Skepticism and Internet Security

Being skeptical does not make you a cynic or a curmudgeon. It just means you use logic and reasoning in your decision making. It's not just about debating conspiracy theories; it can apply to almost anything. Computers have become an almost essential item in so many households, and their ease-of-use has made them accessible by people who don't know how to protect themselves. As such, nefarious individuals or groups have taken advantage of these people through viruses, trojans, malware, spyware and phishing schemes. In this article I will give you tips on how you can protect yourself.

It used to be that email was the most common way to transmit a virus. Now, hackers have taken advantage of security holes in internet browsers which allow you to be infected just by going to a website. A popular method is using social media sites like Facebook or twitter to spread links to these webpages. Many times, you will see a friend post something like "check out this hot video of..." or "look at my pictures" with an inciting photo. The fact is that your friend didn't even post it in the first place. They are infected with some kind  of malware and it is posting from their account without them knowing. You should always take a minute to examine the link before you click on it. If it seems really bizarre or out of character, you could ask the person directly. Chances are they didn't even know they were infected and you could be preventing further spread of the malware. Browsers are always being updated and patched for these security holes, so make sure you're browser is up-to-date frequently. Email is still a method used to spread viruses. Although  email providers offer virus protection, it is still possible for them to penetrate the added security. Never open an email attachment unless you knew it was coming. If someone you know sent you something unsolicited, it could be that they are infected and didn't know it.

A phishing scheme is usually something that looks legitimate,  like an email from your bank, but it is faked in order to get you to give them your personal information. They have become more complex and harder to detect, but there are a couple rules you can follow to protect yourself. Most banks, utility companies and other website will never ask you to change your password in an email. If there is a problem, they will ask you to go to their site, but they will not give you a link (you should know where to go). Links can be a little deceptive due to the nature of HTML. Basically, a link could look like http://www.google.com but it is actually sending you to www.somedomain.com. If you hover your mouse over the link, look at the bottom of your email client window or browser (this is sometimes called the status bar) and it should show you where you are going. Phishing schemes can also come in the form of a pop-up window, which look just like a Windows message, convincing you to download their malicious software. During the instillation process, you may be asked to enter some personal information or even a credit card. If it's not something you ordered, never enter your credit card or personal information into any application. Some of these malicious programs will even tell you to try a different credit card because the one you entered did not authenticate. This way, they can collect more than one card number from you.

There are a few general rules I use to protect myself. The most important is to keep your system up to date. Windows has included a system updater since Windows 95, and with the newer versions such as Windows Vista and Windows 7, they can be automated so your system is always up-to-date. You should also update your Internet browser frequently. Some of them, like Google Chrome and Firefox can automatically check for updates when you launch them. Use some kind of spyware/malware detection software. Many of them free and pretty easy to use. (I have been using Malwarebytes for a few years and I think it does a great job.) Anti-virus software is also an option. The last piece of advice I can offer is to make backups of your important data in case you do get some nasty virus. Some people make CD or DVD archives, but they can degrade over time which can negate the purpose of using them. There are online services where you can store your files for free, like dropbox.com, but it requires you to upload the files manually and has a limit on how much free storage they will allow. Carbonite.com is a site which will make automated backups of all your local files on one computer for a low monthly or yearly rate. The good thing about Carbonite is that it is automatic, can maintain multiple versions of your files, and offers one-way encryption so only you can view the files.

Using weak passwords, or the same password for many sites makes it easier for hackers to access your data. For social media sites, blogs or forums, it might be okay to use the same, simple password. As long as there isn't any personal information, it wouldn't be a total loss if your account was hacked. For banks and other financial institutions, you should use separate and more complex passwords. Although it is not a great solution, if you use your browser to store your passwords, make sure you have a good system password. A good password would be something that is not in the dictionary, contains numbers, capital and lower case letters and even symbols. Lastpass is a plugin for web browsers that stores your passwords using one-way encryption. Once you have entered the master password, you can store your private information to automatically fill in web forms such as login pages, credit cards and address fields.

The internet can be a scary place, but with a little critical thinking you can avoid becoming a victim of a malicious attack. Be wary of suspicious links, keep your system up-to-date and use good passwords.

Chemtrails: More Commonly known as Contrails

If you've never heard of "chemtrails", you are not alone. As far as conspiracies go, it is a little obscure. On a nut-job scale of 1 to 10, 1 being Bigfoot and 10 being the reptilian overlords mentioned in my previous post, this is about an 8. Add to that the idea that it is all part of a plan by an elite, super governmental agency to rule the world, I would raise it to a 9.5. If you have to add more than one conspiracy to your conspiracy to have it make sense, you've essentially added two piles of crap together to form an even larger pile of crap.

Okay, you're probably still wondering what the heck a chemtrail is. There are a small number of people who believe that contrails formed by airplanes are actually a chemical spray released intentionally by someone on board for various reasons. I have heard a few so far. One theory is that an agency or the government is "seeding" clouds to produce rain. The government has been testing this for years with mixed results. In fact, just a few years ago during the 2008 Summer Olympics, the Chinese government attempted this in order to avoid rain during the opening and closing ceremonies. (The idea was to make it rain before the events so that the clouds wouldn't rain on the day of the event.) Another theory is that the chemtrails act like artificial clouds, which reflect sunlight to reduce global warming. I can think of at least a few alternatives that would be safer and more effective, but I'll talk about that later. And the most recent claim I heard was that the chemicals were being released to alter soil so that only Monsanto seeds would grow in it (Monsanto is a company which engineers seeds for farmers, and is often used as fodder for conspiracy theories).

