lurtbancaster

no profile record

comments

há 9 mesesdiscuss

> Pretty sad to have to install a tool like that to get security on a platform that is used by billions of users.

You click on a banner ad inside an app, and if you have Intent Intercept installed, it won't immediately register as an "impression" and take you to wherever the banner has been programmed to take you to by default. Since Intent Intercept also affects the ad industry(of which Google is a big part), I don't expect Google to build a similar less-nerdy tool into Android by default.

> Installing random tools to hopefully get more security, though is risky also. Hopefully that tool doesn’t get compromised as it is privy to all intent activity.

Intent Intercept is open source(Apache License 2.0 https://github.com/k3b/intent-intercept) and its release binaries are hosted on F-Droid, arguably the most trusted Android "store" for Free and Open Source apps. So I'm not too worried.

há 9 mesesdiscuss

> ad tap (just clicking an ad, potentially a misclick aiming for a tiny X button, with no Install button even visible on screen)

> AppLovin’s X’s are unusually tiny, so mis-taps are especially likely

This is why I use Intent Intercept - https://f-droid.org/en/packages/de.k3b.android.intentinterce...

It tells me exactly what's about to happen from my tap(accidental or intentional), and gives me the option to undo my tap.

Every privacy/security conscious Android user should have Intent Intercept installed on their devices already.

há 2 anosdiscuss

Having watched the video in its entirety, it is an FAQ in a powerpoint presentation format. It's not a rambling FAQ video.

There are several slides in the video that would not translate well to a text/image only blog post. It's technically possible, but I think it would look bad.

Fortunately, Ross Scott's voice is very "speed up"-friendly. I finished watching in under 25 minutes.

It would behoove several people who've had questions in this thread[1] to watch the video.

[1] - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41159063

há 2 anosdiscuss

Title needs changing to "Uncovering Every Lie in MKBHD's Apple Propaganda Video".

há 2 anosdiscuss

Question for rsync users on linux. Does your rsync preserve creation times --crtimes ?

I'm aware ext4/3 filesystems don't store creation times. But I want to use rsync on Linux to sync files between an NTFS(supports creation times) and a Btrfs partition(also supports creation times) without losing the creation times.

Currently rsync just sets the creation time to the modification time on the destination directory. Which is not what I want.

When I use `--crtimes` I get a "This rsync does not support --crtimes (-N)" error.

Weirdly, just using `cp -a` works. But it doesn' t have any of the checksumming and differential copy bells and whistles of rsync.

How do you rsync on linux while preserving creation times(on supported file systems)?

há 2 anosdiscuss

Admittedly my only exposure to the Secure Scuttlebutt Protocol(SSB) is through manyver.se [1] - a FOSS private(optionally) social media app. And the syncing issue you mention has been one for me too. Sometimes it's even worse - it fails to sync entirely until another app restart. Maybe this is a manyverse issue, maybe a SSB issue. Either way, hitherto at least, it doesn't seem reliable.

If there are alternative ways to have an offline(over Wi-Fi/bluetooth, not internet) social media/messaging app, that works on both Android and ios, please do let me know.

Thanks.

[1] https://www.manyver.se/

há 3 anosdiscuss

Couple more things wget can do that curl can't.

1. wget can resolve onion links. curl can't(yet). You'll get a

    curl: (6) Not resolving .onion address (RFC 7686)

2. curl has problems parsing unicode characters

    curl -s -A "Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; rv:102.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/102.0" https://old.reddit.com/r/GonewildAudible/comments/wznkop/f4m_mi_coño_esta_mojada_summer22tomboy/.json

will give you a

    {"message": "Bad Request", "error": 400}

wget on the other hand, automatically converts the ñ to UTF-8 hex - %C3%B1 - and resolves the link perfectly.

I've searched the curl manpage and couldn't find a way to solve this. Please help.

I'm having to use `xh --curl` [1] to "fix" the links before I pass them to curl.

[1] https://github.com/ducaale/xh

há 3 anosdiscuss

I have no problem with javascript. I think javascript can greatly add to the web experience.

