FreedomBox, a personal server that appears to be built to securely host all of your data and protects against data mining, surveillance, and cyberattacks.  This looks like a very interesting project and we are going to take a deeper look.  As we explore more about FreedomBox, we hope to provide updates as appropriate.

FreedomBox lays it out this way: “FreedomBox is designed to be your own inexpensive server at home. It runs free software and offers an increasing number of services ranging from a calendar or jabber server to a wiki or VPN. Our web interface allows you to easily install and configure your apps. Be your own host!”

FreedomBox

• free open source software coupled with a single board computer, virtual machines, Debian…)
  
• is a collaborative effort 
• to help regain control and privacy in the digital world
  
• the vision is to use free software running on cheap hardware to replace services that are not under our control
• today’s cost of CPU power and network bandwidth make hosting your own services affordable
• built on top of Debian GNU/Linux
• the easy to use administration tool
• is a simple system that installs onto your single-board computer
  • plug it into your home network
  • A web interface acts as the central hub
    • offering one-click installs and simple configuration of apps and services
    • it functions as a Wi-Fi access point
      • FreedomBox also comes with numerous apps and services built-in
        • an anonymity network (e.g., believe this is the Tor network)
          
        • encrypted messaging
        • voice calls
        • a privacy-defending VPN
        • an ad-blocker
        • an address book
        • calendering
        • a blogging platform
        • decentralized application for chat

As a private server, FreedomBox securely hosts all of your data and protects against data mining, surveillance, and cyberattacks.

FreedomBox – some highlighted features

FreedomBox video setup

FreedomBox Debian and features, system and applications

We have not tried out the FreedomBox but we are going to give it a go.  Perhaps, it might be a complement to some other platforms of the decentralized world e.g, ethereum, ipfs, blockstack or others… Once we have a FreedomBox up and running, we will try and give some more insight about the same.

Caveat: Blockstack Tor integration – It does appear that Blockstack engineer, Mr. Jude Nelson, has done some coding in connection with integrating Tor and Blockstack.  Perhaps this software might be used in connection with FreedomBox (uses an anonymity network (e.g., believe this is the Tor network)).  The best links for these repositories are here and here.  We hope to follow-up with some more information on how this might work with the FreedomBox, if at all.

FreedomBox was brought to us by many open source contributors.  But, the seed for the idea is brought to us by Eben Moglen.  Mr. Moglen is a Professor of Law, Columbia Law School and Founding Director, Software Freedom Law Center.  He is a crusader of open source, privacy and security concerns for activists, journalists, businesses, and even ordinary people worldwide.  Thanks Mr. Moglen.

Resources for FreedomBox

• Freedom Box
• Debian and Freedom Box
  • FAQ
  • Features
  • Support

Please help us put out the word on Web^{3.0 TM} by posting a comment below and signing up for e-mail notifications for future updates (right side-bar).  We are not affiliated with any of the above. We hope this information is helpful.

Let’s help build the new internet | The Decentralized Way^TM.  A decentralized internet | The Way The Future^TM.  Web^{3.0 TM} makes the internet you use better! ^TM

Thanks again for visiting The Stack Cafe^TM and we look forward to hearing from you.

Thanks again, The Stack Cafe.

The post FreedomBox – the Personal Server that protects your privacy with free open source software appeared first on The Stack Cafe™.

At the Blockstack Signature Fund event held in Berlin in early March 2018, Blockstack brought together a community that included experts on data privacy, blockchain, information theory, cryptography, and the decentralized community at large to imagine, learn about, and create decentralized applications.  And, for those of you that were not able to attend the event, Blockstack has you covered.

As of this morning, Blockstack has uploaded the videos taken of all presentations and learning sessions that took place during the event.

