Online Privacy - Tumblr Posts
are you cis or trans, and if trans are you transmasc or transfem? it doesnt say in your bio anywhere so i was just wondering
Does anyone remember when you weren't supposed to tell people online your personal info and it was weird and suspicious to ask for it I miss that sometimes
what extensions do you use?
that depends on which browser profile i'm using d:
in general, i have:
uBlock Origin (trusted adblocker; it can block scripts too; supports custom rules)
Privacy Possum (blocks tracking headers and falsifies tracking data, possibly redundant now between UBO and firefox's own methods)
OVPN (mainly for specific webRTC leak protection and to block accessing certain site w/out my VPN on)
Tridactyl (keyboard navigation ! vim-style keybinds; i can't sing its praises enough)
some profile-specific extensions:
XKit Rewritten (makes tumblr usable lmao)
Facebook Container (apparently no longer needed in some versions of firefox ??)
Bypass Paywalls Clean (no more paywalls for news sites etc.; removed from mozilla store, i've linked the gitlab)
Unpaywall (as above but focused on academic articles; uses legal sources)
Just Delete Me (uses justdeleteme.xyz database; provides a link for deleting your account on the current website and indicates difficulty)
imo extensions are always a tradeoff between privacy (specifically, fingerprint resistance) and convenience. i plan to rework my firefox profiles (again lmao) w/ this in mind, since i don't need Just Delete Me 99% of the time, for example.
for things like cookie management i'd recommend using firefox's own inbuilt settings (again for fingerprinting reasons). i'd love a way to automatically refuse cookie agreements but i'm not installing an extra extension just for that. same w/ the "bypass twitter login" extensions - i can just do that manually via deleting those elements in UBO, or probably set a custom rule to automate it.
Check out the Consent-O-Matic if you're tired of cookie consent
this is a browser extension by employees representing Aarhus University in Denmark, which automatically snipes those annoying cookie popups for you, and automatically answers them based on your preferences.
look at how it completely disintegrates the form on jazzradio:
using it is as simple as installing, clicking a few options, and leaving it to do its thing.
Install on Firefox
Also on Chrome, ironically enough
more on how it works below
another cool thing about the plugin is that it sort of works like, for example, uBlock Origin by analysing the pages you visit and looking for certain pieces of the site's code.
where an adblocker like uBlock usually just blocks and hides the matching content, the Consent-O-Matic will automatically press the right buttons based on your preferences, and get rid of the consent form for you.
the patterns it looks for are stored in "rule lists" just like adblockers do for ads, so the extension can constantly adapt to new consent forms via crowdsourced data, as well as have more rule lists added manually.
Source: https://consentomatic.au.dk/
Alright so i switched over not too long ago to using firefox + duckduckgo + adblocker ultimate
And let me tell you: it is so SO much better than my previous combo of chrome + ecosia + some other adblocker
WHY?
firefox:
really easy to set up
firefox actually cares about not tracking your every movement on the internet
firefox (like chrome) puts the tabs on top of the search bar as opposed to under it (like safari. safari is stupid because of this. i know this is an odd take to have but I don't much care. why would you break apart the label of a page from the page itself with the labels for different pages??? why???)
doesn't use the same process for different tabs (makes you a harder target for people hacking, also means that if a site is using more cpu than you want killing the offending process in task manager only crashes one tab)
very easy to customize
duckduckgo:
doesn't track your searches
tells you how well a site will honor your privacy and adds some protection
pretty good as a search engine just generally
adblocker ultimate
blocks fuckin everything.
I mean everything. ads. pop ups. cryptomining. known phishing links and online scams. malware. all kinds of trackers (google is a huge offender surprise surprise). anything that you ask it to by clicking "hide element" and then clicking on the thing you want it to hide
doesn't have "pre-whitelisted ads" which are basically ads that companies pay adblockers to whitelist so you still see them
free. you can donate, but it costs no money
tells you how many things it's blocked both lifetime and on a site since you opened it (i usually get a count on google docs of about 230 in 30 minutes yay trackers!)
i have not seen an ad i didn't consent to since I got it
https://adblockultimate.net/ (scroll down for the extension)
Software of the Week
This is the first in what I hope will be a weekly series of my favorite pieces of software for Windows, Synology DSM, or iOS/iPadOS (I don't have an Android phone so I don't discover new software for that OS often, sadly).
