viking
@viking@infosec.pub
- Comment on People who live in hot climates, how do you deal with the heat? 14 hours ago:
Malaysia:
You wake up early for outdoor stuff, like jogging or longer dog walks. I do that between 5.30 and about 7.30 (=sunrise).
Other activities throughout the day are indoors mostly, shops, malls, gyms etc. are all airconditioned.
Most homes that have a garden come with a roofed porch area with a ceiling fan, so that keeps sitting outdoors manageable except for maybe the most intense mid-day heat.
Houses here are also solid brick & concrete constructions, and retain cold air better than the wooden constructs you see in the US and Canada, so you can actually keep homes at bearable temperatures without racking up electricity bills.
- Comment on Why does it seem like every TV series I've ever watched gets cancelled/rushed/incomplete ending, while movies (even those in a film series/trilogy) rarely face the same problem? 2 days ago:
Series start with a concept for 2-3 seasons at most, nowadays often just one. If it’s successful, writers need to come up with an extension fast, since nobody wants to wait for the next one for 5 years. Sometimes they are greenlit halfway through the screening of S1 and they want to start filming half a year later, so there’s not enough time for due process with proofreaders, test audiences etc. as you do with movies, where sequels often come several years later.
- Comment on After shutting down several popular emulators, Nintendo admits emulation is legal 2 days ago:
Bypassing copy protection has always been the number one reason, it was never emulation per se.
- Comment on Doom is playable on PDFs (at least in Chromium-based browsers) 3 days ago:
I genuinely don’t know, I have set my browser to download pdfs by default and only open them with Sumatra. There might be a scripting layer active in the browser as well though, quite possible.
- Comment on Doom is playable on PDFs (at least in Chromium-based browsers) 3 days ago:
Yeah it does. Adobe has a lot of active script support, including java script for example, which can be exploited. If a software can’t interpret those scripts at all and simply displays plain text, that means malware won’t be executed.
And since Adobe Acrobat / Acrobat Reader are the most common pdf viewers out there, they are a natural target for hackers as well.
- Comment on How do I realistically get out of the US? 3 days ago:
Some countries consider limitless ancestral pathways, but you must have factual evidence (birth records, marriage certificate etc.) that are unquestionable. Several countries also consider the paternal side only, meaning you must be able to trace your lineage through your father’s male family line only.
I haven’t heard of anyone being able to trace their line back to the discovery of America, but who knows. Certainly heard of some Brazilian successfully claiming German citizenship dating back to refugees from WW1, which is already 110 years ago and 3-4 generations later.
- Comment on How do I realistically get out of the US? 3 days ago:
Associates degrees are non-existent and not recognized in the EU, and most if not all countries require you to be a graduate to be eligible for hire, which would make a student visa the easiest route.
Luckily many countries offer tuition completely for free; though bachelor degrees are often taught in the native language. If you’re Spanish is solid, you could of course go to Spain, else with English you’d be somewhat restricted to Ireland and Malta (English is the second official language, but the primary for tuition).
Other than that, some universities have English taught bachelor degrees, so you’d have to research them individually. Finland is very English- and Tech-friendly, for starters.
- Comment on Doom is playable on PDFs (at least in Chromium-based browsers) 3 days ago:
One more reason never to use the official adobe software. SumatraPDF is awesome. Barebones and blazing fast.
- Comment on They fucking geoblocked blahaj.zone 1 week ago:
They don’t blacklist IP addresses generally, though some are certainly blocked. But normally they run deep packet inspections and block traffic that is identified as VPN traffic based on certain header data. That’s what makes the firewall “great” in the first place; many other countries simply block a range of IP addresses, and all it takes is for the VPN provider to switch the IP in their data warehouse. That’s trivial and takes seconds, and many providers rotate their IPs on a regular basis to prevent blocks in the first place.
Because of the deep packet inspection, OpenVPN and wireguard as protocols are entirely useless in China whatsoever, for example. Stealth mode AFAIK is using a modified wireguard protocol that obfuscates certain headers and thereby avoids detection (for now).
- Comment on They fucking geoblocked blahaj.zone 1 week ago:
Without.
- Comment on They fucking geoblocked blahaj.zone 1 week ago:
Ah ok, I’ve got the paid version. If you happen to be or know a student, they offer a 50% discount through studentbeans.com, only $2.50 a month.
- Comment on They fucking geoblocked blahaj.zone 1 week ago:
Proton works in China if you set the protocol to “stealth” in the setting, maybe that works for Saudi as well?
- Comment on Can I pay someone to add a specific feature to an open source app? 1 week ago:
As others mentioned, 20 bucks is probably a bit low, but if you have exactly in mind what you need and can write that up thoroughly in a way that can’t be misunderstood, one of the folks from India or Pakistan on fiverr.com could probably do it for fairly cheap, assuming it’s not a major rewrite but really just a quick enhancement.
