Clarified Butter (Ghee) - Топлёное масло

Clarified butter and, the closely related, ghee are simply butter that has been cooked to remove any water and solids. Turning butter to clarified butter also gives the fat a higher smoke point (which means you can cook with it a high temperatures) and lengthens the shelf life of the resulting fat.

Clarified Butter
Melt a pound of unsalted butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat and slowly cook until the bubbling ceases and the liquid turns clear, 30 to 40 minutes. Strain and cool, being sure to leave any solids in the bottom of the pan. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Ghee
Melt a pound of unsalted butter in a heavy saucepan over low heat. As soon as it liquefies, turn the heat up to medium. When it finishes foaming, turn up the heat a little bit more and wait for it to foam a second time. Ghee is done when a second foam forms on top of butter, and the butter turns golden, approximately 7 to 8 minutes. Brown milk solids will be in bottom of pan. Gently pour into heatproof container through fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth. Store in an airtight container, being sure to keep free from moisture. Ghee does not need refrigeration and will keep well in an airtight container.

How to Make Clarified Butter Video

Ghee has a much higher smoke point than non-clarified butter, so you can cook it a high temps or mix it with lower-smoke point oils such as olive oil. To be technical, the smoke-point of ghee is 250 °C (482 °F), which is well above typical cooking temperatures of around 200 °C (392 °F) and above that of most vegetable oils. So it makes an excellent cooking oil.

Ghee has a shelf life of about six months when stored at room temperature. If kept in a cool area and clean of any food bits or other adulterations, it has been reported to last almost indefinitely. Some sources claim their canned ghee has kept for up to ten years.  Use your own judgment and of course refrain from eating anything that appears, smells, or tastes off.

Trusted End Node Security - Encryption Wizard

Encryption Wizard (EW) https://www.spi.dod.mil/ewizard.htm is simple, strong, Java-based file and folder encryption software, developed by the American military, for protection of sensitive information. EW encrypts all file types for data-in-transit protection, and supplements data-at-rest protection. Without requiring a formal installation or elevated privileges, EW runs on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, Solaris, and many other operating systems. Behind its simple drag-and-drop interface, EW offers 128- or 256-bit AES encryption, several secure hashing algorithms, searchable metadata, encrypted archives with compression, secure file deletion (often called "scrubbing" or "shredding"), and PKI/CAC/PIV support. 

EW Public Edition may be downloaded and used by anybody at no charge. It uses the cryptography support already present in Java. It contains all the important features of EW and serves as a good introduction to the software. (EW Government Edition is FIPS 140-2 validated. It uses a third-party cryptography module licensed for use by Federal employees and contractors only.) The two editions (Public and Govt) are interoperable.

EW Public Edition doesn't provide its own implementation of AES, it just uses whatever is supplied by your Java Runtime Environment. The AES algorithms and their underlying Rijndael ciphers are well known, publicly available, and extensively analyzed. No feasible attacks against AES have yet been demonstrated.

Is there a backdoor in EW? The software authors say no, explaining that a backdoor to a system needs a key. If the key to a backdoor were to get out (whether by accident, malfeasance, or disgruntled employees is irrelevant), then whatever is protected by that system becomes vulnerable. Given that the primary use of Encryption Wizard is to protect sensitive information relevant to the US DoD, inserting a master backdoor would be dangerously risky and profoundly shortsighted.

Can the TENS Encryption Wizard be trusted? Yes probably, as much as any encryption software can be trusted. It provides strong encryption that is more than sufficient for most personal or business use.

Survival Training Videos (on YouTube)

Alone In The Canadian Wilderness (Survival Lilly)
https://youtu.be/WASK7oF9dog


SHTF Bug Out Bag (Survival Lilly)
https://youtu.be/UjoogtASNRM


Planting A Survival Cache - Bug Out Survival (Survival Lilly)
https://youtu.be/gy_el36iOIM


A-Z of Bushcraft - Survival and Wilderness Skills
https://youtu.be/nBJOg-uKE6c


The More You Know, The Less You Carry (Mors Kochanski)
https://youtu.be/XxIUI401zuU


