Xerobank questions ?

VPN and privacy services carry risk. Steve has been forthright about this and it should be noted that it is tough to stay afloat when well capitalized efforts like In-Q-Tel are out there and vendors like Narus. Seems to me you could give up on the service or stick it out and see what happens March 1st. Given the lack of communication, you should prudently assume (as you should always) that a breach has a occurred and may be active. Continue to practice layered communications. What distinguishes xB has been it's clarity in terms of how it deals with requests from others wanting details about your traffic or the nodes you use. By February 28th or sooner we should know what remains of the patriot act as well. The reality these days is that human review and new algorithms and some encryption are the only thing preventing everything from being transparent and reviewed, and remember that only a tiny fraction can resist being bought or jailed and this becomes more acute the more person becomes attached to the material world, family, and friends - even online ones.

 

For those that still can't access Turbo Privacy Netherlands or Random:

I learned from a friend today, that prior to leaving for a trip a couple of weeks back, they took my advice & contacted wizard regarding not being able to connect to any TP node. When my friend came back a couple of days ago they did NOT have any replies from xB & they still were NOT able to access any TP nodes; however, today my friend informed me that they NOW can again access Turbo Privacy Netherlands but still did NOT receive any replies from xB. So, I would recommend to anyone that HAS contacted xB, regarding no access to a TP node, to still (on occasion) log into your account (activate) then keep trying to access the TP Netherlands node. It appears that SOMEONE is taking care of these issues but not responding.

 

I'm not sure what you mean here. Are you comparing Narus and xb as vendors?

And while it is true that only a tiny fraction of people are able to resist being bought or jailed, in xb's business, ideology can run deep. I would never underestimate its motivational force. History is littered with the bodies of those who have rejected money for ideology. While they may be few, they can also be quite powerful. If that weren't true, we probably wouldn't be giving into the intense interest that the technology generates. The xb story is obviously part of a larger story about communication controls, and how they will be applied to deploy or preserve political power. I wouldn't sell anyone short just yet.

And @ caspian. Hey, whatever. I won't judge

 

Hello, Nathan C.,

I just used the email address you found for wizard to ask about the nodes. Let's see if I get a reply.

RaidersHog, thank you for the tip. I logged into my Xerobank account, and within minutes I got two nodes to work, Canada to France and TurboPrivacy Netherlands. This is probably just a coincidence, but who knows, maybe they have a system that can "propagate" credentials that quickly (I doubt it, but maybe). As I recall, France and Netherlands resolve to the same IP, so my guess is Montreal and Amsterdam now work.

But I still need a US exit node on occasion. So I'm looking elsewhere.

As long as the service works, I don't have a problem with Steve, or Xerobank, or all the other interesting ideologies floating around. If it works, they're great. If it doesn't, they're not. For some time, the service has not been doing all that well. The discussion here on Wilders has been very helpful, and very educational about what to realistically expect from a VPN service. Until their nodes started dropping off, Xerobank was doing OK for what I needed.

 

No. Narus is simply one example of technology fueled by government bloat. Multiply it. Yes, there are still patriots and saints. It makes no sense to dog pile on Steve. It makes perfect sense to understand how well funded the enemies of privacy are...

The reality of the spooks is they will just reverse engineer the social and physical protocols. It is likely they have already requested backdoor access, failing that, they are working on nearby node harvesting, if deemed a big enough threat they will look to either put in place a CI. Steve, we've got a great opportunity for you.... We respect your work.... We need your advice... Let's work together. We'll stay out of you hair... When all that fails: NSL + gag + revenue and tax scrutiny.

On the other hand, one hand sometimes doesn't know what the other Nugan Hand is doing and some triple letter jockeys might find xerobank a really useful service while others think it is a washroom full of bolsheviks. Sooner or later if you are good enough, you get in their scopes.

Of course this is just fantasy speculation. More likely Steve is just being mysterious like Steve Jobs. Building excitement for the next new hardened distributed haystack/Steg/tor framework.

