Nice VPN Service

Since I travel once in a while for my job I find myself in locations where a secure network can’t be ensured. My phone does have tethering software on it so I often use it but it’s slow and has issues getting disconnected at random intervals.

Thankfully this day and age wireless networks are everywhere. Hotels, Starbucks, airports, etc. But these networks are not secure and should be considered hostile at all time. This was the reason I looked into the previously mentioned Wi-Fi device that could connect to 3G cellular data networks. Of course as I previously stated they wanted a contract and honestly the devices are far more expensive than I could justify since I only really need such a device a few times a year.

That meant either continue using my unreliable phone tethering or use hostile wireless networks. Hostile wireless networks can be used securely though through a protocol called Virtual Private Networking (VPN). VPN is a mechanism where you connect to a remote VPN server. The VPN server acts as a proxy which all your traffic is sent to and from there is sent to its actual destination on the Internet. The key here is all VPN traffic is encrypted so other people on the same network can’t see what you’re doing. So even if you’re connected to an insecure wireless network you can encrypt all your traffic by sending it through a VPN connection.

Most companies that send people around the country provide a VPN connection for their employees. Mine is no exception but I thought I’d try an experiment and see what solutions I could find for those traveling and not having a company provided VPN service available to them.

The easiest, cheapest, and most secure (In the form of privacy of your traffic) method of using a VPN is to set a server up at your home. This way you can remotely connect to your home network through the VPN. Unfortunately for me this is impossible since I live in an apartment complex that also provides me service as an ISP (It’s free so I don’t argue). The downside is this ISP also routes all my traffic through their firewall meaning I can’t actually connect to any of my computers there remotely. Due to this fact I decided to look at using Amazon’s EC2 service to setup a VPN server. Overall it would be a good idea but it’s kind of pricey since Amazon charges you for the number of hours your EC2 instance is running.

Finally I looked into a service mentioned by Leo Laporte on This Week in Tech quite a few times call HotSpot VPN. HotSpot VPN is simply a service that sells VPN connections. It’s not a secure as using a server setup at your home since all your traffic does get routed through their VPN server. But it’s a damned side better than being on an insecure network since HotSpot VPN as a reason to maintain your privacy, money (Granted that’s absolutely no guarantee and in the security business the phrase is trust no one. But security is also a balance between having secure systems and convince.).

What I like about HotSpot VPN is you can but a yearly subscription, monthly subscription, or a few days worth if you only travel sporadically like me. For this test I bought a three day pass for something around $5.88. That’s pretty cheap and well worth it in my book. Setup in Mac OS is simple (I’m not sure about other operating systems since I’ve not done much with VPNs in them) and requires you only enter your e-mail address for the user name and the password they e-mail you. It’s working great on this hotel wireless network and isn’t dropping my connection constantly like my phone does. I tested it on my home network before taking it out into a hostile environment and the data is encrypted so other people listening on the network aren’t going to be able to see what you’re doing it. Speed is so-so since all your data has to go to their servers and then to its destination but tethering my phone always yields even slower connections.

Overall I think it’s a good service for those who travel, don’t have a company provided VPN connection, and are unable to setup a VPN server at their home. There isn’t much else to say about it since it’s a pretty straight forward service that performs and straight forward feature.

Also since this is a review I need to give the FCC required disclaimer. The FCC can go sodomize itself with a retractable baton. That is all.

Some Scary Stuff Going Down in Wisconsin

The NRA just threw out an alert for those of you in Wisconsin. Two anti-gun pieces of legislation have been introduced. I haven’t read through them as of now but here is what they apparently cover:

* Require that all firearm transfers be conducted through a federally licensed dealer except to family members. That means if you wanted to sell your firearm to a friend, you would have to find an FFL and pay whatever transfer fees they felt appropriate.

* Go WAY beyond federal restrictions for firearm possession and prohibit individuals convicted of misdemeanors. This provision is a blatant constitutional violation. In Heller v. D.C., the ruling states that only felony convictions are justified in restricting this constitutionally guaranteed right.

* Also require that all firearms transfers be reported and all guns registered into a centralized database.

* Establish no limitations on who would have access to this database.

So those of you across the Mississippi from me may want to get on the horn with your representatives.

I Hate the TSA as Much as Anybody But Come On

OK I hate the TSA just as much as everybody else, possibly more. But after seeing a story on Dvorak Uncensored I have to call bullshit. Let’s see if you can find what’s wrong with this story. The story is titled, “Child rape charge rocks TSA.” Here is the story opener:

A Transportation Security Agency worker who pats down members of the flying public was charged with multiple child sex crimes targeting an underage girl yesterday.

The bust outraged privacy and passenger advocates who say it justifies their fears about Logan International Airport’s full-body scanner.

So what do you think happened? If you answered the TSA agent used his authority to take a child to the back interrogation room and raped the child you would be completely incorrect. Here is what happened (Buried towards the end of the article):

The 14-year-old victim watched a movie at his house, Okeeffe said. She said during the film, he massaged the victim’s thigh and touched her under a blanket, then during the February school vacation the girl stayed at his house with his daughter.