SAS Survival (Lofty Wiseman)
https://youtu.be/iNdXy1JwsHc


SAS Survival Guide Escape and Evasion Part 1
https://youtu.be/DRdFeLSLaus

SAS Survival Guide Escape and Evasion Part 2
https://youtu.be/d5H_sDsonYk


Survival Basics Part 1 (Pathfinder School)
https://youtu.be/B1KnQp7D8sw

Survival Basics Part 2 (Pathfinder School)
https://youtu.be/VaLYfXiTfFI

Survival Basics Part 3 (Pathfinder School)
https://youtu.be/hbpkW28swT8

Survival Basics Part 4 (Pathfinder School)
https://youtu.be/oTHiRXQwH7k

Survival Basics Part 5 (Pathfinder School)
https://youtu.be/t84xGjdGPYg


Wilderness Survival - Part 1 (Ron Hood)
https://youtu.be/yOpLVQJWXR0

Wilderness Survival - Part 2 (Ron Hood)
https://youtu.be/Nw2iagS5ymQ

OpenPuff Steganography & Watermarking Tool

The word "steganography" comes from the Greek words steganos, meaning hidden or covered, and graphia, meaning to write.  Thus, steganography refers to hidden writing or to methods for concealing messages.  The advantage of steganography is that it allows sensitive information to be hidden in mundane and innocuous carrier files.  Steganography is not new.  It has been used at least since the time of ancient Greece.  Today with modern computers and the rapid exchange of information across the Internet, steganography allows information to be shared with individuals in areas and in situations where their communications are monitored and their freedom of expression and association is repressed.  This paper discusses the OpenPuff - Steganography & Watermarking Tool.

One of the most popular steganography programs is the OpenPuff Steganography & Watermarking Tool. OpenPuff is freeware and provides the user with the ability to encrypt and hide data in audio (wav), image (bmp, jpg, png), and stream (Mp3, Mp4, Vob) carrier files, as well as in pdf files and a few other file types as well.  OpenPuff focuses on the security of your hidden information, and is highly recommended for anyone who needs to exchange information securely and covertly.

OpenPuff safeguards hidden information by encrypting the data and protecting it with up to three different passwords.  At least one password of eight characters is required to hide data with OpenPuff.  Additional passwords increase the security of the hidden data.  Hidden data can also be split across multiple carrier files, allowing large amounts of sensitive information to be concealed.  OpenPuff further protects hidden information by adding a large amount of random data (noise) to the information before it is encrypted and hidden.

A special feature of OpenPuff is ‘Deniable Steganography’ which allows two separate sets of data to be concealed in a carrier file.  This allows someone to hide both sensitive information and decoy information.  If forced to disclose the passwords protecting the hidden data, a user can give up the decoy passwords, revealing non-incriminating information, while sensitive information still remains hidden and protected by a separate set of secret passwords.

OpenPuff also allows one to insert a hidden string of up to 32 characters into a carrier file.  This is a type of digital watermark.  This digital watermark can be revealed, without the need for a password, using the CheckMark function in OpenPuff.  This digital watermarking function can be used to identify and track files posted to public forms or shared with selected groups of people.

OpenPuff is fairly easy to use, but there is a little bit of a learning curve for people unfamiliar with the software.  For example, because OpenPuff saves a carrier file (with hidden data) as the same name as the file used to create that carrier file, these files must be saved to separate locations / folders.  Trying to create a carrier file from a photo on your desktop and then save the photo with hidden data back to the desktop generates an error but does not identify what caused the error.  The error message just states: "Couldn’t create target: [Filename]."  Other errors can be generated when a user tries to hide too much data in a small carrier file, or when OpenPuff password strength requirements are not met when hiding data in a carrier file.  In general, however, with several minutes of practice any person with basic computer skills will be able to easily use OpenPuff to conceal sensitive information.

Using Steganography

A primary purpose of steganography is to hide sensitive information from censors, abusive regimes, spies, and thieves.  Information that appears to be mundane, innocuous, and perhaps even a little bit boring will attract little attention.  Information that is encrypted, using PGP for example, may not be able to be decrypted and read by an adversary, but the use of encryption may cause an adversary to believe that the message contains sensitive or illicit information, whether it does or not.  In some places the use of strong encryption may be restricted or prohibited.  Steganography allows encrypted information to be hidden from prying eyes.

When using steganography to transmit information there should be a plausible reason for sending a file to someone in the first place.  Just sending attached photos or files without any associated comments or context can appear suspicious.  Instead of sending a file to someone directly, an innocuous photo might be posted to a web-page or on-line forum.  Anyone that wanted to do so could copy the photo, but only someone with OpenPuff and knowledge of the correct passwords could recover any hidden information that the photo might contain.

It should be noted that because of the way some social media sites, like Facebook, process posted photos, information hidden using OpenPuff, and other steganography programs, may be corrupted or destroyed in photos uploaded to these sites.  If using a social media site to exchange information using steganography it is important to conduct tests to ensure that data integrity is maintain in uploaded files.
 
