Recent content on M0streng0's Blog
Last week, while I was doing some research on the ways companies are implementing child safety features (an essay I’ll publish in the future), I got blocked on the New York Times website, asking me to log in to my account. Otherwise known as “Subscribe now to keep reading” . This got me wondering whether we need to add a new subscription to the pile every time we just want to…
This post follows the format: Detail the controversy Analyze Mullvad’s response Compare this situation to a similar case (Proton’s CEO) My action as a customer of Mullvad’s services. « IMPORTANT TO MENTION » This blog post does not intend to take a political position on the topic. I want to lay out everything about this controversy and try to understand both sides. You may verify…
Some months ago, I watched the whole Amazon show with the same name, and I really liked it. That’s why I had high hopes for the book, and since it was written by Philip K. Dick, I knew it wouldn’t let me down. And indeed I am not! This book takes us to a world where the Axis ruled, a world that is fortunately far from the present (and hopefully for eternity). A narrative that genuinely…
This was an interesting project that all started with me self-hosting rmfakecloud on my server and running the rmfakecloud-proxy to trick my reMarkable 2 into thinking it was connected to the official servers. A very cool project that allows me to have control over my data and more easily add and edit files without having to either pay for the service (around 30 €/year) or trust their side of…
This movie was based on a book series (that I haven’t read, but it will go to my reading list) by Richard Osman. It’s a 5-book murder mystery book series, with multiple hints of Agatha Christie’s crime novels (which I love so much). I suspect that the entire narrative may have been significantly influenced by Agatha Christie’s “The Thirteen Problems (or The Tuesday…
Now this is what I call a MOVIE. I’ve watched the entire movie collection, and this is by far the best. And that says a lot, since the others were great as well. It’s so captivating, leaving us always wanting to know the next scene, the next act… I remember there was a moment that I thought that the movie was about to conclude, with the great reveal of the murderer, buuuuuuuuut no , I…
I found it entertaining, and that was exactly what I was looking for. Ironically, I was on a long car trip and needed something to distract myself, so I grabbed this movie and watched it. Although the movie has been out for a while, I only recently discovered it after learning that the music I like to listen to by Kavinsky was featured in the opening, so I decided to give it a try.
I’m at a loss for words, not even sure where to begin. It’s just EPIC . The end of The Dark Forest made me think that this series would go in a certain direction, but I was wrong; it’s actually so much more. It is so different from its original roots that it is unrecognizable, but it is for the better; it explores amazing theories and concepts like time warping and…
« DEFINITION OF FUN » Change Linux systems frequently until you locate your haven. I went to NixOS this time. After trying it a few years ago, I found it harder than any other system I’d used, even Arch . That’s right… But I tried it again this time, armed with all the knowledge I had learned before. It wasn’t easy at first; I had to try a few different configurations before I…
This one is really different; it’s truly one-of-a-kind in its own right. Some have characterized it as revolutionary, subversive, dark, subliminal, and totally awesome. To begin, each episode tells a different story, presents a fresh take on a taboo topic, or offers a radical new outlook on the future. There isn’t a way to review this show as a whole because every episode is different.…
I’ve been using System76’s “Cosmic-DE” for the past 10 days. It’s still being worked on ( Alpha 6 ). I have made the decision to transition from Arch Linux with DWM (Xorg — X11) to the Fedora Spin with Cosmic-DE. Since it’s a beta spin, it uses the Fedora 42 beta. I wanted to see how far along Wayland was for everyday use. Things have been pretty good for me so…
The Dark Forest , just like its predecessor, is incredibly fantastic. I know I pretty much went straight to my opinion, but this book has a special place in my heart and mind and has been added to my favorites’ shelf. Although the plot was built upon what happened in the first volume, this book is completely different, in a good sense. I love The Three-Body Problem , but I think this book I…
I learned about this book from the TV adaptation that was based on it ( see my review here ), and because of that, I knew what the main theme of the book was before I even started reading it. In the end, though, I have to say that the book is MUCH better than the show. To the best of my knowledge, the physics are implemented correctly, and the idea of a three-body system without a mathematical…
I often find myself in a situation where I need to temporarily connect to a certain network with a device that is usually offline. For various reasons, it is advantageous to create a temporary Wi-Fi hotspot for that specific device without granting it direct access to the router. Creating a hotspot using a mobile phone is a quick and easy way, however, sometimes I prefer to use my laptop to do…
I must start by saying that as Portuguese, I have a great respect for the work by José Saramago, in which with his masterpieces he was able to provide something unique to our culture, a Nobel Prize. This book is very intense and very detailed, in which it properly illustration a fictitious scenario in which the world is put in a unique and difficult reality. Saramago’s ability to control the…
Yesterday, I switched over to the latest version of my website, which I’ve been working on for the past couple of days. I was no longer updating my website, and I no longer enjoyed looking at its state. I found it difficult to read the contents, and that just made me want to make a better version of it. This new theme was highly inspired by Kev Quirk’s website . Thanks to him and his…
End Season 1: If I were to sum up this show in a single word, it would be simply “WOW” . There are no discernible words for it. The show is truly remarkable, with exceptional and distinctive cinematography, and the narrative, akin to a chef’s kiss . I love the concept of separating the personal from the work life, literally, through this Severance process. It’s amazing to…
This is a highly intriguing and innovative narrative, wherein a society is compelled to live underground, in a Silo, due to unknown causes. The way mystery involves the story by leaving more questions than answers makes you want to know what is going to happen next. Furthermore, the way social classes are physically placed in the Silo and that the most important jobs ( even though all social…
