Comments by "Perhaps" (@NoEgg4u) on "Rob Braxman Tech"
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For anyone who feels that they are immune from censorship, consider the following:
-- Have you ever hesitated to post a civil comment, because you might get a strike?
-- Have you ever avoided certain words, knowing that the platform's bots will identify your comments and censor?
When speech is truly free, you would speak your mind, without worrying about your comment being challenged by the service. As long as your comment did not break the law, and your comment is not spam, no harm should come to you from the service. But that is not the case.
youtube routinely tosses comments. How many of you ever go back to check if your comment is still there?
When you post your comment, your browser shows it to you. It really looks like it got posted. But check later, and it might be gone.
In fact, this comment might not survive, because bots do not want people to know that comments often are tossed. If this comment survives, it is just luck.
Rob, your points were all correct. Excellent job. Thank you.
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It is nearly impossible to remain anonymous, using any of today's communication devices / platforms. To be successful, you have to be an expert, and never make a single slip-up.
I use privacy related tools, but not with the expectation of remaining anonymous from 3-letter government agencies. Rather, for conducting business where I do not want to have a company in my face for the rest of my life.
For example, when I was car shopping/researching, I used privacy apps. None of my shopping found its way onto any social media platforms, and no car companies / services have been hounding me, except for the expected barrage from them hitting my temporary made-up profile that I used strictly for the car shopping.
Used in a limited way, for non-critical purposes, privacy tools have benefits. But never have the expectation that those tools are 100% private.
Rob, you spelled out exactly what needed to be understood. The worst things can happen to people that only think that they are insulated from spying, end us getting themselves in trouble because they did not understand what you covered in this video. For those people, if they used only in-the-clear apps, at least they would have not expected privacy.
Cheers!
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Rob, the Brazil government could see who is sending traffic to a VPN (without knowing, yet, that it is a VPN), by seeing that, aside from an initial DNS lookup by the user (for the client to connect to the VPN), no other DNS lookups have been requested by the user. And yet, lots of data passing between the user and the ISP. Or am I mistaken?
I do not know the laws in Brazil. But when they outlaw X, and they have no freedom of speech, then I would imagine that the Brazil police might be ordered to round up anyone using a VPN service, or to break in to people's homes who are suspected of using a VPN service. Thus, if my first paragraph is correct, the citizens of Brazil might get their doors kicked in if they have only 1 DNS lookup, followed by streams and streams of encrypted data, 100% of which is going to a single IP address in a foreign country.
And it is only a matter of time before the Brazil authorities identify who owns the target IP address.
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Logs:
Courts can order a VPN service provider to keep logs, and also issue a gag order, not allowing the VPN service provider to reveal the court order for them to keep logs.
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I see VPN services as glorified proxy servers, that are highly attractive to governments.
There are legitimate uses for VPN services. But I would never trust one where my freedom would be at stake, and be at the whim of an anonymous VPN employee handing over my data to the authorities.
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@3:47 -- Editing a text file.
"nano" is very popular, and is great for beginners, or for folks used to using Windows "notepad".
But if you do a lot of text editing, then familiarize yourself with "vi" (or "vim").
"vi" stands for "visual".
"vim" takes on a clever "improved" meaning, as in vi improved.
When you become proficient with "vi" or "vim", you will blast though your editing sessions. You will not need your mouse.
"vi" has been around since before computers used monitors (everything was outputted to a paper feed). So any Linux or UNIX OS will have "vi". And any somewhat recent Linux or UNIX OS will very likely all have "vim", too.
If you are editing your own files, there is no need to use "sudo".
@7:38 -- exFAT is fine. But you can also use NTFS on nearly any modern Linux distro. That was not the case some years ago. But today, NTFS is supported.
NTFS will be much slower than ext4, on a Linux system, because NTFS will run in the much slower "user" space, whereas ext4 runs in the "kernel" space.
For a few megabytes, you probably will not notice any difference between ext4, exFAT, and NTFS. But for large files, or countless small files, NTFS will be noticeably slower than ext4.
So if your SD card, or USB drive, etc, is already formatted with NTFS, you should be fine.
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@1:18
It is my understanding that all of those arrests were due to mistakes made by the criminals, that revealed themselves; that their arrests were not related to a weakness in Tor.
@5:10
-- decryption on the exit node.
