Posting from a netbook...

I almost got here with chromium, but before I could update my blog or facebook, chromium went down. It's fun to play with a new OS but there are still bugs to work out. Right now chromium is running well on my HP mini 1000 netbook, but isn't currently able to view my verizon connection. It only seems to be able to connect using wifi or LAN through VirtualBox.

I'm still checking to see if this is a Vbox issue or a Chromium issue. It all works well if I connect in any other way, just not through the netbook's internal cell, which I am online with right now. Workarounds are common in software beta testing so I'm not very concerned about it but I'd love to fix it.

VirtualBox is MUCH easier to install and use than VMware, by the way. I'm in love with it already, but I won't ask it out on a date. Chromium? It's slick, fast, and obviously quite openly modifiable. It also crashes a lot right now. At least with a virtual machine, you just click 'start' again and the whole OS relaunches. You don't have to wait for hardware to boot because it's a virtual instance.

I've had multiple copies of VMware and can not recall ever, even once, getting it working correctly on any of my machines. This is the very first time I've attempted to use VirtualBox and it is absolutely great. Installed with no problem on the first attempt, and is working right now running Chromium OS. I will play with it more, as I am searching for the netbook version of Ubuntu right now to try out on it. Will update...

How-to and Why-do-you for ANONYMOUS

WHY?

I am a retired hacker. I was never a criminal, but I stopped hacking because even the most innocent actions are now viewed with a stink eye by the government, and I want to enjoy what few freedoms we still have.

Then something happened...

Governments started punishing people for OTHER perfectly innocent activities, such as inquiring about the status or actions of their government, trading information about laws and legislative activity, publishing information about law enforcement, and so on. This was all very normal in the 1800s, in fact newspapers had columns dedicated to evaluating our government. That stopped with corporate ownership of newspapers. When it moved to the internet it became international, and the U.S. and other governments want to stop it.

When I saw CHILDREN being arrested for simply logging in to government sites, and not doing anything to try to hurt or harm, I was astonished further to discover that they were being charged as adult terrorists. Is it the fault of a child of 12 that the U.S. government doesn't hire the best companies for security, or that a web page or computer is left open?

This is the new "peace." Complete and utter obedience to a legal system that has no internal or external accountability. This is WHY you should be concerned with being anonymous for NORMAL day to day activity. You never know when some innocent thing you've done is now viewed with suspicion, or treated as criminal - EVEN WHEN YOU HAVEN'T BROKEN A LAW.

Merely possessing a photograph on your computer, in the temporary cache, that you never knew you had and had never seen - that can be a felony that gets you 20 years in prison and a LIFETIME as a sex offender. A Photograph.

Thanks to this iron-clad draconian law of criminal possession, agents can place images on your systems and then use that as evidence to arrest you. You WILL be found guilty. You WILL NOT ever recover from this attack.

It is best to avoid gathering attention to yourself, even where you are absolutely a white knight who is totally clean.

That is why. Innocent people are thrown in jail for life, marked as offenders for life, and even killed in cold blood. Sometimes, states like Texas and New York EXECUTE people that are known to be perfectly innocent of the crime. That's Why enough for anyone.

As long as you can be killed where you have done no wrong, you should be concerned with privacy.

HOW?

I2P, and TOR, to start. There are many other software on the market, and only the free open source software is recommended for both anonymity and privacy. I personally favor these two and use them both. I find them equally useful for diverse purposes. I will not explain or reveal how I make individual use of them, but I can and will show you how to use them in general.

