I thought the problem was the same as with all the current Linux controversies. The woke PsyOp agents have infiltrated the major Linux distributions and are attempting to exorcise them of all rationally minded and free thinking people, creating instead a communist religion based on sexual deviancy.

Google isn't evil at all, except for the fact that they target you with advertisements, collect data in shady ways, and violate privacy by every means conceivable, lol. And I'm sure that there isn't anything worse than that that they do without burying it under the legalese in their terms or service and privacy policy.

The worst situation I've heard of was people converting Google equipment from paying customers at location. All the cell phones were hacked, mic and camera turned on. There were calls with various ring tones to calibrate the mics.

This was not the first Dog and Pony show for these people and they competed with Google insults read by Orca for a few hours until Google caught on.

I only clash with Google rarely due to misunderstandings and I do not considered them evil, Just Slight Negative.

I've heard from some people that folks can be targeted by their device remotely...I'll try to remember where I heard that. Devices can listen in on people, unless the microphone is off and the camera is covered with tape. Librum computers have those features. I think that they have anti-evil maid features as well.

I did experience massive computer use in some attacks. I use very good equipment. The fans are running wild but the equipment does not overheat. No Apple incendiary devices here!

I'm curious if you've ever experienced your computer heating up or electrically shocking you when looking up politically incorrect subjects. I've asked all my tinfoil hat friends, and they're puzzled about it. It only happens when I'm on a 5-eyes/9-eyes/14-eyes network. Otherwise it's fine. And it only happens when I'm reading about those subjects for an extended period of time.

I've heard of people busting out their soldering irons to protect against backdoors. There are places I have heard of to purchase computer hardware with monero, but my better instincts tell me that it could just a honeypot to appeal to privacy-conscious individuals.

I also gave your issues with kicksecure and I2P a little more thought. I believe that kicksecure's ports are configured differently than other OSs; that might be your problem.

If you are by your computer when you are attacked by a Quantum with Supercomputer attack:

1. Your machine will go in a short Reboot but will recover where you left off.
2. Your SSD/Hard-Disk will go nuts because THEY are uploading.

What THEY are trying to do is break your encryption by looking for KNOWN files that were encrypted with that key. Take action and don't delay.

I usually wipe the disks and change all the keys. Consider encrypting a KNOWN file like an OS download with a different encryption. I usually store this type of crap on a different disk.

Hard Drive Hardware encryption along with BTRFS is the best mitigation I have against Quantum and Supercomputer attacks. I used to get them monthly but now it is a rare occurrence.

I did know a Arch person that swear by their BIOS (solders and modifies boards). I was so impressed by his demonstration at his layer (full of equipment) that I almost plunged a small fortunes into buying a laptop from him. The problem was that when his machine was tested in guerrilla environments (direct trunk connection) it did not perform much better than mine.

I don't know who sold Quantum-Tristate computers. Some crap had to do with IBM but they like to take credit for a lot of things (Oppenheimer was a manager not the developer of A-bomb kind of crap). If you search Tristate it comes out as a battery company that probably has little to do with computers. Tristate comes from 3 states as a 0-1-unknown.

Nope. It didn't just disagree with you. I can recommend Heads OS, an alternative to Tails. I haven't attempted to put I2P on it, but it's thought to be a pretty good OS otherwise.

What is your opinion on the reliability of hard drive encryption?

Are you referring to the place that sells computers (TriState)?

I've been wondering how one would fix hardware back doors, or if that's even a possibility. I'm not sure what resources our favored big brother has, but I don't have any doubts about what he would do if he could.

One of these days, maybe you can post a tutorial for i2p with KickSecure. For some reason that OS did not agree with me and commited suicide.

There is a EEE standard, NIST standard and I speculate there is a DIN (German) standard for this situation. For a while there was even a YubiKey for that but it disapear from the market. I was stupid enough to have a known acolite order it for me and arrived backdoored and damaged. Quantum computers have been around since at least late 1980's and were called TriState. Some people were recruiting at that time to work in that field.

The TriState computers were used extensively by US spies but once the Soviets fell the rusky started to sell the location data (unique electromagnetic signature) and the need for Tor ensued. The last failed attempt to use TriState for spies was the Turkey coup against Erdogan. That is how Turkey knew the "exact" location of the participants and most likely the names (Gyudem or something was the leader).

Currently a lot of US government employees and contractors use a Quantum boot. USB key that allows a regular computer to be booted externally from a TriState computer. You do NOT want to use that crap from your home... It is open season after from China-man, Ruskies etc. I do know of some sorry ass cases of people who make environment assessments or pollution assessments that MADE THAT BIG MISTAKE.

