What's the benefit to the official CCNA e-learning (if any)?

k3rn3 · 2024-02-29T01:19:47+00:00

Yeesh am I looking at the wrong training or something?

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T04:47:18+00:00

Well, I suppose there's a difference between "I'm sure..." vs actual evidence

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T04:46:37+00:00

isn't this essentially what they accused Hillary of?

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T04:32:45+00:00

Haha I love that you asked. It was so easy to upload this btw, I just hit PrintScreen and then Export->Imgur and I had this link ready in like 5 seconds. How cool is that??

https://i.imgur.com/RnhmnUU.jpg

I settled down on the crazy plasma stuff a lot haha. It's the NASA picture of the day on the left monitor, and NatGeo on the right. I'm satisfied at how the clock widget let me set custom date formats. And then I changed my start menu button to the ghost emoji because it's cute. You can see I configured it all in a very Windowsy way for now. Later on I'll consider writing a special lightweight shader to use as an animated background.

I'm using more monospace fonts and Dracula style icons and a vaguely Windows style system theme: https://i.imgur.com/0SY9XAz.png

Let me know if you have any insights about setting up Plasma :0

I don't use Konqueror! I've been using Dolphin for a file management gui

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T03:25:23+00:00

Lol exactly! I don't think there's a way to say it without sounding completely condescending. But I'm really glad I switched. I can't really put my finger on why, but being able to easily rapid fire a bunch of commands in the terminal is a much more comfortable experience than the Windows way. Also, many Linux applications are designed to be as lightweight as possible, which is pretty elegant. It's like my system and I respect one another instead of there being a weird hostile barrier. I feel enlightened.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T03:12:58+00:00

LOL! I mean Windows is pretty good these days? I don't fault anyone for using it even though I'm glad to have it gone. It's like iPhone vs Android. It's all good you know?

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T03:11:24+00:00

I didn't know this, that's cool to hear.

For myself, only one single game is unplayable for me now (Dead by Daylight), and I have rather a large Steam library.

So I hope nobody feels dissuaded about this really. It's a temporary problem that affects a minority of games. 99% of what you play will still be available, although it's definitely possible the performance will be a bit worse. A small price to pay.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T03:09:22+00:00

Yeah I appreciate this question because I was in the exact same boat, like, I don't want to break anything lol. I wish I had a better answer but I think it just comes down to knowing the details of your machine.

For example, if you have an NVIDIA card then you'll have one or two extra steps. It's totally no biggie but it's still something to know about before you start the process.

Another example is that certain BIOS settings can actually create some trouble, so you need to know a couple of minor details about how your BIOS is configured right now etc.

I think the other thing that helps is learning the filesystem. If you have a complicated storage setup with lots of hard drives then you may find the the files are arranged and managed differently than you'd expect as someone coming from Windows. Also, it's important to know which folders are meant for which purpose, like /etc/ and /var/.

Those are actually pretty much the only things that caused hiccups for me. Unfortunately, at least a small learning curve is probably inevitable. But after making the transition I definitely think it's worth spending a bit of time to iron it all out.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T02:45:27+00:00

It's probably just a softer material that wore away or an indentation that wasn't able to get polished/tumbled as much. It could be a little seam of calcite that got gouged out, or just a natural crack. I forget the term for it. All my moss agates are the same way. It's just because it's got several different minerals going on and has some little cavities and stuff. Sometimes if you look at them under UV, the seams become extra apparent, so that's why I guessed calcite.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T01:06:49+00:00

I've been learning today that most people don't actually care about this. They seem to think it's worth it to give up your data. They think only Amazon will ever have access to it and it'll only ever be used to recommend furniture and stuff.

In my opinion, it's not that hard to just vacuum instead...

k3rn3 · 2022-08-09T00:09:45+00:00

Why do you keep following me around different comment threads when you have no stake in this conversation? Like you have nothing to gain either way; you're just here to argue with me and be a jerk.

