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The First Browser

March 17, 2010 — Sr Editor

It was called the WorldWideWeb and invented by Tim Berners-Lee in 1990, in Switzerland. And together with Robert Cailliau, they built the first working prototype in 1990 and 1991.

“For as much as Berners-Lee seems proud that the browser has come as far as it has, growing from an underground academic phenomenon to a vitally important tool in millions of peoples lives, he still believes browsers are too limiting in how they allow people to input and consume information.” Interactive Nature of Browser Colors Past and Future

Later it was renamed Nexus in order to avoid confusion between the program itslef and the abstract information of space, now called the World Wide Web (notice the spaces).

Next came a graphical browser (a browser that would display graphics) that became very popular, the NCSA Mosaic. This was developed by Marc Andreessen, Jamie Zawinski and others. Later they created the Netscape browser.

The NCSA Mosaic was the first to be available for both Microsoft Windows, the Macintosh, and for the Unix X Window System. It appeared in 1993.

In October, 1994, appeared Netscape under the code name, Mozilla. This browser pretty much introduced the balance of the remaining major features that are in a web browser today.

While Microsoft’s Internet Explorer is the most predominantly used browser in the world today, they came late to the party. IE 1.0 was released in August of 1995.

To see the various time lines for the different browsers: Brian Wilson’s browser time-lines.

Notable browsers In order of release:
- List of web browsers

- WorldWideWeb, February 26, 1991
- Mosaic, April 22, 1993
- Netscape Navigator and Netscape Communicator, October 13, 1994
- Internet Explorer 1, August 16, 1995
- Opera, 1996
- Mozilla Navigator, June 5, 2002
- Safari, January 7, 2003
- Mozilla Firefox, November 9, 2004
- Google Chrome, September 2, 2008

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: browser, firefix, google chrome, hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, Internet Explorer, internet privacy, internet security, mosaic, netscape, opera, Safari, worldwideweb. No Comments »

A Non-Geek Answer To The Age Old Question: What Is A Browser?

March 15, 2010 — Sr Editor

Our technical and sales support department is the best in the business. Every day they field hundreds of eSupport emails and hundreds of sales calls asking a variety of questions. Invariable, the conversation comes around to the customer’s browser. And what is stunning, is when the customer asks “What’s a browser”?

Out of the hundreds of calls and emails received by support each day, that question is asked at least 2 to 3 times a day by a customer. And we’re not talking about Internet users who just jumped on the train last week. We’re talking about folks who have been on the internet, in some cases, for years, who literally do not know what a browser is, or more precisely, what it does. So in trying to keep it simple and stay out of the deep waters of Geekland, here’s a simple explanation of what a browser is.

Simply put, it is a translator. It translates code.

In order for humanity to be able to view web sites in a clear and coherent fashion, we need a browser in order to translate the code that was written to make a web page.

Think of code as a language. A language that is known by programmers; web site developers, IT specialists and others who work (or play) on the Internet. Because of the way the Internet works, you just can’t write something as I’m doing here and it will show up on an Internet page in clear, simply earth-bound language. The web page maker has to effectively tell the web site how s/he wants the web page to look. So the page must be written in lots and lots of code.

Your web browser “translates” that code into a presentation that becomes readable by the average Internet user.

There are many different types of translators (browsers) out there. The most common are Mozilla’s Firefox, Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, Google’s Chrome and the Mac Safari, to name but a few.

There are a lot of other features to each browser. Just like a car, many of them have all kinds of “bells and whistles” to help make your viewing experience of web pages and Internet use more enjoyable; easier and/or safer. Our intent here isn’t to explain all those bells and whistles but to give you a basic, simple understanding of what a browser is.

Because of the way some of these browsers are made, and for a variety of other reasons, web pages can look a little different depending upon which browser you are using at the time. And some sites may require a certain browser to function correctly and some sites may not function at all with some browsers.

But suffice to say that without the invention of the browser (which is a topic for another post) we’d all be either staring at lines upon lines of code that wouldn’t mean a thing to us, or simply not getting on the Internet. Either choice is rather unthinkable.

Thankfully, we all have our translators to solve that problem.

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: browsers, Chrom, Firefox, hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, IE, internet privacy, internet security, Safari, what is a browser. No Comments »

Enemies of The Internet

March 12, 2010 — Sr Editor

“The emerging general trend is that a growing number of countries are attempting to tighten their control of the Net, but at the same time, increasingly inventive netizens demonstrate mutual solidarity by mobilizing when necessary.” - Web 2.0 versus Control 2.0

In a report released yesterday by Reporters Without Borders they drew up a list of the “worst violators of freedom of expression on the Net” which include:

- Saudi Arabia
- Burma
- China
- North Korea
- Cuba
- Egypt
- Iran
- Uzbekistan
- Syria
- Tunisia
- Turkmenistan, and
- Vietnam

The report goes on to define another list, countries “Under Surveillance” which include several democracies:
- Australia, “because of the upcoming implementation of a highly developed Internet filtering system”
- South Korea, “where draconian laws are creating too many specific restrictions on Web users by challenging their anonymity … ”
- Russia, “aside from the control exercised by the Kremlin on most of its media outlets, the Internet has become the freest space for sharing information. Yet its independence is being jeopardized by blogger arrests and prosecutions, as well as by blockings of so-called ‘extremist’ websites.”
- Turkey, “taboo topics mainly deal with Ataturk, the army, issues concerning minorities (notably Kurds and Armenians) and the dignity of the Nation.”