 

Canada to Netherlands and Netherlands to Canada work for me. That's it. I am willing to wait and give Xerobank a fair chance. If it doesn't work out I don't believe that it would be for lack of trying. There may be government problems, who knows? I have no way of knowing about that sort of thing. And as the above poster said, with some people ideology runs deep and I believe that this is true of Steve and others that he is involved with.

And while I can understand some of the criticism and disappointment of some of the people here, I don't however understand the deep seated hatred and unrelenting verbal abuse that I hear from others. And these people have been popping up under different identities for a long time now, spewing out the same kind of constant badgering, hate, and talking in circles deliberately to create confusion. So their reasons must have to do with something other than what is going on with Xerobank right now because they have been going on like this from day one. There are some who appear to have a personal issue with Steve. It's personal and they would love nothing more than to see him fail. And I have no idea why.

I personally wish Steve the absolute best and I hope that he prevails and is successful beyond his own hopes and aspirations.

 

Caspian, I hope you e-mail Wizard101, receive a reply (apparently others have not), and can post the reply on what's going on here on the board so that all can be informed and (hopefully?) relieved at what's going on.

 

Here is a related thread you guys may be interested in. https://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?p=1815156#post1815156

 

Still nothing from xB support on my end, My last contact with Wizard was back on 30 Dec. I handed over my Account and Deposit info to him. And here I set, 1 node out of 16 working.

Steve juming in and out of threads like a magician..

I can post emails that wizard sent, but honestly, his replies were a bit less than what i would consider professional. Borderline argumentative/combative.

But i'll just be labeled a shill anyways by some of the diehard xB supporters here.

Im going to persue reimbursement/refund.

 

Bangle40, that's exactly why you SHOULD post e-mails sent by wizard. If Xerobank provides support that is "less than what I would consider professional," they should be held accountable for that behavior. Insisting on transparency nearly always ends up helping the consumer.

 

I have not tried to send an email. Hopefully March 1st will be a good day and things will be back to normal. But I can certainly understand your disappointment.

 

I haven't tried them. But I have tried Cryptohippie.

 

Hey Capsian, how did you find Cryptohippie? I was thinking about trying them out.

 

I have kept them as a back-up account for a long time. They are excellent. Good speeds. The exit node is Germany. And they are a 3 hop service. I use Xerobank primarily and sometimes Cryptohippie, and every so often I use tor if I want a different IP. You pay for a year up front though. I think it's 35G a month for downloading. And it is $275 for a year.

 

A washroom full of Bolsheviks?

Well, the Bolsheviks definitely knew how to adopt technology, like film, for revolutionary aesthetics. But I would say there is a better chance that revolutionary internet technologists are influenced by cryptoanarchism, rather than the specific ideology set forth in Battleship Potemkin.

 

For all the information I've shared over Cryptohippie, Xerobank and Metropipe, you'd think some people would learn by now, but I guess not...

I'd stay CLEAR of all 3 people!

I've been looking at VPN services out there for years and then recently I've really been digging for the past few months.

One of the best, as far as being real, upfront and seeing that it's the real deal you can trust is bolehvpn. The best thing I see they have going for them is a forum where the owners participate.

Now I haven't used bolehvpn, but when you see the open community and participation and this reality it's hard to pass up.

Also in this business of privacy and anonymity, it's typically best to stay away from the big names out there, because well, they're known and they're a target...

People, if you're going to be a geek or call yourself one, or dabble in this geek world then you need to put your GEEK HAT on and start learning to think and understand this world.

We're not shopping at the store here for a product and I see people here seem to be going about all this just like they'd do something in the real world and it's not the way you want to play this game on the internet, otherwise one day it will bite you!

 

i'll just leave this here.

 

Re: i'll just leave this here.

Wat u trying to prove ?

 

Re: i'll just leave this here.

This means, absolutely NIL to me.

Steve, once in and for all, fix our services. Why are they down? When will they be back up? How will we be compensated for paying for 1/16 of what we were promised as customers?

Answer these questions, and quit being such an elusive representative to your company.

 

Re: i'll just leave this here.

Truth be it that Steve probably chuckles every time he goes on this forum and sees from the new postings that he retains complete control!!!!!! He's had his way on nearly everything.

