Supersonic - Member - The Prepared

Reply to: What was the catalyst that compelled you to begin prepping? Posted November 25, 2022

One thing that always triggers me to prep is when I see neighborhoods go without power due to wildfires, hurricanes, or even a car hitting a power line. I want to be resilient to go without if I need and have ways to generate power also.

Reply to: How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant Posted November 25, 2022

You are welcome. Are you going to implement some of these? They still are a work in progress for me.

Reply to: Iphone case with camera cover? Posted October 4, 2022

I’ll have to check out that book. It sounds interesting to be aware of future threats that we may not even be aware of now.

Reply to: Iphone case with camera cover? Posted October 3, 2022

Unless rogue software has been installed on your phone which bypasses all this… INCREDIBLY SUPER DUPER UNLIKELY though. 99.999% of us will not have to worry about camera spying if we take the proper precautions and stop permissions like you say.

Reply to: Iphone case with camera cover? Posted October 3, 2022

Hope it works out well for you. And I am kinda jealous. May I ask why you are wanting a case with covers? For privacy reasons and rogue apps spying on you? Totally legit concerns, just curious.

Reply to: Iphone case with camera cover? Posted October 3, 2022

I’ve always wanted a phone case with a camera cover that could easily be slid out of the way, but I haven’t been able to find one for any of the android phones I have owned. Some thing I have tried before is to simply place a piece of paper on the inside of my phone’s case. This blocks out the rear camera, but you do have to remove the entire case and paper when you do want to use that rear camera. I’ve also tried painters tape, but over time that still leaves sticky residue. They sell reusable camera privacy stickers, but still aren’t as convenient to remove as a little slide window built into a case. I wouldn’t put much trust in a $15 phone case like this one, but the $45 Spy-Fy ones on Amazon seem to be a bit better, although there are still reviews about the camera sliders not holding tension after so much use. So don’t constantly flick the slider open and closed like a fidget toy.

Reply to: Phones for prepping Posted September 18, 2022

That is true, you probably don’t have time to get it out of your wallet during an emergency.

Reply to: Phones for prepping Posted September 18, 2022

I’ve seen those CAT phones and am curious how good they are. You’ll have to let me know if you end up trying it. The “rugged phone” that I had was a Samsung and don’t recommend it.

Reply to: Phones for prepping Posted September 18, 2022

I don’t like selling or giving away my old phones when I upgrade. First off I don’t want some hacker to get it and harvest any old remaining data on there, and second I like having them as backups for the bug out bag, get home bag, or just in the glove compartment of my car. Wipe it clean, only leave the minimum on there, and a nice thing about old android phones is that they have removable batteries that you can take out so the phone doesn’t drain as much while just sitting there in storage. Like you said, even a phone without an active SIM card can still call 911, and even navigate using GPS and predownloaded maps.

Reply to: Phones for prepping Posted September 18, 2022

This gives me the idea of folding up a sandwich bag and putting it in my wallet. I then can place that wallet or phone in the sandwich bag if I were ever in a situation where I needed to battle the elements and wanted to protect things.

Reply to: Phones for prepping Posted September 18, 2022

Phone minimalism is a growing trend right now. In the early days of smartphones, everyone was downloading as many cool apps as possible, because these devices are pretty amazing. But we are starting to get tired of the constant notification barrage and the big time suck these devices are as well. Do a factory reset of your phone and only install the most necessary apps you need. Maps is a good example of something to keep, whereas you probably don’t need the Facebook app. YOU tell Facebook when you want to look at it by viewing it on a laptop or on your phone’s web browser. Don’t let IT tell you with a hundred notifications when to look at it.

Reply to: Phones for prepping Posted September 18, 2022

I’ve replaced broken screens and old batteries in phones before and at least for an iPhone, it wasn’t that hard with the included kit which had all the tools I needed and an instructional video. YouTube videos are awesome on top of the recommended iFixit. Do a Google search for “download youtube video” and save repair videos for your devices offline so you can always reference them. I like to buy “popular” phones like iPhones, Samsung Galaxy, or Google Pixel. These main phones have easily available cases, screen protectors, repair videos, and parts. Much more than some discount Samsung Fit 382090XP2 (just made that up…). I’ve bought a rugged phone before that was supposed to be shock resistant and waterproof. Thing didn’t last that long and I wasn’t even rough on it. I’d stay away from those and instead invest in a very rugged lifeproof case.

Reply to: Turn off your WiFi when you don’t need it, and other tips on how to prevent hacking and tracking Posted August 31, 2022

Excellent advice as well! Go though all your app permissions and disable anything that is not needed. Luckily later versions of phone operating systems give even more control over the permissions granted to each application.