I2P
Start with I2P. It's easiest to get started and understand.
1. Download I2P from http://www.i2p2.de/
2. Read and follow the simple instructions for installing I2P.
3. Configure Firefox to use a proxy "http://localhost:4444"
4. ALWAYS use it with the proxy ENABLED. Do NOT turn it off.
5. For websites that you need to use without a proxy, set an EXCEPTION in the firefox proxy settings. "Gmail.com", "yourbank.com" etc. separated by commas.
6. Install "noscript" and "adblock" for Firefox. Leave them on ALWAYS, and set exceptions for your bank or whatever you really need to allow.
7. Learning to use exceptions for security purposes is a simple, and elementally necessary step for true safety.
8. ONLY set exceptions when something you need to use is not working. I can use my bank with I2P enabled, so I do not have an exception for that.
9. Be AWARE that sites with exceptions are not as safe. Do not use them more than you must, such as to conduct banking.
10. Almost all applications can be set up to use a proxy. The chat engine, instant messenger, and other online software I use are all set to use I2P.
11. Start a NEW nickname that you ONLY use in the internet space. NEVER use this nickname in connection with your IDENTITY or the REAL WORLD. NEVER.
12. Never use your IDENTITY in the internet space.
13. In the case of banking, or where you MUST use your real ID, NEVER give more information than required, and never share that required information with any other website. In my case, I have a set "real world" profile, and a different "internet" profile. The addresses and phone numbers and names are all different. Nothing I have online connects to the real me.
14. This sounds like a lot, but it's not. It's just a set of habits and customs that will only protect you. None of it is hard to do. None of it is dangerous to you.
15. On some systems, you may have to set I2P to start up again each time you restart your computer. Refer to the I2P manual for how to do this on your system. For windows it's as easy as creating a shortcut and dragging it to the startup menu location. For linux it's as easy as adding a line to "init.d".
16. Learn how to use the I2P search websites such as http://eepsites.i2p
17. Use I2P torrent and file sharing websites.

TOR
When you are ready to go further into the world of anonymous life...

1. Download Privoxy. http://www.torproject.org/download.html.en
2. Download Vidalia if you think you might need easy configuration.
3. TOR is included in either of these. DO NOT use the package manager in Ubuntu or Debian, get it from the website!
4. Again, set your proxy, but now set it to "localhost:8118", or use a different browser for TOR. Konqueror, Chrome, and others work WELL with TOR.
5. To set privoxy up correctly follow the instructions at: www.antagonism.org/anon/anon-browsing.shtml.
6. It may be difficult for a non-technical person to set up privoxy. Use two browsers if this is you.
7. Linux systems can set the entire OS to use a proxy, so that every application will default to the proxy. THIS IS BEST.
8. Windows is similar, but IE and other software can AND DO break the rules and violate your proxy settings. BE CAREFUL on windows, and read this: http://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en/itprovistasecurity/thread/152a4bc1-2a9d-4171-8e0f-0782a7ce99e9
9. Now learn to use Tor searches: http://board.planetpeer.de/index.php/ and read or search for TOR.
10. Congratulations! You've just become a free person, who is very nearly impossible to identify except through your own mistakes. If you don't trade in criminal activities you're unlikely to ever be found. It takes incredible resources to hunt someone via the "invisible internet", and the FBI will resort to 'real world' methods. They won't do that for a non-criminal who just blogs.

Future Use?

As Tor and I2P become more widespread, and many applications are already including this technology, both speed and availability of information will increase. It's already shown a tremendous upsurge since iMule and Vuse both went I2P, and various torrent sites are now using Tor. Eventually Tor will merge with other technology and ensure end-to-end privacy and anonymity worldwide. As more people use it, the harder it will be for any government to interact at all with our private activities. The goal is to make it totally impossible, and the interim goal of making it nearly impossible has already been met.

As corporate controlled governments try to crack down on file sharing, music, video, history, freedom of speech, and all other aspects of freedom IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT WE FIGHT BACK.

I2P is far more than just an interference that makes it harder to spy on you. I2P makes it as close to impossible as it can be, which means that law enforcement will become frustrated with millions of false hits and resort to old-school investigation - where they actually need real evidence and leads.

As governments crack down on freedom, people like me are out there making sure that we have alternatives TO government itself. There is online money, anonymous. You can buy and sell as an anonymous person now. Risky? No more than any bank these days. Delivery? There are re-shipping agencies in EVERY nation on Earth. That's gone on for years as even corporations have sought some degree of insulation from excessive regulation by government.

