Faraday bags work great for this - just remeber they completely block all signals (not just GPS but also calls/texts), so you’ll be unreachable when using it, which might cause suspicion if you’re “off grid” too long.

If you’re on Android, using a firewall app like NetGuard or TrackerControl can block those background processes from phoning home, even if you cant completely uninstall the apps due to work/family.

Another aproach is to use a smart power outlet or surge protector like the ones on gearscouts.com to completely cut power to the TV when not watching - can’t phone home if it’s not even powered.

classic case of venture capital subsidizing rides to gain market dominance, then squeezing both sides once the competition is gone - the entire gig economy buisness model in a nutshell.

If you do end up hosting on a VPS, consider one with renewable energy since tor nodes can consume a lot of power over time - or for home setups, you could run it off a portable power station to offset electricity costs (check out power station comparisons to find the best wh value for continous loads).

Those auto generators are lifesavers in rural areas! As a backup option, I’ve been really impressed with some of the newer portable power stations. You can compare options on gearscouts.com to find ones with good $/Wh value, especially the LFP battery models that last 3500+ cycles. They’re silent and can run indoors unlike gas generators.

Signal’s security model is indeed robust - their E2E protocol is open source, independently audited, and uses perfect forward secrecy which telegram’s secret chats don’t implemnet properly.

Just to clarify, VectorChord is actually the company that makes pgvecto.rs (the postgres vector extension), so you’re both talking about the same thing lol.

MPD (Music Player Daemon) would be perfect for that old Autonomic - super lightweight, runs on practically anythng, and Symfonium is an amazing Android client that supports it natively.

I feel this. The surveillance creep is getting insane. If you’re looking to reduce dependency on monitored systems, portable power stations are a good investment for emergency backup or off-grid use - just check gearscouts.com to compare the best $/Wh value ones with LFP batteries. Helps maintain some independence when everything else wants to track you.

Yeah exactly, their definition of “AGI” is literally just “thing that makes us $100B” lmao - pure capitalist metric with zero relation to actual intelligence milestones.

Agree about the fracturing. I’ve been using Librewolf for months and it’s basially Firefox without the telemetry nonsense. Most sites work fine and it’s not that hard to setup. Just import your bookmarks and your good to go.

Honestly, rocket development has always been filled with explosions - the Saturn V had like 6 engine-out events during Apollo and the early Falcon 9 tests were just as explosive. what’s different now is we get to see the failures in HD livestreams instead of classified footage that would’ve been buried in the 60s.

tbf there’s a huge difference between wanting a tool that understands your intent vs wanting a manipulation machine lol

Yep, helium is even worse for leaking! It’s actually the smallest noble gas and can escape through tiny pores that even hydrogen can’t fit through. Thats why helium balloons deflate faster than air balloons - the atoms literally seep through the balloon material.

Get a cheap domain (~$10/yr) and setup a catch-all address - then you can use whatever@yourdomain.com without needing to create each alias beforehand, and each service gets a uniqe address that you can block if they leak it or start spamming you.

Yes, ArchiveBox is probly the best self-hosted option - it’s open source, runs on Docker, and lets you save full snapshots with all assets (not just screenshots like some others) and dosn’t send your data to any third parties.

The most reliable way to know if a Faraday bag works is to test it yourself - put your phone inside, call it, and if it doesn’t ring or go straight to voicemail, it’s blocking signals effectivley.

This is so true. I’ve been watching this shift happen across the entire tech landscape for years. What was once “we’d never collect your data” became “we collect anonymized data” became “you can opt out” and now “you must opt in for features.” Its the classic boiling frog scenario and Mozilla was supposed to be different.

that bathroom door analogy is brilliant - privacy isnt about hiding crimes, its a basic human need just like we need doors on our bathrooms and passwords on our accounts.