- cypherpunks - lists.cpunks.org

FWD: [Better than Zoom: Try these free software tools for staying in touch]
by Se7en 26 Apr '20

26 Apr '20

Zoom is a proprietary Teleconfrencing Software package that has grown in popularity over the past month. I had not heard of it until recently. Many schools that are still open have made it a requirement, from High School to College Level. It is a proprietary piece of technology that need not be used, especially when alternatives exist. Previously, I shared a video from Luke Smith, an internet personality, on Zoom. Now, the FSF has made a statement, as seen below. ----- Forwarded message from "Greg Farough, FSF" <info(a)fsf.org> ----- Date: Fri, 03 Apr 2020 18:05:32 -0400 From: "Greg Farough, FSF" <info(a)fsf.org> To: se7en(a)cock.email Subject: Better than Zoom: Try these free software tools for staying in touch Reply-To: "Greg Farough, FSF" <info(a)fsf.org> Free Software Foundation Please consider adding info(a)fsf.org to your address book, which will ensure that our messages reach you and not your spam box. Read and share online: https://www.fsf.org/blogs/community/ better-than-zoom-try-these-free-software-tools-for-staying-in-touch Dear Free Software Supporter, The COVID-19 pandemic has caused an enormous amount of changes in how people work, play, and communicate. By now, many of us have settled into the routine of using remote communication or videoconferencing tools to keep in touch with our friends and family. In the last few weeks we've also seen a number of lists and guides aiming to get people set up with the "right" tools for communicating in hard times, but in almost every case, these articles recommend that people make a difficult compromise: trading their freedom in order to communicate with the people they care about and work with. In times like these it becomes all the more important to remember that tools like Zoom, Slack, and Facebook Messenger are not benign public services, and while the sentiment they've expressed to the global community in responding to the crisis may be sincere, it hasn't addressed the fundamental ethical issues with any piece of proprietary software. After taking the LibrePlanet 2020 conference online, we received a number of requests asking us to document our streaming setup. As the pandemic grew worse, this gave way to more curiosity about how the Free Software Foundation (FSF) uses free tools and free communication platforms to conduct our everyday business. And while the stereotype of hackers hunched over a white on black terminal session applies to us in some ways, many of the tools we use are available in any environment, even for people who do not have a lot of technical experience. We've started documenting ethical solutions on the LibrePlanet wiki, in addition to starting a remote communication mailing list to help each other advocate for their use. In the suggestions that follow, a few of the tools we will recommend depend upon some "self-reliance," that is, steering clear of proprietary network services by hosting free software solutions yourself, or asking a technical friend to do it for you. It's a difficult step, and the benefits may not be immediately obvious, but it's a key part of preserving your autonomy in an age of ubiquitous digital control. To those who have the technical expertise and available infrastructure, we urge you to consider hosting instances of free communication platforms for your friends, family, and your community at large. For example, with a modest server and some GNU/Linux knowledge, you could help local students learn in freedom by volunteering to administer an instance of one of the programs we'll be recommending below. The need to self-host can be an uncomfortable reminder of our dependence on the "cloud" -- the network of someone else's computers -- but acknowledging our current reliance on these providers is the first step in making new, dependable systems for ourselves. During dangerous and stressful times, it's tempting to sideline our ethical commitments for easier or more convenient ways to get things done, and software freedom is no exception. We hope these suggestions will inspire you to inform others about the importance of their freedom, privacy, and security. Chat When we can no longer communicate face-to-face, tools for voice and video calling often come to mind as the next best thing. But as evidenced by the size and success of the proprietary software companies that sponsor these tools, their development isn't easy. Promoting real-time voice and video chat clients remains a High Priority Project of ours. Though we may still be waiting for a truly perfect solution, there are some projects that are far enough along in their development that we can recommend them to others. Audio calls • Mumble: Mumble is a real-time, low latency program for hosting and joining audio conversations. Clients are available for every major operating system, and even large rooms tend not to put too much stress on the network. When it was time for us to go fully remote, the FSF staff turned to Mumble as a way to have that "in-office" feel, staying in touch in rooms dedicated to each of our teams and a general purpose "water cooler" room. • Asterisk/SIP: When we give tours of the FSF office, people often think we're joking when we mention that even the FSF's conference phones run free software. But through Asterisk and our use of the SIP protocol, it's entirely true. Although it can be difficult to set up, it's worth mentioning that free software can manage your traditional phone lines, and even transfer calls seamlessly to digital extensions or SIP clients like Jami and Linphone. Video calls and presentations • Jitsi: Jitsi was a key part of LibrePlanet 2020's success. Providing video and voice calls through the browser via WebRTC, it also allows for presenters to share their screen in a similar way to Zoom. And unlike Zoom, it doesn't come with serious privacy violations or threats to user freedom. The