Computing your way to freedom?

(Edited Feb. 27/05)

Being Believed

People tend to doubt things I say - especially in the past few years. It's been like this all my life, actually.[1] I'm somewhat wacky and unpredictable, so people give credit to some things, but not others. Understandable. Yet I'm usually right.

Being increasingly stereotyped based on looks, however, partly due to the large influx of East Asian immigrants into Toronto, I find it even harder to say things, without having instant assumptions being made, or my being misunderstood or dismissed. If I say, 'jam,' you may hear, 'peanut butter.' It's that offbase, sometimes.

So my reactiveness naturally extends to my online communications. My surveillers have learned a lot from this - not just with me, but with many people. People's psychological filters increase and trust levels diminish, if you happen to be different. Yup, that's me.


Computer Whiz...Or Not?

So, today's neurotic explanation is about my computer knowledge. For a few years, now - and especially last year - internet and email quirks have continued to pop up on listservs I participate on, at very specific times. It goes beyond the usual spam, virus, computer glitch-type problems. And I sense that some people secretly suspect that I'm the culprit behind these things, though they won't come out and say so. (examples to come)

Yes, I do talk about internet privacy and protection a lot, and I even describe ways that one's online activities could be spied upon. Does this mean that I know how to do these things? Sorry to disappoint you, but the answer is, NO.

I've spent countless hours on the computer, and have learned a lot, conceptually, yet my technical abilities are fairly limited. I'm not going to drone on about how much or how little I know about computers and the internet. I'll be posting some information, eventually, in case others find it useful.

'How Information Privacy is Compromised' by Media-Awareness.ca is a good primer on this subject.

Ironically, this site requires a cookie. See how to block cookies, below.


Cleaning Up Your Computer

I've got so many website links in this weblog, I feel compelled to remind people to get some free software to minimize tracking of online activities. The ones, below, are reliable and come highly recommended by many sources (don't take my word for it - do a Google search):

POP-STOPPER

I like Pop-Up Stopper (free edition). They even have a Report Pop-Up page, in case any pop-ups do get through.


SPYWARE REMOVAL

Ad-Aware

Spy-Bot Search & Destroy


CLEAN INTERNET TRACES ONLY

CleanCache for Internet Explorer and CleanMOCache for Mozilla, Opera, etc. (same site)

IE Privacy Keeper cleans internet traces on Internet Explorer.


CLEAN INTERNET TRACES & SHRED COMPUTER FILES

Eraser

Window Washer (trial only)

Cyberscrub.com (trial only) or from PCMag.com


Also go to the 'Tools > Options' part of your browser to clear out cookies, passwords, and other info. Set your 'Remember visited pages to '0' (zero).'

Almost all websites track their visitors, be they commercial or personal. Some even place cookies and spyware in your computer to monitor all your surfing and email activities.[2] That's pretty invasive. This information may be used by, or sold to, companies and other third parties.

Even personal websites track visitor statistics - it's standard, if you have your own domain address. My blog is hosted on Blogger.com, and I haven't made any efforts to get a web counter. I almost don't want to know. But I'm pretty sure visitors to my blog are being monitored by 'others.' (More info on web counters.)


Get FireFox - The Browser

I also recommend using Mozilla's FireFox browser . It's free, and far more secure and flexible than Internet Explorer.

If you do download this browser, and add useful 'extensions,' make sure you get either their privacy 'X' or 'X-kiosk' and Ad-Block and PrefBar extensions to help you clean up. Just click 'Install.'

[Edit: To put the 'X' privacy button on your browser's toolbar for easy clicking, go to 'View > Toolbars > Customize,' then drag the 'Paranoia' icon onto your toolbar.]

Finally, for those who've seen evidence of my various 'web efforts,' and think I must be a techno-wiz, here's how I do it: find easy programs, like OpinionPower.com.

OpinionPower.com is great! Let's see if you can create a web poll in less than five minutes.


[1] Certain people from my former program may find this hard to swallow, but the reason I've often been disbelieved in my life is due to more subtle and multifaceted factors, like gender, lack of self-confidence in speaking, my inability to organize my thoughts clearly, my offbeat ideas, and so on. Until my return to Toronto, and being in a rather imbalanced state after backpacking abroad (pics to come), I had NEVER been known as a sly or deceitful person. Yet even after five years of therapy, I still get painfully nervous around issues, or physical reminders, of power or money. And yes, I suck at paperwork and bureacratic requirements.

[2] I don't actually know if cookies or spyware can track your emails, but I sense there is some overlap. Emails can definitely be traced, intercepted, and read, yet there are different forms of eavesdropping, and I'm not quite sure what the government uses on me (and so many others), as I move from computer to computer.

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Further Reading on Internet Privacy:

'Dangerous data - the death of privacy' - Guardian Unlimited (Aug. 12, 2001) PLEASE READ!

'Considering the "Private" Citizen' (May 1999)

'EFF's Top 12 Ways to Protect Your Online Privacy' - Electronic Frontier Foundation (April 10, 2002)

'Protecting Your Privacy on the Internet' - Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada

Except for the last link, all articles above were written several years ago. Imagine how things have advanced since then.