I've been thinking about you, Gabe, and sending wishes for your health and happiness your way. I hope things turn around for you.
I also had a small thought that there may be people like me who aren't technical enough to make use of your good advice on our own, nor rich enough to hire someone to implement something that will never bring income to us (that not being the intent). But if there was something modest, relatively 'off the shelf' for, say, $300 US, we'd like to inch our way towards being a cyber rebel ;-)
Is there any service that would be replicable that you could provide without intensive programming?
I've given that road a lot of thought, but very much struggled to commit to it.
In some ways I'm my own worst enemy because I'm too likely to disregard things that aren't perfect. The standards I'd want to hold such a product to have really only increased as I've learned more, pushing off my desire to commit time to putting something like it together. Updates & administration are both non-trivial obstacles that make such a product very hard to support without placing a lot of burden on the customer.... but maybe I'm still thinking too complex and could focus on a narrow set of services. I'm also a bit intimidated by the logistics around shipping hardware.
One of the ideas I had was that it wouldn't be so bad if I figured out how to become a domain registrar, which if integrated with that kind of a business plan it would make things a lot easier for the customer (much less setup) but that's it's own hugely ambitious project. Part of my problem is that ideally I'd want any solution I provide to not require any dependence on me. While offering support can be lucrative, I want to avoid any situation where somebody feels "locked-in" to my opinionated choices.
But one of the more important things I've taken away from what you've said here is the important reminder that the time and resource effort into building up one's digital infrastructure is a significant time & resource investment. I want to spend more time considering how that gap can be better bridged, or how existing resources to be better deployed.
Yes, perfectionism is an obstacle. It kept me from doing a YT for a long time until my friend got tired of my whining that I needed someone to help me and tricked me into just doing it. Even then, simple things like how to grab a thumbnail from the video would have been helpful. Even to sell 6 hr packages of your time for $300, and create examples of what that could look like.
Having that include 3 group zoom sessions with other people who want to learn the same thing would help, because I often don't know the questions to ask so I like having someone else ask the dumb things I'm too embarrassed to ask.
I haven't been using my domains but I like porkbun. They were a great suggestion. I don't know if you need to replicate that. But after that, I'm stuck. If I wanted to post my stack at thirdparadigm.org, I wouldn't know where to start. Even as just a place to duplicate my videos and posts, in case YT, Rumble and Substack all kicked me off suddenly.
But you're right, it's daunting. There are so many layers. I'm glad to learn from you but part of me thinks that this will be more useful after the revolution, not for it ;-)
These are just my thoughts. As an essentially low tech person I am not prepared to go college level tech to be able to protect myself. I just don’t have the time and bandwidth. It would be easier to go analog as you phrase it. That being said, if I could find a phone that is privacy minded without a need to tweak it too much or a computer that has Linux or an operating system that is more privacy friendly out of the box, perhaps from there I could work towards what you have been suggesting.
To basically start from scratch is a huge time investment even though it is worth the long term gain.
I appreciate what you are attempting to do and am happy to support your work.
I generally avoid recommending retailers as a whole, especially because depending on how far you want to go it can get quite pricey fast. Currently, if I had the resources I would probably get my next laptop/computer/server from Purism (puri.sm) in NA or System76 (system76.com) from Europe.
There are other good retailers, but I like those because they both spend time working on the software to improve the overall experience. In my opinion those are the best integrated security solutions that currently exist.
Phone's are arguably easier, many people are happy to pay for a flashed pixel phone from above phone. Personally, I'd rather figure out how to ditch the smartphone and use a VOIP service for calling, but sometimes you won't get the same texting support, in which case then a simple "dumb phone" can be handy to have if a bit redundant.
I'm not always comfortable recommending options because generally the best improvements from simply changing how you work with these devices, which is a longer conversation. Ideally I'd like to see more tooling and software that makes that a much easier transition than it currently is. This is where I agree with the FUTO founder that FOSS is great, but it's made by nerds for nerds, and we need some real impetus to make better options accessible for everyone.
Ironically, it is because I feel there aren't many perfect options that I feel the need to push in this direction.
I’m always supportive of a hiatus that would streamline and realign one’s focus and productivity. And of course, the most important thing, is having the time and energy to accomplish your health goals which will not only open up more time and energy for other projects, but will also boost your confidence in being able to complete those goals. Big hugs, brother. I’m in your corner.
I've been thinking about you, Gabe, and sending wishes for your health and happiness your way. I hope things turn around for you.
I also had a small thought that there may be people like me who aren't technical enough to make use of your good advice on our own, nor rich enough to hire someone to implement something that will never bring income to us (that not being the intent). But if there was something modest, relatively 'off the shelf' for, say, $300 US, we'd like to inch our way towards being a cyber rebel ;-)
Is there any service that would be replicable that you could provide without intensive programming?