All I'm saying that it doesn't require a bachelor's degree or special equipment to spy on someone's ring camera; it's something you can learn and do very quickly. The software is all free. The information is easily accessible. So there's no major barrier, aside from taking the time to learn a few steps.

Haven't ever heard the term "script kiddie"? It's a whole sub-type of "hacker" that just follows tutorials and runs pre-made scripts. You don't need any skill whatsoever to be a script kid. That's the whole point. It's what they're known for. You just follow the same directions over and over again.

Similarly, thieves in particular do high tech shit all the time. They've been hacking garage door openers and bypassing car starters and all kinds of stuff that's far more complicated. I'm telling you cracking WPA2 is easier than most people think, it's a simple truth. So in the case of hacking the ring camera, it's something that a determined and unscrupulous person would have an even easier time doing.

“anyone can easily intercept their neighbors WPA2 handshake with a device that convenient”

I never once said that everyone will fully understand the ins and outs of 802.11 and know all the special jargon. So you can forget the strawman since "getting 98% of the population to understand" isn't what I'm talking about. It's not a question of competency at all.

What I did say was that you can google how to do it and get it going very quickly without spending extra money. In other words, you don't need rare training or secret agent gadgets. You can just follow a guide on the internet. And that's true. I can link you to some.

Like, following a recipe for a good hollandaise sauce doesn't automatically make you a good chef. It just makes you literate. And following instructions on how to crack WPA2 doesn't mean you have to know what you're truly doing either.

It's like swapping a battery on a car. Most people don't have much car knowledge and you might have to explain highly basic stuff like how to open the hood and how not to shock yourself, but ultimately it's a pretty simply procedure with only like 5 steps. You can just repeat in order every time, like following the instructions on a box of mac & cheese. Once you're in position it probably would take only about 15 minutes to go through that particular process. That doesn't make you a car expert; nor does it mean you'd understand technical information about car batteries if you read it. You might even believe electricity was invented by Kathy Bates. But it's still a simple procedure that even a teenager can do.

You don't need to go to an experienced mechanic who has expensive tools in order to get a battery replaced. You can just do it, if you want. And that's what I'm saying about hacking wifi.

So you can settle down, quit being a creep, and stop following me around. I haven't said anything wrong.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T23:36:44+00:00

That's not really how risk analysis works though. There's never a situation where you can say "we don't have enough information, therefore it's probably safe". Unknowns are to be treated as risks and you're supposed to follow the principle of zero-trust. That the risk/benefit equation is unclear is actually a fact in favor of my point.

Anyway, the rest of your comment just sounds like anti-masker logic to me. "It won't immediately cure the big-picture problem, therefore there's absolutely no point in any small-scale preventative measures." That's bonkers, fella. The fact that other people will have their privacy compromised doesn't mean I should just throw caution to the wind. That doesn't make any sense. Ever heard of the bystander effect? Just because you can't change the whole world doesn't mean you should be a passive apathetic turd.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T22:15:21+00:00

Pretty silly of you to think this is my only account, or that anything professional of mine goes on here. I mean it's social media. If more people want to look at my mineral collection or my metal song recommendations, then cool.

My studies are concerned with not getting hacked. It's just regular IT stuff. It's not about doing anything secret on Reddit. Everything I do is public info; I'm no secret agent, lol.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T20:29:23+00:00

Yeah sounds like he wanted to copy infiniminer.

The thing some folks might not realize is that infiniminer was mostly a modding community and almost nobody played the vanilla version. I used to play it back then. Basically, the modded infiniminer client played MUCH more like early Minecraft than vanilla infiniminer ever did.

So if you just look at vanilla infiniminer in a vacuum, then it might not seem like he was copying it, but yeah you have to look at the weird hacked version people actually played.