So what’s the point of this article? The huge majority of the article makes a big fuss about the fact that the TSA have naked body scanners attended by agents. It makes a huge fuss about one of these TSA agents being a pedophile. But the fact the perpetrator was a TSA agent is COMPLETELY irrelevant here since everything he did was done at HIS house not the airport. At no point was any evidence brought forth stating he made initial contact with the child at the airport or through his “authority” as a TSA agent. In fact the kid was apparently friends with his daughter. Yes instead of focusing on the crime it’s made into a hit piece about the TSA.

I hate the TSA with a passion. The entire organization is nothing more than security theater run by people given a badge and just enough authority to feel they can toss people around. But this hit piece is fucking stupid. It’s akin to making a hit piece about a police department because on of the officers committed a crime off company time and at his place of residence and didn’t in any way use his position or authority to commit the crime. The fact that a man committed statutory rape and was also a TSA agent are completely irrelevant. Yes the article focuses almost exclusively on the fact the person was a TSA agent and purposely misleads you to believe the crime happened at the airport. Finally the fact that the crime happened at the agent’s house is briefly mentioned in the second to last paragraph. Fuck!

Oh and since I’m on a rant I might as well point out the following bloody obvious:

TSA spokeswoman Ann Davis said Shanahan had passed two background checks, neither of which picked up any record that would prevent him from getting a job.

That’s right background checks don’t determine if you’re going to commit a crime, only if you have committed a crime and got caught. But Dippity Dipshit says:

“It’s a huge, huge issue,” said Kate Hinni of FlyersrRights.org. “The TSA needs a complete overhaul… If you have a pedophile looking at those naked pictures, they’ve got all your information, it’s a gross violation of their authority…. They should make sure none of them is corrupted in any deviant sexual manner.”

So how in the Hell are those hiring TSA agents suppose to make sure any applicant isn’t corrupted in any deviant sexual manner? Answer me that. What you don’t have an answer? Maybe that’s because it’s fucking impossible. This article is just full of stupidity from start to end.

Dear Microsoft Please Copy Good Features And Ignore Bad Ones

I mentioned earlier this week that Microsoft was eliminating multi-tasking from Windows Phone 7 Series Ultimate Extreme Wordy Name That Makes No Sense. Well the guys over at Engadget have audio recorded proof of no multi-tasking and better yet no copy and paste. It seems Microsoft’s whole idea behind their new phone operating system with a horrible name was to copy everything bad Apple did with the iPhone.

I know I’m a niche users in that I want a phone that allows me to listen to music, download a file from a website, have an open SSH connection to another system, and have an application monitoring wireless traffic but come on. Now Microsoft will allow their own software to multi-task on the device much like Apple allows their included software to multi-task. But lowly third party developers will not be granted such permission from Microsoft.

When did people decide that their smartphones need to be less powerful? Even my Palm Treo 755p can do some basic multi-tasking and Palm OS isn’t even officially capable of multi-tasking. But that’s fine with me since Palm OS was developed back in the day when multi-tasking wasn’t feasible due to the lack of power in handheld devices (The first Palm Pilot had a 16Mhz processor and 128 KB of RAM which was used to both run applications and store them). But phones today have plenty of power on board. WebOS shows multi-tasking on a phone isn’t difficult nor impossible. Android can multi-task as can a Blackberry. We should be looking for more power and functionality in our devices not less.

Also is copy and paste really that difficult? Seriously my Palm OS based PDAs could do that! Even the iPhone can do it now. There are plenty of times where I want to copy an exert from a web page and paste it into a document elsewhere.

Why is it these new fancy phones have less capabilities than my phone released almost three years ago that is based on an operating system (Palm OS 5) released almost eight years ago?

My View of The FCC National Broadband Plan

There has been a lot of talk in the tech community as of late about the FCC’s recent National Broadband Plan. People who don’t understand how government and taxes work are proclaiming this as a great idea since it means FREE INTERNETZ!!!!!!!!!111oneonetwo OMG!!. That’s now how things work. In fact the FCC’s plan also includes a plan for an additional tax.

No thanks. I’m more than happy to give the money that would go to paying even more taxes to a private entity who has a reason for keeping me happy (That being my money.). Economics 101 states you can’t get something for nothing (Unless you are challenge at math and actually believe in Keynesian economics.). When the government provides a service they pay for it with your tax money. Look at the breakdown of your pay check next time. Notice your gross pay is MUCH higher than your actual take home pay? Yeah that’s all tax money taken by your federal and state government to pay for fuck ups services like social security and medicare.

This situation is far more dangerous when it involves free and open communications that the Internet provides. Government is not benevolent, it does not have your best interests in mind. Government is made up by people with power and power corrupts. A private company can not compete with government programs because unlike a company a government doesn’t have to actually make money to continue existing (Look at our deficit.). The scary thing with government provided broadband (Which this National Broadband Plan would eventually turn into.) is it would most likely shut down broadband provided by private industry. At that point our Internet access, like China’s, becomes the whim of our government. This is where censorship and filtering start coming into play ladies and gentlemen.

