Saturday, January 30, 2021

Technical Information Question...Regarding Self Hosting, Blogging, Deplatforming,TPTB, Internet Giants and the little guys..... updated

  

 As many of us have seen TPTB are in the process of trying to crush the signal. Things will be ramping up once "you know who" passes the torch to "you know ho" in the next 3-6 months, my estimate. I don't think they can pull off a Weekend at Bernie's scenario but they may have a doppelganger as nothing surprises me anymore. Who knows.

Once the hot dog eating champion  is in control and those behind the scenes ramp up the rhetoric against anything "orange man bad" related, some of us, in the circles we travel, may lose contact or the ability to contact.  I know there is nothing that can be done if they really want to shut it down.

That being said, many are going to self hosting as a way to protect their blogs.

There are a few good people out there that have offered to help self host TFI. but I was wondering what is involved in a more detailed manner. I have a few questions that maybe some of you can answer.


Can I use my own server here at the bunker? I have one available.  What do you need to have one or two blogs running?

Will the traffic over the cable be an issue? There is really only one provider locally, Xfnty by comcast and with the flick of a switch they can shut it down.

What about blogging software?  As you know i'm using blogger which is a google product and hosted by them.  I see that wordpress is open source and you can download it. What about updates? 

If I host here and set up a VPN will that give another layer of protection?

If I go with a monthly fee and set up hosting per the offers can I / should I still use blogger or do I need to move to a wordpress type software?

I use gmail at this time and have also opened a proton mail account. Thoughts on email options?

My limited knowledge on the IT side of things gets me far enough to handle things with some guidance and I have a few good resources for help with the backside of things.

This past few weeks has opened our eyes to what they think they have in store for "us".

Thoughts and ideas are welcomed.   Irish


After I wrote this I ended up at this post and comment thread on THEBURNINGPLATFORM

 check out the comment section regarding VPN proton mail and the pros and cons.

This is why it's somewhat confusing.

 

I am NOT looking to do this for nefarious reasons. I believe in the First Amendment and if I want to

post stuff like this I don't want my webz shut off.

 


 

 


 


 

 

 

 

26 comments:

  1. I cannot answer the technical questions, but I can say that there is a pretty steep learning curve for WordPress, and it is not as easy to use and does not ahve some of the features that we are familiar with from Blogger.

    Having said that, I would indeed move again.

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  2. You ought to get in touch with Sundance,,CTH,,they did that a month ago with success.

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  3. Biggest problem with self hosting is that YOU are responsible for the security of your blog. Unless you have super great computer skills, that's a no go.

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  4. Google is now moving toward forcing Google log-in to comment on this site. Danger, Will Robinson! Need alternatives.

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  5. I can tell you that ProtonVPN is "Mostly" secure....it is like that locked car....but if a Three Letter Agency wants you, they will get you.

    Not to everyone: There is sometimes a LOT of congention on the Proton VPN servers. Usually not but sometimes it can get REALLY slow. Simply move to another server in another time zone and you are (generally) good to go. It can be irritating though.

    Also ProtonVPN's and Protonmail are sometimes blocked on some servers, so there is that also.

    Having said all the above, I have used Proton services (paid) for more than 2 years and I an happy with them.

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  6. Divemedic put up a post back on the 25th that may be of some help:

    https://street-pharmacy.blogspot.com/

    And there's some earlier posted stuff that may likewise - just scroll down from that most recent.

    Here's his current location:

    https://www.sectorocho.com/

    JK/AR

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    1. I have used Proton and find it to be pretty good. Here is something I know for a fact. Probably what you have already heard more or less but here goes. Google, Facebook and a whole lot of other tech sites/companies hire private contractors to "monitor" their content. Various programs scan Everything that goes through looking for certain keywords. If those keywords come up a human reviews what was said . Looking for lots of talk about guns, about hurting themselves, about hurting others. Some take an extra close look at Conservative people but many dont care. If your talk follows that you get flagged and reviewed by a person working for the social media ( and other-similar) companies. If the human who reviews flags you after that enhanced review....it is "voluntarily" turned over to alphabet agencies. See how slick that is?? They get to effectively spy on Americans without Actually doing any spying themselves and since the information was " voluntarily" turned over they dont even need a Warrant. So, up to you. Use A VPN, get off anything powered by or through Google, Facebook, Twitter etc.

