a German hardware/software company.

 

[AnOminous]

What's the highest you've tested it with? I frequently get up to about 200-400 tabs open, so I usually am a bit wary of trying browsers out. Also I might just be an idiot but my OS is Windows, so is there a Windows version? I couldn't find it, all I got were searches for a German hardware/software company.

Nope, it's explicitly Mac. I haven't gone over about 200, but it handled that with a bit of sluggishness. An old system can't do miracles, though.

 

[fartsnstuf]

Firefox Extentions list:

Dark Reader: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/darkreader/
Makes it so that pages with white or bright colors can be inverted to darker colors, makes it easy on the eyes. I preferably leave it on "Dynamic mode" so that images won't get inverted and doesn't invert already dark colors on webpages.

Decentraleyes: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/decentraleyes/
• Protects privacy by evading large delivery networks that claim to offer free services.
• Complements regular blockers such as uBlock Origin (recommended), Adblock Plus, et al.
• Works directly out of the box; absolutely no prior configuration required.

Video DownloadHelper: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/video-downloadhelper/
Extension used to quickly grab and download any kind of videos present on webpages.

Multi-Account Containers: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/multi-account-containers/
Facebook Container: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/facebook-container/
Google Container: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-container/
All three of them help stop tracking by "containing them" into their own separate tabs so that companies like Facebook or Google can stop monitoring you and your other tabs.

VTZilla: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/vtzilla/?src=search
Scan files, links, pages and downloads to see if they are free from any viruses.

Page Cache Archiver (Basically Archive.is extension): https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/archiver-menu/
Really helpful for archiving pages quickly instead of having to go through the process of copying page link > go to Archive.is > paste link > then get the archived link. Instead, just click on the extension to send the link to Archive.is and it'll automatically bake the link for you. There's also other features like "save as a PDF" or archive it in other websites like the Wayback Machine.

Google Search Link Fix: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/google-search-link-fix/
Prevents Google and Yandex search pages from modifying search result links when you click them.

Old Reddit Redirect: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/old-reddit-redirect/
Just as the name suggests, this add-on automatically reverts back to the old Reddit design instead of having to live with the new one.

Resurrect Pages: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/resurrect-pages/
Resurrect dead pages with archived cache.

SoundCloud MP3 Downloader: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/soundcloud-mp3-downloader/
Download SC tracks with a click of a button.

View Image: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/view-image/
Adds back the "View Image" button on Google Images.

Unpaywall: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/unpaywall/
Unblock research papers that are behind a paywall.

Dark Theme: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/native-dark/
Change the color of FireFox's UI (I.E. colorizes the title bar, tabs, and URL)

Minerblock: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/minerblock-origin/
Blocks cryptocurrency miners all over the web.

Enhancer for YouTube: https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/enhancer-for-youtube/
Tons of features added to Youtube such as speed adjuster, pinning a video to corners of your screen when you're scrolling, and go into cinematic mode.

interesting, i will try the SCMP3 downloader and the Video downloader helper

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

What's the highest you've tested it with? I frequently get up to about 200-400 tabs open, so I usually am a bit wary of trying browsers out. Also I might just be an idiot but my OS is Windows, so is there a Windows version? I couldn't find it, all I got were searches for a German hardware/software company.

Session Manager for Firefox is great if you run a lot of tabs/windows and being a turbo 'sperg I have over 1000 tabs across 7 windows open right now. Yes, I'm going to finish reading them all one day.

But it only works on versions below 57/Quantum because of the new APIs for extensions/add-ons. I'm running the extended support release of 52 right now and things work with some choppiness here and there, 55/56 had no problem whatsoever for me.
There's also a different tab manager for Quantum that's getting better but it mostly seems to anger its users.

For people running Chrome The Great Suspender is fantastic, it keeps chrome from using ALL the ram.

 

[John Titor]

Visipics. It spots duplicate images for you. Perfect for imageboard users unsure if they saved the same image multiple times.

 

[spiritofamermaid]

Session Manager for Firefox is great if you run a lot of tabs/windows and being a turbo 'sperg I have over 1000 tabs across 7 windows open right now. Yes, I'm going to finish reading them all one day.

But it only works on versions below 57/Quantum because of the new APIs for extensions/add-ons. I'm running the extended support release of 52 right now and things work with some choppiness here and there, 55/56 had no problem whatsoever for me.
There's also a different tab manager for Quantum that's getting better but it mostly seems to anger its users.

For people running Chrome The Great Suspender is fantastic, it keeps chrome from using ALL the ram.

Yeah, Session Buddy is great, especially when I don't know what window something is in (788 tabs for 40 windows ftw). It's for Chrome, btw. I've been meaning to use Suspender, especially since a lot of my tabs are youtube music videos.

I also used OneTab, but once I got to like 2000 tabs it has been very slow and crashing whenever I try to open it.