People shouldn’t be clamoring for free* government provided Internet. Government can’t manage money. Show me a single government program that has succeeded monetarily. Instead people should be demanding the government stay as far away from Internet access as possible. We don’t need to deal with what China has and Australia is getting.

A private company has a reason to ensure its customers are happy, money. You can simply refuse to pay a company money if you don’t like their service. On the other hand you can not simply refuse to pay taxes if you don’t like the government’s service. I wish people would think about that part for a moment before trying to get free* Internet access (Which the FCC plan won’t even initially provide, they call it “affordable” so it’ll probably be a subsidized item.).

* Free until you notice your take home pay becomes even less.

Kindle Reader Software for Mac Available

For those of you with a Kindle Amazon just released their reader software for Mac OS. This software allows you to read books purchased on the Kindle store on your laptop. I find the reason to get a Kindle and thus purchase books on the Kindle store is because of the glorious e-ink display. But I have begun wanting the ability to read some technical books on my computer screen. This should solve that niche need pretty well.

GunPal CEO Charges Dismissed

Good news has been brought to my attention by Everyday, No Days Off. The CEO of GunPal, Ben Cannon, had all charges against him dismissed.

For those of you who hadn’t heard Mr. Cannon was charged with impersonating a police officer after he was accused of pulling a woman over. The accusation made was he used a red light and badge but the police found no such evidence at his domicile.

And People Want This Stuff in Their Cars

One thing people seem to clamber for more and more are methods of tracking and disabling cars remotely. Usually people talk about wanting to be able to track their car and disable it if it gets stolen. There are various methods of implementing such a device allowing for these things to be done via SMS or a web page. Of course companies that make these devices promote them as enhanced security and peace of mind. Parents love the idea of being able to track their teenager’s every move. The problem made apparent by Bruce Schneier is such devices are double-edged swords:

More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments.

Oh yeah and the part to concern yourself with:

Ramos-Lopez’s account had been closed when he was terminated from Texas Auto Center in a workforce reduction last month, but he allegedly got in through another employee’s account, Garcia says. At first, the intruder targeted vehicles by searching on the names of specific customers. Then he discovered he could pull up a database of all 1,100 Auto Center customers whose cars were equipped with the device. He started going down the list in alphabetical order, vandalizing the records, disabling the cars and setting off the horns.

Any device that you can use to remotely disable your vehicle can be used by somebody else as well. In this case the devices were put into place by banks since the people buying the cars had been delinquent on payments. But after the WAY over-blown Toyota fiasco there is a lot of talk by government officials about requiring automobiles to be equipped with black boxes. If the government does that you can bet money they will also put in a remote kill switch.

A Proper Response For Disagreeing With a Company

OK before I tell one one store I must tell another so here goes.

For my job I sometimes find myself traveling to strange and interesting locations. I have software on my phone so I can tether it to my laptop and use the data connection. It’s an OK solution but there are two major issues with it. First I have a Treo 755p which is not capable of using full 3G speeds. The second problem is my phone is CDMA meaning when I’m using the data connection I can’t use the actual talking function of my phone.

I figured I’d alleviate both of these issues by picking up one of those wonderful wireless access points that connect the the 3G cellular towers. They’re kind of spendy but I figured I’d get enough use out of it to justify the cost.

So I go to the store and ensure the device has several features I require (Good security on the Wi-Fi part of the device for starters). After that I finally asked what the device would cost without a contract. I understand these companies subsidize their devices and make up the money in locking you into a two-year contract. That’s not a bad thing really and I do understand the early termination fee because of that.

But I don’t like the idea of being locking into a contract for two years. Hence I came up with this crazy idea. I’m willing to pay full price for the device. Simple enough huh? The problem is you can’t do it. Apparently the two-year contract isn’t really for recouping the cost of subsidized devices as I was willing to forgo the subsidized cost and pay the full price. They simply will not sell you the device and service unless you sign the contract.

I told you that so I could get to the point of this post.

The point I want to make here is the proper response. Many people not willing to agree to the cell phone company’s terms would start saying it’s not fair and demand something be done. This something of course would be for the government to get involved and make these two-year lock-in agreements illegal. It would be a very long and fancy crusade about how unfair it is for the big evil cell phone companies to lock poor innocent Americans into these contract.

Obviously that wasn’t my response. So what did I do? I decided not to give the company my money. Unlike so many in the world I don’t feel I’m entitled to make companies play by my rules. If I don’t like the conditions set forth to obtain their product or service I simply don’t purchase their product or service.

It’s an effective solution. I’m dumbfounded by the fact people simply refuse to acknowledge this option. So many clamor to the government to fight the big evil corporations meanwhile not seeing the clear fact that the government itself is a big corporation.

We are not entitled to jack shit. Nobody is entitled to Internet access, health care, a car, or a contract free cellular device. Because I realize that I decided to leave this post here to let people who think differently understand there is an option open, take your money elsewhere.

That is all.