First up is DoNotSpy11, by pXc Coding out of Germany.
Details:
Purpose: Customize the behavior of Microsoft Windows OS, specifically settings related to privacy, advertising, analytics, and default app nagging
OS Supported: Windows 10, 11
Installer Size: 2.1 MB
Country of Origin: Germany
Languages Supported: EN, DE, FR
License: Freeware (basic version) / $5-20 USD (pro version with additional features geared toward IT professionals managing multiple computers)
Download Link: https://pxc-coding.com/donotspy11/
My laptop can't upgrade to Windows 11 due to hardware requirements, and I have to say I am kind of relieved. It feels like every other week I'm reading about Microsoft putting ads in the file Explorer or Start Menu, or burying settings in odd places to make it hard to disable new "features" in Edge. Between that and how much they nag you to go back to Edge as your default browser (and how they're shoving AI into everything), I'm perfectly happy to stick with Windows 10. But even that sends a lot of tracking/analytics data back home to Microsoft.
Enter DoNotSpy11. This app consolidates all of the privacy/advertising/Edge/default app nagging settings into one simple list of checkboxes, and even adds some settings that are normally only accessible through arcane magic like registry edits or Group Policy Objects.
The list is color-coded into 3 levels of "safety": blue for settings that you should almost always be able to apply without issue, orange for things you should double check first, and red for things that are generally not recommended for most people. Clicking a setting gives you a plain-text overview of what it does so you can make the final decision for yourself.
The list of options can be overwhelming at first, but I'll post screenshots of my settings below that you can use as starters if you'd like. The definitions available in the righthand sidebar go a long way toward making it easy to customize the options to fit your taste/level of comfort.
Happy tweaking!
My settings:
I wrote out this list of instructions/recommendations for making Firefox your default browser, and setting up some extensions I recommend. This is all my personal preference - I’m no expert, but I made these instructions for some friends and family, so I figured I’d share here, too! All the extensions are linked for convenience.
1. Download Firefox, pin to dock of computer, set as default browser
Why Firefox? Mozilla is a non-profit organization, so unlike Google, they aren’t looking to continually turn a profit, and is an open-source project, meaning you can check the code at any time. Firefox and Safari are independent browsers, but others like Chrome, Brave, and Microsoft Edge all run on Chromium - meaning they’re essentially all Google. The downside to using them is that if your entire internet access is connected to Google, then Google is going to collect data on everything (and then turn around and sell it all over the place).
2. Add DuckDuckGo, set as default search engine for Firefox
Why DuckDuckGo? Unlike Google, DuckDuckGo doesn’t collect data from users, and allows IP addresses to remain hidden/protected. Doesn’t use cookies to track activity. Doesn’t share IP address, search terms, etc. with sites you visit (Google, Yahoo, and Bing all share this data). I find that the search results are more “clean” and I usually find what I’m looking for faster, and with fewer “listicles”/bullshit SEO-filled nonsense.
Downsides: Some complex searches may not work (niche content can be missed, but pretty much everything else is good) - so if searching for academic sources, I recommend using Google Scholar instead. Also uses Apple Maps instead of Google, which I don’t like as much, but isn’t a huge problem on the desktop. I have some privacy-centric extensions listed below, which help protect me when I do need to turn to Google.
3. Import browser data from old browser.
4. Set homepage/new tab defaults → Settings.
5. Download Firefox on phone, follow instructions to sync to computer desktop.
6. Install extensions! Improve internet browsing experience! Check out my list of recommendations below.
7. When installing extensions, take a look at the “themes” and customize the look of your browser.
Ad Blockers
Adblocker Ultimate (blocks ads)
uBlock Origin (also blocks ads)
AdGuard Adblocker (guess what this is.)
AdBlock for Firefox (I just really hate ads and want to cover my bases)
Privacy extensions
Privacy Possum (interferes with data collection by sites, helps prevent tracking)
Don’t track me Google (speeds up search results, removes Google tracking feature)
I still don’t care about cookies (allows cookies for sites/prevents pop ups - use with cookie auto delete for privacy)
Cookie autodelete (automatically deletes cookie info from sites, pairs well with above)
Youtube extensions
Return Youtube Dislike (shows the number of dislikes on Youtube - Youtube removed this feature in 2021 for no good reason)
DeRound Youtube (personal preference - makes Youtube thumbnails “sharp”. I think it looks nicer like this.)
