The Evangelical Universalist Forum

How To Live Under An Unqualified President by John Piper

And how would they be collecting the data, Dave? That’s the key question. Well, you can do various things.

Like install a Firefox or Google Chrome plug-in called Ghostery. Quite excellent, mind you.
Work behind a VPN service. A good one is Express VPN. And it’s quite nice and a VPN is recommended, for public Wi-Fi
Or you can enter the world, of the “dark web”. Like with a tool called Tor.

Much depends on how they are collecting data, whom they are collecting it from, which companies are cooperating and what court challenges (I.e. tech companies, ACLU, etc.) are in place.

Let’s read a nice, BBC article from today:

Campaigners seek ‘to sell US politicians’ browsing data’

Yesterday, Comcast had an internet outage. I noticed their name servers weren’t functioning. And I noticed Google on Google Chrome, was using it’s own name servers, for searches. I switched the router to OpenDNS, with extra security filters. And have the IP stuff, for Norton Safe Connect, in case of any OpenDNS, name server issues. Now I just keep OpenDNS, as an extra security layer.

And for the benefit, of the “bold and brave”:

How To Access The Dark Web

Note: If you do something like use TOR, you should do, what the article suggests - get a VPN. I can neither confirm nor deny, I ever used TOR or visited the dark web.

P.S. I meant to use the words Deep Web in this post, rather than Dark Web.

Thanks Randy. Dark web? I’ll have to read up a bit.

Dark web, Dave, is a subset of the Deep Web. I should have used the words Deep Web. More on deep web at:

How Mysterious Is The Deep Web?

As far as the “dark web” goes, this quote sums up my advice:

I got this interesting article today, from Anonymity Newsletter. Since we are talking about VPNs, I will share it here:

Thanks. I use a VPN that costs a couple bucks a month, no logs, works great.

As a , I think VPN’s on a consumer level are used primary to hide illegal activity when it comes to copyright infringement. Business has legitimate uses for them, we use them constantly. But for personal use? I suppose if you are paranoid that your activities are tracked, then sure, but then one has to ask: What are you hiding that you don’t want others to know? Again, I believe most consumers uses them for illegal activities. Things that VPNs are used for the common level are:

VPN+Tor:
Child Porn Rings
Regular Pirated Porn Rings
Region Locking Software
Peer 2 Peer Sharing of copyright infringed data such as TV shows, Movies, Video Games, Music, Books, etc…

Most people I ever met who are technical enough to use a VPN are typically doing illegal activities with them. All of them? No… But I have been a techie for 25+ years and a professional with it for 18+ years… No way can you convince me that the majority use it for legitimate reasons. Some do, yes, but by and far that is not the reason most use a VPN.

Edit ** BTW, if you think you are safe via running one with a privacy policy that doesn’t keep logs, think again… Unless you can personally see the server configuration that logs are disabled, you are putting trust that they are being truthful with it. Secondary, you are assuming those VPN servers are not compromised in some way. With all the information leaks and tools the NSA were discovered to have, I wouldn’t count on being as anonymous as you think.

I am paranoid, and almost all techies I know personally ARE paranoid. You yourself mentioned that you cannot count on even a commercial source that promises not to log - another reason to BE paranoid.
I know a number of techs that don’t do any internet shopping for instance - I do, and I’m paranoid about that info being hacked.

For me, paranoia = reality in this instance. So I will stay with the VPN (that has been greatly reviewed for years now) in hopes that those who wish me harm will not be able to,

A couple dollars a month is worth the peace of mind for me - even though it may not be perfect.

And that whole ‘what do you have to hide’ thing - c’mon, privacy is not the same as dark intentions.

Let’s tallk about VPN. When should you use them? At any public Wi-fi spots. You can get hacked. Via scanners and many other ways. But a VPN has encrypted data. Even if you are hacked, they can’t decipher it - without an decipher key.

On another front, I use credit cards for convenience. I don’t carry a balance and I pay things off each month.

Well, someone hacked one of my cards. Perhaps with a scanner. And I was taking airline trips, going on spending sprees in other states, etc. But I attend a health club, Monday through Friday. So it’s impossible, to be in 2 places at once (well, not exactly true - from a mystical perspective). So I:

Worked with the credit card fraud division, to identify fraudulent transactions. And got a new credit card number.
filed a local police report
Joined Life Lock

I understand Dave. Most people here, on this forum, I would assume would be using it for legal means. But I do not believe that is the norm. I am a part of many forums and tech circles and I myself in my younger years did pirate from stuff via torrent. That said, it doesn’t change the fact that it was wrong of me to do. And, was I any different than all my peers? Not in the slightest. Colleges and Work Places transfer all sorts of copyrighted material. They all have their ‘collections’ or whatever it is they have. Anyhow, I digress at this point. Just saying that most people don’t even know how to configure, purchase or use a VPN, much less what it is, and the ones that do, well, a good majority of them for the wrong reason… But, enough of that.

