Privacy on Alemasone

NordVPN Review: Speed, Privacy, and Streaming Performance

Sun, 03 May 2026 09:50:24 +0000

NordVPN is one of the most solid services in its category: a very extensive network, its own protocol based on WireGuard, headquarters in Panama, and six independent audits regarding its no-logs policy—the latest conducted by Deloitte in early 2026. There are two drawbacks to keep in mind: the significant price increase upon renewal and a maximum of ten simultaneous connections.

This isn’t a laboratory test; it is a summary of what the service offers, what published audits say, and the factors you should consider before subscribing.

Google Alternatives: Search Engines You Should Try

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 18:54:03 +0000

When evaluating an alternative to Google, the question you should ask isn’t “does it respect privacy?” because everyone answers yes. It is where they get their results from: very few have their own index; others resell those of Google or Microsoft, with varying degrees of filtering. This is why some alternatives feel so much like the giants, and why the most interesting development lately is a European index built from scratch.

You switch search engines for two different reasons, which should be kept separate: to be profiled less, or to get different results. One tool doesn’t always work for both.

Are Chrome VPN Extensions Actually Secure?

Tue, 28 Oct 2025 19:19:43 +0000

Two things you need to know before installing a VPN extension for Chrome. First: an extension is not a full VPN; it is a proxy that only protects your browser traffic, leaving everything else exposed. Second: a free service that routes your browsing through its servers has to make money somehow, and more than once, it has turned out that the profit was user data.

This doesn’t mean they are all garbage. It means you need to choose them with more care than any other extension, because they see everything you do in your browser. Below are the free ones I trust most and the criteria for judging all others.

Run AI Models Locally with LM Studio

Sat, 27 Sep 2025 17:35:46 +0000

If you run a language model on your computer, your documents never leave your machine and you don’t pay any subscription fees. LM Studio is the easiest way to do it: just install it, choose a model from the catalog, and start typing. The limiting factor is memory: you need at least as much RAM as the size of the model file, plus some extra headroom.

Setting realistic expectations. Models running on a home computer are less capable than those used by major online services. For summarizing, paraphrasing, classifying, translating, and reasoning over your documents, they work great; however, for complex tasks, you will notice the difference compared to ChatGPT or Claude.

Best Discord Alternatives for Voice Chat and Communities

Fri, 01 Aug 2025 08:04:08 +0000

There are four Discord alternatives worth considering: TeamSpeak and Mumble for voice, Matrix for those who want encryption, and Stoat for those looking for something similar to Discord. None of them do everything Discord does, so the choice depends on how your group uses it.

Discord captured the gaming audience by combining text chat, voice channels, video, large communities, and thousands of bots, all without requiring anyone to configure a server. People usually leave because of privacy concerns, wanting a lighter program, or because they don’t like the direction the platform is taking. In this guide, you will find the options still active in 2026, including what you gain and what you lose with each one.

Best Cloud Storage Services: How to Choose the Right One

Sat, 12 Jul 2025 08:23:21 +0000

When choosing a cloud service, more than just storage space matters—it’s who can read your files. With end-to-end encryption, which Proton Drive, MEGA, and Sync.com offer by default, files are encrypted on your device so the provider cannot open them. On Google Drive, OneDrive, and Dropbox, however, the provider can technically access them.

This doesn’t mean you should avoid them; you just need to know what it entails. For documents that need to be shared and edited in a group, integration with workflow tools matters most; for personal documents and sensitive data, privacy is the priority.

Red Star OS: Inside North Korea's Operating System

Fri, 14 Feb 2025 10:34:55 +0000

Red Star OS is North Korea’s operating system, a Linux distribution developed for internal use. Among security researchers, it is famous not for its appearance, which mimics macOS, but for a silent mechanism: it watermarks every file that passes through the computer with an identifier linked to the machine, allowing the tracking of how documents move from one person to another.

Studying it is interesting for a specific reason: it explicitly shows how an operating system can be built around control rather than around its users. Many of the techniques it uses exist elsewhere, albeit in a more discreet form.

Temporary Emails vs Aliases: How to Truly Avoid Spam

Thu, 20 Jun 2024 16:19:58 +0000

Under the name “temporary email,” there are two different tools that many people confuse. A disposable mailbox lasts for a few hours: you use it to receive a confirmation code and then it disappears. An alias is a permanent address that forwards mail to your real inbox, which you can turn off once spam starts coming in. In most cases, the second one is what you actually need.

Choosing the wrong one is why many people get locked out of their accounts: they registered for a service they wanted to keep using a temporary mailbox, and when it came time to recover their password, the address no longer existed.

Best Web Browsers: Privacy, Speed, and Resource Usage

Tue, 18 Jun 2024 14:30:12 +0000

Over the last two years, the choice of browser has changed for a reason that has nothing to do with speed: Manifest V3. As of July 2025 Chrome will no longer support old extensions, including uBlock Origin, and only the stripped-down uBlock Origin Lite version will be available. Firefox still supports the full version: if you care about blocking ads, this alone should guide your choice.

For everything else, browsers are more similar than ever. Aside from Firefox and Safari, they all use Chrome’s engine, so pages look the same and you won’t notice speed differences in everyday use. Three things do change: what they do with your data, which extensions they accept, and how much memory they consume. And, recently, how much artificial intelligence they put in front of you.

Best Password Managers: A Complete Guide to Choosing One

Thu, 22 Feb 2024 16:10:43 +0000

A password manager keeps your credentials in an encrypted vault that you open with a single master password. It’s essential because nobody can remember fifty different passwords: without one, you end up reusing the same one every time, and that is how a single data breach opens up all your other accounts.

Choosing one is less complicated than it seems: there are only a few serious contenders, and they distinguish themselves more by their usability than by quality. I’ll start with the criteria, then move on to the options that hold up in 2026 and family sharing—which is why many people upgrade to a paid plan.