Thom Zane

Free, Libre, Open SysAdmin. Hacker. Speaker. Tinkerer. Dad.

#Privacy #SoftwareFreedom #FreeSoftware #OpenSource #DigitalRights

GitHub: https://github.com/TechnologyClassroom
Libera IRC: thomzane
GPG: https://pgp.mit.edu/pks/lookup?op=get&search=0x43372794C8ADD5CA8FCFFA6CD03759DAB600E3C0
LibrePay: https://liberapay.com/technologyclassroom/

Last Notes

2026-04-09 04:58:49 UTC

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Darknet Diaries is a great podcast. The two-part episodes 99 and 100 are probably the peak, but it is the only podcast that I have listened to every episode.
https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/99/
https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/100/

2026-04-08 16:20:28 UTC

The latest episode of #DarknetDiaries about piracy boxes with malware is really good and worth a listen. https://darknetdiaries.com/episode/172/ As a sysadmin, I've been defending my networks from botnets using these "residential proxies" for years.

2026-04-02 00:47:15 UTC

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That was so cool!

2026-04-01 13:16:02 UTC

A member of my family was having difficulty printing out some images for a school project. It seemed like all of the Google Image search results were watermarked and required payment.
I want to highlight this CC0 image search tool that has been a very useful resource for me: https://free-images.com/

2026-03-26 18:04:16 UTC

#GitHub users have until April 24 to opt-out of unnecessary #Copilot training data.
Story: https://github.blog/news-insights/company-news/updates-to-github-copilot-interaction-data-usage-policy/
Direct link to settings: https://github.com/settings/copilot/features
I would recommend going through and disabling all of the options on the page that you are allowed to disable.

2026-03-14 16:13:57 UTC

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As a nod to Heated Rivalry, the title could be Warm Levain.

2026-02-10 01:38:30 UTC

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Fallout: New Vegas is a magnificent example of a computer RPG. It is rough around the edges and incomplete, but it has so many memorable scenes in it along with an odd collection of distinct factions. It is normal for it to take about 10 tries before it boots kind of like starting an old lawnmower. Max out luck and don't try to take the shortcut.

2026-02-07 15:11:47 UTC

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Arch uses a radically different philosophy for package maintenance. Instead of having an army of software maintainers backporting security patches to a fixed version for years, they let upstream do their thing for the most part unless something big breaks. The benefit is that you get updates packages faster and get to participate in the active development of the software that you use. The drawback is that things break every now and then.

2026-02-07 13:33:42 UTC

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When I get to pick, I usually go with Debian, Trisquel, or Arch.

2026-02-06 01:11:30 UTC

I made some updates to my latest repositories LogReview and FirewallBlockGen this weekend.
https://github.com/TechnologyClassroom/LogReview
https://github.com/TechnologyClassroom/firewallblockgen

2025-09-16 17:39:10 UTC

I will be giving a new talk this weekend titled "How to fight DDoS attacks from the command line" at @npub1djp…zcrd this Saturday September 20th at 2:30pm. Come check it out if you are in the area. https://www.bsidesct.org/
#connecticut #ddos
https://s3.amazonaws.com/daedal-media/media_attachments/files/115/215/150/332/873/631/original/99d1122c00243fa6.jpg

2025-03-26 15:11:05 UTC

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Where did this English version come from? I found the article. https://niboe.info/whatsapp-telegram-signal-privacidad/
For completion, here is the 2021 article I based that slide of mine on:
https://fsf.org.in/article/better-than-whatsapp/ I used slightly different language.

2025-03-26 13:08:00 UTC

I know I am in a minority, but I do not trust #Signal service. I talked about Signal in comparison to several other messaging platforms in my HOPE 2022 talk. The content is still relevant and very little has changed. Starts around the 28:45 mark.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wH-zQ4jS_ww

2024-11-09 14:03:49 UTC

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Not you too! E2EE without the ability to manage your own keys and verify the mechanisms of encryption means that Apple can introduce more ghost keys behind the scenes allowing themselves and others to be included in who can decrypt the information.
Then there is the whole notifications issue where Apple and Google were leaking that which should be local. https://www.reuters.com/technology/cybersecurity/governments-spying-apple-google-users-through-push-notifications-us-senator-2023-12-06/
I don't trust Apple.

2024-11-09 01:16:57 UTC

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Sadly many people believe that Apple is secure. That is what they keep saying. Even EFF repeat their ads.