#dns query

[captain-acab]

I saw the post about using blokada to block tumblr live on Android, and then you mentioned blocking domains. How do I block domains?

When you install Blokada 5 and launch it, there should be four tabs at the bottom of the screen. The 2nd-left tab has a symbol of three vertical bars, and when you tap on it, says Activity. From here you can view all the domains your phone is trying to connect to. Any domain that you see in green, you can tap on to add it to the Blocked list.

If you launch Tumblr then go back to the Blokada Activity tab, you should see all the domains it's trying to connect to, including ones like "auth.gateway.tumblr-live.com" (yes, your phone connects to this whenever you launch Tumblr, even if you never open the Tumblr Live page). Tap those suckers and block them! (and if they scroll out of view too quickly, use the search 🔍 at the top of the screen to filter for "tumblr" and you should see them all again.)

[notes-alessiosignorini]

PiHole DNS not Responding, disk full

The Internet seemed unreachable at my house. After checking with the provider I determined it was due to my pihole being down.

Logging into the dashboard of my pihole showed "Lost Connection to API". This indicated an issue with the pihole-FTL service.

After logging in the Unify CloudKey where I installed pihole I used df -h to determined that the disk was full

root@UniFi-CloudKey:~# df -h Filesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted on aufs-root 2.9G 2.9G 0 100% / udev 10M 0 10M 0% /dev

It was due to 3 things:

apt cache at "/var/cache/apt/archives"

CloudKey backups at "/data/autobackup"

pihole-FTL database at "/etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.db"

You can cleanup the first using "apt-get autoclean". For the second, you can manually delete some of the old backups but perhaps you should set a better backup policy in your CloudKey.

The third one accumulates all the queries ever done against your pihole (18M in the past 2 years for me) unless you set something like MAXDBDAYS=90 in /etc/pihole/pihole-FTL.conf. Mine was 1.4GB.

You can stop the pihole-FTL with "service pihole-FTL stop", delete the file, and restart it, if you want. Or perform a more surgical cleaning directly deleting old entries from the database before restarting it.

[it-system-engineer]

DNS PTR Kaydı Hakkında

DNS PTR Kaydı Hakkında

Merhaba, bu yazımda sizlere DNS PTR kaydı hakkında bilgi vereceğim. PTR (Pointer) kayıtları, IP adreslerini alan adlarına çevirmek için kullanılan DNS (Domain Name System) kayıtlarıdır. PTR kayıtları, IP adresinin bir alan adına çevrilmesine “reverse DNS lookup” denir ve özellikle e-posta sunucuları gibi hizmetlerde kullanılır. PTR kaydı oluşturmak için genellikle alan adı kayıt sağlayıcınıza…

[dustyrkives]

No One But Me

PAIRING: Ada Wong x fem reader

WARNINGS: RE6 Ada, dark Ada, stalking, infatuation, possessive behavior, obsession, dubious morality, yandere-tendencies, psychological horror, st@ged k!dn@pping, v!olence, manipulation and that's about it, I think.

SYNOPSIS: Ada Wong has always been a woman of control, precision, and purpose. But when she sees you—a scientist entangled in the chaos of bioterrorism—something shifts. What begins as mere curiosity festers into something deeper, darker. You are hers. You just don’t know it yet. And Ada? She’s more than willing to teach you. PS: this is also based on my old published works. Feedback is appreciated <3

MEN, MINORS DNI

One, apathy

I am what I am, and I am nothing.

Eyes wide like a deer in headlights, soft skin, and plump lips–oh, Ada knew she'd be thinking about you for the entirety of her mission.

Two, disruption.

Now what's a pretty girl like you doing in the submarine she's infiltrated? And why were you escorted out with security carrying a briefcase handcuffed to your right hand?

Three, curiosity. One quick moment to crane the neck.

Before the mercenary can satiate her curiosity about you, shouts of armed men alarm you of her presence, hence your adorable expression as your guards quickly drag you across the hallway–and matchless against the men, Ada ran begrudgingly.

Now, Ada couldn't care less about how others perceived her, but she felt like she had just made a fool of herself before you.

Ada's face burns as she slams the door behind her, she fixes her expression. Sharp eyes narrow to slits as she finds herself fooled by Simmons; gloved hands nearly crush her device–not only did she make a fool of herself, she was deceived by her employer too.

Cold, brown eyes snap to the photo displayed atop the oak desk. With slow, sure strides–Ada approaches, careful for any traps engineered in the room as she finally takes the photo, most of the subjects were unknown to her until she sees those familiar summer-like innocent features while you stand with your fellow scientists and researchers. Ada despised how her eyes greedily searched your picture, searching for anything–nothing.

But no matter.