Also on the “Under Surveillance” list are United Arab Emirates, Belarus and Thailand.

“Although Zimbabwe and Yemen dropped from the surveillance list, that was primarily because the Internet isn’t used much in either country, rather than because of changes by the governments.” – Report on Internet freedom finds regimes more sophisticated in censorship

“The Internet is the crucible in which repressed civil societies can revive and develop.”

Internet Enemies List

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: enemies of the Internet, hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, internet privacy, internet security, reporters without borders, under surveillance, World Day Against Cyber Censorship. No Comments »

Google’s Remote Village

March 10, 2010 — Sr Editor

We recently came across this satire on Google. And what to do when you want to opt out of ever using Google again. While it is funny, it drives home a very good, and serious, point.

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: google, hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, internet privacy, internet security. No Comments »

Human-Flesh Search Engines

March 8, 2010 — Sr Editor

A very interesting article recently appeared in MediaITE.coom regarding “The Netizens” and Internet anonymity.

“But the Chinese public’s primary understanding of the term is no longer so benign. The popular meaning is now not just a search by humans but also a search for humans, initially performed online but intended to cause real-world consequences. Searches have been directed against all kinds of people, including cheating spouses, corrupt government officials, amateur pornography makers, Chinese citizens who are perceived as unpatriotic, journalists who urge a moderate stance on Tibet and rich people who try to game the Chinese system.” – “The Netizens”: When Your Internet Anonymity Will No Longer Protect You

Essentially, the article talks about China’s Internet vigilantes, also known as “netizens” who track you down and administer whatever justice they think is fair. Essentially, it is vigilantism coming to the Internet.

And if they’re doing that in China, are these same netizens far behind here in the United States, or in your country? It appears they’ve arrived.

“Unsurprisingly, this practice has made it’s way over to America via infamous forums like SomethingAwful and 4Chan.”

The article begins its conclusions by stating that “It’s pretty obvious that most people’s greatest fear is leaving an Internet paper-trail that could lead back to their very real lives.”

Very true and a good word to the wise: Still not hiding your real IP address?

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: China, hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, Human-Flesh Search Engines, internet privacy, internet security, netizens, vigilantes. No Comments »

Real Life Privacy Is A Misnomer

March 5, 2010 — Sr Editor

People speak of “internet Privacy” as if to imply there’s privacy in their real, non-Internet life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

GPS, cell phones, computers, ATMs, debit cards, credit cards, iPod, iPhone, and text messaging are only part of the things we do in our real life world.

But, how about these, very non-Internet things that happen to you almost on a daily basis:

- Your license plate number is recorded by digital image at a toll booth
- Your license plate number is recorded by digital image at an intersection
- Your every bank transaction is recorded and stored
- Your every use of a tool booth pre-paid “pass” is recorded and stored
- Your every phone call use is recorded by the phone company
- Every cam at every ATM you use digitally records your image
- Every major department store digitally records your presence on the premises & parking lot
- Remote access web cams digitally store your image
- Google “Street View” has captured your home in a digital image
- Your employer may track all of your Internet activities
- Every book you read on your kindle-like app is known and the info stored

Now, couple the above information with these activities:
- Every web site you visit is recording your visit
- Every web site you buy from records the transaction
- Every search term you put into a search engine is recorded

I’m sure you’re getting the point.

And let’s take a look at Cracked.com’s thinking about your private, non-Internt life: 5 Ways You’re Secretly Being Monitored

#5. Public Transit Audio Surveillance
#4. Remote Cell Phone Tapping
#3. PC Printer Tracking
#2. RFID Chips
#1. The Total Information Awareness Program

“Following public criticism that the development and deployment of these technologies could potentially lead to a mass surveillance system, the IAO was defunded by Congress in 2003, although several of the projects run under IAO have continued under different funding.” – Wikipedia

“Reuters has obtained a Congressional report that shows nine months after Congress shut down the controversial Pentagon computer-surveillance program called Total Information Awareness, the U.S. government continues to comb private records and databases to sniff out suspicious activity. Peter Swire, who served as the Clinton administration’s top official said “I believe that Total Information Awareness is continuing under other names.” – SourceWatch.org

Though the year 1984 came and passed, many of Orwell’s points regarding the lack of privacy and freedoms are coming true. Or have they come true already?

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: 1984, George Orwell, hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, internet privacy, internet security, Total Information Awareness Program. No Comments »

An Internet Bill of Rights?