Not for .onion sites (please let me know if I am mistaken).
@6:01
-- server e-mail traffic is not encrypted by Tor.
This is news to me. I do not understand the reason why server e-mail data would be in the clear when passed through Tor.
The Linux "Tails" distribution has an e-mail client. Is that e-mail traveling through Tor unencrypted?
@6:16
-- When on Tor, always go to encrypted web sites.
I am not sure what the benefit of an encrypted web site is, if the data got to the exit node and cannot be traced back to the guard node.
Sure, if you send personal information to a non encrypted site, then it defeats the purpose of using Tor. But if you are just clicking around and not providing any personal or identifiable information, then how could you be identified?
For example, if you use Tor to visit amazon.com (and for my example, amazon.com uses no encryption), and you poke around looking at reviews and prices, etc, it is my understanding that that cannot be traced back to you via Tor. I use Tor when I do not want to get ads based on my clicks, and I have never gotten ads that way.
Please let me know if anything I wrote is incorrect.
Excellent video!
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Rob, there should be a way to have Windows present you with a maintenance window, during start-up. I believe that if you cut the power, two or three times, during set-up, you will be presented with that maintenance window.
From there, you can open a command prompt, and run regedit.
I do not remember the specific registry setting, or its associated field's value... but there is a registry entry that will tell Windows 11 to present you with the local admin account option.
Once you have the registry set, then on your next re-boot to set up your computer, you will be presented with a local account option.
Since you were using a laptop, you would have to disconnect the battery to cut the power and perform the above.
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The big tech companies get away with spying, because most folks don't give a hoot that they are being tracked, and have no clue as to the extent of the tracking.
When people install Windows 10, most click through all of the set-up pages, leaving all of Microsoft's "opt in" settings left in the "opt in" position, which gives Microsoft permission to track your life.
I have asked family and friends:
"When we were in that restaurant, if you knew that our conversation was being recorded, would you have cared?"
Almost without exception, the answer is: "I don't care", and is based on that nothing too personal was discussed.
If every news channel did a story on how much information Microsoft collects, and they provided a link to a program that would disable all of the data collection, most folks would not want to be bothered, and would leave the data collection intact.
Most folks do not understand how much data www.google.com collects about them.
Even when I tell friends and family to use duckduckgo.com, they never do.
I have seen other youtube channels that had videos on installing free and open source Linux OSs, and free and open source apps, all to avoid being tracked. And in that same video, the host said "and the answer (to whatever he was discussing) is just a google search away". An entire video on privacy and security, and he says to use google.
Big tech loves the masses. They put Alexa inside their homes. They pay to have an internet connected device with a microphone and speech-to-text translation in their livingrooms.
People leave "Hey Siri" enabled on their phones, so that the phone listens to every utterance you and people around you make.
People use smart phone facial recognition to unlock their phones, so that big tech has your face-print.
People use smart phone fingerprint recognition to unlock their phones, so that big tech has your finger-prints.
Few people understand.
Fewer people care.
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@dadautube All, what dadautube wrote is nonsense.
For example, if you use the TOR network via the TAILS operating system, and you do not do anything stupid, your internet activity will remain anonymous.
There is no shortage of internet trolls that enjoy spreading BS, stirring things up, getting a woody after a few gullible people give his comment a thumb's up, etc.
Remaining anonymous is not a "trick". It is a skill.
Via the right TOR network behavior, your internet activity will not be tracked by anyone, or any agency. At most, there will be a detection of you using the TOR network, and that is where the trail ends.
I will give datautube credit for referencing bank accounts. But no one believes that bank accounts are private. Court orders are issued every day, compelling banks to hand over the info. In fact, the banks mail you your statements, optionally on paper. So no $h!t that they can reveal your banking information. This, however, has nothing to do with remaining anonymous on-line.
As to "master keys"...
There might be master keys for closed source encryption. There is no way to know, because the code is closed source.
So never use closed source encryption for anything that you want to be sure will remain private.
The whole point of open source software is that nothing is hidden. Nothing can be hidden -- it is open for anyone on the planet to read -- and that's a lot of programmers.
If a back door or master key was found, it would make headlines all over social media's tech channels. People would love to take credit for finding such a breach.
None exists. The fact that every programmer on the planet has 100% access to 100% of the code is the way that keeps the code strong and honest.
datautube threw out raw meat for those that might go for it. Do not.