Youtube NonStop (prevents “are you still watching” prompts)
SponsorBlock (removes embedded sponsor promotions within Youtube videos)
Other helpful stuff
Unpaywall (checks database of 16 million legal, open-access articles when you view a paywalled scholarly article to see if there’s an open version available)
Don’t Accept image/webp (lets Firefox tell sites webp formats don’t work - enables easier access to downloadable jpeg/png formats on search results)
Absolute Enable Right Click and Copy (some sites block the right click copy/paste option, this extension restores that ability - this seemed to interfere with my use of Google Docs so I disabled it for the site, but it may be coincidental. Need to investigate - this extension is newer to me.)
Facebook Container (prevents Facebook/Meta from tracking all your web activity)
LeechBlock NG (can be enabled to prevent you from using certain sites in a certain timeframe - good for productivity)
Recommended extensions for Tumblr users
Shinigami Eyes (works on other sites too, but highlights trans-friendly people/orgs/etcs green, highlights anti-trans in red. Very useful for Tumblr - makes identifying and blocking hateful users easier)
XKit Rewritten (Tumblr XKit! OG XKit doesn’t work anymore, but I’ve had success with this one. Helps customize the site, sometimes can be used to get rid of/override stupid UI updates)
My personal XKit recommendations:
Toggle on:
Anti-Capitalism (hides ads)
Mutual Checker (notes who your mutuals are, useful if you follow a lot of people/have a lot of followers and want to know who your “friends” are - especially helpful if you have friends who often change icons/urls)
No Recommended (gets rid of recommended stuff - I clicked “hide” for all the options - I only want to see things posted/reblogged by the people I follow, or things I search for specifically. Clears up the homepage, too.)
Quick Reblog (I personally love this feature - I have it set up “above the reblog button” and checked “yes” for showing the blog selector (useful if you have multiple blogs on the same account), and the “show tags” field. With Quick Reblog, when you hover over the “reblog” button, it pops up a little box that lets me quickly select what blog (defaults to main), add tags, then reblog, queue, or save the post as a draft. I don’t usually add a comment, and never using Quick Reblog, so I didn’t enable that field. You can add more settings, but this is how I like to use it!)
Tweaks (I clicked “Restore links to individual posts in the post header”, “Remove the coloured shadow from focused posts”, “Hide the ‘blaze’ and ‘tip’ button labels”, “Hide my follower count where possible”, “Hide the ‘’Now, where were we?’ button”, and “Hide the Tumblr Live carousel” (I also “snooze” Tumblr Live weekly, but still). Again, these are all personal preferences! This is just how I like the site set up).
I had one of my comments removed from the r/pcmasterrace subreddit for breaking a rule that's not even listed on their ruleset and you have to go to an entirely separate website to view the full version (including the one I broke), so I'm going to post this shit here: NEVER FUCKING PAY FOR WINDOWS. EVER. Never buy it from Microsoft and never buy a cheap activation key from a shoddy website.
when you install windows, if the option shows up, select the 'pro' edition and skip entering the product key. once you're finished installing and booted into the system, open powershell and run:
irm https://massgrave.dev/get | iex
that command will download and run the microsoft activation scripts runner, which activates your Windows installation for free, without Microsoft ever knowing. they cannot revoke your self registered keys, and you get shit like group policy editor for free. you can also use it to freely activate Microsoft Office.
here's some other tools I use to make windows installations at least somewhat useable:
Chris Titus's WinUtil script: powershell script that can be run to quickly debloat, customize, and optimize a windows installation. disables useless bloat and lets you install a selection of useful software, as well as perform a number of optimizations to improve system responsiveness and privacy. free and open source.