Steganography works well to hide small amounts of sensitive data in otherwise innocuous information.  The greatest limitation of steganography is that carrier files must be significantly larger than the data being hidden.  You can’t hide the text of a large book in a small image file.  Large amounts of data are best hidden in audio (wav) or stream files (Mp4), and OpenPuff does this quite well.  With OpenPuff you can also split large amount of data over multiple carrier files.

As with all security tools, it is important to practice using OpenPuff to become proficient, and to be able to take full advantage of the capabilities of the software.  OpenPuff is an important tool for security researchers and for anyone who needs to share sensitive information.

OpenPuff is certainly not the only steganography tool available.  There are several other steganography tools available (some of which are quite good), but in the opinion of the author OpenPuff is the best steganography tool currently available.  OpenPuff’s ability to encrypt data, conceal that data in several different types of carrier files, split data over multiple carrier files, and provide for the hiding of decoy data to help guard against coercion - forcing someone to disclose passwords used to protect hidden information - makes OpenPuff must have security software.
 
Visit the OpenPuff Steganography & Watermarking Tool web-site

Watch Keith Barker's instructional video on using OpenPuff

TOR - The Onion Router

TOR is free software for enabling anonymous communication. TOR enables its users to surf the Internet, chat and send instant messages anonymously, and is used by a wide variety of people for both licit and illicit purposes. The name is derived from an acronym for the original software project name "The Onion Router".

TOR software protects you by bouncing your communications around a distributed network of relays run by volunteers all around the world: it prevents somebody watching your Internet connection from learning what sites you visit, it prevents the sites you visit from learning your physical location, and it lets you access sites which are blocked.

TOR won't encrypt your data - for that, you'll need a Virtual Private Network (VPN). Instead, TOR routes your Internet traffic through a series of intermediary nodes. This makes it very difficult for government snoops or aggressive advertisers to track you online. Using TOR affords far more privacy than other browsers' private (or Incognito) modes, since it obscures your IP address so that you can't be tracked with it.

TOR does not prevent an online service from determining when it is being accessed though TOR. TOR protects a user's privacy, but does not hide the fact that TOR is being used.

You can access the TOR web-site at https://www.torproject.org/ and download the latest version of TOR for your particular operating system. I strongly recommend that you download and use a copy of the TOR browser to help protect your on-line privacy. If you have the computer resources and a bit of technical skill, run a TOR node. If you don't have the technical savvy to personally run a TOR node, you can still help expand the TOR network by encouraging your public library or local college to run a TOR node on their network.

As you will see as you begin to use TOR and learn more about the TOR network, the system is not perfect. While TOR greatly improves your on-line privacy, you must practice good cyber-security to make TOR work most efficiently. Think of TOR as just one more important tool in your cyber-security toolbox.

TOR Security Tips from the TOR Web-site:

 
Use the TOR Browser - Tor does not protect all of your computer's Internet traffic when you run it. Tor only protects your applications that are properly configured to send their Internet traffic through Tor. To avoid problems with Tor configuration, we strongly recommend you use the Tor Browser. It is pre-configured to protect your privacy and anonymity on the web as long as you're browsing with Tor Browser itself. Almost any other web browser configuration is likely to be unsafe to use with Tor.
 
Don't torrent over TOR - Torrent file-sharing applications have been observed to ignore proxy settings and make direct connections even when they are told to use Tor. Even if your torrent application connects only through Tor, you will often send out your real IP address in the tracker GET request, because that's how torrents work. Not only do you deanonymize your torrent traffic and your other simultaneous Tor web traffic this way, you also slow down the entire Tor network for everyone else.

Don't enable or install browser plugins - Tor Browser will block browser plugins such as Flash, RealPlayer, Quicktime, and others: they can be manipulated into revealing your IP address. Similarly, we do not recommend installing additional addons or plugins into Tor Browser, as these may bypass Tor or otherwise harm your anonymity and privacy.

Use HTTPS versions of websites - Tor will encrypt your traffic to and within the Tor network, but the encryption of your traffic to the final destination website depends upon on that website. To help ensure private encryption to websites, Tor Browser includes HTTPS Everywhere to force the use of HTTPS encryption with major websites that support it. However, you should still watch the browser URL bar to ensure that websites you provide sensitive information to display a blue or green URL bar button, include https:// in the URL, and display the proper expected name for the website. Also see EFF's interactive page explaining how Tor and HTTPS relate.
 
