VPN and Proxy Services for Living Abroad or Accessing US-only Services

Posted on May 8, 2012 by admin

Proxy services, the indirect access to a website via a so called proxy server, can be useful (protecting privacy) or obligatory, if you want to watch Netflix abroad, listen to Pandora or access Facebook in China.

Don’t know what I am talking about? A VPN is a Virtual Private Network, it encrypts your internet access from your access point to a sever. This protects your communication at least from you to the server. It also makes it more difficult to monitor your surfing behavior and protects you from sniffing if you use an open, non encrypted W-Lan. China may not be able to block you from accessing Facebook if you use a proxy.

It also can give a website the idea that you are accessing it from another location. Your request comes from, let’s say Spain, because you are in Spain, gets send to your US proxy server and the proxy server in the US forwards your request to the website you want to view. This makes it look for websites like Netflix that you are based in the US and you can access the service.

Recently, I gave you valuable tips how to select a maildrop in the US and gave a strong recommendation for two of them. I wish with proxy services the situation would be similar. It isn’t. Many of these proxy services appear and disappear/go out of business. Quality can be tricky, Netflix might, or might not work. So I can give you two advices:

1. Make sure you try this service first to check if it suits your needs

2. Don’t pay upfront for too many months. The provider may collapse before have used all your paid time.

I will give you a few:

Your best bet is likely WiTopia. They have been around for a while and it looks like they will be.

Stay tuned.

Laptop Privacy Protection for Experts

Posted on February 5, 2012 by admin

Mike Cardwell writes about

Protecting a Laptop from Simple and Sophisticated Attacks

Highly recommended for all folks who highly value the privacy of their personal data. Not only does he use an encrypted Linux partition, he also uses a bootloader on a USB stick. The optimal solution would be that the machine boots only into Linux and requesting the passphrase to unlock the encrypted partition if the USB stick is inserted, otherwise boot into a (legal!) vanilla MS Windows installation. Guess it would not hurt to have some dummy data on the Windows system, just in case.

Defending Privacy at the U.S. Border: A Guide for Travelers Carrying Digital Devices

Posted on January 27, 2012 by admin

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) published an interesting PDF File: “Defending Privacy at the U.S. Border: A Guide for Travelers Carrying Digital Devices “ (free PDF Download)

If you cross boarders with the US sometimes you may want to look into it. You don’t want to get jailed for an mp3 music file for which you can’t show proof of purchase…

I will soon post more about encryption and privacy tools, stay tuned and always keep a low profile.

What this blog is about – Leave the Rat Race and Preparing Yourself

Posted on January 23, 2012 by admin

I saw some traffic here, looks like somebody at Slashdot posted a link to my blog. Thanks. Let me make a comment too, regarding the Slashdot comment:

Cryacin writes at Slashdot: “Over the last 6 years, I’ve lived in 4 different countries. I owned a home, but I sold it. I didn’t live above my means, and I save my money. My wife and I have seen cities all around the world, and don’t get tied to a single place….”

And BooRadley answers: ”You sound like you’re endorsing living a life with no roots, no community involvement, and no long-term commitments. Seeing the world and its cities and cultures is a really cool experience, but eventually most people like to settle down and do things like have families, hobbies, and own possessions that don’t have to fit in a suitcase.”

BooRadley does obviously not get it. If it is raining and I tell you “use an umbrella” that does not mean I “endorse” rain. I just telling you how not to get wet. And wet we will all get if we stick by the ordinary strategies that have worked in the past. The time from 1945-2000 will go down as the golden years of the west. We live in a different time now and you have to prepare yourself for the future. Otherwise you will play a game that you can not win.

Remember the Chinese saying: “What you can’t avoid – welcome”.

US based Maildrops and Mail Forwarding Services

Posted on January 22, 2012 by admin

Today I will give you a comprehensive list of US based maildrops and mail forwarding services. Suitable for PTs, Traveling Nurses, Merchant Marines, Business Travelers and Vagabonds:

Here is the list:

Bongo International
USAMail1
USA2ME
Earth Class Mail
US Global Mail
USA Box
Access USA
Voyagers Mail

You can look here for a short feature list of each of the maildrops. Some of the services have an affiliate program and bloggers likely will recommend one with an affiliate program. The truth is, that the two best maildrops (price, reliability, service) don’t offer an affiliate program and are often ignored. The recommendations for a US based maildrop from The Flying Dutchman are:

MailLinkPlus in Nevada, starting at less then 10 bucks a month

and

St. Brendan’s Isle in Florida, Starting at 12 bucks a month

Both are decent, reliable and suitable for folks who value their privacy.

