The Evangelical Universalist Forum

How To Live Under An Unqualified President by John Piper

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?

Well - just butting in here - we could simply take money from people who have it and give it to those that don’t. That seems fair. Not.
In any case, let’s wait to see what the Senate does before we get our IV’s in a knot.

I agree with Dave Here. Let’s see how the bill finally unfolds, in the Senate. I’m sure it will be changed a little bit - if not drastically.

My biggest objection is that the Republications were ignoring input, from big and established groups, like the AARP, AMA and hospital lobbyist groups.

For the record, the Republican plan doesn’t really effect me. Since I’m on a Medicare advantage plan. And I’m also big into alternative medicine (i.e. homeopathy), prayer and spiritual healing (i.e. Red Road, Native American healing and Bruno Gröning Circle of Friends).

On a more positive note - for us nerds - Guardians of the Galaxy (Vol 2) is now playing :smiley:

And here’s a BBC story today entitled Five big consequences of Trumpcare win

A man I’ve learned to pay attention to said this:

"On “Special Report” tonight, Charles Krauthammer said Trump and Republican leaders may be celebrating the bill getting passed, but he believes the U.S. is now headed for a single-payer health care system.

Krauthammer said ObamaCare “failed at every level,” but it did change Americans’ expectations regarding health care.

“I would predict that in less than seven years, we’ll be in a single-payer system,” Krauthammer said, pointing out that Republicans aren’t even arguing for a free market system anymore.

“They have sort of accepted the fact that the electorate sees health care as not just any commodity, like purchasing a steak or a car,” Krauthammer explained. “It’s something now people have a sense the government ought to guarantee.”

He explained that there are only two options for the future of health care in the U.S. - a radically, individualist system where the market rules or single-payer - and the country is not going to ever go back to the former.

“The terms of debate are entirely on the grounds of the liberal argument that everybody ought to have it,” Krauthammer said. “Once that happens, you’re going to end up with a single-payer system.”

Well, I never heard of “single-payer” health care until I read your post, DaveB. Through an internet search, I learned that that is the system that we have here in Canada.

This system was introduced to Canada by Tommy Douglas, Baptist minister, Social Democratic politician, and member of the CCF Party (Co-operative Commonwealth Federation—a political party further to the left than it’s successor, the NDP Party or New Democrat Party). Tommy Douglas was the first leader of the NDP Party, and was premier of Saskatchewan from 1944-1961. You can read more about him here:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_Douglas

In Canada, no one goes broke from paying huge medical bills (except those who have to go to United States for special treatment that is unavailable in Canada. My brother-in-law would have been one of them, if he had not owned land that he sold in order to help him pay his U.S. medical debt). I’d doubtless be penniless and deeply in debt, if it weren’t for the Ontario Health Plan. (Health is within provincial jurisdiction, and there are similar plans in all the provinces). Ontario income tax requires me to contribute to its health plan, but I paid only $53.54 Canadian dollars for the entire year 2016, even though I’m a retired teacher with an adequate pension.

Perhaps you can understand why I lean toward socialism in matters relating to the needs of society. However, in moral matters (e.g. opposition to the practice of abortion), I am strongly conservative or “right wing”.

I can understand the leaning toward socialized medicine. In and of itself, it makes a kind of sense.
It CAN be - not necessarily, but possibly - a big step toward full socialist integration and organization of the society, and that slippery slope is my biggest concern.
I don’t know enough about Canada to speak with any authority, but I do live in the USA, and the far left totalitarians are in fact communists under different names - neo-liberal, progressive, what have you - that are enamored of the utopian vision that sounds so good, but has caused - well, the atrocity we call the 20th century - everywhere and everytime it has been tried.

Of course a ‘slippery slope’ argument does not prove necessity; perhaps we could stop at a one-payer medical system. It is interesting to note that Ayers’ Rules for Radicals - a communist manifesto - laid great stress on the first step in the overthrow of the government as - the health care system. Once that was in place, as a one-payer system, Ayers and others (and he taught this to Obama, we know) thought the battle was on its way to being won. The point being that the one-payer system is a POLITICAL tool, for Ayers et.al., it was not for the benefit of the people.

I have a lot of information on this.

I am not doing any of those things. Read the post - I did not claim that anything was necessary; I did claim certain things are possible.
Using ‘fringe group’ for any group you suspect is fallacious also.

I know you will argue more, and I am just going to ignore it. Let people make up their own minds.