Categories
PDF OpenSource

2025-11-21: BentoPDF – Fast, Secure PDF Editing in Your Browser

BentoPDF is a modern, privacy-friendly tool for editing PDF files directly in your browser. Whether you need to merge, split, compress, or convert documents — everything works online without any installation or registration 🖥️✨.

🔧 How BentoPDF Works

All BentoPDF tools run entirely client-side. This means your files are never uploaded to any server — every operation is performed locally in the browser.
Simply select a PDF, choose the desired function, and download the result immediately.
PDF in, result out 📤➡️📥.

🔒 Security Through True Local Processing

BentoPDF puts a strong focus on privacy and data protection:
👉 No file uploads
👉 All processing happens locally in your own browser
👉 No tracking, no login, no external servers

Even highly sensitive documents remain fully protected at all times 🔐🛡️.

🎉 Now Available for Free

BentoPDF is now available completely free of charge via the following website:
👉 https://pdf.it-service-commander.de

Give it a try and explore the powerful PDF tools — fast, secure, and with zero data transfer 🚀😊.

Categories
Cloud DNS Security Server Uptime

2025-11-19: Cloudflare down – Hetzner remains unshakable!

Cloudflare is one of the largest internet service providers in the world. Many websites rely on Cloudflare because it offers three major advantages:

  • 🚀 Faster loading times thanks to servers distributed around the globe
  • 🛡️ Protection against attacks, such as DDoS
  • 🔁 Stable availability, even under heavy traffic

Because Cloudflare delivers these features efficiently and at a good price, an enormous number of websites depend on it. But that popularity also creates a risk: When Cloudflare goes down, many sites go down with it.

🧩 Why self-hosted servers are often less affected

If you host your website or application on your own server, you’re far less dependent on big platforms like Cloudflare. That means:

🔐 More control over your own security

With simple measures such as:

  • 🔑 SSH keys instead of simple passwords
  • 🚫 Firewalls to block unwanted access
  • 🛡️ Fail2Ban, which automatically blocks repeated attack attempts

you can secure your server very effectively—without relying on external security services.

🕹️ More control & more reliability

I host my servers at Hetzner in Falkenstein, Germany 🇩🇪 — and during the Cloudflare outage, not a single second of downtime occurred.
Everything continued to run perfectly.

To me, this is a perfect example of digital sovereignty in Germany: Not depending on large U.S. providers, but maintaining your own stable, local infrastructure.

⚠️ Of course, nothing is 100% risk-free

✨ Running your own server doesn’t mean nothing can ever go wrong.
Self-hosted servers can also experience:

  • outages 🛑
  • overload 📈
  • network or power issues 🔌

But the key difference is: you have the responsibility— and the control.

🎯 Conclusion

The Cloudflare outage shows how vulnerable large, centralized internet services can be. If you host your servers yourself—such as at Hetzner in Germany—and secure them properly, you often end up with a more stable and sovereign solution. 🧭

Categories
Cloud OpenSource Security Server

2025-11-13: New Service: PrivateBin – Secure File & Message Sharing

https://share.it-service-commander.de

In modern IT security, strong passwords and firewalls are just part of the story. Equally important is how sensitive information is shared. To meet this need, I am introducing a new service: PrivateBin – a fully encrypted, secure platform for sharing files and messages.

🔒 What is PrivateBin?

PrivateBin is a client-side encrypted paste and file-sharing service designed to securely exchange confidential information.
Unlike traditional upload or paste platforms, PrivateBin performs encryption directly in your browser before any data reaches the server.

This means:

  • The server cannot read the contents
  • Encryption keys never leave the client
  • Only encrypted data blobs are stored
  • Decryption is only possible with the key embedded in the generated link

In other words, PrivateBin operates as a zero-knowledge service. As the service provider, I technically cannot access or view any uploaded content.

📦 What Benefits Does My PrivateBin Service Offer?

To ensure the highest level of security and usability, the deployed system has been enhanced with several important features:

✔ Secure Transmission

All data is encrypted client-side and transmitted via HTTPS.

✔ Protected Storage

Only encrypted data is stored on the infrastructure — completely unreadable to anyone.

✔ File Uploads up to 50 MB

Ideal for sharing documents, diagnostic logs, confidential information, or larger technical files.

✔ Limited Retention

Files and messages are automatically deleted after 4 weeks — permanently and irreversibly.

✔ Optional Password Protection

Each paste or file can be secured with an additional password for extra peace of mind.