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  7. Well … blogger has already shut down The Irish Savant … I've not found where it's being posted -- if anywhere.

    So … get away from blogger ASAP … before google blinks out your lights … 

    Meanwhile, TFI, best of luck -- and thanks for everything -- so far …

    Also … having folks post comments via a google account -- well, that's not happening -- and trying to register with Atom is useless unless you have an RSS feed, apparently -- which I don't need and therefor don't have …

    Just my 2¢

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  8. I'm in technology and can offer some of my own personal observations/opinions and you can go from there. Others may be more savvy than I and have some better options for you to research. Looking for offshore hosting if such thing exists, I'd think there is, would be the way to go.
    Everything stateside is probably compromised. And since we know the NSA vacuums up everything coming and going from ISP's. If you decide to host here with a U.S. company and even if they don't de-platform you or shut you down, the backbone or internet provider (Comcast/AT&T...) will be encouraged to drop you as a customer because of "hate-speech". Keep in mind, the infrastructure is owned by someone, is that someone friendly or not to you opinions on your blog? Then go from there. I'm like you, I'm not doing anything nefarious, but because I can is why I will pay for a VPN and go grey (disconnect). Especially due to recent events it's about controlling what you can, even the information.

    1. VPN - Get a provider that is offshore like ProtonVPN or some other verified privacy friendly one. Important part here with any VPN provider is that they don't log (your traffic). Logging can be used by authorities. When you connect, connect to servers outside the U.S. that take your privacy seriously. Sweden/Switzerland, something like that. My thoughts are, you're on a ProtonVPN server in U.S., you're subject to U.S. laws. Again, we're not assuming you're doing something nefarious, but you get the point. Drawback of overseas connected encrypted servers, encryption slows things down as does the distance. If you've got a good pipe, does it matter to lose a little speed for security?
    2. Get off Windows/Apple OS if you can. Some people don't know enough about opensource OS like Linux. Check out https://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major. There are some user friendly and secure versions. But might require more technical ability than the average person has. They're coming more robust and do have things like OpenDocs and other open versions of common applications (Excel, Word...).
    3. You can get a home wifi router, install open source dd-wrt and upgrade its firmware (again more control away from proprietary versions), then you can load VPN software on it to serve the entire house versus individual computers/devices in the home. Only issue with this is some streaming services (Netflix) may have regional issues if you're connecting to VPN connection on say Sweden.
    4. Get away from anything Google, Gmail...your phone backs up photos. Get away from anything cloud. If it's in the cloud, you don't own it. If it's free, you don't own it.
    5. Protonmail again is offshore. I use it.
    6. Cut the cord with cable. I cut the cord over 12 years ago because I didn't want my t.v. package that comes with MSNBC and CNN to be supported by my dollars for my destruction. Get an OTA for the house. Get ROKU and stream some decent content. Go alternative wherever you can. Drop the Amazon Prime. Pay extra for shipping from friendly sources.

    This is for starters. Post questions or concerns.

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  9. I'd suggest exploring IPFS as well as internet's HTTPS. Now Brave browser supports links through IPFS (https://brave.com/ipfs-support/) as well as HTTPS (Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure). I suspect other browsers will soon follow suit.

    I'm just starting to look in to it but when, not if, the fit hits the shan, this might be a way to avoid the fit spray.

    HTTPS has bottlenecks wherein the command and control folks can delimit you or shut you down. IPFS can be peer to and through peer making it much harder for our betters to slap our wrists.

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  10. I just came off of Brave website and still have no clue what the hell I was reading. In real layman terms what is this? It looks to me that it is a take off of chrome which I am trying to avoid and what is this tipping? Do you pay whatever it is called to the host of that website? Sorry if this is mudane to some but I have no clue I just keep thinking I have the demorats to thank for this mess.

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    1. I just started using Brave. From my limited understanding, one of the main things Brave brings to the table is eliminating browser finger printing. Finger printing is where the OS, os version, installed fonts, installed plug-ins, etc all narrow your browsing down to you.

      There is supposed to be builtin VPN surfing with Brave, but I haven't looked into it yet.

