Say no to spam with disposable e-mail!

These days, almost everyone who uses the Internet has one or more email accounts. And no matter how careful you are, it’s hard to avoid receiving daily emails that don’t interest you. And even if you always check the box not to receive promotional e-mails, you will still end up receiving spam.

Even the biggest and most serious companies know that e-mail marketing is a very profitable business and they usually send a lot of e-mails that you are rarely interested in. In fact, that’s why the so-called “loyalty card” business is so successful: you have to provide all your personal information, including e-mail, address and even your date of birth!

Although, for the reasons outlined below, you should not use temporary emails to subscribe to services that you use regularly and that contain personal information, these anti-spam emails can be very useful in certain circumstances.

What are anti-spam emails?

Also called disposable or temporary emails, these emails are generally email services developed for one-time use. That is, to fill in a registration form and be able to check your account, but then not to use it again.

Features

Because they are designed to be used temporarily, this type of email generally does not require a password to access and is much less secure than traditional email services such as Gmail or Outlook.

What is the most popular anti-spam email service?

Although we have previously shared a link to an article with 3 of the most popular temporary emails, the most used is undoubtedly Yopmail.

When to use them?

Because of their characteristics and even though they can be very useful to avoid receiving spam in our non-temporary emails (Gmail, Outlook, etc), anti-spam emails should only be used, for example, to register on pages where you do not enter personal information and if the account is not important to you.

Remember that because spam emails are not designed for regular use, you may not be able to access them again to change your account password, for example.

However, they are very useful for registering on a web page that requires you to create an account to access its content, such as a forum, because once you have read the content you are interested in, you will probably never use that account again.

As you may have guessed, creating an account on this forum with an anti-spam e-mail allows you to avoid receiving promotional e-mails sent by the forum to your traditional e-mail account.


Google Home

Alexa, Google Home and other virtual assistants: Ban these spies ASAP!

Not a week goes by without a spying scandal linked to various connected products (speakers or assistants) coming to light. Amazon, Google and other manufacturers are all in the same boat! This is the worst thing that can happen to your privacy…

You are permanently bugged!

This is a serious matter. These connected spies are selling like hotcakes everywhere with attractive advertising. But do you know the other side of the coin and the risks to your privacy? There are a few things you should be aware of before you bring a spy into your home…

The general conditions of use to be accepted are quite long and vague. The fact is that this type of speaker (like all other types of connected assistants by the way) constantly listens to the sound environment and that this data is sent to the manufacturers. It is also potentially listened to and analysed by a dedicated team (called “transcribers” at Google for example) or even by an AI in the process. All data of interest to locate or identify the user is carefully stored. Some private conversations inevitably reveal critical information that can be exploited!

Thus, in April, we learned via an investigation published on Bloomerg that the Echo speakers using Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant send voice recordings to teams of employees in charge of analysis. By “conversations” Amazon means not only direct exchanges with the devices but also background noise in the room!

Girl talking to Alexa

This month, the focus is on the Google Home, as we learn that thousands of employees are dedicated to voice analysis. These are real scandals, especially when you know that there is no information or warning for users who buy this kind of invasive equipment. And for good reason, it would be scary and these gadgets would literally become unsellable!

In the recent case involving Google, we learn that a certain volume of captured recordings contains sensitive private information: private conversations in the bedroom, conversations between parents and children or professional conversations with confidential data… Some discussions included elements on the health of users who asked their assistant for information by voice, thus allowing extrapolation on the general state of the user. No limits.

And don’t think that the data is anonymous! Indeed, each device communicates its unique serial number and the identifier of the registered user (name or e-mail). Geographical position can also be added through the Internet connection. Don’t think you’ll be saved by the European RGPD either… because according to the researchers’ findings, the records are well kept by Amazon and Google and not deletable with a click as some vendors would have you believe… business is business! Not to mention when “bugs” occur and personal data is accidentally shared with strangers… or the risk of hacking.

Data security and privacy is clearly not the concern of GAFAM. Their business model is not based on privacy and non-intrusion, it is in fact the opposite…

The case of spy smartphones

Let’s note that the latest smartphones are now equipped with intelligent voice assistants that also listen to you permanently if you do not deactivate them! This is Google Assistant (OK Google) for Android smartphones and Siri for Apple products.

