6 August 2020

Keeping your home network secure

  1. Privacy
    1. Use a VPN that isn't part of 5/9/14 eyes, has unlimited data, doesn't log you https://www.vpn.com/guide/spreadsheet/
    2. Reduce Microsoft telemetry with O&O ShutUp - and why
    3. Pi-hole
  2. Updates
    1. OS
    2. Apps, firmware, drivers
  3. Credentials
    1. Passphrases instead of passwords, or random passwords and a password manager
    2. Unique passwords for everything - haveibeenpwned.com
    3. Enable 2FA on all accounts
    4. Change default passwords on all IoT devices including the router
  4. Router
    1. Move to WPA3 and change and hide your SSID so your model of router isn't publically available and it can't be tracked to your name. Disable older methods (be exclusive, not inclusive)
    2. Disable WPS, UPnP, remote management, port sharing, update the router or move to one with granular control like creating a second network for IoT devices
    3. Disable DHCP and use static addresses and known MACs, and change the IP range from 192.168.xxx.xxx
    4. If feasible, turn off the just the WiFi when you're not in so there is less chance of attack. Keep anything critical on LAN connections.
    5. When travelling, take a travel router with you, and/or use an SSH tunnel to your home address (the Firewalla has the option of a VPN server)
  5. Services
    1. Disable remote access
    2. Disable Samba v1
    3. Secure DNS
    4. Disable bluetooth and any listening devices e.g. Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Apple Siri
    5. Port scanner e.g. nmap (use internally and externally) - prefer instead of website port scanners
  6. Internet
    1. Use an internet security product rather than just antivirus (e.g. sandboxed browsers for banking, phishing filter, granular control of incoming and outgoing apps)
      1. https://rjcuk.blogspot.com/2021/05/antivirus-internet-security-products.html
    2. Use more than one AV product or set of tools
    3. On any downloads, check SHAs where possible and use VirusTotal, enable SmartScreen, run apps in sandboxes where preferable
    4. Setup a honeypot
    5. Network/IP/LAN monitors and scans including scanning from the internet for open ports
  7. Isolation
    1. Use VMs, containers or sandboxes (Windows 10 has one now)
    2. Wipe and reinstall your machine regularly
      1. Attendees of Black Hat conferences go as far as to dump their laptops afterwards
      2. If you're going to the US, use burner equipment - why
      3. Elliot in Mr Robot uses the microwave, but I don't recommend it - more advice
    3. Encrypt your HDD/SSD
    4. Route all traffic through a local gateway/proxy e.g. Raspberry Pi
      1. Squid proxy for just HTTP/S
    5. Firewall e.g. Firewalla
    6. Use a guest network for IoT devices and friends
  8. Physical security
    1. Turn things off when not at home
    2. Don't leave any devices "on display" - lock them away when not using them
    3. Scheduled offsite backups - encrypt the data itself (some tools can provide this) e.g. cloud
    4. Cameras e.g. Ring. Either keep wireless ones on a separate guest network, or get wired ones instead.
      1. You could use Powerline but it doesn't work for everyone and your electrical grid may be shared with your neighbours.
  9. Use Linux
  10. Other general advice
    1. Online safety
    2. Cyber aware
  11. Security hardware
    1. linitx.com
    2. ebuyer.com
    3. novatech.com

26 July 2020

Ethics and suggestions for government

Unethical:
Things I consider unethical (actively bad for the majority of people)
  • Credit cards
  • Stocks and shares
  • Driving diesel/petrol
  • Smoking (especially in public)
  • Excessive drinking
  • Excessive ownership of money (large spending should be regulated, advised and approved)
  • Excessive gambling (more than your excess income)
  • Cruelty to others, animals (i.e. physical abuse, domestic violence) and abandonment
  • Funding anti-LGBT business (or any anti-equality-based division)
  • Public possession of guns

Ethical:
Things that I think may be controversial, but are the right way forward
  • Pornography
  • Eating meat irregularly, sustainably or being vegetarian/vegan
  • Opting for renewable energy resources
  • Adoption (submission and selection)
  • Euthanasia