✔ No Registration Required

The service is available instantly — no accounts, no personal data collection, no tracking.

📁 Use Cases for Businesses & Teams
  • Securely sharing credentials
  • Exchanging confidential client documents
  • Sending system logs or diagnostic outputs
  • GDPR-compliant information transfer
  • Project communication without email risks
  • Safe data exchange with external service providers
  • Temporary sharing of sensitive files

PrivateBin is especially useful whenever traditional email or messaging tools are too risky or not appropriate.

🔧 Why I Provide This Service

As an IT service provider, I frequently encounter situations where clients need to share confidential information with me or within their teams.
Sending such content through insecure platforms — or via plain-text email — introduces unnecessary security risks.

By offering PrivateBin, I provide a secure, controlled, and modern method for exchanging sensitive data without requiring any additional software installations.

🚀 Available Now

The service is available immediately and can be used at any time.
If needed, I can also deploy PrivateBin as a dedicated in-house solution, customized with your company’s branding, policies, and security requirements.

Here you will find PrivateBin:

https://share.it-service-commander.de

Categories
Blog Messenger Security Server

2025-11-03: free UnifiedPush Service with NTFY

🔧 I Run My Own Push Service – Without Google or Apple

As an IT service provider, I value privacy, control, and independence. Most apps on Android or iOS rely on the major cloud services from Google (Firebase Cloud Messaging) or Apple (APNS) for their notifications.
These systems are convenient—but they also mean that every notification travels through external servers.

I wanted to do things differently: privacy-friendly, transparent, and fully under my own control.
That’s why I’ve set up my own push service based on NTFY.

🌐 What Is NTFY?

🧠 NTFY is a free and open-source software solution that sends push notifications over the internet—without a central provider, simply via HTTPS. You can think of it like a small private mail carrier for your apps: Instead of Google or Apple forwarding your messages, your own server takes care of it.

📲 This becomes especially powerful when combined with the open standard UnifiedPush. UnifiedPush ensures that apps on your smartphone are no longer dependent on Google services to receive messages. Instead, the apps register with your own push server—in my case:

🌍 https://ntfy.it-service-commander.de

This allows notifications (for example from messengers or email apps) to work without a Google account or Play Services.

🔒 Privacy and Security Come First

🛡️ The big advantage: All data stays on my server.

That means:

  • No connection to Google, Apple, or any other cloud provider
  • No data sharing or analysis by third parties
  • Full control over retention periods, logs, and access rights

📊 Push messages contain no actual content.
They are only small technical signals such as “New message available.” Your app then retrieves the actual encrypted content directly from the respective service (e.g., Matrix or email). This ensures complete data protection—no one but you and your app can see the content of your messages.

⚙️ How to Set Up the Service in Your NTFY App


📲 Setup is incredibly simple:

  1. Open the NTFY app (available free on F-Droid or the Play Store).
  2. Go to Settings → UnifiedPush Server.
  3. Enter my server address:
    👉 https://ntfy.it-service-commander.de

That’s it!
From now on, supported apps will automatically use this server to receive push notifications.

💡 Many privacy-friendly apps such as Element (Matrix), FluffyChat, or NextPush already support UnifiedPush.

🧰 Technical Background (Simply Explained)

💻 I run my NTFY server on a secured Linux system.
A reverse proxy (Nginx Proxy Manager) handles encrypted HTTPS connections. User self-registration is disabled, and strict limits are in place for message and attachment sizes. Uploads without authentication are completely turned off.

This ensures that the server is used solely for push notifications—not for files or chat messages. That prevents abuse and keeps communication lightweight and secure.

🚀 My Conclusion

🔒 I can now offer push notifications without relying on Google or Apple.
That gives me full control over technology and data privacy, allowing me to provide clients with a modern and secure alternative.

📡 If you value privacy, data sovereignty, and independence, running your own UnifiedPush service with NTFY is the right choice.

📥 Download NTFY and Try It Yourself

⬇️ You can download the NTFY app safely and for free here:

📱 Android (Google Play Store)
👉 Open NTFY in the Play Store

🐧 Android (F-Droid – Google-free version)
👉 Download NTFY from F-Droid

🍎 Apple iOS (App Store)
👉 View NTFY in the App Store

🛰️ Direct download from IT-Service-Commander.de

Manual installation file available for free download (for advanced users)

Connect NTFY directly to my server and start using privacy-friendly push notifications – completely free from Google or Apple services.

