Important note - Chrome Remote Desktop works by default as a screen scraper, so that anyone physically near the computer you've remotely logged in to can see what you're doing on the monitor. However, there's a simple registry key that you can add to enable "curtain" mode, which spins up an instance of Remote Desktop and connects to that, instead.

More information here.

I guess it would have been a less compelling story if it didn't have the anti-advertising bent, and was more along the lines of "NSA uses web analytics cookies to pinpoint users."

Uniquely identifying web browsers by assigning a unique ID into a cookie has been a core behavior of the web analytics industry for over 15 years. You want to know how many unique visitors are coming to your web site? Assign an ID!

If advertising didn't exist, and Google remained the most popular website, the NSA would still have a unique client identifier. They'd also probably have more details, since the main alternative to advertising is subscription, which would require (with current technology) disclosure of actual personal information.

Pretty sure that "free" chat client aggregater Digsby has been using CPU time on machines it's been installed on for ages - one of the reasons I don't recommend people use it.

It's in section 15 of their TOS.

Don't know if they've ever used this specifically for Bitcoin mining, but there's no reason they couldn't.

Robocopy ( http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc733145.aspx ) is included in all desktop versions of Windows (so, not RT or Phone). Extensive copying/moving/mirroring options, CLI-only. Great for integrating into scheduled scripts.

I'd still agree with other poster here, and recommend git over Robocopy to the OP. However, Windows does have a robust tool for syncing files between multiple computers built in.

In fact, Robocopy has been available since Windows NT 4.0.

The OP hasn't been super clear with regards to their requirements - is the goal to provide:

1. - Internet to all festival goers?
2. - Internet to festival organizers only?

If it's the former, then the question is whether the OP wants to provide this as part of the ticket price, then consider whether to bring in a 3rd party either as a sponsorship or as a business. If it's the latter, then the question is whether the festival organizers actually need the internet, or just a bunch of organizer resources. A private WLAN with a local web server hosting all the festival resources should significantly reduce the need for internet access.

OP says "what browser should I use" I automatically add "for the Facebooks".

Here's the low-down:

1. If you install any software, it can identify your machine uniquely. This goes for apps, doubly.
2. If you use an ISP without TOR or other proxy, your ISP knows exactly what sites you're going to.
3. Even if you use obfuscation techniques (TOR, other proxy), the exit node knows where you're going. TOR is designed to prevent the exit node from knowing where you entered from, but this fails if you send unencrypted identifying data across the wire.
4. Additionally, using TOR obfuscates your country of origin, thereby giving NSA the freedom to retain your activity indefinitely.
5. If you authenticate anywhere, you've provided that party (and the NSA) with a unique ID for yourself.
6. If you authenticate and also provide actual information about yourself, a link to your physical self can be made. Remember, there's an 87% chance that your DOB, ZIP, and Gender are a unique combination. And if it isn't unique, you probably only share these with one or two other people.

That's just off the top of my head. The software you use to disclose the information isn't the problem - you are.

In 2008, there was a bit of a stink raised when chat client Digsby implemented a "Research Module" that used local CPU resources while the machine was not active. Their blog post announcing the fact was in 2008, and I'm not sure that they ever removed this functionality.

It was reason enough for me to force anyone I knew to uninstall the tool - I'm not keen on subscriptions, especially fluctuating cost ones.

Three videos posted over the last couple of days - all of which purport to provide insight, at least in summary. I've not made it through more than a few seconds of each since there is excessive background noise.

Use a more targeted mic? Do some post-processing? Find a quieter room to interview your subject in? Provide a transcript?

Otherwise, it's just a waste of effort.

I'm not sure how AOL internet access works, but Remote Desktop only works if the target is on a public IP address.

Software/services like LogMeIn, Chrome Remote Desktop, and (until recently) Windows Live Mesh provide server-mediated remote desktop, which allows connection to a target machine even when that machine is on a private IP.

If they're using the most basic of authorization schemes, yes. However, their implementation is stateful - the saved games are stored server-side, so your "responder" would have to implement at least partially the feature-set implemented by EAs servers.

It's probably not quite as complex as implementing a "responder" for an MMO, but the featureset is definitely trending in that direction with cross-city interactivity.

As he updated today, again on Reddit:

It turns out however, that EA is having really bad technical issues and managed to accidentally ban several users. The cause, they credit, is something to do with the email opt-out. (Which explains why I did not receive information regarding the ban)

ref

Always On DRM is still a reason not to buy the game, as is buggy account management. However, the day-long Slashdot lag is providing only half the story.