Using Cryptomator to store confidential documents in the cloud

 

Storing personal documents in the cloud always raises the question of whether they are really secure - there are many who do not store them over there and prefer to continue to store locally - single drive method (the bulk of users), or Network Attached Storage (NAS).

It is almost the same fashion with backup.

Then there are those who don't really bother much with security and simply rely on services they think that are reputable and reliant. Others would pay for upgraded/premium services.

What if there is a way to store encrypted documents in the cloud with a peace of mind, and free? Seamless, that is, not "primitive" way of encrypting the files first and then upload?

To begin, let's talk about normal storage in the cloud - for this I will use TeraBox. TeraBox has recently gotten some publicity (here's one) and is gaining popularity with those hungry for free and large space. TeraBox also, like Google Drive and all, provides drive mapping i.e. creating a folder that syncs with the cloud, or simply uploads to it just by copying/saving the document into the folder without using the browser to upload it.

 

01 Setting up a mapped drive in TeraBox 

Figure 1

After setting up the desktop application (above is for Windows environment), click Back up to start the process.

Mountain Ranges in Malaysia (Banjaran Gunung)

 

West and East Malaysia (marked)

After procrastinated for 8 "contiguous" years, I finally decided to get this done once and for all and thus closed off one chapter.

Not many articles out there show the sketches to mark the official mountain ranges; for those I could locate, I had downloaded them.

Some notes: 

• The maps are provided by a mapping aficionado who does not know where he initially got them from
• Mapping is estimate i.e. by no means accurate
• Mountain range names are taken from published papers and articles (see References below)
• They are not for sale (of course) 
• My sketches cannot be used for navigation or as official references (thus go back to published papers and articles - as source of truth)
• Some spelling adjusted to current day
  

Malaysia has a total of 18 official mountain ranges:

New trail from Lata Temeriak to Bukit Lentang & Underwater Tornado

 

Landscape view from Bukit Lentang peak (821 m)

There is no 360° all-round view at the peak but one can see Karak and beyond - roughly North till East. On a clear day, one can get to spot the Benom mountain range (banjaran Benom and its peak Gunung Benom (2,107 m - 10th highest in the peninsula) prominently. At the South side, Gunung Besar Hantu can be seen hidden among the trees.

The trigonometrical station (ala lightning hazard in case anyone thinks it is a shelter during rain) remains standing tall. 

If one spend the time to look around the clear sky, there is Bukit Raka, Gua Cinta Manis on a limestone hill, small mountain range at Maran side where Berkelah, Jerangkang and Pelangi waterfalls are. Straight ahead on the toll road is where Mentakab and beyond are.

Healthy trig station

The route to this lofty peak comes from the East side.

How to hike or walk UCF trails (Bukit Persekutuan)

 

The Urban Community Forest (UCF) is located within KL's Bukit Persekutuan (Federal Hill) and it has a number of trails suitable for outdoorsy people of all ages who are looking for a good dose of workout. Town folks need not travel far to immerse into forest bathing. UCF is a green network created by Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) in partnership with Think City.

There are five trails in UCF (refer map below):

1. Jungle Fowl ('D')
   
2. Pulai ('E')
   
3. Cempedak ('I')
   
4. Heritage ('L' - located inside MNS compound)
   
5. Thunbergia ('L' - located inside MNS compound)
   

These trails are not grouped together in one forest patch and to hike them all will require walking on tarmac roads too i.e. the forest patches are not contiguous but are interconnected via roads.

Here's the guide to how to hike the trails (maximising the workout duration and distance) and where to safely park your vehicle and not disrupt the traffic flow. The total length of this leisure hike/walk distance is 4 km +/- and takes about 2 hours.

Kemensah-Lubuk Tedung (Pondok Repin LSD trail)

Crossing Sg Kelang (Klang River)

We have an ambition to get to Genting Bidai border stone from Kemensah side but we know that will take a full day (night not excluded) and risk stuck by the swollen river, given the knowledge of heavy rain everyday during this time (transition phase for the monsoons) and we actually agreed we will walk as much as we can until we feel it is time to turn back.

Along the way, mostly ATV and scrambler-carved trails, we crossed and hiked along several rivers and streams. Usual thing.

Back home, after plotting the GPS tracklog, I see Hulu Gombak Forest Reserve has many named rivers to the east of Klang Gates dam and we crossed some of them. Some of them have their sources from nearby famous peaks, as described below.

Map showing Sg Kelang drains into Klang Gates dam (sources: Google Map and OpenTopoMap - inset & underlay)
Larger image here

A Clean-Up cum Workout at Shah Alam Community Forest (SACF)

Group photo before the start - check out the tools we brought!

The last clean-up I did was in 2014 - with Leave No Trace objectives in mind. This round, my hash walk group, Evergreen, decided to do something out of the ordinary walks and hikes. I had proposed SACF as the hash walk destination last month - Pete added on the clean-up idea after our chat group revealed a clean-up exercise (separate event) done by a member. Today we realised that clean-up mission. 

Our main target is the route MOU > The Wall > Masterpiece > Peak Garden, and we discovered the big chunk is the area near the base, or trailhead.

Personally, I was worn out from today's trip, partly due to yesterday's hike at Gunung Hitam. I have reserve energy but it ran out when I and a few did the heavyweight of grabbing, pulling, carrying, dragging, and transferring the big pieces. And loads of them...

Below are photos from our "expedition..."

Work begins

Blue (or Green) Lake at BMC Blue Lake

I would tend to believe the colour transition between blue-green is dependent on the sky, time of day and the angle of sunlight as well as where the camera is positioned. 

It seems more people are flouting to this site to catch a glimpse of the unusual view of this famous, so-called blue lake despite barriers such as military-grade barbed wire and dug trenches. Hiking there takes less than half an hour, or slightly more, for those with slower pace. That area being part of forest, it is advisable to go in with proper hiking attire - and bring water!

Do take all precautions necessary when entering this area and getting close to the lake - standing near the edge is notably dangerous. Also, getting down to the bottom is even more treacherous as rock blasting takes place in the late morning - I was told works begin at about 11 am. Numerous signboards apparently appears as no deterrence other than the presence of workers - so automatically visitors will be asked to leave. They may allow hanging around the top area but the bottom part is strictly no-no!

360° view of Blue Lake from above - pinch (or drag with mouse) to zoom in/out

An aerial drone shot by Joseph (https://www.facebook.com/joseph.yong.984)

This believed to be from The Star media - thanks Mike Long for sharing this archive

For those who like history - what becomes of a quarry today was Bukit Enggang of yesterday - a name that is almost forgotten. Thanks Pete Leong for informing - I just didn't bother to look it out on the topo maps...

Below are some of my photos: