Browse Securely: Use a VPN

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Friday January 06, 2017 · 8:25 AM PST

2017/01/06 · 08:25

With Circles and arrows on the back of each one...

OK, I’m actually writing this diary because I saw a deal online (no, i’m not affiliated with the link, it’s just a deal) But since we’ve had a couple of security-related diaries up, here’s a really short one on VPNs.

If you aren’t really familiar with networking, that’s OK, but basically, you probably already know that when you are online, unless you use some form of encryption, your data is visible. The easy and basic first layer of this is an HTTPS Connection in your browser. This gives security to what is happening inside the connection (to your bank for example).

But to get that initial secure connection, you depend on the security of your network. At your home, this is no issue. You can generally depend on your Service provider to not hack and steal your data. Of course, they still capture where you go, and are subject to warrants by federal agencies, etc. So you have some limited exposure, but this is fine for most people.

But once you head out onto a public network, all bets are off. Public sites are under far less control, can you data can be further exposed. From Lifehacker:

Sure, You May Be Alone, But That Doesn't Mean No One's Watching

If you're the only one in the coffee shop and you live in a small town, you're probably the only person on that network. That said, there's nothing stopping someone in the parking lot from pulling up to use the free Wi-Fi, or anyone in any of the buildings nearby hopping on to the coffee shop wireless to save some bandwidth or see what other people are doing. Just because it seems like you're the only person in the area doesn't mean you're the only person on the network, and this is especially true for larger places like libraries, airports, hotels, or convention centers with one large network that spans the entire area. Is your local coffee shop or favorite bookstore a haunt for black hats? Probably not—but it doesn't take a skilled hand to sit on a wireless network for giggles and pull down as many packets as they have time to collect.

So the easier way to add an extra layer of security is to Use a VPN, or a Virtual Private Network. Lifehacker again:

What Is a VPN?

Put simply, a Virtual Private Network, or VPN, is a group of computers (or discrete networks) networked together over a public network—namely, the internet. Businesses use VPNs to connect remote datacenters, and individuals can use VPNs to get access to network resources when they're not physically on the same LAN (local area network), or as a method for securing and encrypting their communications when they're using an untrusted public network.

When you connect to a VPN, you usually launch a VPN client on your computer (or click a link on a special website), log in with your credentials, and your computer exchanges trusted keys with a far away server. Once both computers have verified each other as authentic, all of your internet communication is encrypted and secured from eavesdropping.

SO… If, for example, you use public WiFi a lot, or are particularly uninterested in your ISP knowing where you browse, or happen to live in a country about to install a proto-facist as an executive, this might be of interest.

Here’s a bit more data:

A great article for more detail: lifehacker.com/…

A much nerdier site (home to a very good podcast, Security Now!) www.grc.com/...

Here’s the deal if you are interested (Lifetime VPN for ~$40): digitaloffers.androidcentral.com/…

That’s it. Hope this is helpful.

Superdelegates and the Electoral College. This is why.

mhanch

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Tuesday October 18, 2016 · 10:41 AM PDT

2016/10/18 · 10:41

It is always interesting when you see someone post an article that perfectly encapsulates what it is that you are thinking, but just can’t quite put into words. Superdelegates came up so often in the Hillary/Bernie arguments, that I kept giving it thought. We have these undemocratic mechanisms in our body politic, and they serve a function. But do they cause more harm than good. Bob Cesca today nailed it, and hit that balance of thought that I just couldn’t.

Donald Trump, a threat the Founding Fathers foresaw: He proves the need for the Electoral College — and is the best case for superdelegates

Go read the link: www.salon.com/…

In the best of times, having these archane structures impede good candidates from getting forward in our democracy. But in the worst of times…

As much as we like to think of ourselves as wise and rational people, we too often require protection from ourselves. Everything from traffic laws to food labels to term limits are designed as strictures against the human penchant for self-destruction. Indeed, the Constitution and the system of government it outlines is built upon checking the worst instincts of human nature — especially the unquenchable appetite for total power. The framers therefore constructed a system in which every structure is checked-and-balanced with the sole purpose of thwarting too much centralized power and fostering stability in the face of popular whimsy.

