Filesharing: Bittorrent

[grarpamp]

https://transmissionbt.com/

https://thepiratebay.org/
https://yts.lt/
https://1337x.to/
https://rarbg.to/
https://nyaa.si/
https://torrentz2.eu/
https://eztv.io/
https://www.limetorrents.info/
http://fitgirl-repacks.site/
http://tamilrockers.ws/

https://rutracker.org/forum/index.php
https://torrentwal2.com/
http://rutor.info/
https://dytt8.net/
http://etoland.co.kr/

IRA: The Dirty War

[grarpamp]

An IRA Reading List
Autobiographies
Insider: Gerry Bradley's Life in the IRA, Gerry Bradley
The Volunteer, Shane Paul O'Doherty
Watching the Door, Kevin Myers
MRF Shadow Troop, Simon Cursey
Southside Provisional, Kieran Conway
Fifty Dead Men Walking, Martin McGartland
History
The Dirty War, Martin Dillon


https://eprint.iacr.org/2017/212.pdf

Re: Video chat software / options

[Cecilia Tanaka]

Hey, now I deserve a candie, yay!  Even feeling slower than a dead sloth,
found this cute and useful link, wohooo!  ;D

"Comparison of Web Conferencing Software"

Re: Video chat software / options

[Cecilia Tanaka]

On Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 21:41 Cecilia Tanaka 
wrote:  

And Kurt is right.  Everybody is talking about Jitsi, but never tested it.
>

Oh, boy, reading a bit about Zoom x Jitsi, learned both have bugs
problems...  :-/

>

Re: Video chat software / options

[Cecilia Tanaka]

On Sat, Apr 18, 2020, 21:17 Cecilia Tanaka  wrote:

> Sorry, already tried Signal, Wire, Discord, Matrix, Session, Telegram,
> WhatsApp, and probably one or two messengers more, but used all of them
> only for writing and spoken messages...  :((
>

Hmm, Slack too...  Still trying to remember, wait, I am slower than
usual...  :D

And Kurt is right.  Everybody is talking about Jitsi, but never tested it.

Ceci
--
Loving.  Caring.  Sharing.  Being Excellent To Each Other And To Our
Hackerspace.  <3
--
"Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your
curiosity.  It's your place in the world; it's your life.  Go on and do all
you can with it, and make it the life you want to live."  -  Mae Jemison

Re: Video chat software / options

[Kurt Buff - GSEC, GCIH]

I've been seeing Jitsi mentioned a fair amount - don't know anything about
it, beyond what you'll see here:

https://jitsi.org/

Kurt

On Sat, Apr 18, 2020 at 12:32 PM Douglas Lucas  wrote:

> Hey cypherpunks,
>
> So what video chat options are there that are less privacy violating and
> social graphing than Zoom, Skype, etc, while still being at least
> somewhat available to the everyday user? Imagine two use cases:
>
> 1. Audiovideo chat between Alice and Bob: they want to watch an online
> movie together whether by sharing a screen or some other method, and
> then have sexy times later by same audiovideo chat. Imagine further that
> Bob uses Linux laptop and knows more or less what he's doing, while
> Alice uses Windows or Apple or her standard-issue smartphone or w/e and
> doesn't want to spend her little weekend time off paidwork trying to
> configure stuff to meet some faraway incel's expectation of flawless
> fantasy security.
>
> 2. A video panel or Q being hosted by your local friendly anarchist
> bookstore. Maybe it needs 3-5 people on a panel talking, their famous
> faces visible on the screen along with their audio while they debate
> each on internecine leftist conflicts that distract from far more
> rational propaganda of the deed, while the 20 people in the audience,
> including people of all sorts of demographics who have a hard enough
> time paying their bills online, have their audio and video forcibly off
> so there's not random beeps and bloops and toddler singing during the
> panel, but the audience could still type in Q questions or whatever.
> It would also be cool if there was a film screening option -- imagine an
> anarchist bookstore that prior to covid19 had been doing weekly film
> screenings offline in their brick and mortar location, but now wants to
> do something similar online, while making it hopefully accessible for
> people without intense computer skills.
>
> How are Signal and Wire for the above?
>
> My big picture understanding has for a long time been that, 1. perfect
> security is snake oil, the top spy agencies can crack anything if they
> want given enough time and targetting interest, but that's not typically
> relevant to the above use cases unless you're a Supreme Court justice or
> an incel fantasizing about being James Bond, 2. encryption makes data
> packet size much bigger, and large data size is already a problem with
> video in cleartext, so there never has been a really good solution to
> this problem. However #2 was my understanding as of like 5 years ago, so
> I'm curious if some new solution has come out.
>
> It looks like EFF is fairly useless and using Zoom themselves. I suppose
> if they're not gonna go after something meaningful, like how the
> corporate voting gear in the US is closed source, they have to spend
> that sweet Papa Omidyar cash and prestige somehow and produce little
> guides about how to toggle your Zoom settings. Afte
>
> https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/what-you-should-know-about-online-tools-during-covid-19-crisis
> https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/cc-backgrounds-video-calls-eff
> https://ssd.eff.org/
>
> Guides by Riseup Networks don't have much on video understandably
> https://riseup.net/en/security/resources
> https://riseup.net/en/security
>
> Prism Break mentions something called Jami I've never heard of
> https://prism-break.org/en/all/
>
> And yeah, Signal and Wire...? I know everything is fucked but using
> something less bad for the use cases outlined above seems better than
> diving headfirst into whatever the worst popular solutions are.
>
> Thanks!
>
> Doug
>