connection between callers is direct and intuitive, but a central server is still required to coordinate callers and rooms. Some of these, like the Jitsi project's own "Jitsi Meet" server, recommend proprietary browser extensions and document sharing tools. If you're able, hosting your own instance is the most free and reliable method. • OBS: Another much-used software program this LibrePlanet was OBS Studio. Illness, different timezones, or unforeseen travel were no match for the solutions that OBS Studio offered. It's a flexible tool for streaming video from multiple inputs to a Web source, whether that's combining your webcam with conference slides, or even your favorite free software game. At LibrePlanet, OBS allowed our remote speakers to record their presentations while speaking in one screen, and sharing audiovisual materials in a second window. Text chat • XMPP: If you've ever used "Jabber," older iterations of Google Talk or Facebook Messenger, then you've used XMPP. XMPP is a flexible and extensible instant messaging protocol that's lately seen a resurgence from clients like Conversations.im and encryption schema like OMEMO. XMPP is the instant messaging method we prefer at the FSF when we need to discuss something privately, or in a secure group chat, as everything is sent through servers we control and encrypted against individual staff members' private key. Also, access to the FSF XMPP server is one of the many benefits of our associate membership program. • IRC: Messaging services have become all the rage in office atmospheres, but nothing about Messenger or Slack is new. In fact, Slack (and its counterpart for video games, Discord) takes more than a few cues from the venerable Internet Relay Chat (IRC). IRC remains an enduring way to have a text-based chat in real-time, and as evidenced by Web clients like The Lounge, or desktop clients like Pidgin, it can be as stripped down or feature-rich as you like. For a true hacker experience, you can also log into IRC using Emacs. Long-form discussion • Encrypted email: While it's asynchronous and maybe the most "old school" item on our list, GPG-encrypted email is a core part of the FSF workflow, and helps guard against prying eyes, whether they're one room over or in an NSA compound across the country. The initial setup can sometimes be a challenge, which is why we provide the Email Self-Defense Guide to get you up and running. • Discourse: Discourse is the message board software that powers the FSF associate member forum, and we couldn't be happier to recommend it. While the concept may seem a little antiquated, message boards remain a good way to coordinate discussions on a particular topic. Discourse's moderation tools are intuitive and easy to use, and it even includes achievements for users to earn! Document Sharing If you're unused to working remotely, finding ways to collaborate with others on a document or presentation can be a challenge. At the FSF, Etherpad is the main tool that we use to keep live meeting notes and work together on other documents. It provides all the features you need for quick collaboration, including comments, revision tracking, and exports to a variety of formats. You can host your own instance, or you can select an instance made available by others and start sharing. File Sharing At the FSF office, we have a common server to store our files. Not everyone has the luxury of a setup like that, and especially not due to the fast changeover from office to home. To avoid using proprietary "solutions" and disservices like Dropbox, you can turn to the widely popular Nextcloud to synchronize your text and email messages, share calendars with coworkers, and exchange files privately with your friends. If you need something temporary, there's always Up1. Up1 is a temporary, encrypted text and image sharing program you can host locally, making sure those files you need to exchange are only there for just as long as it takes for your friend to download them. And while we don't use it ourselves, we've heard good things about the Riseup network's instance of Up1, and will occasionally suggest it to those wanting a quick and easy way to share files while retaining their freedom. Conclusion This is just a small selection of the huge amount of free software out there, all ready to be used, shared, and improved by the community. For more suggestions on both local and Web-based programs, visit the FSF's Free Software Directory, our volunteer-run wiki which aims to be a comprehensive list of the thousands of free programs available for everyday use. As always, free software is a moving target. We reap as much as the community puts into it, and as more and more attention shifts to the crisis caused by the novel coronavirus, the tools themselves are likely to see an increased amount of development. Please collaborate with us on the LibrePlanet wiki's entry on remote communication to help people find ways of communicating that put user freedom as a priority. In solidarity, Greg Farough Campaigns Manager Follow us on: Mastodon | GNU social | Diaspora | Twitter Read about why we use Twitter, but only with caveats Subscribe to our blog via RSS Join us as an associate member Read the Free Software Foundation Privacy Policy Sent from the Free Software Foundation, 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor Boston, Massachusetts 02110-1335 United States You can unsubscribe from this mailing list by visiting the link https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/mailing/unsubscribe?reset=1&jid=160982&qid=54031… h=f7a42b44b85e5aa4. To stop all email from the Free Software Foundation, including Defective by Design, and the Free Software Supporter newsletter, click this link: https://my.fsf.org/civicrm/mailing/optout?reset=1&jid=160982&qid=54031685&h= f7a42b44b85e5aa4. ----- End forwarded message ----- -- |-----/ | Se7en / The One and Only! | se7en(a)cock.email / | 0x0F83F93882CF6116 / | https://se7en-site.neocities.org