The short-haired woman tears your picture from the other scientists and rolls it carefully before inserting it into her utility belt before fleeing from the self-destructing submarine for one: to solve whatever game Simmons drags her into and, of course, an excuse to find out about you: what did this have to do with you? And what was in that briefcase?

Such exquisite excuses–masked by the investigative query.

And Ada knew better than to fool herself, but for now–that wasn't her focus.

Not one to enjoy being left in the dark, she sets her next destination: America.

True to his words, Simmons did launch a bioterror attack in Tall Oaks, word has it that the president was infected and killed.

But that isn't her concern–for now.

She came here for answers, and she will have them.

Always possessed by the insatiable need to see what happens inside the room.

Her skin is soaked with sweat–and perhaps the fluids of the infected she had just taken down. Her lungs burned for oxygen as she scanned her surroundings, intelligent, cold, unfeeling eyes examining the lab. Finally. She is where she's supposed to be.

Gloved hands meticulously searched the lab, plans, equations, and names of associates–shareholders. Trained eyes swallowing one detail after another–until she sets her eyes on a tape.

A frown graces her elegant countenance as she plays the tape.

Lo, a wellspring of knowledge. Of feeling, of sensation.

Harrowing, overwhelming.

I will dislocate my jaw to fit it all in.

Ada sees a copy of herself born from a cocoon, dazed and besotted. She stands there–what was supposed to be the most destructive moment of her life–cut short after seeing a familiar innocent face in the background, mirroring the uncomfortable display of god-like calamity as it pans to your face, you look away shameless as Simmons praise you for your input with his new creation.

The mercury pauses the tape at the exact moment that you finally show your face–you force a polite smile, but your eyes gleam with disgust.

Oh, the camera does not capture your beauty the way her memory does.

Angered, she thinks: How can you show disgust when you create something out of her image?

If anything, you should be in awe.

But Ada excuses it–you are innocent and at the same–you are not.

You just don't understand it yet.

Ada finds herself reaching for you as if to ease the disgust and horror that swims in the crevices of your beautiful eyes. A burning sensation ripples through her. Oh, such soft features tainted by your employer and superior.

Five, aggrandization.

Send down your cordage of suffocation and let me in

Begrudgingly, she tears her gaze from your projection. She searches, frantically–the lab should be able to contain any information about you, right?

It has to!

Grabby hands, shallow breaths, frantic eyes.

Finally, her efforts have come to fruition.

The dossiers of you and your peers are clad in white. Eyes greedily scheming through the pages until her eyes finally land on your name.

Beautiful, just like you.

And turns out you're one of the few scientists that help Simmons with his... fixation. Second, her doppelganger is wreaking havoc and threatening the stability sought by The Family–and she can not sit idle while her knockoff is paraded about: eliminate and then have you as a reward–and it just so happens that it states your next location: China.

Ada revels in triumph as the revelation sinks in; after all, she is the real Ada, surely, you must recognize her as the one worth your attention.

Not the fake one.

Six, delineation

I want to know what God knows, and I will take it from Him.

Set over the edge, I sigh.

Ada follows the trail of Neo-Umbrella to China, where a bioterror incident dwarfs the recent Tall Oak attack occurs. Her fingers tap against her thigh as she meticulously plans her objectives–hoping to see you amidst the chaos her doppelganger has created.

Picking up BSAA transmissions, Ada locks down her imposter's location, encountering a few agents on the way–most importantly, you.

Her trigger finger stills as her eyes zero on your retreating figure from her sniper, breath hitching as she sees you running away from the infected citizens. The mercenary seethes.

How DARE they come after you?

The older woman's hand clenches on the grip, her chest heaving as cold possession seeps into her veins faster than any virus.

Swiftly, she riddles them with lead, watching you scramble from the floor, looking around for your unknown savior.

Her crosshairs glide down your body, committing every frantic motion to memory. Vulnerable. Precious. Hers.

Ada's stomach churns at how adorable you look. You look distraught and shaken before running into safety. Although the encounter was brief, it was enough for Ada to keep her patience at bay–patience is a virtue, is it not?

With a cold smile, she whispers your name–hoping the troubled wind will carry it to you, make you know that she is watching you, looking out for you in her own way. Then, a realization: you are in need of someone capable, someone who won't hesitate to leave a trail of bodies for your sake, someone devoted to your well-being, your safety, your comfort.

She believes only she is fit to protect you.

Who else but her? No one else is worthy. No one else understands.

Ada is the perfect candidate. She is a woman of many talents and skills–you will need her.

Seven, perversion

It's no good bearing false witness.

On the aircraft carrier, Ada finds documentation regarding the creation of her imposter.

