NEW #TBOT: Encrypt It Yourself I: Email & The Encrypted Webmail Trap 📩🔐

After a long hiatus, #TBOT is back with another educational module on encrypting your communications! I decided to focus on this series because it felt the community was hopping from one email provider to the next, without knowing the full details. So here's a sovereign alternative. Encrypt It Yourself

In today's video you'll learn:
- how email works
- what can be encrypted in an email
- how open mail protocols work (IMAP/SMTP)
- how encrypted webmail works
- suggestions for mail providers
- basics of PGP

📖 Read the article
▶️ Watch the video

TBOT Challenge
- Learn how email works
- Get yourself an open IMAP/SMTP service
- Get yourself a Linux machine

—
Share with your friends that have questions about emails! And sign up to our mailing list ❤️

Cool Animations & Alternative Platforms To Watch 🔀
@takebackourtech

Hey peeps,

Are you enjoying the spiffy animations we put into the latest #TBOT video on Email Encryption?

Shout out to our team behind the scenes who all make it possible ❤️

Oh - and a reminder that we've always been supporting alternative platforms since Day 1, watch our latest video on:

- Flote
- #TBOT Social Network (Mastodon)
- HIVE BLOCKCHAIN (3Speak)
- Minds

Beechat building bridges from off-grid communication islands to the rest of the internet! Exciting!

We have just launched the Beechat Hive beta app.

This app runs on a Raspberry Pi or similar Linux computers. All you need is to connect a Beechat Clip and a power source to it. After initial setup, you can:

- send commands to the Clip radio over your browser from any OS as long as the Pi is on the same network (such as turn on the screen, etc. )

- broadcast messages over radio. These messages will then be forwarded to other listening Hives (sender mode)

- turn on XMPP packet forwarder. If your Pi is connected to the Internet, you can forward other’s messages to the Internet (gateway mode)

NEW Knowledge Base Articles: Meet Searx, the private web search without all the ads and bias
@abovephone | https://abovephone.com/

🗞 Read on the Official Blog

The Above Knowledge Base is dedicated to education on the use of privacy-first tools with detailed articles and real solutions.

Searx, part of Above Privacy Suite puts the power of over 70 different sources of information into your hands. Searx is a meta-search engine that passes your searches to providers so they are not tied to you. Our custom Searx instance is reliable, runs without logging and can be configured to your heart's desire!

📕 Check out the guide

Have you harnessed the power of Searx? How are you enjoying it?

Let us know in the #TBOT chat.
Follow the #TBOT channel.
Follow the Above Phone channel for more announcements, updates and knowledge.

WARNING: DuckDuckGo is now completely compromised. Time to switch if you haven’t.

IceAgeFarmer.com has been wholly scrubbed from DuckDuckGo.

I saw their CEO prostrated before the church of woke, and results have been “degrading,” but this is now outright censorship, on par or worse than Google, and I just wanted to be clear about that. One can search directly for articles and see my site is filtered out — and obviously I am not the only one.

Search.Brave.com still has results — so does Yandex.ru. Are there others..?

#censorship

A future where you own nothing, makes the past glitter gold
@takebackourtech

Anyone see BMW's new release of a 'heated-seat' subnoscriptions?

https://nypost.com/2022/07/12/bmw-owners-outraged-over-18-a-month-charge-to-use-heated-seats/

Rolling out in South Korea, customers must pay an additional $18 a month to unlock heated seats in their car. This is a software based lock, the hardware already exists in the vehicle.

Similar BMW products exist in other parts of the world, allowing subnoscription access to different features.

This is hinting at a rise towards micro-transactions in basic goods and services.

When the future looks this greedy, I will happily maintain my old vehicles as long as I can - where things aren't all electronic, designs were simpler, repairs were easier & cheaper, and the features weren't designed to control how you drive.

Amazon Admits to Giving Ring Videos to Police Without Permission

Amazon has provided footage from Ring video cameras to police without permission from owners or a court warrant at least 11 times this year, the company acknowledged in a letter to Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.).

Brian Huseman, Amazon’s vice president of public policy, said in the letter dated July 1 that Ring complied with those requests from law enforcement after making a “good-faith determination” about risk.

Markey had written to Ring last month asking the company to clarify its relationship with American police and to commit to some policy reforms, including never allowing immigration enforcement to request recordings and committing to not incorporating voice recognition tech into its products.

Huseman declined to commit to any of the requests and disclosed that Ring now lets 2,161 police departments use its Neighbors app, five times more than it did in November 2019. Law enforcement officials can use the app to issue alerts and request videos.

