JorgeA

New details in how the feds take laptops at border Aside from the other issues that this story touches on, the following excerpt caught my eye: [emphasis added] Correct me if I'm wrong (please!!), but this strikes me as improbable. Unless the laptop already had a keylogger installed, there's no way that even the NSA could reconstruct every (or any) keystroke the guy had input previously. And of course, if they did have a kelogger installed already, then there was no need to steal borrow confiscate his laptop, as they could simply record what he was doing. What do you think? --JorgeA

I'm glad you are interested in my work I add encryption yet, but right now I'm working on adding a Start Menu type feature too the program. No need to add encryption to your program. The security-conscious among us already know that they can encrypt their files , what's cool is the file-locking and -hiding features that you're facilitating! --JorgeA

The September 2013 issue of Smart Computing magazine has a feature on Windows 8.1, and I have two questions that I'm hoping somebody here will have the answer for. 1. Regarding Internet Explorer 11, the article says: [emphasis added] Question: How can other devices access the tabs that you have open in (for example) your PC? Does the information about what tabs you have open go to some kind of cloud database? 2. Regarding the integrated local+Web search: [emphasis added] Question: Is it possible to change this search engine to something other than Bing? If I don't want Bing keeping track of my searches (especially of what I have in local storage -- MYOFB), can I do it via Ixquick or DuckDuckGo? --JorgeA

All right, at least one little bit of good news in this whole mess. --JorgeA

You're welcome, and thank YOU for doing this. It's an interesting idea and I'll keep watching it! I, too, was curious what would happen if you plugged a flash drive, protected this way, into a Linux machine. Maybe one could encrypt the file and then apply your program to the resulting file, as another layer of protection. --JorgeA

And the fun continues: Privacy Scandal: NSA Can Spy on Smart Phone Data Hmm, Windows Phone isn't specified. Maybe it doesn't qualify as a "leading" manufacturer... --JorgeA

I never did get them to work since the forum software change. I may try using a different e-mail address and see if that somehow tickles the system into working. (Although I know that it's not my ISP's spam filter, I turned it off.) --JorgeA

Alright, let me give you a better description. How it works is it has a folder called "vault." Everything in this folder is locked and inaccessible. In order to unlock the folder, you must start the program, and enter the username and password. Then when you close the program, it locks the "vault" folder along with all its contents. CLSID (not sure why I wrote cclid) is used to change the behaviour of a folder. By adding a CLSID too a folder, you can change what happens when you click on the folder. For example, if you rename a folder and add ".{20D04FE0-3AEA-1069-A2D8-08002B30309D} " to the end of the folder name. The folder will now open "My Computer" instead of the folder contents. There is also a CLSID for a folder lock, which is what Granite Portable uses too lock the Vault.It combines that with the NTFS File permisions. First it uses the CLSID Folder Lock to lock the Vault, then it denies everyone access to the folder. By doing both these things, it makes the Vault semi secure and will prevent the average joe from accessing it. That's pretty cool -- thank you! --JorgeA

Good luck with the project, the goal sounds interesting but I'm sure I'm not the only one who could use a meatier description, for example: I see on your website that the file protection involves the use of a password. Is this a type of encryption, then? I also see that the program "allows you to hide your files from prying eyes." So, does it prevent the filenames from showing in Explorer? I can't tell how the program is intended to work (what it does). I understand about denying NTFS file permissions, but what is "cclid"? I didn't find anything that looked promising on the Web, although admittedly my search was brief.Thanks! --JorgeA

Funny you should mention these. I was going to post and link to the following article: Is touch contributing to the death of the PC? --JorgeA

I think Who da'Punk (aka Mini) has given up hope. In a running comparison there of working at Microsoft vs. working at Boeing (also based in the Seattle area), there was this commenter: --JorgeA

Yeah, that's pretty bad. These new NSA revelations are making a case for going back to my Pentium II box and, for good measure, maybe even replacing the Win98 on it with Linux. --JorgeA

Some possible (and hopeful) details on the type of encryption that the NSA has compromised. A commenter on that news in Ars Technica writes that: --JorgeA

Here's a great take on why Microsoft got rid of the Start Menu: The Start menu -- cause or effect? The piece is chock-full of good insights, ascribing the removal of the Start Menu to the internal dynamics of the Microsoft management culture, and it's best read from start to finish (it's not long). The core of the argument: The only place where the writer goes astray is at the very beginning, where he talks about a fuss being raised when the Start Menu replaced Program Manager in Windows 95. I was active in cyberspace back then, and don't recall any controversy over that. In fact, personally ProgMan never made any sense to me, while I understood the Start Menu + Taskbar combo practically at once. But that small detour doesn't detract from the strength of the writer's analysis. --JorgeA

