There are some internet users who happily share their experiences with Anonymous Proxy once they discover its many benefits. Among its advantages, many say that faster speed ranks first. I can also tell of my own personal experience and how I better enjoyed my online surfing. I instantly solved my problem with speed in uploading my blogs by using an anonymous proxy.

It is good to know more advantages that can come from using an anonymous proxy, specifically to bypass filters. Aside from speed, it also blocks much of the spyware and junk that is sent to your computer. This saves you from the common problems that users come across. While this can be solved by using technical skill, it is very burdensome to encounter this problem repeatedly.

I’d like to offer a “review” of sorts of my experience with Private Proxy – a software services company that provides anonymous server proxy protection.  First a bit of background.  I’m what you might call a “retail” user of the internet – I don’t have a web site of my own, I don’t try to create traffic on someone else’s website by “hitting” it many times, etc., my wife and I simply “use” the internet for email, surfing, banking, communication with family through Facebook, Google, etc.  We have 4 computers in the house (they accumulate over time like dust bunnies) and we both use the internet often through the day and often at the same time.

Over the past month or so there have been a series of articles in the Wall Street Journal, that frankly, scared the bejeezus out of us.  We knew that surfing the internet exposes us to identity theft and that third parties of all kinds can, do, and are probably in some cases legally required (like our ISP) to monitor all our online activities.  Now we believe our internet use is a private matter (doesn’t everyone?).  And we don’t feel that by tracking our internet preferences third parties can “better” market us through more targeted advertising to create a “better” internet experience for us.  Call us old fashioned but we would rather make those choices for ourselves – privately.  The WSJ articles made clear that ANY internet usage by an individual can both expose that user to invasions of privacy and outright dangerous – like going to a gun fight with only a knife.  All this got us thinking about ways to protect ourselves.

In any culture, bad people are always involved. Whenever some other person has a large amount of money or has an excellent life along with their excellent job, some other person who puts no effort into life finds them and robs them of it. The epitome of the old school thieves is the good old “hold you at gunpoint” breed. These low lifes might lurk in some gloomy alleyway for all of your cash and jewels, and then leave you poor or dead. This is the most memorable view of the old-style crook.

This type of criminal would have a starring role in an old gangster movie, the ones so overplayed they would be in a stark non-color and grainy version. As with their movie persona, these bad guys committed some atrocities. The film portrayals simply scared the viewers, but real street crooks are the ones to be held accountable for almost of the fright and damage to people. These bad people are the ones who make the cities unsafe at night, and are bait for most news reports adding to the hysteria.

These men and women were the most evil of the bad in their era. They were the outcasts of society, the ones that, when friends and families saw them in court, would avert their gaze, as if their gaze had some strange and hypnotic power. These were the reasons that the United States treads lightly with its prison system. It is a strange thing that such an accepting society conjures: you have these boundless rights and freedoms, yet it is just assumed that you will not abuse them. Unfortunately, while most of us take care of these rights, guys like these don’t and it tears at the very foundation of our country.

For many people, their Internet service is something that happens as though by magic, but if you are curious about learning more about how your computer gets online and communicates with other machines, you are going to find that you need to think about your IP address. The term IP address is one that comes up with regular frequency when you are thinking about computers and networking and even if you know where to find it, you might not be able to explain what it means or what it does. When you are thinking about learning more about networking and when you want some simple answers as to what an IP address is and what it does, there are some things that you need to keep in mind.

In the first place, remember that the term itself is short for “Internet Protocol.” This is a label that has been applied to allow you to connect to a wider network, and if you are on the Internet, you are using an IP address to get there. Remember, though, that you are looking at something that has several functions. For instance, websites have IP addresses too; from your computer’s point of view, they are both a pathway as well as a location. When you are thinking about the way your computer interacts on the network, remember that it should act as your passport. If you are not getting an IP address, you are not going to be getting online at all. Your IP address is something that is granted to you by your Internet service provider, or your ISP. In many cases, you will be able to simply plug your computer into the wall or into your cable modem, depending on what your service consists of, and you will be able to get online right away. In many cases, you will first need to deal with authenticating yourself to your ISP, and you need to verify that you have service with them, but it usually takes very little time at all. With a greater interest in convenience and speed, there are companies which are deliberately working for plug and play Internet, where you can plug your computer in and simply start surfing as you please. This can make a huge difference to the way that you connect.

