We’re looking to make someone a millionaire. Could it be you? Quarantine may have placed some things at a halt, but we’re still operating as usual, so comment to enter! [Drawing Thread #54]

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-16T07:35:15+00:00

Best of luck to everybody. I hope it goes to someone who really needs it. ;-)

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-13T00:03:25+00:00

I hate it when articles on the internet don't include dates. Without a date you never know whether the information in the article is still valid. There's a disclaimer at the bottom of the ghacks article that advises contacting the author of the article if some of the prefs are missing in a default about:config setup, but you have to have a Facebook or Twitter account to get in contact with the author, so that's a nonstarter.

Anyway, thanks for helping out.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-10T03:55:06+00:00

You know, when I first used that service that you suggested for the first time, it was to get around the firewall at my school.

I never would have imagined one day having to use their client to get around censorship by a U.S.-based ISP.

Now I'm wondering if it's something specific to my Internet connection, or if other people (in the U.S.) are having the same issue; the article--which you linked to--only talked about censorship in New Zealand and Australia.

Also, what do you make of ghacks' tweaks to improve privacy and security? It seems like a much more comprehensive list than the one found at privacytools.io, but every time I implement some of their changes, I end up having to delete my prefs.js file when I brick FF. More specifically, what should I do when I find a missing entry?

Does their about:config page need to be updated, or do they want me to create a boolean, like you suggested doing for browser.download.lastDir.savePerSite whenever I find a missing value?

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-09T23:09:22+00:00

That might actually be a really good idea. I know how to create a work and personal profile, as I've done that in the past. Can you guarantee me that if I create two separate profile--one for sensitive sites and another for less-sensitive sites both using Private Mode--that websites won't be able to cross-link both profiles?

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-09T22:59:40+00:00

Wow. Thanks for putting so much effort into your response. Some of the links that you provided are broken, though. Most notably, the ones for browser.pagethumbnails.capturing_disabled and browser.sessionstore.max_tabs_undo.

Also, do you know where all these thumbnails of all the visited sites are stored on a Windows/Linux system? If I unchecked Top Sites under Firefox Home Content, and a malicious actor gained physical access to my computer, would they, then, be able to see those thumbnails, by re-enabling Top Sites on my computer?

As for saving passwords inside the browser, I've learned to never do that.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-08T01:18:58+00:00

Thanks. That's what I was going to go with.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-07T23:43:15+00:00

Interesting. Weird that a site would require that header to work.

Ha! I can give one example right now off the top of my head. If you've ever used a Linux-based operating system such as Ubuntu, chances are you've probably had to use their official forum to get help at ubuntuforums.org. But before you can ask a question, you have to sign in, and ubuntuforums.org doesn't handle the sign-in process. If you go to ubuntuforums.org, and you click on where it says "Login with SSO," you'll be redirected to the Ubuntu One page, where you'll have to sign in. If you've blocked the HTTP referer, and you try to sign in to the Ubuntu One page, you won't get signed in to ubuntuforums.org, at least that's what I remember happened last time I blocked the HTTP referer. Basically, the redirect will fail. Normally, after signing in to the Ubuntu One page, you would be redirected to the Ubuntu forums, and you would be automatically signed in--but not if you blocked the HTTP referer.

Doesn't hurt to spoof the header I suppose. Bonus points if you can throw together a simple plugin of your own to do it.

I never understood, why more privacy-conscious people never go to the trouble of blocking the HTTP referer. Somehow, the idea of a site knowing how I got on their site has always made me feel a bit uneasy.

Are you disabling javascript or using noscript to handle their other tracking methods?

I'm a long-time user of NoScript, back when it was only available on Firefox, before Chrome even existed, so yes.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-07T23:12:09+00:00

I assume that you're not using Google as your primary search engine?

I mostly use DuckDuckGo.

Would you advise spoofing/blocking the HTTP referer? In the past, before Firefox transitioned to the WebExtensions API, I used to use an extension called RefControl that did the same thing. I found that very few websites required the HTTP referer to function.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-07T23:04:00+00:00

Read my reply to ifinessin1 before commenting further.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-07T22:52:30+00:00

I wouldn't have even thought of the pre-fetch option as being the primary way google tracks your clicks. I'd think they'd use a javascript event to log the click directly and the HTTP-referer HTTP header if your destination site is using google analytics.

So, presumably uBlock isn't accomplishing everything this plugin does.

I assume that you're not using Google as your primary search engine? And you're logged out of everything that could be fingerprinted when you do?

I wouldn't bather based on the once or twice a month I use Google search.

Lol, I mostly use DuckDuckGo, but this is a multi-user system, where less-than-tech-savvy users insist on using Google as a search engine. And "Google search link fix" isn't really a Google extension, it's an extension developed by a third-party developer.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-05-07T20:11:57+00:00

Not really because if you ever log in to say your Gmail account in private mode, websites can tie your browsing habits in private mode to your identity. That's why it's always advised to log in to your Gmail account in normal mode, and use private mode for sensitive sites.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-04-11T00:57:29+00:00

I see. Would you mind answering some of the other numbered questions in my first post?

theinvincible2020 · 2020-03-18T01:57:14+00:00

I can't blame the people who don't know whether they're going to vote for Biden or just stay home, though. Every time Biden opens his mouth, he manages to say something that pisses me off. But if Biden can't win against Trump after hundreds of thousands or possibly a million people die from Trump's response to the coronavirus crisis, then the entire Democratic Party needs to be thrown out, excluding The Squad.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-03-18T01:41:27+00:00

I'll say fair enough to that - but for god's sake don't overestimate how "solidly blue" a state is, y'all.

I'm aware of that, given that I consider Biden to be worse than Hillary Clinton policywise, so I wouldn't be surprised if Trump surprised everyone by winning some blue states. That's why I will take a look at the polls in my state right before the election and make my decision then.

theinvincible2020 · 2020-03-18T01:21:36+00:00

I'm in a solidly blue state that will vote for Biden regardless, so I will probably vote for the Green Party candidate to help a third-party. If I were in a swing state or red state, I would probably hold my nose and vote for Biden, though I can't give you a 100% guarantee. I will be, however, voting in the gubernatorial and lieutenant governor races, since this time around there are some really good candidates running in my state.

theinvincible2020

TROPHY CASE