VPN Comparison 2.0
After making a post about comparing VPN providers, I received a lot of requested feedback. I've implemented most of the ideas I received.
Providers
- AirVPN
- IVPN
- Mozilla VPN
- Mullvad VPN
- NordVPN
- NymVPN
- Private Internet Access (abbreviated PIA)
- Proton VPN
- Surfshark VPN
- Tor (technically not a VPN)
- Windscribe
Notes
- I'm human. I make mistakes. I made multiple mistakes in my last post, and there may be some here. I've tried my best.
- Pricing is sometimes weird. For example, a 1 year plan for Private Internet Access is 37.19€ first year and then auto-renews annually at 46.73€. By the way, they misspelled "annually". AirVPN has a 3 day pricing plan. For the instances when pricing is weird, I did what I felt was best on a case-by-case basis.
- Tor is not a VPN, but there are multiple apps that allow you to use it like a VPN. They've released an official Tor VPN app for Android, and there is a verified Flatpak called Carburetor which you can use to use Tor like a VPN on secureblue (Linux). It's not unreasonable to add this to the list.
- Some projects use different licenses for different platforms. For example, NordVPN has an open source Linux client. However, to call NordVPN open source would be like calling a meat sandwich vegan because the bread is vegan.
- The age of a VPN isn't a good indicator of how secure it is. There could be a trustworthy VPN that's been around for 10 years but uses insecure, outdated code, and a new VPN that's been around for 10 days but uses up-to-date, modern code.
- Some VPNs, like Surfshark VPN, operate in multiple countries. Legality may vary.
- All of the VPNs claim a "no log" policy, but there's some I trust more than others to actually uphold that.
- Tor is special in the port forwarding category, because it depends on what you're using port forwarding for. In some cases, Tor doesn't need port forwarding.
- Tor technically doesn't have a WireGuard profile, but you could (probably?) create one.
Takeaways
- If you don't mind the speed cost, Tor is a really good option to protect your IP address.
- If you're on a budget, NymVPN, Private Internet Access, and Surfshark VPN are generally the cheapest. If you're paying month-by-month, Mullvad VPN still can't be beat.
- If you want VPNs that go out of their way to collect as little information as possible, IVPN, Mullvad VPN, and NymVPN don't require any personal information to use. And Tor, of course.
ODS file: files.catbox.moe/cly0o6.ods
Private Internet Access: The Best VPN Service For 10+ Years
PIA VPN is 2025's top-rated VPN service – with ultra-fast speeds, worldwide streaming servers, and 100% open-source software. Try PIA risk free for 30 days.Private Internet Access
VPN Comparison
I made a spreadsheet comparing different open source VPN providers.
Part 2 here
Providers
Notes
- Please do not start a flame war about Proton.
- Please do not start a flame war about cryptocurrencies. Monero is the only cryptocurrency listed because of its privacy.
- The very left column is the category for each row, the middle section is the various VPN providers, and the right section is which VPNs are the best in each category.
- IVPN has two differing plans, which is why "Standard" and "Pro" are sometimes differentiated.
- For accounts, "Generated" means a random identifier is created for you to act as your account, "Required" means you must sign up yourself. Proton VPN allows guest use under specific conditions (e.g. installed from the Google Play Store), but otherwise requires an account.
- Switzerland is seen as more private than Sweden. Gibraltar is seen as privacy neutral.
- All prices are in United States Dollars. Tax is not included.
- Pricing is based on the price combination to achieve the exact time frame. For example, Proton VPN does not have a 3 year plan but you can achieve 3 years by combining a 2 year plan with a 1 year plan.
- The availability section is security based. Availability is framed around a GrapheneOS and secureblue setup.
- The Proton VPN Flatpak is unofficial, but based on the official code.
- Availability on secureblue is based on the
ujust install-vpncommand. Security features must be disabled on secureblue in order to use the GUI for IVPN and Mullvad VPN, but not for Proton VPN. Mozilla VPN and NymVPN are available as Flatpaks, which are safer than layering packages.- I wanted to include more categories, such as which programming languages they are written in, connection speed, and security, but that became far too difficult and complex, so I decided to omit those categories.
Takeaways
- NymVPN is very very new, but it's off to a strong start. It wins in almost every category. I actually hadn't heard of it until I started this project.
- If you want a free VPN, Proton VPN is the only one here that meets that requirement.
- If you want to pay week-by-week, IVPN is the only one that allows that.
- If you're paying month-by-month on a budget, Mullvad VPN is the cheapest option.
- NymVPN is the cheapest plan for anything past 1 month.
- If you want to use Accrescent as your main app store, IVPN is the only VPN available there for now.
- If you want to pay for a bundle of apps, including a VPN, Proton sells more than just a VPN.
- Mozilla VPN is terrible. The only thing it has going for it is a verified Flatpak, but NymVPN also has that so it doesn't even matter.
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Qatar Air Force facility to be built at USAF base in Idaho
Qatar Air Force facility to be built at USAF base in Idaho, Defense Secretary Hegseth says
Hegseth The Defense secretary made the announcement at a Pentagon press conference with Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani, Qatar's defense minister.Lillian Rizzo (CNBC)
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Anche quest'anno il GL-Como partecipa al Linux Day!
L'appuntamento annuale organizzato da ILS è nato nel 2001 per promuovere le idee del software libero e dell'open source, con un occhio di riguardo verso Linux. L'evento è costituito da una rete di eventi decentralizzati in tutta Italia organizzati autonomamente da gruppi volontari e appassionati.
attend
While Ripping Trump Authoritarianism, Over Half of Senate Dems Help GOP Pass $925 Billion Pentagon Bill
Senate Democrats are blasting President Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian behavior and congressional Republicans for shutting down the US government to preserve devastating healthcare cuts, but over half of them voted with the GOP late Thursday to give nearly $1 trillion to the Pentagon, which has never passed an audit.
The final vote on the Senate’s $925 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 was 77-20, with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) not voting. The passage tees up talks with leaders in the House of Representatives, where nearly all Republicans and 17 Democrats approved an NDAA last month.
“Yesterday, the Senate voted to give the Pentagon a trillion-dollar spending package while the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans play politics with troop pay and nuclear security and refuse to reopen the federal government,” Markey said in a Friday statement. “All the while, they are stealing healthcare from American families to fund tax breaks for CEO billionaires. This isn’t a budget that funds America’s real security needs.”
While Ripping Trump Authoritarianism, Over Half of Senate Dems Help GOP Pass $925 Billion Pentagon Bill
"Congress continues to expand military spending while denying investments in the programs that will truly build a safer, healthier future for working- and middle-class families," said Sen. Ed Markey, who voted no.jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)
While Ripping Trump Authoritarianism, Over Half of Senate Dems Help GOP Pass $925 Billion Pentagon Bill
Senate Democrats are blasting President Donald Trump’s increasingly authoritarian behavior and congressional Republicans for shutting down the US government to preserve devastating healthcare cuts, but over half of them voted with the GOP late Thursday to give nearly $1 trillion to the Pentagon, which has never passed an audit.
