This day and age isn’t called the “Information Generation” for no reason. Nearly every worker does all of their work online and over the computer, and the number of people working from home on the computer has grown to number that could never even be comprehended ten years ago. It has even trickled down to kids. What kid doesn’t have a computer in the house or own one personally. Many schools have begun to do classes and class work online as well. Everything is going digital, but there are problems as well.

The Internet is a great way to just have fun exploring. Doing a Google search about something you are interested in is a great way to pass the time and become more educated. The Internet is also very distracting. Anyone can contest to the devil vs. angel they feel every day while at work; they want to work, but the Internet is so alluring. Some can compromise, and just use it on specific, time allotted breaks, but others will spend all day on YouTube or fantasy football and get absolutely nothing done, and probably an angry call from the boss later for lack of productivity. For this reason, many employers and schools limit and censor the Internet. A hired worker is one thing, but a student in a boring class they hate will have no problem blocking out the droning teacher and wasting an hour away.

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Invasion of Privacy is a number of things. First of all, privacy is indeed a law, and one all citizens of the U.S. are entitled to.

Most of the time, invasion of privacy applies to celebrity and other public figures. Basically it represents their freedom from excessive media intrusion into their lives, and are often represented in celebrity libel cases. These often have to do with celebrities being portrayed in a negative or untrue manner, and unfortunately, often fail. The celebrities file them, but the rarely win, since it is just seen as a way of life to be stalked as a prominent public figure.

As an average citizen though, do not think these laws don’t apply to you. You have every right to privacy that these A-listers do as well. Some may think “why even bother? My privacy isn’t being invaded…” This may be true; surely you are not finding slander about John Doe on the front of People magazine, but that is not to say you are being invaded in other ways.

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Although we enjoy things that, one-hundred years ago, people couldn’t even fathom, there are dangers that they couldn’t fathom either. Now that we have cars, people can commute to work faster and over longer distances than ever, but many people die in automobile crashes every year. Now that we have television, people can kick back and watch their favorite shows, but obesity has risen two-fold due to sedentary lifestyles. Now that we have the Internet, there is a wealth of information right at our fingertips, but there are legitimate criminals who try, and successfully do, steal identities and information every day.

For the last concern, many people turn to a popular service on the web called a proxy. There is a bit of discrepancy among proxy users and new prospects though: anonymous surfing software, or web-based proxy?

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The internet has grown in a number of ways many people did not expect. Originally conceived as a way of communicating academic data, the internet is now home to a multitude of entertainment sites. One of the most popular is www.Hulu.com which is home to a great many classic and modern television productions. So popular is www.Hulu.com that millions of people opt to watch programming at this website on a regular basis. Now, while the first W in WWW stands for “world”, www.Hulu.com may not really available on a worldwide basis. This can prove to rather annoying to Americans that may travel to a foreign country only to discover their access to Hulu is prohibited.

Why would a benign site such as Hulu.com be barred in certain countries? Is it due to draconian censorship rules? Actually, it is really just a matter of finances. While Hulu is free to watch, it is sponsored by advertisement. That means a specified amount of money is paid for certain specific advertising exposure. Based on the terms and agreements of the advertising contract, Hulu may bar the presentation of its site in certain areas. After all, the advertiser has not paid for exposure all over the world. So, Hulu must restrict access and it does this through the banning of certain IP addresses.

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OK, have you ever surfed around the Internet and when you clicked into a site you’re met with the wonderful little message that your IP address has been blocked for one reason or another? If you haven’t ever seen this then you just are not doing enough Internet surfing my friend.

You can basically become blocked from visiting and area either from the server that you are connecting through or from the website you are attempting to connect to. There are a number of reasons for either of those possibilities. Perhaps the server you are on has blocked the website due to some unsafe activity on that website or perhaps the website has noted your provider as a known site which sends out a lot of Spam or other malicious email activity.

You are in luck if the website you are trying to visit has blocked you. All you need to do is visit it with a different IP Address and all will be good because the website will not recognize you by that address. Now how you do that is the subject of many hours of web hunting. The easiest way is to access the offended website using a proxy service.

