Reacting to the foregoing statement, one critic reacted by saying that this kind of argument is not only wrong, but also dangerous. He admitted that in many ways, anonymity protects different groups of the population. He added that anonymity is also prone to abuses by some, particularly those who are spreading “vitriolic bile” without limits. Granting that this is true, it is not enough reason to entirely ban online anonymity. Recent surveys reveal that many online newspapers have established policies regarding this issue, while others have entirely banned this freedom.

Those who propose its banning rationalize that everyone should maintain online civility. While all newspapers should try to work on this issue, there is more to being identified online than just by one’s name. Those who work against anonymity said that identification will minimize online problems. However, this will discourage a lot of people from speaking their minds for the fear of retribution. They also pointed out that history has a lot to tell of anonymous men and women whose writings made great contributions to society.

A speaker or writer whose right to remain anonymous has been taken away cannot participate well in a democratic discourse. Detested individuals will have no defense from reprisal in the present, narrow-minded society. Nameless small groups will not be able to condemn oppressive practices and policies, or a victim of domestic violence will not be able to find help.

What can reduce the problem of breeding online garbage due to anonymous comments is moderation. This simple method has remained useful since the early days of newspapers, and will still be effective these days. Online newspapers can still use this classic “tool” to preserve civility while not obstructing the person’s right to remain anonymous.

People’s lives around the globe|world] today, especially those of the United States citizens, are of a highly mobile type. We use our cars to go anywhere, work a whole bunch of separate shifts to augment our bank accounts, and have more entertainment in our house than does a whole circus. Consider going out to the movies in the present day; in the prehistoric days, before the VCR player, you would have to buy a ticket for the theater playing at your time. Now you can simply download movies temporarily whenever you choose by taking your pick from an on-demand service. Our homes these days are like the best place to relax and have fun; it almost defeats the point of going out. This self-containment is a must today though because we have more going on in our lives than ever before.

Regardless of lackluster sleeping patterns, we beat back the sleepy with huge glasses of coffee and energy shots. As much as we might try and believe otherwise, we can’t change or avoid the obvious fact that there is only so much time in a single day; you can only plan so much in the time you are allotted. This leads to idea of making the shopping errand much faster. For many people though, and not just the ones who stereotypically enjoy spending, shopping is a fun reward for working hard. People like browsing for clothes, trying on every last article for optimum stylishness. So why would we take this pleasure away from them? A single word, in summation: time. It is time consuming to drag out to a store and lug your shopping bags around all day, and most would like to avoid it.

Online shopping is a relatively new phenomenon and began in a variety of sites. Most people first reach for massive marketing sites like Ebay when this type of shopping comes up, but they are just some of many. Through these sites, you could actually become quite the Internet entrepreneur, pedaling your old junk online. Some people make themselves rich selling their old knick-knacks to collectors! Whether or not you choose to participate in these transactions is up to every person on the site, but it was the public that took this process to the next stage. The Internet suddenly became the place for selling and buying, and all of a sudden we are bombarded with ads all over our explorer box. Unfortunately, the number one rule of the Internet rang true with this new online shopping market; any sort of economic prosperity, and bad people will catch on.

These new scam artists were witty people though, it was a shame they wasted their intellect on crime. They would make a credible name to use on Ebay and other sites. They would then post some sort of item for a great price that everyone would want. Once the customer bought, their credit card would be charged, and the scammer would send them an empty crate or maybe nothing at all. As is the nature of the Internet, the criminal packed up shop and was never heard from again. You may have known people to whom this happened, or been a victim yourself. Don’t get disillusioned; Internet shopping is a great tool; just watch who you are buying from. If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Try and read their profiles on these sites too, and scan the buyer feedback. If it is bad, turn tail and run! Even if it is good, it still could be a hoax. Use your intuition and don’t let your money go to waste; or rather, to some low life who blatantly stole it.

