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diff --git a/public/post/self-host/6imv05.jpg b/public/post/self-host/6imv05.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d042d7a --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/6imv05.jpg diff --git a/public/post/self-host/elections.jpg b/public/post/self-host/elections.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac4ac96 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/elections.jpg diff --git a/public/post/self-host/freedom.jpg b/public/post/self-host/freedom.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..d62048a --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/freedom.jpg diff --git a/public/post/self-host/index.html b/public/post/self-host/index.html new file mode 100644 index 0000000..723ce2f --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/index.html @@ -0,0 +1,224 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html> +<html lang="en"> + + <head><title>Why do I self-host? – Kumar Damani - Home</title> +<meta name="description" content="Git, email, resume etc."> + +<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> +<meta charset="utf-8"/> + + + +<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/font-awesome/6.1.2/css/all.min.css" integrity="sha512-1sCRPdkRXhBV2PBLUdRb4tMg1w2YPf37qatUFeS7zlBy7jJI8Lf4VHwWfZZfpXtYSLy85pkm9GaYVYMfw5BC1A==" crossorigin="anonymous" /> + + +<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/academicons/1.9.1/css/academicons.min.css" integrity="sha512-b1ASx0WHgVFL5ZQhTgiPWX+68KjS38Jk87jg7pe+qC7q9YkEtFq0z7xCglv7qGIs/68d3mAp+StfC8WKC5SSAg==" crossorigin="anonymous" /> + + +<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kumardamani.net/css/colour/gruvbox-dark.css"> +<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kumardamani.net/css/colour/dark-mode.css"> +<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kumardamani.net/css/risotto.css"> +<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://kumardamani.net/css/custom.css"> +</head> + + <body> + <div class="page"> + + <header class="page__header"><h1 class="page__logo"><a href="https://kumardamani.net/" class="page__logo-inner">Kumar Damani - Home</a></h1> +<nav class="page__nav main-nav"> + <ul> + + + <li class="main-nav__item"><a class="nav-main-item active" href="/post/" title="Posts">Posts</a></li> + + </ul> +</nav> + +</header> + + <section class="page__body"> + <header class="content__header"> + <h1>Why do I self-host?</h1> + </header> + <div class="content__body"> + <p>My reasons for self-hosting.</p> +<h2 id="digital-freedomindependence">Digital freedom/independence</h2> +<p><img src="freedom.jpg" alt="Freedeom pic"></p> +<p>To put it simply, if you use a service such as Lastpass, iCloud, Dropbox, GDrive, OneDrive, etc. +to store your data, <strong>you do not own it</strong>.</p> +<p>You are <em>trusting</em> corp. X to store it, secure it, and make it available to you. +Beyond the obvious privacy pitfalls with this, there are many other things that +could go wrong with your data being stored this way:</p> +<ul> +<li>Corp. X could vanish/close/“declare bankruptcy” (as with many crypto corps. lately), and you lose your data.</li> +<li>Corp. X could make a policy change and lock you out from accessing your account.</li> +<li>Or you could “forget” to pay the bills a few times and get locked out.</li> +<li>Corp. X could get hacked, and your data gets stolen. This is the latest trend!</li> +<li>Many other doomsday 💀 scenarios.</li> +</ul> +<p>Personally, I don’t feel comfortable depending on the existence of corp. X <em>for data that is important to +me</em> i.e. a lifetime’s worth of documents, memories, and passwords etc. +I 💤 much better at night knowing I am avoiding most if not all of the risks above.</p> +<h2 id="privacy">Privacy</h2> +<p>Normies often ask me some variation of:</p> +<ul> +<li>Why do I care if corp. X has my data? I have nothing to hide!</li> +<li>Since I’m aware of targeted advertising, it won’t work on me, +so why should I care if corp. X has my data?</li> +</ul> +<figure><img src="why.jpg" + alt="my pic" width="75%"/> +</figure> + +<p>To such questions, I follow-up with:</p> +<blockquote> +<p><strong>Do you want to contribute to a dystopian (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orwellian">Orwellian</a> future?</strong></p> +</blockquote> +<figure><img src="police.jpg" + alt="thought police" width="75%"/> +</figure> + +<p>If your answer is <em>yes</em>, then no need to read further, the following will not change your mind.</p> +<p>If your answer is <em>no</em>, but you aren’t convinced that/how these are related, +then the <em>argument goes something like this…</em></p> +<ul> +<li>We live in a world of mass data-collection/surveillance.</li> +<li>This enables corp. X to use techniques such as ML (Machine Learning) to build/train models (or “AI” - +Artificial Intelligence)that aim to predict human behaviour.</li> +<li>That by itself is not a problem here.</li> +<li>The problems arise when corp. X use these techniques for profit without +regard for the harm they cause at a <em>population level</em>.</li> +</ul> +<p>I have unfortunately lived through enough of these cases to be able to cite a few recent examples:</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>Instagram (etc.) designs its apps/products optimizing for maximum <cite> addiction<sup id="fnref:1"><a href="#fn:1" class="footnote-ref" role="doc-noteref">1</a></sup></cite>. +Think slot-machines. +You might think you are “too smart” to fall for these tricks, and you might be right, +but what about the millions of adolescents using these platforms who aren’t as wise as you? +The data collected, and techniques developed from <em>your usage</em> enables platforms +to target not only you, but <em>all</em> users on the platform, including the most vulnerable.