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“Renesys”, a company that analyzes and studies network connections and their locations have reported that the creation of proxy servers around the world and their use by Iranians has been slowing down lately. The government is catching on; the use of these proxies and their advertising is so public that the government has no problem blocking their citizens from using them. Although the government is finally becoming aware of these proxies, it truly is a global effort to produce them and allow their users anonymous and secure browsing.

Almost two thousand proxies have been created and shared by users all around the globe. Old proxies are being found by the Iranian government and blocked, and by identifying key characteristics of proxies, they are able to identify and shut down new ones just as quickly. This active oppression of its citizens blocks their political struggle and any other injustices from the rest of the world. This just shows how important it is for people in free countries to create proxies for the less fortunate to use.

Renesys explains how proxies function: They are a piece of software you install or a website you visit. Either one protects your identity and allows you uncensored Internet access. The website or computer you are going to acts as a middle-man in the website to computer exchange. The website or software changes your IP address, which acts as a nametag for your computer, to something different, and therefore, stops you from being tracked. When you go through a proxy server, the proxy goes and gets the website you requested, and brings it you. The proxy doesn’t know anyone is behind the scenes pulling the strings either. In fact, if someone were to access your browsing history, all they would see is the name of the proxy site over and over again.

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Some may raise some eyebrows when “anonymous surfing” is brought up. Why remain anonymous unless you’ve got something to hide? Well, maybe not the same stuff they are thinking of, but I sure wouldn’t want to propagate my bank account information to every Google user!

The Internet is a great and very helpful place, but we don’t have to sacrifice our right to privacy when using it. Some ISPs store all of your information for up to 2 years! Some government agencies in the UK store all of the information in a large database forever.

Maybe having an ISP know what you are doing is not a big deal, but it is the principle of the matter. Imagine if someone hacked the server; all information, every website, password, social security number ever entered in the last two years would be at their fingertips! A bit scary when it is laid out before you.

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American’s military is the glue that holds the nation together. National security is on every U.S. citizens’ mind, and this is only magnified in these turbulent times. These freedom fighters would give everything to help their country, and do so every day.

Though they may seem almost inhuman with their selflessness, these are just ordinary people. They love family, freedom, and happiness just as much as anyone else. While traveling or being stationed internationally, some military members can get homesick. This is perfectly normal, and happens to some when leaving on a leisurely vacation. Imagine the anguish of having to leave your country, and go off to some faraway land to fight!

Watching some familiar American T.V. is a great way to stay in touch with old Uncle Sam. Unfortunately, a man can‘t exist on “I Love Lucy” alone, and must supplement their viewing diet.

Internet T.V. to the rescue! Imagine the joy of a lonely soldier when he or she could access an entire cultural reservoir of familiarity. They could just catch up on the affairs back home, or maybe just see who J-Lo is marrying this week. Alas, it was too good to be true.

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If you want to surf securely and remain anonymous on the Internet, a private proxy is the best way to do so. There are a couple important things to keep in mind about proxies though. Having a better understanding of Internet security in general will better prepare you to select the right proxy.

First of all, there are free proxies. “Free” is a bit of a subjective term here. In the eyes of most, “free” means no money needs to be shelled out. This is true of a free proxy. Keep in mind though, that you pay in attention. There are ads all over sites, and the proxy makes money by you clicking on them.

Web proxies are the most common type of proxy on the Internet. They cloak your IP address and allow you to remain anonymous on the web. They can also bypass firewalls and other virtual blockades by masking the sites you are visiting, and just having it appear that you are visiting their site.

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The Internet is probably the quintessential reason this day and age is called “the information society”. Everything is right at our fingertips, and is so easy to access. Instead of spending hours researching in a library for your research paper, you could simply do a Google search and find endless pages of information. Instead of drudging between houses during a yard sale, one can head to Ebay and find bargains and deals galore.

Infatuated with this great new invention, no one stopped to worry about the dangers it could present. Internet crime began to rise. People panicked, and with only rudimentary knowledge, didn’t know how to protect themselves. Some just gave in, and assume you had to be a genius to stay safe and anonymous on while surfing the web.

Where there is strife, there is demand for some benefactor to come along and rescue the oppressed. This hero turned out to be something intangible, but nonetheless, effective.

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