WingetUI: a powerful UI package manager for installing packages via Winget, Chocolatey, Pip, NPM, and other sources. available via Winget (SomePythonThings.WingetUIStore) or WinUtil
WizTree: disk space analyzer to determine what's consuming the most space on your hard drive. displays the results in a list view as well as a visual block-based view. incredibly fast and easy to use. available via Winget (AntibodySoftware.WizTree) or WinUtil
SysInternals: a set of diagnostic tools and utilities that allow you to poke around at the components of the operating system, useful for all sorts of things. namely, process explorer allows you to figure out what's using a file or device. available via Winget (sysinternals) or WinUtil
7zip: file archive manager supporting almost all compression types. available via Winget (7zip.7zip) or WinUtil
WinSCP and PuTTY: SCP/SFTP and SSH/Telnet clients for Windows, with intuitive GUIs. available via Winget (WinSCP.WinSCP, PuTTY.PuTTY) or WinUtil
CPUID CPU-Z and TechPowerUp GPU-Z: hardware identification apps that allow you to view the stats and specs of your CPU, GPU, memory, and motherboard. available via Winget (CPUID.CPU-Z, TechPowerUp.GPU-Z) or WinUtil
CrystalDiskMark and CrystalDiskInfo: hard disk drive / solid state drive benchmarking and health check software. available via Winget (CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskMark, CrystalDewWorld.CrystalDiskInfo)
VirtualBox: virtual machine software that's highly user friendly, makes it super easy to run old software or isolate a program from the host system. available via Winget (Oracle.VirtualBox)
VLC Media Player: media player supporting playback from files, from disk devices, and from network streams. supports all codecs and highly configurable. available via Winget (VideoLAN.VLC) or WinUtil. fully free and open source.
Windows Terminal: a tab-based terminal emulator for easier multitasking in the terminal. integration with Powershell, CMD, visual studio developer powershell, and windows subsystem for linux. available via Winget (Microsoft.WindowsTerminal) or WinUtil
this concludes my software recommendations. also when you install windows be sure to turn off the following services: BITS (Background Intelligent Transfer Service), and DiagTrack (Connected User Experiences And Telemetry). also make sure you disable cortana.
FAQ: Q: Activating paid products for free? isn't that piracy? A: suck my fucking tits this concludes the FAQ. no further questions
Friendly reminder that adobe sucks and that you can get a lifetime license for paintstorm studio for $20
Or any of the affinity creative programs for $40 each (or $100 for all three) which is also a one time payment
Also for writing and other general office purposes you can get onlyoffice for replacements for microsoft word, excel, or powerpoint for FREE. They also have an online version to replace google drive for the privacy conscious & mobile versions.
(There's also libre office which is open source but that takes more work to get an appearance you like and default is real old school ugly lookin)
Please support other good programs if you can! It's a huge help for putting the tyranny of overpriced goods to an end (more so than just piracy)
Stop Giving Microsoft Your Data!! ✅ How to Bypass WIFI Setup Windows 11
🔥 Don’t miss this Windows 11 tutorial by Raqmedia! Protect your data and privacy while bypassing WIFI setup. Follow, like, and learn! 🚀👍 #raqmedia #Windows11 #DataPrivacy #TechInsights
website
I thought I needed a new laptop but nope, youtube is slowing down your PC if you have adblock on on any open tab...
Bought my uncle a burger and milkshake in exchange for letting me disrupt the holiest day of the week, NFL Sunday Football, so I could install a Pi-hole and free the household of ads...the thing abt the specific boomers I live with is they told me not to trust people on the Internet but they do not understand the algorithm or online advertising and think that Facebook has their best interests at heart. And every time I have tried to explain to them that no, blorbo from my dashboard is not selling my kidneys on the dark web but Google from your capitalism is definitely selling your web searches to every advertising company on the planet, they think I am paranoid. How could their personal friend Mark Zuckerberg want anything bad to happen to them etc. I am fighting battles I did not know existed!!!
Skip Google for Research
As Google has worked to overtake the internet, its search algorithm has not just gotten worse. It has been designed to prioritize advertisers and popular pages often times excluding pages and content that better matches your search terms
As a writer in need of information for my stories, I find this unacceptable. As a proponent of availability of information so the populace can actually educate itself, it is unforgivable.
Below is a concise list of useful research sites compiled by Edward Clark over on Facebook. I was familiar with some, but not all of these.
