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By Marco Fioretti in Linux and Open Source, November 26, 2013, 4:57 AM PST // mfioretti_it Email Alert RSS
Learn everything you can do with the TOR network with the help of Vidalia.
For most people, Vidalia is only a type of sweet onion. However, there's another Vidalia that all web surfers should know, regardless of their culinary preferences -- and that's the graphical control panel of the Tor Browser Bundle.
The easiest way to start using TOR is the multi-platform Tor Browser Bundle, which is a portable version of Firefox, preconfigured to run off a USB stick and always use TOR and other privacy-friendly free software. Vidalia deserves a post because it's a good way to learn everything you can do with the TOR network. Besides, even if anonymous browsing is all you need, you really should spend some time in Vidalia when you start using TOR. With a little effort, you'll get a good idea of what that network may do for you, and how it works. The Vidalia Control Panel (Figure A) makes it easier to start and stop a TOR client on your computer, check how it works, and know if something went wrong. Figure A
The Bandwidth Usage graph (Figure B), for example, very clearly shows a basic fact of life with TOR -- namely, what you gain in anonymity, you'll lose in speed. The graph is also
useful to get realistic expectations of what is or isn't possible online through TOR. For example, interactive, high-definition video or any delay-sensitive application is unlikely. Figure B
Another feature you should know from the start is Use New Identity. This will change the TOR circuit you use and therefore the point from which your packets appear to come from. Try it if some web site doesn't let you in just because it thinks you're from the "wrong" part of the Internet (it does happen). Switching to a new identity is also a must when, for whatever reason, you don't want to restart the whole TOR client but need to reload some web site as a different user.
central box at the bottom shows the nodes that constitute the used circuits. Their location, bandwidth, uptime, and other details are all listed in the bottom right corner. Figure C
Things get a bit more complicated when your local network blocks all publicly known TOR entry points, no matter what ports they use. The obvious solution is use a TOR bridge, which is a node whose address is not public. Of course, that's only possible if you know the address of at least one bridge in advance, but don't worry. You can try this list of bridges (captcha required) or send an email to bridges@bridges.torproject.org (from a Gmail or Yahoo account) with the line "get bridges" by itself in the email body. Once you know a bridge address, click on "MY ISP blocks connections to the Tor network" in Vidalia, and enter it in the corresponding field.
Vidalia Services.
The most important parameter is the Onion Address, which is generated by TOR itself -that's the address you must pass to all the users of your server; otherwise, they won't be able to reach it through TOR (or in any other way). For more details, check out this tutorial on the TOR web site.