Tag Archives: Internet

Coconino County Provides Successful Test Platform for SpaceX Starlink Mobile Units

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FLAGSTAFF — Coconino County continues to lead the effort in connecting students with SpaceX’s Starlink high-speed internet across Northern Arizona, including multiple tribal communities within the region, and now on school buses.

With continued focus on education, Coconino County collaborated with Flagstaff Unified School District (FUSD) and Page Unified School District (PUSD) to identify and select routes with an emphasis on connecting students who must ride the bus more than one hour to and from school. SpaceX provided Coconino County with two of their Flat High Performance Starlink kits that are installed on the buses, enabling students to stay connected and complete homework during their transit.

“The opportunity to deploy new technology to connect underserved rural communities is a tremendous achievement,” commented Supervisor Fowler. “The collaboration between SpaceX and Coconino County illustrates what can be achieved when the right people come together at the right time. We are incredibly thankful to our partners for the opportunities they have enabled by delivering enhanced connectivity throughout our most underserved communities.”

Coconino County began conversations with SpaceX when District 5 Supervisor Lena Fowler and Coconino County’s Chief Information Officer Matt Fowler both met with the company in 2019. This resulted in securing a private donation for the County to utilize Starlink and make high-speed internet accessible to rural areas of Northern Arizona. Coconino County successfully became an early customer, purchasing and launching Starlink internet in a 45-household trial on May 6, 2021. Shortly after, the County identified K-12 students living on the Navajo Nation without access to the internet or existing speeds less than 5 Mbps download and 3 Mbps upload. The County Information Technology Department engaged with the Board of Supervisors and the Flagstaff Unified School District, seeking collaboration opportunities to identify eligible students living on the reservation.

To date, Coconino County facilitated approximately 300+ implementations of Starlink internet services for a free 2-year period, which was made possible by private donations. This provides students the ability to connect with education providers and continue their studies remotely.

“This journey would not have been possible without the continuous teamwork from SpaceX, County Management, our Board of Supervisors, FUSD and PUSD. We rely heavily on our public and private partners to offer internet where it historically has been unavailable. This is truly an exciting moment,” commented CIO Matt Fowler. “We have amazing community partners, and this opportunity to embrace new technologies has greatly benefitted students in our region,” commented Deputy CIO Helen Costello.

Kaibab National Forest Considers New Alignment for Fiber Optic Line to Support Grand Canyon Schools

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WILLIAMS — The Kaibab National Forest (KNF) is considering authorization of a new fiber optic line. The Grand Canyon Unified School District and the Town of Tusayan obtained grant funds for the new fiber optic cable to provide high speed internet service to the school at the Grand Canyon, which is needed to deliver bandwidth to students whose access to high-speed internet lags badly behind other Arizona schools. Commnet Wireless would build the fiber system.

The southern terminus of the fiber optic line would be located at an existing Commnet facility near Airport Road and Interstate 40 in Williams, follow an Arizona Public Service (APS) utility easement to Arizona State Route 64 (SR 64), and extend north primarily along the west side of the Arizona Department of Transportation right of way for SR 64 to the vicinity of the Tusayan Airport, for a total of 53.8 miles. A total of 19.1 miles of line would be located on KNF lands, with 7.8 miles on the Williams Ranger District and 11.3 miles on the Tusayan Ranger District. The remainder of the line would be on state and private lands.

The KNF approved a different alignment for this fiber optic line in 2020. The former alignment, which would have totaled approximately 68 miles, would have generally followed the Grand Canyon Railway. The proponents requested the KNF analyze this new alignment instead of the alignment approved in 2020 because of logistical and cost considerations.

Living a little more secure life

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Updated: 1/11/21 @ 12:58 p.m. MST

Popular alternatives to GMail, Facebook, Twitter and other spyware programs.

Privacy and freedom of speech, today, is on the minds of everyone. The group in the light who wants to be able to express themselves and communicate privately amongst themselves. Then there are the dark tyrants who want to suppress your rights and crush you. The tyrants, by the way, probably use some of the methods discussed in this article. There is even a movement by the Democratic party apartheid movement to “cleanse” Trump supporters, as expressed by a person associated with ABC. Democrats have expressed a desire to “hunt down” Trump supporters after the election. One Democrat even put out a video expressly threatening Trump supporters which was applauded by Facebook, Twitter and the other Silicon Valley crowd.

In this article, we briefly review some of the alternatives to Facebook, Twitter, Google and other spyware companies. Bear in mind, however, nothing is perfect. If you decide to move to MeWe, for example, you can expect that government spies will have accounts and track things you say just as they do on Facebook, though the alternatives make that a little more difficult. Also remember that alternative sites are getting hammered with new sign ups daily. So they may work slower especially during peak use. Also be aware that we have not tried all of these suggestions. Many of these were suggested at a recent Republican meeting I attended and I have added others that I have used. So please check the links and carefully read their web sites. Ask questions of more tech savvy people you know and email the company if you want more information.

It should also be noted that we are not presenting these ideas for people to use illegally. And by that we mean in deference to the Constitution of the United States of America. There are hundreds of thousands of laws on the books that do not pass constitutional muster. We could care less if you violate those. If, however, your are BLM or Anitifa or other domestic terrorist bent on destroying the United States and its foundational law, we hope you get caught. If you are a pervert using these methods to harm children we hope you are caught and sent to prison for the rest of your natural life. We are presenting this material for those United States citizens who want to live their lives as the founders intended.

Facebook

If you are tired of Facebook jail for posting something about Biden and the election when you have just seen a Hollyweed personality holding up the severed head of Trump, you might want to consider the alternative. I used to use the Teapartycommunity.com, but it apparently no longer exist. The current Facebook alternative seems to be MeWe.com.

I have been on MeWe since October last year. MeWe carries no ads and depends on the support of the people using it. You can set up one personal page and use it for free. Each additional page you want to set up costs $1.99 a month. You can also join as a Premium Member which gives you access to other features of the site, such as special emojis, online phone and other features. Even with Premium Membership, however, you still have to pay $1.99 a month for additional pages. We found this out when we started the Northern Arizona Gazette page on MeWe. We did find it worth the $1.99 a month to get news like this out there since Facebook will probably censor this on our page.

When I say there are no ads, there are no corporate ads. If you are using it free, every so often when you sign in you get an ad suggesting you upgrade to Premium. You can cancel it and move on unmolested. There are problems with this platform as with any. When I use Facebook, however, their spyware actually locks up my system after a time. I have not had that problem using MeWe.

Browser

There are two browser alternatives to those spyware programs built into Microsoft and Apple. If you are using Windows 10, you cannot remove and eliminate Microsoft Edge. You can download and use alternatives.

The first, and most popular, is Firefox. I have used it for years on the computer and my Android phone. While it is more secure than using built in browsers, some red flags have popped up in recent updates. You have less control over what comes up when you open a new tab. When you start to type something in, you get a list of the deep state companies that are interested in suppressing your liberties.

Lately I’ve been using Brave. I do not know if it is more secure, but my computer does not seem to get locked up by the Facebook spyware. It seems to run smoother like Firefox used to.

Another thing to consider in your quest for a more secure Internet is a virtual privacy network or VPN. There are some free applications for Android (and I’m sure Apple) phones and some free services online. It is probably worth giving a monthly or annual donation to the sites as they are worth it. What they do is, basically, reroute your Internet through other servers around the world so that it looks as though your are visiting the site from another location. It makes it harder for hackers and others to know where you are accessing the Internet from. The security company Lifelock offers it as part of their Norton utilities package.

Search Engines

Google tracks your moves on the Internet just like Facebook. When you make a search, they record it and share that information with what ever nefarious group they choose. There are two alternatives to Google that do not keep a record of your searches. Startpage.com and Duckduckgo.

I have used Startpage since it was called Ixquick back in the day. It eventually morphed into Startpage with several more features. It uses the Google database to provide search results, but does not keep a record of your searches. One of the interesting newer features is anonymous viewing of web sites. If you click on the feature, it blocks cookies from the site so they do not know you are there. This feature, however, could cause difficulty accessing some of the features of the site.

The other that is growing in popularity is Duckduckgo. Like Startpage, they do not record your searches, send targeted ads or track you in privacy mode. I discovered that Duckduckgo has a privacy browser for Android phones although not available for computer. When you do a search in the phone app, you get results like any other search engine. When you click on it, it tries to make the site visitation more secure. I have not studied exactly how, but I know that YouTube videos, for example, come up with just the video you want and no popups. I have started to use it over the Firefox browser app.

Emails

There are two ways to receive emails. One is through a mail reader, such as Thunderbird–which is not secure–or through accessing a web page, such as you do with GMail or Microsoft mail. Also not secure. There are two web based alternatives; Hushmail and Protonmail.

Hushmail is in Canada where privacy laws are different. You had to download Java to make the security work. I am not sure what it requires now as I have not used it for sometime. It is web based but allows you to pass encrypted messages. You can send messages to a person who does not use Hushmail by using a question/answer passcode.

The other is Protonmail. This system was developed by scientist of CERN who were looking to find a way to pass secure messages. This system is in servers in Switzerland where it is much harder to get legal access to the servers. Protonmail claims, however, that with their encryption, even they cannot access the email. There is also an Android phone app for Protonmail.

Both of these services give you one email account free, but add extra services for donations. For example, more email addresses with Protonmail and a vanity email domain with Hushmail. Also, for a price, you get secure forms with Hushmail to allow you to get personal information securely. Both of these are web based. So if you are currently using a web based email such as Gmail, these should not be that big of a transition for you. Used in conjunction with a VPN, any IP address logging would show the email came from another location.

Twitter replacement

The big Twitter alternative was Parler and it was doing well. So well, in fact, that it was shut down by the Amazon. Amazon is the big tech company that provides ALexa designed to spy on your home. They were providing web services for Parler but cut them off on January 10. I, as quickly, “cleansed” my Amazon account. The CEO is still looking for an alternative Internet service provider so they should be back.

The other alternative is Gab. The advantage of Gab is that they have been around longer and have their own servers. I signed up last night and noticed it is slow to connect. It is slow to move around the site. Since they are having thousands of people an hour flocking to the site, however, this is understandable. The problem is that I still cannot seem to get a confirmation email.

A phone app suggested along this line is Signal. Signal allows you to pass secure SMS text messages on your Android or iPhone. Signal replaces the native SMS app on your phone. To be secure, the person sending and receiving the text message must be using Signal, but you can send a text from the Signal app to one not using Signal.

How about a new operating system?

Finally, the biggest thing you can do to secure your system is to get another operating system. I’m not talking about upgrading your Windows 7 to Windows Spyware 10. I am talking about moving from Windows and Apple to Linux.

Linux operating system versions are called “distros” or distributions. There are so many companies distributing Linux that I cannot give you a definite pick for the perfect distro for you. The best advice here is start with a tech savvy friend who uses Linux and obtain advice through them.

Some provide a free version and a more expansive version for a nominal fee, usually around $50. All Linux free versions, however, give you the basic protection. Part of that protection is if you do anything, from updating to adding programs, you will have to enter your password every time. Once you download the program it is yours to use.

There are ways to use your former Windows programs with some versions. The program Wine is one way. Robolinux claims to run Windows programs natively, but I have not been able to get it loaded on a computer to find out. There are, however, so many free programs that are similar to Windows programs that you can download. There are card, dice and shoot ’em up games. There are DVD and CD burning programs and movie makers. There are programs for amateur radio and learning electronics, science and other educational programs. You can search for a list of these programs and download them via the Internet and that is why you need to enter the password every time.

Entering the password for access to the Internet, by the way, is a very paranoid security measure. If you have to enter the password for any changes, a hacker has to know the password to make any changes in your system.

There are also only a couple of anti-virus software programs. That is because Linux has been less susceptible to viruses. Of course, that changes. If you are going to use Linux for your emails, you will probably want to download a virus program such as Clam which checks emails for viruses. That is probably the quickest way to get a virus into your Linux distro.

For older people who are leery about venturing into a new learning experience, you might want to think about the studies that show keeping the mind actively learning new things may delay the onset of elderly mental disorders such as dementia. So securing your online life might be the healthy thing to do.

Summary

This article briefly touches on the more popular methods people are using for security purposes and protecting their freedom of speech. There are more, of course, and more around the corner.

What it boils down to is you. What you need to make your life feel more secure. Also make sure you are vigilant in updating programs and Linux distros that you use.

When is your sister not your sister?

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Earlier in the evening of November 25, I got an unusual friend request on Facebook. It was from my sister. Which is unusual because I did not know that we were on unfriendly terms. It was a particularly busy afternoon, so—presuming that she accidentally unfriended me and friended me again—I accepted.

“She” started to PM me, which is highly unusual since she has my phone number. No you cannot have it.

The “conversation” started off with how ya doin’, how’s your day kind of messages. Then she told me that the IMF is giving away grants for money that does not have to be paid back. All I would have to do is fill out an application and if approved, pay a delivery fee.

Bingo. The scam.

First of all, the IMF is presumably the International Monetary Fund. That IMF is hardly in the business of giving away money. They are a group of scumbag bankers whose function is to consolidate the wealth of countries—particularly the United States—for use by global elitist who believe it is their job to rule the earth. They are not nice, they are not friendly and they are hardly charitable.

The second point was the “delivery fee.” You are telling me that the IMF is giving away money and cannot pony-up 35-cents for a stamp? I have been contacted by overseas people by phone telling me that Obama was going to send me a million dollars, all I had to do was pay a $250 delivery fee.

I replied as much to my “sister.” I logged off because I had other things to do. When I logged back on, I received a message demanding that it was not a scam because the delivery fee was not much. When I went to look at the message, Facebook had, apparently, caught up with the scam and deleted the profile.

The point of the story is this was obviously not my sister. If you get caught up in a “free money” scam and go to any links attached to them, you might actually go to an official looking “application.” Meanwhile the web site is loading viruses and Trojans into your computer. If you fill out any application, you are giving them your personal information for identification theft.

So here are some Facebook tips.

If you receive a friend request from a friend and you have their phone number, call them and ask them if they “friended” you.

Click on the name of any person wanting to friend you. Check their profile. If they have very few posts or haven’t posted for awhile or if their posts are exactly what you would post and you do not know them, delete the friend request.

The government creates profiles and friends people they want to fry. Those profiles are not deleted by Facebook because they know about them.

So choose your friends wisely.

Consumer Labels for Broadband Services

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Comparing prices, performance and network practices of broadband service providers can be challenging, even for savvy consumers. With this in mind, the FCC created Open Internet transparency rules requiring providers to convey sufficient information for consumers to make informed choices about available broadband services. Based on recommendations from its Consumer Advisory Committee, the FCC provides templates for broadband labels – one for landline and one for mobile – that service providers may use to supply consumers with information about their services.

If a provider uses a broadband label template, here’s the type of information you can expect to see:

  • Pricing details, including all of the various charges that seem mysterious to consumers – overage fees, equipment fees, early termination fees, other monthly fees beyond service fees such as insurance, administrative fees, or regulatory recovery fees.
  • Monthly data allowance – namely, the carrier-defined plan limit after which consumers will incur additional charges.
  • Broadband speed and other performance metrics.
  • Network management practices – namely, precautions providers may take to manage heavy traffic on their networks.

Service providers who use the labels will satisfy the FCC’s requirement to make transparency disclosures in the proper format, or a format that meets the needs of consumers. However, providers may still be in violation of FCC rules if the content of their labels is misleading or inaccurate or if they make misleading or inaccurate statements to customers in ads or elsewhere. In such cases, consumers can file complaints with the FCC at https://consumercomplaints.fcc.gov.

The new rules will go into effect later this year, but service providers may begin using the broadband label templates anytime. The labels can serve as a helpful comparison shopping tool for consumers. Look for and consider them when you shop for service.

More information

ADEQ Announces New Search Feature for Public Records

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PHOENIX — The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ) announced today it now has available through its website an online search engine allowing faster, more direct access to the agency’s 19 environmental databases containing information such as a facility’s operating permits and compliance history.

Known as MegaSearch, the tool allows customers to enter search criteria such as a facility’s name and address or its unique ADEQ file number to view a list of relevant environmental records and files of interest. Once identified, the files may be selected from the results page and emailed to the ADEQ Records Center for retrieval and viewing. By conducting their own independent research, customers can save time by eliminating the need to wait for results from a traditional records request with the help of Records Center staff.

“MegaSearch helps prospective land and business owners or anyone who wants to see instantly what environmental activity has been reported for a given location,” ADEQ Records Manager Eric Flohr said.