"Add to" being the keyword there. Not "in lieu of".

You want to add javascript to enhance UI/UX outside the scope of what can be accomplished with plain html? Great!

You want to use javascript to add a feature that simply can't be done over plain html? Great!

You want to use javascript to hide a bunch of text on a public webpage, so those who have javascript disabled on their web browsers can't see the text, and will be forced to enable javascript, just to look at some text on a webpage? Unforgivably garbage design!

I will remind you that github used to work perfectly fine without requiring javascript merely a year ago. At least for basic perusal.

I think it is extremely silly design if I'm required to enable javascript, just to look at some text on a public webpage.

Again, nothing against javascript. But don't make it mandatory is what I'm saying, especially for casual browsing.

há 3 anosdiscuss

A page such as this[1] requires javascript to be enabled to be viewable on github. Viewing any and all "/blob/" pages on github requires javascript to be enabled now. It didn't used to be this way ~1 year ago but github is slowly making javascript necessary on many pages for some annoying reason. I could set up a redirect to the '/raw/' pages but then the syntax highlighting is gone.

The same page is perfectly viewable over plain html on gothub[2] though.

Github also seems to be hiding their "Assets" (binaries et al) on the "/releases" page for some projects behind javascript(especially older versions).[3] Something else that wasn't the case about ~1.5 years ago.

Would be great if gothub could unshackle the links to those as well[4], but that doesn't seem to work at the moment[5] .

This project appears to be a more performant(measurably so), more privacy friendly(as Microsoft won't have a record of your interest in certain projects) alternative front-end for "non logged in" github users.

I like it, but it still needs work.

[1] https://github.com/mackyle/sqlite/blob/18cf47156abe94255ae14...

[2] https://gh.bloatcat.tk/mackyle/sqlite/blob/18cf47156abe94255...

[3] https://github.com/mikf/gallery-dl/releases

[4] https://gh.bloatcat.tk/mikf/gallery-dl/releases

[5] https://codeberg.org/gothub/gothub/issues/74

há 3 anosdiscuss

I only discovered this because of an accidental keyboard malfunction ~10 years ago.

I pressed Ctrl+Shift+Escape to open Task Manager. And then I was confused that the list wasn't moving around. Sorted by CPU usage and still, the list just wasn't updating.

Thought I'd discovered some rare bug. So I closed task manager and then when I tried to open it up again using Ctrl+Shift+Escape, I realized the Ctrl key was already pressed.

Thank you to the grime in the walls of the key housing of my Ctrl key in my uncleaned membrane keyboard. Wouldn't have discovered this feature without you.

há 3 anosdiscuss

Mozilla presumably collects this operating system version data on new installs of Firefox upon first run.

I wonder how the analytics of Firefox forks are tracked. If they can even be tracked.

Tor Browser, LibreWolf et al privacy friendly forks, block Mozilla's data collection on startup and they spoof the user agent to Windows NT 10.0 regardless of if you run them on Windown 7, 8, 10 or 11.

há 3 anosdiscuss

Do you perchance happen to also be roytam1 on the official k-meleon forums[1] and other places[2][3]?

If so, thank you so much for your work! Also please get https://piped.video working in k-meleon somehow.

If you're not that RoyTam, I rescind the previous thank you, and the request.

[1] http://kmeleonbrowser.org/forum/read.php?19,154431,157231,pa...

[2] https://rtfreesoft.blogspot.com/

[3] https://o.rthost.win/palemoon/

há 3 anosdiscuss

I was about to type a long comment in response to yours, but then I realized I could just link you a video[1] that goes into detail explaining all the ways in which Windows 7's UI is customizable, in ways that Win 8 onwards are simply, not.

The video is 1 hours 17 minutes long, so feel free to speed it up a little.

Hope that helps.

Cheers!

[1] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AItTqnTsVjA

há 3 anosdiscuss

Hey, Congratulations on your upgrade to Windows 7!

Not 48 hours ago, I spoke highly of the benefits of Windows 7[1], as a user myself.