While the idea of being watched sounds bad, it really is not. It depends clearly on the type. When you are being watched for your own safety, as these video cameras are doing for the citizens, sometimes it is necessary to make some privacy sacrifices to ensure your protection. The only question that arises is what exactly is “anti-social behavior”? If this anti-social behavior means a man waiting outside someone’s house looking to see if anyone is home, and then trying to break the door down or open a window, then it goes without saying that we would all be okay with these cameras. Sometimes these cameras can snoop into places we don’t want them too, and they then abandon their public service. This is the bad kind of being watched, a voyeuristic viewing of your life and its details. It doesn’t have to be the actual watching of your person though or what you are doing; this illegal type of surveillance expands into the extension of your self, except online: your social security number, your documents, your emails, etc.

This kind of surveillance is obviously the aforementioned bad kind. It usually has one defining characteristic; it is done through technology. Somebody snoops on you using some high tech device, breaking through the meager defenses you have on your (it is oftentimes) computer. You always have to be wary of your computer; it can be a great addition to your life and make many things easier with the power of the Internet, but it can be dangerous as well. Most computer are not secured and protected properly, and surf the web “without their seat belts on”, if you will.

Don’t fret; getting a secure Internet is easy. Anonymous proxy is what you need to look for, and once you find a good one, look no further. An anonymous proxy can enable you to surf the web anonymously and keep you hidden from the prying eyes of those wishing to commit this “anti-social behavior.” Find a reliable private proxy and stick with it, and you will be perfectly secure on the Internet.

Take the Internet for example. Kids, every day, converse with each other online. This has become the primary form of communication among the youth of America; rare is the case when a group of friends will actually go out and meet in person when it is so much easier to do so on the computer. With this virtual existence though, one can argue they lose who their friends really are. While this is meant in a sentimental, profound fashion, the literal meaning applies too. Without seeing their faces and hearing their voices, how do you know the person typing is the one actually typing? It would be easy and plausible enough that the friend they are exchanging personal information with is actually a hacker who is trying to lure them into a real life encounter. This is sobering news, but sadly it happens often.

These false identities online can be harmful. A poll was recently posted on the hot new social networking site FaceBook with an insidious title: “Should President Obama be killed?” The poll was open with four options, and almost seven hundred and thirty people navigated to the site to post their response. While this can quickly be written off as a joke due to the ease of posting a poll and the fact that anyone can do so, it is still entirely possible this was the doing of some sociopath looking for support.

The poll was quickly investigated by the Secret Service and was promptly shut down. Consider the implications of this: if the Secret Service pounced on it so quickly, it was obviously no laughing matter. While these people are doing their crimes secretly on the Internet, others are invading your privacy. In a mock contest to give away a certain amount of money, Netflix investigated nearly all of their user’s browsing histories to determine what kind of movies they would like, and market to the customers appropriately.

Anonymity on the Internet isn’t always a bad thing though; only when put into the wrong hands. If everyone on the Internet was anonymous, these privacy issues would not occur. If you plan to protect yourself and ensure anonymous browsing online, you have to utilize an anonymous proxy. By masking your IP address, it hides you from the rest of the hacking and tracking Internet.

Some people use these cache systems to help out with their P2P (peer-to-peer) transfers. This will store part of the data that needs to be transferred and copied, and will allow it to load much more quickly. The cache will also hold other data that will cause the Internet to be a faster place for users and allow more data to be transferred more quickly.

The cache also comes with some risks too. Anytime identifying data or browsing history is stored on your computer, you will have some sort of privacy issue. The less information you keep about yourself and your browsing habits on your computer and on the Internet, the safer and more anonymity you will enjoy. It is possible that a hacker could gain access to your data by using your IP address to hack into your computer. It is also possible to just steal your computer and get into your cache. It is one thing for your system to be physically stolen, but if a hacker could remotely access your computer and get all sorts of sensitive information and other browsing habits, it could be forever before you found out and tried to stop it, but by then the damage could be irreversible.