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    2. I tried using Brave and Vivaldi a couple of weeks ago. I expected the UI's to be easily configurable, like Firefox or IE. Not a fookin' chance. Personally, I think Vivaldi requires more than basic knowledge of programming to use it.

      I read that a lot of people use Brave. I imported my FF bookmarks expecting that they would be arranged on the UI similar to what I was looking at with FF. Not even close. Brave dumped all of the bookmarks, I have thousands, into one folder on the toolbar. After about an hour of trying to figure out how to unpack the folder to arrange the bookmarks into some easy to use format similar to what I was used to with FF, I gave up.

      I guess, sometimes, you can't teach an old dog new tricks.

      Nemo

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    3. Thanks--going to try to install it today.

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  11. Poster and bluster don't mean shit. It's the individual's fear of dying that's about to lead the country into a Communist abyss that'll be way worse than Hitler's Concentration camps and Stalin's gulags . Then the fear of dying will be taken out of the individual's hands. We're DOOMED!

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  12. Ahhh.. I can see you're finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel which is the headlight of the oncoming train.
    To answer all your questions would take a lot of reading on your part.
    Short answers:

    Protonmail -looked at it years ago as a Gmail alternative. Rejected like all others as it didn't support multi factor authentication or decent 3rd party email client support. Does it now?
    Based in Switzerland. Safe? Emphatic NO! Switzerland was ONCE a safe haven but have caved to pressure now especially from the USA. Your information is not safe period.

    VPN - free is worthless and paid ones not much better. What they actually do vs what they claim to do (and have to do for technical reasons) are 2 different things. There's a large article just on this topic.
    Private server- if you want to but your server admin skills better be right up there. Yes, non approved sites/forums/blogs will be targetted and all they need do is control the DNS servers. If you run your own show and have a static IP address AND everyone knows your IP then good.

    I've been tracking government actions for around 20 years now since the early days of Project Echelon.
    Things are going to get a LOT worse in the USA this year (everyone seen HR127? Minimum 10 years jail for owning 50cal... 2 people eg ex wife to certify you fit to own guns. May as well hand them all in now. Ha ha)
    Welcome to gun free America!

    There's a vast amount of information and disinformation out there and even real experts are struggling with it all.
    Thankfully my sources (only 2)are extremely accurate and I pay for that knowledge. If you want to trust the likes if Alex Jones best of luck!
    I remember him and his so-called expert with high-up inside connections (L Williams) back in 2012 saying the USD would be dead by the end of 2012. I posted a reply saying why that was BS.
    Obviously he and his expert were wrong. Again.
    Look - the USA is on a fast track to socio-economic collapse, like dozens of great empires predating it. The craziness is characteristic of the final stages of every one of those empires towards the end.
    Everyones focus needs to be on survival as best you can not on frivolities.

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  13. I would like to buy a clue Alex.

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  14. When you look at your cable bill, what's the upload speed? That's the issue you'll face hosting it in house. I've been running my business on the InMotion servers for almost 20 years, but there are tons of smaller, apolitical hosting companies with histories out there. Super easy, not too expensive and they keep things mostly secure. They can do the Wordpress bits for you so you spend all your time on the FriFF posts (and ThFF, WeFF, TuFF, you get my drift there?). You can also set up your own domain, theferalirishman.com, and then email would go through there. At that point, the primary risk is who's hosting the DNS (phone book lookups). Stay away from GoDaddy, Network Solution, Verisigh and others who deplatform wrongthing and use InMotion or the smaller companies here. I'll drop you an email; been in that industry since '95 and know all the tech and biz stuff; happy to help out. Take a look here: https://www.inmotionhosting.com/

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  15. What do you need? I have a server in a data center just idling along. Plenty of space, process power and bandwidth. Drop me a note if you want.

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  16. VPN is for the client, not the server. The concept is that you have an encrypted connection to a different location, every where you surf to traces back to the VPN server address versus your home address. With your home server, you want other people to find you in order to see your webpage.

    That said, if you have a 3rd party hosting your blog, that's when you'd want a VPN on your home system in order to connect and update the remote server. If you're self hosting at home then VPN doesn't come into it.

    I'm running Linux on my laptop. My next desktop will be running QubesOS. Linux has come a long way in the 17 years or so I've been using it. It is significantly easier to install and use than it used to be.