The final vote on the Senate’s $925 billion version of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2026 was 77-20, with Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto (D-Nev.), Ted Cruz (R-Texas), and Thom Tillis (R-NC) not voting. The passage tees up talks with leaders in the House of Representatives, where nearly all Republicans and 17 Democrats approved an NDAA last month.
“Yesterday, the Senate voted to give the Pentagon a trillion-dollar spending package while the Trump administration and MAGA Republicans play politics with troop pay and nuclear security and refuse to reopen the federal government,” Markey said in a Friday statement. “All the while, they are stealing healthcare from American families to fund tax breaks for CEO billionaires. This isn’t a budget that funds America’s real security needs.”
While Ripping Trump Authoritarianism, Over Half of Senate Dems Help GOP Pass $925 Billion Pentagon Bill
"Congress continues to expand military spending while denying investments in the programs that will truly build a safer, healthier future for working- and middle-class families," said Sen. Ed Markey, who voted no.jessica-corbett (Common Dreams)
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The State Department Isn’t Telling Congress When U.S. Weapons Fall Into the Wrong Hands
On paper, the guardrails are clear. When the U.S. ships weapons overseas, partner governments promise three things: That they’ll use them only for authorized purposes, keep them secure, and not hand them off to third parties.
If those conditions are violated or serious suspicions arise that they are, the State Department is obligated to investigate and, in many cases, alert Congress.
In practice, however, a new Government Accountability Office report shows the system is ad hoc, with little guidance or follow through. The State Department largely relies on overseas Defense Department officials for tips about potential end-use violations.
Since 2019, the Pentagon has flagged more than 150 incidents that could be violations. But the State Department has reported just three end-use violations to Capitol Hill.
The State Department Isn’t Telling Congress When U.S. Weapons Fall Into the Wrong Hands
Congress is being left in the dark about the fate of U.S. weapons transfers, a new federal watchdog report found.Alain Stephens (The Intercept)
I Have Hope for This Ceasefire, But It Can’t Undo Two Years of Genocide
“This is a great day for the world,” the U.S. president said when the first phase of a ceasefire agreement was announced. “This is a wonderful day, a wonderful day for everybody.”
It has taken two years of unrelenting genocide for us to finally hear this. I keep wondering: Is it real? Might our suffering actually end soon?
This partial ceasefire deal comes amid the most horrific phase the Gaza Strip has witnessed since the war began. Gaza City has been under a rapidly advancing Israeli occupation, putting the roughly 200,000 people who remain there into unimaginable circumstances. According to the latest reports, Israel has displaced nearly 900,000 people from the city.
I became one of them just one month ago. It feels like a whole year. I left everything behind and fled to the south, where Israel has said it would be safer, but bombs still rain down around us. Now, the thought of returning home again brings life back into me. It brings peace even for a rare moment.
My heart pounded as I followed the news last night. It was “the final minutes,” all the channels reported. Everyone was ready to sign. I watched my people finally smile — finally feel a moment of comfort — after two long years of sadness and grief.
Why did it take two full years? Were they waiting for us to suffer even more? Children, women, and men have been killed in this genocide. Generations are growing up and being born amid these unfathomable horrors. This war has shaped new identities — minds and hearts forged in pain, loss, and resilience.
Now, Israel expects us to feel grateful for obtaining our basic rights to life and liberty — as if they were favors, not ordinary human rights.
In the tent camps where I am now displaced, the word “ceasefire” feels empty. The last round of ceasefire negotiations began with enthusiasm. It ended with my family displaced in a tent.
Ceasefire doesn’t mean the end of our suffering. It is simply a step toward justice after endless days and nights filled with fear and violence against us in Gaza. It doesn’t bring back the schools, universities, hospitals, streets, or homes that Israel bombed. It cannot heal the trauma we carry from those long nights of pain and terror. The sounds of drones and explosions will forever echo in our minds. A ceasefire cannot erase that.
I Have Hope for This Ceasefire, But It Can’t Undo Two Years of Genocide
U.S. President Donald Trump said the ceasefire deal marked “a wonderful day for everybody.” Why did it take two years to arrive?Sara Awad (The Intercept)
BHP agrees to settle some iron ore sales to China using RMB instead of USD
China-BHP Billiton negotiations on iron ore supply result in RMB trading settlement, opening new era
Major Australian miner - BHP Billiton - agreed with Chinese state-owned iron ore trading arm China Mineral Resources Group together with Chinese ...GSALIH (SteelOrbis)
China's Eric Li Destroys a Room Full of Western Journalists On Their Own Turf
- YouTube
Profitez des vidéos et de la musique que vous aimez, mettez en ligne des contenus originaux, et partagez-les avec vos amis, vos proches et le monde entier.www.youtube.com
The Liberal Abandonment Of Greta Thunberg
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/37163347
The Liberal Abandonment Of Greta Thunberg
The Liberal Abandonment Of Greta Thunberg
The Swedish activist Greta Thunberg has been detained by Israel and reportedly maltreated by her Israeli captors after she was kidnapped, along with hundreds of other activists, from Gaza’s territorial waters on Friday.Nate Bear (¡Do Not Panic!)
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Locked in the Levant - a firsthand account of my arrest by the IDF and my incarceration and interrogations by the Israeli security services.
Following Hamas’ Al Aqsa Flood operation into southern Israel on October 7th, 2023, and the subsequent bombardment of the Gaza Strip, I began making month-long reporting trips to Israel-Palestine to cover different aspects of the war.
In October and November 2023, I documented a wave of settler and military violence across rural villages in the southern West Bank, resulting in the complete ethnic cleansing of more than 20 communities in less than 40 days—a campaign of violence and displacement that continues to this day.
In March 2024, I embedded myself with Jewish Israeli nationalists who saw it as their civic and religious duty to travel south to the Nitzana and Karem Shalom border crossings, where they worked to block humanitarian aid from reaching Gaza’s starving population. I accompanied them, documenting their collaboration with the Israeli military, which—despite both Israeli and international law—allowed these civilians into closed military zones to obstruct aid shipments. I conducted interviews with civilians who openly expressed their genocidal ambitions, while military reservists spoke candidly about war crimes they had committed while deployed in Gaza.
These reporting trips ended in October 2024 when I was arrested by the Israeli military and incarcerated as an “enemy of the state” for factual reporting.
Previously, Israeli politicians and Knesset members weren’t able to openly advocate for turning the Gaza Strip into an exclusively Jewish Israeli enclave while still maintaining their international image as victims and framing their military actions as purely defensive. But that was changing.
My goal was to document how the resettlement movement had evolved. Tracking its shift from a fringe effort to a mainstream Israeli political cause. I planned to follow and embed with these groups, from their settlements to their demonstrations at various border checkpoints into Gaza.
