Mark Savage

London Oxford cops who used their riot shields for toboggans during the recent, unprecedented snowy weather have been reprimanded by their Superintendent, Andrew Murray, who “reminded them in no uncertain terms that tobogganing on duty, on police equipment and at taxpayers’ expense is a very bad idea should they wish to progress under my command.”

Hell, I’d rather have them tobogganing on the things than using them to beat up peaceful protesters at Climate Camp.

Police sledge with riot shields

Ed. note: On Tuesday, Google responded to cyber attacks aimed at Chinese human-rights activists by ending search-result censorship in China. An anonymous reader with experience living where privacy isn’t respected writes in with tips for keeping your data safe in these situations.

The author asked to remain anonymous and preferred to skip mentioning any countries by name—again, for privacy reasons. What follows is how the author keeps a tight leash on privacy when traveling in a country where the government actively monitors online communication.

The above image is a composite of photos by hemmob and nolifebeforecofee

Two things have really changed the face of independent backpacker travel in the last decade: digital cameras and—even more so—the internet. While some people can afford the luxury of traveling with a laptop or even a netbook, a real backpacker doesn’t want to have to carry the extra weight nor the responsibility of carrying expensive equipment that would be difficult to lug around, relatively easy to steal, and expensive to replace.

Internet cafes proliferate all throughout Asia and other remote countries, which makes getting online very easy and cheap. That said, as much as I love “the cloud,” keeping data online comes with security concerns, especially in places where internet restrictions and heavy government monitoring are commonplace.

Here are a list of items from my arsenal—many from Lifehacker—which made my own backpacker travels much easier when in remote places:

Gmail / Google Apps

Lifehacker has already sung the praises of Gmail, and it’s impossible to understate it. With Google’s recent announcement that accounts will connect using the more secure https by default, Gmail reigns supreme as the best possible email app for travelers logging in on dicey computers in strange places. On top of that, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and now Google Wave are a wonderful and secure set of cloud based apps to really allow you to do what you need to do from practically anywhere.

Two USB Sticks

Online options are getting better every day, but we can’t quite always access everything we need on a computer straight from the cloud. Choosing the right USB stick to accompany you on your travels is in itself a chore. The secure Ironykey thumb drive is certainly very impressive, but it is also quite costly. It’s definitely out of range for most backpackers, myself included. Corsair makes a padlock drive which is far from completely secure, but it has a more reasonable price and assures you that if you lose it, someone can’t simply just plug it in and start using it immediately.

I keep one USB stick around my neck, the other in a zipped pouch under my pants next to my passport, emergency cash, etc. Both sticks have exactly the same files on them, and core files can easily be synced using DropboxPortable.

PortableApps

On your USB drives, you want to carry software that you need, and for that the PortableApps Suite really is outstanding. It’s almost like carrying your own computer with you, without the hassle of actually doing so. Login to any strange machine, and you are armed and ready with all of your favorite software available to you.

Keepass

If I had to choose one single PortableApp that was most important to me, it would be KeePass. Lifehacker has already gone over the tremendous security advantages to using KeePass, and protecting your passwords in general. This is even more true and relevant when traveling in remote places.

I keep two KeePass databases with me at all times: my primary database with all of my passwords which I use constantly, and another that only contains scanned PDFs of all of my most important travel documents, including:

• Passport
• Birth Certificate
• Travel Visas (if I have them),
• Health/Travel Insurance info
• A list of vaccinations I’ve had and when I had them
• Medical Records
• My U.S. Driver’s License

In that they are in a KeePass database, they are all stored encrypted while on the USB. Truth be told, no digital copies of those documents will stand up legally in place of hard copies, but sometimes the information on them is all you need and enough to cover you while a hard copy replacement is sent overnight from home.

Skype

With the possible exception of Google Wave (which I’m excited for but not quite ready to switch to), Skype is still the best way to chat and talk securely (but of course don’t let the app permanently store your login and password or history).

Travelers in China should beware of “Tom-Skype”, a legitimate Chinese version of Skype which was developed in conjunction with one of China’s phone companies. That version is not secure, but other versions, such as the one you can get from PortableApps, are.

If you have a Google Voice Account, you can even mashup Skype (or Gizmo5) with Google Voice to place and receive free calls back home and or receive incoming phone calls on a local cell phone wherever you are.

uTorrent

Hardcore backpacking is a wonderful adventure, but it isn’t always restful. Sometimes you want to kick back and relax and catch up with the latest TV shows and movies. uTorrent now also exists as a PortableApp, so depending on the friendliness of the staff of the internet cafe where you are logging in, you could—in theory—download things for your listening or viewing pleasure to watch the next day on your Portable version of VLC.

TrueCrypt

As Lifehacker has covered, when it comes to encrypting your files, there is nothing better than TrueCrypt. It is possible to bring along with you a Portable version of TrueCrypt, but you can’t mount TrueCrypt encrypted drives without admin privileges on the computer you are using. Ideally, I would love to use TrueCrypt to encrypt my USB drives in their entirety, but since having admin privileges is always hit or miss when traveling, it’s a risk I can’t afford to take. Any documents on my drive that I feel need to be encrypted, I can just store in a KeePass database. But I still carry TrueCrypt with me and it has come in very handy on occasion.