The men and women of the United States Armed Forces are overseas right now fighting for your freedom. They made this choice on their own yes, but it is a choice they made because they love the idea of freedom, and because they want to better themselves and their country. Remember it is not a choice that is made lightly by any means. It is something that they considered, and probably for several months. In the end they decided that fighting for freedom and making a stand was worth more than anything-even their own lives. That being the case they signed the papers, they boarded a plane, and now they sit thousands of miles away from home. Fortunately there have been some innovations that have provided soldiers with more entertainment than they would have had access to in the past. These innovations are centered around the internet.

Use an anonymous proxy to stay safe overseas.

So what would a soldier want to access on the web. Believe it or not, one of the things they do is watch TV online. They can catch their favorite programs or watch hockey. Most of the TV networks put their some of their latest episodes online. For others, they can access media sites that aggregate content. Another source for media is the online newspapers like the New York Times. Or maybe they want to read their home town newspaper online. Today most, if not all papers, have an online version. So between TV, sports, and newspapers, they can catch up on the latest US media and news.

Instead of TV, they might be on social networking sites like FaceBook or MySpace. For those who have not served in the military, you can’t imagine how much of a gift these sites are to lonely young men and women far from home. With a click of the mouse, they can see friends and loved ones. They can catch up on the latest happenings in their families or circle of friends. They can see videos, pictures and general updates. And maybe, just maybe, some of the loneliness might go away. Sure, they are still at the front. Sure they are still in harm’s way. But they have a connection back to their normal every day lives. Unfortunately, they can’t always connect back to these US sites. You’d think the web is available everywhere.

Do you ever get that feeling that someone is following you, someone is watching you? Don’t quickly jump to the conclusion that you are crazy; many others feel the same way. The fact is that you are often being watched, and not just by other people. In Britain, and as being tested in some undisclosed parts of the United States, people are being held under surveillance by discreet video cameras mounted on houses. These video cameras can watch passerby and record everything that they see and or do. The cameras can be accessed by local law enforcement, federal law enforcement, or any other criminal agency at any time, with a live feed able to be brought up. These cameras are supposed to watch for “anti-social behavior”, and when detected, the police are to be dispatched and the situation taken care of.

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.

These days, it is hard to place our trust in anything. Perhaps it is the prevalence of terrorism, or the declining economy, or maybe even the thought of a nuclear war floating in the back of our minds. While we are hesitant to put faith in almost anything, we do so often every day in the least trust-worthy situations; the problem is, we don’t realize it.

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.

Every Internet user knows the hassle of constantly popping up advertisements and other flashing ads on the side of their screen. While most just view this as the trade-off that they give while surfing the free Internet, some are a bit more worried. And with good reason; recently, a new practice has begun: behavioral advertising. This will actually go into your browsing history, scan it to determine your interests, and then put ads all around your page based on it. It is a bit invasive, and completely involuntary.

The premise is simple; give people ads that they might actually consider. Imagine a dainty young woman into flowers, teacups, and all things cute and cuddly. If while on a beauty website, she encounters an ad for a protein shake that is guaranteed to put on fifteen percent more muscle in one week, she probably isn’t going to even think about clicking it. On the other end of the spectrum, if a muscle-bound college kid is managing his fantasy football team, and an ad for a miracle garden solution pops up, he probably won’t think twice before exiting it out.

These may be a bit extreme, but everyone has had something like this occur. One can see two sides of the coin to this new behavioral advertising; one is good and puts ads that you may actually consider on your screen, and another is bad and completely invades your privacy without permission.

A cache system is storage of data that is saved to your computer every time you visit a site. When you access a site that the cache has stored data on, the site will be accessed more quickly because you cut out the middle man (the site) and load it directly from your hard drive. This will speed up browsing time, and allow some sites to even be viewed while offline using the cache! While you wouldn’t be able to interact with other users or post things, you could view the entire site while you aren’t even connected to the 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.

In the U.S., we enjoy a great amount of freedom and many social rights. Privacy is one of those, and arguably the most important. Our Internet is completely uncensored and our government has no notions or plans to change that. We can surf what we want, when we want, and people have almost taken this for granted. Many other countries are not this way. For example, Iran is very censored, and around certain times, it gets worse. As the last election drew to a close, the government in Iran blocked Twitter and other instant messaging services were shut down so as to not give protestors a medium to communicate their message. In China, people always make jokes about the “Great Firewall of China”. It didn’t earn this nickname for no reason though, Chinese citizens are blocked from pretty much any site that has anything anti-communist or any content that might go against their ideologies.

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.