 

[Sperglord Dante]

Apparently this hasn't been mentioned yet:

TrackMeNot

From one of the creators of Adnauseam. This extension constantly feeds bullshit to search engines. The idea here is obfuscating the profile big brother Google already has on you. You can choose multiple search engines, query frecuency and even blacklist words that you wouldn't want to be associated with (e.g. "how to build bomb isis 2018")

 

[Desire Lines]

Remember when I recommended Stylish?
Well apparently it's spyware:
https://robertheaton.com/2018/07/02/stylish-browser-extension-steals-your-internet-history/

So yeah. The article does recommend an analytics-free version, so install that instead:
https://www.ghacks.net/2017/05/16/stylus-is-a-stylish-fork-without-analytics/

 

[Smaug's Smokey Hole]

NLE video editor: Lightworks(win/linux/mac) - free version(the only restriction are output resolution(720p max)/formats(h.264 mp4 only)
www.lwks.com

A good video editor with all the things you'd expect and some things you wouldn't expect from a professional class editor: Fast and light on resources(really light when you look at ram and disk utilization), so most any computer can run it, even a couple of years old laptop.
There's a sound editor/mixer, FX editor and unlimited bins *wink*... It's good, I like it and Scorsese uses it or something, so hey, real movies! Seriously this is professional package put out for the general public to learn, it's a smart move.

Some of the documentation can be a bit obtuse or missing altogether and when larger changes happen between versions... well that's pretty standard, their forums usually have answers/explanations.

No license servers/managers/crap will be installed as far as I'm aware and that's nice although you do need to register a username/password through an email to start the program.
If you want to mess around with some video editing just for fun without paying for anything I'd probably go with this one, the download isn't huge and the installed program doesn't try to take over your system.


I have tested some other programs, and there is a completely free alternative, F/OSS and all:

Free NLE Video Editor: OpenShot(Win, linux, mac) - completely free
www.openshot.org
Blurb: "OpenShot Video Editor is a free and open-source video editor for FreeBSD, Linux, macOS, and Windows."

OpenShot is ass!

Criticism
Around 2013, OpenShot (version 1) was being criticized as being unreliable.[11][12]

As of June 2018, most reviewers on the open source website AlternativeTo give OpenShot negative reviews, characterizing it as "unstable", "basic", "slow" and "useless".[15]

If openshot worked it might be good, this fucker crashes A LOT and so quickly I have no idea if the workflow is any good, I've never gotten farther than dropping some shit onto the timeline and *CRASH*

Conclusion, don't use OpenShot.


If anyone else knows of any good video editors I'll very interested. (not MediaComposer Home, it sure looks nice but the recommended specs are like... 32-64gb ram, dual Xeon's to get a 12+ core processor etc and this apparent is when starting the program. It also install a bunch of license servers and crapware)

edit:

expand/shrink/clone partitions, including system partitions:
Macrium Reflect(Windows), free for home use.

I bought a larger HDD and not wanting to re-install everything I looked for a program that just cloned C: and the /system reserved partition onto disk without using linux on a stick(the way to go for sensitive work).
It worked fine, didn't take long and clone-Windows didn't know that anything happened.
Shrinking a system partition from a disk to SSD should be possible as well, it just takes more prep.

 

[OWLS!]

If anyone else knows of any good video editors I'll very interested.

Shotcut is surprisingly competent. At least in the *nix world, it's about as close as I've gotten to the ease of using OG imovie. The interface is a wee bit laggy, but that also might just be my build, so meh.

 

[Dreamland]

I've had a lot better experience using searX, and their privacy concept is more than just "not google botnet": http://www.searx.me/

I got this running in a docker container on an ol' synology shitbox, Speaking of escaping the botnet if you have a Raspi it's a breeze to install both PiVPN (personal vpn incase you don't trust the hotspot you're working off) and PiHole (DNS adblocker that eats HOSTS files) on it.

For the rest i can only add Chocolatey as recommendation to our winfriends, Enjoy the pleasure of package-management on Windows!

 

[The Un-Clit]

AdNauseam is the fucking BALLS. replaces Ublock Origin for me, and so far it seems like it works fine alongside Privacy Badger and Ghostery too. I had never heard of this extension before, so thank you Null! Havent even finished the first post in this thread and already found something awesome. So much hidden gold in the Kiwi Orchards.

DuckDuckGo is a must to put as a default search engine.

Bit fftopic:, but a friend recommended me a source called Tor Browser and I did used it to test out for usage of privacy and wondered if anyone also used it. Little downside for it was using Tor for this forums is a bit slow so it's a 50 50, but everything else is decent plus there's an option where you can restart the browser to make it less trackable.

100% on DuckDuckGo. I've never regretted making it my homepage and default search.

Regarding TOR browser, it's a modified Firefox client optemised for .onion sites, which are mostly darknet. I've found it's great for accessing darknet sites (drugs, not cheese pizza) but can be extremely slow and unreliable at times depending on the status of the network itself and how many nodes are operating at a given time.
There's really not much point to putting up with it's quirks to use on the public internet with regular websites unless you are really into obfuscation of your browsing and the various tracker blockers aren't good enough for you. Better off with a VPN.

 

[ChurchOfGodBear]

What's the current thought on the topic of hosting one's own mail server these days? I'm getting a lot of REALLY conflicting opinions doing research.