Alex James al3xtjames

2023 update

ℹ️ Please note this research is from 2016 when Opera has first added their browser "VPN", even before the "Chinese deal" was closed. They have since introduced some real VPN apps but this below is not about them.

🕵️ Some folks also like to use this article to show a proof that the Opera browser is a spyware or that Opera sells all your data to 3rd parties or something like that. This article here doesn't say anything like that.

When setting up (that's immediately when user enables it in settings) Opera VPN sends few API requests to https://api.surfeasy.com to obtain credentials and proxy IPs, see below, also see The Oprah Proxy.

The browser then talks to a proxy de0.opera-proxy.net (when VPN location is set to Germany), it's IP address can only be resolved from within Opera when VPN is on, it's 185.108.219.42 (or similar, see below). It's an HTTP/S proxy which requires auth.

Most VPN Services are Terrible

Short version: I strongly do not recommend using any of these providers. You are, of course, free to use whatever you like. My TL;DR advice: Roll your own and use Algo or Streisand. For messaging & voice, use Signal. For increased anonymity, use Tor for desktop (though recognize that doing so may actually put you at greater risk), and Onion Browser for mobile.

This mini-rant came on the heels of an interesting twitter discussion: https://twitter.com/kennwhite/status/591074055018582016

If your custom iso is not mounting, and your console is at an iPXE shell, you can:

initrd http://mfsbsd.vx.sk/files/iso/10/amd64/mfsbsd-se-10.1-RELEASE-amd64.iso

While the iso is downloading, vultr's iPXE does not include memdisk, so we have to upload it ourselves to another host.

Here's one I found public, though I wouldn't recommend using it: http://preseed.panticz.de/ipxe/memdisk

Macbook Pro 11,3 - Linux gmux

The Macbook Pro 11,3 (late 2013, Retina) is equipped with two GPUs:

discrete: NVidia GPU: GeForce GT 750 M
integrated: Intel Iris Pro

Currently under Linux the Intel GPU can only be used with the help of:

gfxCardStatus v2.2.1
faking the os identification:
https://lists.gnu.org/archive/html/grub-devel/2013-12/msg00442.html
https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?pid=1368083

	/* SMBLoris attack proof-of-concept
	*
	* Copyright 2017 Hector Martin "marcan" <marcan@marcan.st>
	*
	* Licensed under the terms of the 2-clause BSD license.
	*
	* This is a proof of concept of a publicly disclosed vulnerability.
	* Please do not go around randomly DoSing people with it.
	*
	* Tips: do not use your local IP as source, or if you do, use iptables to block

	commit 3f5e3bdbb45bc2cd9ae95972420eb11b0340f120
	Author: Matthew Garrett <mjg59@coreos.com>
	Date: Mon Feb 1 13:31:00 2016 +1100

	Block most UEFI variable deletions

	Some systems appear to become upset if certain UEFI non-volatile variables
	are delted, to the point of no longer POSTing successfully. For a short-term
	fix, let's just block deletion of most variables while we figure out a
	better approach.

	OS X Yosemite Kernel Debug Kit Read Me
	Please Note: After installation, the Kernel Debug Kit will be available at:
	/Library/Developer/KDKs/
	———————————————————————————————
	The kernel file location has changed.
	The kernel file location has moved to /System/Library/Kernels/kernel
	DEVELOPMENT and DEBUG kernels

	The OS X Yosemite Kernel Debug Kit includes the DEVELOPMENT and DEBUG kernel builds. These both have additional assertions and error checking compared to the RELEASE kernel. The DEVELOPMENT kernel can be used for every-day use and has minimal performance overhead, while the DEBUG kernel has much more error checking.

	#!/usr/bin/env python
	"""
	Script for dumping Bluetooth pairings from OS X to a registry file, for Windows
	import. This will allow you to have your Bluetooth devices paired with both
	operating systems at the same time.

	In case of problems with Windows registry entries: pair your device with Windows
	first, then with OS X, and then do the dump and import.

	Latest version can be found at:

	#include <sys/socket.h>
	#include <sys/ioctl.h>
	#include <sys/kern_event.h>
	#include <stdio.h>
	#include <stdint.h>
	#include <stdbool.h>
	#include <stdlib.h>
	#include <assert.h>
	#include <string.h>
	#include <net/ethernet.h>