Re: Video chat software / options

[Cecilia Tanaka]

Sorry, already tried Signal, Wire, Discord, Matrix, Session, Telegram,
WhatsApp, and probably one or two messengers more, but used all of them
only for writing and spoken messages...  :((

Good luck!  Keep yourself safe and happy!  <3

Ceci
--
Loving.  Caring.  Sharing.  Being Excellent To Each Other And To Our
Hackerspace.  <3
--
"Don't let anyone rob you of your imagination, your creativity, or your
curiosity.  It's your place in the world; it's your life.  Go on and do all
you can with it, and make it the life you want to live."  -  Mae Jemison

OPM hack docs FOIA - appeal accepted!

[coderman]

back in 2016 a request was made for:
"""
Records, analysis, summaries, technical reports, or any other responsive 
materials regarding the network compromise of OPM systems, including initial 
incident April 16th, 2015 when two instances of mcutil.dll named malware were 
discovered. All communications from Jeff Wagner, director of security 
Operations for OPM, regarding this incident are requested. Invoices for 
services provided by CyTech to OPM during this event also requested. 
Assessments regarding access to, and exfiltration of, the Central Personnel 
Data File also explicitly requested.
"""

given the run around, I appealed the reply. it has been accepted!

let's hope by 2025 we finally have some light shone on the China hack of the 
OPM DB... :)

best regards,

Droplet vs. aerosol transmission of COVID-19

[coderman]

it appears COVID-19 might not be spread via aerosol transmission, instead via 
larger droplets:

https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article

"""
From our examination of the potential routes of transmission, we concluded that 
the most likely cause of this outbreak was droplet transmission...

Virus transmission in this outbreak cannot be explained by droplet transmission 
alone. Larger respiratory droplets (>5 μm) remain in the air for only a short 
time and travel only short distances, generally <1 m 
([2](https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article#r2),[3](https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article#r3)).
 The distances between patient A1 and persons at other tables, especially those 
at table C, were all >1 m. However, strong airflow from the air conditioner 
could have propagated droplets from table C to table A, then to table B, and 
then back to table C 
([Figure](https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/7/20-0764_article#tnF1)).
"""

best regards,

Video chat software / options

[Douglas Lucas]

Hey cypherpunks,

So what video chat options are there that are less privacy violating and
social graphing than Zoom, Skype, etc, while still being at least
somewhat available to the everyday user? Imagine two use cases:

1. Audiovideo chat between Alice and Bob: they want to watch an online
movie together whether by sharing a screen or some other method, and
then have sexy times later by same audiovideo chat. Imagine further that
Bob uses Linux laptop and knows more or less what he's doing, while
Alice uses Windows or Apple or her standard-issue smartphone or w/e and
doesn't want to spend her little weekend time off paidwork trying to
configure stuff to meet some faraway incel's expectation of flawless
fantasy security.

