Author Archives: jcs

The Perfect GPG Pair

Posted on 2013-09-15 by jcs

If the NSA scandals are making you paranoid—and they should—one of the first steps you should take is to install email encryption software. Every time you read an article recommending the use of encryption software, the author inevitably remarks that … Continue reading →

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Why It Matters: A Story From Sweden

Posted on 2013-09-14 by jcs

I ended my Dinner With General Alexander post with the observation that when the Government collects data, regardless of the stated rationale, there will inevitably be mission creep that sees the data being used in new, unintended ways and that … Continue reading →

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Schneier on Being Safe

Posted on 2013-09-13 by jcs

Bruce Schneier, one our best independent security experts, has some useful advice on staying safe from NSA surveillance. He is working with the Guardian and has access to the Snowden documents so he can bring some reasoned analysis to the … Continue reading →

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It Just Gets Better and Better

Posted on 2013-09-12 by jcs

Glenn Greenwald’s latest article is out at the The Guardian. Despite repeated assurances that Americans’ data are respected and protected it turns out that the NSA is sharing raw intelligence including Americans’ data with Israel. As it happens, I don’t … Continue reading →

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Dvorak on the NSA

Posted on 2013-09-11 by jcs

John Dvorak is at his hyperbolic best in this piece on the NSA. In it, he throws out red meat for those of us enraged by what the NSA is doing. His take is that the NSA sees Americans as … Continue reading →

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Build Your Own Dropbox

Posted on 2013-09-10 by jcs

As I’ve written many many many times before, if you’re using Dropbox to store sensitive data you absolutely must encrypt it before committing it to Dropbox. I use Dropbox solely to sync my 1Password keychain between devices so the file … Continue reading →

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The War Between NSA and the Tech Industry Begins

Posted on 2013-09-09 by jcs

Patrick Gray over at Wired wrote an interesting article in which he posits that Tech Companies and Government May Soon Go to War Over Surveillance. His notion is that while tech companies may have been willing to accommodate the NSA … Continue reading →

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Learning Emacs Keyboard Shortcuts

Posted on 2013-09-08 by jcs

Sacha Chua has been doing a lot of sketch notes lately. One of her most recent contributions are two guides for learning Emacs keyboard shortcuts. These are, of course, aimed at n00bs but they are well done and worth passing … Continue reading →

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Using Org Mode for Custom Workflows

Posted on 2013-09-07 by jcs

jr0cket, aka John Stevenson, is working on a series of posts that discuss how to design a custom workflow with Org Mode. So far, he has a set of three posts but be sure to check his home page for … Continue reading →

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Schneier on Trusting the NSA

Posted on 2013-09-06 by jcs

Bruce Schneier has a powerful article in The Atlantic on The Only Way to Restore Trust in the NSA. His prescription is to appoint an independent special council to clean up the mess. My first reaction when reading that was … Continue reading →

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