Neat Image Resizing Technique

Just because it's cool: an image resizing technique that doesn't stretch or skew the important features. It's a little hard to describe, but the point is that when you resize a webpage, images either get cut off or stretched. No longer. Think, desktop wallpaper. Not only can it be shrunk, it can be expanded. Neat neat neat. JTAG ERROR: No slashdot_ht index defined

FISA Gets Feisty – Orders White House to Justify Spying to ACLU

Now that’s justice! Bush avoids the courts with his illegal program, but he’s eventually forced to follow the law. Even after convincing the brain dead members of congress to pass a law FURTHER expanding his powers in this area, the FISA court slaps him upside the head by ordering him to release information to the ACLU. I wonder if he’ll just ignore the order as he’s done with the Congressional subpoenas? Tags: ,

Diebold Attempts Name Change to Hide Past

Check out this article detailing the short version of all Diebold's sins with the most recent being their new name. Diebold, who has really died and did so boldly, is now known as Premier Election Systems. From Google: Premier: The first in importance or rank, the chief. How fitting. They are indeed the first, most important, and chief example of how e-voting can be implemented completely wrong, completely insecure, with complete and absolute failure. A quick summary of the article author's explanation for the name change:
Why the name change? Well, Diebold's got a lot of other businesses -- it makes ATMs and security systems for health firms and for the government, and the election subsidiary has always been something of a sideline. Lately it became an embarrassing sideline, dragging down Diebold's good name. That's why, a couple of years ago, Diebold moved to sell the unit. Shockingly, it found no takers.
JTAG ERROR: No eff_ht index defined

FISA Changes Outrage the Country

I’ve been holding back on covernig this because it’s just so damned depressing. But the story is that Bush managed to shove a “FISA modernization” bill down congress’s throats and the witless saps passed it. Understandibly, this has a lot of privacy and consumer advocates in a tizzy. I’ve heard some people say that this could legalize the illegal spying program. My question is, how many times do people have to openly agree that the program is and has been illegal before someone puts Bush in jail for this? So it’s (allegedly) legal now, but “Sure I was speeding, but I’m going the speed limit NOW officer” has never been a defense. Tags: ,

Cardexchange? I Don’t Think So

So there's a new website that allows people to exchange their loyalty cards with strangers so you "defeat" the tracking an profiling that stores do on you. Unless I'm missing something, this is a pretty dumb idea. Here's the e-mail I sent to them:
Why not just ask for an anonymous card? Exchanging means that you'll get a bunch of ads for stuff that has no relation to you. What if you exchange with a guy who buys ingredients for a bomb or a meth lab? that might come back on you. Even if the store won't give you an anonymous card, just use fake data.
If you're curious why store value cards and such are a bad idea, see Nocards.org for details. JTAG ERROR: No consumerist_ht index defined Tags:

Oklahoma University Students Fight Back Against RIAA

I love these stories. I sure hope they win.

American Witch Hunt – Shhhh…. We’re Hunting Leakers

The FBI raided the home of a former justice department lawyer in order to discover any information they could about the leak of details on the illegal spying program. Nice to know that Bush followed through on persecuting anyone and everyone that exposes his embarassing and illegal exploits. Tags:

Movie Theater Narc’ing

This is actually kind of cool. If you are handed one of these remotes and someone is being loud and obnoxious or if the picture/sound quality is off in a movie, you can just hit the button instead of having to leave the movie to find someone to deal with it. Of course, these remotes don’t have microphones so the management will have to guess what your problem is. Either way, it’s kind of a cool concept.

VeriChip’s Turn – Loses A Laptop With Unencrypted Employee Information

This might actually be good news. First, it’s only data on their employees instead of countless numbers of innocent people. Second, VeriSign is not that nice of a company. And most importantly, they are responsible for VeriChip, the spinoff company that is responsible for pushing human implanted RFID. Maybe a little ID theft (or worrying about it) will be a good wakeup call for them and they’ll be a little more sympathetic to the “privacy nuts” who are constantly fighting them and everything they do. Tags:

AT&T Hiding $10/month DSL Service – Sign up Now!

AT&T, world known for their honesty and loyalty to customers (this is sarcasm folks), was required to offer a $10 per month DSL service (as a condition of their Bellsouth merger) which they now say that nobody seems interested in. It’s hard to be popular if no one knows about it though. That being said, spread the word! Make sure everyone has a chance to cut their fees by switching to this plan. This doesn’t do near enough to put AT&T to justice, but if you’re already a customer and don’t need the high bandwidth, make sure they don’t get away with hiding their mandated $10 plan.

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General Safety

Avoid fake and nasty websites with my search engine trick.
Watch out for online addiction. Getting lost in fun online activities can be just as addiction as any drug.
So you want to write, publish, or share information online? Be careful. Things you say may be lost or forgotten, but things put on the Internet never are.
Don't fall for the well-known (or the new scams either) bad guys use to trick you into give away data or money.

Account Protection

Want to make an account with some online service? Read this first!
The newest, biggest risk online? Account hijacking! Don't become a victim by allowing your account to be taken over and learn to recognize when someone else has been.
Be sure transmission security is active before entering a name, password, credit card number, or other important information online.

... or check out any of my other guides and tutorials by clicking here!

How to Avoid Bogus Websites

There are bogus websites out there hoping you'll hit them by accident or using phishing to trick you into coming to them. Learn my simple trick to avoid these sites!

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Online Addiction

Concerned about online addiction? You should be. Learn the types, the signs, and the preventions.

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The Consequences of Posting Online

It's fun to post online. What you think, what you feel. But words typed and posted on the Internet can come back to bite you more than anything you could say with your mouth.

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Tricks and Scams

Just because you won't willing give up data doesn't mean that I can't trick you out of it. Don't fall for these well known tricks!

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Account Creation Tips

When you create an account with an online site, you should know a few things first.

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Account Hijacking

One of the newest threats we face is the risk of someone getting control of your online account and using it against you and the people you know. Do everything you can to prevent that from happening!

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Using HTTPS For Secure Login and Payment Online

Making online accounts is useful and fun, but doesn't mean much if someone can capture your login information and use it against you. Make sure to use this simple trick to prevent that from happening.

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