It is amazing to consider that less than 6 weeks ago CTH was notified of the deplatforming of our corner of the internet. However, what is even more amazing is how fortunate we were to find a group of people, with a very specific set of skills, who knew exactly how to counter these efforts of Big Tech… And they pulled-off an amazingly stable website architecture in two weeks.
CTH is thankful beyond imagining. Your support in this endeavor is cherished and appreciated.
We are roughly three weeks into the stabilizing phase of the site construct and while there is a lot of work ahead, the outcome is remarkable. Here’s some updates for readers and users:
What we have created, and are continuing to build-out, is something new in the landscape of web-hosting and websites. CTH is running stable on a platform where no user data is ever captured. Not a single element of user privacy is controlled by any internal architecture. Meaning, there’s not a single element of your CTH engagement that is not controlled by you, 100%. In the modern era of websites, this is a paradigm shift.
CTH believes your data is YOUR data. Nothing on CTH is recorded, monitored or tracked to “enhance” user connection. The commenting system is constructed not to store any user information in any database; there is no registration, no cookie tracking and no data-lists of any kind. This approach was a lofty goal because essentially it is the opposite of modern tech/site development.
Most of the modern site constructs are developed to make user engagement part of the site data. Hence, some sites now ask for phone numbers or two-step authentication (email etc.) before access to content; however, at CTH this modern baseline is not accepted.
One unanticipated aspect of the anti-fragile framework is a number of websites wanting to create, or proactively move their site, and reaching out to us to understand how it is working. While CTH 2.0 is not yet in a position to explain critical details, I can envision a time in the near future with an anti-fragile “site in a box” (an assembled system that can operate without Big Tech influence/assistance) to be offered based on our format.
As an outcome of CTH need, some rebel alliance engineers and developers are learning to unmesh their reliance on interconnected interfaces. This is good stuff in an era where Big Tech is attempting to control communication and what content is presented to you. The internet should be where ‘speech’ is supported, not choked or controlled by tech oligarchs.
♦ One of the big remaining challenges is an email notification system that does not assemble user data as part of the triggering mechanism for auto-notifications of site content. How do you notify people without storing the data of people wanting to be notified? This is the current challenge and some new encryption solutions are being developed based on the old school RSS feeds that people used a long time ago.
We are still working-on rebuilding/testing the CTH theme to work and integrate better with mobile devices (phones, tablets etc). We hear all of the feedback on this issue and we are working through the process.
Also at some point next month, once we are able to review a month of server data and calculate the operational hosting costs, we will start construction of a supply-side platform (SSP/proprietary) ad system that carries the same privacy elements. Hopefully this approach will offset the higher costs associated with staying outside of Big Tech tentacles; and allows us to provide all content 24/7/365 to everyone.
The CTH rebuild has been a learning experience and I sincerely appreciate everyone’s understanding as this has progressed. Big Tech thought they had a grip on the voices within the internet; CTH is happily leading a charge to find workarounds and bring back independent voices.
Don’t forget to live your best life; it’s the only one you have.
Merry Christmas everyone,
~ Sundance
You are amazing, Sundance. Thank you for our Refuge. Merry Christmas!
You’re doing a wonderful job, Sundance and team! Merry Christmas!
Thank you Sundance
Merry Christmas
Thank you, Sundance … Merry Christmas !!!
Thank you – I wish I had better words to express my gratitude for all that you have done. This refuge feels like a second home. God bless you!
You ARE such a truly amazing Patriot Sundance, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all the good you do for us! And I hope you have been blessed with a Merry Christmas, and a better New Year!
Thank you, Sundance. And the CTH team. A truly herculean effort.
And the future plans sound very exciting… Bravo!
Thank you Sundance and Admins.
Merry Christmas!
Keeping my head up and on a swivel. Thanks for ALL you’ve done and continue to do with delivering clear concise analysis. Blessed our we. Blessings to you as well as all treepers who contribute here..
Merry Christmas to the rebel alliance.
LLAP
Merry Christmas and thank you
I am still missing a lot of comments, also when I get to the bottom of the page I miss the bottom link that used to bring me back to the home page. When using my phone I have to scroll back to the top to refresh to see new comments losing my place. After reading all comments I have to scroll to top to go back to main page. Merry Christmas
“… I miss the bottom link that used to bring me back to the home page. ”
Me too.
Ditto for a way to return to the top of screen and the same page numbers as displayed at the bottom of the page. It would be great to know how many pages we are supposed to read before we comment
Make that a ditto II for me too. I love this site and check it several times a day. CHT 2 is a wonderful improvement and you should be very proud! I’m also happy to hear that other oppressed web sites are seeking your advice. Down with Big Tech!
Someone posted a trick on here a while back for anyone using the site on a computer or device with a keyboard:
Control+up arrow and Control+down arrow take you to the top and bottom of the page.