At first he made Wilders one of his prime advertising vehicles. And it didn't cost him a cent in advertising fees. Now Wilders has unwittingly been made into the official xerobank forum. Not onlhy has this not cost Steve a penny, but best of all, it means that the complainers are now at arm's length from the actual Xerobank site.

Here on the Wilder Forum it's obvious that Steve can pull the strings and watch his puppets dance!

For example those who have had few problems with the service dance together on their praises of Steve and Xerobank no matter how much new evidence comes into the picture that Steve treats Xerobank clientele in general with distain. Steve makes sure to throw a bone of compliment now and then to his best lapdogs, being flattered silly or deeply humble at their praises, nominations and drools of idolation!!

And yes, Steve loves pulling the strings of those who complain, scream, and protest about Xerobank's poor record of helping customers. If he wants to see them dance, he does something he figures will get right up their craw. So now he's posted a screenshot, knowing that it will enrage those who've been asking for more explanation. Steve undoubtedly laughs his head off as he watches the reactions. For he knows that no matter how many problems a Xerobank customer may have, Steve wields the ultimate power - he can ignore the cries for help and watch the poor customers twist in the wind. Ahh, the narcissistic drug of power over others!!!!!

Steve is fully aware that he doesn't have to do anything to improve customer service beyond the current Help Yourself Desk. He knows that so long as Xerobank works for 90% of those who sign up, he can afford to ignore the other 10%. Let them moan and groan far from the actual Xerobank site. Let them drop the service. It means nothing to him.

I salute Steven Topletz for this elegant system he has set up at Wilders Security Forum. Wouldn't most owners of operations like Xerobank give anything to have such power over their clients AND detractors?!!!!!!!!

 

Re: i'll just leave this here.

This is a very well put summary of the current situation.

 

Re: i'll just leave this here.

Yes, he needs to be stopped. The fate of the free world hangs in the balance.

Seriously? He doesn't owe anybody any explanations about a proprietary product. Period. That is an issue separate and apart from customer service.

 

I haven't been happy with having only the Montreal-Amsterdam route. However, I've heard that the US nodes were taken down after complaints to ISPs. And I get that the xB team has been working very hard on the new Safehouse VM/OS, and on the new infrastructure to support it. I suspect that patching the old system has been a low priority.

Although this has taken several months longer than initially promised, that's not at all unusual in software development. Also, based on discussions that I vaguely recall from the xB support forum, I believe that xB management/funders have requested several new features that have required considerable new effort. That's also not at all unusual in software development. Emerging privacy/security threats have driven some of that, I'm sure.

Anyway, I haven't lost my faith in xB. Consider me a fool, if you like. And BTW, I'm sure that our satirists on Usenet will have fun with this at my expense. So it goes.

 

In anticipation for March 1, the jubilation has begun: All XeroBank accounts have been granted Turbo Privacy access (even those with delinquent payments or payment notification errors in the last 50 weeks). All account tokens have been extended from 1 month to 3 month expiration so that customers having issues within the last three months should be resolved.

Inactive nodes have been removed from the DNS. USA exit nodes taken offline during conversion to clarion network design. 1000 Mbps dedicated USA entry node in Washington DC up, will push into DNS on Monday when keying is provisioned.

The suggested high availability routes to use at this time are Canada<->Netherlands. For users contact support who have comcast or sbcglobal addresses: the replies you have been sent are bouncing back due to blocklisting, we are setting up a new smtp relay just for official notices to resolve this issue. Anyone having unresolved support issues should email wizardsupport at xerobank. Have a nice weekend!

 

Hierophant, are you saying that private businesses, organizations, and Government is putting pressure on ISP's to block Xerobank? That would make sense if that entity has some sort of leverage over Xerobank. It's possible, but it would not make much sense that any abuse would have been identified, and reported directly to the ISP. Any business, organization, or Government should not be able to identify the origin of the user's ISP to report abuse to that ISP. The abuse would be reported to Xerobank not knowing which ISP the abuse originated from. That is in theory if everything on the user's end is configured correctly.