March 3, 2010 — Sr Editor

We came across this graphic presentation by FreedomHouse.org

We found it rather interesting so we thought passing it along to our readers and followers would give them some food for thought.

Internet Freedom & Internet Bill of Rights

View more presentations from netfreedom.

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: FreedomHouse.org, hide ip, hide-my-ip, hidemyip, Internet Bill of Rights, internet privacy, internet security. No Comments »

Hands Off My Internet

March 1, 2010 — Sr Editor

“…the situation, idea, or societal condition that George Orwell identified as being destructive to the welfare of a free society.” -Orwellian

There once was a time when the United States government pretty much took a “hands off” approach to the Internet. The government didn’t interfere (much) and allowed it to grow, prosper and allowed what was essentially a military-academic-government network of communication to morph into a huge, global communications exchange.

Not any more. At least not under the Obama Administration. Assistant Secretary of Commerce, Larry Strickling, is currently engaged in conversations with government agencies, foreign governments and vital Internet constituencies to cover issues such as Internet privacy, Internet security, cybersecurity, copyright protection and Internet governance.

Why is it that whenever I hear that the U.S. Government is going to get involved in an area it has no business getting involved in, I shudder? I think “United States Post Office” or I think “Internal Revue Service” or, simply put, I think “disaster.”

“The decision to effectively end the policy that made the internet what it is today is part of a wider global trend of governments looking to impose rules on use of the network by its citizens.” – US government rescinds ‘leave internet alone’ policy

Something called the “Internet Governance Forum” and set up by the United Nations is supposed to become institutionalized soon. And some say that this institution will become the new governing body of the Internet, run by governments and void of any membership by those that actually use the Internet.

Many of us who deal professionally with the Internet are aware of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN). But, ICANN “recently adjusted its own agreement with the US government to give it more autonomy and now reports to the global Internet community through a series of reviews.”

Given the fact that President Obama shares a more international view of his United States on the world stage in such a way as to make the U.S. an “equal partner” in the world community of nations, it is no wonder that his Administration now wants all things “equal” in the Internet as well. His philosophy for the United States is to level the playing field between the have’s and the have-nots among United States citizens. He carries that philosophy among world nations.

And it all sounds just a bit too “Orwellian” to me.

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, ICANN, Internet Governance Forum, internet privacy, internet security. No Comments »

CAUTION: You Are About To Enter The Internet

February 26, 2010 — Sr Editor

In the United States, every pack of cigarettes that is sold must contain a “Surgeon General’s Warning” telling us how bad cigarettes are and what they can do to you if you are a smoker. Those warnings are generally pretty useless to anyone who wishes to smoke. But they do serve as a reminder, just in case you’re getting second thoughts about the habit.

But this got me to thinking. What if all Internet Service Providers were required to flash a “warning” to all household, residential accounts prior to anyone from that account trying to connect to the Internet? A “warning” perhaps, to remind folks of the dangers of being on the Internet in much the same way as the Surgeon General’s Warning is supposed to remind folks about the dangers of people smoking cigarettes.

Here’s what we had in mind:

WARNING: You Are About To Enter The Internet

1.You are about to give up all rights to whatever privacy you think you have.

2. If you have had tracking cookies placed in your computer by entities unknown, or by websites you have previously visited, your website visits may be recorded and disclosed to others.

3. If you disclose any personal information to a web site, you risk that information being disclosed to others, depending upon that site’s Privacy Policy.

4. If you disclose your email address to a website, you risk being inundated with emails from that site or from third parties, depending upon that site’s privacy policy.

5. If you purchase any item on the Internet, you risk your credit or debit card information being disclosed to others, depending upon that site’s security and privacy policy.

6. If you use any known search engine, you risk all such searches being recorded by that search engine’s powerful recording techniques.

7. If you disclose personal information to any social engagement type site, you risk such information being seen by your employer, your neighbors and complete strangers.

8. Any actions you take on the Internet may be subject to recording by us, your local, friendly ISP, as per whatever local, state or Federal laws may require us to do so. Or we just may do it on our own if it is in our Terms of Agreement with you.

9. If you do any illegal activity on the Internet you risk prosecution by local, state and/or Federal authorities.

10. You are about to expose your real Internet Protocol (IP) address. In doing so, the following may occur:
a. Internet miscreants may find your true location
b. Your computer may be hacked by persons unknown
c. Your computer may be invaded by malware, spyware or other programs designed to convey information about you without your consent
d. You may be putting your personal, private and family information in jeapordy.
e. You may increase the amount of spam in your email account.

From all of us at your local, friendly ISP, we wish you a most enjoyable Internet experience! Be well, Net Citizen!

To acknowledge that you have read the above and to enter the Internet at your own risk and peril, click HERE.

Posted in Privacy and Security. Tags: hide-my-ip, hideip, hidemyip, internet privacy, internet protocol, internet security, internet service provider, IP, ISP, search engine. No Comments »

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