Locked in the Levant
a firsthand account of my arrest by the IDF and my incarceration and interrogations by the Israeli security services.substack.com
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It's raining, this is a very long, very absorbing article, and...it keeps disappearing, asking me to reload the page, resulting in scrolling to find my place again. I'm just to the point of Bobby Kennedy's cowardly, tepid call for Jeremy's release, and regret I am going to try again, later.
Everyone who sees this should read it.
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RPG devs stopped making games like Baldur's Gate 'because retailers told us no one wanted to buy them', says New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity director Josh Sawyer
RPG devs stopped making games like Baldur's Gate 'because retailers told us no one wanted to buy them', says New Vegas and Pillars of Eternity director Josh Sawyer
The Infinity Engine wasn't quite so infinite, in the end.Hope Corrigan (PC Gamer)
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I made a copy lemmy - reddit CLONE COPY
Mạng Chia Sẽ Liên Kết LinkHay
LinkHay là địa điểm chia sẻ những nội dung đặc sắc khắp Internet Việt Nam.Voten
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Interfaith leaders visit Tallahassee seeking access to Alligator Alcatraz detainees
Clergy representing six different faiths — from the First United Methodist Church to Judaism — delivered a letter to the Florida Department of Emergency Management seeking permission from the state to provide one-on-one chaplaincy services to the detainees at the detention center, a practice that’s common in most other correctional facilities in Florida.
This time, the group received a hopeful response — though there was some confusion about the type of religious services that are already taking place at the facility.
Keith Pruett, the deputy executive director of FDEM, told clergy that he thought the facility already provided religious services, according to Rev. David Williamson, who attended the letter drop-off on Thursday. Williamson said that Pruett agreed to bring up the issue with Kevin Guthrie, the executive director of FDEM, when he returns to Tallahassee.
How a Texas group is positioning itself as a Republican alternative to teachers unions
After years of working to dismantle diversity programs, ban books and rewrite classroom curriculum, conservatives are converging on a new battlefront in their push to overhaul public education: teachers’ unions.
This spring, a right-leaning think tank called the Freedom Foundation launched the Teacher Freedom Alliance as a free, national membership program meant to incentivize public educators to jump ship from traditional teachers unions.
The group, which is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, encourages teachers to instead take advantage of its $2 million liability insurance, professional development training and curriculum resources, including recommended learning from PragerU, a conservative group that produces free video content “upholding Judeo-Christian values.” The group is structured as a nonprofit, so it doesn't have to disclose its donors.
This Texas group aims to be a Republican option to teachers unions
The Teacher Freedom Alliance launched this spring as a free, national membership program meant to incentivize educators to jump ship from traditional unions.Taylor Goldenstein (Houston Chronicle)
Laura Loomer Reaches Her Final Straw With Trump: ‘I Don’t Think I’ll Be Voting in 2026’
Laura Loomer Reaches Her Final Straw With Trump: ‘I Don’t Think I’ll Be Voting in 2026&# ...
Laura Loomer, the conspiracy theorist and longtime Trump loyalist, has hit her final straw with the president over a Qatari air base being built in Idaho.Isaac Schorr (Mediaite)
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Korean Anti-Imperialist Organization Nodutdol Releases Korean History Toolkit
launch of our new Korea Education Toolkit!
We've curated a variety of educational resources-from articles and books to videos and podcasts— for anyone to learn about Korea from revolutionary and anti-imperialist perspectives.
The toolkit has been organized into six sections: Japanese colonialism, Korean War, Republic of Korea (ROK: South Korea), Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK: North Korea, Contemporary US Imperialism, and Films.
Just as surely as we must struggle for liberation, we also have to study. Taking time to understand the politics, economy, and history of Korea and the anti-imperialist struggle of our people is essential to building an informed and powerful movement.
Visit usoutofkorea.org/toolkit to learn more!"
Korea Education Toolkit | US Out of Korea!
Nodutdol’s US out of Korea campaign seeks to educate the public about US military aggression in Korea, which is pushing the peninsula towards a renewed state of war.usoutofkorea.org
That's US propaganda. The US has not contributed as much as Trump would want you to believe. Europe has been providing just as much artillery as the US and it has plans to ramp up (related article).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_…
According to defense expert Malcolm Chalmers, at the beginning of 2025 the US provided 20% of all military equipment Ukraine was using, with 25% provided by Europe and 55% produced by Ukraine.
About the oil: yes, Russia sells deeply discounted oil to India just for them to resell is at a markup, and this benefits India.. but also it benefits Russia and Europe, since Russia needs the money, even at a discount, and Europe needs the oil, even at a markup.. if selling/buying the oil wasn't beneficial they would not be selling/buying it.
But I think the article is talking about direct sales, since Europe still buys from Russia (and Russia still sells to Europe).
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No, that's not US propaganda. Vast majority of the material aid that Europe provided was made in the US. The stocks NATO have been using to feed their proxy war have now run down, and that's why production capacity matters. Meanwhile, the wikipedia link is just literally some bozo making claims.
No, Russia does not sell deeply discounted oil to India. They sell very slightly discounted oil that's priced effectively at market rates. Go look it up if you don't believe me. Buying Russian oil through India at a markup in no way benefits Europe. This is indisputable given what we see happening in the main industrial power in Europe bloomberg.com/news/articles/20…
Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist
The venture capitalist has hosted and attended events and lectured on the topic for decades, going back to the 1990s, according to a report by Wired. In recent months, he has spoken to theologians and podcasters about the antichrist both publicly and in private. His beliefs are diffuse, meandering and often confusing, but one tenet he’s steadfastly maintained over the years is that the unification of the world under one global state is essentially identical to the antichrist. In his talks, he uses the term “antichrist” almost interchangeably with “one-world state”.
He believes the Armageddon will be ushered in by an antichrist-type figure who cultivates a fear of existential threats such as climate change, AI, and nuclear war to amass inordinate power. The idea is this figure will convince people to do everything they can to avoid something like a third world war, including accepting a one-world order charged with protecting everyone from the apocalypse that implements a complete restriction of technological progress. In his mind, this is already happening. Thiel said that international financial bodies, which make it more difficult for people to shelter their wealth in tax havens, are one sign the antichrist may be amassing power and hastening Armageddon, saying: “It’s become quite difficult to hide one’s money.”
Inside tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s off-the-record lectures about the antichrist
The political svengali and investor has been giving lectures on ‘an evil king or tyrant … who appears in the end times’Johana Bhuiyan (The Guardian)
I don't get it, we've kept peoples pay the same if not lowered it, allowed housing prices and rent to go through the roof, mandated everyone to go into massive debt to get a school degree, and then told them they are struggling because we told them the problem is they are throwing away all their money on luxuries.
Now they are cutting down on luxuries... (shocked pikachu face).
Some dead after massive blast at Tennessee military explosives facility
Live updates: Some dead after massive blast at Tennessee military explosives facility
Some people have died and more are unaccounted for after the explosion, officials say.BBC News
Tell everyone you knoow: “I Don’t Want to Be Here Anymore”: They Tried to Self-Deport, Then Got Stranded in Trump’s America
Months passed. Her partner was deported. In July, Pérez said, she got a call from someone in the CBP Home program telling her she’d be on a flight out of the country in mid-August. She began packing.
But as the departure date neared and the plane tickets hadn’t arrived, Pérez got nervous. Again and again, she called the toll-free number she’d been given. Finally, somebody called back to say there might be a delay obtaining the documents she’d need to travel to Venezuela.
Then there was silence. No further information, no plane tickets. Pérez registered on the app again in August, then a third time in September, as immigration arrests ramped up in Chicago.
Today, Pérez feels trapped in a country that doesn’t want her. She’s afraid of leaving her apartment, afraid that she will be detained and that her children will be taken away from her. “I feel so scared, always looking around in every direction,” she said. “I was trying to leave voluntarily, like the president said.”
Immigrants Who Tried to Self-Deport with Trump’s CBP Home App Are Stuck in America
Venezuelan immigrants signed up for a Trump-promoted app called CBP Home, which promised a safe and easy way to leave the country, and prepared to leave on their given departure dates. Those dates have come and gone. They’re still stuck here.ProPublica
Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats
Mark Bray, a Rutgers University history professor who wrote "Antifa: The Anti-Fascist Handbook," is relocating to Spain with his family after receiving death threats and harassment1. The threats emerged after President Trump designated antifa as a domestic terrorist organization in September 2025, when conservative activists began targeting Bray on social media2.
The Rutgers chapter of Turning Point USA circulated a petition calling for Bray's dismissal, labeling him "Dr. Antifa" and claiming he was an "outspoken, well-known antifa member"1. After Fox News contacted him about the petition, Bray received death threats, including one promising to "kill him in front of his students," and his home address was posted on social media3.
Bray, who has taught courses on anti-fascism at Rutgers since 2019, maintains he has never been part of any antifa group, saying "I do not have any affiliation with any antifa group and don't plan to"1. His initial attempt to leave the U.S. on October 9, 2025, was blocked when his family's flight reservations were mysteriously canceled at the gate4, but they successfully departed the following day[^7].
He plans to teach his classes remotely for the current academic year and hopes to return to campus in fall 20261.
- AP News - Antifa expert at Rutgers University says he is moving to Spain because of death threats ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
- NJ.com - N.J. professor's attempt to flee to Spain blocked after threats over antifa research ↩︎
- The Independent - Rutgers University's Antifa expert flees US after MAGA death threats ↩︎
- The Guardian - US anti-fascism expert leaves country day after being blocked from flying to Spain ↩︎
US anti-fascism expert blocked from flying to Spain at airport
Rutgers University professor who published book on antifa was informed at boarding gate that his trip was cancelledEdward Helmore (The Guardian)
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Because Spain has a long and proud history of antifascism?
Could be advantageous 🤷
Spain
Hugo Garcia Despite its neutrality in World War I and the comparative weakness of its early fascist parties, Spain witnessed one of the strongest responses to fascism in the interwar period and bec…Worldwide Antifascism Research Network
cool story so their navy is gonna break the israeli blockade right
oh, wait
Russia
Oh boy the fascism understander has arrived
I would also love to know at what point you think the US became fascist
without reading the article, they were like "um yeah we're not going to protect you though" and pressured them, with Italy, to have them give the aid to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem to "distribute"
if that's incorrect maybe I'll read it, but
If you identify as an "antifa expert" you are at best a liberal, but more likely an american conservative. Fuck off the fewer of you here the better.
The only "antifa" i care about are dead ww2 soldiers, or modern strictly-anti-capitalist marxists.
US Stock Market Crash: Why is the US stock market down today? Dow, S&P, Nasdaq plunge as Trump warns of “Massive” China tariffs; AMD, Nvidia, Tesla fall, Rare earth stocks surge
US Stock Market Crash: Why is the US stock market down today? Dow, S&P, Nasdaq plunge as Trump warns of “M
U.S. stock market crashes on October 10. Major indexes fell sharply. The S&P 500, Dow Jones, and Nasdaq all dropped. Tech shares AMD, Nvidia, Tesla decline. Rare earth stocks surge as Trump warns of massive China tariffs.Piyush Shukla (Economic Times)
How a tiny, inexperienced firm landed a $1.3 billion detention deal
When the Trump administration awarded a $1.26 billion contract this summer to build and operate a new tent city detention center in Texas, it made headlines, and not just because the facility, located at the Fort Bliss Army base, was expected to be the biggest of its kind in the country. The company that won the job, Acquisition Logistics, was so small it operated out of a single-family home in Richmond, Virginia. Almost nobody had heard of it. “A random house…just won $1.26 billion from ICE,” wrote the New Republic.
As it turns out, ICE had tried to award the contract, in April, to the firm Deployed Resources. It canceled the deal days later “for convenience,” according to a government website that cited an executive order about “wasteful spending.” Such a move is extremely unusual, and some current and former ICE officials speculate that Deployed lost the job for political reasons. Back in 2023, the Washington Free Beacon reported that the firm had snagged no-bid contracts for immigrant detention under President Joe Biden, and that a member of its board was married to Doug Emhoff’s former chief of staff, who later joined a sister company, Deployed Services. (The DC Enquirer interpreted all of this as “Kamala’s cronyism.”) A Department of Homeland Security spokesperson dismissed the speculation, saying the contract was canceled due to an “inability to meet the specialized needs of the facility.”
How a tiny, inexperienced firm landed a $1.3 billion detention deal
To hold 5,000 human beings.Mother Jones
The vast, terrifying scale of Trump’s detention state
The vast, terrifying scale of Trump’s detention state
With $75 billion and thousands of masked agents, ICE is just getting started.Mother Jones
Blast at a Tennessee military explosives plant leaves multiple people dead and missing, sheriff says
An explosion at a Tennessee military munitions plant left multiple people dead and missing on Friday, authorities said, as secondary blasts forced rescuers to keep their distance from the burning field of debris.
The blast, which people reported hearing and feeling miles away, occurred at Accurate Energetic Systems in rural Tennessee. The company’s website says it makes and tests explosives at an eight-building facility that sprawls across wooded hills near Bucksnort, a town about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Nashville.
“We do have several people at this time unaccounted for. We are trying to be mindful of families and that situation,” Humphreys County Sheriff Chris Davis said at a news conference. “We do have some that are deceased.”
https://apnews.com/article/tennessee-blast-military-explosive-plant-3c26b71217a2ebe7fb4ca4e21b4edcd7
ChatGPT safety systems can be bypassed to get weapons instructions
ChatGPT safety systems can be bypassed for weapons instructions
NBC News found that OpenAI’s models repeatedly provided answers on making chemical and biological weapons.Kevin Collier (NBC News)
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Technology reshared this.
Oh no, not information that's already available online, whatever will we do.
If you need AI to tell you how to build weapon system you're not going to build the weapon system anybody who's an actual threat already has this information. This is just nonsense pearl clutching to sell a story, there's nothing actually here though.
Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza return north as ceasefire takes effect; NY Attorney General Letitia James indicted; Peru swears in new president
cross-posted from: lemmy.ml/post/37359935
Israel kills 17 Palestinians over the past 24 hours in Gaza. Ceasefire goes into effect at 12 noon local time; Israeli troops withdraw to agreed upon lines, retaining control of 53% of Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza return to the north. Exchange of Israeli and Palestinian captives expected on Monday. United States will send 200 troops to Israel to help oversee the ceasefire. New York Attorney General Letitia James is indicted in fraud case after pressure from President Donald Trump. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatens to fire air traffic controllers who do not show up for work during the government shutdown. Peru Congress swears in new president after ousting Boluarte. The Trump administration finalizes its $20-billion bailout of Argentina. A new UN report says violence in Haiti has displaced nearly 700,000 children. Russia claims to have captured 8 more villages along the Ukrainian front lines.
Thousands of Palestinians in Gaza return north as ceasefire takes effect; NY Attorney General Letitia James indicted; Peru swears in new president
Israel kills 17 Palestinians over the past 24 hours in Gaza. Ceasefire goes into effect at 12 noon local time; Israeli troops withdraw to agreed upon lines, retaining control of 53% of Gaza. Tens of thousands of Palestinians in Gaza return to the north. Exchange of Israeli and Palestinian captives expected on Monday. United States will send 200 troops to Israel to help oversee the ceasefire. New York Attorney General Letitia James is indicted in fraud case after pressure from President Donald Trump. U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy threatens to fire air traffic controllers who do not show up for work during the government shutdown. Peru Congress swears in new president after ousting Boluarte. The Trump administration finalizes its $20-billion bailout of Argentina. A new UN report says violence in Haiti has displaced nearly 700,000 children. Russia claims to have captured 8 more villages along the Ukrainian front lines.
like this
somerandomperson
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •The 8232 Project
in reply to somerandomperson • • •somerandomperson
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •The 8232 Project
in reply to somerandomperson • • •somerandomperson
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •The 8232 Project
in reply to somerandomperson • • •This is the website
This is the source code
This is the Google Play Store link (just in case)
The Tor Project / Applications / vpn · GitLab
GitLabsomerandomperson
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Corridor8031
in reply to somerandomperson • • •"Tor VPN is beta software. Do not rely on it for anything other than testing. It may leak information and should not be relied on for anything sensitive"
in case you did not read the disclaimer
somerandomperson
in reply to Corridor8031 • • •Hubi
in reply to somerandomperson • • •The 8232 Project
in reply to Hubi • • •Hubi
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Tundra
in reply to somerandomperson • • •Its available through FDroid, you have to enable the the guardian repo first:
support.torproject.org/tormobi…
Is Tor Browser available on F-Droid? | Tor Project | Support
support.torproject.orgThe 8232 Project
in reply to Tundra • • •immobile7801
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Ŝan
in reply to immobile7801 • • •I've been concerned about performance lately; after having been on Mullvad forever, performance dropped to "abysmal" on every server, so I tried ivpn and got much better speeds. Still, it's a fraction of my fiber capability, wiþ VPN off. I looked at Nym, but haven't tried it; it doesn't seem like þroughput is a primary selling point for þem.
If you do try it, could you report back on speed impact?
I get 8% of my raw þroughput on Mullvad's servers. I get 28% on ivpn. Neiþer seems like a reasonably cost for Wireguard, and should be better.
scytale
in reply to Ŝan • • •Ŝan
in reply to scytale • • •Yeah, please report back if you do.
I don't know what's up w/ Mullvad. Þey were great for years.
ISOmorph
in reply to Ŝan • • •like this
Kami likes this.
Ŝan
in reply to ISOmorph • • •online
in reply to Ŝan • • •It's more private, but you'll sacrifice speed as a result of having to go through at least 2 servers.
They even have a 5-hop mode, which I don't know, probably would be slower than tor xD
scytale
in reply to online • • •Dr. Wesker
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I appreciate the attempt to quantify availability, but don't most of these providers allow you to generate OpenVPN and Wireguard configs, which can be used practically anywhere?
Nevertheless, your work is appreciated.
null_dot
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I've been using one of these since forever and it just works. Should I look at the others?
I don't want this to be a "I use x and its the best" type comment so I won't say which one.
I only use wireguard and wouldn't touch openvpn just because it seems so complex in comparisson.
The price is fine, the speed is fine, wireguard makes it ubiquitous, never had a problem with reliability.
The 8232 Project
in reply to null_dot • • •null_dot
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •AtariDump
in reply to null_dot • • •sp3ctr4l
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Very much appreciate this work, but I am again gonna ask if there is some way to include I2P, perhaps in its own thing, perhaps segregated by outproxies.
Yep, its super slow compared to basically all VPNs, and is a bit of struggle to set up compared to most VPNs.
But, it is also entirely free, and you can use I2P with outproxies to access the wider internet outside of I2P's... I2P-net... allows port forwarding, works very well for a slow but steady churn of uh, filesharing, etc.
I would also argue I2P is a better way that TOR to protect your IP and your actual net traffic, due to TOR nodes being known to be run as honeypots ...
Its possible an I2P outproxy could also be operated as a honeypot, but as I understand it, ... so long as you are not unlucky enough to just directly route through an outproxy without first bouncing through other I2P users/hosts... you're basically good.
And even in that scenario, its would be very difficult to reverse engineer all the packets and figure out which parts were going to who, as well as the actual contents of those packets.
Brickfrog
in reply to sp3ctr4l • • •Agreed, if OP is going to add Tor in a "VPN" list then may as well add I2P. I2P + outproxies are pretty much the same thing as Tor + Tor Exit Relay. It's not the best way to utilize I2P but the option does exist.
Then again neither Tor nor I2P should be in a "VPN" list, the whole thing seems more of a VPN provider topic.
aprehendedmerlin
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •dumpster_dove [he/him]
in reply to aprehendedmerlin • • •webghost0101
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Honestly i wish these kind of vpns had a different name.
Wireguard isnt even on the list and its entirely free, but also it doesn’t serve this same purpose.
Vpn stands for private personal network, selfhosted vpns do exactly that, i can use my
Phone to connect to all my home services which replace expensive subscriptions without actually exposing those services to the net or requiring a domain for them.
Vpns are amazing, but most people i know irl that use them barely understand what they are or what they can be used for.
Eager Eagle
in reply to webghost0101 • • •ObsidianZed
in reply to webghost0101 • • •dirakon
in reply to webghost0101 • • •prole
in reply to webghost0101 • • •Ermm....
webghost0101
in reply to prole • • •Virtual private network,i know, i know, but i just wrote the wrong thing on accident.
Since its been up for so long feels dishonest to change it. I am owning up to my mistakes and my sentiment that the post is about providers only still stands.
prole
in reply to webghost0101 • • •Telorand
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •PIA does not have WireGuard configs available. To get those, you have to use third-party tools to capture and generate the necessary info. Otherwise, you have to use their client, or else no WireGuard.