It is very important to also reduce your physical mail as much as possible. Get off every mailing list and catalog list as possible. You can opt-out of all the “pre-approved” credit card offers in the US here. This service WILL ask you for your SSN but this service is legit, free and follows government regulations.

In one of my next post I will recommend international maildrops for you. Stay tuned.

Staying in Shape While Traveling – Part I

Posted on January 15, 2012 by admin

All right, you are traveling and you want to stay in shape. While up-scale hotels may have a decent gym, the average hotel or hostel seem to offer little opportunity to exercise.

The truth is, you need very little to stay in shape. No excuses! IMHO the most effective and fun way of staying in shape is to do yoga. You can sign up for classes in every major city in the world. Yoga is actually a good way to meet women since they are the majority in yoga classes. But – and this is the more important part – if you have done yoga before then you can do it for yourself in your hotel or hostel room. All you need is 2 square meter of space.

I you want you can use podcasts for your training, the dowloads are available for free (Power flow Yoga):

Dowload Podcasts in mp3

Little Red Riding Hood – I am the Big Bad Wolf!

Posted on January 10, 2012 by admin

Another PUA (Pick Up Artist) related post. I really can’t tell you how much the PUA community has given me, how it changed my life. Unfortunately it has become very commercial in recent years. Still, it is a very valuable skill.

“The figs are falling from the trees; they are good and sweet; and, as they fall, their red skin bursts. I am a north wind to ripe figs. Thus, like figs, these teachings fall to you, my friends; now consume their juice and their sweet meat. It is autumn about us, and pure sky and afternoon. Behold what fullness there is about us! And out of such overflow it is beautiful to look out upon distant seas.” F. Nietzsche

One of my favorite interpretation of the Little Red Riding Hood story is from Charles Perrault:

“From this story one learns that children, especially young lasses, pretty, courteous and well-bred, do very wrong to listen to strangers, And it is not an unheard thing if the Wolf is thereby provided with his dinner. I say Wolf, for all wolves are not of the same sort; there is one kind with an amenable disposition – neither noisy, nor hateful, nor angry, but tame, obliging and gentle, following the young maids in the streets, even into their homes. Alas! Who does not know that these gentle wolves are of all such creatures the most dangerous!”

And if it comes to women, I am this big bad wolf. Slow, kind, gentle. But doing every move with a purpose, never forgetting my objective, my goal.

I take two more blogs in my blogroll that will help you sharpen your dating and PUA skills:

CU, Flying Dutman

How to Be Invisible

Posted on January 9, 2012 by admin

The Essential Guide to Protecting Your Personal Privacy, Your Assets, and Your Life. J.J. Luna is a highly trained and experienced security consultant, he will show you how to achieve the privacy you crave and deserve. It is mostly useful for folks living in the US but also has valuable general privacy advice.

You can download the ebook from Lunas website for free (Email required)

One of my next post will include the best maildrops. Stay tuned!

Meeting Women Abroad

Posted on January 8, 2012 by admin

One of the big advantages when being abroad is that you meet new, interesting people and women. I made the experience that dating women from different cultures and backgrounds was one of the best experience in my life. Since this blog is about freedom and happiness, I will also give you advice in how to date women. Classical PUA (Pick Up Artist) stuff. I came in contact with this technique the first time in Japan in the 90ies, when Mystery was still in his experimenting phase and was making usenet posts.

So start here: Tony’s Layguide (Free, no registration required). This is how I learned it. You have to do three things: Practice, Practice, Practice. Enjoy.

Learn Languages with Audacity!

Posted on January 5, 2012 by admin

Audacity is free, open source software for recording and editing sounds. It is available for Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, and other operating systems.

You won’t do audio editing, but Audacity gives enables you to repeat just a few seconds of a sound file over and over again. You can repeat specific parts.

Download Audacity for Free (Open Source and Freeware)

Stay tuned. More to come…