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Privacy

Submission + - How to simplify online privacy? 1

Submitted by MotorMachineMercenar
MotorMachineMercenar writes: Google moving all their services under the same TOS was the final straw for me, and I started taking my online privacy seriously. My resolve has been reinvigorated due to reports of people getting on no-fly lists due to tasteless jokes online, fired for jokes overheard in meatspace reported on Twitter, and the likelihood of everything I do online being tracked, stored, cataloged and cross-referenced increasing due to cloud storage and other online services.

I guarantee something I've said online could be taken out of context and used against me, someone I've been in contact will become a socially unacceptable person, or maybe some of my legal online activities will be part of a character assassination in the hands of a disgruntled ex, or if I ever decide to run for office. Social mores change so rapidly these days, that something that was fine just a few years ago could be compared to bloody murder these days. Who knows what I do today will be viewed in ten, twenty years?

My Firefox has Ghostery, AdBlock Plus, DoNotTrackMe and CustomizeGoogle add-ons installed to limit my exposure to different trackers, exploits, ads, and spying. This only works on Firefox, though. Unfortunately so many add-ons break some websites that I use regularly. For those I use Opera.

I still have Gmail since it's a really good service. I use Chrome for Gmail-only activities so that my other browsing habits are not easily tracked by Google. Getting rid of Gmail, other Google services, and my Android phone would probably be the biggest step in improving my privacy — but Google is not the only aggregator out there.

While setting up the scheme above is not complicated, there must be an easier way. I'd like to use just one browser, not get ads, not get tracked, and ideally get a non-unique result on EFF's Panopticlick — my (perhaps mis-guided) gold standard for privacy.

I don't mind spending a few hours to set up a private proxy or spending some money on a hardware proxy. But while I'm tech savvy, I don't understand proxies etc. well enough to make an informed decision how well and what kind of threats they do protect me from — and what other measures I need to take.

Therefore I'd like to ask you to help me and others put us in the right direction. What is a workable solution to strengthen online privacy, lock up my browsing habits, and separate my numerous online identities?

Comment Re: religion Re-count (Score 1) 245

by u64 (#43247127) Attached to: Study Finds Universe Is 100 Million Years Older Than Previously Thought

How many agnostics are there in the world?
Considering that younger children are, like most animals, agnostic from birth. And when humans
grows up they either discover that religion is bull and becomes atheists. Or joins a religion.

wolframalpha.com/input?i=how+many+children+are+there+in+the+world
Humans age 0-15: 1855 Million, 2009 estimate.

The younger they are - the more likely agnostic. And many adults are agnostic.
Hmmm...

Comment Re:A last desperate attempt (Score 1) 466

by u64 (#43207335) Attached to: Why Earth Hour Is a Waste of Time and Energy

Symbolism and placebo effects can have some usefulness.
Earth Hour is a last desperate attempt at getting people to at least try to save something.
Just to see what it's like. After that, more people can start saving all-year round.

Hopefully people starts to realize that saving isn't that uncomfortable and that it's for their own good.
Government

Submission + - Prosecutor in Aaron Swartz Case Lied About Search Warrant (huffingtonpost.com)

Submitted by runeghost
runeghost writes: "Federal prosecutor Stephen Heymann engaged in prosecutorial misconduct by withholding key evidence from the defense team of Aaron Swartz, the late Internet activist's legal team alleged in a letter to an internal Justice Department ethics unit."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Heymann appears to have lied to the court and ignored his duty to disclose exculpatory evidence, so as to avoid invalidating the government's case against Aaron Swartz.

Submission + - New Lifeform Possibly Discovered (livescience.com)

Submitted by AstroPhilosopher
AstroPhilosopher writes: Scientists from Russia appear to have discovered an unknown microbe. In 2012 scientists took a water sample from Lake Vostok located more than two miles below Antarctic ice. It’s believed that this water is pristine, unaltered for at least a million years. Among the sample was a bacterium that is said to be only 86 percent similar to other types known to exist. After running the bacteria’s DNA through a global database, they could not find any known bacterium that matches the sample; they even couldn’t determine the bacteria’s descendants. At the moment, the scientists are awaiting confirmation from their peers. However, the bacterium is currently listed as unclassified and unidentified.
Google

Submission + - Google will cut 1,200 more jobs at Motorola Mobility (networkworld.com)

Submitted by alphadogg
alphadogg writes: Motorola Mobility is cutting 1,200 staff, in addition to a reduction of 4,000 staff it announced in August, to focus on high-end devices. "These cuts are a continuation of the reductions we announced last summer," said Motorola. "It's obviously very hard for the employees concerned, and we are committed to helping them through this difficult transition." Motorola's mobile business has been overwhelmed in the smartphone market by larger players such as Samsung Electronics, Apple, Sony, Huawei Technologies and ZTE.

Submission + - Bradley Manning Pleads Guilty (latimes.com) 1

Submitted by
Entropy98
Entropy98 writes: "Army Pfc. Bradley Edward Manning pleaded guilty Thursday to 10 charges that he illegally acquired and transferred highly classified U.S. government secrets, agreeing to serve 20 years in prison for causing a worldwide uproar when WikiLeaks published documents describing the inner workings of U.S. military and diplomatic efforts in Iraq, Afghanistan and around the globe.

The 25-year-old soldier, however, pleaded not guilty to 12 more serious charges, including espionage for aiding the enemy, meaning that his criminal case will go forward at a general court-martial in June. If convicted at trial, he risks a sentence of life in prison at Ft. Leavenworth, Kan."
Patents

Submission + - New Bill Would Require Patent Trolls to Pay Defendants' Attorneys (law360.com)

Submitted by
Zordak
Zordak writes: "According to Law 360, H.R. 845, the "Saving High-Tech Innovators from Egregious Legal Disputes" (SHIELD) Act of 2013 would require non-practicing entities that lose in patent litigation to pay the full legal costs of accused infringers. The new bill would define a "non-practicing entity" as a plaintiff that is neither the original inventor or assignee of a patent, and that has not made its own "substantial investment in exploiting the patent." The bill is designed to particularly have a chilling effect on "shotgun" litigation tactics by NPEs, in which they sue numerous defendants on a patent with only a vague case for infringement. Notably, once a party is deemed to be an NPE early in the litigation, they will be required to post a bond to cover the defendants' litigation costs before going forward."
Censorship

Submission + - High Court Orders UK ISPs to Block Kickass Torrents, H33T and Fenopy (torrentfreak.com)

Submitted by Anonymous Coward
An anonymous reader writes: The website blocking phenomenon has continued today in the UK, with the High Court adding three major torrent sites to the country’s unofficial ban list. Following complaints from the music industry led by the BPI, the Court ordered the UK’s leading Internet service providers to begin censoring subscriber access to Kickass Torrents, H33T and Fenopy.

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