Thirteen minute video on how to anonymize your data in a spreadsheet using customer names in a fictitious sales ledger as the example with LibreOffice Calc — a free, open source spreadsheet program similar to Microsoft Excel. LibreOffice Calc has many of the features, functions, and user interface elements of Excel, but has some differences.
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Banish computers, smartphones and other devices from your bedroom.
Turn off screens at least an hour before going to sleep.
Wait at least one half hour before turning on screens when wake up.
Avoid smartphone use.
Avoid/minimize other mobile device use such as laptops.
Take social media apps and other non-essential apps off smartphone. Turn off all notifications except messages from live friends, family, and colleagues.
Don’t watch fear/outrage cable news, television, and other video sources such as Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC. If something makes you fear, hate, scorn or ridicule some other group, stop watching.
Completely unplug from computers and Internet one day (or more) per week. Exercise, read a physical book, spend time with friends or family. (If possible)
Set aside limited time periods for ‘bad news’ or other difficult topics. Don’t allow them to be 24/7.
Diversify away from centralized advertising funded sources such as Google and Facebook that use opaque algorithms and teams to manipulate search results or social media feeds.
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John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
It is rational to suspect a conspiracy in some situations. Conspiracies are difficult to prove and difficult to disprove. Proving a conspiracy usually requires a confession by someone in the conspiracy or evidence such as surveillance audio, video, or documents such as a duplicate set of books in an accounting fraud or a diary. People involved in criminal conspiracies who confess are, almost by definition, unreliable witnesses and can often be called into question because of their admitted moral character.
Disproving a conspiracy is usually very difficult, simply because we generally lack reliable 24/7 surveillance of the alleged conspirators. Specific conspiracy scenarios can be ruled out but it is often impossible to comprehensively rule out all plausible scenarios. Thus, it is often necessary to accept a high level of uncertainty in situations where a conspiracy may be involved; even with a high degree of suspicion, certainty beyond a reasonable doubt is often not possible.
What does historical data show about the frequency of conspiracies and how frequently do they elude discovery? These are some numbers from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
US FBI Homicides by Victim/Offender Situations for 2017 (Screenshot on Feb. 10, 2021)
The FBI reported a total of 15,129 homicides in 2017, the most recent year for which I was able to locate statistics. Of these, 1,781 involved a single victim and multiple offenders — a conspiracy. Three-hundred (300) involved multiple victims and multiple offenders — a conspiracy. Thus, a total of 2,081 or 13.76 percent involved a conspiracy.
Note that the table lists 5,174 (461 + 4,713) or 34.2 percent with an unknown offender or offenders, presumably unsolved. Thus, a substantial number of murder conspiracies avoid detection and prosecution.
The FBI also gives clearance data for 2017 indicating about 38.4 percent of homicides are unsolved. Note that this seems inconsistent with the 34.2 percent number implied by the Homicides by Victim/Offender Situation table above. The meaning of “clearance” is the subject of some controversy and has different definitions in different crime statistics.
US FBI Report on Crime Clearance Rates in 2017 (Screenshot on Feb. 10, 2021)
The history of investigations into organized crime where conspiracies have frequently been proven in a court of law includes numerous unsolved murders and disappearances including such famous cases as the murder of reputed mob boss Arnold Rothstein in 1928, the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa in 1975, the murder of alleged Chicago mob boss “Sam” Giancana in 1975, and many others.
Thus conspiracies do happen and it is rational to suspect them in some situations. The FBI data indicates conspiracies are involved in about 13.76 percent of murders in the US.
(C) 2021 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.
About Me
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
There is almost certainly no smartphone privacy app that you can install on your phone to block monitoring and spying by the “government,” meaning the Total Information Awareness system constructed by the NSA and other security/intelligence agencies in the United States. There are almost certainly low level hardware or firmware backdoors in all popular smartphones such as Apple’s iPhone and the many Android phones that enable the “government” to access the phones at will. These backdoors operate at a low level below any installed app.
The Total Information Awareness (TIA) Program’s Original Controversial Logo
In the case of the iPhone the backdoors are probably in the Apple multitouch firmware that customers use to enter their password and interact with the iPhone; it is a little known but not secret fact that the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded the development of this multitouch technology at Fingerworks which was acquired by Apple both for the software and the Fingerworks development team.
“More directly, academics at the University of Delaware, funded by a National Science Foundation and CIA fellowship program, developed multi-touch scrolling and gestures for screens; they created a company called FingerWorks that was bought by Apple in 2005, two years before the iPhone was launched.”