Users have been asking for years (since 2018, I think), and they've never provided them.
Droolio
in reply to Telorand • • •GitHub - pia-foss/manual-connections: Scripts for manual connections to Private Internet Access
GitHubLuke
in reply to Droolio • • •Chulk
in reply to Telorand • • •PIA was also purchased by the Israeli company, Kape Technologies, which is tied to Unit 8200. If your concern is privacy, I would recommend do against it.
Private Internet Access VPN to be acquired by malware company founded by former Israeli spy
Telegraphbulwark
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Oberyn
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •ObsidianZed
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Ersatz86
in reply to ObsidianZed • • •mkhopper
in reply to ObsidianZed • • •I have the same question about PureVPN.
Does Pure fly under the radar, or just not as well known?
I've been using it for years and never any problems.
dubyakay
in reply to ObsidianZed • • •Since September 2021, ExpressVPN has been a subsidiary of Kape Technologies, a company wholly owned by Israeli billionaire Teddy Sagi.
Teddy Sagi is an Israeli businessman and convicted criminal based in London and Dubai.
PIA is also owned by Sagi btw. Shouldn't even be on this list.
ColeSloth
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •TankieTanuki [he/him]
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •All VPNs are blocked on my university's network
I live off campus, thankfully, but it sucks that I can't have any privacy on my laptop while on campus.
chaoticnumber
in reply to TankieTanuki [he/him] • • •dirakon
in reply to TankieTanuki [he/him] • • •_cryptagion [he/him]
in reply to TankieTanuki [he/him] • • •tunnel to your home connection then. unless you live an hour or two away from your campus, it's not gonna add a delay that's noticeable to you.
ATS1312
in reply to TankieTanuki [he/him] • • •Mullvad on desktop has QUIC protocol encapsulation so that wireguard just looks like normal https traffic.
There's also shadowsocks protocol encapsulation to look like ssh traffic. And that's even available on mobile too.
veee
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Lemmchen
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Catbox
catbox.moeThe 8232 Project
in reply to Lemmchen • • •redhilsha
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •don't like this
Kami doesn't like this.
Kami
in reply to redhilsha • • •If you care about privacy no.
If you just need to unlock regional content then it should be good.
redhilsha
in reply to Kami • • •Keyword being "free".
Could you suggest a better VPN that's free?
don't like this
Kami doesn't like this.
Kami
in reply to redhilsha • • •_cryptagion [he/him]
in reply to Kami • • •don't like this
Kami doesn't like this.
Kami
in reply to _cryptagion [he/him] • • •LMAO
First of all Mullvad isn't German.
Second, they have already proved they respect customers privacy.
Get your facts straight and don't cry if someone criticizes your favorite corporation.
prole
in reply to redhilsha • • •like this
Kami likes this.
redhilsha
in reply to prole • • •I agree.
Though, it's not that deep. I was saying how it's the best amongst the free ones. I'm not saying it's the best in general.
prole
in reply to redhilsha • • •Brickfrog
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •One thing you may want to update - listing Tor's logging policy as "No Logs" is a bit misleading, that's really more of a voluntary recommendation for individual Tor exit relay operators.
Tor exit relay operators absolutely can store logs of outgoing connections if they choose to. And technically they could even snoop on non-secure traffic if they choose, there's a reason you should be using HTTPS if you're going to use Tor for clearnet browsing.
Of course most Tor exit relay operators aren't going to do these things but it's all voluntary, seems incorrect to claim all exit relay operators follow no log principles.
EDIT: Also AFAIK you can't forward a port from the clearnet through a Tor exit relay's public IP address back to your own Tor client, Tor doesn't do port forwarding like that. It's definitely not needed to run Tor Browser (and Tor VPN I think) but that isn't needed for any of the other VPNs either, a bit confusing how you listed that one.
prole
in reply to Brickfrog • • •Undertaker
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •like this
Kami likes this.
abominable_panda
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •like this
Kami likes this.
Valmond
in reply to abominable_panda • • •ehyuman
in reply to Valmond • • •olenkoVD
in reply to ehyuman • • •AdrianTheFrog
in reply to Valmond • • •Valmond
in reply to AdrianTheFrog • • •Show me where he endorses Trump.
Oh, you can't? But you read it on Facebook or something so it must be true?
Common, show me your information.
This is bullshit based on some old tweet Andy Yen did about trump doing good going against big tech. You can read about it here or search for it elsewhere.
It always comes out when someone says something nice about ProtonVPN, who have an amazing track record IMO.
Does Proton really support Trump? A deeper analysis (and surprising findings)
ovenplayer (Medium)AdrianTheFrog
in reply to Valmond • • •Valmond
in reply to AdrianTheFrog • • •Thank you!
And sorry if I came around a bit agressively. Kudos to you for checking the link and updating your view.
MangioneDontMiss
in reply to AdrianTheFrog • • •porcoesphino
in reply to Valmond • • •That write up does seem to ignore the doubling down here:
lemmy.ca/comment/13913116
Calling out that JD Vance was the only one to answer is pretty troubling to me after reading about some of his new-right ties. It's way, way too close for my liking to a mouse telling everyone that will listen that the cat was amazing for inviting him and all his friends to his house in a week. ie. Playing into what just seems like an obvious strategy.
That said, I'm pretty ignorant about the CEO. I just remembered this lemmy comment and I didn't notice it included in the write up that was being linked.
egerlach
2025-01-15 16:06:05
eldavi
in reply to Valmond • • •Valmond
in reply to eldavi • • •eldavi
in reply to Valmond • • •eldavi
in reply to Valmond • • •Valmond
in reply to eldavi • • •_cryptagion [he/him]
in reply to eldavi • • •eldavi
in reply to _cryptagion [he/him] • • •I do not use Windows and I do everything in my power to use non American phones.
The difference is that proton's founder voiced support whereas Microsoft has always had a relationship w my govt and it's dragnet for the Gazan genocide is quiet.
_cryptagion [he/him]
in reply to eldavi • • •eldavi
in reply to _cryptagion [he/him] • • •brb
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •MrSulu
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •like this
HeerlijkeDrop likes this.
don't like this
Kami doesn't like this.
Kami
in reply to MrSulu • • •like this
HeerlijkeDrop likes this.
dubyakay
in reply to Kami • • •prole
in reply to dubyakay • • •theintercept.com/2025/01/28/pr…
and
Proton Mail Says It’s “Politically Neutral” While Praising Republican Party
Nikita Mazurov (The Intercept)cmhe
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •The 'availability' is misleading. If they offer OpenVPN or Wireguard then they are available pretty much anywhere.
Using just plain Wireguard or OpenVPN configs would also be much better than installing random VPN provider apps.
ki9
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •cryptostorm - The VPN service provider for the truly paranoid
cryptostorm.isATS1312
in reply to ki9 • • •I'd love to see them audited.
Back when they were in the US, they closed shop and moved to Iceland to avoid turning over data for a subpoena.