This all stemmed from Simmons' deep-rooted frustration with her not being the docile, obedient soldier he expected. This frustration bore a twisted need for revenge, which came in the form of creating a facsimile of Ada—a clone that would obey Simmons and only Simmons. The road to perfecting the clone was long and littered with failures—countless test subjects used and discarded—until finally, with the discovery of you, success was had in injecting the C-Virus and a sample of Ada's DNA into Carla Radames, a scientist working under Simmons and was one of your peers.

However, this success was short-lived. Carla's buried consciousness slowly awoke to her situation and began to seek retribution against Simmons.

She looks down at her clone's body, unmoving. Ada moves her line of sight to the city in ashes–are you safe? Did you make it out alive?

Just as your safety floods her thoughts, Carla lunges at her–the clone's body undergoing violent mutations as she shrieks that she is the one and true Ada Wong.

The mercenary scowls before irritation twists in her features. Wonderful, another obstacle comes between her and you.

It's a struggle, everything's a struggle, Ada eventually defeats her clone–now she has to tie loose ends and find you–her price.

The sinner's errand.

Of course, Ada knew you weren't as innocent–you knew that too...

You help create a monster from her image. She may acknowledge that you are hers, but that does not excuse the damage you had caused, so what more than to punish you accordingly?

After she accepts another mission, Ada makes it a task to track you down and weave her way into your life like a mismatching thread. A flower shop? Oh, how quaint. Look at you living peacefully while Ada had to push the gnawing need for your presence.

She visits you under the guise of getting the perfect flowers–only for her to purchase and give them to you with the most charming smile she can muster. The way your cheeks turn red has her empty heart swell with joy and warmth–but not enough to forget she has to cleanse you of your sins first.

When you first ask for her name, a strange smile graces Ada's lips as you look at her with unmistakeable intrigue and interest.

This is perfect. The plan falls into place bit by bit.

Days turned to months, and Ada got what she wanted: you.

And oh, how easy was it to have you at her whim, pliant and obedient, especially when she needs you.

Your lungs burned for oxygen after Ada chases your lips.

Searing, all-consuming, and it keeps you at bay.

Her arms snake around your waist, pulling you close to her as she devours your lips like a woman deprived of resources as you two make out on the couch of your shared apartment.

Ada does this because she knows–when the hired man takes you from your flower shop, her lips will hunger for yours, and her cold body will search for your warmth.

A pained yelp tumbles from your lips as the assailant throws you on the ground, your wrists are bound, save for your legs.

It was dark, and you couldn't tell where you were–they had blindfolded you on the way to your new prison. Trembling, you scramble to the locked door, your pleas for freedom and empty promises fell on deaf ears.

Your pulse throbs against your ears, your body cold with trepidation as the darkness consumes your whole being.

"Let me out! Please, I'll do anything!" You sob as you press your body against the locked, solid steel door.

Oh, Ada would be upset if she knew what had happened–they had taken away your phone, they should've snapped it in half but they didn't. Why?

Your throat aches as you keep pleading for your case until one of them barges into the room.

"Shut the fuck up!" The masked man roars before slapping you across the face. The side of your face stings red, and he hits you again. You're sure that their fate will be worse than death; Ada hates it when you get hurt.

You curl against the cold pavement, tears streaming down your face as you pray for salvation, specifically Ada's.

I was an angel, though plummeting

The stars are as beams shining through the wheel.

Perhaps crying and begging wore you out because you were awakened by Ada's soft hand caressing your cheek while she cradled you.

"A-Ada," You breathe. Impossible, you should've heard her come to you. Your hands shakily reach for her face before craning your neck, blood running cold at the sight of the men's twitching bodies while they choke on their blood, twitching.

God, they're still alive?

"Darling, look at me." Your lover coaxes, you obey, and your eyes subtly widen. Ada, compared to her victims, looks neat and presentable, except for the blood splattered all over her black button-up shirt, soaked with blood, some on her face like a demented blush.

But oh, she is gorgeous.

"Th-they–"

"It's okay," She whispers and pulls you closer to her, pressing the side of your face against her bloody chest while her hand delicately holds your head. "I'm here now, my love. No one's going to hurt you."

"A-are they still alive?" You squeak as she effortlessly carries you. Her chest rumbles with a sinister chuckle. You see something strange swirl in your lover's dark brown eyes, something akin to delight.

Twisted delight.

"You know what they say about dull blades, darling. They are painful compared to fresh steel. I will leave them to suffer for touching you, hurting you."

She kicks the door open, revealing an isolated area. You take a look at your captors as they lay in the pool of their own blood, dull knives lodged into their bodies.

"Do you remember the first time I bought you flowers?" Ada queries, forcing you to tear your gaze from the men to answer her. "Of course,"

How could you forget? It was a cherished memory.

"I visited you every day, wrote to you even when I knew we lived in the modern age." She reminisces with a soft, rare smile. "And your love for carnations," Ada adds, "Am I right, doll?"

