SIG Notes

Google And Privacy

Mark — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:05:27 +0000

Last month at the Internet SIG we talked about Google and their “privacy issues”. A few weeks ago Google was accused of crack the iPhone. Here’s Leo Laporte to tell you more about it…

For even more on this subject watch This Week in Google.

Security and Privacy Tools

Mark — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:06:23 +0000

So far we have just dealt with privacy issues but what about Internet Security?

SSL and TSL

SSL or TSL are Internet Security protocols. They encrypt (make your communication secret) everything on the Internet point to point meaning from your computer to the web server, this includes your passwords. Whenever you login to a SSL or TSL session you will see the far left of the address bar of your web-browser change color. This should always be the case with your banking sites. If you do not see the bar change are being fished or the bank is not a good one and you should get a different one right away. It is most important that these protocols be observed when using a WiFi hotspot, if not everything you are doing can be observed.

Passwords

By all means you must create good passwords and you must have a different password for every website. This can be difficult but there are tools like LastPass that can help you create good passwords and store them for you.

See Password Security Presentation

Password Security Part 2

Virtual Private Networks

A Virtual Private Networks or VPN is a great tool to enhance your privacy and security in fact it is the only way to really stay secure on an unsecured WiFi hotspot.

How to setup your own VPN.

Use a hotspot VPN

Using Proxies

Mark — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:18:50 +0000

If you really, really paranoid you can always use Incognito or private browsing plus connecting through a proxy. Yes you can connect to websites using a proxy server. Proxies prevent the site at the other end from knowing that it is your computer that is connecting to their site.

Proxy Servers

How to setup a proxy using Firefox.

Other Security and Privacy Tools

Chromebook

Mark — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 04:54:14 +0000

A Chromebook is a notebook computer that runs the Chrome OS and its only function is to access web-applications via the Chrome web-browser. Chromebooks are manufactured by Acer and Samsung. They are sold at Newegg, Tiger Direct and Amazon. They are priced between $349 (Wifi only) to $499 (with WiFi and 3G connectivity). Amazon and NewEgg always seems to be sold-out so go to Tiger Direct.

Chromebook Features

Build Your Own Chromebook
I do not have a spare $500 or even $350 so I made a Chromebook from my HP laptop. You can do this with any computer you have laying around. A 1GHz or better processor and 512MB of RAM should get you started. You can only install Chrome using a USB stick but if your computers BIOS does not support booting from a USB stick you can download the Plop Boot Manager Live CD that will install the USB drivers so you can boot from the stick.

If you do not have a spare computer or you just want to experiment with Chrome OS you do not have to install it but you can run it from the USB stick.

The OS that you will install is not really the Google Chrome OS that is installed on the Acer or Samsung notebooks. It is the open-source brother of Chrome call Chromium. It mostly looks and acts like Chrome OS and the two projects share their work with each other so they really are the same.

Make sure you install Chromium OS Lime and not Vanilla. Lime has extra hardware support and is not as likely to have compatibility issues.

Instructions here to install

Google Privacy Policy

Mark — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 02:42:37 +0000

In the past week there has been a lot of noise surrounding the issue of the new Google Privacy Policy to take effect March 1st. Right now Google has 8 different policies each for a different service. They have been combined the into one very readable document. No legal-speak. What this policy says is…

If your signed in Google, search will now make suggestions based on your interest as expressed in Google+, YouTube and yes Gmail, but this is not as nefarious as it sounds.The same system that scans your email for spam also finds keywords that assist in finding relevent ads for you to see. This is completely automated and no human ever sees it. Google would never share your emails with advertisers.

Google Policies and Principles Please read everything on this sight if you really want to understand what’s going on. If after reading this you still don’t trust Google see “Break Up With Google“.

Break Up With Google

Mark — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 01:39:31 +0000

If you don’t trust Google anymore you can opt out and never be “spied on” again.

To delete your account go to Google account settings. At the bottom under “Services” click “Close entire account and delete all services and info associated with it”.

But wait! What about all the data (docs, email, etc.) you have stored on Google. See Data Liberation

Data Liberation

Mark — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 00:37:44 +0000

Google does not want to trap you into using their services so they’ve made it very easy to get your data out of Google. Although very easy it is sometimes not apparent so they have created the Data Liberation Front, a website that explains the various methods used to get your data. For example you can use an email program on your computer to down all of your mail or you may export your email so you may import it to a different service. The Data Liberation Front website tells you how.

If Your Really Paradoid

Really Paranoid

Mark — Sat, 04 Feb 2012 23:41:50 +0000

If you are really uncomfortable never sign into any web service, they all do what Google is doing and a lot more.

If you really want to be sure no one is watching, use “Incognito” in Chrome or “Private Browsing” in Firefox. There will be no history and no tracking cookies. There will be no functionality as well!

Do you know who really knows about you? Your Internet Service Provider! Your ISP knows about everything you do on the Internet except encrypted sites (sites using HTTPS) like your bank or Gmail.

My Web Apps

Mark — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:54:53 +0000

Many of the Chrome apps are just Web GL optimized web-pages. Of course all of the Google apps are available including Gmail, Docs, and Calendar.

The Huffington Post app is incredible. Also the Google Music App is pretty nice.

The best app of all I think is the Kindle app. It is just like the Kindle device but on your computer.

The 60 Minutes App is pretty good also.

Offline Google Mail

Mark — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 20:24:06 +0000

Offline Google Mail beta is a Gmail app built to support offline access, allowing mail to be read, responded to, searched and archived without network access. After first start-up, Gmail Offline will automatically synchronize messages and queued actions anytime Chrome is running and an Internet connection is available. More than just an offline app, the streamlined user interface, based off Gmail’s popular tablet interface, provides extremely fast response time with a pure, email focused experience… (read more)