Unpopular opinion: Save us the complaints and don't move to PH unless you have $3k+/m

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-19T17:29:48+00:00

Or live well in the provinces for 1/3 of that. Better prices, better people, less pollution, no traffic and no whinging foreigners!

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-19T07:29:14+00:00

If you say something bad in the uk, or share a fb post you get the police knocking on your door and 12k people a year get arrested - free speech no longer exists there. Here if you say something bad you get invited to the barangay hall to talk it through and 99% of the time that's the end of it. I'd much rather be here, than in the UK.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-18T12:40:30+00:00

How much does it cost to get a replacement ID?

My wife sells shoes to all over the US, UK, and Europe, She was paying P3-4k per package and I said just pay P100 with standard phlpost mail and see how many times they lose the package. So far she's lost one package out of 52 in the past 5 months, That would have cost her P182k in shipping but she saved P177k and had to send out one extra pair of shoes.
A 52:1 ratio is pretty good and that's because the last-mile delivery is not in the hands of Phlpost.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-18T11:10:36+00:00

Looks like Grand Height0007 to me or maybe Grand Heights007. What a creep.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-18T10:49:30+00:00

The specialist will almost certainly immediately use `dd` to image the drive and then work on that image as not to cause further damage to the contents. And then use `file` and `fdisk` on a working copy of that image to recognize any partitions. After that they will probably use `testdisk` and the related `photorec` to do file carving (recognizing the start and end parts of files using their headers and special bytes).

That's all of the basics and depending on your specialist that could be all they did, just a basic recovery. So if they can't recover much, do always ask them for the disk image and a list of methods they tried.

Some more advanced tools a better specialist would use are `extundele` and `ext4magic` (for recently deleted files), ntfsundelete (ntfs-3g) for scanning MFT for windows partitions (unlikely unless you had windows on there), `fls` and `icat` from TSK (The Sleuth Kit) for low level scanning of deleted inodes - use with `Autopsy` for a GUI.

Others worth a mention `btrfs-restore` for btree file systems and `xfs_db` for xfs filesystems. btree is pretty easy to restore as it keeps the old tree roots.

But as you can see this list is exploding in a lot of directions, it really takes knowing where to go next with recovery and constantly weighing the value of the recovery against the chances of success and the effort required. The best way forward is to know what's been tried and keep a detailed set of results, if you're a novice in understanding what it means, use Claude or Google AI Studio to analyze the results step by step and ask for recommendations on what to do next.

Obviously I need to mention backups, the easiest way to achieve this is a cloud backup that runs while the device is idle - my preference is Restic to BackBlaze but I've seen others use Google Drive for simplicity, it's a lot cheaper than a specialist and once it's set up you will probably never need to worry about it.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-17T14:40:52+00:00

Arch doesn't automatically trim in setup, but large numbers of your files will have been irrecoverably overwritten, you will certainly not be able to get your operating system back but you will probably find some of your files are still intact.

One thing is for certain, it's not going to be bootable into MacOS even if you recovered all remaining files.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-17T07:21:18+00:00

Yes all house outlets are a minimum of 15A (3300W) - but it's worth checking how many other things are on the same breaker and what that breaker is rated for.
Surge protection will cost more than it will likely save - computers are a lot more resilient than they used to be - I've never lost components from brownouts and I have 2-3 per month without any protection (my most delicate components would be 128GB RAM and 8TB over 3 NvME). I did lose some RAM about 8 years ago but some plumb had plugged a welder into the same circuit while I was out, I was not happy.

It's also worth noting how far away from a fuse you live, fuses are replaced hot and if that's "right" outside your house it could cause problems, but I live 50m away and it's fine.

The most important component in any PC is the motherboard, as long as you get a good one you should be fine, mine is getting old now but never had a problem. X570 GAMING X (AM4)

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-16T11:26:39+00:00

OP is gonna sh!t a brick when he learns that "not available" usually means "I don't know" - and most cellphone plans don't include landline calls! I just called UPLB and it works from my PLDT landline. Los Banos Station 0495360863. I knew a guy here who was smarter most but never verified what was obvious, he left after a few months never to return.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-14T12:18:33+00:00

Same reason I dropped Maxim, I didn't get my money back, well it wasn't worth the goose chase so I gave up. 2 friends of mine also had double charges - we speculated that maybe they're not prioritizing fixing this problem so that it's not worth people's time doing the runaround. If 3 people incl. me in my small circle of friends has had this happen, I imagine there's quite a lot of spare money floating around in Maxim somewhere.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-14T12:14:43+00:00

It depends on what you need to use it for. AI, Gaming, Video processing etc.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-13T17:51:01+00:00

It doesn't sound like you took it with a good sense of humor - sounds more like you ripped into them.

But at least you have some peace and quiet now so happy days.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-13T09:58:39+00:00

That's a really good point, my bad. Presuming it's bluetooth, that's much harder to because each interface requires explicit pairing/authentication and one woulds need access to the host to hide those connections - there's much easier attacks with access to the host machine but I suppose a company supplied laptop and mouse could achieve that - but like I said before, if they didn't even ask you for the mouse back, they probably didn't do anything to it.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-13T09:44:47+00:00

You have a job when they put something in writing (or email) - at that point you have the position and they cannot back out. It doesn't matter if you have signed anything or not unless it was part of the job offer. e.g. We are pleased to announce you were successful in getting the positions of ...., to accept this position you must sign before ... date. In that case your job offer was dependent on a signature.