2. A video panel or Q being hosted by your local friendly anarchist
bookstore. Maybe it needs 3-5 people on a panel talking, their famous
faces visible on the screen along with their audio while they debate
each on internecine leftist conflicts that distract from far more
rational propaganda of the deed, while the 20 people in the audience,
including people of all sorts of demographics who have a hard enough
time paying their bills online, have their audio and video forcibly off
so there's not random beeps and bloops and toddler singing during the
panel, but the audience could still type in Q questions or whatever.
It would also be cool if there was a film screening option -- imagine an
anarchist bookstore that prior to covid19 had been doing weekly film
screenings offline in their brick and mortar location, but now wants to
do something similar online, while making it hopefully accessible for
people without intense computer skills.

How are Signal and Wire for the above?

My big picture understanding has for a long time been that, 1. perfect
security is snake oil, the top spy agencies can crack anything if they
want given enough time and targetting interest, but that's not typically
relevant to the above use cases unless you're a Supreme Court justice or
an incel fantasizing about being James Bond, 2. encryption makes data
packet size much bigger, and large data size is already a problem with
video in cleartext, so there never has been a really good solution to
this problem. However #2 was my understanding as of like 5 years ago, so
I'm curious if some new solution has come out.

It looks like EFF is fairly useless and using Zoom themselves. I suppose
if they're not gonna go after something meaningful, like how the
corporate voting gear in the US is closed source, they have to spend
that sweet Papa Omidyar cash and prestige somehow and produce little
guides about how to toggle your Zoom settings. Afte
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/what-you-should-know-about-online-tools-during-covid-19-crisis
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2020/03/cc-backgrounds-video-calls-eff
https://ssd.eff.org/

Guides by Riseup Networks don't have much on video understandably
https://riseup.net/en/security/resources
https://riseup.net/en/security

Prism Break mentions something called Jami I've never heard of
https://prism-break.org/en/all/

And yeah, Signal and Wire...? I know everything is fucked but using
something less bad for the use cases outlined above seems better than
diving headfirst into whatever the worst popular solutions are.

Thanks!

Doug

Re: Wuhan virus targetted all of us -- Re: China's Shenzen literally bans eating of cats and dogs - too little too late?

[Zenaan Harkness]

On Sun, Apr 12, 2020 at 10:32:32PM +1000, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> On Sat, Apr 04, 2020 at 11:17:37AM +1100, Zig the N.g wrote:
> > Suprised.  From the "crispy bat wing soup" and "crushed dried bird ancient 
> > remedy" empire comes a ban, after 3,500 years, and in a cynical and 
> > superficial nod to China's crumbling image in the West, on eating dogs and 
> > cats.
> > 
> > China's Shenzen literally bans the eating of cats and dogs - is this too 
> > little too late or will China's Kung Flu decimate the world's population 
> > leading to a Georgian guidestones utopia?
> > 
> > 
> >   China's 'Silicon Valley' Bans Consumption Of Cats, Dogs
> >   
> > https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/chinas-silicon-valley-bans-consumption-cats-dogs
> > 
> > .. The new law will take effect May 1, and was described as an 
> > "extension" of national laws banning the eating of wild animals. The Humane 
> > Society claims 30 million dogs a year are killed across Asia for meat. 
> > However, the consumption of dogs and cats for meat isn't that common in 
> > China, and "most" Chinese say they won't do it, according to the BBC 
> > [propaganda alert].
> > 
> > .. "This ban also responds to the demand and spirit of human 
> > civilization," they said.
> 
> 
> Z.g, that's kinda funny, albeit it's true.
> 
> But the kick in the guts here is that the Chinese Communist Party has for 
> over a decade been developing a weaponised virus - apparently targetting us!
> 
> As in, China either intentionally or accidentally released this China/Wuhan 
> virus, but they deliberately created it.
> 
> The Chinese deliberately weaponised this (actual) bat virus, to target humans 
> - you, me, and the rest of the humans on this planet.
> 
> Sure, due to this particular release of the China/Wuhan virus, it attacked 
> the residents of Wuhan first - this was probably an accident, and meant to be 
> kept to hit -us- on some future day.
> 
> This China/Wuhan virus does not target just our Western leaders, and or just 
> our soldiers.
> 
> This China/Wuhan virus targets all of us.  Each of us individually.
> 
> This is sickening.
> 
> This really will be the beginning of a Century of Shame for the Chinese 
> people.


Between the propaganda, there are facts.  This is brutal!

[There are many links in original, so just the links on this occasion.]