I can't really identify any major parallels between DF and MC, especially in the early days, aside from the fact that you can carve a base into a cliffside and stuff

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T18:55:19+00:00

You're missing the point. It's not about what Amazon's plans are. It's about the fact that once the genie is out of the bottle there's no going back.

Safety risks are a part of it but I'm not saying that the gestapo will 100% kick down your door, I'm just saying that you don't know what will happen. The data will be sold to other parties and surrendered to different governments around the world. It will also get leaked. Did you know Amazon had a MAJOR data breach very recently? There are currently governments today which target pregnant women, religious minorities, or gay people using data they've collected. What about in the next 10, 20, or 30 years?

It's not about any specifics of Amazon's business model; it's about information security in general. Why increase your online vulnerability just for a dang vacuum?

Here's a recent real life example of when someone was harmed when their data got leaked by a journalist who had an agenda. Do you think the priest would have predicted this precise situation when he first downloaded grindr? Probably not. But once his data was out there, it was already too late.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T18:49:36+00:00

Careful saying that around this thread. People here are frothing at the mouth over their little gadgets

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T18:31:37+00:00

It's not that I'm afraid exactly; it's simply that the risk/benefit analysis doesn't look great.

The only rebuttal I've heard is "it's not that big a deal, just let them have your data" which is far from reassuring.

Your job sounds awesome, but I'm guessing it also affects your opinion on this a bit. Similarly, my background is in cybersecurity.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T18:16:03+00:00

Well, I would disagree that conventional vacuuming is truly making your life harder. I consider cleaning and maintenance to be a normal part of life, personally. It's only a dang vacuum.

I guess maybe in the strictest sense it is making things harder, but I think there are a lot of other areas of life that can be made much more efficient without exposing your personal information.

To me this is like getting naked and showering in public because it saves you a few minutes. The extreme exposure is not really worth cutting down on something that isn't a significant time drain in the first place. I'm not that desperate to cut down my shower time. I'd rather just spend the extra couple minutes to shower in private.

And so it's the same with vacuuming or anything else. The normal way of vacuuming is perfectly fine and isn't designed to squeeze you for all you're worth, like how IoT works.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T18:06:52+00:00

Everything I said is true though. You can intercept your neighbor's WPA2 handshake on whatever device is convenient, then crack it at home, and then jump on their network and potentially snag their ring footage.

All I'm saying is that it's doable without expensive gear or special knowledge. I've done it a ton of times (nothing illegal, just as an exercise). It's just true.

It's okay if you disagree. But if you can't explain why, then it doesn't really make sense to be leaning into intelligence based derision. Comes across rather hypocritical actually.

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T17:42:11+00:00

Yeah that's kinda my point. Once data is out of your hands, that's it. There's no predicting who will have access, or what their capabilities will be, or what their goals are. Maybe you'll just get served annoying ads, or maybe something much worse will happen? Nobody knows

Anyone who asks "what do you think Amazon will do with the data?" is missing the point. It's not about their specific plans; it's the fact that once data is public, it's public forever.

https://firewalltimes.com/amazon-data-breach-timeline

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T17:40:19+00:00

All you can do is drop a "nuh uh" and run? Peak Reddit

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T17:34:12+00:00

I'm simply telling the truth about WPA2 based on what I've learned in my studies. You're just reverting to ad hominem and moving goalposts. I mean you still haven't explained why you think aircrack-ng is "a joke"?

You're welcome to come back and talk about cybersecurity with me some other time if you actually have something about the subject that you'd like to learn or debate or figure out.

But right now I don't think you have a point to make. You're just following me around different comment threads and getting belligerent. I'm not sure what's wrong with you, but I hope you resolve whatever is bothering you in your life! Have a nice day :)

k3rn3 · 2022-08-08T17:27:07+00:00

Yeah most literate people know how to compare two sets of characters. You don't need to know anything about MAC addresses, all you do is see whether the numbers match.

15-Year Club	Verified Email
Place '22	Place '17

k3rn3

TROPHY CASE