I have nothing to say but I like to write anyway. I write because nobody can judge me; there are only words on a screen. They don't get their feelings hurt, ...
Let's dedicate one post to covering the basics of using the Invisible Internet Project (I2P). This is a self-contained network designed to optimize privacy and security. You might be familiar with Tor already, and there are some similarities, but the primary difference is that I2P was not designed to proxy the "clearnet" - the rest of the internet. I2P is an overlay network, or a network layer…
Freenet is a mixnet which is being re-architected from the ground up. For a simple introduction, see this previous post preamble First, a disclaimer - if you're just looking for an easy way to publish a file, or a pastebin, check out the fnput app . It lets you simply publish a file, not to be modified, in a single click. There is another app called Delta that is an easy way to publish a static…
I had no idea what I was in for when I first installed void linux. I expected a modern distro, but it can actually support the old stuff as well. There are two install versions available; one with glibc and xorg, and one with musl and wayland. Both come as base installs OR with xfce desktop manager, and they weigh in at around 1GB each for the installer. Same installation basics as any other OS:…
Freenet was born in 1999 but has been redesigned, and rewritten in Rust by the same crew, but with a larger vision. Freenet is a robust and performant self-contained mixnet closer in spirit to i2p than to Tor. Ian Clarke is the public face of the project, which benefits greatly from having a well-spoken system architect as public champion. Here's what the dashboard looks like: It did not take long…
NYM network is a mixnet currently integrated with and marketed as a VPN. It is similar in function to Tor, with the primary use case being accessing clearnet resource with enhanced anonymity. Users can connect to their network via wireguard VPN client, or they can choose to use the mixnet directly using "anonymous" mode for stronger privacy but higher latency. Nym mixnet is a bit tricky to analyze…
Age verification requirements for operating systems are a bad idea promoted by people desperate to avoid dealing with technological complexity. They deliberately choose to mislead instead of doing the hard work. They willfully disinform us for crass political reasons. Let's first be honest about who is behind this effort. In fact, Meta (parent of Facebook, Insta, threads, etc.) is worried that…
Unlike Tor, i2p does not bundle in a browser to use on the network. Tor traffic is primarily users accessing clearnet sites and resources, and by using the same browser with the same settings they are less easily distinguished from one another. The primary threats to that anonymity are from exit node + guard node collusion, and from browser fingerprinting. More on that another time. Using a…
streaming music in i2p To listen to streaming music or just mp3 files on i2p, use a music player as usual, but point it at your proxy. In general, to use any application layer software over i2p network, configure it to use your proxy to reach out using whatever protocol. vlc and mpv both read an environmental var: http_proxy so if you set that, they'll use i2p. If your vlc install does not have…
As I watched a slick well-produced anti-US, anti-capitalism video on Russian Telegram, I considered why some of the best propaganda out there consistently comes from the same disgusting sources. As with all effective propaganda, there is a kernel of truth behind the exaggerated presentation. Marx and Engels were not the only people who observed with contempt the harshness of capitalism. The rise…
A couple notes about VPNs and privacy. Your central point of failure for connected devices at home, from a privacy perspective, is your connection to a host. You access the internet by virtue of being connected to some host computer, typically a machine your ISP runs. Using a VPN simply switches your point of ingress, your "connection point" to the net, through which all your traffic goes (and can…