There is also the practice of ISPs using a cache system for all of its users to enjoy. This seems ideal, because with so many users going on so many different sites, yet sharing the same cache, they could all use the giant cache system to load many sites faster, instead of only the ones they previously went on. This seems great, but if someone were to somehow gain access to the gigantic universal cache, they would have access to so many people’s data that it would be a privacy nightmare. Imagine, so many people’s data compromised so quickly!

Today though, the cache system is archaic. It was a good idea when Internet connection speeds were slow, but with today’s DSL and broadband being the norm for most Internet users, the connections are so fast that the cache became a liability. People worried about the security risks.

Today, proxies don’t use the cache system either. One of the concepts for a proxy was specifically for the caching of sites making your browsing faster.  Companies cached the sites that their employees went to thus speeding up the web browsing. They used to have a system like the ISPs, but they have pretty much abandoned that due to the speed of Internet connections. Although the cache still is in effect on most every computer, it has taken a backseat after the Internet became so streamlined and fast.

Now proxies are used primarily for Internet privacy.  By using an anonymous proxy a user can surf the Internet anonymously.  An anonymous proxy can do two things for the user.  First it can change the IP address of the user thus protecting their location.  And if the proxy uses encryption it can also prevent hackers from intercepting and reading the data sent over the Internet.

Cache, however, remains on your PC.  These are now mostly garbage files and should be deleted regularly.  All browsers have the ability to clear the cache upon exiting.  Some call these files temporary Internet files, some call it cache.  In either case, you don’t need them anymore.

Although out Internet is as free as red, white, and blue can be, freedom can bring about some bad things. Criminals and identity thieves roam the Internet; hackers and trackers prey on innocents. As technology increases, these criminals up their arsenal and still have some tricks up their sleeve. Some people may feel comforted by the security systems and firewalls installed on their computer, but this is just the same as a child hiding under the covers; what are the covers actually going to do?

These preliminary defenses are a piece of cake for a hacker of even the most rudimentary talent. The truth is, even if these defenses worked, they still wouldn’t fix the main problem: the IP address. This virtual nametag your computer wears is shown to every website, and contains your location. If someone got your IP address, all they would have to do is copy it into a Google search, and they would have your location.

Although the IP is completely public, it can be hidden using anonymous proxy software. This will actually mask your IP, and allow you to travel anonymously and securely on the web. The proxy will change your IP address to one it uses, and this way, you will not appear as you, but as the proxy.

There a variety of these services to choose from. Web proxies are the most common, and most widely used, often because they are free. All these entail is going to a website, hitting in the address you wish to visit, and the proxy will act as a middleman, and retrieve the information for you, so it’s like you never even visited the site.

The other type of proxy server is the professional, fee-based server. These will offer the same services as a web proxy, but often add in an additional layer of security. Although people feel safe with a web proxy, the truth is they offer no security and are sometimes run by hacker to steal people’s information. Fee-based proxies offer encryption services, which will encode all of your data so that it will appear as hieroglyphics to any hacker or interloper.

Don’t be disillusioned by total freedom; you are not always safe. The systems that protect you and come stock on your computer are not enough to combat the perils of online life and browsing. There are criminals who, every day, make an illicit living on people who are unprotected. Don’t be one of them! Protect yourself by using an anonymous proxy and ward off any intruder to your Internet space. Most importantly, don’t let anyone locate you through your IP address, use an anonymous proxy and gain the peace of mind that comes with complete safety.

With blogging becoming such a popular and widely utilized pastime, people are beginning to see the security issues it represents. First of all, there is the possibility of someone tracking the blogger from his or her page, and maybe even posing as a friend (which isn’t hard to do online) to arrange a real life encounter. There is also the simple possibly that the blogger is just putting too much information out there. While they may talk about other things, blogs are often centered around friends and their activities together. Oftentimes you will see a blog that lucidly describes the place they are discussing, (sometimes even an address…) people involved in the event, and usually a picture attached of the person and their friends. This is everything and more than a criminal needs to find this person and rob, kidnap, or steal from them.