Improvement required:
Things that the government really needs to work on
  • Universal basic income
  • Mental health walk in centres
  • Online systems for voting and more regular votes
  • Learning and education past 18 for changes to UK law or curriculum, to cover finance, jobs, looking after yourself, cleaning, DIY etc
  • Self assessment tax returns - should be much more automated
  • Tax rebates - Should never be so problematic
  • Prohibition of drugs
  • Driving licences should require regular reassessment of updated practices

21 July 2020

Favourite TikTok videos

Funny (Laugh out loud)
  1. Don't flood the house!
  2. Scrabble yeet
  3. No-no square
    1. Part 2
  4. Lady attempts to use a sign
  5. Plunger on head
  6. Summon Joe Exotic
    1. Part 2
  7. Bus simulator
  8. No toilet paper?
  9. Why isn't fruit square?
  10. Chicken for dad
  11. Coconut no!
    1. Coconut get away from me
  12. Monsters Inc earrape prank
    1. Playing Monsters Inc earrape at college
  13. Hangry
  14. CEO of air bending
  15. Grandma Sandy tries coke & mentos
    1. Grandma 2
  16. Hitler cat attacks plush cat and falls off table
  17. Gun cat
  18. Grumpy husky
  19. Wife is on period 1
    1. Girlfriend on period 1
    2. Girlfriend on period 2
    3. Girlfriend on period 3
    4. That time of the month
  20. The Desperados
  21. Alien wants earth candy
  22. Ferret backs it up
  23. Scaring sleeping girlfriend
  24. Favourite grandson
  25. Dog really wants the buns
  26. Do you want to build a snowman?
  27. Playing an Asian parent
  28. How to deal with telemarketers
  29. Calling Wendys
  30. The Grand Tour - Hoe
  31. The train problem
  32. General Kenobi
  33. Lion King remake
  34. Dog with fireworks
  35. Phucumol
  36. Some sugar

Funny (Subtle)

Dancing

Creative (artistic)
Cute
Scary
Educational
Inspiring

BLM

LGBT

20 July 2020

Things that should be taught in school (WIP)

In my opinion education should be an ongoing service provided to all ages - learning shouldn't stop at 18. Especially for when things change for kids, but then that education isn't disseminated to adults except via news outlets.
  • Jobs
    • Fill out a CV/resume
    • Apply for jobs
    • Be confident
    • Frame yourself in a positive way
    • Communicate proactively
  • Transport
  • House
  • Be social
    • Visit museums, tours, theatre
    • Go to hotels
    • Go on planes
    • Plan a holiday
    • Meet people
    • Attend gigs, functions
  • Health and hygiene
    • Cook and eat healthily
    • Look after yourself mentally (relax, techniques, know when to take a break)
    • Exercise
    • Get help
    • Make appointments for doctors, dentists, opticians
    • Use your time well
    • Shave
    • Tend bad behaviours
    • Go see an ear wax removal specialist to fix hearing problems, or get an ear vacuum
  • Clothes
  • Finance
    • Write a cheque
    • File taxes
    • Buy a house
    • What a credit score is
    • Save money
    • Register for a government gateway ID
    • Check for any benefits that apply to you
    • Use MoneySavingExpert, Quidco, Topcashback and HotUkDeals