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1770s cypherpunks - programmable writing doll - Fwd: 240 year old doll from Switzerland...
by Zenaan Harkness 25 Apr '20

25 Apr '20

The inspiration for the movie Hugo is actually a true story of a master Swiss watchmaker who make an actually writing doll which could actually be programmed to choose which and which sequence of letters to write. This doll still works today. http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ux2KW20nqHU https://mymodernmet.com/jaquet-droz-automata/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jaquet-Droz_automata https://www.chonday.com/15454/the-writer-automaton/ There's also a 2019 indie horror movie which apparently riffs on the theme, "The Devil's Machine". https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8339704/reviews ----- Forwarded message from Gil May <gilmay97(a)gmail.com> ----- From: Gil May <gilmay97(a)gmail.com> To: reader(a)gmail.com Date: Sun, 26 Apr 2020 08:25:01 +1000 Subject: Fwd: 240 year old doll from Switzerland... *Brilliantly ingenious * *Subject:* *240 year old doll from Switzerland...* Greetings All, Especially those of you who like to tinker with computers. It amazes me the doll was built 240 years ago when computers as we know them today had not been thought of. A 240 - year - old doll that can write, a clockwork creation by Pierre Jaquet-Droz. Yes, it’s 240 years old. This clip will fascinate just about all the engineers, artists, clock makers, doll makers, computer programmers, want - to- be inventors or basically anyone out there that likes to tinker. This is more than tinkering. When you view this, think computers. Enjoy. It is truly amazing. Remember, this was built in the 1770' http://www.chonday.com/Videos/the-writer-automaton Regards Gil ----- End forwarded message -----

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Marshal, Global Player, Crypto Computer Hacker, Peoples Man, Kim Jong Un Eats His Veggies
by grarpamp 25 Apr '20

25 Apr '20

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[Music] The Liar Tweets Tonight
by Cecilia Tanaka 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

"The List Tweets Tonight" <https://youtu.be/TkU1ob_lHCw> A cute song about "Don Exotic Lyin' King", aka "Donald Trump"! :D Lots of tender disinfected kisses!!! <3 Ceci

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Cryptocurrency: War On Cash - CBDC's Are Winning Crypto Race Against You
by grarpamp 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

https://www.zerohedge.com/crypto/cbdc-overarching-goal-behind-digitisation-… https://stevenguinness2.wordpress.com/2020/04/22/are-cbdcs-the-overarching-… No-privacy legacy Bitcoin protocols are Govt and all other oppressors, spies, extorters, etc best friend. Who is doing privacy in protocol? Cryptocurrency needs to evolve past first generation bloat of chain on disk... to utxo state protocols. Who is doing that? All in a fully distributed permissionless controlless censorless ungoverned protocol.

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Could you help our lonely 98-year-old WW2 vet neighbor regain access to his Yahoo email?
by grarpamp 23 Apr '20

23 Apr '20

> helped to explode my family. > But he was only a soldier following the government's orders While all governments are obviously unnecessary self-interested and evil garbages, as to who is really quite more responsible for creating and supporting those governments, and for choosing to do the exploding, look inside... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SxKDgNBQNRI One must liberate one's mind before any liberation tech can ever hope to become to any good liberating use, and to any actually liberated end. Get a burner phone to unlock the mail. Obviously most of world has extreme asshole governments that won't let you do that without biometric ID, full location spying, dox, etc, etc. Because you know, Mr. 98 could be a SCARY pedo pimp drug terro trafik shooter mafia... And of course now that Yahoo is owned by Verizon, you all know you can just call up centralized legacy tech Ma Bell and pretext them into just resetting or handing it over, just as easy as SIM jacking.