Thank you so much and I really appreciate it!
I've given that road a lot of thought, but very much struggled to commit to it.
In some ways I'm my own worst enemy because I'm too likely to disregard things that aren't perfect. The standards I'd want to hold such a product to have really only increased as I've learned more, pushing off my desire to commit time to putting something like it together. Updates & administration are both non-trivial obstacles that make such a product very hard to support without placing a lot of burden on the customer.... but maybe I'm still thinking too complex and could focus on a narrow set of services. I'm also a bit intimidated by the logistics around shipping hardware.
One of the ideas I had was that it wouldn't be so bad if I figured out how to become a domain registrar, which if integrated with that kind of a business plan it would make things a lot easier for the customer (much less setup) but that's it's own hugely ambitious project. Part of my problem is that ideally I'd want any solution I provide to not require any dependence on me. While offering support can be lucrative, I want to avoid any situation where somebody feels "locked-in" to my opinionated choices.
But one of the more important things I've taken away from what you've said here is the important reminder that the time and resource effort into building up one's digital infrastructure is a significant time & resource investment. I want to spend more time considering how that gap can be better bridged, or how existing resources to be better deployed.
Yes, perfectionism is an obstacle. It kept me from doing a YT for a long time until my friend got tired of my whining that I needed someone to help me and tricked me into just doing it. Even then, simple things like how to grab a thumbnail from the video would have been helpful. Even to sell 6 hr packages of your time for $300, and create examples of what that could look like.
Having that include 3 group zoom sessions with other people who want to learn the same thing would help, because I often don't know the questions to ask so I like having someone else ask the dumb things I'm too embarrassed to ask.
I haven't been using my domains but I like porkbun. They were a great suggestion. I don't know if you need to replicate that. But after that, I'm stuck. If I wanted to post my stack at thirdparadigm.org, I wouldn't know where to start. Even as just a place to duplicate my videos and posts, in case YT, Rumble and Substack all kicked me off suddenly.
But you're right, it's daunting. There are so many layers. I'm glad to learn from you but part of me thinks that this will be more useful after the revolution, not for it ;-)
This would be me as well.
Good luck and care for yourself.
Thank you! And will do, absolutely!
Your nobility of spirit shines through.
The Internet Archive Outage story is very important!
Gabe,
These are just my thoughts. As an essentially low tech person I am not prepared to go college level tech to be able to protect myself. I just don’t have the time and bandwidth. It would be easier to go analog as you phrase it. That being said, if I could find a phone that is privacy minded without a need to tweak it too much or a computer that has Linux or an operating system that is more privacy friendly out of the box, perhaps from there I could work towards what you have been suggesting.
To basically start from scratch is a huge time investment even though it is worth the long term gain.
I appreciate what you are attempting to do and am happy to support your work.
Please take care of yourself.
Hello and thank you!
I generally avoid recommending retailers as a whole, especially because depending on how far you want to go it can get quite pricey fast. Currently, if I had the resources I would probably get my next laptop/computer/server from Purism (puri.sm) in NA or System76 (system76.com) from Europe.
There are other good retailers, but I like those because they both spend time working on the software to improve the overall experience. In my opinion those are the best integrated security solutions that currently exist.
Phone's are arguably easier, many people are happy to pay for a flashed pixel phone from above phone. Personally, I'd rather figure out how to ditch the smartphone and use a VOIP service for calling, but sometimes you won't get the same texting support, in which case then a simple "dumb phone" can be handy to have if a bit redundant.
I'm not always comfortable recommending options because generally the best improvements from simply changing how you work with these devices, which is a longer conversation. Ideally I'd like to see more tooling and software that makes that a much easier transition than it currently is. This is where I agree with the FUTO founder that FOSS is great, but it's made by nerds for nerds, and we need some real impetus to make better options accessible for everyone.
Ironically, it is because I feel there aren't many perfect options that I feel the need to push in this direction.
Thanks for your response!
I’m always supportive of a hiatus that would streamline and realign one’s focus and productivity. And of course, the most important thing, is having the time and energy to accomplish your health goals which will not only open up more time and energy for other projects, but will also boost your confidence in being able to complete those goals. Big hugs, brother. I’m in your corner.
I admire your willingness to share so much about your personal life Gabriel.
I genuinely think you are doing important work but health always (ALWAYS) come first!
Rest up and feel free to get in touch anytime.
You're too kind Michael!
And I think it's important for me to share because very few my size actually have the chance, much less the desire to.
Thanks for everything and I look forward to going full throttle again!