Source: The Hill

Follow:👇
@G3News

An update today keeps the bugs away with F-Droid and Aurora
@abovephone | Knowledge Base | https://abovephone.com

Sometimes apps can change or behave in strange ways without explanation. A simple update could be all you need.

Keeping your apps and F-Droid repositories updated is crucial for security, functionality and getting the latest features for the apps you love.

We’re here to help you stay up to date with the latest and the greatest!

Update all your apps today with one easy guide.

Have you discovered something new that you can’t live without? What’s your must-have app on F-Droid?

Let us know in the #TBOT chat.
Follow the #TBOT channel.
Follow the Above Phone channel for more announcements, updates and knowledge.

Homeland Security Records Show "Shocking" Use of Phone Data, ACLU Says

The Trump administration’s immigration enforcers used mobile location data to track people’s movements on a larger scale than previously known, according to documents that raise new questions about federal agencies’ efforts to get around restrictions on warrantless searches.

The data, harvested from apps on hundreds of millions of phones, allowed the Department of Homeland Security to obtain data on more than 336,000 location data points across North America, the documents show. Those data points may reference only a small portion of the information that CBP has obtained.

These data points came from all over the continent, including in major cities like Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Denver, Toronto and Mexico City. This location data use continued into the Biden administration, as Customs and Border Protection renewed a contract for $20,000 that ended in September 2021.

The American Civil Liberties Union obtained the records from DHS through a lawsuit it filed in 2020. It provided the documents to POLITICO and separately released them to the public on Monday (July 18).

Source: POLITICO

Follow:👇
@G3News

@takebackourtech

They are practicing their surveillance strategies. We've got to get rid of apps that use analytics/advertising services. There is no accountability. Use #FOSS apps. I'm launching a new project soon to help get funds to #FOSS developers.

Smart Thermostats Are Being Remotely Adjusted

https://www.star-telegram.com/news/local/fort-worth/article263431963.html

People in Texas are finding that they cannot adjust their smart thermostats due to an ongoing conservation effort by ERCOT. Are you enrolled in one of these programs?

🚨 Twitter Permanently Bans World Council for Health Two Days Before World Ivermectin Day

On Thursday, Twitter permanently suspended the World Council for Health (WCH_org) from the platform without warning or detailed explanation. The suspension comes two days before World Ivermectin Day, an initiative to celebrate the medicine Ivermectin that relies heavily on social media, specifically Twitter.

An email from Twitter indicates that the account was suspended for “violating our rules against abuse and harassment,” going on to note that users “may not engage in the targeted harassment of someone, or incite other people to do so. This includes wishing or hoping that someone experiences physical harm.” The email does not provide any examples of tweets or content that constitute “harassment” or “abuse”.

WCH supporters that are on Twitter’s platform are invited to tweet directly to Twitter (@Twitter) and Twitter Support (@TwitterSupport) to demand that this suspension be immediately reversed.

Despite Twitter’s attempt at censorship in the lead-up to World Ivermectin Day, the initiative will not be silenced or slowed. Help to stop Twitter censorship by sharing World Ivermectin Day memes on Twitter using the hashtag #WorldIvermectinDay.

“Let’s work together to get the news out about this safe established medicine that may one day save your life.” - Dr. Tess Lawrie

FULL STATEMENT: worldcouncilforhealth.org/news/news-releases/twitter-bans-world-council-for-health

📌 Follow World Council for Health:
➨ @WCH_org

🗣 Join the discussion:
➨ @worldforhealthchat

The Freedom Cell Network Launch Teaser

Hey everyone, its Ramiro. I'm just wrapping up the final touches on the new site. We're so grateful for your continued support and patience.

I wanted to record a personal message on what The Freedom Cell Network means to me, and how we can find infinite abundance through our community.

The site is now live, ready for you to visit.

https://freedomcells.org

We will have a bigger announcement later today and more updates in the coming weeks.

Much love, can't wait to co-create with you all. ❤️

Introducing The Mexico Freedom Communities Map

Friends,

I hope you had a beautiful weekend (hopefully you watched Chapter 11 of The Pyramid of Power!).

I want to share about my latest initiative, the Mexico Freedom Communities Map!

When I was traveling across Mexico for the Mexico Activation Tour I was able to connect with many, many activists and freedom lovers. Some of these folks are in the process of establishing intentional communities and ecovillages. Some of them already have and are looking for members and investors.