Favourite game levels/sequences

  • Ashtray Maze, Control
  • Clockwork Mansion, Dishonored 2
  • Return to the Tower, Dishonored
  • Cloud's Subconscious, Final Fantasy VII
  • Asylum Grounds, MediEvil
  • Wulfrum Hall, MediEvil 2
  • Loading the game after the first playthrough, NieR Automata
  • Xen, Black Mesa
  • The Citadel, Half-Life 2
  • Gnasty's Loot, Spyro The Dragon
  • The Part Where He Kills You, Portal 2
  • The World That Never Was, Kingdom Hearts 2
  • Zora's Domain, Breath of The Wild
  • Hall of Heroes, Bioshock Infinite
  • EOS, Red Faction Guerrilla
  • Mission 10 (Bio-weapon factory), Silent Bomber
  • Forbidden Forest, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (PS1)
  • Fort Frolic, Bioshock
  • Obtaining the black cube, Antichamber
  • The Great Pyramid, Tomb Raider: Anniversary
  • The Tower, Talos Principle
  • Specter Land, Ape Escape
  • City of the Sun, Horizon Zero Dawn
  • Busker's Square, Machinarium
  • Home planet, Samorost 3
  • The Stanley Parable Adventure Line, The Stanley Parable
From scary games:
  • ATC Headquarters, F.E.A.R.
  • Back Hall, Amnesia
  • Reactor, Amnesia: A Machine For Pigs
  • Lamba, SOMA
  • Obliteration Imminent, Dead Space

22 June 2020

Re: Mindfulness


I like the slightly more personal touch as well to break it up a bit. Can tell you're putting in more effort in making more engaging videos, keep it up!
Surprised this video isn't an ad sponsored by a certain chicken restaurant...

The point about taking a moment to appreciate things even if they aren't nice can be applied to other things as well, such as being grateful for what you have. In addition to being aware of your surroundings, another aspect would be reflection, which everyone does. A more prominent need is the necessity for taking breaks or thinking mindlessly in general, like Newton with the apple thinking about gravity, or Einstein on a train thinking of the speed of light as he observed a clock moving away from him.

I imagine blind or deaf people might not like this video. I guess also anyone with hypersensitivity may struggle as it may be out of their control.

The way you described it makes me think that wine is a type of creative art, rather than a means to become inebriated. That's an interesting idea I never thought of before.

As for food, I think it's slightly different, as it has texture as well as taste. Only through repeated exposure can you overcome evolutionary responses of disgust, rather than open-mindedness alone. Many people reject marmite or fish for example. Maybe some people are also masochists, like people who like spicy food. It's interesting that astronauts like a lot of spice with their foods because their olfactory senses weaken due to lower gravity making their noses stuffy.

Obviously I wouldn't recommend people who are allergic or intolerant to drinks/foods to try them.

Re: Who's More Free an Addict or a Slave? - Positive and Negative Liberty

In response to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vf4fRe_BqYg

I see liberty and freedom as the following, without doing any research at all except your video:
Liberty is the right to do something (legal protection)
Freedom is the opportunity to do something
Free will is the ability to choose and perform something

An example might be driving a car.
  • When you turn 16, you're afforded the Liberty to drive unrestricted - without fear of punishment. (Given assumptions/restrictions such as driving in an emissions and electrically safe approved vehicle, following the laws of gravity and not flying in the clouds, and abiding by the DVLA)
  • Freedom is having the resources to actually drive, such as money, time, a parking space, a licence etc. This is partly 'driven' (pun intended) by equity.
  • Free will builds ontop of that and is basically a decision tree of to drive/to not drive/to buy a car/to not but a car/to run people over/to clean your car/to pick up your nan from hairdressers, and all possible permutations.

Positive and negative liberty as you described them seem to map to my definitions above - negative is my liberty, and your positive is my freedom or even free will. A parasympathetic pathway/prohibition/hinderance/negative liberty is a bouncer stopping you from entering a club. A sympathetic pathway/entitlement/positive liberty is you having the personal ability to choose to go to the club in first place, the money to pay for entry, clothes on your back, etc. You can see how free will gets mixed up there.

In the case of the driver's addiction, in my opinion their free will is being obscured. Legally they can smoke. They obviously have the money/freedom to buy cigarettes. But the addiction in their mind is simply cutting off options from the decision tree. It closes doors and narrows the possible permutation paths down to forced destiny.

Best mental health advice I've received

  • Don't worry about what everyone else expects you to be, or do, or think about. If you keep comparing yourself to others, you'll have no time for you.

  • Don't get hung up on someone who dumped you. Why should they go off and be happy with their lives when you have to suffer?