Main Event Presentations

Event Timeline

• Morning Sessions
  • Web 3 and Decentralized Apps
  • The end of cloud computing
  • Interview with Melanie Shapiro and Ken Seiff
  • Hello Web 3! the polkadot protocol, blockchain, & the bigger picture
  • Crypto Politics: Beyond the Nation-State
  • How can decentralized technologies address centralized forms of power and control?
  • Investor Panel: Investing in a Decentralized Eco-System
  • Elizabeth Stark interview with Larry Salibra
  • Stable Coins Interview

• Early Afternoon Sessions
  • Dapp Demos
    • Intro to Blockstack Live App Demo’s
    • Misthos
    • DotPodcast
    • Symmitree
    • Health Here
    • Coins
    • Postly
    • Global Content Network
    • Graphite
    • Prism
    • Bellwethr

• Late Afternoon Sessions

Learning Sessions

• Blockstack Authentication & Identity

• Subdomains: Scalable User Registration

• Building a Blockstack App

• Gaia Storage: User Owned Data

• Managing Data in Gaia

• Approaching Infinity: Governance & The Case for Experimentation

• Resources for Building Apps on Blockstack

So without further ado, please go forth and watch, listen and learn not only about Blockstack, but how easy the Blockstack team has made it to use the Blockstack ecosystem (via the Blockstack browser) and how easy it is to build decentralized applications for use on the Blockstack internet (blockstack.js) via the Blockstack browser.

As the dApps shown above are taken from beta versions to live dApps that are available on the Blockstack ecosystem, we will try and provide a brief overview of each dApp as they inject updates, if applicable. What a great job to everyone involved in the Blockstack Berlin. Go Blockstack!

Blockstack’s Browser

Blockstack harnesses all of the power of the traditional internet and then adds the Blockstack Browser on top. The Blockstack Browser opens the window to a new internet, a decentralized internet that puts the power back in the hand of the users. To begin your journey into the new decentralized internet designed by Blockstack, you will need to install the Blockstack Browser. The Blockstack Browser is your window/portal into the new decentralized internet for decentralized applications (dApps).

Download the Blockstack Browser

For help on installing and using the Blockstack Browser, please visit this link Getting started with the Blockstack Browser.

For a more in depth look into the Blockstack Browser, please visit these links – Inside the Blockstack Browser and Blockstack Browser: It does that?

Now that you have the browser installed, visit the Blockstack Browser homepage and try out some of the active decentralized applications – e.g., investment portfolio management, messaging, word processing… More decentralized applications are being added as developed.

Resources re: Blockstack and dApps

• Blockstack
• @blockstack
  • @blockstackapps
• Developers
  • Introduction
    • Papers
    • Videos
    • Tutorials
      • (e.g., todo and multi-player storage)
    • Installation
    • Github
      • Javascript
      • Core API
• Blog
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Blockstack Meetups

Thanks again for visiting The Stack Cafe^TM and we look forward to hearing from you. Please help us put out the word on Web^3.0 by posting a comment below and signing up for e-mail notifications for future updates (right side-bar).

Let’s help build the new internet | The Decentralized Way.^TM A decentralized internet | The Way The Future.^TM Try out the new internet, The Blockstack Way.^TM Blockstack: The New Internet – It Makes The Internet You Use Better!^TM

The post Blockstack: The Berlin Event Presentation Videos are Here – Main Event and Learning Sessions appeared first on The Stack Cafe™.

“Blockstack Academy, is a series of educational videos featuring members of the Blockstack community and core contributors.  It includes helpful answers to questions about Blockstack, the history of the internet, distributed systems principles and pitfalls, and a vision for what can be built using systems like Blockstack.”

At this writing, it appears that there are over 50+ Blockstack Academy videos available on such subjects ranging from identity ownership and decentralization to developer related subjects such as encoded sub-domain entries to multi-player storage, and many others.  And, the videos are presented by not only the founders of Blockstack – Muneeb Ali and Ryan Shea, but some of the developers, software engineers and many others.  These educational videos are another great resource on all things blockstack (including dApp, dApps, decentralized application, decentralized applications and Web 3.0).

Blockstack Academy screenshot:

Some other helpful links for more information on Blockstack include:

Blockstack

Blockstack’s Forum

Other Blockstack Videos

Note: If you do not have the Blockstack browser, please see this link (note – to enable the full functionality of any dApp built for the Blockstack ecosystem (e.g., building a new internet, a decentralized internet, re-decentralizing the internet) you need to use the Blockstack browser).

Thanks again for visiting The Stack Cafe^TM and we look forward to hearing from you. Please help us put out the word on Web^3.0 by posting a comment below and signing up for e-mail notifications for future updates (right side-bar). Let’s help build the new internet | The Decentralized Way^TM. A decentralized internet | The Way The Future^TM.

The post Blockstack: Educational Videos at Blockstack Academy appeared first on The Stack Cafe™.