Reply to: How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant Posted August 31, 2022

Glad you liked my post, I hope it helped at least one person, it got me thinking at least. Physical security keys like you have there are excellent and even more secure than app based codes! Great work

Reply to: Turn off your WiFi when you don’t need it, and other tips on how to prevent hacking and tracking Posted August 22, 2022

What Scott said, turn off your phone’s function to search for WiFi networks when you leave the house. Some people turn off their home’s WiFi router at night, when away, or simply when they don’t need it to prevent possible hackers trying to infiltrate your home network, but that’s overkill for most. Do make sure you have a good password on your home WiFi though

Reply to: Turn off your WiFi when you don’t need it, and other tips on how to prevent hacking and tracking Posted August 19, 2022

You’re welcome! I am glad that you caught that and were able to turn it off.

Reply to: What are your softcore preps? Posted July 23, 2022

Gottcha! What you should do is just browse through the settings and toggle off anything you don’t want/need/or think is creepy. Most settings are very user friendly and you should be able to tell what they all are. Many settings are very personal though so I can’t recommend everything to you because what I like is different from what you like. You may want app and message notifications to show up on your lock screen for convenience but then again if you have a tendency to leave your phone laying around, that could allow anyone to pick it up and read what you have going on. Here are some simple toggles you can do, but again if it interferes with your productivity or stress then don’t do it. Turn off your WiFi when you are out of the house. (Just made a whole forum post about this, but that’s the basic summary) Turn off Bluetooth when you don’t need it. Turn off location services when you aren’t using an app that needs it. Change your network’s DNS. (I made another forum post about that but might be a bit beyond what you want to do today) Here’s a simple little step-by-step walkthrough to change the DNS on your iphone to one that is more secure, MUCH faster, and more private -Go to Settings > WiFi.-Select the ‘i’ icon next to the WiFi network you are connected to.-Scroll down and select Configure DNS.-Change the configuration from Automatic to Manual.-Select Add Server.– Type in the following servers: 1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1 On macOS — -Go to System Preferences. You can find it by pressing Command + Space on your keyboard and typing System Preferences.-Click on the Network icon > Advanced.-Select the DNS tab.– IPv4 section enter in: 1.1.1.1 1.0.0.1 -If there is a section for IPv6 enter in: 2606:4700:4700::1111 2606:4700:4700::1001 -Click OK > Apply. On macOS, make sure your computer is encrypted. That way no one can get into any of your files unless they have your password. System Preferences>Security&Privacy>FileVault and follow the prompts. Here’s a pretty simple and decent macOS guide that might help with various other settings https://www.bejarano.io/hardening-macos/

Reply to: What are your softcore preps? Posted July 23, 2022

150% don’t move over or try and move others over to other messaging platforms if it is detrimental to your mental health and stress. That comes first and stick with what you like and what works for you. That was a smart and very “hygienic” move to set up your new devices from scratch. Great job! Just to clarify, the project you are going to be looking on TP for and are asking if I have any guides on is making sure settings are toggled correctly and your VPN is installed? Just want to make sure I give you the advice you are looking for. If so, what devices would you be doing this on? eg Apple iPhone, Windows laptop, …

Reply to: What are your softcore preps? Posted July 23, 2022

@pnwsarah — Great job using DuckDuckGo and a password manager, you already have more digital hygiene than most people. Would you like some homework/a challenge in that space? You mention still having a lot of work to do in that area. Pick either or both of these to implement: Look through your phone and computer and delete old applications and files that you no longer need or use. Try getting family and friends to use a more secure messaging service like Signal with you. This was hard for me to get my family converted over and took probably three attempts over multiple years. Finally I said to them all the only thing I want for my birthday is for you all to use this app to call or text me, and they did it. Hopefully your family will be more receptive or are already using it. It’s nice to know that whatever I say between myself and my spouse is 100% only visible between us, where a normal text message can be seen by my cell provider, logged for 2 years, and could possibly be stored by the government as well.

Reply to: What are your softcore preps? Posted July 23, 2022

@Renata T — Do you find that many sites either add additional captchas or block your connection when you use TOR? I haven’t used that browser very much but have heard it can be a chore to use at times.

See what mail you are receiving before it arrives. Informed Delivery by the USPS

How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant

See what mail you are receiving before it arrives. Informed Delivery by the USPS

How to avoid losing your entire digital life in an instant

Turn off your WiFi when you don’t need it, and other tips on how to prevent hacking and tracking

A review of NextDNS. Stop unwanted content from ever reaching your internet connected device

List of 3D Printing files for preppers

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