Did Xi Jinping Deliberately Sicken The World?
  Ben Lowsen via TheDiplomat.com

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/did-xi-jinping-deliberately-sicken-world

https://thediplomat.com/2020/04/did-xi-jinping-deliberately-sicken-the-world/

  .. inimical to human decency

Re: The Ministry, 'voluntary' fascism, and Fundamental Human Rights antidotes; - Australia will launch tracing app as voluntary 'and see how it goes', deputy medical officer says

[Zenaan Harkness]

>From the "oh, so the government tells us it won't abuse the geolocation and 
>app surveillance data, so it just MUST be ok then, right? Right?"

Ahh .. no.  Nope.  Definitely, that's actually a "no, there can be no such 
guarantee in the modern age", except of course, that the data were not 
collected in the first place, and that, of course, would defeat the purpose of 
this app.

So folks, do not believe a well meaning politician who is fundamentally 
ignorant, or misinformed, or malignant, or some combination of all three.

Witness the double speak of "there's no tracking involved with the app" and yet 
at the same time "the app would use data from people's phones to allow health 
authorities to trace people who had been in close contact with confirmed 
COVID-19 cases".

Some of The Ministry's finest work, that right there :)


  Coronavirus app will not be forced upon Australians, Scott Morrison says
  
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-18/prime-minister-rules-out-making-coronavirus-app-mandatory/12161126

Video: Stuart Robert says there's no tracking involved with the app (ABC 
News)

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-18/government-stuart-robert-app-covid-corona-australia/12161480

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has ruled out forcing Australians to download 
a coronavirus tracing app, one day after the Deputy Chief Medical Officer left 
the door open to making it mandatory.

The Government is developing an app to bolster its ability to trace the 
contacts of infected Australians, but has warned it will not be effective 
unless at least 40 per cent of Australians download it.

The app would use data from people's phones to allow health authorities to 
trace people who had been in close contact with confirmed COVID-19 cases.

Yesterday, Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly said the Government 
would "start with voluntary" downloads of the app, before determining whether 
more action was needed.

"I've always been a believer in the Australian people making the right 
decision," he said.

"As I've said, this is an add-on to what we have in terms of contact 
tracing and case finding, so I think we need to make the case for an app.

"I think we start with voluntary, and see how that goes."

But this morning Mr Morrison tweeted that the app would not be made 
mandatory.

...



What today's CEO or prime minister or other politician promises, tomorrow he, 
she, or someone else who replaces him, will break that promise - it is only a 
matter of time and "appropriately dramatic" circumstances, as most of us well 
know.

Maintain your privacy folks, if you value your rights at all...



On Fri, Apr 17, 2020 at 05:11:26PM +1000, Zenaan Harkness wrote:
> This is important, folks - the below outlines the front line of human 
> tracking or "the mark of the beast", as well as some antidotes to that.
> 
> In this case, "The Ministry of Truth" attempts to achieve sufficient tacit 
> consent for ubiquitous monitoring via "smart"phones.
> 
> This is a highly slippery slope, and potentially catastrophic for our 
> individual and collective freedoms, so let's get a handle on this one...
> 
> Be warned: :: - crunch time is close - do everything you can to educate 
> people, because if insufficient people are educated on this issue, the 
> tracking that is coming ("mark of the beast") will be extraordinarily 
> difficult to undo.
> 
> 
>   Coronavirus Australia live news: Government urges Australians to use 
> tracing app despite privacy fears
>By Dan Colasimone
>Updated April 17, 2020 15:43:40
>   
> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-17/coronavirus-australia-live-updates-covid19-latest-news/12155268
> 
> Deputy Chief Medical Officer Paul Kelly has not ruled out making a 
> coronavirus tracing app compulsory if not enough people install it 
> voluntarily.
> 
> "We start with voluntary and then we see how it goes," Professor Kelly 
> told an afternoon press conference.
> 
> http://livenews.abc.net.au/Event/Coronavirus_Australia_live_news :
> Some more details on the government's coronavirus-tracking app
> 
> The app uses Bluetooth technology to track coronavirus victims and the 
> people they come in contact with.
> 
> https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-04-14/coronavirus-app-government-wants-australians-to-download/12148210
> .. The Federal Government believes restrictions on the community 
> could be eased in the months ahead if there's more testing, greater 
> surveillance of those infected by the coronavirus and much faster tracing of 
> those they've had contact with.
> 
> The government’s given us some more detail, confirming data collected 
> from the app would be uploaded to a server in the event someone tests 
> positive to COVID-19.
> 
> This is significant, because some experts argue if the data is stored on 
> a server it would attract privacy threats from hackers, and would also act as 
> a disincentive for 

