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This post lists the changes I make to a vanilla Arch Linux installation for privacy and security hardening. Most of the changes will work on any Linux distro that’s reasonably up-to-date. Choosing distro I use Arch Linux as my main Linux distro because: Minimal: Arch base is relatively small and minimal compared to “prebuilt” or “OOTB” distros like Fedora, Ubuntu or Linux Mint. This means I add only what I need instead of debloating or disabling what I don’t. Latest software: Arch ships with latest kernel, latest software, upstream security patches. I don’t have to wait 6-12 months to be updated like Ubuntu or Mint. Full control: When using Arch, I can use what software, services, kernel, … I want, instead of using what shipped by default. Otherwise, you can use any Linux distros you want. ...

Recently, I had to switch to Windows because of some reasons (my school requires software that is not available on Linux, also I can’t configure the projector to work well with Linux). Although the software I use on Linux also works well on Windows, there’s a problem: Windows has too much bloatware. This post is a short guide on how I install Windows with as little bloatware as possible. Choosing Windows edition There are two editions I want to mention: ...

Enable Developer Console Type these commands sv_cheats 1;mp_maxrounds 1;mp_restartgame 1 bot_kill Done!

Brave is a good privacy-centric browser with many interesting features. However, it still has something weird like Brave Rewards, Brave Ads, Leo, … In this blog, I will show you how to mitigate Brave. Table of Contents Homepage Settings Flags Extensions Some tips Homepage Background Image Show Sponsored Image: Off Top Sites Top Sites: Off Cards Cards: Off Settings Get started On startup: Open the New Tab page Appearance Toolbar Show Brave News button: Off Show Brave Wallet button: Off Show autocomplete suggestions in address bar: On (you can turn off it if you want) Top sites Browsing history Bookmarks Leo AI Assistant Shields Tracker & ads blocking: Aggressive Privacy and security Privacy and security Allow privacy-preserving product analytics (P1A): Off Automatically send daily usage ping to Brave: Off Automatically send diagnostic reports: Off Brave Rewards Show Brave Rewards icon in address bar: Off Web3 Wallet Default Ethereum wallet: Extensions (no fallback) Default Solana wallet: Extensions (no fallback) IPFS Method to resolve IPFS resources: Disabled Web3 Domains Resolve Unstoppable Domains domain names: Disabled Resolve Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domain names: Disabled Resolve Solana Name Service (SNS) domain names: Disabled Leo Show Leo icon in the sidebar: Off Search engine Normal Window: DuckDuckGo Private Window: DuckDuckGo Improve search suggestions: Off Extensions WebTorrent: Off Widevine: On Autofill and passwords Password manager Offer to save passwords: Off Sign in automatically: Off Payment methods Save and fill payment methods: Off Allow sites to check if you have payment methods saved: Off Addresses and more Save and fill addresses: Off Other Allow auto-fill in private windows: Off Languages Spell check Check for spelling errors when you type text on web pages: Off System Continue running background apps when Brave is closed: Off Brave VPN Use WireGuard protocol in Brave VPN: Off Flags Launch Brave Ads as an in-process service (brave://flags/#brave-ads-should-launch-brave-ads-as-an-in-process-service): Disabled Should always run Brave Ads service (brave://flags/#brave-ads-should-always-run-brave-ads-service): Disabled Allow Brave Ads to fallback from native to custom push notifications (brave://flags/#brave-ads-allowed-to-fallback-to-custom-push-notification-ads): Disabled Brave News prompts on New Tab Page (brave://flags/#brave-news-peek): Disabled Enable Brave Wallet (brave://flags/#native-brave-wallet): Disabled Enable NFT pinning (brave://flags/#enable-nft-pinning): Disabled Enable Brave Rewards VBAT notices (brave://flags/#brave-rewards-vbat-notice): Disabled Enable Gemini for Brave Rewards (brave://flags/#brave-rewards-gemini): Disabled Brave AI Chat (brave://flags/#brave-ai-chat): Disabled Enable experimental Brave VPN (brave://flags/#brave-vpn): Disabled Enable DoH for Brave VPN (brave://flags/#brave-vpn-dns): Disabled SafeBrowsing (brave://flags/#brave-safe-browsing): Disabled Enable Brave Super Referral (brave://flags/#brave-super-referral): Disabled Extensions This is optional, you can install it if you want. ...