Have an Old PC? Turn it into a Router/Firewall

A friend of mine recently gave ma an old Sony Vaio desktop he had sitting in a corner. It had Windows ME and 64MB RAM (it would have had 128 but one stick was corrupt) and a little over 1 GB for the HD.

I like to download copyrighted material like everyone else; it's not legal but we all do it, kind of like rolling through a stop light when turning right, it's expected. Having a router "in house" does two things. It will hide your computers that you use on the web (your IP for your PC will be invisible) and it also give you a heightened level of security by putting a gate between your PC(s) and the 'Net.

This article isn't going to give you the down and dirty to do it. There are too many technical things for me to describe here. I want to however give you the links I have found helpful so you can try it on your own.

If you have an old PC you aren't using and it's too slow or has low memory, that's OK. A router/server/firewall machine doesn't need all the bells and whistles of a full fledged PC that you use daily. It is only moving packets of information around. You don't even need a monitor or keyboard hooked up to it once you have it in place (except of course to maintain it occasionally).

You can have as little as 60 MB RAM and less than 4-6GB on the HD.

Here are the links to get you started:

Using OpenBSD As A Firewall/Gateway for Home DSL or Cable

Set Up a Linux Firewall on Your Network | Webmonkey | Wired.com 

http://www.techradar.com/us/news/networking/how-to-build-your-own-router-915419

http://www.instructables.com/id/Turn-an-old-Computer-into-a-web-server/

Downloads | Coyote Linux 

Realize that this is not for you if you are not confortable with command line entries and fooling around "under the hood" of a PC, but if it's an old PC, why care? It's for the learning as well as the security!

Have fun!






 

Use Magnet Links When "Torrenting"

Magnet Link VS .Torrent Files

A .Torrent is a small file that has info about the actual bigger file (i.e. a movie, a CD, etc.) you want. The file tells your download program all kinds of techy stuff and also calculates a hash code, unique to that CD or film you want to download--think of a bar code. With that code it finds other people uploading those files, so you can download from them all at one time.

A magnet link is a hyperlink containing the hash code for that torrent, so your program uses it right away to start finding those shared files. Simple.

Using a Magnet Link

Go to Pirate Bay (or other torrent site) and click on the magnet link. Your browser should automatically open up your default BitTorrent client and start downloading. It's that easy.

WARNING! ABOUT TORRENTS!

Many people (including me until recently) thought that just having a Firewall protected you when downloading torrents. It does, but your ISP will still be seen by others who are hired by media companies to monitor the swarms (i.e. you and others after a popular file). They contact your ISP then your ISP sends you a letter (that's how I found out!) to cease and disist or risk losing your connection or even worse--getting sued! To prevent this you need a program that essentially hides your IP.

You can find more info about that HERE. IMHO I think everyone needs to heed this because the letter I got scared me!.

FREE EMAIL with your NAME in the Suffix

Wow! I only just discovered this, so if you know about it, you'll understand my excitement. It's a free email service that has over 2,000 "domains" so you can personalize it. Look at examples below that I randomly picked:

from names mail2Anthony.com

mail2Graham.com
mail2Sean.com
mail2Warren.com

from professions
mail2Artist.com
mail2Fireman.com
mail2Mechanic.com

from places
mail2California.com
mail2Zurich.com

I think you get the picture. So you can create an email that is very personal. It has lots of free extras, but if you really want to pay, for about $20 USD/year you get other services.

Go check them out HERE and start creating your unique email address today!