"Yes," You sigh, leaning against her.

"When we're finally home, you will rest, and I'll take you to your favorite flower park so you can look at the flowers."

She approaches the familiar Bentley and opens the door, setting you down in the passenger seat. Ada stands in front of you, taking in your tired appearance; the older woman heaves a sigh, almost apologetic, as she takes your hand, rubbing her thumb against the back of your palm soothingly.

"You're safe with me," Ada murmurs, bringing your hand to her lips as it ghosts over your knuckles.

And there it is again, the dark gleam in her eyes.

"No one will harm you or touch you again."

I am what I am, but we are not the same.

[zoekrystall]

Alright I quickly remembered but didn't share yet that I got a dns thing on that blocks ads everywhere (or at least breaks them like in the screenshot where it's just the link) plus other stuff and since it's apparently rly reliable n easy to set up (and free up to 300k of queries which resets monthly where it's then a standard dns resolver n nothing else) here if ya want it too

Idk how or why but I just keep seeing broken ads (at least on here) and I hope this won't get fixed. My fav ads.

[nixcraft]

Linux / UNIX: DNS Lookup Command

You don't need to use third-party apps or websites to find DNS information. All you need is the command line, and you can get all the information required to report or debug problems. DNS plays a critical role in modern apps and infrastructure; hence, all developers and sysadmins must know how to use these commands to resolve issues faster.

[voxxvindictae]

If I’m being honest, the most useful skill for hacking is learning to do research. And since Google’s search is going to shit, allow me to detail some of the methods I use to do OSINT and general research.

Google dorking is the use of advanced syntax to make incredibly fine-grained searches, potentially exposing information that wasn’t supposed to be on the internet:

Some of my go-to filters are as follows:

“Query” searches for documents that have at least one field containing the exact string.

site: allows for a specific site to be searched. See also inurl and intitle.

type: specifies the tor of resource to look for. Common examples are log files, PDFs, and the sitemap.xml file.

Metasearch engines (such as SearxNG) permit you to access results from several web-crawlers at once, including some for specialized databases. There are several public instances available, as well as some that work over tor, but you can also self-host your own.

IVRE is a self-hosted tool that allows you to create a database of host scans (when I say self-hosted, I mean that you can run this in a docker container on your laptop). This can be useful for finding things that search engines don’t show you, like how two servers are related, where a website lives, etc. I’ve used this tool before, in my investigation into the Canary Mission and its backers.

Spiderfoot is like IVRE, but for social networks. It is also a self-hosted database. I have also used this in the Canary Mission investigation.

Some miscellaneous websites/web tools I use:

SecurityTrails: look up DNS history for a domain

BugMeNot: shared logins for when creating an account is not in your best interest.

Shodan/Censys: you have to make an account for these, so I don’t usually recommend them.

OSINT framework: another useful index of tools for information gathering.

[wolfliving]

Secure person frets about modern security

(...)

Internet of Things. More like @internetofshit. Whenever possible, avoid "smart" devices, which are essentially incredibly insecure, internet-connected computers that gather tons of data, get hacked all the time, and that people willingly place into their homes. These things have microphones, and they routinely send data back to the mothership for analytics and to "improve customer experience" lol ok.

As an example, in my younger and naive years I once purchased a CO2 monitor from China that demanded to know everything about me and my precise physical location before it would tell me the amount of CO2 in my room. These devices are a huge and very common attack surface on your privacy and security and should be avoided.

Messaging. I recommend Signal instead of text messages because it end-to-end encrypts all your communications. In addition, it does not store metadata like many other apps do (e.g. iMessage, WhatsApp). Turn on disappearing messages (e.g. 90 days default is good). In my experience they are an information vulnerability with no significant upside.

Browser. I recommend Brave browser, which is a privacy-first browser based on Chromium. That means that basically all Chrome extensions work out of the box and the browser feels like Chrome, but without Google having front row seats to your entire digital life.

Search engine. I recommend Brave search, which you can set up as your default in the browser settings. Brave Search is a privacy-first search engine with its own index, unlike e.g. Duck Duck Go which basically a nice skin for Bing, and is forced into weird partnerships with Microsoft that compromise user privacy. As with all services on this list, I pay $3/mo for Brave Premium because I prefer to be the customer, not the product in my digital life. I find that empirically, about 95% of my search engine queries are super simple website lookups, with the search engine basically acting as a tiny DNS. And if you're not finding what you're looking for, fallback to Google by just prepending "!g" to your search query, which will redirect it to Google.

Credit cards. Mint new, unique credit cards per merchant. There is no need to use one credit card on many services. This allows them to "link up" your purchasing across different services, and additionally it opens you up to credit card fraud because the services might leak your credit card number. I like and use privacy dot com to mint new credit cards for every single transaction or merchant. You get a nice interface for all your spending and notifications for each swipe. You can also set limits on each credit card (e.g. $50/month etc.), which dramatically decreases the risk of being charged more than you expect. Additionally, with a privacy dot com card you get to enter totally random information for your name and address when filling out billing information. This is huge, because there is simply no need and totally crazy that random internet merchants should be given your physical address. Which brings me to...

Address. There is no need to give out your physical address to the majority of random services and merchants on the internet. Use a virtual mail service. I currently use Earth Class Mail but tbh I'm a bit embarrassed by that and I'm looking to switch to Virtual Post Mail due to its much strong commitments to privacy, security, and its ownership structure and reputation. In any case, you get an address you can give out, they receive your mail, they scan it and digitize it, they have an app for you to quickly see it, and you can decide what to do with it (e.g. shred, forward, etc.). Not only do you gain security and privacy but also quite a bit of convenience.

Email. I still use gmail just due to sheer convenience, but I've started to partially use Proton Mail as well. And while we're on email, a few more thoughts. Never click on any link inside any email you receive. Email addresses are extremely easy to spoof and you can never be guaranteed that the email you got is a phishing email from a scammer. Instead, I manually navigate to any service of interest and log in from there. In addition, disable image loading by default in your email's settings. If you get an email that requires you to see images, you can click on "show images" to see them and it's not a big deal at all. This is important because many services use embedded images to track you - they hide information inside the image URL you get, so when your email client loads the image, they can see that you opened the email. There's just no need for that.

Additionally, confusing images are one way scammers hide information to avoid being filtered by email servers as scam / spam.

VPN. If you wish to hide your IP/location to services, you can do so via VPN indirection. I recommend Mullvad VPN. I keep VPN off by default, but enable it selectively when I'm dealing with services I trust less and want more protection from.

DNS-based blocker. You can block ads by blocking entire domains at the DNS level. I like and use NextDNS, which blocks all kinds of ads and trackers. For more advanced users who like to tinker, pi-hole is the physical alternative.

Network monitor. I like and use The Little Snitch, which I have installed and running on my MacBook. This lets you see which apps are communicating, how much data and when, so you can keep track of what apps on your computer "call home" and how often. Any app that communicates too much is sus, and should potentially be uninstalled if you don't expect the traffic. I just want to live a secure digital life and establish harmonious relationships with products and services that leak only the necessary information. And I wish to pay for the software I use so that incentives are aligned and so that I am the customer. This is not trivial, but it is possible to approach with some determination and discipline.... (ete etc)

[meret118]

Experts fear Trump’s 'legitimately frightening' new order to turn US military into police

Trump's new order, which is entitled "Strengthening and Unleashing America's Law Enforcement to Pursue Criminals and Protect Innocent Citizens," makes various declarations about the administration's commitment to supporting law enforcement professionals in the opening paragraphs. However, one section further down specifically mentions the U.S. military and the administration's intent to have enlisted service members participate in civilian law enforcement actions.

https://www.alternet.org/trump-order-military-police/

Trump Has Ordered Safeguards Stripped From Procurement As Pentagon Prepares To Spend $1 Trillion

https://talkingpointsmemo.com/news/trump-procurement-executive-orders-defense

DOGE employees gain accounts on classified networks holding nuclear secrets

https://www.npr.org/2025/04/28/nx-s1-5378684/doge-energy-department-nuclear-secrets-access

American Panopticon The Trump administration is pooling data on Americans. Experts fear what comes next.

In March, President Trump issued an executive order aiming to eliminate the data silos that keep everything separate. Historically, much of the data collected by the government had been heavily compartmentalized and secured; even for those legally authorized to see sensitive data, requesting access for use by another government agency is typically a painful process that requires justifying what you need, why you need it, and proving that it is used for those purposes only. Not so under Trump.

. . .

A worst-case scenario is easy to imagine. Some of this information could be useful simply for blackmail—medical diagnoses and notes, federal taxes paid, cancellation of debt. In a kleptocracy, such data could be used against members of Congress and governors, or anyone disfavored by the state. Think of it as a domesticated, systemetized version of kompromat—like opposition research on steroids: Hey, Wisconsin is considering legislation that would be harmful to us. There are four legislators on the fence. Query the database; tell me what we’ve got on them.

Say you want to arrest or detain somebody—activists, journalists, anyone seen as a political enemy—even if just to intimidate them. An endless data set is an excellent way to find some retroactive justification. Meyer told us that the CFPB keeps detailed data on consumer complaints—which could also double as a fantastic list of the citizens already successfully targeted for scams, or people whose financial problems could help bad actors compromise them or recruit them for dirty work.

Similarly, FTC, SEC, or CFPB data, which include subpoenaed trade secrets gathered during long investigations, could offer the ability for motivated actors to conduct insider trading at previously unthinkable scale. The world’s richest man may now have access to that information.

An authoritarian, surveillance-control state could be supercharged by mating exfiltrated, cleaned, and correlated government information with data from private stores, corporations who share their own data willingly or by force, data brokers, or other sources.

What kind of actions could the government perform if it could combine, say, license plates seen at specific locations, airline passenger records, purchase histories from supermarket or drug-store loyalty cards, health-care patient records, DNS-lookup histories showing a person’s online activities, and tax-return data?

It could, for example, target for harassment people who deducted charitable contributions to the Palestine Children’s Relief Fund, drove or parked near mosques, and bought Halal-certified shampoos. It could intimidate citizens who reported income from Trump-antagonistic competitors or visited queer pornography websites.

It could identify people who have traveled to Ukraine and also rely on prescription insulin, and then lean on insurance companies to deny their claims. These examples are all speculative and hypothetical, but they help demonstrate why Americans should care deeply about how the government intends to manage their private data.

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2025/04/american-panopticon/682616/

Trump Administration to Judges: ‘We Will Find You’ The attorney general’s message to the judiciary is clear.

https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2025/04/trump-administration-initimidates-judges/682620/

ETA: Its latest effort to bring the press to heel came on April 25, when news leaked of the Justice Department’s intention to aggressively pursue journalists who receive leaked information from confidential government sources.

The Guardian reports that Bondi “has revoked a Biden administration-era policy that restricted subpoenas of reporters’ phone records in criminal investigations

https://www.salon.com/2025/04/29/looking-to-trumps-next-100-days-doj-tees-up-process-for-jailing-journalists/

[away-ward]

I don't know if you've answered this query before, but I'd love to hear your opinion on one of the most controversial devil's night's characters... Damon Torrance.

He's a very divisive character in the fandom and for good reason. Yet, Damon arguably has the highest importance in the series due to how he is both an instigator of many key events, and he is also the character connecting a lot of relationships links and plot threads together.

In particular, I think Damon's relationships with both Will and Banks are fascinating to think about. Two people that he did dirty in the series (Will in Corrupt, Banks all through hideaway), yet he also claimed to love both to the point of insanity. It's an interesting paradox, yet for Damon character, it does make perfect sense that love and suffering are entwined for a good while.

Heyy! Adri, how are you? hope you're good.

I have talked some about Damon, certainly received and responded to plenty of rants about him, but don’t remember if I’ve ever had a question specifically about him like this.

If you are ever curious, I am usually pretty good with my tags, so you could search ‘#damon torrance’ but that might not bring up everything. And it's probably not as fun as my #will grayson iii tag, but what can you do? (most of the good stuff is in the tags)

Anyway. I probably don’t understand Damon very well. I’d like to think I do, but the truth his way of thinking is sort of an anomaly to me. Which is probably for the best.

He gets a lot of hype for being so dark and mysterious. But I wasn’t impressed with him? He just seemed to me to be the king of sad and mean, and a lot of his darkness felt like posturing. This isn’t to discredit what he went through, but… I just didn’t get the vibe that "dark" is who he really is. I think he was just hurt, and once that pain had been addressed, he seemed okay? He's not normal by any means, but then none of the these characters are, and I think that's the point.

However, much like everything with DN, I like the concept of Damon more than the execution. He is the driving force behind the serious, and most of the time, the group is either reacting to actions Damon took, or ones he might take. It seems that he’s the foundation of the group, and everything goes through him or is linked by him. On the one hand, I think this is great. I love the idea that these characters are so intrinsically connected. But I hate that Damon seems to be the only character this exists for. I hate that it seems like he’s the glue, without which this group would eventually fall apart. A true found/chosen family feels different. Each character is a piece of the puzzle, which together creates the final image.

I also think his relationships with Will and Banks are the most compelling for his story arc. Likewise, Banks and Will being the two he did the worst to is so interesting, because it’s an insane concept to wrap your head around. He was so focused on “saving” them, that he caused them seemingly irreversible pain and suffering. His claws were dug in so deep; he wasn’t just drawing blood, he was tearing them apart. There was a part of him that would rather see Banks and Will dead than alive and happy without him. He needed them to need him, because without them… there was nothing good left.

And speaking of goodness, in a weird way, he was “saving” them by trying to keep them innocent, away from anything dark and painful, almost to their own detriment. It’s like he wanted to take anything good left in him and pour it into them, to keep it safe.