Searching on the regular nets? Only Google has shown that they are unwilling to censor information beyond the minimum required to do business. In that, they often do only the most marginal job required to keep them out of legal trouble. Given that google has some of the best lawyers on Earth, I'm not worried that they can't defend against the U.S.

Still, they ARE in the business of tracking you! They sell this information, or make financial gain from it in SOME way. Thus, even the BEST use of normal internet provides WAY TOO MUCH potential liability for you. Be safe. Use I2P or Tor, or both.

Sincerely,

Moi.

Lunar Missions

I can hardly believe after all these years that people still seriously think the moon landings were faked. I've never seen ANY evidence that the landings were fake, and there is ample evidence of men on the moon. I know what a conspiracy is, and there has to be an element of truth for the conspiracy to exist as a potential hoax or heresy.

I can't find any truths in these moonies.

Here's a quick run down of all the BIG points anti-moon-landing [hereafter called moonies] people claim as 'evidence.'

1. No stars in photos.
2. Edited photos.
3. Blurs or defects in photos.
4. Flag waving/moving.
5. Dust.
6. Footprints.
7. Can't see moon objects.
8. Mountains in different views.
9. UFOs.
10. Pyramids. Yes, really.
11. Denials.
12. Russians.
13. No need to do it.
14. Faked video.
15. Evidence of Chinese video fake.
16. Training videos.
17. No technology.
18. Can't do it now.
19. Orbital Launch.
20. Lastly, the worst: Government lies.

All of these are rather easily overturned with short and simple explanations. There is nothing in this list of 20 major moonie claims that constitutes actual evidence.

Now, I'm no friend of the government, and I certainly believe that Kennedy was killed in a manner or for reasons other than stated. There are things that any government likes to lie about, but this one is out of bounds, and would have been challenged by the Soviets in seconds. Don't forget, a faked launch would have to fool more than just a million idiotic Americans. NASA would have needed to fool the expert Soviet era scientists, people we were very intimidated by, and actively worked to stay AHEAD of.

Sure, the government could fool me and you, if they want to. The USA never had the capacity to fool the USSR. Until the early 90s we [US Navy] still lived in fear of a thing called a MIG aircraft, a jet fighter that appeared to defy physics, flew farther than anything we had, and displayed impressive combat agility such that we'd send TWO or more F16s out to repell them. MIGs constantly toyed with invading USA airspace and kept the US military on its toes throughout the cold war.

When we finally got a MIG in our hands, it was a bit of a shock. ONMFG... Those pilots of the USSR make USA pilots look like kittens. MIGs were high tech in some areas, such as electronics and hydraulics, but the rest of the jet? A beer can with two herculean engines, a seat, and fuel. They could be shot at all day long and unless you killed the pilot they were not going to splash. The MIG we got peacefully was still in SERVICE and had two dozen bullet holes in it. F16s and other more advanced aircraft were nothing like that in durability, range, speed, and raw testosterone.

There is zero question in my highly qualified mind that we could have fooled the Soviet Union. My clearances indicate that it was not possible, and still isn't. I used to track nuclear subs in the Atlantic.

Those 20 questions? All bullshit. None of it proves the moon landings did not happen, and half of that data actually shows that we were there.

The flag was on a rod, and there is still gravity and motion even on a nearly airless moon. Dust is dust, and the moon has lots of it. Photos are often cleaned up before public release. Perspective, distance, and lack of an atmosphere explain all of the photos. How the hell did they get moon photos if we were not on the moon? Hmm?

This is one conspiracy theory that needs to be pushed off as a failure, and begs the question of what qualifies as a conspiracy versus a hoax or heresy. It is absolutely not a hoax, the moon landings were real. We had the technology and still do. No actual proof of anything else has been discovered, and there's loads of evidence of the moon missions.

Don't believe it? Maybe you should look at the Chandralaan videos and photos. http://wms.selene.jaxa.jp/index_e.html These pictures clearly show the SAME photos and footage that were covered in moon missions. Impossible to have been faked some 40 years ago? Yes. Some Chandralaan pictures actually show five of the lunar missions landers and equipment.