- Comment on Facebook Deletes Internal Employee Criticism of New Board Member Dana White [404 Media] 1 week ago:
I thought the “get back to free speech” crap just meant they ditch the fact checker, now that the orange overlord is back in charge of clown county. cbsnews.com/…/meta-facebook-instagram-fact-checki…
- Comment on what exercises work for you to avoid back pain? 1 week ago:
Yoga, specifically Hatha Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga with focus on the secondary series (there are 6 total).
I’d highly recommend to start out with classes and a suitable instructor though, there are a bunch of specific warm-ups to loosen some muscle groups and stretching certain areas that allow you to get into the required postures, trying to raw-dog those can lead to injuries if you force your stiff body into some positions it’s not used to.
If all you want are basic exercises to cycle through on a daily basis, 4-8 weeks of guided training is already enough to know what and how to do, you can continue with youtube from then on.
- Comment on What is the origin of aliens looking like humans? Why and when did it become the norm? 2 weeks ago:
Yep, it’s a great book for sure.
- Comment on Frostpunk creators cancel "Project 8" and lay off staff amid concerns that "narrative-driven, story-rich games" don't sell 4 weeks ago:
Anything good you can recommend? Haven’t seen much good since Witcher 3… And before that, maybe Gothic 2 or Oblivion.
- Comment on But of course we don't want to poison our child. 4 weeks ago:
You know, before it was scientifically proven that smoking, asbestos, leaded gasoline, heroine, thalidomide/contergan, etc etc were health hazards, people had no reason to believe that those things were unhealthy.
I totally agree that it’s bullshit someone can’t legally sell cigarettes or alcohol while being underage when the recipient is old enough, but believing those things are healthy in a time where it was sold as state of the art or even miracle cures doesn’t really mean boomers are dumb.
- Comment on When leftists say "landlord are parasites" or similar dislike of landlords, do they also mean the people that own like a couple of houses as an investment, or only the big landlords? 5 weeks ago:
So you pay late and complain that the landlord insists on his part of the contract? That’s delusional.
- Comment on When leftists say "landlord are parasites" or similar dislike of landlords, do they also mean the people that own like a couple of houses as an investment, or only the big landlords? 5 weeks ago:
According to the lefties, everything should be communal property, and you should be happy for a chunk of bread and two eggs a day.
Why bother what those clowns have to say.
- Comment on Do you want the murderer of the UnitHealthcare CEO prosecuted? 1 month ago:
Sanctioned killings are authorized by a government representative, which indemnifies the killer. Murder is by definition unsanctioned, hence those are not the same.
- Comment on Do you want the murderer of the UnitHealthcare CEO prosecuted? 1 month ago:
Yes. An unsanctioned killing is murder, no matter what.
- Comment on Does anyone else think the NYPD photos of the UHC CEO shooting suspect don’t match? 1 month ago:
You need professional help before your delusions drive you completely over the edge. Seriously.
- Comment on I have to be knowledgeable about a particular superstition in order to sign in to access a government form 1 month ago:
I have no idea what sign I am. Never cared, was never asked.
- Comment on When you die, what do you want to be done with you? 1 month ago:
Whatever my wife feels like, assuming she’s the one to survive me. I don’t hold any religious beliefs demanding me to do something specific with my body, so I’ll leave it to her to decide.
Should she be passing before me, I’d just want to be cremated and scattered somewhere in the most cost efficient way to not affect anyone’s finances.
- Comment on Hackers breach Andrew Tate's online university, leak data on 800,000 users 1 month ago:
According to the article, that so called university is teaching about healthy living, exercise, and how to make and handle money. On a surface level, that sounds pretty alright.
Up until now when I researched the guy, I had no idea who he was and what ideals he represents. So I could see how unsuspecting people sign up for that stuff without any ill intent.
- Comment on Well THAT fucking sucks! 🤬 1 month ago:
Does revanced come with sponsorblock?
- Comment on Valve has created a Steam Bluesky account 1 month ago:
The signup process for mastodon sucks massively. Unless you’re nerdy enough to sort it out, you’ll give up then and there. Bluesky is very straightforward, while offering customization to those looking for a non-mainstream experience.
Same for Lemmy tbh.
- Comment on Can't install app because it isn't "certified" by the government 1 month ago:
I mean, there are sellers on Taobao and such that sell imported versions from HK and Japan, but I doubt that’s what the majority does. Most locals probably never get tempted to install some Western apps that won’t work without a VPN anyway, and if they have the knowledge and skills to install and use one, they know what to look for.
- Comment on Why do the majority of women still take their partner's last name? 1 month ago:
In China you simply keep your birth name forever, and children always follow the paternal side. That’s why having a male hair is important there, because a woman will only bear offspring for her spouse’s family.
As to why the family bonds are so strong, it’s part cultural (your elders are always right and must not be criticised, and you must take care of your blood above anything else), part societal - parents work too much (60-100h weekly), so children are generally raised by their grandparents, which strengthens the bond across generations. And because the pension system is totally insufficient, grandparents will at some point typically move in with their kids, so people are used to live in a multi generational household.
By the way, China is just one example, there are even Western countries where it’s not possible to change the names, such as Luxembourg.