On the Mac, it’s Command+up arrow or Command+down arrow
If I find a trick on an iDevice or phone I’ll post it…
Oh, and while I was thinking of it, I did a search and found a trick for returning to the top of a page on an iPhone or iPad:
Double-tap at the very top of the page..
Unfortunately the same how-to video states that the only way to scroll to the bottom of a page is to jail-break the device (not going that far).
But getting back up to the top is a useful thing. And also thanks to the poster who told us that tapping the words The Last Refuge in the masthead takes us to Home – that’s useful on a phone where the Home icon is very small.
Thank you and merry Christmas! May your team and the team efforts enhance freedom for all!
Beautiful – so proud of Sundance and the “rebel alliance”
Merry Christmas Sundance (and those in support rolls/admins). Truly appriciate this site, content, fellowship and honest reporting. Thanks for all y’all do.
?
My gut says the ‘rebel alliance’ will be receiving good news soon….lots of stuff boiling to the surface slowly but surely…….would really like some good news for the troops for sure…!
I stumbled upon the Treehouse a number of months ago while seeking information that made sense to me based on my own knowledge and instincts.
What you have done here, Sunddance, is amazing. Thank you for challenging and respecting all of us.
I have no social media accounts. I refuse to have my privacy treated as a commodity. How blessed we are to have a venue for sharing and learning that allows us to choose how much of ourselves to reveal!
May this truly be a new paradigm, and may people realize they do not need to be controlled by Big Tech .
thank you Sundance and staff!
We are All blessed to be welcome at the Treehouse, “and I think it’s wonderful to have a small branch to rest on”!
While I have you here Sundance….
Merry Christmas and Thank You for your tenacity and great job.
Love and gratitude.
I LOVE! THIS WEBSITE, I ALWAYS COME HERE TO HEAR AND SEE THE THE TRUTH!! I have never commented on here before, but I love reading the comments, I learn so much truth and knowledge every time I visit !! Thank you for providing this awesome place to come to!!!!
KUDOS to you and your team Sundance! Appreciate you and this site. Thank you
!!!
This is very interesting. I’m sure you’ll sort the email thing out. I face a similar challenge with authentication on an intranet site I worked up. Since for the most part I’m the only one that uses it it isn’t a priority but it is still one of those things that just sits in the back of my mind and bothers me.
It is always nice to see others dealing with the “how do I do this without having to store any personal details” problems. I’m sure we would have more solutions to those issues by now if selling those personal details wasn’t so lucrative for some of the providers out there.
Good job and a big thumbs up to all the techies who are making this possible for you.
Could it possibly be solved if all of us devotees of this site had email with end-to-end encryption?
We would have to buy that kind of email service, of course. It isn’t a good idea to have free email anyway.
Thank you.
I come here to be informed of the truth. Sometimes very complicated maneuvers are explained so well that even I can understand the deepest of corruptions and most of that corruption has included the last 50 years. It’s very complicated by design and very diabolical. Sundance and team have done the impossible and for that, I am very grateful! TCT is the first thing I do in the morning and the last thing before I pray and to sleep. God Bless this entire production and Merry Christmas. We are very happy to contribute to continue the good work.
Thank you Sundance, and thank you to your crew on the board and to the amazing patriots who helped rebuild this incredible site
It’s fitting too, that a site dedicated to the truth would look out for it’s members. Integrity, honor and truthfulness are abundant here
It is a great site and I applaud your tremendous efforts. Stay well
Sundance, thank you for all your great work. I spend a huge part of every day here. Between your articles and the comments, the Treehouse is the best source of information anywhere.
Merry Christmas!
Love the new place!
Thanks for all you and every one else does to keep this place full of misfits. If I can help in any way, let me know. I can proof-read like a librarian on Ritalin (I would have found that typo in the third sentence on first read). It would be an honor to be a bigger part of this.
And I very much appreciate the non-info-capture aspect. That is huge.
Thanks again!
Thank you, Sundance, and for everyone on the team, for creating a safe refuge for us all. I feel blessed to have access to this site.
Merry Christmas to all.
You are amazing sundance,Thank you,
Outstanding job SD and CTH team! You’re my favorite oasis in the desert created by corporate media. CTH”s best years are yet to come.
Thanks Sundance. So glad you can CUT from the hands of big tech. My they all rot in hell.
Sorry, ( May)
Love this place.
Thanks to all for making it work.
Hi Sundance,
First: congratulations! Professionals recognize and appreciate AND respect talent. It is no coincidence your efforts to create a 2.0 would rally support from subject matter experts. So congratulations.