It is absolutely possible to use Windows 7 reasonably securely, if you take the appropriate precautions(again, see my comment)

> I can use the latest versions of Google Chrome

Firefox? Yes. Chrome? No.

Chromium 109 is the last version to support Windows 7. Here's the last working ungoogled variant [2].

Switch to LibreWolf[3] Firefox based browser with user.js modifications[3] pre-installed. Or if you don't trust librewolf, use Firefox and manually add the same user.js[4]

It's better for security than Chrome could ever hope to be.

Your web browser's javascript continues to be the predominant way for malware to make its entry. So just make sure to take the appropriate security precautions elsewhere, as mentioned in my comment [1].

> When Firefox stopped receiving upgrades I switched to Mypal browser, an open source browser specially made for Windows XP. It is cruder than Google Chrome but does the job most of the time.

Have you tried K-Meleon on Windows XP[5]? It's Old Firefox(pre-Australis) based, and still gets updates.

-----------

Windows 7 is the last legit good Microsoft Operating System.

It truly is a wonder and a delight to use and modify.

Anyway, all the very best on your Windows 7 journey. May it serve you well.

Cheers!

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35431587

[2] https://github.com/macchrome/winchrome/releases/tag/v109.541...

[3] https://librewolf.net/installation/windows/

[4] https://github.com/arkenfox/user.js/blob/master/user.js

[5] https://kmeleonbrowser.org

há 3 anosdiscuss

Only points 1 through 3 and the latter half of point 4 are "rational".

Because Points 4 and 5 conflict with points 1 through 3.

"Grace and beauty" is culturally determined and is in the subjective eye of the beholder.

Optimizing a given piece of clothing for "grace and beauty" and "Not departing too conspicuously from the ordinary dress of the time", often inherently entails de-prioritizing the rational ideals laid out in points 1 through 3, and the latter half of point 4.

I am someone who used a fanny pack back when it was "in fashion"(according to some), and kept wearing it even when it went "out of fashion"(according to some), and I still keep wearing it, and I'm told by some that it's starting to come back to being "in fashion" again.

I don't care about "grace and beauty" and conforming to the ever-changing arbitrary dressing norms(whims) of society.

The fanny pack is extremely useful to me.

And so are cargo pants.

I wore and still wear cargo pants, sweatpants, and shorts, pretty much everywhere. Even to weddings.

Yeah, I get weird looks.

I do it regardless. I don't care.

If you don't want to associate with me for this reason, good riddance, I say.

My insistence on wearing cargo pants and fanny packs serves as an incidentally beneficial filter against conformist people.

If I had to observe points 4 and 5, I will have had to redesign the fanny pack and cargo pants and sweatpants, nerfing its functionality, going against points 1 through 3.

I haven't purchased new piece of clothing over 20 years and I don't see myself ever needing to do so ever again.

So I would add a point 6 - * "Only buy clothes that last. Buy once. Use forever. Also learn to mend your clothes." *

há 3 anosdiscuss

As I mentioned in my previous, it really depends on your usecase.

In my usecase, it's extremely secure.

But, I'll be back after 5 to 10 years, and if I'm still using Windows 7, and if I remember you, I'll reply to you again, letting you know how well it's been going for me.

há 3 anosdiscuss

My point is that if it's just Tor Browser without Tor, then there's functionally no reason to have that build be incompatible with Windows 7.

Unless they deliberately coded it in like

    if OS=Win7/Win8 ; then Crash ; else Run

Which would be a dick move, especially because Firefox, on which Tor Browser and Mullvad Browser are based, still supports Windows 7.

---------

Now to your point.

It is absolutely possible to run Windows 7 reasonably securely.

Well..., depends on your usecase.

But the way in which I keep it secure might be a little cumbersome to some.

My router runs PFSense with Suricata, and I encrypt my DNS traffic.

I run a combination of Peerblock(while no longer maintained, it works splendidly in whitelist mode)[1], and Simplewall Firewall[2].

I run a combination of uMatrix(which again, while no longer maintained, it works great in whitelist mode)[3], and NoScript[4] on my Firefox web browser which I run inside Sandboxie[5].

