Monday, July 29, 2013

Find High Resolution Image From Youtube Video Thumbnail

Want to see the thumbnail of a Youtube video in its highest resolution or original resolution? Quite simple!

In Firefox on the Youtube video page type "ctrl" + "u" (at the same time).

In the new window that pops up type "ctrl" + "f" (at the same time).

Now type "og:image". The searched text will light up green.

Right next to that highlighted text you will find the link to the original image in its highest resolution.

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Open links in Thunderbird Portable with Firefox Portable | Change default browser for Thunderbird

Using Thunderbird Portable and http links in emails are not opening in Firefox Portable or the browser you like to open them with? Here is a simple fix.

In Thunderbird Portable got to Tools and select Options from the list.

In this menu select the Advanced tab furthest to the right and go down to where it says Advanced Configuration. Click on Config Editor in that section, bottom right.

Promise Thunderbird you will be careful.

Type "external.http" into the search bar (without quotation marks of course!).

Double click on "network.protocol-handler.warn-external.http".

Double click on "network.protocol-handler.warn-external.https".

This will set both configuration options from False to True.

Close the Config Editor.

Go to an email inside Thunderbird with a http link and click it.

Now a window will open asking you what browser you want to use with http links. This works the same for https links as well.

Click on Browse and select "FirefoxPortable.exe" wherever you installed Firefox Portable.

Click OK and done.

Now when you click on links in emails they WILL open with Firefox Portable.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

StartPage and Ixquick Deploy Newest Encryption Standards against Mass Surveillance

First search engines to offer TLS 1.1.and 1.2 as well as "Perfect Forward Secrecy"

NEW YORK & AMSTERDAM - In the wake of the US PRISM Internet surveillance scandal, companies are revisiting how they do business online and beefing up their privacy practices to protect their users.

Private search engines StartPage and Ixquick have pioneered a new advance in encryption security this week, becoming the first search engines in the world to enable "Perfect Forward Secrecy" or PFS in combination with a more secure version of SSL encryption known as TLS 1.1. and 1.2 , which works by setting up a secure "tunnel" through which users' search traffic cannot be intercepted.

This is the latest in a series of security firsts by StartPage and Ixquick, which pioneered the field of private search in 2006. Combined, StartPage/Ixquick is the largest private search engine, serving well over 4 million searches daily.

Harvard-trained privacy expert Dr. Katherine Albrecht, who helped develop StartPage, says, "We take encryption very seriously, and we've always led the way when it comes to security. We were first to adopt default SSL encryption in 2011, and now we're setting the standard for encryption in the post-PRISM world."

SSL encryption has been proven to be an effective tool for protecting sensitive online traffic from eavesdropping and surveillance. However, security researchers now worry that SSL encryption may not provide adequate protection if Government agencies are scooping up large amounts of encrypted traffic and storing it for later decryption.

With SSL alone, if a target website's "private key" can be obtained once in the future - perhaps through court order, social engineering, attack against the website, or cryptanalysis - that same key can then be used to unlock all other historical traffic of the affected website. For larger Internet services, that could expose the private data of millions of people.

StartPage and Ixquick have now deployed a defense against this known as "Perfect Forward Secrecy," or PFS.

PFS uses a different "per-session" key for each data transfer, so even if a site's private SSL key is compromised, data that was previously transmitted is still safe. Those who want to decrypt large quantities of data sent using PFS face the daunting task of individually decrypting each separate file, as opposed to obtaining a single key to unlock them all.

This can be likened to replacing the master "skeleton key" that unlocks every room in a building with a tight security system that puts a new lock on each door and then creates a unique key for each lock.

In addition to its pioneering use of PFS, earlier this month StartPage and Ixquick deployed Transport Layer Security, or TLS, encryption versions TLS 1.1 and 1.2 on all of its servers. TLS is an upgraded form of SSL encryption, which sets up a secure "tunnel" that protects users' search information.

In independent evaluation, StartPage and Ixquick outscore their competitors on encryption standards. See Qualys' SSL Labs evaluation of StartPage's encryption features:

https://www.ssllabs.com/ssltest/analyze.html?d=startpage.com&s=69.90.210.72

CEO Robert Beens urges other companies to upgrade to these new technologies. "With Perfect Forward Secrecy and TLS 1.1 and 1.2 combined, we are once again leading the privacy industry forward. For the sake of their users' privacy, we strongly recommend other search engines follow our lead."

Friday, February 22, 2013

Protect Your Privacy When Searching With Google

Every time you use a regular search engine, your search data is recorded. Major search engines capture your IP address and use tracking cookies to make a record of your search terms, the time of your visit, and the links you choose - then they store that information in a giant database.

Those searches reveal a shocking amount of personal information about you, such as your interests, family circumstances, political leanings, medical conditions, and more.

This information is modern-day gold for marketers, government officials, black-hat hackers and criminals - all of whom would love to get their hands on your private search data.

Major search engines have quietly amassed the largest database of personal information on individuals ever collected. Unfortunately, this data can all too easily fall into the wrong hands.

Startpage Protects Your Privacy!

Startpage, and its sister search engine Ixquick, are the only third-party certified search engines in the world that do not record your IP address or track your searches.

They are the first search engine to do so!

Give Startpage a try. You will love your newly found ease of mind.

Rest assured these guys know what they are doing.