Everything he mentioned is a generality, and nothing to back up anything he wrote.
He is either clueless, which makes his comments both irresponsible and reckless, or he is knowingly spreading BS, or a bit of both.
datatube started his comment with:
"the point is:
Folks, the point is to ignore him.
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KeePass is free, open-source, powerful, and secure.
It gets great reviews.
You can also use VeraCrypt (free, open-source, powerful, and secure) to create an encrypted volume. That encrypted volume, when mounted with your credentials, will show up as a new drive letter (in Windows) or be a new mount point (in Linux).
VeraCrypt is not a password manager. But since all files kept on your VeraCrypt volumes are encrypted, you can save you passwords in a text file, or a spreadsheet, etc.
The advantage of using VeraCrypt is that you can save any and all files in an encrypted volume. That volume is a single file, which you can make copies of (to keep safely in more than one location), and the file is useless to anyone other than you.
But if you want all of the slick features of a very well thought out program, whose focus is strictly on managing passwords, then KeePass is a great choice.
In case this is new to you:
Never use the same password in two different places, and use wildly difficult passwords that humans cannot remember, and computers cannot crack. KeePass makes this easy.
The only password you will need to remember is your master password, which gives you access to all other passwords.
There are lots of videos on both KeePass and VeraCrypt. Both programs are fantastic.
I suggest that you watch this video, for selecting a master password:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NjQ9b3pgIg
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@trtrhr Windows 10 is relatively secure, except for Microsoft knowing every keystroke, mouse click, and file access that you perform. For Microsoft's benefit, it is spyware.
Most people do not know that, or do not care. They use facebook and google, which are just as bad. But Windows is easy, so people buy it.
Linux is faster, more reliable, and more secure. It is also free and open source (for nearly all distributions). And although you can run just about any types of programs that you can think of, on Linux, you will not have some of your favorite Windows programs. But you will have access to a sea of free and open source alternates. But some favorite game, for example, might not run on Linux.
Linux Mint is known to be user friendly, as far as Linux distributions go.
If I knew how to remove all of the data collection performed by Microsoft, I would stick with Windows 10. But you need a room of experts to figure it out, which includes stopping Windows from reinstalling their spyware when they push out an update. There is more to it than just disabling things on various settings. You need to run powershell scripts and make changes to the registry, too. So I will never run Windows 10 (other than as a virtual machine, if I come across something special -- like using "quick assist" to help a friend remotely".
You can install Oracle's Virtual Box, and have that run a Linux OS to see if you like it. But know that it will run much slower than if you installed the Linux OS directly on your hardware.
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@10:08
"I don't know why they allow it", referring to identity spoofing.
My guess is that 99% of folks that use a spoofed gmail account get tracked, and the person getting tracked thinks that they are not being tracked.
And why are they being tracked? Because they signed up for the so-called spoofed gmail account using a device, OS, browser, location reveler, etc, that uniquely revealed their identity.
So google tied their so-called "spoofed" gmail account into that person's known fingerprint.
google slickly gets countless people to use their service to avoid tracking, and they almost all get tracked.
Rob Braxman Tech, you have an expert understanding of how to sign-up for a gmail account, anonymously. You are the exception. But it takes only a slight mishap when signing up, and you get identified.
If most folks had your insight into computer security, then my guess is that google would not offer spoofed gmail accounts. google counts on people, even tech savoy people, making mistakes when signing up and revealing themselves.
Cheers!
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@AT-os6nb "the only way free speech can work is with full anoynimity, single account per person, no robo comments, etc"
No one having accountability?
News anchors providing the news, and we do not know who they are?
Teachers posting outrageous remarks on facebook, and we do not know who they are?
Mayors issuing directives, and we do not know that it came from the mayor?
The United States of America is not a nation of cowards, posting comments from under our desks.
That is what the "deep state" does. They pass regulations (with the effect of law), with anonymity.
The answer is not to cower behind a curtain. Rather, the answer is to fine or criminally charge the people that run social media platforms and disallow free speech on their platforms (limited to those sites that have Section 230 of the Communication And Decency Act protections).
Sites without 230 protections are free to do whatever they want. But they are on the hook for anything illegal that appears on their site.