That's both admirable and an admission that they had longs to turn over.
But that they generate accounts on the fly like the best? Is promising in context.
Kami
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •pineapple
in reply to Kami • • •cmhe
in reply to pineapple • • •Corridor8031
in reply to cmhe • • •cmhe
in reply to Corridor8031 • • •The issue there AFAIK is that some app builds aren't fully reproducible, because if they were the developer signature would still apply and be used. In the reproducible case the security of the build infra wouldn't matter, because the same app would be produced the same regardless were they are build.
Without reproducible builds, you cannot really trust the software anyway, because the Dev could hook some hidden code only for the released binary app and sign that.
Corridor8031
in reply to cmhe • • •uhm no not really?
I mean reproducible builds are used to cross verfiy that it is the same binary in this case, but like android has no mechanism to do that, this is not how it works.
that a build should be reproducible is more about your second point and doesnt really have anything to do with fdroid, as far as i know
Edit: these links should explain it all:
discuss.grapheneos.org/d/21675…
FDroid Security - GrapheneOS Discussion Forum
GrapheneOS Discussion Forumcmhe
in reply to Corridor8031 • • •f-droid.org/en/2025/09/29/goog…
F-Droid and Google's Developer Registration Decree | F-Droid - Free and Open Source Android App Repository
f-droid.orgpineapple
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •online
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I haven't looked at all providers, merely Nymvpn as I was interested. Turns out they have a 2TB/month cap. Might not be an issue for some, but might be for others.
Valmond
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •ProtonVPN: only 8 years old: RED FLAG!
Well reddish flag at least, is there a rationale behind this? I mean 8 years is quite a long time.
Ferk
in reply to Valmond • • •Valmond
in reply to Ferk • • •So you also think the choices were not that good?
I mean what you are saying is that if there had been a 50 year old one, all the others should be red?
Ferk
in reply to Valmond • • •I'm just explaining the reason why it's more reddish (but not as red as others). It's something most spreadsheet software (this was clearly MS Excel) can do automatically with numbers for visual indication so we can more easily see the distribution, it does not mean 8 years old is bad.
If there's a big unbalance in color it would just make it more visible that there's a big unbalance in ages. Probably if that had happened more colors could have been added to the gradient, maybe maroon->red->yellow->green->blue->white. But I think it was not seen as necessary in this case (or the author was lazy, since these are one of the defaults I believe).
Valmond
in reply to Ferk • • •Who cares about why it happened? I mean it's kind of obvious. No one questioned why excel shows a specific colour, but I did why the person making the spreadsheet did in fact use what you go to lengths to explaine, in a specific way. It's like saying sorry your paycheck was halved because we have this software and today it divided your salary in half. Not saying that's not ok or anything, but explaining how "dividing by 2 halves a number".
I feel you explain something, while correct, had nothing to do with what I said.
The 8232 Project
in reply to Ferk • • •LibreOffice Calc, actually. You are correct about the color grading.
I changed the conditional colors from the default to match the colors that LibreOffice uses for "Good", "Neutral", and "Bad".
Calc | LibreOffice - Free and private office suite - Based on OpenOffice - Compatible with Microsoft
www.libreoffice.orgTunaSlap
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Edit: I so I thought. I had set it up and apparently not kept up with the times
Bruhh
in reply to TunaSlap • • •TunaSlap
in reply to Bruhh • • •Corridor8031
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •For anyone who considers getting the tor vpn android app
"Tor VPN is beta software. Do not rely on it for anything other than testing. It may leak information and should not be relied on for anything sensitive" (it is a disclaimer from their website)
Thank you for adding the created date column and making sweden green
rirus
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •mnemonicmonkeys
in reply to rirus • • •BlueRhinos
in reply to rirus • • •GnuLinuxDude
in reply to BlueRhinos • • •Yes. The owner/developer is Kape technologies, an Israeli spyware/adware company.
To quote from cnet
Whether or not PIA or ExpressVPN or the other providers owned by Kape fulfill this data scraping and ad-serving pipeline in my mind is irrelevant. Choosing to do business with them rewards bad actors when there are other VPN sellers who don't have such a tainted lineage.
loxdogs
in reply to rirus • • •rirus
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Ferrous
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Good work. Might be valuable to add a "allows port forwarding" row.
Edit: whoops, I'm a silly willy. It's right in front of me! My bad.
typhoon
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I see that Windscribe was included. Their price tier is always in promotion so I'd take that in consideration.
Also, they have app for Linux: windscribe.com/features/linux/
It is not in Electron like many others. It is native Linux.
Get the Fastest VPN for Linux | Windscribe
windscribe.comHulkSmashBurgers
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •I think it's worth noting NYMVpn uses a quite advanced mixnet for security which is different from other VPNs and theoretically more secure than even TOR. I say theoretically because it hasn't yet been proven with large scale use.
nym.com/blog/what-is-a-mixnet
What is a mixnet? Unparalleled online privacy with a VPN
Casey Ford, PhD (Nym)dirtySourdough
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •upstroke4448
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Checklists Are The Thief Of Joy - Dhole Moments
Dhole Moments∞🏳️⚧️Edie [it/it/its/its/itself, she/her/her/hers/herself, fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself, love/love/loves/loves/loveself, des/pair, null/void, none/use name]
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •C tor/little-t-tor/etc. is licensed under the "3-clause BSD" license
I dont know a lot about wireguard, but of the cuff answer would be no.
LICENSE · main · The Tor Project / Core / Tor · GitLab
GitLabInnerScientist
in reply to ∞🏳️⚧️Edie [it/it/its/its/itself, she/her/her/hers/herself, fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself, love/love/loves/loves/loveself, des/pair, null/void, none/use name] • • •The 8232 Project
in reply to ∞🏳️⚧️Edie [it/it/its/its/itself, she/her/her/hers/herself, fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself, love/love/loves/loves/loveself, des/pair, null/void, none/use name] • • •Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 Internationalbut the actual license file is a different license.∞🏳️⚧️Edie [it/it/its/its/itself, she/her/her/hers/herself, fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself, love/love/loves/loves/loveself, des/pair, null/void, none/use name]
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •The reason gitlab says it is, is because the LICENSE file contains all licenses for the codebase, including stuff like geoip which is destributed under CC BY-SA 4.0
The 8232 Project
in reply to ∞🏳️⚧️Edie [it/it/its/its/itself, she/her/her/hers/herself, fae/faer/faer/faers/faerself, love/love/loves/loves/loveself, des/pair, null/void, none/use name] • • •Matt
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Echolynx
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •stupid_asshole69 [none/use name]
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Last time I said it was hard to figure out if this was some kind of malice or just someone without much experience/knowledge.
I been thinking about what this post and the one before it actually are though. They’re not disinformation, I don’t think they’re misinformation although I think that argument could be made if there was actual intent (and a person could also make the argument that there is intent).
This just kind of seems like white noise or what would be called slop if it were generated by ai.
It’s not useful in making a decision.