I’ve come across this great literary work through the TV series that was based on it. I found it to be highly intriguing and thought-provoking. The connection with scientific theories and terms, such as Dark Matter (which got its name from it), and the whole narrative being centered around Schrödinger’s cat theory , really piqued my curiosity. I was amused and amazed by reading the…
This was a thoughtful film that provoked thought. It is a high-quality film by Spielberg, featuring a fast-paced plot that thoroughly explores the narrative created by Philip Dick . This thriller movie provokes and questions the power and control of the system. I personally love all Philip Dick’s narratives, either being through its books or properly made adaptations for those same books. I…
This is an interesting show, even though I found the narrative to be a bit confusing and the emotions to be a bit off. In general, it was a solid series. I am interested in revisiting it in his second season; maybe it will improve and change my opinion. This show inspired me to read Liu Cixin ’s books, which gave the script to this show. Perhaps the all-exaggerated alien threat and the whole…
This TV Show is really well made, with all of its intriguing ideas and an whole roller coaster of emotional changes. With this show, I got the intrigue to dive into Blake Crouch’s book, and since this review you’re reading was made after I explored the book, I can tell you that it does properly follow the original script, and the whole narratives and scenes are properly preserved, with…
This was a nice TV show that didn’t need to be this good. I discovered this show thanks to Markiplier (Mark Fischbach - creator and main actor) as I followed him on YouTube . The show is both amusing and intriguing, and I found it to be exceptionally well-executed, despite its modest budget. I found the narrative to be highly creative and perhaps relatable, as it revolves around the concept…
I usually use virtual machines for tasks that involve either multiple operating systems in the same type or sandboxing environments, usually for cybersecurity work, such as Capture the Flag. QEMU , a software used for emulating these virtual environments, has its virtual drives mostly in the QCOW2 file format, but those found available online are mostly available in the ova format. So, with that…
I use Calibre-Web-Automated as an excellent OPDS server in order to download e-books to all my devices. I also use KOReader’s progressive sync to keep track of my reading progress. However, the reading statistics are not synchronized across devices, which makes it difficult to accurately track my reading habits. KOReader can sync these statistics (stored in a SQLite3 file) using WebDAV, FTP,…
I found out that upgrading moodle (running in a Docker container) is not as simple as doing docker pull image . It requires some more steps, that are properly referenced in the Moodle’s documentation – version 4.4 Backing up Docker volumes As always, backup everything before doing any kind of updates. Start by stopping the relevant Docker containers docker stop moodle mariadb Then,…
The main storage drive of a Raspberry Pi is typically a microSD card. These are generally durable in terms of severe weather conditions and extensive wear, but when put in constant write and read, they will degrade very quickly. I once used a Raspberry Pi as a home server, which was on 24/7. So I had to minimize reads and writes to the microSD card in order to maximize the lifespan of the card by…
I don’t have the YouTube app installed on my Android devices (nor do I use it directly), so in order to watch my favourite channels, I use alternative front-ends such as LibreTube and NewPipe . YouTube (Google) being an evil Corp Recently, YouTube is making efforts to stop services such as Invidious and Piped from working, and their later attempts (as of August 2024) are succeeding… At least…
Why a Raspberry Pi 4? I chose to use the Raspberry Pi 4 (before the launch of the 5th) because I knew how small it is and how power-efficient it is! I know that in the price range (a bit more than 100€ with everything, not counting with an HDD), I could buy some used PC and have a more powerful machine, and probably even cheaper. But, a thing I consider really important when setting up a server is…
Here are some reasons: To use it as a portfolio To be able to share content To learn new things, such as Hugo (static website generator) To develop HTML and CSS a little better Getting back to using JavaScript Cloudflare (Pages) Being able to write and translate in different languages (EN - FR - PT) How was the site created? Now that you know more about why I decided to create a website,…
The pseudonym m0streng0 comes from the name mostrengo , a poem written by Fernando Pessoa , one of the most important Portuguese poets of the 20th century. This poem is part of the work “ Mensagem ”, which was published in 1934. The “ mostrengo ” is a legendary creature that symbolizes the dangers and challenges faced by Portugal throughout its history. The poem describes…
Hi, I’m Henrique. I’m a twentysomething IT and cybersecurity student based just outside of Paris, where I live with my family and my awesome dog. I’m currently in my second year of a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity at EPITA. I built this site to document the things I learn, share my technical setups, and write about the media I consume.
This is my personal site. The opinions and views expressed here are entirely my own and do not represent those of any current, past, or future employers, organizations, or institutions I might be affiliated with. My thoughts evolve I write to learn and to document my journey. Because of this, my thinking is constantly evolving. An article I wrote a year ago might not perfectly reflect my views…
Feel free to reach out if you have a question or just want to say hi 👋! I always try to get back to you as soon™ as I can. Encrypted & Direct Email: gsnts1vz@m0streng0.eu This is an email alias. If it starts getting too much spam, I’ll simply rotate it. Signal: @M0streng0.99 Discord: @m0streng0 Social & Code Mastodon: @m0streng0@fosstodon.org I don’t post very often on this platform…
I care a lot about digital privacy, so I’ve built this site to respect yours. There’s no surveillance capitalism happening here. This site is hosted on statichost.eu , a platform built with privacy and GDPR compliance from the ground up. 1. No Tracking, No Analytics Most of the web tracks every click you make. This site doesn’t. I don’t run analytics, heat maps, or collect…