🛡️ “Owning your infrastructure isn’t a burden – it’s digital freedom.”
– Yours,
Tom Commander

Categories
Blog Finance Freedom

2025-10-31: October 31st – A Day of Freedom

At first glance, October 31st might simply remind people of Halloween. But for those who look deeper, it represents something far greater — a celebration of freedom. Two historic events, centuries apart yet united in spirit, make this day a symbol of intellectual and financial independence.

📜 1517: Martin Luther and the Reformation

On October 31st, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church in Wittenberg — an act that marked the beginning of the Protestant Reformation. Luther stood up against the corruption of the Catholic Church, especially the sale of indulgences, calling instead for truth, faith, and personal conviction.

🔥 That moment sparked a movement that changed the course of history. It gave individuals the courage to think for themselves and challenged the notion of blind obedience to authority. It was the birth of spiritual freedom — the idea that every person could have a direct relationship with truth and with God, without intermediaries.

💻 2008: Satoshi Nakamoto and the Bitcoin Whitepaper

Nearly five centuries later, on October 31st, 2008, another revolutionary idea emerged — this time not from a monk, but from a mysterious figure known as Satoshi Nakamoto. Amid the global financial crisis, Nakamoto released the Bitcoin Whitepaper, proposing a new kind of money: decentralized, transparent, and free from banks or governments.

⚡ Just as Luther challenged the spiritual monopoly of the Church, Nakamoto questioned the financial monopoly of centralized institutions. Bitcoin became a symbol of digital sovereignty — a tool for those who believe that control over money should belong to the people, not the powerful few.

🌍 A Day of Freedom in Spirit and Finance

October 31st thus unites two revolutions: one of faith, and one of finance. Both were born from dissatisfaction with rigid systems and driven by a yearning for autonomy, truth, and fairness.

💡 Whether a hammer striking a church door or an email containing a nine-page whitepaper, each act carried the same essence — the courage to challenge the status quo and imagine a freer world.

🔔 Conclusion

October 31st is more than Reformation Day or Halloween. It is a Day of Freedom — the freedom to think, to believe, and to build.
It reminds us that every great transformation begins with a bold idea and the courage to share it.

🕯️ From Luther to Nakamoto: Five eras, one message — Freedom begins in the mind.

Categories
Blog Office OpenSource

2025-10-20: LibreOffice – The Free and Powerful Alternative to Microsoft Office

🌿 LibreOffice is one of the world’s most popular open-source office suites – developed by a dedicated community, continuously improved, and completely free to use. It offers everything you need for office work, school, or study: word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, databases, and more. But LibreOffice is much more than just a free alternative to Microsoft Office – it represents digital freedom and open standards.

🚀 Why LibreOffice?

LibreOffice consists of several powerful applications:

  • Writer (word processing, similar to Microsoft Word)
  • Calc (spreadsheets, similar to Excel)
  • Impress (presentations, similar to PowerPoint)
  • Base (database management)
  • Draw (vector graphics & diagrams)
  • Math (formula editor)

These applications cover all areas of everyday office work – without license fees or subscription requirements.
By using open standards and formats such as ODF (Open Document Format), your files remain future-proof and independent of closed systems.

🔓 Open Formats Instead of Vendor Lock-In

While Microsoft Office relies primarily on its own closed file formats (e.g. .docx, .xlsx), LibreOffice is built on free and open standards. This means:

  • You are not tied to a specific program or company.
  • Your documents remain compatible and readable in the long term.
  • You support transparency and interoperability – key principles of digital sustainability.

Especially for schools, public institutions, and businesses, this is a decisive advantage: switching to open formats ensures greater flexibility, independence, and long-term data security.

💡 Advantages Over Microsoft Office

No license costs – LibreOffice is completely free, even for businesses.
🔧 Customizable & expandable – A wide range of extensions, templates, and design options.
🛡️ Privacy-friendly – No forced cloud connections or data collection.
🌍 Cross-platform – Works on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
🤝 Community-driven – Regular updates and open-source development ensure stability and security.

While Microsoft Office increasingly pushes users toward online subscriptions and cloud storage, LibreOffice remains local, transparent, and independent.

📦 Download LibreOffice Directly

You can download LibreOffice easily and securely directly from my server:

Installationfile free for download:

There, you will always find a latest version – safe, fast, and ad-free.

🖋️ Conclusion:

LibreOffice stands for freedom, sustainability, and control over your own data.
By choosing open formats, you strengthen digital sovereignty and reduce dependence on large software corporations.
Switching to LibreOffice is worth it – not only financially, but also as a conscious step toward a more open digital future.