Democrats sought to prevent the need for this with their superdelegates. Whether it actually works, or just slows things down is debatable. But we can see what the Republican party has become without it.

The Republican Party, if it’s at all interested in blocking another Trump-ish fiasco, would do well to set up its own superdelegate system, even if it never has to use it. But it’s fair to suggest that many Republicans wish it had already been in place. Superdelegates, as controversial as they are, would’ve potentially thwarted Trump’s nomination and, with it, many bleeding ulcers. More importantly, it’d shield the rest of us from a similarly destabilizing character whose entire strategy is built upon pandering and ridiculousness. I’m not sure the GOP is self-aware or self-critical enough to appoint its own superdelegates, but the rest of the world would be more than grateful for it. Believe me.

Both these systems need an overhaul. But not an elimination in my mind. and the Republicans would take heed to adopt something too. These were always about less than filling the wishes of those in smoke filled rooms, and more about dampening the smoke of those with burning torches.

Bob Cesca lays it our far better than I could. check him out. www.salon.com/...

Poll

62 votes Show Results

What's your Opinion on Superdelegates and The EC?

62 votes Vote Now!

What's your Opinion on Superdelegates and The EC?

Too undemocratic. Eliminate them.

23 votes

The work fine as is.

27 votes

They have a purpose, but are broken as-is.

8 votes

Pie.

4 votes

Crosspost: Policy of Disengagement

mhanch

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Wednesday June 08, 2016 · 10:05 AM PDT

2016/06/08 · 10:05

(this is an old post from my personal blog. It seems to apply now more than ever in this political season)

As I sit in a bar in Los Angeles right now, listening to some douchebag in a poorly cut, but very expensive suit trash-talk the Seahawks and their fans (myself included), I reflect on what I have set for myself as policy when I deeply disagree with someone.

Disengagement.

It’s a work in progress, as I generally have a lack of temper and self-control, but I really don’t have another choice. I get set off easily, and I have a tendency to go off with all guns blazing when someone diametrically disagrees with me. But I’ve gotten better with this for the most part. Minor disagreements are pretty easy to discuss and eventually find common ground on. I can reach out. I can make the conversation not personal.

But I’m at a point where I’m not interested in dealing with racist or other bullshit like an adult. Those are easy calls, but more than that, I have to step out of certain arguments once I have determined one gap: a common language.

I found this with deep political differences. If I’m arguing with a Hard-core, Tea Party conservative, who thinks that any and every action by the government is inherently evil, we can’t have a policy discussion. There is no middle ground. If I’m discussing diet with a Vegetarian or Vegan, you can’t get into the benefits of meat quality. The concept isn’t in the conversation.

We simply don’t have a common language to speak.

So now, my personal policy is to try to disengage. If I think that there is no way to communicate, then I shouldn’t try. Alternately, if something is setting my blood boiling, I try to take that as a clue and back out.

I’ve gone to unfollowing people on social Media, or in the worst case, blocking them entirely. I don’t need to explain this to them for the same reason that I can’t have the conversation in the first place. It won’t be understood. I’ve also done this to myself when someone keeps setting me off. I’d rather cut one line of communication than permanently destroy all.

It sucks, but we live in a time where everyone has a megaphone, and being loud is more important than being right. I’d just rather be sane than right in some of these situations. I don’t always succeed, but I’m getting better.

But two more beers and I’m going over to piss down this guy’s neck…

We already got one...

mhanch

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Sunday November 15, 2015 · 10:26 AM PST

2015/11/15 · 10:26

So that happened.

It takes a few days after a tragedy to comprehend how you feel about it. Initially, all you can feel is shock. Sometimes it is just in passing, you recover after a few minutes. Other times it is a real slow burn, it takes time for the shock to even hit you. The attacks on Paris on Friday the 13th hit me hard right away, and never really let up. Partially because we have a lot of French friends, partially because we have been to Paris a few times, and recognize the streets when they show them on the news, and partially because, as tragic as this was, it very narrowly avoided becoming far, far worse.