+100

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2408751/The-spy-device-really-undercover-Vest-scans-nearby-mobiles-track-steal-owners-personal-details.html Courtesy of Trewmte on Forensic Focus: http://www.forensicfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=10966/ jaclaz I did see that one during my Web surfing, but it got lost in an avalanche of other privacy-related articles that seemed more ominous, and more directly related to our thread here. Also, the whole idea of this vest strikes me as vaguely ridiculous. --JorgeA

Google argues for right to continue scanning Gmail Umm -- no. I do not "expect" that my e-mail will be read by anyone or anything other than the intended recipient, and I certainly don't "necessarily" expect this. In fact, I expect my e-mails not to be read by anyone other than the person I'm sending it to. This is so absurd. Imagine if businesses or the government were to routinely open our postal mail, in the name of "security" or of "providing better targeted advertising." The public wouldn't stand for that!! So, why put up with it when we send our mail via the Internet?? --JorgeA

It gets worse with every new round of revelations: N.S.A. Able to Foil Basic Safeguards of Privacy on Web [emphasis added below] This is close to a textbook definition of a rogue agency. One small but provocative aspect of some of these programs is the names given to them, such as "Manassas" and "Bullrun" In the U.S., and "Edgehill" in the UK. These are names from the countries' respective civil wars. A civil war is a conflict within a country, either between competing would-be governments... or by the existing government against the people. --JorgeA

And for those who say that "anti-crime" tools would never be used to persecute political opponents -- well, they're already being used that way: Software Meant to Fight Crime Is Used to Spy on Dissidents One may be tempted to say that "it can't happen here," but is that a bet you'd be willing to lose? We know that in the U.S., critics of the current administration have been singled out for special attention by the federal tax-collection agency (IRS). How long before someone (of either party, at some point) rationalizes that the opposition "might" be involved in "civil disobedience" -- meaning, breaking some law -- and are "therefore" suitable targets for this kind of spying? Power corrupts, and absolute power... --JorgeA

An interesting critique of the new IE/Win8 SmartScreen Filter. Not an entirely disinterested analyst, of course, but his points make sense and it's still a thought-provoking writeup. If you look at the illustrations, the XP-style warning is a heck of a lot more useful than the information-free Windows 8 notification. --JorgeA

I hope Tripredacus won't mind my linking to this relevant post of his in another thread. It sounds like the Windows 8.1 option to "upgrade" from Win8 is a bit misleading, or at least open to misinterpretation, which could tick off a lot of users. --JorgeA

It seems that AT&T has joined the (totalitarian) party: Drug Agents Use Vast Phone Trove, Eclipsing N.S.A.’s --JorgeA

That's pretty bad. Both of these options are actually reinstalls. When they say "upgrade," wouldn't one expect it to keep as much of our data and programs and settings as possible while, um, upgrading the OS? I can see customer anger and howls of anguish rising up if and when users try this "upgrade" and discover that everything's been lost, or hidden. --JorgeA

JFYI, "better" conversation pieces: http://www.trendhunter.com/slideshow/disguised-usb-drives http://www.everythingusb.com/novelty-flash-drives.html I still personally: http://www.msfn.org/board/topic/98909-usb-fill-in-the-blank/ like the "thumb drive" : http://www.kahsoon.com/2005/06/22/new-thumb-shape-usb-stick/ jaclaz That does lend new meaning to the term, "thumb drive"! And for U.S. customers... it presents new possibilities for Halloween handouts!! --JorgeA

Thanks for the link! I'm coming around to the view that Thurrott "gets it," and that what I've interpreted in the past as his advocacy of NuMicrosoft insanity is largely his attempt to describe the company's attitude from its perspective, without necessarily agreeing with it. Maybe he himself is conflicted, or maybe his views are shifting. But it's encouraging to hear him say things like Microsoft "should do the right thing" and offer choice to its customers. From the post you linked to: One problem with their cloud model is that there are businesses that cannot affordto take the risk inherent in having somebody else store their data. When somebody else keeps your data, you no longer have control of how securely it is stored. If I were an executive in a healthcare or financial company, I would simply not trust any assurance that a cloud service might give me about the security of my data -- I would do that in-house where I had total control over the data and its protection. Otherwise, if there were a breach, how would I answer my customers, my CEO, the directors, the stockholders... and the lawyers dashing to the courthouse to file suit? "Sorry, we trusted SkyDrive or Amazon (or whomever) to know what they were doing, and gave them our data..." I don't think that line would wash. Later in the piece, Thurrott makes a point I've said in this thread before, that Microsoft should focus on its strengths rather than try to be all things to all people: --JorgeA