⁂
Google is so powerful that it “hides” other search systems from us. We just don’t know the existence of most of them. Meanwhile, there are still a huge number of excellent searchers in the world who specialize in books, science, other smart information. Keep a list of sites you never heard of.
www.refseek.com - Academic Resource Search. More than a billion sources: encyclopedia, monographies, magazines.
www.worldcat.org - a search for the contents of 20 thousand worldwide libraries. Find out where lies the nearest rare book you need.
https://link.springer.com - access to more than 10 million scientific documents: books, articles, research protocols.
www.bioline.org.br is a library of scientific bioscience journals published in developing countries.
http://repec.org - volunteers from 102 countries have collected almost 4 million publications on economics and related science.
www.science.gov is an American state search engine on 2200+ scientific sites. More than 200 million articles are indexed.
www.pdfdrive.com is the largest website for free download of books in PDF format. Claiming over 225 million names.
www.base-search.net is one of the most powerful researches on academic studies texts. More than 100 million scientific documents, 70% of them are free
The end of online privacy
Now, this isn't something I usually post about from my silly goofy k1nk account, but I have more followers on here than main.
This applies to everyone. If you're reading this? It's going to effect you.
I'm sure perhaps some of you have seen around about a this thing going around... KOSA, is one of the ways it's being referred to.
If this shit passes, lemme tell you...
LGBTQ+ adults and minors seeking help and community,
people looking for abortions,
people organizing protests,
anyone using their free speech to voice concerns about injustices,
even FAN ARTISTS...
Even people reading fan fiction...
And for the purposes of where I'm posting from... people sharing and enjoying their k1nks, wanting to post things with safety and privacy... smut artists and writers, people even LOOKING for smut...
It's all gone. No privacy.
They'll have your face, your name, your age, where you live.
You'll need an ID to use any US-based platform, even if you're NOT in the United States.
Instead of dooming, here's what you can do to stop this shit in it's tracks 👍
Here is a website where you can sign a letter just by filling out a form, (it takes less than 30 seconds) and where you can call reps.
I HIGHLY suggest leaving calls if you're able, and if you have phone shyness, do this after 6pm, since it will leave messages instead.
I'm shy, but I did it!
Here's another letter to sign, takes less than 20 seconds.
Here is a form you can fill out sharing how the social media has POSITIVELY effected you.
Share all of this with as many people as you can. Our safety, freedom, joy, and protection online is at risk more than ever.
(Here is the thread where I found all of this information.)
STAY SAFE!
alright i am sick of yt to mp4 sites being shady and full of viruses and finding websites that seem to be working and then don't work (looking at you y232 (no hate, just frustrated))
so HERE'S HOW YOU DOWNLOAD YOUTUBE VIDEOS WITH VLC!! VLC FREAKIN RULES!!
get your youtube link
open vlc, go to media > open network stream
paste your url in the box and PRESS PLAY!
wait for the video to open then go to tools > codec information
copy the entire file location (click the box, then ctrl-a to select all, then ctrl-c to copy)
paste into your browser of choice (i use firefox)
right click video and press "save video as", choose your file format if you want
DONE! NO VIRUSES OR SKETCHY STUFF!
the quality might be a little crummy but if you don't mind that, then shabam! video on your computer! then you can email it to yourself and have it on your phone too if you want! if you need a guide with pictures wikihow has you covered my friends
happy downloading and stay safe on the internet :D
i hate seeing people now making fun of those who care about privacy online. i've seen people saying things like "well they already have your data. what are companies going to do with it" and it's like, that's not the point. it's that companies /shouldn't/ be able to have my data and sell it. am i aware they probably already have my data? yes, absolutely. but i'm still going to try and keep them from monetizing it any further, why are we defending companies selling data they shouldn't have to begin with though?
how i sleep knowing i will pirate every single thing released on disney plus
surviving the current age of internet means saying no to subscriptions and premiums for basic features. you must endure the inconvenience of not being able to use every server emoji in discord. you must build the patience to find alternatives like NewPipe so you can listen to music on youtube while your phone screen sleeps. do Not give these corporations your limited disposable income. tiktok not letting me view videos on my phone without downloading the app? i will outlast tiktok and the execs will be remembered as dull,disgusting capitalists. listen to me, listen to me. if you do not know how to pirate shows from hulu, learn. if you can't pirate it, it is not worth the money to rent it. please i'm on my hands and knees. do not accept this form of internet.
Reminder that Section 230 is still in danger!
Key info:
