#pagekite — Public Fediverse posts

For pagekite.net, I am currently experimenting with bootstrapping and configuring servers using shell scripts built/configured using a #jinja static site generator.

If this works well (so far, it does), it replaces #Ansible ...

Servers are assigned an unguessable URL, from which they download both initial bootstrapping, updates and config. The web server is 100% static.

A sweet touch: while developing, the files just live on my laptop and are downloaded over #pagekite. Because why not?

Another interesting #publicEndpoint option is #Pagekite:

https://pagekite.net/

They have a very cool business model, and seem very transparent. They have a litany of pricing options: monthly/annual plans, pay-what-you-want, and even exceptions to payment if you have a situation worthy.

I really like the cut of their jib! They feel like they belong on the #fediverse.

LOL. One of the asshats I have been blocking for #phishing abuse at #PageKite actually reached out:

> Hello Team,
>
> We’ve switched from “Ngrok” to
> “PageKite” because of the easy setup
> and the documentation. We’re a team
> to Security Researcher demonstrating
> a workshop on “Phishing to the public”
> and [...]"

Let me just stop you right there.

Hell. No.

Also, please kindly fuck right off.

I have quite a few asshats trying to use #pagekite for #phishing campaigns at the moment.

Playing whack-a-mole...

I wonder if I've been going about this all wrong. What if this liability is actually a resource?

Are there #infosec companies out there who would be interested in a live feed of brand-new suspicious websites they could examine for trends?

Although I guess you get that just by deploying enough e-mail honey-pots.

@HerraBRE, would this be something to be combined with (or integrated in) #pagekite?
If opted into (because it defeats one reason why one might use pagekite), the pagekite client could try to open a PCP port. It'd then use the pagekite service to set an SVCB record for clients that can connect directly to the off-default port, and advertise its tunneling service on the A/AAAA records.

@HerraBRE

#PageKite? I'm not clear what that is. A friend has me managing a server that lets us enjoy the game with our grandson. I'm all happy about learning new tools to use for collecting people with #Minecraft. :)

Daughter is crazy about #Minecraft.

We played together using the multiplayer feature yesterday and she was over the moon!

Once upon a time, #PageKite supported the Minecraft protocol, to make it easier for people to play with remote friends - but the protocol kept changing and I wasn't hearing much love from users for the feature. Eventually I stopped keeping up, it stopped working.

Last night I coded a fix. It might take me a while to get it deployed, but I feel good about this.

If #Microsoft is cloning #PageKite, 14 years later, does that mean I'm a leet innovator?

Of course I am. I already knew that!

But why ain't I rich yet?? (Don't answer that.)

https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/azure-developer-community-blog/announcing-the-public-preview-of-the-devtunnel-cli/ba-p/3823131

This is cool. The more people know reverse tunneling is a thing, the better, hey? Thanks, Microsoft?

It's another accounting and taxes day!

Therefore, I have sorted out some of my daughter's summer activities, chased my bank on some personal issues, had a nice long chat with my girlfriend, and helped a client with #pagekite integration.

Very productive! Just no progress on the taxes... yet. Need to elevate my stress levels just a wee bit more.

It has been a good, geeky work-week so far. Not much tootin' been busy.

I did some #devops twiddling for #pagekite. Yay SSL certs?

Made more progress on grant applications for #Mailpile.

Studied #Matter (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matter_(standard) ) a bit, within the context of #esp32 and #micropython development.

I also had multiple naps and stared out the window a lot going HMM.

Now it's time for another window gazing session, before I dive back into #moggie related #OpenPGP work...

@rysiek @nextcloud One of my many fantasies for #PageKite was to create a desktop tool that let you send people links and they could HTTPS upload directly to your desktop.

I even prototyped it, had it sort of working... and then totally failed to ship and promote.

(Downside: a bit slow. Upside: you could see progress real time in a desktop GUI.)

A long-time, trusted client asked me the other day why I prefer to publish my work as #FOSS. Why would I give it away? Aren't I worried people will just steal it and not give me credit?

I told him straight up that it was largely idealism.

But also - for #PageKite, it's a selling point. My company is so small and the bus factor so low, that most sensibly run businesses will hesitate to depend on me.

My code being open source provides a backup plan and an escape route. It's a form of insurance.

Hello world! An #introduction.

I'm Bjarni, an Icelandic coder who mainly writes Python programs and gives them away as open source. My focus is on autonomy and privacy online; mostly relating to email (#mailpile) and the web (#pagekite).

I'm fluent in security (#passcrow), but I'm more excited by creating neat tools and empowering people, than I am in exploits and encryption algos.

I plan to use this account to discuss my work & hopefully connect with folks working on related things. Say hi!

So... before I dive in here too much, I guess it's worth asking: Am I on the right instance? Pretty sure the answer is no.

After browsing https://instances.social/ ... I still feel kinda lost.

It seems instances don't really let you sample the local timeline without creating an account. Which is fair enough I guess, but still a speedbump.

I'm looking for folks to chat with about my work: Python, #email security (#mailpile, #pgp) and DIY/embedded hosting (#pagekite, #esp32), #decentralization.

@aktivismoEstasMiaLuo
What's the beat workaround for users who dont want to switch ISPs? Tunnelling like #Pagekite?