PortableTOR

Lifehacker has done an excellent job of explaining the anonymous internet tool, TOR, including what it is and how it works. Some people use TOR in the U.S., for example, to do things like access Facebook from work—which really should be strongly discouraged. As events of recent days have proven, some governments around the world censor websites from their citizens. You may be curious to see your friend’s latest updates at work, but there are people in places who’s lives—without exaggeration—might truly depend on TOR.  TOR, and especially the Portable verison, provides a way for travelers to those locations (and citizens who face privacy invasions every day) to be able to access whatever web sites they need to.

However, take note: It’s very important to realize that TOR does not encrypt your data for you—it only allows you to access blocked sites anonymously.

MozyHome Backup

Lifehacker has covered a variety of great cloud based backup services. Mozy is the one which has served this traveler well. While my backpack and I are running around the world, my hard drive is still safely at home, turned off and under lock and key. Fortunately, I backed up my entire system (well over a 1TB these days), and if in a pinch I need a file that I don’t have with me on my USB, in my Google Apps, nor even in my Dropbox, I can “restore” that file from my MozyHome account to whatever machine I’m on at the time. Mozy stores my data encrypted and downloads it encrypted as well.

Xubuntu Live CD

But what if you’ve covered all of the above and the only computers you have access to are all malware, spyware, and virus infected, but you need to get online as quickly, safely, and securely as possible?

Then there’s the Xubuntu Live CD. I always carry a few Linux live CDs with me. In a durable plastic case, they fit well in the pockets of cargo pants. Ubuntu itself is great, but Xubuntu is even more streamlined, and runs smoothly and well even on computers with a minimum of memory and hardware. Go into the internet cafe, put your CD in the drive, and restart it. More often than not, the computer will then boot from the CD and automatically connect to the internet. You’re running your own, safe Linux system on a compromised Windows PC.

Of course on the USB stick I also have Linux versions of my favorite Apps: KeePassX, Skype, and TrueCrypt. I don’t carry a Linux version of TOR with me, but it downloads and installs just fine on Xubuntu. Flash doesn’t come installed on Xubuntu either, but I carry Flash with me and wrote a little script to install it with one click off of the USB drive.

Truth be told, someone could probably compile a great “Traveler’s Xubuntu” CD that would come with all of the necessary open source apps already installed, but I’ll leave that to another forward thinking Lifehacker reader.

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Traveler’s should always be aware: no security system is ever going to be foolproof and 100% secure. Hardware and software keyloggers are great threats which are very difficult to avoid. Still, by taking proper precautions and arming yourself with the right tools, you can turn the odds in your favor and still accomplish whatever you set out to online, no matter where you are.

Matthew Inman, aka “The Oatmeal,” is a former web designer turned comic artist. He subsists primarily on a diet of dead crickets and malt liquor. He also thinks that printers have a place in hell right next to unicorns.

Reprinted with permission from Matthew Inman. You can see more of his work on The Oatmeal or in 5 Very Good Reasons to Punch a Dolphin in the Mouth, the comic book which he self published last year.

By Evan Ackerman

This thing is, seriously, the highlight of CES for me (so far) this year. 3D TVs and eBook readers are fine, but there’s nothing amazing about them.

The Airnergy Charger is amazing.

This little box has, inside it, some kind of circuitry that harvests WiFi energy out of the air and converts it into electricity. This has been done before, but the Airnergy is able to harvest electricity with a high enough efficiency to make it practically useful: on the CES floor, they were able to charge a BlackBerry from 30% to full in about 90 minutes, using nothing but ambient WiFi signals as a power source.

The Airnergy has a battery inside it, so you can just carry it around and as long as you’re near some WiFi, it charges itself. Unlike a solar charger, it works at night and you can keep it in your pocket. Of course, proximity to the WiFi source and the number of WiFi sources is important, but at the rate it charges, if you have a home wireless network you could probably just leave anywhere in your house overnight and it would be pretty close to full in the morning.

Here is the really, really unbelievable part: RCA says that the USB charger will be available this summer for $40, and a battery with the WiFi harvesting technology will be available soon after. I mean, all kinds of people are pushing wireless charging, but this would hands down take the cake… It doesn’t need a pad and it’s charging all the time, for free, in just about any urban environment.

We didn’t think you’d believe all this, so we made RCA explain it all on video:

Yeah, we’ll definitely be keeping you updated on this one.

This is a short video of BBC reporter Dan Simmons breaking an allegedly unbreakable phone at the Consumer Electronics Show. The phone is supposed to be able to withstand a 10-story drop, being dunked 20-feet underwater for a half hour, and used as a hammer. Unfortunately, it can’t withstand being beat against an aquarium four times. But my fish love that shit!

