How to view blocked web sites on your phone or tablet

These days, darn near everything is censored – for your protection, of course!

While you may be able to read whatever web sites you want from home, mobile operators are particularly fond of blocking certain sites.

This is obviously particularly annoying for those of us who like to choose what we read and, ya know, make up our own minds. We’re not ALL brainless zombies.

While you could use a VPN, it’s often a PITA to set them up and use them. The best ones are also paid…

Wouldn’t it be nice if there was an easy, free option to view what you want? Turns out, there is!

(more…)

Phishing Scams and how to protect yourself

Avoid Phishing ScamsEven if you don’t know the term ‘phishing scam’, chances are you’ve already been targeted by many of them.

A phishing scam is when someone uses a genuine-looking e-mail, login page, SMS, or whatever to fool you into giving up personal data – like logins, passwords, card and banking info, etc.

They often involve some kind of ‘hook’ that makes you worried or scared. When that happens, you stop thinking and fall into the trap.

But these scams are very easy to avoid with a bit of extra attention. I’ll show an example of a phishing scam I received recently and then take it apart piece by piece so that next time, you’ll know exactly what to look for to protect yourself!

(more…)

The BEST way to stay safe on the Internet

Stay safe online!Ah, the internet!

It’s so incredibly useful, and at the same time you won’t find a more wretched hive of scum and villainy. Well, technically, it’s more useful than villain-y.

Still, it’s good to be careful!

So what’s the best way to stay safe when using the internet? Strong passwords? Antivirus? Browser add-ons? Privacy enhancers? VPNs?!

That’s all well and good, but there’s one trick that will never let you down…

(more…)

FLoC and the future of Internet Privacy

FLoC is bad for privacyWhen it comes to privacy on the internet, the new word on the street is ‘FLoC’.

Led by Google, a group of businesses and advertisers is pushing a new standard that would have your browser identifying your particular group of interests by a unique ID number.

This number will be sent to all sites you visit. VOILA! No more 3rd party cookies, and supposedly more privacy!

Of course, there’s the marketing mumbo jumbo and then there’s the reality of the situation.

So: What is FLoC? How does it work? And most importantly: Will it improve your privacy??

(more…)

No more WiFi, Part 4: Wire and test your house network

No more WiFi: Connect and test!This video is a continuation of Part 3!!

What happens if you want to set up a home network, but you already have existing Ethernet cabling and wall jacks?

While it may seem simple, it turns out that you need to do some investigation first.

In Part 1 of this video, I described the different types of patch panels you may find in your home, how they work, and how you will use them (or not).

In this video, I’ll show exactly how to connect everything!

(more…)

No more WiFi, Part 3: All about existing house wiring

No more WiFi: All about existing house wiringWhat happens if you want to set up a home network, but you already have existing Ethernet cabling and wall jacks?

While it may seem simple, it turns out that you need to do some investigation first.

In this video, I describe the different types of patch panels you may find in your home, how they work, and how you will use them (or not).

It’s worth noting that if you only have twisted-pair phone cabling (often called PTT-298), you CAN use that wiring for 100 Mbps Ethernet – but not for Gigabit+ speeds.

Fortunately, most homes these days have Cat 5e or higher cabling, so that part shouldn’t be a problem…

(more…)

Fix stunnel “Bad magic at ssl.c” error / crash on Ubuntu

stunnel bad magic ssl.cUbuntu server 18.04 LTS is a rather popular linux OS for servers.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t come without its problems. For example, the current version of stunnel – an SSL tunnel – is woefully outdated.

It seems that although Canonical is aware of the problem, they have no intention of fixing it!

Fortunately, there’s an easy workaround that’s much simpler than you might think…

(more…)