Corruption of LOL

“Dropbox” is an online backup/synchronization service that gives you a folder to put anywhere on your computer, and in that folder you put things that you would like synchronized or backed up.  Very simple, very easy, zero maintenance. And best of all- FREE.

What does this have to do with my site? I don’t know… if you can think of something though, feel free to let me know. Hey! It’s my site, I can get off-topic if I want to!

Get Dropbox!

Self protection value AND it’s free?! What now?!

Now, this isn’t exactly a secret to Google Voice users, but it’s something that you might not think of right off the bat.

The following can be an invaluable tool for anything from productivity to maintaining your personal safety. Constantly having the capability to make phone calls wherever you are is an extremely important concept in personal security.

Please keep in mind, however, that Google Voice does not allow 911 access, so it’s also a very good idea to keep the local numbers for authorities in your contacts. (Mmm, I smell another article topic =p )

Think about it: you can now have a FREE (yes, it’s absolutely, completely, and in all other ways, FREE) internet phone wherever you have internet access within the United States. This can be of use if your particular location does not have good cell phone reception, or simply if you want to use your existing internet connection (or your neighbor’s, hehe) instead of a landline or cell phone minutes that you have to pay for.

Do it like this.

1. Get Google Voice (it’ll be public soon enough if you don’t already have an account).
2. Sign up for Gizmo5.
3. Follow this Google tutorial.

Basically, you now have the equivalent of SkypeIn (which costs money), SkypeOut (which costs money) as well as additional features that not even Skype has–such as the ability to make calls right from the browser.

That means that you can make calls from anybody’s computer! Even public computers!

Explore the possibilities for yourself, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

Also, let me offer my apologies for being so in love with Google Voice. Deal with it. It’s worth it. Trust me.

Until next time, my motivated ass offers you your complimentary OORAH! Free of charge. Take it home with you.

When using public or other unsecured wifi, it becomes much easier for hackers and sniffers to root out your private information, compromising your privacy, and maybe even your identity.

And just for your information (not that I would ever condone this , this technique can also bypass internet blocks enforced by companies, schools, etc.

I’ll provide the Mac instructions, but the same is possible on a PC using an SSH client, such as OpenSSH.

Manual Instructions

1. Get (or use your existing) web hosting that supports SSH. Unlimited bandwidth is preferred. My recommendation: Bluehost.
2. Set up your SSH, remembering your passwords and usernames.
3. Open Terminal
4. Type in the following code: ssh -ND 9999 yourusername@yourwebsiteaddress.com (You will be prompted for your password. Enter it. The terminal window will appear to freeze up; this is what you want, and means that you have successfully connected. This opens port 9999, connects through SSH to your server, and stays open until you terminate it; it’s basically a secure tunnel that you’re going to route your internet traffic through.)
5. Open Firefox, then Preferences, then the Advanced tab, and click Settings (how Firefox connects to the internet).
6. Choose Manual Proxy Configuration.
7. Under SOCKS Host, type localhost and under Port, 9999. Under No Proxy for, type localhost, 127.0.0.1. Select SOCKS v5.
8. Click OK.

If you’ve done everything correctly, Firefox will appear to work as usual, but perhaps slightly slower.

Congrats! You are using secure internet!

When you are done using your secure connection, change Firefox preferences back to No Proxy, and terminate your Terminal. DO NOT just close Terminal–you are likely to remain connected. Select Terminal and press Apple-Period (Cmd-.), then quit.

Using AppleScript (Creating a Secure Internet Application) – Apple only

I’ve made the instructions pretty straight-forward, but you might need to be a little tech-savvy to figure this one out. This will combine all the steps above into an application that will give you secure internet access.

1. Download and install NPS AskPass (for Tiger–it works with 10.4 and above, including Leopard)
2. Open Terminal and type /Applications/Firefox.app/Contents/MacOS/firefox -ProfileManager
3. Create a Firefox profile called “secureaccess”
4. Open your new Firefox profile, and follow steps 5-8 above. Close Firefox when you’re done.
5. Open Script Editor and create a blank script.
6. Save it as “proxysetup.app” (application bundle) to your desktop.
7. Open Finder, go to Firefox, right click and hit “Explore Package Contents.” Open the Contents folder, then create a folder called “securessh.”
8. Drag your proxysetup.app from your desktop into your newly created folder within Firefox.
9. Back in Script Editor, enter the following into your proxysetup file:
   do shell script “ssh -ND 9999 yourusename@yourwebsiteaddress.com &> /dev/null &”
10. Save proxysetup.app and close it.
11. DOWNLOAD MY PRE-COMPILED APPLICATION HERE. You must have followed all previous instructions EXACTLY or it will not function. Open the application with Script Editor if you need to make any changes to tailor it to suit you.

When you run the application, it should do three things, in no particular order:

1. Open a dialog box indicating to click OK to close the connection. Put this off to the side, and only click OK when you are done. (After you click this, a dialog will appear saying something like “Can’t get end.” Don’t worry, that just means that your connection is closed. That is what you want.
2. Open your “secureaccess” Firefox profile with the proxy settings all ready to go!
3. Open a password dialog box. Enter your server’s password to connect to the proxy. Firefox will then be able to connect to the internet in a secure fashion!

Congratulations! You now have a secure internet application!

BONUS: If you want it to have my custom and cool-looking golden Firefox symbol (as seen above) just save the image file, make an icon out of it with Pic2Icon, and then place it over the existing icon (hit Cmd-I on both files, and drag the icon over).

Enjoy!

One of the best ways to keep yourself safe is to know what types of crime occur most commonly in your area.

This way, you can tailor your techniques to what suits you and your situation!

My recommendation for finding detailed crime stats in your area is:

Narrow down by state, then city, or my favorite–BY UNIVERSITY, for all of us college students out there.

More to come regarding safety on college campuses!

I recently posted a link to Google Voice on my blog.

Upon reading about it further, it seems as though there are a number of people concerned with the privacy implications of using the service.

I, for one, will continue to use the service (due to its sheer usefulness) until it becomes abundantly clear to me that I am causing some sort of harm to myself by doing so.

However, consider this article from a computerworld.com blog: Google Voice: Press “1″ to invade your privacy.

I read that article, followed by Google’s official privacy statement concerning Google Voice.

However, it is important to realize how a Google Voice number can also protect your privacy as well, believe it or not.

Google itself will have greater access to more of your information, of course (call logs, SMSs, etc.) but for the most part (and hopefully the whole part) this will be limited to machines and computers mining for data rather than humans actually looking at it.

On the other hand, the people who call your Google Voice number will be put through additional layers of security–layers that are more likely to protect you than anything else. Google Voice numbers give you the ability to screen calls prior to picking them up, and even to block unwanted callers completely. This functionality, along with the simple fact that your real phone number is never revealed, balances out the potential risk of losing some privacy to Google.

It’s a give-and-take thing. Once it becomes open to the public, each person will have to decide for themselves whether or not it’s a tradeoff they want to make.

My recommendation: DO IT.

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[EDIT: There is a good overall analysis of the service here.]

I always try to stay up-to-date on recent incidents involving personal security. Knowing the actions of others and studying them with the benefit of hindsight can help you stay safe in the future.

This story comes out of Watsonville, CA.

Read the story on mercurynews.com

Stay safe, folks!

One of my daily watches: check out Lauren Weinstein’s Blog.

New articles coming up!

Stay tuned, stay safe.