So, time to put this theory to bed. Disproved.

Conspiracy theory: Evidence of possible hoax or heresy cover up.
Moon landings: Real. No conspiracy.

who should we elect to lead our nation?

Scientists, or Politicians?

Let's ask Google, shall we?

Scientists:

Politicians:

If you can't read these... "scientist sex scandals" resulted in no hits whatsoever. But, "politician sex scandals" results in 746,000 hits. Null, or almost a million. Is there any more glaring difference between the morality of these two types of people?

Film production group is growing... slowly.

There's never been a more out nay-sayer attitude among people I know than when I discuss film. Sure, there were people who thought I'd never write a book, let alone four, or graduate college. I didn't quite understand the knee-jerk denial that regular people express when confronted with someone who is 'doing something.' It's an odd quirk of psychology that people don't want to see their friends be too successful.

But, once again, without tremendous effort I now have a film group in full swing. Script is done and storyboards are being sketched. I've been shopping for cameras all week. Film cameras, just in case you didn't get that, of the motion picture variety. There's a mind-twisting amount of product on the market right now and it's a perfect time to be a buyer.

32mm, DV, and more... all within reach. I might get four. Hey, if it saves retakes, and adds to the editing of the movie, it's all good. Panaflex, used? 15,000.00 low whistle there... anyone want to donate?

I am Jewish. I am not a People.

There is a huge push by Judaism to consider Jews to be unified as a religion, a people, and a culture. This is a large denial of reality. There were never any solid Jewish populations that functioned as a "people" of a nation, rather the Jews have always been a culture and religion. There is no ETHNICITY. Jews can be black, white, asian, and so on. Since Judaism is a BELIEF, anyone can adapt that belief. Ethnic "Hebrew" or Ethnic Jews are two words that are used together to confuse the enemy. The enemy is anyone who is not a Jew.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1844674223/ref=s9_newr_co_tr02?pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_s=left-2&pf_rd_r=0XNCQ8ARR9RZHDVXYJDQ&pf_rd_t=3201&pf_rd_p=493495391&pf_rd_i=typ01

Israel, founded in a genocidal war by the United States with the permission of Great Britain, who then controlled Palestine, has been found guilty of spying on the United States and conducting sabotage operations. Spies have actively interfered in our elections, national security, and technology. How did Israel get nuclear weapons? That's something no one wants to talk about in the United States. A gift of nukes is tantamount to Treason, and has never been documented for obvious reasons.

This is why NO nation should be allowed to do what the United States has been allowed to do: Conduct genocidal wars, sponsor nation building, or have veto power over the United Nations.

The USA has been involved in international warfare NONSTOP since the Korean war. Evidence points to peacetime military "actions" even before WW1. That has to stop. Only as a peaceful confederacy of United Nations can there ever really be world peace. So long as any one nation, or handful of nations, holds unilateral power there will be continued human rights violations, abuse of international law, and outright Totalitarianism. The world suffers because America places her own security ABOVE that of all other nations, when it should be an equal part.

Israel has LESS of a right to exist than Palestine. Hey, critics, this book is written by a scientist, a fellow Jew, and a history scholar. He knows what he's talking about. Criticism of his work has centered on pro-nationalist arguments, religion, and loathing. They just can't think past their prejudice.

Obama is right to withdraw support of the Zionist regime. America should remove all "police" forces from the worldwide theater and transfer that authority directly to the United Nations. The UN would never have allowed Blackwater/XE to rape children and mow down crowds of civilians. Nothing like that EVER happened under any UN controlled action. The USA, which is supposedly so awesome, appears unable and unwilling to control its own forces.

Google Health? Should I?

I have a very simple answer taken directly from the google health agreement that you have to accept to even register.

"HIPAA does not apply to the transmission of health information by Google to any third party."

Google is saying that it is not bound by privacy laws that protect your health information. I find that simultaneously amazing, and cataclysmic. Hell no, I will not agree to that!

That is evil. Pure and simple.

Ubuntu Nazi's ruining Linux.