But sites with 230 protections are prohibited from being publishers. They are prohibited from be editors. They are prohibited from deleting people's comments (unless the comment is criminal). They are prohibited form banning users (again, unless there is criminality involved). They are prohibited from shadow banning people, etc.
Anonymity is optional for the public, and only the public.
There should be zero anonymity for public servants, especially those in a position of authority. To be clear, what they do on their own time, for their personal account, is their business. But anything on taxpayer's time, on taxpayer's equipment, of any official capacity, must be 100% identifiable.
Free speech works when you can speak your mind, and not be banned, and not be arrested, and not be deleted, and not be threatened by the government.
Free speech is absent when the government, for example, tells facebook which postings to take down.
Free speech works when there are no "official" consequences to anything you say or write. But you must expect and accept that others will use their free speech to slap you around (in a manner of speaking), and that is their right. Everyone gets to speak, and no one gets jailed or banned (again, as long as the speech is not criminal).
As soon as a single word is banned, then speech is no longer free.
As soon as the only way to speak, without fear of an "official" reprisal, is to be anonymous, then speech is no longer free. No one gets to silence anyone, for any reason, other than criminal reasons (like murder for hire, etc).
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Rob, this was very enlightening.
I will be keeping a Windows 10 box at my disposal, for anything personal, and just be careful to not do anything risky when Microsoft ends its updates for Windows 10.
I avoid doing anything risky, anyway. But I will be all-the-more cautious with Windows 10, after it is retired by Microsoft.
In a pinch, I will run a Windows 10 VM inside of my Windows 10 box. Then revert that VM back to a known clean state after every use.
If this becomes too much of a hassle, then I will install Linux.
Of course, few people will take any steps to protect themselves. In fact, with Microsoft's propaganda machine, most people will probably salivate at Microsoft's spyware (not realizing that it is spyware). They will think that they have their own personal Sky Net on their desktop.
I like Windows for many reasons. I detest Windows for many reasons. But overall, Windows is intuitive and handles my workflow to my liking. But with this giant leap into a level of spyware never before seen in the history of our planet, I will toss Windows to the side and go with a Linux alternative.
Microsoft will know every keystroke (every password), ready to hand it over to any government agency.
-- Holy Hashing Batman. Not even local encryption is safe anymore.
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For anyone that still feels that he/she is going to install anti-virus software, then please be sure to read the End User License Agreement, Privacy Agreement, and any other agreements that you are mandated to agree to.
Yes, it is a tedious read. But here is why you should read those agreements.
You are agreeing to turn over every file on your computer to the anti-virus company.
You are agreeing to let them have 100% access to your computer.
On one hand, they do need access to all of your files, in order to search for files that are dangerous.
But on the other hand, in order to cover themselves, the anti-virus company's agreements allow them to basically take ownership of everything on your computer. This way, it insulates them from law suits, from people that will find some little thing that the anti-virus company did not explicitly say that would do on your computer. So they have you agree to let them do what ever they want to do.
I am not suggesting that the anti-virus companies will screw you over. I am saying that they can. I am saying that they can monitor everything that you do.
Cheers!
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@lupaswolfshead9971 "surprise surprise my comment on the truth about what TOR really is was deleted.
I wonder why."
Comments getting deleted are commonplace on youtube.
And youtube does so deceptively.
When you leave a comment, you will see it. But after you refresh the page, your comment is not there. So no one ever saw it.
youtube has to know that that is happening. It has to be by design.
Also, when you leave a comment, if you keep refreshing the page, it might finally show up after 20 or 30 seconds.
Also, if you change the "Sort by" option (directly next to the bold number of comments), to "Newest first", and toggle back and forth, I have found that it helps to get my comments listed.
youtube has endless filters for all kinds of reasons, many of which are political. So they have algorithms doing auto-deletions at the time you post your comment. But it seems that lots of deleted comments are in error; their algorithms are faulty.
So you are not alone in having your comments vanish or never show up.
I believe that youtube is in violation of Section 230 of the Communications And Decency Act, prohibiting them from being editors (and deleting comments is being an editor). They are allowed to delete comments that contain illegal content. But youtube is deleting countless benign, non controversial comments.
Most people do not realize that their comments never got posted. After all, their browser showed them their comment. So the user moves on, not realizing that other than her own browser, her comment never showed up. And so youtube gets few complaints.
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