[tor-talk] Hi all!

[cgp 3cg]

> Hi,

Hi!

>     I am not new to Tor, though it has been a while since I've used it.  I
> notice that there are many changes since I used it last.  I have some some
> questions to get me up to speed with the newest release.

[snip]

> 1. Is there a preferred browser and OS to maximize security?

The Tor Browser Bundle (TBB) is what you need:

https://www.torproject.org/download/download-easy.html.en

Just extract and run.

> 2. What is the best way to use a VPN with Tor to increase anonymity?

I'll leave this for someone else ...

> 3. Is there now a way to use Tor to send anonymous email?  (All but government
> controlled remailers were shut down).

Depends on how you define anonymous. As you point out the remailer
networks are pretty much dead.

You can sign up to Tor Mail and FastMail via Tor, and then access both
either through a web interface or via IMAP (Claws Mail works well as a
lightweight IMAP client, and seems to play nicely with Tor). FastMail
requires a pre-existing email address for its free account, but 10
Minute Mail (or Tor Mail) can help you there.

http://tormail.net/ , http://jhiwjjlqpyawmpjx.onion/
https://fastmail.fm/
http://10minutemail.com/10MinuteMail/index.html

Search the archives for some discussions about Tor Mail ... not
everyone is happy with it. (I am!)

> I can use Windows 7 64 bit + any GNU/Linux or Posix OS that supports multibit
> builds.

There are Tor Browser Bundles for Windows, Linux, and OS X.

> I'd like to get back into using Tor (I stopped because the TorButton was ...
> unreliable for anonymity).

Torbutton has been through some changes, and comes in the TBB. As the
web page says: "Users should be using Tor Browser Bundle, not
installing Torbutton themselves":

https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/

Mike may have more to say, but the design doco should cover everything:

https://www.torproject.org/torbutton/en/design/index.html.en

> Any recommended reading, if not direct answers?  Think of me as a newbie who's
> not really a newbie - that is, I've used Tor and just want to be brought up to
> speed on the most secure way to use the new version.

Keep reading this list!

-C