Don't open documents downloaded through TOR while online - Tor Browser will warn you before automatically opening documents that are handled by external applications. DO NOT IGNORE THIS WARNING. You should be very careful when downloading documents via Tor (especially DOC and PDF files, unless you use the PDF viewer that's built into Tor Browser) as these documents can contain Internet resources that will be downloaded outside of Tor by the application that opens them. This will reveal your non-Tor IP address. If you must work with DOC and/or PDF files, we strongly recommend either using a disconnected computer, downloading the free VirtualBox and using it with a virtual machine image with networking disabled, or using Tails. Under no circumstances is it safe to use BitTorrent and Tor together, however.
 
Use bridges and/or find company - Tor tries to prevent attackers from learning what destination websites you connect to. However, by default, it does not prevent somebody watching your Internet traffic from learning that you're using Tor. If this matters to you, you can reduce this risk by configuring Tor to use a Tor bridge relay rather than connecting directly to the public Tor network. Ultimately the best protection is a social approach: the more Tor users there are near you and the more diverse their interests, the less dangerous it will be that you are one of them. Convince other people to use Tor, too!

To learn more about TOR, see the official TOR website (https://www.torproject.org/), particularly the following pages:

• Tor overview: Why we need Tor
• Who uses Tor?
• Understanding and Using Tor - An Introduction for the Layman

Knots

Solar Ovens

Solar ovens (solar cookers) use the reflected and concentrated rays of the sun to cook food. In arears with clear, warm, and sunny days solar cookers are an excellent method of cooking food and purifying water.

Commercial solar ovens are available from a number of companies, such as the:

Solavore Sport Solar Oven - Portable Solar Cooking Package Complete with All Season Solar Reflectors, 2 Granite Ware Pots, Oven Thermometer, and Water Pasteurization Tool 

and the ...

Sunflair Portable Solar Oven Deluxe with Complete Cookware, Dehydrating Racks and Thermometer

Both of these solar ovens are excellent products, but tend to be a bit on the expensive side. You can build a solar oven yourself, for just a few rubles, that will be almost as effective as these commercial models. The WikiHow site has simple instructions on How to Make and Use a Solar Oven. There are even instructions on-line that show how to make a solar oven from a pizza box.

Dr. Mary Keith has published an excellent video on YouTube: "How to Make a Solar Cooker" that I recommend for anyone interested in making a solar oven. There are several other YouTube videos that demonstrate the construction and use of solar ovens. Watch a few of these videos to see various solar oven designs, but most importantly make a solar oven yourself as a practical fieldcraft and survival project.

The difference between cooking in a solar oven and cooking in a conventional oven or over an open flame is that solar ovens cook at a lower temperature over a longer period of time. Solar ovens work much like a ‘slow cooker’. The Solar Cooking Wikia offers guidelines for cooking with a solar oven.

To use a solar oven, you will need dark colored (i.e. black) cooking dishes. Darker colors absorb and hold heat better than lighter colors. The Granite Ware 4-Quart Bean Pot and the Granite Ware 3-Quart Covered Casserole Dish are both good choices for use in a solar oven. You should avoid using shiny pots and pans as they reflect the solar rays and thus retain less heat in the solar oven.

An important use of your solar oven is to use it to make water safe to drink by pasteurization. Contrary to common belief, biologically-contaminated water does not need to be boiled to make it safe to drink; it only needs to be brought to a temperature that is sufficient to kill all disease-causing organisms. This is known as water pasteurization. Because the pasteurization temperature is much lower than the boiling temperature, pasteurization results in great fuel savings when compared to boiling.

Pasteurization is a gentle heating process designed to reduce the number of viable microorganisms in a liquid to the point where they are rendered harmless. It is a technique that has been used for decades to lengthen the shelf life of milk and more recently is used to treat a wide variety of liquids - including juices.

The technique is really simple. All you do is gently heat the liquid (in this case water) to just over 65 degrees Celsius (149 degrees Fahrenheit) and then maintain that temperature for at least one minute. If you do that, the water is considered pasteurized and has been rendered safe from any microorganisms that may be lurking in the unpasteurized water.

So if it only takes 65 degrees to make the water potable, why does everyone say to boil the water?

When water boils, we get a visual indicator that it is at a certain temperature, 100 degrees Celsius (212 degrees Fahrenheit.) Unless you have a temperature measurement device - a thermometer or a water pasteurization indicator (WAPI) - the bubbles generated by boiling water are the only visual indicator.

Solar ovens are easy and inexpensive to build. They allow you to cook food and purify water anytime that you have a warm and sunny day. Solar ovens require no additional fuel, and they can operate unattended throughout the day. Of course, solar ovens are not the perfect solution to all of your cooking problems in the field – they don’t work at night, and on cold, cloudy, and rainy days they are much less efficient. Still, I believe that knowing how to build and use a solar oven to prepare food and purify water is a useful skill to have.