Author: Tom's IT Cafe

A shadow in the digital world, bringing bold operational security strategies to those who value anonymity. I talk about security, but I never leave a trace.

GPG Basics: Simple, Safe Encryption for Everyday IT Work

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When you hear the word encryption, it often sounds like something only security researchers and intelligence agencies deal with. But in reality, every IT professional – even small teams, freelancers, or home users – should understand the basics of protecting sensitive files.

GnuPG (or GPG) is one of the most trusted tools for this. It’s free, open-source, built into every Linux distribution, and works perfectly for encrypting files, verifying downloads, or signing work-related documents.

This guide walks you through a clean, beginner-friendly setup – no advanced OPSEC, no air-gapped machines, no master-key rituals. Just the essentials that anyone at home or at work can start using today.

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Solo Development Doesn’t Need Corporate Git Workflows

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Git is a powerful tool, but solo developers often inherit processes designed for large teams.
Corporate branching strategies solve coordination problems that an individual simply doesn’t have.
When you’re the only developer in the room, heavy processes become friction.
You don’t need gates, ceremonies, or complex merging rules to work effectively.

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Local LLMs for Privacy‑First Workflows A Practical Guide with LMStudio

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Why run a language model on your own machine?

  1. Data stays local – No text leaves your computer, so sensitive information can’t be sent to the cloud.
  2. No API limits or costs – Once you have the model file, you’re not paying per request.
  3. Instant response time – The round‑trip latency of an internet call disappears; the model replies in milliseconds.

If you’re a developer, system admin, or just someone who values privacy, these benefits make local LLMs worth a look.

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Understanding Linux Permissions: The “chmod” Cheat Sheet You’ll Never Forget

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When you first see a file in Linux, the three-letter string that starts with -rw-r--r-- can look like an alien language.
It tells the system who can read, write, or execute that file. Don’t worry – it’s just a set of rules.
In this post we’ll break those rules down into bite-sized pieces and give you a handy cheat sheet for the most common chmod commands.

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Firewall Basics with UFW: Protecting Your Server in Minutes

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What is a firewall?

A firewall sits between your server and the outside world. It decides which network traffic is allowed to reach your machine and which should be dropped. Think of it as a bouncer at a club: only people on the guest list get in.

UFW, short for Uncomplicated Firewall, is Ubuntu’s front‑end to iptables. It lets you write rules with simple commands instead of juggling raw tables.

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System Administration – grep, cut, head, tail, less, sed

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Every system admin has a moment when a simple “look at that file” turns
into a three-hour hunt for information. That’s where the old friends
grep, head, tail, cut, less and sed come in. They’re not
fancy new tools; they’re tried-and-true helpers that can save you hours
of repetitive work.

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How to Run a WordPress Site on Both .onion and a Public Domain (Dark Net & Clear Net)

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Want your blog reachable by anyone – both Tor users and regular browsers – without running two separate installations?
The trick is one code-base, two reverse proxies, and a single database. Below is a quick 400-500 word guide for Ubuntu/Debian that shows the minimal steps.

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Private Matrix: Hosting a Synapse Server Over Tor (Modern Chat On The Dark Net)

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Tired of corporate servers watching every chat?
Host your own Matrix on Tor, no public IP, zero tracking.
By running Matrix over Tor, you eliminate exposure to public servers and keep your chats private.

This isn’t just another guide – it’s a battle‑tested recipe for keeping your Matrix chats private on Tor.

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Systemd by Example: What Actually Happens When You Type systemctl restart nginx

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Understanding the Sequence

Systemd is the heartbeat of most modern Linux systems.
When you run:

sudo systemctl restart nginx

you trigger a full chain of actions – not a single binary reload.
Systemd reads unit definitions, resolves dependencies, checks targets, and updates logs.
Knowing what happens gives you clarity when a service misbehaves.

You don’t need to fight systemd. You just need to understand its rhythm.

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The Forgotten Basics: Why ps, grep, and awk Still Beat Fancy Tools

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The Forgotten Basics

Modern dashboards look impressive. Yet, when systems fail, we return to the shell.
The basics – ps, grep, awk, ip, nmcli, sed, uniq, sort – never left.

They are still the quickest path between question and answer.

This post is not nostalgia. It’s about precision, control, and speed.
The old tools survive because they do exactly what we ask.

The UNIX philosophy is still alive: one task – one tool.

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