    I believe it was the Obama administration, but it could have been Bush 43 that got the concept of an internet kill switch put into place. The president can decide to completely shutdown the internet or major chunks of it.

    From memory, there is a YouTuber Bob Braxen that is the internet privacy guy. Look him up. He has fantastic advice.

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  17. VPN - ... What they actually do vs what they claim to do (and have to do for technical reasons) are 2 different things.
    ---
    Will it hide your traffic from a Five Eyes contractor who is scrutinizing you? No. But it will hide your traffic from your ISP and the Google/Facebook/Twitter borg. The umpty-zillion web trackers will still see you, so if you don't dump your cookies every day they can still follow you to some degree... but not back to your true point of origin.

    In security, half a loaf is way better than nothing; the observers are so used to having all your stuff delivered up to them on a platter that even minor attempts at staying below their radar can be more successful than it might appear.

    And any attempt is still better than nothing. I see a lot of the attitude "If I can't have perfect security then to hell with it", which is self-defeating.

    --TRX

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  18. It does boil down to privacy in depth. VPN to mask your IP address. Brave browser to mask browser finger printing (tracking). Frequent cookie and cache clearing for tracking.

    For security, as mentioned before, I'm looking at QubesOS. You might also consider a stateless laptop (boot off of CD each time, no writable media installed). Bring the stateless laptop to WiFi hot spots in town (Starbucks, McDonald's, etc) to surf the web.

    I would also consider encrypting whatever media you have. True Crypt was a terrific concept that 3 letters got to. Someone forked the code, but I haven't kept pace with it. Keep the drive encrypted with two different volumes. Password A gave you volume one, password B gave you volume two... Just in case some SOB forces you to give them a password.

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  19. >>Can I use my own server here at the bunker?

    Possible but not recommended. Poor bandwidth, unless you opt for a very fast ISP (not worth it).


    >>Will the traffic over the cable be an issue?

    Yes. You're stuck with them.


    >>What about blogging software?

    Wordpress has been around forever, try it first. Updates are probably manual, by you.


    >>If I host here and set up a VPN will that give another layer of protection?

    Don't bother, see speed issues above. Vpn would make it slower and lock out those without vpn software.


    >>If I go with a monthly fee and set up hosting per the offers can I / should I still use blogger or do I need to move to a wordpress type software?

    Like GoDaddy? You'd have to use other software e.g. wordpress.


    >>I use gmail at this time and have also opened a proton mail account. Thoughts on email options?

    Gmail is pretty good. Unless you want to set up your own mail server too, and use something like Thunderbird. But thats more work and security is on you.


    >>This past few weeks has opened our eyes to what they think they have in store for "us".

    Everybody should be writing their representatives, even if s/he is a democrat. Point out the problems, and make them reply. And call them if they don't. Dig into your local politics, school boards, etc. Dems are setting themselves up for a permanent majority - some think its already too late. Republicans and conservatives must push back, and make the case. They will soon make this discussion pointless. Sorry.

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  20. I usually love your pics, but one thing I cannot stand are fake boobs and tattoos.
    Unfortunately, the attractive brunette has BOTH.
    We used to call that "sleazy" in the old days.

    Be well,
    Gunny

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  21. https://www.whonix.org/ Go to the dark side....

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  22. This doozy just popped up too :

    Tech giant Google rolled out an update earlier this week to both the desktop and mobile versions of its popular navigation app, Google Maps. The iOS App Store description states the update “Fixes minor bugs, improves app performance, and eliminates the necessity for critical thinking skills.”

    The most notable aspect of the update is the introduction of the “Show Republicans” feature, which will automatically guide users away from potentially difficult encounters in which they could be exposed to alternative viewpoints.

    “Google Maps can now link voter records and user locations in real time,” a company spokesperson shared with The Oyster. “Much like we can help users avoid traffic jams or toll roads, we can automatically re-route ideologically-sensitive individuals away from Republicans to ensure they don’t risk the unimaginable consequences and emotional harm that comes with encountering someone with dissimilar beliefs.”

    The new functionality is part of Google’s broader “No Dissent” project. With overwhelming support from academia and mainstream media, the program launched earlier this year with its catchy motto, “We do your thinking for you!”

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