These low level smartphone backdoors are very risky. With a large fraction of the human race using smartphones, they are tempting for abuse and almost certainly are being badly abused by the small cadre of intelligence officials with access to the system. The most likely abuse is mass/global scale blackmail and psychological manipulation for the acquisition of money and power. As the case of former New York governor Elliot Spitzer illustrates, many powerful people are remarkably careless with their electronic communications and would be subject to manipulation or blackmail by anyone with access to this system.
These backdoors are a high value target for the intelligence services of various nations such as Russia and China as well as organized criminal gangs, terrorists, and other groups. They are vulnerable to technological surprise by other as yet unknown actors who may develop the technology to take over the system or somehow already have the capability.
What Can You Do to Protect Your Privacy?
The reality is there is no app you can install to protect yourself and continue to use a smartphone — or many other devices — in the modern world of nearly ubiquitous high speed wireless networks. The practical options at present are either simply to stop using smartphones entirely or keep them in a sealed radio proof case, a “Faraday bag,” except for emergencies and special situations.
Such cases are currently available for purchase at Amazon and other sources. One can also use hermetically sealed metal food containers that are still widely available. Some games and other products are also marketed in such containers. It is possible to make secure cases for smartphones using metal foil (aluminum foil), painters tape or other tapes, and a ruler and pair of scissors — all common inexpensive household items.
Commercially Available Secure Case for a SmartphoneHermetically Sealed Food Container that Can Isolate Smartphone from the Radio NetworksDIY Secure Case Made with Painter’s Tape and Aluminum Foil
More detailed information on these options can be found here:
How to Stop Your Phone from Spying on You? Demonstrates methods to isolate your phone from cellular and other radio networks while keeping the phone easily accessible for emergencies or other special cases.
We do not receive any compensation for using or demonstrating these products.
(C) 2020 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.
About Me
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Complete demo how to make a spyproof case for your smartphone using aluminum foil, painter’s tape, a ruler, and a pair of scissors. Inexpensive DIY home project.
“More directly, academics at the University of Delaware, funded by a National Science Foundation and CIA fellowship program, developed multi-touch scrolling and gestures for screens; they created a company called FingerWorks that was bought by Apple in 2005, two years before the iPhone was launched.”
Will they ban secure cases for smartphones and other devices?
Censored Search:https://censored-search.com/ Find the answers to your problems censored by advertisers and other powerful interests!
A search engine for censored web sites and content.
Subscribe to our free Weekly Newsletter for articles and videos on practical mathematics, Internet Censorship, ways to fight back against censorship, and other topics by sending an email to: subscribe [at] mathematical-software.com
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
This Week in Internet Censorship: Giuliani, YouTube Purge, and the National Enquirer (Oct. 18, 2020)
Short video on Internet Censorship this week discussing censorship of Rudy Giuliani’s allegations about Hunter Biden and the Biden family by Facebook and Twitter, the YouTube purge of alternative creators, and a deep dive into the National Enquirer and herding alternative sources and information into content “ghettos” that discredit them by association with outlandish, offensive, or false content.
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
The Censored Search web site is a search engine for censored, banned, and shadow banned web sites that discloses the algorithms used to find and rank the search results and enables paying customers to configure the algorithms for their needs.
Search engines such as Google and social media services such as Facebook are funded by advertisers such as giant health and pharmaceuticals companies and billionaires who pay them to promote their products and services. Even if those products or services are overpriced, ineffective, or dangerous. Major search engines and social media are NOT funded by end users like you.
Find the answers to your problems censored by advertisers and other powerful interests! Censored Search:https://censored-search.com/
If you are a censored web site, you need an alternative to Google and other search engines to continue to reach your current audience and expand your audience in the face of growing censorship. Mailing lists and RSS subscriptions do not give your audience an easy way to quickly find your content that is relevant to their concerns. Please submit your web site to our censored site search engine at https://suggest.censored-search.com and share our site with your audience.
(C) 2020 by John F. McGowan, Ph.D.
About Me
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
Internet Censorship can be defeated using the RSS (Really Simple Syndication) News Feed, Mail Filters, and Message Search Function in the free open-source Thunderbird email and personal communication program and similar programs. This post demonstrates how to use Thunderbird to do this.
John F. McGowan, Ph.D. solves problems using mathematics and mathematical software, including developing gesture recognition for touch devices, video compression and speech recognition technologies. He has extensive experience developing software in C, C++, MATLAB, Python, Visual Basic and many other programming languages. He has been a Visiting Scholar at HP Labs developing computer vision algorithms and software for mobile devices. He has worked as a contractor at NASA Ames Research Center involved in the research and development of image and video processing algorithms and technology. He has published articles on the origin and evolution of life, the exploration of Mars (anticipating the discovery of methane on Mars), and cheap access to space. He has a Ph.D. in physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in physics from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech).