A vpn is a tool and you use the right tool for the job. A chart comparing the various similarities and differences between a box and open end wrench, flare nut wrench, socket set, power drill, impact driver and torque wrench would be useless for decision making about what tool to buy because they’re for different jobs.
If you need to take the lug nuts off a truck the right tool is an impact, if you need to replace brake lines you’re gonna use a flare nut wrench.
It’s not useful to compare pia and mullvad. If all you need is a cheap way to reliably bypass geofencing then pia is the right tool. If you need deniability and trust then mullvad is the right tool.
It makes no sense to compare air and nord. If you need the cheapest per device service for bypassing content blocks then the tool is nord. If you need port forwarding for torrents, soulseek and usenet all at once then the tool is air.
The problem with posts like this is that they don’t really provide any useful understanding or decision making process and wouldn’t be useful from an educational perspective like the comparison between various wrenches made above (if it were in some kind of Tools for Dummies publication) because they’re not even contextualized as such.
A better start for this kind of post would be “here are some reasons to use a vpn service” or “here are some actual important differences between different vpn services apps”, not weather they’re available on Jim’s cut rate Secure I Promise (tm) alternative android App Store.
hellinkilla [they/them, they/them]
in reply to stupid_asshole69 [none/use name] • • •Totally disagree with the first few paragraphs. Someone makes a post you feel has inadequate depth and you think they're the goddamned CIA? I don't see any basis for the hostile tone.
But like it's nice to be able to have a reference to quickly exclude certain options without having to wade through all their various websites. If you already know that you need port forwarding, then a chart like this will help you exclude several mainstream options. If there is some other criteria you already know about it could save you a lot of time.
Those do exist elsewhere and I don't think there is much wrong with summarizing the current state of things for an informed audience. We are on lemmy here! I wouldn't mail this chart out to the whole neighbourhood or anything, it's probably not a good very first intro for most people. Although even for a person just getting started, having the column of criteria on the left could be useful to point out "what are the things to consider". Like maybe you wouldn't even guess that the number of devices would be limited.
Long narrative comparisons can be hard to follow. They are good for understanding the differences but then once you are having an understanding how do you pick? It's very convenient if someone else goes to the trouble to sift through the information. On wikipedia there are some subjects that have tables comparing things and I find them very helpful. Otherwise I'd just have to spend hours making my own tables.
BTW wikipedia has a table comparing different kinds of wrenches so obviously someone thought it would be useful!!
The main issue is that the information could become out of date or erroneous in the first place so you need to verify for yourself whatever is key to your decisions. That's just the nature of third party info.
tool used to provide grip and mechanical advantage
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)stupid_asshole69 [none/use name]
in reply to hellinkilla [they/them, they/them] • • •So like I said, I don’t think the post is malicious.
I tried to be careful not to take a hostile tone. It’s possible you’re correctly identifying a critical tone, because my comment was intended as criticism of the post.
There are ways of presenting factual information that are not helpful or useful and actually serve the opposite purpose. You certainly don’t need to use prose to present information in a useful way, but consider how much closer to the old car paint color versus mileage chart (or whatever example they used to teach you about uncorrelated data in school) the posters chart is than the Wikipedia wrench table you linked.
The Wikipedia wrench table is in the context of “tools for dummies” that I said might be appropriate for that type of presentation, just as an aside.
The whole point of using some kind of chart or table is to make understanding easier, not more difficult. The posted chart does the latter. I think its because the op doesn’t understand both what they’re trying to say or the information they’re trying to show to convey it and because they chose a really excessively dimensional way to do so. A flowchart, infographic or anything other than a three dimensional chart would be better but since it’s so unclear what they’re trying to express, except possibly how much they love nymvpn and how people should really take a look at that previously underrepresented option, I can’t really make a recommendation.
hellinkilla [they/them, they/them]
in reply to stupid_asshole69 [none/use name] • • •OK well then I should divulge to you full disclosure that I think you, like OP, are also probably not a hostile actor who is commenting to fuck with me specifically or ?lemmy users? in general. More likely someone who's got a bit spun up their head. But I can't say for sure......
As it happens, last time I was looking at different VPN vendors I had to spend a ton of time basically creating an abbreviated version of this chart that had the items most salient to my use case. To sift through the websites, forums, support sections etc, because the information isn't clearly presented was annoying. They are all trying to emphasize their strengths to make a sale based on their marketing strategy.
I can say that this chart, exactly as it is, would have saved me significant time had it been available. I found similar but they were old. And I looked at it to see if the conclusion I came to is still the right one for me--- it is. I can clearly see the required information.
stupid_asshole69 [none/use name]
in reply to hellinkilla [they/them, they/them] • • •Good! You’re on a public forum and people do that shit! Our instance is slightly better than the other Reddit offshoots but most of them haven’t kicked the social media curse and everything you read on lemmy needs to get the sidest of ways glances.
I have trouble taking your statement that you can see the required information seriously when the required information literally isn’t there. Important stuff like weather a service accepts cash anonymously, is owned by what company and what that company’s affiliations are (talking about kape and israel here, not the proton red herring) and how forwarded ports are allocated are not included in the chart.
Of course, that kind of information doesn’t fit neatly into a table so it’s another example of the format of the data being inadequate.
I can believe that a broad generalized table like this is useful in the context of learning the ropes of what’s out there in terms of vpn services, but it isn’t being presented in that way. If this kind of table were around years ago when I was getting my feet under me I would have made bad choices based on it.
My comments saying “hey, this is bad and not something to use” are not coming from my seat of power at the player haters annual dinner and awards ceremony but from clear recognition of misleading information based on experience.
Chivera
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •dogs0n
in reply to Chivera • • •Mozilla VPN is just Mullvad, so you are on a very good vpn service.
As long as you are happy, I don't see why you should swap.
(Going to mullvad directly could be slightly beneficial if you want a generated account that has no direct metadata to link to you, using a card to pay would negate that benefit, but theres other options.. in the end you are using a good service already)
LastYearsIrritant
in reply to dogs0n • • •marcie (she/her)
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Sadness Nexus
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •utopiah
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Since you do not seem to list self-hosting options, e.g. WireGuard or OpenVPN, then IMHO it'd be good to at least have a line on each about what's the actual backend, e.g. does service X runs on WireGuard, OpenVPN, something else, something proprietary that has been audited by 3rd party if so whom and when.
Edit: suggested self-hosting (but not at home) WireGuard in the previous thread lemmy.ml/post/37270537/2153605…
beSyl
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •dogs0n
in reply to beSyl • • •It's not entirely a big deal to me.
I think I agree with the staff reply on this thread: airvpn.org/forums/topic/56799-…
audits?
AirVPNshoebum
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •BuyCat VPN - Secure & Private Internet Access
BoyCat👀 (they/any)
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Also this post is from Lemmy, so I retooted a Lemmy post
thermogel
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •Obscura VPN | Privacy that’s more than a promise
Obscuraconspiracypentester
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •bowreality
in reply to The 8232 Project • • •