I wonder if Shuttleworth has been taking payola from MSFT?

Whatever the reason, I don't like updates to my sound driver that break the entire system. When I fix that sound driver, I don't like to have gimp, samba, and other NOT SOUND SYSTEMS uninstalled, crashed, or fucked up.

I'm installing a new linux OS, absolutely, but it ain't Ubuntu's piece of crap server. Take the attitude, righteousness, and 'this is how you do linux, all other paths are the wrong path, we are the spiritual leaders of linux' shit and suck it.

asstards pissed me off one time too many with the holier than thou forums that troll people instead of answering questions. You should read ubuntu forums. They're pretty funny, until you see how pathetic and sad they are, spewing vitriole at any newb who asks how to get MP3s back or use ROOT.

Fucking asshats. Goodbye. I'll take my money back to Slackware or Red Hat or Solaris.

MSFT kills Office 2007

Access 2007 has been gutted.

My #1 complaint:
Access still can't import a native Excel file. Period. Two step conversions and three step conversions don't cut it. I have work to do, and I don't work for MSFT so I need to be effective and productive.

#2: The entire security envelope of Office has been fielded to Silverlight, MSFT's 20+ years-late entry into what the rest of the world calls web-based-access. DotNet was a dismal failure, considering that one has to purchase licenses to use what is otherwise free, and that it was an utterly insecure hose-beast, so MSFT has repackaged it with SLVR in yet another effort to force this pig upon the public.

So here we are with yet another feeble attempt to push companies and home users into a porkbarrel for MSFT licensing fees. It's so sadly obvious that it's childish. I'm in a govt. job where I've recommended that they save millions a year by dumping MSFT OS and Office altogether. We'd be far better off even with Macs, a high end Mainframe from IBM, or multiple Sun servers, running Solaris, Linux, or BSD.

The only reason the people in this office try to use Office is because we've been forced to. MSFT has made most of its money by forcing its products upon people who don't want it with blind acquisitions through government contracts and backalley negotiations. Companies that refused to use MSFT have seen the rubber-hose tactics that resulted, but enough corporations were strong enough to stand up and kick MSFT's backside that we now have multiple options. All of which are far superior to the cr*pfestival you get when you pick up a copy of MSOffice.

AVOID AT ALL COSTS.

Open Office is vastly superior.
Oracle rocks my world.

Honestly, when it comes to software, if you've heard of it then it probably isn't very good. Marketing does not equal quality, and the relation is statistically negative opposing. Everyone knows who MSFT is, and the software is beta at best. Fewer people know what KDE is, but the desktop software is blue ribbon in quality. Solaris? Rock hard stability and Enterprise wickedness. Wicked in the third sense of the word, of course.

!~D

Mayan Calendar

Dec 21, 2012:
End of the World?
Evolution?
Other crackpot theory?
Or, just the end of a calendar?

Does the world end when you have to buy a new calendar?

Occams razor; The simplest solution is usually the best.

They made a calendar out of stone, using their math system, limited by the space available on the stone chosen. They probably expected this generation to maybe... be able to make a new calendar?

Aliens, World Ending, Apocalypse, or just an expired calendar? Which is more simple?

If I hear any more about this I think I'm going to have to start ranting about the percolation of stupid in our colleges.

What the hell is wrong with Google?

Lately, every damn search I make brings up nothing even remotely close to what I'm searching for. car parts sites all come up under disguised and redirected yahoo or livestream data sites that have zero to do with what I want to find. Most searches direct me not to porn, but to lists of lists, sites that have extraneous and even tenuous reference to my search string at best, and even to flat-out bullshit websites that are scamming people.

Using google for common searching is near impossible because I can't save search strings, and can't use more than ten elements in a search string. This is a problem in all seriousness because if i want to find anything with google I have to do a two or three part search where I try to redundantly filter. This is what I need to search google:

-porn -pron -forum -list -shop -chat -yahoo -msn -ads -banner -public -irc -sex -board && no-redirect && no-follow.

In other words, I can't use google. I'm back to scanning yahoo and giving cuil another shot.