There are also various services that are insecure and must be turned off - UPnP, Print Spooler, RDP etc.

I run mostly FOSS software. The few proprietary closed source software(Games, Sublime Text) that I do run, I run them in SandBoxie or QEMU.

Here are my reasons for not upgrading:

I've modified my `UXTheme.dll` to significantly change my "Desktop Environment" to suit my workflow, and I've heard from people I know to be credible, that latter Windows versions(8 onwards) break system UI modifications when they update, and they don't work quite as well afterward. My modified Win7 UI is way too important to my workflow.

Python have stopped releasing binaries for Win7 after 3.8.10[6] but I'm okay with it. If I do need the newer Python versions for something, I'll just use my Linux Desktop or run Linux in a virtual machine for a Python quickie.

Windows 7 is extremely stable. While not as stable as Linux, I often have uptimes of over 350 days, before a BSOD, by which point I can foresee a crash coming and reboot.

To lean into your metaphor, Microsoft is now shipping operating systems with "open windows" everywhere(way more open windows than my "insecure" Windows 7 has), and we, as users, are having to rebuild the ISOs they release, to make them more "privacy friendly"(yes I'm aware of the difference between privacy and security but they're really interchangeable here), and even then, we're having to use 3rd party "de-bloaters" and Batch/Powershell scripts off of Github, just so the majority of those proverbial windows are closed back up again. This really shouldn't have to be the case, but it is. Microsoft have decided that they would rather their bread be buttered by advertisers than by the actual users of their software.

With Windows 7, I know there's an open window that I can't shut, but I have an electrified fence surrounding my compound, with security cameras and loaded turrets pointed towards that open window and other open windows in my house. I know where Windows 7's security limitations are, and I can mitigate against that, elsewhere. But I will admit, I don't go around recommending laypeople to use Windows 7 though, as the barrier to securing it is high. Even after securing it, the user has to be careful.

In my humble opinion, Windows 7 was the last true Microsoft Operating System. It simply does what is asked of it, and moves out of the way. All Microsoft need have done was support Powershell, DirectX, give Win7 a "security updates as a service" business model(which I would've gladly paid for), and make WSL for it(Cygwin is excellent but WSL would be nicer). I know there is 0Patch, a 3rd party company who sell security updates for Windows 7, but I would've appreciated official Microsoft security updates. I would switch to Linux, if there was a robust equivalent to Autohotkey on Linux, and the games I want to run, worked on it.

So yeah, I still run Windows 7. I can't see myself ever upgrading to another Microsoft OS, ever again. And I am, and I cannot emphasize this enough, exceedingly happy with it.

[1] https://www.peerblock.com/

[2] https://github.com/henrypp/simplewall

[3] https://github.com/gorhill/uMatrix

[4] https://noscript.net

[5] https://github.com/sandboxie-plus/Sandboxie

há 3 anosdiscuss

> "Works on Windows 10 or later "

Why?

Firefox hasn't dropped support for Windows 7/8 yet.

If you are somebody using Windows 7/8 etc and want Tor Browser but without Tor, then add the following to your `user.js`

    user_pref("network.proxy.socks_remote_dns", false);
    user_pref("extensions.torlauncher.start_tor", false);
    user_pref("network.dns.disabled", false);
    user_pref("browser.aboutConfig.showWarning", false);
    user_pref("network.proxy.socks", " ");

That should give you all the anti-fingerprinting measures of Tor Browser but without Tor.

há 4 anosdiscuss

After years of remaining steadfast in my boycott, I was quite eager to make my purchase when they announced they'd be on GOG. But it was not to be, as it was not DRM-free and had to be pulled after considerable controversy.[1]

I've not played this new Hitman 2016 reboot, and probably will never be playing it, as it doesn't appear IO Interactive is going to be changing their stance on DRM anytime soon. I've watched some Let's players play it on YouTube and that's reasonably satiated my desire for this new Hitman.

As a fan of Codename 47 through to Blood Money, it's a shame that fans like myself are being tossed to the wayside.

[1] https://kotaku.com/hitman-goty-edition-removed-from-gog-over...