Re: "democracy" vs Monarchy - the Russian conversation

[Zenaan Harkness]

Why Democracy can never succeed and invariably devolves into rule by oligarchy:

  Iron law of oligarchy
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_law_of_oligarchy
  The iron law of oligarchy is a political theory, first developed by the 
German sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book, Political Parties.[1] It 
asserts that rule by an elite, or oligarchy, is inevitable as an "iron law" 
within any democratic organization as part of the "tactical and technical 
necessities" of organization.[1]

  Michels's theory states that all complex organizations, regardless of how 
democratic they are when started, eventually develop into oligarchies. Michels 
observed that since no sufficiently large and complex organization can function 
purely as a direct democracy, power within an organization will always get 
delegated to individuals within that group, elected or otherwise.

  Using anecdotes from political parties and trade unions struggling to 
operate democratically to build his argument in 1911, Michels addressed the 
application of this law to representative democracy, and stated: "Who says 
organization, says oligarchy."[1] He went on to state that "Historical 
evolution mocks all the prophylactic measures that have been adopted for the 
prevention of oligarchy."[1]

  According to Michels all organizations eventually come to be run by a 
"leadership class", who often function as paid administrators, executives, 
spokespersons or political strategists for the organization. Far from being 
"servants of the masses", Michels argues this "leadership class," rather than 
the organization's membership, will inevitably grow to dominate the 
organization's power structures. By controlling who has access to information, 
those in power can centralize their power successfully, often with little 
accountability, due to the apathy, indifference and non-participation most rank 
and file members have in relation to their organization's decision-making 
processes. Michels argues that democratic attempts to hold leadership positions 
accountable are prone to fail, since with power comes the ability to reward 
loyalty, the ability to control information about the organization, and the 
ability to control what procedures the organization follows when making 
decisions. All of these mechanisms can be used to strongly influence the 
outcome of any decisions made 'democratically' by members.[2]

  Michels stated that the official goal of representative democracy of 
eliminating elite rule was impossible, that representative democracy is a 
façade legitimizing the rule of a particular elite, and that elite rule, which 
he refers to as oligarchy, is inevitable.[1] Later Michels migrated to Italy 
and joined Benito Mussolini's Fascist Party, as he believed this was the next 
legitimate step of modern societies. The thesis became popular once more in 
post-war America with the publication of Union Democracy: The Internal Politics 
of the International Typographical Union (1956) and during the red scare 
brought about by McCarthyism.




  The "Iron Law" Of Oligarchy - Always Pick The Policy-Makers
  
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/iron-law-oligarchy-always-pick-policy-makers
  https://www.thechicagoeconomist.com/episodes/the-iron-law-of-oligarchy

  .. Michels stated that the official goal of representative democracy of 
eliminating elite rule was impossible, that representative democracy is a 
façade legitimizing the rule of a particular elite, and that elite rule, which 
he refers to as oligarchy, is inevitable.” (sourced from Wikipedia)

  Stiegler refines the Iron Law of Oligarchy, in his Theory of Economic 
Regulation, also suggesting that the big guys will always win and the little 
guys will always lose. He bases this conclusion on the following premises:

   1. The fundamental asset controlled by the state is the power to coerce. 
Any group that can control how this power is used can profit.

   2. Since we are self-interested actors, we will seek to get the state's 
coercive power to support our interests. Efforts to do so, however, are costly.

  Large firms win because:

- Large firms have high benefits from mobilizing (the stakes our high). 
Since they are a small group, and since they are fairly homogeneous, they have 
no difficulty with collective action problems (they can lobby efficiently).

- Small firms don't organize for political reasons because of 
collective action problems (very high coordination costs).

- Consumers don't organize because the costs of doing so are high 
compared to the benefits (very high coordination costs).

  This is made crystal clear in the financial crisis of 2008 and the 
current economic collapse. In 2008 the perpetrators of the reckoning were 
provided with cheap loans that negated free market forces while rewarding 
excessive risk taking. This free flow of cheap money continued for the next 
decade. Financial