The tech industry will get to keep refunds of the of tariffs they’ve collected AND will make more money automating the distribution of those refunds to themselves.

Sounds like the tech industry is in tariff heaven.

There are ~50,000-60,000+ available IP ports. If you had Wireguard configured correctly and running on every single one of them a port scanner would get exactly the same result as if every port was closed. Wireguard is completely silent unless the correct key is provided.

The “script kiddies” could scan every port for months and they’d get the same result. There is no known way to even know there’s an open port much less know that Wireguard is running on it AND have the correct key for access.

I understand being gun shy after your experience (I would be too), but that experience has nothing to do with what happens when you open a port for Wireguard.

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These AI features won’t come cheaply, with Windows 12 set to debut a new hardware requirement just as its predecessor did with the TPM 2.0 requirement. This time around, a dedicated NPU would be required, a specialized processor designed to handle AI tasks.

Requiring new hardware for AI when there’s already a serious SSD and memory shortage caused by AI? What could possibly go wrong?

Next up: Microslop will file lawsuits to shut down Linux distribution.

When I looked into this configuration a few years ago the security improvements seemed minimal. Adding yet another provider to the mix plus the additional risk of a server misconfiguration didn’t seem to be worth the trouble unless I was dealing with CGNAT.

Besides hiding endpoints from your ISP and exposing them to the VPS, how much security does this really add?

DDNS (Dynamic DNS), one 3rd party service I do use.

My network is reached by URL, not IP (although IP still works). When my IP changes the router updates the DDNS service in minutes. Lots of providers out there and it’s easy to switch if needed. I like DuckDNS. It’s free or you can choose to donate a bit to cover their expenses.

I think you’re overthinking it. Wireguard is considered the “gold standard” and an excellent solution for what you’re trying to do. Open ports can be a concern, but an open Wireguard port is completely silent when not in use and does not respond unless it receives the correct access keys. That makes it invisible to port scanners.

Wireguard on my OpenWRT router works flawlessly. If the router is working the WG endpoint is too, and there are no 3rd parties involved. Tailscale provides much the same thing, but as I understand it requires the involvement of multiple 3rd party services. I’ve been burned too many times by terms of service changes and security breaches so I wanted to avoid relying on any corporate entities wherever possible.

Tasker brings up the tunnel on my phone automatically whenever I’m not connected to my home wifi and drops it when I get back home, so my home servers are always available. My biggest problem when not at home is Verizon’s crappy mobile network.

IMO it’s worth the effort to properly configure Wireguard and get your servers working. Once you get it set up you probably won’t have to touch it for years.

Sorry I wasn’t clear - I should have worded it differently. I meant to infer that I was referring to whomever did.

Does “the feds” include Amazon?

Gotta laugh at the downvotes. Maybe you’d like to be her tech support?

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If the Kindle never has Internet access (and that includes access through another app) Amazon should not be able to connect at all, but even if your books are from a public library Amazon will still be provided a record of them.

From one library’s site: “…we want you to know that when you check out a Kindle eBook you must use your Amazon account. At that point we no longer have control over protecting your records associated with this transaction. At the very least, Amazon may use this information to recommend other items for purchase to you, as is the case with any purchases you make through the site.”

YouTube buffers content and your device may have already downloaded the entire file, but if it’s a phone it would just switch to the mobile network.

Sometimes I think I’m too paranoid about this stuff and the next day they’ll be another headline about corporate abuse of “protected” consumer data or yet another breach. Remember Facebook’s years long access of protected medical records through a tracking tool installed on a third of medical websites? I’m probably not paranoid enough.

Pretty sure a decent amount of them are bots.

Could be, but those bots must be programmed to simulate actual Maggots. They don’t know how to spell, capitalize or use punctuation, much less write more than a single barely comprehensible sentence.

Apple.

I’ve used Massgrave, but that and the other things you mentioned are not options in this case.

A few years ago I helped a different friend when her printer quit working on Windows 10. What started as occasional help turned into near daily phone calls and demands for tech support to get the printer working again. Turned out her boyfriend was getting pissed off when he was playing a game and killing Windows with the power button on the PC.

Lesson learned.

I’m not willing to become anyone’s tech support rep. I’ll help this friend occasionally but won’t go further than that.

I found it useful for some things. We have a pack of coyotes in town that preys on dogs and occasionally is spotted in the neighborhood. It was also useful for business & contractor recommendations, but have to otherwise agree with you.

It goes deeper with Nextdoor. During Covid someone living next to a local evangelical church posted pictures of a packed event where no one was wearing a mask. Some of those pictures included the backs of a few kid’s heads.

The “good Christian” church members complained that he was a pedophile and Nextdoor deleted his account! This could not be done by moderators and required Nextdoor executive approval.

Nextdoor is a Maggot haven from top to bottom.

Even in my relatively liberal U.S. city, Next Door is overrun by Magats who are cheered on and protected by right-wing Magat moderators. It needs to die and this looks like a great replacement.

I find it puzzling that people are OK with allowing a mammoth, regularly hostile corporation know exactly what books they’re reading as well as the exact details of their reading habits. Everything is accessible to Amazon - when and how often you access a book, how fast you read and when you linger on or return to a page. I wonder when they’ll implement camera-based eye tracking so they know what word you’re on?

The same public libraries that vigorously defend the privacy of our reading lists are simultaneously fine outsourcing all ebook access to Amazon where there’s no expectation of privacy at all. Epubs at those libraries are now so well hidden they’re not even mentioned anymore and access is buried multiple levels deep in the mandatory Libby app.

I love the ease of access and convenience of ebooks, but paper books are becoming more and more appealing by comparison.

Microsoft is making it impossible to use Windows PCs without an online account. Obviously there’s Linux, but I’m not willing to be her only source of tech support. That leaves Apple.