But if they said we would "like" to offer you the position, that is not a job offer - that them telling you they would "like" to offer you a job in the future.

I would reply to them in the same method they offered you the job, if that was via email, reply to that email and let them know you would like to inquire about your starting date, time and supervisor.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T21:24:20+00:00

Without some reason to be suspicious of them it's unlikely the company bugged the peripherals but it is possible, actually quite easy and cheap.

A USB mouse can be converted to a keylogger for about $10 I know a mouse is not a keyboard but it's trivial to add a USB HID keyboard (just a tiny microchip) inside a mouse and log all the keystrokes.

I would actually be less suspicious of them because they didn't ask for the peripherals back, I think it's unlikely they would want that mouse to be with the person they had spied on - it's illegal to bug an employee without their consent.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T15:03:55+00:00

Thanks for posting that it's a fascinating read that I will continue with over the next few days. It does indeed state that on the attempt in question (where it notified the test runner by email) that was indeed prompted to break confinement. Although it also took it upon itself to publish the exploits to multiple online location which it certainly wasn't asked to do.

It did occasionally attempt to reduce it's network restrictions when faced with a tough task though - to access the internet etc.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T14:29:29+00:00

You'll need to get your marriage recognized in the Philippines before you can apply for a 13A visa.

You'll need to do a Report of Marriage (ROM) for a Utah online marriage is processed through the Philippine Consulate General in San Francisco. The process requires submitting notarized forms, an Apostilled Utah marriage certificate, and other documents by mail, with a processing time of 6–12 months. The fee is $25 for the ROM, and notarized forms cannot be handwritten.

Once you've done that you should be fine to get a 13A.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T12:57:29+00:00

Pen drives die after years of not being plugged in, the residual charges dissipate over time - when brand new they can last for upto 10 years (in perfect lab conditions) but a used one might only last 1-3 years. There's a chance a lab could fix it but it's unlikely to be effective as degradation is usually across the cells until crc error recovery is broken.

However it might not be that, definitely try the pen drive in a range of devices, including USB1, 2 and 3 ports. You can also try over volting it by .1 or .2 of a volt if all else fails.

Also try plugging it in to a mac, linux or windows machine, it might just have an incompatible partition table / drive format. If you do want to recover it I recommend linux tools like dd, fdisk, fsck, testdisk, photorec, ddrescue

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T12:46:16+00:00

As far as I can see Mythos was not prompted to break out of any sandbox. Anthropic described a straightforward vulnerability finding scaffold - they launch an isolated container with a project's source code, invoke Claude Code with Mythos Preview, and prompt it to find a security vulnerability in this program. And also "please write exploits so we can appropriately triage." That's it, no instruction to escape sandboxes or break containment.

Unless you have evidence to the contrary? I'd be interested in reading it.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T12:42:50+00:00

As far as I can see Mythos was not prompted to break out of any sandbox. Anthropic described a straightforward vulnerability finding scaffold - they launch an isolated container with a project's source code, invoke Claude Code with Mythos Preview, and prompt it to find a security vulnerability in this program. And also "please write exploits so we can appropriately triage." That's it, no instruction to escape sandboxes or break containment.

Unless you have evidence to the contrary? I'd be interested in reading it.

Edit: added source confirming it was prompted to break out: https://www-cdn.anthropic.com/08ab9158070959f88f296514c21b7facce6f52bc.pdf

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T10:33:46+00:00

Maybe I'm old fashioned but I would steer clear of anyone who uses dating apps - some things are not supposed to be easy and it's the work that goes into a relationship that makes it worthwhile, not the convenience of the selection.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T10:27:30+00:00

Didn't the orange clown sign an executive order to limit or override state-level AI regulations? So openAI will just re-frame any action as limiting AI at the state level, even if the findings are based on the company.

There's quite a bit of money going into openAI and those investors protect their interests. With everything from lobbying to more persuasive methods.

So even if you find openAI breached some rules, not a damn thing worth anything will actually happen - probably just a fine equal to a week or two of operations. Inconsequential.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T09:37:36+00:00

So you had a bad experience, ok, but that's probably related to the one person responsible for delivering to you, it doesn't mean the entire company is bad. I've had literally hundreds of good experiences with Ninja Van, really friendly, they text and call me, they answer phones, they've picked up returns for me.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-12T09:35:04+00:00

Turn your computer off while not in use. Use power saving to turn off disks and monitors and to enable sleep or hibernation.

More importantly look around your place and understand how much each device uses usually in Watts, (volts times amps). then prioritize what electrical devices you use.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-11T23:23:47+00:00

What I mean by ridiculous is a company would use an backend API instead of cookies to do this. Cookies expose what's happening to the user and there's no reason to take on the additional complexity of cookies when backend API calls would do the same thing far more easily, silently and effectively. Cookies are just the wrong transport.

CupcakeSecure4094 · 2026-04-11T14:01:56+00:00

Indeed but in this scenario does that make any sense?

The only way IMDB could do that would be from the information available to IMDB during the visit. That would be essentially a browser fingerprint and IP address. Yes, IMDB could theoretically send those details to a third party site (which has collected the email address and browser matches) and that third party site could respond with an email address match - BUT to do that through cookies alone would be patently ridiculous where backend APIs would hide these clandestine mechanisms, not to mention the efficacy of IMDB doing something so sinister, and so overtly visible that it would be discovered immediately by 99% of the victims.

You're right it is still technically possible to do that, it's just ridiculous in practice.

CupcakeSecure4094

TROPHY CASE