Second: in terms of a means to deliver notifications without using cookies or any annoying or privacy concerns for users is not trivial, but there are several different means to accomplish just that goal. Here are a few I would recommend that you explore:
a. FTP. Just as a GET command can deliver notifications to a variety of means of communications to an almost unlimited solution, FTP with some very simple coding can perform the same functions. It’s an unorthodoxial use of FTP, but it can be done in this way. I am sure you professional coders can look into this as a means to accomplish what this goal. Obviously, there is some degree of complexity involved, but clearly there must be maintained at a minimum an SQL library of emails meta to a specific address. There is no other options to get around this reality, that I am aware of.
b. Educate users to delink to personal email and use burner email accounts. This is probably the most simple in terms of privacy, but also requires cooperating and understanding of the proper compartmentalizing between personal and private email versus a true dedicated “anonymous” email for a specific use, such as CTH. I use burner email accounts and have for many years. There is NOTHING about the burner account that is connected to Personal Identifiable Information (PII) about “me”. It is ONLY used for communications related to subject matter and websites that is NOT related to my banking, financial information, credit cards, cell services, phone numbers,etc. If you go this route, then the use of tracking cookies are appropriate and useful as they do not point to any communications that is risky to the user. However, there are some caveats that users should be informed to understand. These caveats are important because while CTH may achieve a zero footprint platform, almost ALL free email services collect and track email traffic. (which explains why they are “Free”, but not free as in free beer!)…For example,many users are unaware of pixel tracking. These are typically “invisible” small code that are used to track metadata (user habits etc). So one needs to understand that while it is possible to create a website that holds zero or a near zero footprint scheme, the use of many of the most popular email account DO TRACK email. And because the metadata is collected, inference and deduction code (mostly AI) IS used and deployed to determine the true identity of the user of any email account, including those of a so called burner account. As you can imagine there is a real interest for law enforcement also to utilize this data and access it under various authorities from all ISP’s and telecoms, because the existence of this pattern is pretty compelling argument that some efforts are being activated to achieve privacy. (yes, big brother IS interested in the porsches in the parking lots..they stick out and draw big attentions)
Given the state of modern data collection and analysis which is near real time from every major communications and technology provider, I don’t see how a truly zero footprint IS achievable.
I think it would be BEST to consult with a security professional and understand the dynamics involved and propose a more realistic goal of achieving “good enough” privacy so thwart against unwanted malware and unsavory hacking groups.
My own position based on decades of experience is simply this:
if there is something I want to protect it NEVER gets exposed by me in any communications device..period. Not even mail. In person….person to person. For everything else a moderate but sensible and still uncomplicated and easy to manage privacy set of controls are good enough.
If someone who has the resources and interest and motivation, they can determine just about everything about a person. The less exposure that exist on the internet, the harder that task becomes.
but as they say, only the most important people and content is interesting. and thus the paradox: in order to achieve important and interesting, communications of it must have happened. No one has every had their hair blown back by the book that was never published, or read.
It’s about what you are willing to risk, versus what is desired as a gain.
Panopticon
here is some light reading on the subject matter with the history and helpful philosophy:
please take note of the author…He’s very helpful!
https://www.capgemini.com/us-en/2014/11/the-privacy-vs-security-paradox/
b.
Merry Christmas!
Well done. Thank you.
Absolutely marvelous, trailblazing, and disintermediating ‘Big Tech’. Kudos to you and the brilliant engineering team that you assembled. Seriously impressed. Thank you Patriot.
CTH 3.0: Please blow up Windows 10!
Bravo!!! The hard work you and your team did has produced a miracle. As to the old school RSS workaround all I can say is Aaron Schwartz lives.
Merry Christmas to Sundance, the magnificent mods and all the branch dwellers!
Was thinking last week about how Sundance will write a book one day to educate our progeny…then I realized that you already have and how steadfastly dedicated you have been to preserving every single bit of research and commentary since CTH began. My most genuine congratulations, Sundance; I believe I’m not alone in being thrilled beyond words on your behalf.
Here’s to a New Year beyond all hopes!
So grateful for CTH 2.0 … thankful to Sundance, all admins and mods,
all American patriots and like-minded, kindred-spirited friends throughout the world.
May God bless the Treehouse and all here this Christmas
and into the coming years! 🙂
Merry Christmas, God bless you all
Thank you SD, the rough edges are smoothing out, and thank your for the edit and thumbs up ability. Something I could never use on the wordpress site.
Merry Christmas!
Long time reader, and wishing all a Merry Chrstmas.
“Every man to his family and his possessions”
Thank you Sundance, the best…
You’ve done well. Certainly there’s no moss under your feet.
The site is going amazingly well and thanks to you Sundance and the people helping this all work!
Merry Christmas Sundance, Shame that so relative few people in this country know about the love and truth you write. May this new year be grand in your crusade for truth.
So happy to have found you again! Merry Christmas
What the tech tyrants meant for evil, The Rebel Alliance used for good to lead the way out of censorship!
Many thanks to Sundance and Crew for all your excellent work! And Merry Christmas and MAGA New Year!