If you have that KickSecure tutorial for I2P that does NOT endanger your activities please post it.

In addition to keeping it out of sight, consider a decoy

For example, a broken safe (like a firesafe with a cracked wall or broken lock) or a heavy box that could pass for one, from a thrift store or craigslist. Make it look nice on the outside, put some low-value keepsakes, costume jewelry, or funny money, and non-sensitive copies or fakes of documents in there.

Stick it somewhere out of sight but not out of reach: under the bed, front corner of the closet, a dark shelf. Then if it's been tampered with, you know you have a problem, and it may satisfy them that it's your only hidden stash.

Is there anything else we should look for when deciding on a safe?

Think about placement. Ideally your safe will be in it's final resting place, so to speak, once you've placed it. Out of sight. You'd think this would be obvious but I've had friends who have visible safes in their garage or office or whatever. Even without talking about it, someone may think, "I wonder whats in there?"

So, out of sight. Out of mind.

If you own your home, embedding the safe into the house itself isn't a bad idea. Is it in a closet? Build a it into the wall by building a shelf above it and making it impossible for the safe to now be removed. Not that they could with ease before, because it's mounted to the floor joist and wall studs. And now you just built a wall around it and put a normal cabinet door in front of it to make it all look like original closet storage, or something.

Honestly though, if you just need a safe that'll store paper, maybe some important documents and a small amount of jewelry it makes it so much easier to hide it in a place where it can be secured out of sight. If we're talking a big gun safe... There is a reason why a lot of people just have it mounted in their garage or living room. They're heavy as fuck, the size of a refrigerator or larger and there is the idea that, "That summabitch too heavy for anyone to steal" but it can still be broken into.

And a note about locking mechanisms: Combinations can (easily) be forgotten. Trust me on this, lol. You're convinced you'll remember it, don't need to write it down, etc. Then you have no need to open the safe for a year and are scratching your head when you need to get in. On the flip side, keys can be found and keys can be stolen or locks can be picked. Hand/finger print safes rely on a battery, which can last a long time but not last forever.

If you're storing things that would be absolutely devastating to lose, you've got a lot to think about. If it's some guns, documents like passport or birth certificate and maybe a few thousand dollars worth of valuables then really any mid-range fireproof safe that can be mounted/secured to a wall or floor joists and be hidden should probably do.

This is awful, but so predictable. Barrett Brown is much too brave for my taste - the brooding island empire with no constitution and censorship laws against everything is no place I want to visit nowadays, let alone protest in. I was thinking he might come to his senses and do something more sensible, like fly off to court lovely Alexandra Elbakyan. They could have done great things together.

That is on version of OS from a few revisions ago : 11.0.1, not 11.2.x from nowadays.

I think its a big deal, but has no practical value in the wild.

Probably only a little deal because 11.0.1 stopped shipping long ago and LOTS of patchess since 11.0.1 :

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201260

See? Current is 11.2.1, not 11.0.1, as per Apple

And many updates between.

If you bought a M1 computer 2 weeks ago it is shipped from China with OS : 11.1 (not 11.0.1) and Also 2 weeks ago firmware version is "6723.61.3". Also if you plugged in that computer, it tries , if you let it, to immediately install a giant new OS update. The update removes ability to run old sideloaded iPhone apps on m1 macs, so some might stick with 11.1 (not 11.0.1) for a while before letting apple force 11.2.1

THOSE HACKS IN THAT LINK might not have value, if they only work on 11.0.1 version of older OS

In b4 Apple fanboys soft sell this as no big deal :)

Good read, for sure.

Do you have any trouble using these cards anywhere? Do you use them for normal online bill pay, online ordering from stores (or ebay/amazon, etc)?

What happens if you, say... Put $200 on a card to pay some bills and you have a $1.28 balance left over or something on the card. Anyway to transfer that to another card or do you just lose it if you can't find a small purchase to apply that balance towards? (So in a way, an added fee to the original card purchase?)

Amen! Support small biz always. Most workers are employed by small businesses.

However, with all the tax complexity and tech infiltration, those smart registers are hell on earth.

Avoid signing up for rewards / frequent buyer stuff unless you provide them with manufactured data. A good straw man just for that is recommended. Or a few... Give the person their own VOIP number, own freebie privacy email address, etc.

I think another good thing to be in a habit of doing is support local small businesses. You are significantly more likely to be tracked by McDonald than your local takeaway shop.

Nothing is bulletproof.

OPSEC and general sanity is a process of refinement. Have to practice the craft or you just become another tool in their box.

I think it's futile to aim for 100% anonymity. We should not make it easy to track us for sure but we must also be prepared to fight in the open.