Two-factor authentication or 2FA is a way of making your logins more secure, by not only requiring a username and password when signing in, but also a special extra code that can either be received as an SMS or else generated by an app or device.

Most of you will already have used 2FA, perhaps without knowing so, when you log in to your internet banking. Most banks give out a 2FA device or card which stores some codes you are required to enter when logging in. This ensures that if someone guesses or cracks your password, they still won’t be able to login unless they are also successful in robbing your physical 2FA device.

I would use 2FA whenever it is possible, but I especially highly suggest using it on websites that contain sensitive information that can be used by a hacker to damage you or steal assets.

Here are a few popular sites to use 2FA on:

• • Social media (Instagram, Facebook, Twitter etc)
  • Crypto exchanges (Binance etc)
  • Amazon and other e-commerce sites that you use frequently.
  • Dropbox and similar platforms storing your files.
  • Email accounts (Gmail etc)

For a bigger list check out this site.

How to do 2FA

SMS is one of the most popular but least secure ways of doing 2FA, as sim swap attacks have become popular in recent years. It is highly encouraged to use an app or hardware device for 2FA when possible.

I like the Google Authenticator app and have used it for 2FA purposes. Another popular app is Authy, and it’s probably a better app than Google Authenticator in many ways, including the ability to use it on a desktop as well as being able to set it up on multiple devices.

There are also hardware devices that can be used for 2FA. Probably the most popular one is the Yubikey, while other competitors are Google Titan and Nitrokey.

If you are using the 1Password software, an even easier way to do 2FA is to replace Google Authenticator/Authy/Yubikey with 1Password itself. It has the ability to generate one-time passwords for 2FA purposes. If you wish, you can use both apps at the same time and see which one you like best, they will generate the same number so they are interchangeable.

Now it must be mentioned that using 1Password is less secure than using a hardware device or even an app like Authy or Google Authenticator. The reason is that if someone gets into possession of one of your devices and manages to enter your 1Password vaults using your main password (by guessing or other means of social hacking), they will not only have access to your usernames and passwords, but also to the 2FA codes. Then again, if you’re using a device for 2FA but you’re storing the backup words on 1Password, as many undoubtedly do, you will still run into this attack vector.

Here’s a website that serves as a guide to setting up 2FA on the most popular platforms and websites.

If you want to watch your favourite soccer, tennis or other sports matches online for free, here’s what you need.

Note that this guide is based on having a Mac, but Windows users can use the same or a similar setup.

Software Needed

• Sopcast
• Soda Player / Acelink

With those two installed, you can go to Livetv.sx or Highlights365 and find the match you want to watch. You will find a few links, some of them for Sopcast and others for Acestream. The Acestream links are generally better. If you’re on Windows you can install the Acestream software and links will automatically open in that program.

If you’re on Mac, on the other hand, you need to copy the link from Livetv.sx and paste it into Soda Player. Soda Player can read Acestream links just fine, you only need to do this extra step of copy-pasting the link. If Soda Player doesn’t work or you have issues with it, you can use the Acelink software which requires Docker and VLC to be installed. It will open VLC and play the stream there.

If Soda Player or Acelink fail to open any streams, it is likely that your ISP is blocking P2P traffic. Install a VPN (I use and recommend NordVPN) and select a P2P and you’ll be on your way. If the sites themselves don’t load, you’r also likely being blocked by your ISP, so just use a VPN.

Sopcast is unfortunately not compatible with Mac OS Catalina, so that option is temporarily unavailable to Mac users.

If Livetv.sx is not available for any reason, you can try MyP2p.tv. Other good options to find URLs for live football streams are the Soccer Streams website (loads a bunch of ads, beware) and Ronaldo7. Yet another option is to join the Discord channel Papa HD Live.

You can also use the Acestream search website to find tv channels that are streaming on Acestream. You will need Live Soccer TV to check which channel your favorite match is being broadcast on.

Enjoy free live online sports!

 

A while back I wrote a guide to backing up one’s important digital assets. In that post, I mentioned that I decided to go for Synology instead of the Drobo, specifically the Synology DiskStation DS916+.

Apart from the negative comments on the Drobo, I had also begun to understand the potential of NAS technology in a deeper way. I realized that I would want to do more things with my NAS box than the Drobo would allow. The Drobo is not really powerful enough or doesn’t have a good enough operating system for doing things like media encoding or handling a home surveillance system.

Some readers might also be familiar with the QNAP brand. They are also highly recommended, but most prosumer users tended to prefer Synology. I’ve also read comments saying that the Synology OS is better and more user-friendly. This might be more important to you depending on what you want to do with your NAS. For example Synology have very good functionality for creating a video surveillance system.

Synology also seems to release more frequent updates to their NAS products. Synology are generally regarded as the most popular NAS choice for Mac users.

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