More Information: https://www.libreoffice.org/

Categories
Blog Android Bitcoin Finance OpenSource Security

2025-10-19: Phoenix Wallet – The Easy Bitcoin App for Everyday Use

💡 Fast, secure, and simple: That’s the best way to describe the Phoenix Wallet.
This app makes paying with Bitcoin as easy as paying with a regular mobile app — whether it’s for a coffee, lunch, or an online purchase.

In this article, you’ll learn what makes Phoenix special, why it’s perfect for instant Bitcoin payments, and why it’s better suited for everyday use than the well-known Electrum app.

🔥 What Is the Phoenix Wallet?

The Phoenix Wallet is a Bitcoin app for Android, developed by the French company ACINQ, one of the leading contributors to the Lightning Network.

The Lightning Network is an additional layer built on top of Bitcoin that allows instant, low-fee transactions. Instead of waiting minutes for a confirmation, payments are completed in just a few seconds.

What makes Phoenix stand out:
You don’t need to deal with technical setup, complicated terms, or your own Bitcoin node.
The app handles everything for you — and you still stay in full control of your money.

⚡ Why Phoenix Is Perfect for Fast Payments

Many Bitcoin wallets are complicated or made for experienced users. Phoenix, however, is designed so that anyone can use it right away.

Here’s why Phoenix is so convenient:

Automatic Channel Management
Phoenix automatically handles all the technical details in the background, like opening or managing payment channels. You don’t have to worry about any of that.

Instant Lightning Payments
Payments are usually confirmed instantly, making it perfect for small, everyday purchases — in stores, restaurants, or online.

Simple and Clean Interface
The design is intuitive. You can easily see your Bitcoin balance and recent transactions at a glance.

Transparent Fees
Phoenix clearly shows when a small fee applies (for example, when opening a new payment channel). There are no hidden costs.

🔒 Security: How Phoenix Protects Your Bitcoin

Security is a big concern for new Bitcoin users — and rightly so! The good news is that Phoenix is built to keep your funds safe and under your full control.

Here’s how:

🔐 You Control Your Money
Phoenix is a non-custodial wallet, which means your Bitcoin is stored only on your device, not on a company server. Only you have access to it.

📱 Strong Encryption
All sensitive data is encrypted directly on your phone. Even if someone finds your device, they can’t access your Bitcoin without your secret recovery phrase.

☁️ Easy Recovery
When you set up the wallet, you get a 12-word recovery phrase. With it, you can restore your wallet anytime — for example, if you lose or replace your phone.

🧩 Trusted Developer
Phoenix is developed by ACINQ, one of the key companies behind the Lightning Network. The app is open to community review and regularly updated for security and reliability (OpenSource).

⚙️ Phoenix Wallet vs. Electrum – Which Is Better for Everyday Use?

The Electrum Wallet is one of the oldest and most respected Bitcoin wallets. It’s very powerful — but also quite technical. For beginners, it can feel overwhelming.

Phoenix, on the other hand, is made for simplicity and daily Bitcoin payments.

FeaturePhoenix WalletElectrum
Lightning PaymentsFully integrated and automaticOptional, requires setup
Ease of Use✅ Very beginner-friendly❌ Designed for advanced users
SpeedInstant (Lightning)Slower (On-chain)
SecurityNon-custodial and encryptedNon-custodial but complex
Best Use CaseEveryday mobile paymentsLong-term storage, desktop use

👉 In short:

  • Electrum is great for long-term Bitcoin storage or advanced users.
  • Phoenix is ideal if you want to use Bitcoin for everyday payments — quick, easy, and safe.
💬 Conclusion: Phoenix Makes Bitcoin Easy

The Phoenix Wallet is the perfect choice for anyone who wants to actually use Bitcoin — not just hold it.

You don’t need to be a tech expert or understand the details of the Lightning Network.
Phoenix makes Bitcoin as easy as paying with your phone, while keeping your funds secure and decentralized.

⚡ If you’re looking for a fast, trustworthy, and beginner-friendly Bitcoin app, Phoenix is the one to try.

Download:

Get it on Google Play
Get it on the AppStore
Manual installation file available for free download (for advanced users)
Categories
Linux Artificial Intelligence Blog

2025-10-18: Windows Recall – When Convenience Becomes Self-Surveillance

🧠 Microsoft promotes Windows Recall as a smart, futuristic feature: your PC “remembers” everything you’ve ever seen on your screen – every email, every website, every document. An integrated AI helps you instantly rediscover what you were looking for. It sounds like progress. In reality, it’s a troubling step toward self-surveillance.