What I wished for Damon, if he had to be in this role (and as we’ve spoken about before), was that he was a true guardian of the group. Always watching, always suspecting, always ready. I’ve also written about his relationship with Emory, and how I think those two should be the ones who know when things just need to get done and do it. No debating, no questioning about the method or the “right time.” Just quietly handle whatever problem comes up. I really do see him as somewhat of an enforcer. I remember in Corrupt, when Michael was talking about Damon’s playing style:

“He rarely thought about anything he did, and if someone put a wall in his way – justified or not – he came in swinging without hesitation or regret. This had been a useful quality on our high school basketball team. His reputation spread, and just the sight of him by the opposite team had them pissing themselves.”

This version of Damon is my favorite Damon. I understand he had to grow up. He needed to start thinking seriously about things. But a Damon that had this sort of backbone that also planned his moves? That’s dangerous. He just didn’t seem to have any of this drive or seriousness in Nightfall, which was a bit of a let-down.

I also have a post discussing the Damon and Christiane issue (which basically says Rika’s right, but she needs to mind her own business anyway). I used to think Damon was just being stubborn because PD needed him to be so he and Rika can fight, but after thinking about it, he has every right not to want his children around Christiane.

Overall, I think what this serious is desperately missing is an understanding of out each character interacts and relates to each other character. We have the most understanding with Damon. And yet, after Corrupt and then Damon’s redemption, I’m still unclear how he and Michael interact. Michael’s the leader, but is Damon really a follower? Is he happy to let Michael lead now that he’s gotten everything he wanted, or is it like “I let him lead because I can’t be bothered.” I don’t know. Strangely, I think we would understand Damon better if we also had better insight to the other characters.

Let's see, some more fun facts...

I've previously stated that instead of weird group sex to be the "initiation" into their "gang", everyone should get the chance to stab Damon and if they can do it, they're in. I stand by that.

When I hear NF, I think of Damon most of the time. Occasionally, it's Will.

I headcanon that weddings are weird in Thunder Bay because when their old schoolmates invite the town locals to their wedding, local business owner Damon Torrance shows up with his (2) two previously unknown sisters, conveniently married to his best friends, and his (1) one and only business partner that's married to his other best friend. That first year, nobody focused on the brides and it ruined everything.

I also headcanon that Damon wasn't supposed to be in the literature class with Will and Emory in NF. He was supposed to be in whatever class he had with the lit teacher from the beginning of KS, but he wanted to be with his friends and none of the staff had the energy to stop him.

I think Damon being good with kids actually fits his character really well, and I like that it was included (dude, he threw out his entire build and started over when he learned the kid like pirates just because. This is a man who cherishes children, no matter how gruff he is about it.). I wish it had been made clear that this is a unique trait for him, but it seems that the whole group just magically knows how to parent or has kids perfectly suited to their style of parenting.

I would have liked to know that he and Banks develop a healthy, separate relationship as they grow up, but still remain close enough to understand each other without much conversation. They naturally grow apart as their lives turn towards their families, but they can still keep their root systems.

I don't have anymore at the moment. And I hope this answered your questions... I'm not quite sure. But I'm also up to discuss certain points! Thanks for stopping in!

-ko

[earnunity]

💸 Start Earning with EarnUnity – India's Smartest Task-Based Earning Platform!

In today’s fast-paced world, finding a trustworthy way to earn from home is a blessing. That’s exactly what EarnUnity brings to you – a smart, simple, and secure platform where you can invest once and earn every month, all while referring friends and building your passive income stream.

🚀 What is EarnUnity?

EarnUnity, powered by Monexo Enterprises, is India’s most trusted task-based earning platform. Whether you're a student, working professional, homemaker, or someone looking to build side income — EarnUnity has a place for you.

By completing simple tasks, referring others, and choosing an income plan that suits you, you can start earning monthly returns right away!

🧠 Why Choose EarnUnity?

✅ One-time Investment, Long-Term Earnings ✅ Passive Income from Referrals ✅ No technical skills required ✅ 100% Transparent and Trusted by Thousands ✅ Fast payouts, strong support team

🌟 Real People, Real Earnings!

"EarnUnity changed how I look at money. I invested just ₹1,000 and made ₹1,500 in return with zero stress." – Anjali Mehra, Homemaker, Delhi

"The referral income helped me build a small team. Now I make money while focusing on my studies." – Ravi Sharma, Student, Lucknow

💼 Ready to Start?

Whether you're looking for a side hustle, a work-from-home option, or just want to grow your network and income — EarnUnity is your one-stop solution.

📥 Join now and start earning today! Visit 👉 EarnUnity.in

📞 For support or queries, contact us: +91- 72909 19112 📧 earnunityindia@gmail.com 📍 Patancheru Mandal, 6-99, DN COLONY, Patancheru Mandal, Muthangi, Hyderabad, Sangareddy, Telangana, 502300

[daveio]

Latest Trump administration nonsense

It seems reproductiverights.gov is down and I'm hearing it's intentional rather than a technical issue. Wow.