I decided I was going to gather all this info and put together a living, digital map of "Freedom Communities" in Mexico. Broadly speaking, this means communities that don't care about your mask or shot status. Communities that are aiming to build a better world and, in many cases, live outside the system.

The communities vary greatly in location, style, cost, and long term goals, but I believe they will be a great starting point for the many people considering Mexico as their home.

If you want access to the map, sign up at this link.

P.S. - This map is a perfect addition to the free Mexit Webinar hosted by myself and Miriam Gomez.

Brought to you by The Conscious Resistance Network

💪 Power Users #1
Using Your Keyboard To Work Smarter & Faster

Hey peeps,

This is the first entry in our Power Users newsletter series (working noscript), published through email & on Telegram. With every post you will become a better technologist and conquer the challenges in your way!

If you like what you read, be sure to share the Newsletter with others:

https://news.takebackourtech.org/subnoscription/form

Today we'll talk about typing and using your keyboard. Sounds too simple right? One of the things I'm proudest of is my ability to work effectively across many programs and different types of content. Back in my corporate career, I was lucky enough to train under a technologist who could could write and edit code lightning fast. I quickly learned those skills for myself, and now you can too.

How do we start?

1. Avoid using the mouse - learn keyboard shortcuts

Although the mouse is an awesome invention, it doesn't hold a candle to how fast you can move with a keyboard and shortcuts. If I like a piece of software, I will try to learn and practice the keyboard shortcuts that it offers.

Here are some keyboard shortcuts that are standard across web browsers, try using them when you browse the web:

(if you use a Mac, please use Command instead and then kindly replace your operating system with Linux)

CTRL + T: New Tab
CTRL + L: Go to the URL bar
CTRL + TAB: Switch to next tab
CTRL + SHIFT + TAB: Go to previous tab
CTRL + W: Close the current tab
CTRL + F: Find in page (enter to move to next match)

2. The arrow keys are your friends

The second tip makes an immediate difference the next time you are working on a text document. Let's say you are on one page and want to move your cursor several words ahead. You can either click to move your cursor to the correct position, or you could use your arrow keys, which might take a lot of time if you are moving letter by letter. Here are the secret shortcuts:

LEFT/RIGHT + CTRL: You move a word in either direction!
ARROW KEYS + SHIFT: You select the text you are passing over. Perfect for cutting/copying/pasting.
HOME/END: Move to the beginning or end of a line. (what happens when you use CTRL to modify this behavior?)

Watch what happens when you start using these shortcuts instead of a mouse...

3. Learn to type faster through muscle memory, don't look at the keyboard

Yes, that's right - there's no substitute for faster typing. If you have to look at the keyboard to type, then you're about to save a whole lot of time! The best way to build muscle memory is by practicing. Make sure to keep your fingers near the home row.

Here's a great site you can use to practice touch typing: https://www.keybr.com/

Once you get comfortable - you can get even better by racing against others (one of my guilty pleasures): https://play.typeracer.com/

Let me know when you're up to 100WPM+ and we can race ;)

4. Commit to learning the shortcuts

Unfortunately, most of us will let ourselves fall back into our old habits - but if being more productive/efficient at typing is important to you, then I hope you take these tips to heart and integrate them into your day to day. Commit to learning the shortcuts, if you catch yourself cheating, simply get yourself back on track.

Things going on with me:

New Freedom Cells 3.0 Launch
Attending the Extra Ordinary Technology Conference this week
Close to releasing Calendar Service for Above Privacy Suite
New Above Phone Affiliate Program

Support My Work:
Follow @takebackourtech
Follow @abovephone
Get an Above Phone

Yours,
Ramiro Romani

Man Who Started His Own Internet Service Provider Begins To Expand to Hundreds Of Homes 🌐
@takebackourtech | SOURCE

Jared Mauch of Michigan, was originally quoted $50,000 from Comcast to extend their cable network to his home. He decided instead to start his own telephone/internet company, which is now providing service to 70 homes and is expanding to 600 more.

He charges $139 a month for 1,000Mbps and recently won a local county infrastructure bid.

Along the way his company has faced major challenges but pulled through with their ingenuity.

Should I get in touch with him to see how others can start their own internet service providers?

#teslatechconference

This week I'm on site in New Mexico for the Extraordinary Tech Conference. Look what i found!

These are presented as 13,000 year old alien artifacts dug up in Jalisco Mexico. One depicts a pregnant alien astronaut!!

Watching George Wiseman, one of the leading expers on Browns Gas at the ExtraOrdinary Technology Conference!