This new awareness of blog safety brought about the anonymous movement. People realized that the root of their problems and the biggest danger in their blogging lives is that they were being tracked and identified in real life. These blogs are often public too; imagine if a boss or potential employer were to view someone’s blog and turn them away from the job! The reverse of this happened a little while ago; a woman who constantly blogged about her disdain for a local politician and his methods was anonymous online. After some time and after having built a strong fan base, she decided to go public, and posted her name, a brief bio, and a picture of herself. Her boss, being an avid supporter of the ousted politician, fired her and forbid her from coming back to her job. She is now blacklisted from many employers in her area, for fear of being guilty by association.

Use an anonymous proxy to stay anonymous online. This is the best and most powerful way to do so. High bit encryption services will protect your identity, and a changed IP address will ensure you safe and anonymous browsing; and the avoidance of any identity-based privacy issues.

You can really mess them up by using an anonymous proxy’s encryption services to encode all of your data. When surfing through the private proxy, the data between you and the server is protected.

These issues are highly unpublicized and for the most part, only privacy advocates are concerned with the matters. Most people are blissfully unaware of the privacy risk their social networking web page presents to them and everyone they involve on it. Some people are going to try and teach the youth (and truly everyone) how to properly protect themselves on the Internet and these sites.

Enter the developer called Six to Start. Partnered with a local news station they are developing a game designed to teach kids about privacy, without the “teaching” aspect seeming so austere. The game is called “Smokescreen” and kids will be able to use their privacy as a defense system; the more things and information you put out there, the less your defense will be. The game rewards them also for not completely shutting off their release of information. Sensible things to put on your blog page, like name and interests, and maybe just COUNTRY of location.

While these programs have not been tested for effectiveness yet, it would only make sense that they succeed; kids like video games, but detest school. If you weave the schooling into a video game, they will love it. They will enjoy the video game not thinking it is schooling, but they will absorb the education none the less.

“Smokescreen” could be a potential winner. While it is still under wraps and no release data has been set, it is quite a concept. On top of this, it is slated to be free, and kids are always looking for free entertainment. Hopefully the program will take off, and educate many kids about their Internet use, and how much information they should put out there. Hopefully it will stop them from posting lewd pictures and getting themselves and their friends in trouble.

The program will certainly feature many different aspects of Internet safety. Perhaps they will weave in an anonymous proxy, and the advantages it provides. An anonymous proxy can keep you completely protected on the Internet through strong encryption services, that encodes all of your data to points where no hacker could break in. They also will ensure anonymous surfing by giving you a secure tunnel of access that no one could intercept and steal anything from.

While these web cams can be used for business related purposes as stated above, they can be purely social as well, and in this respect, they shine. People can, instead of simply typing out a smiley face emoticon, can smile and laugh and hear their friends or family’s voice. Imagine the joy a soldier feels when he is able to hear his family’s voice again; imagine the joy they all would feel if they could see each other again. Some couple are known to chat over dinner over the Internet when they are apart. An Internet program called Skype actually allows people to organize these chats with a phone number like system and chat and talk and see each other over the Internet. Many people use these to record their musical performances, their political rants, or just their random antics and upload them straight to the online video giant YouTube. The possibilities are endless; perhaps online classes will be enhanced to actually have a teacher lecture to students while they take notes.

While this is a truly promising and a growing technology, as is with everything good, there are risks you take. For example, perhaps if a child were to go into an Internet chat room they could be forced aside and have to talk face to face with their enticing aggressor; just as the salesman was more convincing once he was able to be seen, so would be a child molester to a child. It seems as though the Internet is getting a little to personal, and anonymity is scarce, especially with the cultural phenomenon of the social networking site; MySpace, FaceBook, Xanga, etc. Perhaps they will have web cam integration soon too, and everyone will be seeing each other, rather than just viewing a recreation of them on their web page.

An anonymous proxy can be used to keep an Internet user safe, and keep what anonymity is left online. Using a private proxy will ensure anonymous browsing through a secure tunnel of access, and strong encryption services will keep your sensitive documents safe and not allow your security to be compromised whatsoever.