</p> +<p>Unfortunately, many of these kids will end up suffering from mental-health, +body-image, self-esteem <cite>issues<sup id="fnref:2"><a href="#fn:2" class="footnote-ref" role="doc-noteref">2</a></sup></cite>, +and for some it <strong>will be fatal</strong>. +I do not think this is morally acceptable, and is primary reason I refuse +to participate in social-media platforms.</p> +<p><img src="6imv05.jpg" alt="Depression"></p> +</li> +</ul> +<p>You could say “well that’s due to bad parenting”, but the point remains that +more and more of the digital world is having <em>real world</em> negative consequences regardless of +your individual participation level. Another example:</p> +<ul> +<li> +<p>By now its well known that Facebook’s (etc.) targeted advertising +played a significant a role in the 2016 US <cite>Elections<sup id="fnref:3"><a href="#fn:3" class="footnote-ref" role="doc-noteref">3</a></sup></cite>. +Facebook was able to do this thanks to its users voluntarily giving personal information for two decades. +However, the policies that come out of this election has real world consequences to millions +(if not billions) of people, regardless of their <em>individual</em> Facebook usage, which +undermines the very purpose of a democratic republic. +Regardless of your political affiliation, it should worry you that this <em>can</em> happen.</p> +<p><img src="elections.jpg" alt="Elections"></p> +</li> +</ul> +<p>To summarize, it might not be a problem if individuals disregard their +privacy at the individual level, but in aggregate, a <em>population-wide</em> disregard +has dystopian consequences.</p> +<p>So the question you have to ask yourself is:</p> +<blockquote> +<p><strong>What can I do?</strong></p> +</blockquote> +<p>Start by <strong>valuing your privacy</strong>. +Then, follow some of these tips to <em>say no…</em></p> +<ul> +<li><strong>Limit your exposure to these services.</strong> If a friend stops talking to you because +of this, then congratulations, you’ve just gotten rid of a fake friend. You’re welcome.</li> +<li><a href="https://wiki.r-selfhosted.com/getting-started/what-is-self-hosting/">Self-host</a> +as much as you can. +You can see how I <a href="https://gitlab.com/kdam0/vps">implement</a> this and replicate it yourself, +though it is a bit involved for normies.</li> +<li>If neither of the above work for you, then you’ll need to do some research to +find an alternative source that you can trust isn’t doing the same thing. +Use <a href="https://github.com/awesome-selfhosted/awesome-selfhosted">this</a> +as a starting point and try to search (Ctrl+f) for your service. For eg. Twitter, and +Instagram both have popular options available.</li> +<li><strong>Stop using Chrome.</strong> If you must use it, use <a href="https://brave.com/">Brave</a> instead. +I advocate for <a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/new/?redirect_source=firefox-com">Firefox</a>. +Neither are perfect, but both offer privacy respecting options in their settings. +Specifically disabling cross-site tracking is important. +Beyond that, install an ad-blocker extension such as <a href="https://ublockorigin.com/">UBlock Origin</a> +on both of them. Don’t forget to do the same on your mobile device!</li> +<li>Things get more complicated on cell-phones. +I suggest switching to a privacy respecting operating-system such as <a href="https://grapheneos.org/">GrapheneOS</a> +Short of this, you can only limit your usage.</li> +<li>Support government policies that respect user-privacy.</li> +</ul> +<figure><img src="office.png" + alt="office pic" width="75%"/> +</figure> + +<div class="footnotes" role="doc-endnotes"> +<hr> +<ol> +<li id="fn:1"> +<p><a href="https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/dopamine-smartphones-battle-time/">Smartphones and dompanime</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p> +</li> +<li id="fn:2"> +<p><a href="https://onlinedegrees.unr.edu/online-master-of-public-health/impact-of-social-media-on-youth-mental-health/">Mental health and social media</a> <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p> +</li> +<li id="fn:3"> +<p><a href="https://www.theverge.com/2017/12/11/16761016/former-facebook-exec-ripping-apart-society">Excerpt from Facebook ex-exec</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-backref" role="doc-backlink">↩︎</a></p> +</li> +</ol> +</div> + </div> + <footer class="content__footer"></footer> + + </section> + + <section class="page__aside"> + <div class="aside__about"> +<div class="aside__about"> + <img class="about__logo" src="https://kumardamani.net/images/rice.svg" alt="Logo"> +<h1 class="about__title">Links</h1> +<p class="about__description">Git, email, resume etc.</p> +</div> + + +<ul class="aside__social-links"> + + <li> + <a href="https://gitlab.com/kdam0/" rel="me" aria-label="GitLab" title="GitLab"><i class="fa-brands fa-gitlab" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> + </li> + + <li> + <a href="mailto:me@kumardamani.net" rel="me" aria-label="Email" title="Email"><i class="fa-solid fa-envelope" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> + </li> + + <li> + <a href="/KumarDamaniCV.pdf" rel="me" aria-label="Resume" title="Resume"><i class="fa-solid fa-file" aria-hidden="true"></i></a> + </li> + +</ul> +</div> + <hr> + <div class="aside__content"> + <p>Overview of why I self-host.</p> + + <p> + By Kumar Damani, + 2022-09-12 + </p> + + + </div> + </section> + + <footer class="page__footer"><p class="copyright"></p> + +</footer> + + </div> + </body> + +</html> diff --git a/public/post/self-host/office.png b/public/post/self-host/office.png Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9cff3ce --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/office.png diff --git a/public/post/self-host/police.jpg b/public/post/self-host/police.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..dde2b44 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/police.jpg diff --git a/public/post/self-host/why.jpg b/public/post/self-host/why.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..eda5402 --- /dev/null +++ b/public/post/self-host/why.jpg |