  • Optimism and pessimism are sometimes the reasons you put things off or put barriers in your life, like getting a car, going on holiday, signing up to the gym. There is a comfort zone that people don't like to get out of too.

  • Capitalism, and through it, consumerism and advertising, is designed to make you feel inadequate to convince you that you need more in your life to be successful and happy, when really, you don't need a pretty car or a pretty bra or make up.

  • Where a lot of thought and behaviour comes from is often down to mental health causes (autism, anxiety, ADHD, bipolar disorder, depression…), or your personality type. Familiarising yourself with how you have behave can help a lot in knowing how to help yourself.

  • Learning about philosophy and psychology can help understand human behaviour more, but can equally distance you from humanity. Ignorance is bliss. However seeing and experiencing distressing situations can help mould you to be prepared for the worst, like horror, violence, poverty etc. The bad point is when you get PTSD.

  • (Maybe) meditation can help, but I think just give yourself a break and don't push yourself too hard (or allow it to come to that).

  • Listening to the ringing bells, reading, and empathising with others can help you be a better friend and person


And my own:
  • Breaking down a problem into bitesize chunks makes something insurmountable actually achievable
  • Don't be jealous (envious) of your friends and what they have, be happy that you are friends with them and you can refer to them, show them off and be proud of them
  • Give yourself a break, time and space when things are on top of you, and tell people you're feeling that way. It is not a burden, it is a relief.
  • My social media banner https://twitter.com/rjc_uk/header_photo:

Animal Crossing - Giving Up

I'm giving up with Animal Crossing. Here's why.


  • Progress in the game is very slow. You are very limited with the progress you can make in 24 hours at a time.

  • The only way to make meaningful progress is to be forced to agree with Tom Nook's unsustainable capitalist regime of bigger and better, in which his demands are really unnecessary and incompatible with someone who prefers a minimalist lifestyle.

  • In order to make that progress you need money, And you get that money through work. However, that work is menial, demeaning, repetitive, mindless, and unintellectual. All you can do is either sell everything you own or has been gifted to you, or you pick up flotsam and jetsam and any crap lying around the place and flog it.

  • There are now too many loans and people and responsibilities for them that I have to keep track of that it had become stressful tending to everyone's needs.

  • Fishing often simply doesn't work and no introduction was given. Controls generally are inconsistent. Digging using a shovel often hits the wrong tile, it should be illuminated or selectable instead.

  • Dialog is overly repetitive. You wouldn't have the exact same conversation and introductions with someone you meet every day in real life. You can't even skip them.

Solving Violence

I am a pacifist. I've never fought back from bullies. I don't watch WWF. Violence to me is abhorrent.

However, in the world violence continues today in the forms of harming and murdering innocent people with knives, guns, acid, rape, bullying, domestic violence, explosives etc. Why do people do this?

In cavemen times when were were more primal and animalistic, hunting for food and killing animals was the pretty much the only way to stay alive and feed your family. Obviously in our modern society, we've industrialised food production, cooking, storage, delivery and consumption. People need not hunt anymore.

But that doesn't mean our biology hasn't stopped us from being predators. Our canine teeth are designed for tearing meat. Adrenaline (and testosterone, to some extent) brings an elevated heart rate, aggression, focus, energy, and passion.

So, violence is fundamental to us. What our options?
  1. Prevent violence. Clearly with modern society making all forms of violence illegal, this isn't working.
    1. Genetically removing the production of adrenaline seems extreme.
    2. There are only so many police you can have before it becomes a police state and may have curfews.
  2. Middle ground - permit some forms.
  3. Allow violence. Basically America and some African/Asian countries. Hello anarchy.
I think the answer lies in the middle ground. Here's some options.
  1. Controlled environments
    1. Fight Club. The first two rules of 'not talking about Fight Club' is essentially defeating the need to let out the adrenaline.
    2. WWF, sumo wrestling, any other contact sports
  2. Video-games and simulated violence
    1. A 'healthy' way to let out violent tendencies, with first person shooters and VR games like GORN and Boneworks

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