Browser Privacy
by Drew Samson
Hello,
Perhaps this will help someone in their quest for greater online privacy
and enhance their computer security. I'm simply trying to give back to
the list for all the help I've received over the years. This is what I
do...
I use Firefox simply because it allows me to stay in control of my
browser. If you didn't know... "about:config" in the address bar allows
control of any available setting. While private browsing seems to work
well I like to keep everything in a single window to permit more
flexibility and take the tab-specific route to essentially equivalent
security that private browsing provides. So these are my plugins:
1. NoScript - virtually every exploit/tracking out there starts with the
scripting approach. This kills javacript & the others while providing
real-time total control of the tool.
2. Better Privacy - this tool deals with LSO tracking. This is just in
case since I don't use flash since I don't need it anymore. I'll get to
that later.
3. Privacy Badger - this blocks trackers websites use; it's sponsored by
eff.org. This is my Ghostery replacement since I don't like the recent
developments with that tool.
4. uBlock Origin - this is a FOSS ad blocker. I use this to replace
AdBlock Plus since I don't like recent developments with that tool
either. Then in preferences I enable the 3rd party filters: Fanboy
privacy, Fanboy social media, and hpHosts multipurpose list.
5. Cookie Controller - this deals with general-purpose cookies.
These are my security essential plugins. Here is how I'm able to play
videos on youtube & cnn etc. w/o flash.
1. I use the "Video Without Flash" plugin.
2. Install vlc with vlc extras also.
3. Install all the gstreamer & gstreamer1 plugins
I don't watch many video's but this gives me everything I need. Perhaps
there are some this approach won't play but I haven't run across them yet.
Back to Firefox configuration in about:config...
1. search on geo and change geo:enabled to false (double click it)
2. geo.wifi.uri - change to localhost
3. browser.search.geoSpecificDefaults - change to false
4. search for pocket - disable I don't want anything auto-updating my
system
Then in my Firefox preferences I remove all the default search engines
(they all try to track you) except DuckDuckGo and add the Startpage
search engine as my default. This will give you google results privately
and even provides a proxy thru which you may visit a site.
FWIW I do the same geo stuff in Thunderbird in the Config Editor.
I never get geographical-specific ads then and my browser does not
remember anything about me since Firefox is also set to delete all
history when it closes. The only thing sites are ever able to determine
about me is thru my isp provided ip address and then they customize
"stuff" for that location 100 miles away.
Then more generally about security...
I run this config inside a virtualbox vm. Yes that's Fedora running
inside Virtualbox on a Fedora host. Why? To provide a layer of
abstraction in case the worst happens, my primary system is not likely
to be compromised. In reality all of this resides in a single file on
the host which is then deleted or backed up or transferred easily. I run
another separate vm for banking and that is its only function in life.
It only boots once or twice a month so I can log in and pay bills or
transfer $ etc. I still use FF with the above config but simply provide
a permanent exception to NoScript so the bank or credit card site gives
me the best experience. I don't ever visit other sites or check email or
do anything else in my banking vm. Then I turn it off except to keep it
updated. I try not to browse the web on my host and always keep an
original vm "Fedora Master" copy so if I want to start from scratch - to
ensure no trackers are present it's a simple clone / file copy and I
have a brand new Fedora environment. I give it 4 cpu cores & 8gb ram
from the host and get good response & performance. I have plenty more on
the host. I have another vm dedicated solely to use TOR.
Then here are some other plugins I use to make things more convenient.
1. New Tab Override sets specific page for new tabs
2. Mozilla Archive Format
3. Toolbar Buttons adds icons for convenient tasks. It has an icon
for about:config and for noscript exceptions (so you don't have to pull
down a menu) and many others. I like it.
4. Download Flash & Video even when the option is not available on
the site
5. IdentFavIcon & FavIconReloader for when your bookmark loses its icon
This works for me and provides a good experience since I'm able to run
1920x1440 inside a vm since my host is running 2560x1600. However on my
13" laptop it can get frustrating fast since it all get's so small so I
rarely use vm's there. I just use the more general FF configuration.
Perhaps this will provide info you haven't considered before.
Drew
7 years, 9 months
Monitor not detected correctly
by Paul Smith
Dear All,
I have just bought a monitor, which is detected by Fedora 24 as a
Goldstar company Lda 22",
but the monitor is a LG of 27".
How can this be fixed?
Thanks in advance,
Paul
7 years, 9 months
Copr builds for Fedora 25?
by Richard W.M. Jones
I see in the settings of my Copr repository that Fedora 25 isn't
available. Of course F25 is only in Alpha at the moment, but there is
a Fedora Rawhide option, which is even more "alpha" than F25.
Importantly this means I cannot build nor install the packages on the
Fedora 25 Alpha server that I just set up.
Could F25 be added earlier? Perhaps when it branches?
Rich.
--
Richard Jones, Virtualization Group, Red Hat http://people.redhat.com/~rjones
Read my programming and virtualization blog: http://rwmj.wordpress.com
libguestfs lets you edit virtual machines. Supports shell scripting,
bindings from many languages. http://libguestfs.org
7 years, 9 months
F24: wakeup multiple screen config random
by Neal Becker
Congratulations are in order! It has long been believed that truly random
sequences can't be produced by deterministic machines, but this has now been
demonstrated. Every time my laptop wakes up, it's screen config is
different (multiple screens). Including the presence and locations of any
panels. I set it for external monitor right-of laptop, but when it wakes it
could be any of:
monitor off
any random geometric arrangement
and this morning: clone
7 years, 9 months
using a web camera
by Angelo Moreschini
Hi,
I am trying to set my computer to use a web camera (this function doesn't
work actually with cheese, for example).