Understood, Gabe! Thanks.

Well, Gabe. I have to disagree. Most people use a VPN, for what they are designed for. Either:

Protect their devices in public WiFi situations.
Use it as part of work. Which is required for telecommuting

Sure, I have shared stuff here - via articles. And they tell you how to use a VPN and TOR, to view the Deep Web and even the Dark Web. And a nerd like me, might be curious. But I can neither confirm nor deny, whether I ever used TOR, or visited the Deep Web, Dark Web or the Deep blue Sea. Remember that the Dark Net, is only about 4%, of the Deep Web.

As far as the logs go. If a VPN company says they don’t keep logs - but do. And nerds and geeks, later find out they do. Guess what? They just committed business suicide.

And VPNs are easy to set up and use. Just download software and turn a button on or off. It automatically connects to the nearest server. or you can pick a server, from a list of recommended ones.

And what do the vast majority of folks, doing illegal activities - do? Probably streaming stuff like Netflix.

And if folks don’t like the government spying on them…or big business collecting data on them…and selling it to other, interested business parties - guess what?? I’ll tell friends, family and those on social media and forums, all about VPNs.

Anyway, as a treat, here is the latest from Suni Bali at sunilbali.com/2017/04/the-cult-of-being-average/

Randy, I guess you didn’t bother to read my post. If you did, you would have noted that I excluded business use and focused on consumer/personal use. Anyhow, just wanted to call you out on that.

Hi, Gabe. i did read your post. But as a nerd, I do multitask. And some things, might get lost - in the mental shuffle. :smiley:

You do know that Albert Einstein, never memorized his phone number? It would divert his mind, from more important information. So he had to look it up, in the phone book :exclamation: :laughing:

And we really don’t have any stats, on what percentage of the population - use VPNs for illegal activities. Unless - perhaps - we work for spy agencies, federal government posts with security clearances, military intelligence positions, etc.

Oh, by the way. I received an email today, from Anonymity Newsletter.

And here are three key tools, they recommend. For navigating the Deep Web and Dark Web. I present it for educational purposes only.

And let me share the disclaimer, that they share in the articles:

How To Guide – PGP Encryption To Encrypt Your Communications
Tor Guide
VPN – The Must Have Anonymity Tool

And here is a Wiki article on Tor:

Tor (anonymity network)

Note to everyone: Even though these links talk about the Dark Web, the URL itself, follows my high security standards:

First, they are shortened on the Google URL shortener. Which has the highest security and safety standards.
Second, the link must get past, the OpenDNS, directory name server checkpoint. Although I also recommend Norton Safe Connect
Third, they must get past the Avira Security Suite and Malwarebytes Anti-Exploit
Lastly, they must get past the McAfee Site Adviser and Avast Security plugins.

Here’s another verification from NBC news, that a VPN will solve the issue:

As the Senate Moves In on Internet Privacy, How Can You Keep Your Searches Private?

And here is another interesting article:

Anonymous Email

P.S. The last article is purely for educational purposes only

Will, in order to counter Gabe’s objection, that you can’t trust commercial VPN services. This might be the answer, you have been waiting for :exclamation: :laughing:

How I made my own VPN server in 15 minutes

I found this interesting article on BBC today:

It’s complicated: Trump’s steep learning curve

I see no more posts. Is posting now officially dead :question: :laughing:

I thought I would share, some Nerd computer tips.

First, if you have a home network, then set up a router. It provides a hardware firewall and additional protection. And set it up, to use one of these name servers. Which provides extra protection:

OpenDNS
Norton Secure Connect

To reduce bandwidth, either use Opera or Google Chrome. They compress things. But you have to turn on the Data Saver feature, for Google Chrome.

For Android and IOS, it's in settings.  And is called Data Saver
For a PC, install the Data Saver extension.  I also recommend HTTPS Everywhere - for security.

For speeding up the Mobile stuff, use one of these two methods.

Use the app Neopard, if you don't use secure websites (i.e. banking, etc.)
Otherwise, use Opera Max.  And turn on the feature privacy also.

Both use VPN connections. But Opera is more secure. But you have to keep turning it on and adding time.

Everything suggested here is free. Let’s dedicate a couple YouTube videos - to nerds.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9qYF9DZPdw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Tvy_Pbe5NA

I am sure many Trump fans here, would applaud the move. Since it’s saving the American taxpayers - “collectively” money. :confused: :unamused:

We shall see!

I understand your frustration. How would you do it?