As early as 1905, the government has experimented with cloud seeding. Over the years, new techniques were developed which provided varied results. The basic principle is that by introducing massive amounts of particulates into clouds, you could create artificial rain. I fail to see the validity of this claim for a couple of reasons. The first of which leaves me wondering what the benefit is to the people creating the rain. Are the farmers paying them to do it instead of relying on nature itself or irrigating? If you could, as the Chinese attempted, prevent rain by pre-seeding the clouds, then what is the benefit of a drought? Perhaps malice is the only motive they can come up with; in which case I must warn them, you can't wear your tinfoil hat during an MRI. Even if you assume cloud seeding is effective, it's hard to come up with a logical reason for doing it.

Creating artificial clouds to combat global warming doesn't seem like a bad idea, until you really think about it. Using clouds to reflect sunlight seems plausible, but clouds can disperse and dissipate quickly, depending on weather conditions, and they would only cover a small percentage of the sky. Furthermore, any small benefit gleaned from this process would be outweighed by the possible health risks of dumping these chemicals. The cost of carrying the extra payload on airplanes would make it very cost ineffective as well. A more effective and cost-savings solution would be to offer incentives for reflective roofing materials and new road construction. It would be much safer and last longer too. If the government was trying to combat global warming, why would it be necessary to keep it a secret? Oh so many questions, oh so little answers.

The last claim I mentioned was that some super agency was using the chemical spray to change the properties of the soil so that only Monsanto brand seeds could grow in it. Don't let the complexity of this conspiracy fool you into giving it false credibility. If you apply some critical thinking, it's just as silly as the first two claims (or perhaps more so). If you were heavily (or supported people who were) invested in the Monsanto company, it might be beneficial to eliminate the company's competition. Altering soil by releasing chemicals 30,000ft in the air is laughable for a few reasons. The first of which would be to ask, why not limit your dispersion of the chemicals to rural areas? I have seen many pictures of supposed chemtrails over urban cities such as Atlanta (which has pretty sizable airport...hmmm). I don't think Monsanto loses much money from people with their own gardens. Are we also supposed to believe that this altered soil wouldn't effect common foliage such as trees and grass? I haven't seen Monsanto brand trees or grass seed on sale at Home Depot yet. While you are suspending your common sense, you might as well ignore the fact that everyone involved (which would have to be thousands) in the conspiracy is essentially blinding spraying chemicals on their families, their friends, and themselves. Of course everyone has a price, but at what point does it become cost ineffective to keep everyone quiet.

Some people think there is a difference between the contrails you see following a plane and shortly dissipating and the ones that linger for hours and turn into clouds. The science involved is pretty basic. If you have a rough understanding of cloud formation, you can understand how a jet exhaust could create a cloud. At high altitudes, the air is thin, cold and usually low in humidity. Jet engines release many things in their exhaust, including CO2, water vapor and other particulates. Water vapor condenses to form tiny droplets which are visible as a haze or cloud. Depending on the altitude, temperature and relative humidity, the cloud can last a few lengths of the plane or stretch across the horizon. But some people try to debunk this argument by saying that the long-lasting trails are seen at the same time as ones that disappear quickly. If the planes were flying side-by-side, I might actually give this theory a second thought. More than likely, the planes are flying at different altitudes and in different regions of the sky. Atmospheric conditions around each plane will vary. In the above picture, the "chemtrail" they are pointing out is simply a contrail that has been twisted and morphed, most likely from wind.

Trying to debate someone who believes in this nonsense is an exercise in futility. If you don't believe them, you are close-minded, influenced only by "mainstream" media or a sheep; with a fragile view of the world around you and a fear of the "truth". That goes for almost every other conspiracy too. If you have some free time and want to make a difference, take the time to debate with them. You should know, however, that you will never convince them they are wrong. Your goal is to influence those people who have not decided one way or the other about the validity of the conspiracy. Good luck!

Extraordinary Claims Require Extraordinary Evidence

If you're going to post crap on Facebook about our world being ruled by reptilian alien overlords, you had better have a mountain of evidence to back your claims. Evidence is not the one website you found with scrolling text in all caps at the top, proclaiming the aliens will kill all who resist.

Your first line of reasoning should come from common sense. How plausible is this idea? You should be able to answer simple questions yourself, without resorting to simply posting links. I've had link after link shoved down my throat before, and believe me, it doesn't work. If you want to post links, they should be sources to back up your the arguments you are making. You know; like you learned in high school. Legitimate websites should link to sources of it's claims too. There are many sites, however, that link sources; but the sources are just other articles written within the same site. (This is another way for them to make money, since many sites have ads that pay for page views.) This does not make them a credible source alone. YouTube is also a popular source, but the information contained is often hit-or-miss; and it is full of cranks and misinformation. With the constant improvement and decreased cost of technology, it has become easier to make phony videos look very realistic. The videos on YouTube are notorious for not linking to sources or even providing any kind of credentials either. Wikipedia and science journals are good sources of crowd sourced and or peer reviewed information.

Do everyone a favor and seriously try to disprove your own theory. If there are too many unknowns or coverups required to make your conspiracy work, your theory is nothing more than a giant "what if" scenario.

A Place to Share My Thoughts

I've had many websites over the years, but none of them ever had much of a purpose other than experimentation. As the name hints, this blog will be skeptically themed. What does that mean? Well, the internet is full of misinformation and deception, and I intend to use this site as a beacon of light in the darkness. Wow, how poetic and heavy-handed was that? Basically, someone needs examine this mountain of crap for what it is, and explain to it's readers why it is.

I will attempt to cover topics from internet phishing schemes to the "legend" of Bigfoot with the occasional political or religious opinion piece thrown in for the fun of it. While some of the topics may spur intense debate, I will always attempt to treat my opponents with the utmost respect we all deserve. As far as the topics I cover, I reserve the right to trash them as much as I see fit. Enjoy my blog!