With this program (cheese) I can see images by the camera, but when I shot
an image, then the image that appears in the window of shot images is
blank...
I read the document The Webcam HOWTO (at
http://www.tldp.org/HOWTO/html_single/Webcam-HOWTO/) and I tried to do what
wrote there, but I hadn't success...
Can I get an concrete help to achieve my purpose ?
Thank you
Angelo
7 years, 9 months
anyone successfully integrated an hdtv for monitor?
by Jack Craig
hi all,
i am trying to use a 32" LG 32cs560 for my F23.
i can get 1368x768 but i want to crank up 1920x1080, but its overscanning,
truncating the left * right ends...
i get ...
xrandr --query
Screen 0: minimum 320 x 200, current 1920 x 1080, maximum 16384 x 16384
DVI-I-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
HDMI-1 connected primary 2016x1134+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis y
axis) 1600mm x 900mm
1920x1080 60.00*+ 60.00 59.94 59.99 30.00 24.00
29.97 23.98
1920x1080i 60.00 59.94
1280x1024 60.02
1360x768 60.02
1152x864 59.97
1280x720 60.00 59.94
1024x768 60.00
800x600 60.32
720x480 60.00 59.94
640x480 60.00 59.94
720x400 70.08
VGA-1 disconnected (normal left inverted right x axis y axis)
/0/100/1/0 display GF119 [GeForce GT 610]
/0/100/1/0.1 multimedia GF119 HDMI Audio
Controller
/0/100/16 communication 6 Series/C200 Series
Chipset Fami
xdpyinfo | grep -B2 resolution
screen #0:
dimensions: 1920x1080 pixels (508x286 millimeters)
resolution: 96x96 dots per inch
cvt -v 1920 1080 60
# 1920x1080 59.96 Hz (CVT 2.07M9) hsync: 67.16 kHz; pclk: 173.00 MHz
Modeline "1920x1080_60.00" 173.00 1920 2048 2248 2576 1080 1083 1088
1120 -hsync +vsync
despite all this info, i am unable to switch to 1020x1080 with out the over
scanning.
i am very suspicious about,...
*HDMI-1 connected primary 2016x1134+0+0 (normal left inverted right x axis
y axis) 1600mm x 900mm*
*should not *2016x1134+0+0 be 1920x1080?
suggestions? tia, jackc...
7 years, 9 months
Threaded view of the Users list
by Robert McBroom
Is there any way to get a threaded view of the users list in a browser without going through an intermediary email program? Since a login is forced, I created a junk account on Yahoo but the stock email is very clumsy. Thunderbird is not much better. It was so simple to follow a thread in a browser and use the history chain to jump back to the list. Other viewers have been around from time to time but seem to have all been broken.
7 years, 9 months
2-in-1 Tablet Autorotate screen
by Christopher
Hi all,
I have a Dell 2-in-1 tablet/laptop (Inspiron 7352), and I'm trying to
figure out how to get the auto-rotate of the screen to work again, when I
fold back the screen into tablet mode.
This worked briefly on F23, but then it stopped at some point, and hasn't
worked at all in F24.
Does anybody know what Fedora component is responsible for handling this?
Does anybody know what settings I need to change to make it work routinely?
The following is the output of `xinput list`, if it helps.
⎡ Virtual core pointer id=2 [master pointer (3)]
⎜ ↳ Virtual core XTEST pointer id=4 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Chicony Wireless Device id=14 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ Chicony Wireless Device id=15 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ DLL06B5:00 06CB:75DB Touchpad id=16 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ SynPS/2 Synaptics TouchPad id=18 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ ELAN Touchscreen id=12 [slave pointer (2)]
⎜ ↳ ELAN Touchscreen Pen id=11 [slave pointer (2)]
⎣ Virtual core keyboard id=3 [master keyboard (2)]
↳ Virtual core XTEST keyboard id=5 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=6 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Video Bus id=7 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Power Button id=8 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Sleep Button id=9 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Integrated_Webcam_HD id=10 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Chicony Wireless Device id=13 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ AT Translated Set 2 keyboard id=17 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ DELL Wireless hotkeys id=19 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Dell WMI hotkeys id=20 [slave keyboard (3)]
↳ Chicony Wireless Device id=21 [slave keyboard (3)]
7 years, 9 months
F24, changing Thunar (Xfce) default archive manager
by Robert Moskowitz
I prefer engrampa to xarchiver. In F22, after a couple times selecting
engrampa from the right click, Thunar just started using it as the
default. That has not happened in F24 (I download a couple lectures
each day as zips that require using the archive manager daily).
I looked in preferences for thunar, and no where is there control for
the archive manager. Nor is there for xfce's default applications.
Anyone with ideas, experiences?
7 years, 9 months
evercookies.
by William Mattison
Hi all,
Two questions about "evercookies". I think this could be useful to others in this forum as well as to me.
1. On my home Fedora-23 (updated weekly) workstation, how do I find and truly, fully, permanently get rid of whatever evercookies might be on my system? If y'all don't mind, I'd also like to know how to find and delete "evercookies" on my home windows-7 box, if there are any.
2. I use Firefox (updated weekly) for browsing. On my home Fedora-23 workstation, how do I block or prevent the storage of evercookies on my system? If y'all don't mind, I'd also like to know to to block or prevent the storage of "evercookies" on my home windows-7 box. I'm already using "No-Script" (on both systems) if that's relevant.
thanks,
Bill.
7 years, 9 months