Shooting up a concert and a restaurant, multiple bombs, 100+ people dead. Those bombs were meant to be inside a Football match. With follow up bombs going off in the panicking crowd. Good security kept that from happening. I can’t imagine how many more could have been killed if those bombs went off in the stadium. We all got lucky.

Terrorists also hit Beirut and Baghdad this week. A Russian airliner went down the week before.

It’s been a pretty shitty November.

There really hasn’t been as much coverage of the other incidents, perhaps because American Media treats Russia and the middle east as “others” and not worth the coverage, Maybe it was just out of the news cycle. But Paris had an impact. People die every day. We, as a culture, aren’t very sensitive to it anymore. When you consider that the number of people killed in the Paris attack is about the same as 3 days of regular Gun Violence deaths in the US, you realize that we tune out death on a daily basis. It takes something very special to get through. And this was special.

For most of the world, Paris is the city where life is “Amélie” and “Ratatouille” all day long, and “Moulin Rouge” at night. It’s a romantic ideal with a zip code. Everything is romance and mimes and snails in your Happy Meal. We can look across the rest of the world and be disillusioned by the grey pressure of life, but everyone looks to Paris with Joy. That’s why I think an attack on Paris breaks through everyone’s cynicism. Terrorism isn’t about killing people, it’s about spreading fear, and hitting a place of such Joy (even if it is just the fantasy and perception we know) cranks that fear to 11.

I heard folks here in the US talk with sudden fear, as if an attack from ISIS is the next truly scary thing in their life. Let’s be clear, I live in America. I don’t fear terrorists from ISIS. I fear the toddler that found mommy’s loaded gun in the glove box of her F150. I fear the lack of any driving instruction as I cross the street. I fear the quality of our food (whether it’s ecoli or Type II Diabetes coming for me first). Where I live, Terrorists are the bogeyman, not a real threat.

And listening to the interviews of the Parisians after this attack, I think they know this lesson. I don’t hear fear and screaming for retribution, I hear sorrow and mourning for their loss, but the desire to stand up tall again. As they left the stadium, immediately after the attack, people were singing “La Marseillaise” with pride in their voice. They cheered each other as they walked out. We can all heal, but it has to be our choice.

Intelligence and vigilance saved lives, but refusing to be afraid is what stops the terror.

The Holocaust, The Kochs, and a deep lack of Reason.

mhanch

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Friday July 25, 2014 · 8:30 AM PDT

2014/07/25 · 08:30

This week, Mark Ames over at Pandodaily has been swinging his pen mightily at Libertarians, (and especially at the trend to try to recruit new Libertarian followers from the High Tech industry)

Full Disclosure: I work in high tech as well.

But his big hit was tearing the festering bandage off the connection between Holocaust Deniers, Reason Magazine, and our favorite people in the whole world, the Koch Brothers.

mhanch

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Thursday April 24, 2014 · 10:27 AM PDT

2014/04/24 · 10:27

Anyone following the Bundy debacle today has seen the mad rush by conservatives to distance themselves from the "shocking" racism that has surface from this new conservative hero. A spectacular example was our very favorite, Morning Joe.

Mr Scarborough gave his standard exasperated outrage at Bundy, as he knew that Bundy was no conservative from the start, took a few hits at the "Socialism" of public land, and actually made a few good points before washing his hands of the whole affair.

you can watch the whole thing here: [http://www.msnbc.com/...]

But what caught my ear was his defense of conservatism, instead of listening to these "faux-conservative" racists he said that:

"…there are a lot of extraordinarily credible, conservative, small-government, Libertarian voices to go to. You could read the works of Hayek, go back and re-read William F. Buckley, you can, you can look at Rand Paul…"

Really? Really, Joe, those are your go-to guys? Lets do a 30 second web search and see what we find. Read More

Second Place is a set of Steak Knives

mhanch

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Tuesday April 02, 2013 · 3:32 PM PDT

2013/04/02 · 15:32

You get used to a pretty busy schedule of meetings at Microsoft. Either you let it get to you, or you adapt. I had adapted quite well. I had a full slate for the week, with a fairly important release coming up the next week, and meetings stacked up on most of my days. I had a late call for a "Skip-Level" or a meeting with my bosses' boss. This wasn't all that uncommon, and usually involved a bit of outreach from the higher management, a bit of chit-chat, and back to work you go.

So I completed my round of meetings in the morning, had the release drop prepped for a review later, and made my way over to the big bosses' office. There was someone already in there, so I waited outside. After a bit, she opened the door, and asked me inside.

"Mark, thanks for coming. This is to inform you that your position has been eliminated at the company, and as of this moment your duties are finished."

I was laid off.

mhanch

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Friday January 18, 2013 · 9:01 PM PST

2013/01/18 · 21:01

Since there seems to be such a high volume of Articles recently talking about the huge increase of gun-related deaths, I have to ask, ultimately, what is the goal here?

I hear over and over that we (collectively) should work to reduce gun-deaths and gun-violence in America. And I also see statistics on how effective gun control is because in countries that have enacted strict gun control, gun violence has gone down. (or disappeared entirely.)

But are we asking for the right thing?

mhanch

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Saturday September 15, 2012 · 11:12 AM PDT

2012/09/15 · 11:12

It has struck me recently, how a diminishing resource in our world has begun to seriously impact our lives. Everything runs through shortages at some point, perhaps with the shortage increasing the value in the short term, but as I have seen the value of this seems to be lessened as well.

The resource that I am talking about is compassion.

mhanch

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Tuesday September 11, 2012 · 4:46 PM PDT

2012/09/11 · 16:46

I had a great discussion with my wife Yulia this evening about exercise, health and food. anyone who has read anything that I write or post knows that I am obsessive about trying to be, at least, generally healthy. Growing up as a “skinny kid” I never thought about health growing up. I had a super-fast metabolism all the way through college, and didn’t gain weight, and even when I exercised a lot, never really built muscle.

So I never looked at what I ate. It didn’t matter. I ate entire cakes, drank endless beer, whatever. I just never gained weight. and the problem is that if you don’t get actually fat, you never think about if you are actually healthy or not.

Poll

25 votes Show Results

What your experience with Fitness?

25 votes Vote Now!

What your experience with Fitness?

Just comes naturally

1 vote

Completely Impossible

3 votes

I watch my Diet

6 votes

I exercise more

9 votes

I keep trying something new

3 votes

I gave up

3 votes

Anonymous Finds Ron Paul under Supremacist Rock

mhanch

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Wednesday February 01, 2012 · 10:20 PM PST

2012/02/01 · 22:20

Well color me not surprised.

Twitter is a atwitter this evening with the news that the hacker group Anonymous mounted an attack against a series of White Supremacist groups, generally smashing, exposing, and defacing the sites. That in itself is at a minimum, worthy of note, but the kicker is what they found at one of the sites.

--fold here-----------------------

mhanch

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Thursday February 24, 2011 · 1:43 PM PST

2011/02/24 · 13:43

Anyone who has spent any time thinking about their diet, has put thought into the topic of sugar. And if you have paid attention to recent industry marketing, it is hard to avoid seeing how the sugar and processed food industries are trying to convince everyone that High Fructose Corn Syrup is "natural" and just as healthy as table sugar.

And they are right, both are deadly.

Poll

0 votes Show Results

0 votes Vote Now!

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Browse Securely: Use a VPN

Superdelegates and the Electoral College. This is why.

Crosspost: Policy of Disengagement

We already got one...

The Holocaust, The Kochs, and a deep lack of Reason.

Joe Scarborough's Conservative Heroes - The white underbelly of Racism

Second Place is a set of Steak Knives

Gun Death or Violent Death?

Compassion: A Renewable Resource

Downhill from here

Anonymous Finds Ron Paul under Supremacist Rock

Weight Loss Kos: Fructose is a Poison