Reporter breaks an ‘unbreakable’ mobile phone at CES [bbcnews]

Thanks to Ross and Simon, who can break phones just by looking at them. That’s, uh, some superpower. Blast the chick sitting next to me!

Those of us shivering through extended stretches of subfreezing temperatures might be forgiven for getting a bit impatient for the onset of more significant global warming. And, if you’re reading Ars, chances are good that this describes you, as the US and Europe have been blanketed in an unusual chill. Ironically, as these inhabited parts shiver, the atmospheric system that’s causing it, the Arctic Oscillation, has covered Greenland and the Arctic Ocean with air that’s equally as extreme, but in the warm direction.

The folks who run the National Center for Atmospheric Research have a great rundown of the details of the AO Oscillation. In short, high pressure in the Arctic forces the jet stream south, and it drags cold air with it, chilling North American and northern Eurasia. In its opposite mode, those same regions tend to be much warmer. Right now, we’re in such an extreme high-pressure event that the readings have run off the scale of NOAA’s AO index. Fortunately for those hoping to warm up a bit, the AO is a weather event—it often changes states multiple times within a single season, and there’s no clear evidence linking its behavior to climate trends.

The NCAR site also points out one of the reasons why people are making a big deal out of this one: we tend to think short-term when it comes to our surroundings. We haven’t had an AO event this severe since 2003, and the high pressure mode has been relatively rare since 1990, so many places have simply gotten used to not having an Arctic blast during the winter. The fact that November was unusually warm in the US, Canada, and Europe probably doesn’t help matters, either.

When it comes to longer-term impacts, this strong phase of the AO may significantly alter the dynamics of the Arctic Ocean’s ice pack, which responds both to weather events and climactic trends. Most of the Arctic Ocean freezes up during the winter, but the warm air present may limit the extent and thickness of solid ice sheets, meaning a lot of this year’s freeze is likely to simply remelt next summer. At the same time, however, the wind patterns that are prevailing will drive less of the ice out of the Arctic Ocean, which may preserve some of the older, more robust multiyear ice.

The National Snow and Ice Data Center runs a site devoted to tracking Arctic ice dynamics that provides great explanations of trends.

In military circles, the talk all week has been about how and why the top intelligence officer in Afghanistan wound up publishing a scathing critique through a small-but-influential think tank. Now, we’ve got the answers.

When Maj. Gen. Michael Flynn published his tough assessment of the military’s spy agencies in Afghanistan, it caught Pentagon officials by surprise — not least because Flynn distributed it through Center for a New American Security. While Secretary of Defense Robert Gates said through his press secretary that he thought Flynn’s findings were “spot on,” he made it clear he was a bit uncomfortable with the conduit Flynn used to distribute the report. Reuters, quoting Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell, said Gates had “real reservations about the general’s choice of venue for publication.”

So how, exactly, did the think tank get picked to publish the report? According to Nathaniel Fick, the chief executive officer of CNAS, the whole thing was a “bolt from the blue.”

In a conversation yesterday with Danger Room, Fick and CNAS President John Nagl acknowledged that the move was unusual, but said the decision to go through CNAS was based on Flynn’s desire to get the report out rapidly, reach the widest possible audience and provoke much-needed debate.

“I think you quickly saw his chain of command say we support the forceful expression of new ideas,” Fick said. “He knows he’s on a timeline. He’s got twelve months to demonstrate progress and to shake the bureaucracy into action. He had to go public, and an internal memo wasn’t enough.”

“That was his judgment,” Nagl added. “He reached out to us. We did not reach out to him.”

According to Fick and Nagl, the think tank’s investment in this report was minimal: Little more than formatting it and putting it in a .pdf document. They said CNAS was not paid by anyone to do it. “We did so from general funds,” Nagl said. “We did not pay him or his team for it, we were not paid by his team, or any other entity to publish that.”

Fick, however, did say that he was initially wary about taking this information through a public channel. “My initial concerns with it, right off the bat, were classification issues — and whether this was more proper as an internal memo,” he said. “And we waited until Gen. Flynn sent it over NIPRNet, over unsecure email, as a memo to a long list of people inside the command, in Afghanistan and beyond.  And only then [after it was] unclassified, on the unclass net, distributed through the chain of command, and only then, the next day, did we go ahead with it.”

Both Fick and Nagl are former military men; Fick was a Marine Corps infantry officer, and Nagl was an Army armor officer. And they both said they recognized Flynn was taking an unconventional step.

“Obviously, it was an irregular way to disseminate an idea for a serving officer,” Nagl said. “Gen. Flynn decided for his own reasons — you should ask him what they were — to take this step. We were honored that he chose to do it through us. And we believe – I believe – that the issues he raised were of significance to national interest, and of immediate importance to our nation’s success in Afghanistan, so I was happy to publish it.”

Nagl also dismissed speculation that Flynn’s report originated in part from a “voices from the field” talk (the think tank hosts discussions by returning officers and civilians). Flynn, Fick said, has “never been here, to my knowledge.” And they said they didn’t get any angry phone calls after the report landed on the SecDef’s desk.

[PHOTO: U.S. Department of Defense]