Hacker Culture

In this episode we talk about how to level up your privacy online using only your mind. Having the correct mindset will get you 80% of the way to internet privacy. Reaching 100% is extremely difficult and likely impossible. However, if you start with the right mindset you'll get much closer than if you only used tools like a bandage. But don't worry, we'll cover the tools I'm currently using to boost that percentage as close to 100% as possible. Click here for the shownotes. Don't forget, head over to hackerculture.us and sign up so you never miss and episode. This podcast is ad-free. Support the show at: hackerculture.us/support

In this episode we talk about running OpenBSD on a top of the line laptop from 2011. We also cover files to edit for a Linux replacement, how to connect to WiFi without extra software, and one tweak that will speed up any workstation running OpenBSD. Plus, tips and tricks to get the most out of your old hardware in as little time as possible. OpenBSD is a multi-platform 4.4BSD-based UNIX-like OS; with an emphasis on "correctness, security, standardization, and portability. Click here for the shownotes. Don't forget, head over to hackerculture.us and sign up so you never miss and episode. This podcast is ad-free. Support the show at: hackerculture.us/support

In this episode we chat about programming languages. Specifically, which is best to learn first depending on what part of the "stack" you plan to work within.Each area has a different core language that is most popular. Learning which one to choose, and focus on, is a big step in building your skills fast.The faster you learn the faster you can start applying to jobs or working as a freelance software engineer.Show NotesDon't forget, head over to hackerculture.us and sign up so you never miss and episode.This podcast is ad-free. Support the show at: hackerculture.us/support

In this episode we talk about with Linux distribution is best for you. We cover Ubuntu, Manjaro, and the two distros they spun out of. Plus, what I use and why I use it.Click here for the show notes.Don't forget, head over to hackerculture.us and sign up so you never miss and episode.This podcast is ad-free. Support the show at: hackerculture.us/support

How to remove Google from your Android phone is easier than you might expect. What's often holding people back is where to find the right information. In this episode, we talk about how to remove Google services from your Android phone. For most people, LineageOS is the way to go because they have a large list of supported devices. But they also come free of Google software and services by default! If you need Google services for an app you must have check out MicroG. MicroG is "a free software clone of Google’s core libraries and applications". The maintainers also have a version of LineageOS ready to go for an easier install. Don't forget, head over to swabtech.io/hackerculture and sign up so you never miss and episode. This podcast is ad-free. Please consider supporting the show.

In this episode we talk about over clocking your PC and how to do it the right way. You spent your hard earned money on those computer parts so why not get the most out of them while keeping longevity high?

In this episode we chat about why Bitcoin is not good money and what cryptocurrency is good money.

Tired of your spaghetti symlinks file and needing to update it after every file you create? Try this approach and have a simple and sane dotfile directory.

As a kid in the mid 2000s I fell in love with chat apps. But what is the best app for real hackers today?

In this episode we talk about why plain text files are better for efficiency in your workflows.

In this episode we chat about OpenBSD vs. Linux and why I started to dabble in OpenBSD on my X200

In thin episode we talk about how it's easier than ever to be your own host and platform. Now is the time to take back the web and decentralize it as it was meant to be.

In this episode we chat about a shell script I wrote called "audiodl" and how it simplified my process of saving music from an online source to my computer.

In this episode we talk about my plan to pivot my Internet based company to allow me to write open source code full time. There are three ways that may work and I'm going to try them all.

In thin episode we talk about how home-y a Google free Android device feels. As well as my new site at swab.dev

In this episode we tank about tiling window managers and how much I missed DWM.

In today's episode I talk about the long hard road to being Google free again on my Android device.

Programming is becoming an essential skill as times change due to the ever increasing use of computer technology. In this episode we talk about why you should learn to code even if you don't want to be a programmer, how to land your first programming job, and what language you should start with. For courses and books by me visit linktr.ee/jrswab

In this episode we talk about 2FA. What it is, why you need it, and what are the best options out there. https://linktr.ee/jrswab

Gitea is a fork of Gogs; both of which are a self hosted Git solution putting you in full control of your repos. Join us at chat.jrswab.com

I got a free Nexus 5 so I decided to load up Ubuntu Touch.

As a hacker I am always out to learn new skills and recently it has been Emacs. I love Vim though so this is a touchy subject...

The following instructions are for Arch Linux without Xorg (so  essentially terminal only arch or what you get after a fresh Arch Linux  install). If you are using Ubuntu server or another distro, the steps  should be close to the same. But not exact so please do your research.  You may get lucky and just have to edit the config file.

Many people use an ad blocker like uBlockOrigin to block ads from  tracking us around the web but this only works on the devices it is  installed on. We can do one better and prevent them all across any  network in our control.

"Welcome to Matrix: An open network for secure, decentralized communication."

Last week we talked about a new app I found called Webapps Sandboxed. This week I talk about what it was like using it for as many apps as possible.

"The idea behind it is to provide a secure way to browse popular webapps by eliminating referrers, 3rd party requests, insecure HTTP requests, etc. It accomplishes this by providing a sandbox for multiple webapps. Each webapp will run in it's own sandbox, with 3rd party requests blocked, and all external links opening in an external default web browser. Homescreen shortcuts can be created to any of the saved webapps." - Toby Kurien, creator of WebApps Sandboxed Browser.

"Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation, and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems. The standard is maintained by the Unicode Consortium, and as of  June 2018 the most recent version, Unicode 11.0, contains a repertoire of 137,439 characters covering 146 modern and historic scripts, as well as multiple symbol sets and emoji." - Wikipedia

Then I was browsing YouTube at the end of the night to relax before bed  and came across a video talking about note-taking applications that are  both cross-platform and robust. This is where I heard about Notion  again. I can't remember where I first heard about it, but the first  time I chose not to give it a go. After that first video, I looked up  some others on Notion and saw how much this app can do and aims to achieve.

One day awhile back I chose to learn about a cryptocurrency that previously I knew nothing about. The pick was Monero, a coin (at the time) ranked thirteenth by market cap on coinmarketcap.com and eighth by price. What I found interesting about this coin was the mining algorithm, CryptoNight.

My mind has been on the Domain Name System (DNS) server for about a week now. I've been mulling over whether VPNs are necessary and what level of trust should be placed in a DNS provider. It's evident not to trust your ISP's DNS since some companies have been caught manipulating the data or using you DNS metadata to sell to other companies. Both of which suck. This collection of data via the DNS still happens even when a user connects to a VPN. The data between the user and the site is encrypted but the request to what IP address ties to the requested domain name, is not. Worst of all the user is almost always using their ISP's default servers which they control.

A VPN is an encrypted tunnel between your computer and the internet  at large. They exist to allow employees access to internal intranets of a  company to do work remotely. That's it. They are merely a tunnel and not a means to keep your data/metadata  private. Any VPN provider you use can see what you access, how often,  and for how long. It's not hard either; I do this in my own home from  time to time with a program called Wireshark; cause I'm a nerd. Just being on a VPN does not make your data private.

Patreon is able to shut down the income of a creator that is flagged by a random user. This is, at times, warranted by the content of the creator but is a very slippery slope. Instead of leaving this source of funding to a company that takes a cut and can shut you down without notice; creators should use a donation platform that respects their privacy, freedom, and is open source.

Grav is a web-based CMS in much the same way that WordPress is web-based. You set up an account on your server and then log in to create posts, pages, upload media, or add plugins. But, it's much more tailored to the kind of person I am than WordPress.

After some thinking about the current state of social media and mass email lists, RSS came to mind, and it's actually a much better alternative for privacy. No data collection, no feed manipulation, no email newsletters. It's like someone from the future went to the past and gave us the answer to subscribing to creators without giving our away every detail about our lives.

In this episode we talk about the original decentralized cryptocurrency exchange called BitShares. Why risk the hacking and government shutdown of the old exchange paradigm when you can use the future?!

For the past year, I was using the OnePlus 3T without any Google apps or services. Now I picked up the OnePlus 6T and am figuring out a balance between extreme privacy and convince.

Secure Scuttlebutt is "a database of unforgeable append-only feeds, optimized for efficient replication for peer to peer protocols." This may be my way to decentralize Archivatory.

Join us over at [email protected]! Need an XMPP account? No problem, just us Pidgin or Finch to sign up and start chatting with us today!

In this episode, we chat about Regular Expressions and a great tool to learn how to use this powerful tool wisely. Let me know if you can make this shorter -> `([0-9]{1,3}\.){3}[0-9]{1,3}`

IPFS, Better Than HTTP When we download a file from the internet, we access a traditional server and request to have the data we need. Then the server sends this file over the internet to us little by little until the entire file is in our possession. This process takes time and resources at a much higher rate than using a peer-to-peer service like IPFS. When we want to download a copy of a file hosted on the IPFS network we get bits and pieces from many computers, not just one.

In this episode we talk about a book that I am using to study up on Linux System Administration. My goal is to same day work as a sysadmin and filling in the gaps of me knowledge will be important to land that first Linux job.

The previous episode in this series covered a few basic commands that we use most often in both the terminal and in Bash scripts. Today we will stay with this trend as we progress into more ways to manipulate what our computer does. If you have never used Bash, go back and listen over those posts.

Welcome back to the bash tutorial series. If you have not listened to the first episode in the series and you have never used bash please check that out before continuing. There are basic commands and terms we cover there that may make this section easier to follow.

This is a start to a series all about bash and scripting for the terminal. There are lots of commands to cover but today is all about the basics.

Us geeks, nerds, and technology lovers spend most of our day in front of a computer. We wake up and head the work where we spend eight hours on a computer to pay the bills. Then we come home and turn on our own laptop or desktop to relax with some games, code a project, or create content for the web. All this time adds up and we find ourselves over-weight or out of shape. This is what happened to me over the years.

While this podcast is all about a technology of some sort this episode needs the attention of the nerd community. We spend all day on our computers coding, blogging, and consuming knowledge. This leads to many problems over time that even myself deal with now. It is best to keep ergonomics in mind when updating our work space.

We mentioned YaCy in the past episode titled "Peer-To-Peer: Our Only Hope." Today we are getting more in-depth with YaCy and why it is essential. We, as internet users, need to be mindful of who is using our data and how. Does it benefit us to give up our information and privacy?

VPN stands for Virtual Private Network. It is virtual since the computer acts like it is on another network when on your normal connection. The private part is where this matters to you. The VPN has end-to-end encryption so while you are connected to the VPN the data is jumbled and unreadable to any onlooker.