It's not returning DNS. NOERROR and empty ANSWER rather than NXDOMAIN, but all of .gov seems to do that for records which don't exist. Also points toward intentional shutdown.

╰─❯ dig reproductiverights.gov A ; <<>> DiG 9.10.6 <<>> reproductiverights.gov A ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 36073 ;; flags: qr rd ra ad; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 1, ADDITIONAL: 1 ;; OPT PSEUDOSECTION: ; EDNS: version: 0, flags:; udp: 1232 ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;reproductiverights.gov. IN A ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: gov. 297 IN SOA a.ns.gov. dns.cloudflare.com. 1737549305 3600 900 604800 300 ;; Query time: 14 msec ;; SERVER: 100.100.100.100#53(100.100.100.100) ;; WHEN: Wed Jan 22 12:39:14 GMT 2025 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 110

Same results for AAAA and CNAME.

I've created a mirror of the site. Check out details here.

[cyber-sec]

Android bug leaks DNS queries even when VPN kill switch is enabled

Source: https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/security/android-bug-leaks-dns-queries-even-when-vpn-kill-switch-is-enabled/

More info: https://mullvad.net/en/blog/dns-traffic-can-leak-outside-the-vpn-tunnel-on-android

[sqlinjection]

LDAP testing & defense

LDAP Injection is an attack used to exploit web based applications that construct LDAP statements based on user input. When an application fails to properly sanitize user input, it's possible to modify LDAP statements through techniques similar to SQL Injection. 

LDAP injection attacks are common due to two factors:

The lack of safer, parameterized LDAP query interfaces

The widespread use of LDAP to authenticate users to systems.

How to test for the issue

During code review

Please check for any queries to the LDAP escape special characters, see here.

Automated Exploitation

Scanner module of tool like OWASP ZAP have module to detect LDAP injection issue.

Remediation

Escape all variables using the right LDAP encoding function

The main way LDAP stores names is based on DN (distinguished name). You can think of this like a unique identifier. These are sometimes used to access resources, like a username.

A DN might look like this

cn=Richard Feynman, ou=Physics Department, dc=Caltech, dc=edu

or

uid=inewton, ou=Mathematics Department, dc=Cambridge, dc=com

There are certain characters that are considered special characters in a DN. The exhaustive list is the following: \ # + < > , ; " = and leading or trailing spaces

Each DN points to exactly 1 entry, which can be thought of sort of like a row in a RDBMS. For each entry, there will be 1 or more attributes which are analogous to RDBMS columns. If you are interested in searching through LDAP for users will certain attributes, you may do so with search filters. In a search filter, you can use standard boolean logic to get a list of users matching an arbitrary constraint. Search filters are written in Polish notation AKA prefix notation.

Example:

(&(ou=Physics)(| (manager=cn=Freeman Dyson,ou=Physics,dc=Caltech,dc=edu) (manager=cn=Albert Einstein,ou=Physics,dc=Princeton,dc=edu) ))

When building LDAP queries in application code, you MUST escape any untrusted data that is added to any LDAP query. There are two forms of LDAP escaping. Encoding for LDAP Search and Encoding for LDAP DN (distinguished name). The proper escaping depends on whether you are sanitising input for a search filter, or you are using a DN as a username-like credential for accessing some resource.

Safe Java for LDAP escaping Example:

public String escapeDN (String name) {

//From RFC 2253 and the / character for JNDI

final char[] META_CHARS = {'+', '"', '<', '>', ';', '/'};

String escapedStr = new String(name);

//Backslash is both a Java and an LDAP escape character,

//so escape it first escapedStr = escapedStr.replaceAll("\\\\\\\\","\\\\\\\\");

//Positional characters - see RFC 2253

escapedStr = escapedStr.replaceAll("\^#","\\\\\\\\#");

escapedStr = escapedStr.replaceAll("\^ | $","\\\\\\\\ ");

for (int i=0 ; i < META_CHARS.length ; i++) {

escapedStr = escapedStr.replaceAll("\\\\" + META_CHARS[i],"\\\\\\\\" + META_CHARS[i]);

}

return escapedStr;

}

[captain-acab]

Blockda 5 doesn’t appear to exist for iPhones. Any advice?

Use NextDNS. Per the app's description, you also need to create a (free) online account, set up adblocking on it, then connect that to your app:

You can set your configuration ID from your NextDNS account in the Settings to bring your blocking policy to your phone and get Analytics and Logs about your traffic.

If you do not have a NextDNS account yet, you can create one for free at https://nextdns.io.

I may have made other posts about it as well, search my blog for "iphone"

[hackernewsrobot]

Malaysia started mandating ISPs to redirect DNS queries to local servers

https://thesun.my/local-news/mcmc-addresses-misinformation-on-dns-redirection-internet-access-restrictions-BN12972452