👁️ Recall continuously takes screenshots of your desktop and stores them locally. Microsoft claims the data is encrypted and accessible only to you. But wherever data exists, risk exists. Any attacker, malware, or simple oversight could turn this “digital memory” into a serious security breach.
What’s marketed as a convenience feature is, in truth, a complete log of your digital life.

⚠️ Many users enable Recall without a second thought – because it sounds practical, because Microsoft seems trustworthy, or because convenience wins over privacy. Nobody would willingly grant an app full access to their photos, contacts, or calendar – yet when Windows offers the same level of data exposure, people often accept it without hesitation.

🔍 Windows Recall demonstrates how easily surveillance can be disguised as a helpful feature.

🐧 Under Linux, such a concept would be almost unthinkable. Open source code, transparent development, and a critical community ensure that control remains in the hands of the user.
A system like Linux Mint proves that security, stability, and usability don’t have to come at the cost of privacy.

💡 It’s time to shift the narrative:
Windows may win on convenience, but Linux leads where privacy truly matters.

More Information to Linux Mint:

https://linuxmint.com

Categories
Blog Anonymity Bitcoin

2025-10-17: New Free Bitcoin Mempool Service

🔗 What is the Mempool?
The Mempool (short for Memory Pool) is the waiting area for unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions. Before a transaction is included in a block and officially confirmed, it sits in the Mempool. Here, all pending transactions wait until miners pick them up and add them to a new block. In other words, the Mempool shows what’s happening in the Bitcoin network in real time before it’s written into the blockchain.

💻 I’m now offering a free Mempool service where you can watch Bitcoin transactions live or explore past transactions. It’s perfect for developers, Bitcoin enthusiasts, or anyone curious about what’s going on in the network — fast, lightweight, and privacy-friendly.

🔍 What the service offers

  • 🚀 Live Mempool: Watch new, unconfirmed transactions in real time.
  • 🕓 Historical data: Look up past Mempool events and transaction details.
  • 🧩 Independent server: No big third-party clusters — just a small, private Mempool server for direct access.

🛡️ Why privacy matters
This server does not log which IP addresses view which transactions. So if you check your own Bitcoin transactions here, it happens without IP logging — giving you more anonymity compared to many public explorers.

🌐 Try it now:

https://mempool.it-service-commander.de

Categories
Blog Bitcoin Security

2025-10-15: Bitcoin Fulcrum Server – Secure, Fast & Open for Everyone

🔒 What is it, exactly?
A Fulcrum server is what’s known as an Electrum server for the Bitcoin network. It allows wallet apps such as Phoenix, Electrum, or Sparrow to connect securely and quickly to the blockchain – the decentralized database that records all Bitcoin transactions.
Instead of downloading the entire Bitcoin blockchain, wallets can use a Fulcrum server to fetch only the data they need — efficiently, privately, and without relying on big centralized providers.

⚙️ Technical Details
My Fulcrum server runs at the following address:
👉 fulcrum.it-service-commander.de:50002
The connection is fully SSL-encrypted, ensuring all communication is secure.
Behind the scenes, it’s powered by Bitcoin Core 29.2, directly connected to the Bitcoin network.

💼 Why I’m Offering This
As an IT service provider, I work with a few clients who are increasingly interested in Bitcoin, self-custody, and digital security.
Most wallet apps automatically connect to public servers on the internet — and you never really know who operates them or what kind of data they collect.

With my own Fulcrum server, I provide my clients (and anyone interested) with a trusted, privacy-friendly, and stable infrastructure they can easily configure in their wallet app.

📱 How to Connect


Getting started is simple:

  1. Open your wallet app (e.g., Phoenix, Electrum, or Sparrow).
  2. Go to the Server Settings section.
  3. Enter the following details:
  1. Save the settings — and you’re all set! Your wallet is now securely connected to my Fulcrum server.

🔧 Benefits for My Clients
✅ Fast synchronization with the Bitcoin blockchain
✅ Fully encrypted communication via SSL
✅ No dependency on unknown third-party servers
✅ Ideal for businesses integrating Bitcoin into their IT infrastructure
✅ Transparent, European-based infrastructure — operated by a local IT provider

🚀 Conclusion
With my public Bitcoin Fulcrum server, I aim to make secure, decentralized technologies more accessible — especially for small and mid-sized businesses.
Anyone using Bitcoin should understand that real trust comes from transparency and open systems — and that’s exactly what this service represents.