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[OT] [Music] "History Maker" - Dean Fujioka
by Cecilia Tanaka 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

This song was used in an anime opening, which I think it's pretty cute. The anime is "Yuri!!! on Ice" and the song, named "History Maker", is somehow related to us in a very sweet way. <3 <https://youtu.be/ORDXWrL5EuQ> And here are the lyrics in a cute version of "Sing Along" video: <https://youtu.be/lDyx06yywfc> I love you, History Makers! Be always happy and keep yourselves pretty well and safe, please! <3 Ceci <3 ---------- Loving. Caring. Sharing. Being Excellent To Each Other And To Our Hackerspace. <3 ---------- "Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your curiosity. It's your place in the world; it's your life. Go on and do all you can with it, and make it the life you want to live." - Mae Jemison

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Video chat software / options
by Douglas Lucas 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

Hey cypherpunks, So what video chat options are there that are less privacy violating and social graphing than Zoom, Skype, etc, while still being at least somewhat available to the everyday user? Imagine two use cases: 1. Audiovideo chat between Alice and Bob: they want to watch an online movie together whether by sharing a screen or some other method, and then have sexy times later by same audiovideo chat. Imagine further that Bob uses Linux laptop and knows more or less what he's doing, while Alice uses Windows or Apple or her standard-issue smartphone or w/e and doesn't want to spend her little weekend time off paidwork trying to configure stuff to meet some faraway incel's expectation of flawless fantasy security. 2. A video panel or Q&A being hosted by your local friendly anarchist bookstore. Maybe it needs 3-5 people on a panel talking, their famous faces visible on the screen along with their audio while they debate each on internecine leftist conflicts that distract from far more rational propaganda of the deed, while the 20 people in the audience, including people of all sorts of demographics who have a hard enough time paying their bills online, have their audio and video forcibly off so there's not random beeps and bloops and toddler singing during the panel, but the audience could still type in Q&A questions or whatever. It would also be cool if there was a film screening option -- imagine an anarchist bookstore that prior to covid19 had been doing weekly film screenings offline in their brick and mortar location, but now wants to do something similar online, while making it hopefully accessible for people without intense computer skills. How are Signal and Wire for the above? My big picture understanding has for a long time been that, 1. perfect security is snake oil, the top spy agencies can crack anything if they want given enough time and targetting interest, but that's not typically relevant to the above use cases unless you're a Supreme Court justice or an incel fantasizing about being James Bond, 2. encryption makes data packet size much bigger, and large data size is already a problem with video in cleartext, so there never has been a really good solution to this problem. However #2 was my understanding as of like 5 years ago, so I'm curious if some new solution has come out. It looks like EFF is fairly useless and using Zoom themselves. I suppose if they're not gonna go after something meaningful, like how the corporate voting gear in the US is closed source, they have to spend that sweet Papa Omidyar cash and prestige somehow and produce little guides about how to toggle your Zoom settings. Afte https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/what-you-should-know-about-online-too… https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/cc-backgrounds-video-calls-eff https://ssd.eff.org/ Guides by Riseup Networks don't have much on video understandably https://riseup.net/en/security/resources https://riseup.net/en/security Prism Break mentions something called Jami I've never heard of https://prism-break.org/en/all/ And yeah, Signal and Wire...? I know everything is fucked but using something less bad for the use cases outlined above seems better than diving headfirst into whatever the worst popular solutions are. Thanks! Doug

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Re: Video chat software / options
by Douglas Lucas 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

Does anyone have experience with, or thoughts on, Kast and TwoSeven? For use cases of either a one to one video chat, small group video chat, or large group video chat. Are these mostly for just drunk people with masks on partying or could they be repurposed for more formal situations like a virtual panel with audience attendees etc?

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WHO, World Bank, Wuhan Virology institute, CDC, NIH and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was leaked
by b0z0＠SDF.ORG 22 Apr '20

22 Apr '20

#Archive On Today's dawn, April 21, 2020, the databases of WHO, World Bank, Wuhan Virology institute, CDC, NIH and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was leaked Here are the archives. WHO https://archive.is/JIJ2b World Bank https://archive.is/0XJEL Wuhan Virology Institute https://archive.is/UtQGz US CDC https://archive.is/lyApN NIH https://archive.is/WkHpk Gates Foundation https://archive.is/j6sgo b0z0(a)sdf.lonestar.org SDF Public Access UNIX System - http://sdf.lonestar.org

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