For example, Flohr said if you previously had wanted to know if a nearby gas station had a history of leaking underground storage tanks, you would have contacted ADEQ to submit a research request. Staff would then have accessed these same databases now available online to see what records of activity had occurred at the site. The process could take several days depending on the number of pending research requests, he said.

“Tools like MegaSearch give customers direct and instantaneous access to ADEQ’s vast amounts of environmental data from all over the state, which supports more transparent government for our citizens,” Flohr said.

ADOT: Beware of fraudulent ‘DMV’ websites and misleading

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PHOENIX — Many motor vehicle services can be performed online nowadays. Unfortunately, scam artists, misrepresenting themselves as official motor vehicle division entities, are using the Internet to take a customer’s money and personal information.

The Arizona Department of Transportation Motor Vehicle Division wants to alert customers that there are fraudulent websites falsely offering motor vehicle services such as Arizona driver licenses, IDs, and vehicle titles and registration. The fraudulent websites appear in searches with keywords such as MVD or DMV.

ServiceArizona.com is the only authorized website for all Arizona MVD transactions. Customers can use ServiceArizona.com to conduct many routine motor vehicle transactions, such as applying for a duplicate driver license or driver license reinstatement, renewing a vehicle registration and purchasing a specialty or personalized license plate.

Currently, a person cannot obtain a driver license online. To do so a customer must visit a local MVD or Authorized Third Party office.

Additionally, ADOT does not offer MVD services through phone solicitations, nor does it endorse or advertise for online businesses claiming to provide MVD services.

There are, however, legitimate Authorized Third Party businesses that are licensed and authorized to perform MVD transactions in person. A list of Authorized Third Party businesses can be found at azdot.gov/locations.

ADOT’s goal is to prevent its customers from becoming victims of fraud or identity theft. ADOT also wants customers to be aware of unauthorized sites that may offer MVD services at an extra cost. The only authorized ways to conduct Arizona driver license or motor vehicle services are either in person at any ADOT MVD or Authorized Third Party office, online through ServiceArizona.com or by standard mail.

For more information about MVD services, please visit azdot.gov/mvd.

Fiber line cut near Carefree causes massive Internet and phone outage in Northern Arizona

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PHOENIX – Northern Arizona lost phone, Internet and television due to a fiber line that was cut near Carefree, Arizona. The outage affected from Page to Williams.

Channel 3 in Phoenix reported that Century Link officials confirmed that a fiber line that was deliberately cut caused the outage. The cut line caused outage of communications from about 11:30 a.m. until about 6 p.m. Other Internet and service providers using the line were also affected.

911 calls were immediately re-routed through another line.

Officials are still investigating the incident.

Government wonders: What’s in your old emails?

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r99U5.AuSt.91By Lindsay Wise
McClatchy Washington Bureau – February 11, 2015

WASHINGTON — If you’ve been remiss in cleaning out your email in-box, here’s some incentive: The federal government can read any emails that are more than six months old without a warrant.

Little known to most Americans, ambiguous language in a communications law passed in 1986 extends Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure only to electronic communications sent or received fewer than 180 days ago.

The language, known as the “180-day rule,” allows government officials to treat any emails, text messages or documents stored on remote servers – popularly known as the cloud – as “abandoned” and therefore accessible using administrative subpoena power, a tactic that critics say circumvents due process.

As you rush to purge your Gmail and Dropbox accounts, however, be forewarned that even deleted files still could be fair game as long as copies exist on a third-party server somewhere.

Read more at MC Clatchy DC

Scam Emails About Phony Court Cases Carry Computer Virus

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In January, the federal judiciary learned of an email scam, in which emails purporting to come from federal and state courts are infecting recipients with computer viruses.

According to the Security Operations Center of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts, the emails are instructing recipients to report to a hearing on a specified day and time. The emails also instruct recipients to review an attached document for detailed case information. When the attachments or links in the email are opened, a malicious program is launched that infects the recipient’s computer. Several state courts have reported similar schemes, and also are warning the public about potential viruses.

Unless you are actively involved in a case in federal court and have consented to receive court notifications electronically, you generally will not be served with court documents electronically.

If you receive an email and are not involved in a court case or have not given your email to a court, do not open it. Contact the court in question. If your virus scanner checks emails, ensure that it is set up properly to detect viruses in emails.