Here is the procedure to deactivate Siri, here’s the procedure:

  • Go to Settings.
  • Scroll down, and select Siri.
  • Then, deactivate Siri, by pushing the slider to the left.
  • Finally, confirm this step by pressing “Turn off Siri”.

As for OK Google, here’s the procedure:

  • Open the Google application
  • Press “… More” at the bottom right of the screen to access the menu and then Settings
  • Select Voice from the list and turn everything off.

Finally, if you have a PC running Windows 10, you should know that you also have to fight to deactivate Cortana, which is deeply integrated and protected within the system: the use of a dedicated utility is mandatory to get out of it! We can mention Win10AntiTracking or Ultimate Windows Tweaker. The best thing to do is to remove all the bug services and telemetry! This site gives you a complete overview of the utilities and actions possible to clean the OS of various spies.

It also remains that connected objects are multiplying at great speed: connected TVs, connected watches, connected household appliances, connected locks, connected houses, connected cameras, connected light bulbs, connected thermostats, connected scales, connected sports bracelets, and even connected sex toys! Of course, the list is far, far from being exhaustive… it is high time to question the stakes and the dangers linked to these highly invasive objects


Selling Facebook Pages: The Price of Your Available Brain Time

Every facebook account holder is regularly, if not several times a day, offered page content with evocative titles. However, in reality, the marketing strategies that these Facebook pages often deploy without any real content make the Internet using a pure product that needs to be taken up as much time as possible: your available brain time.

Facebook page sales, mergers and acquisitions

The trap can take many forms. Small pseudo-philosophical sentences on a rainbow background, an image of a cancerous person demanding a prayer, text that strongly encourage you to identify your friends on a funny clip, but more often than not: a video with very high buzz potential roughly copied and pasted from Youtube without source… All this is now part of our daily life on Facebook. What is less known, however, is that most of the pages behind these posts are far from being managed by ordinary users who would like to entertain us out of passion. It is now a real organized business that makes it possible to create small fortunes from our likes, without having to create any original content, without personal investment or real work.

There is facebook page trading, so a market with sellers and buyers of pages with their fans. Indeed, it has been possible for some time to merge pages, and thus to capitalize users of other pages. Thus, brands will want to fictitiously inflate their fans by buying pages, those personal pages with clickbait contents that raise us like cattle. Because these likes have very particular value because unlike fake Facebook accounts which are fictitiously used to inflate the number of fans, they are real people, potential consumers for the brands. Once the herd is large enough, the page is sold to the highest bidder.

The Facebook page buyback strategy is straightforward: thanks to hollow content, kitten images and other buzz videos stolen all over the web, the company capitalizes thousands (millions?) of fans on a page with the name “cool and nice.” Then this “empty shell” page is sold at gold prices on specialized trading sites. A customer buys the page, merges it with his company and capitalizes the fans. Sometimes, it is the same media that will practice the technique, multiplying almost similar pages and then merging them. Thus, a typical user may suddenly find himself following the page of a company he has never heard of before. Moreover, here is how in a few clicks, with a little money, a brand can win 50 000 or 100 000 more fans and claim to be one of the most significant communities on the web. All that remains is to place products to make one’s business grow on the backs of the cheated users without ever having created physical or intellectual wealth from one’s existence.

The commodification of everything and everyone

This practice, far from any elementary ethics, trivializes a new state of fact: the user of the social network becomes a pure commodity that is exchanged and sold. Worse still, the people most inclined to “like””fun and light” content are being categorized into ideal potential consumers and subjected to increasingly elaborate marketing strategies. In contrast, a person with a critical perspective on what he or she is supporting on the Internet, for example by avoiding liking this hollow content, will eventually have more restraint in terms of consumer incentives, which does not make him or her a very good customer (unless his or her specific “need” is targeted through the capture of private information, which is yet another problem). It reflects a poor image of the Internet and the modern world in general, which is becoming more and more embedded every day in the commercial logic where “real” and actual content is scarce and where the human being is only a commercial variable.


Tired of this Crooked Banking System? Consider Switching to Crypto Currencies

Since antiquity, money has been the principal means of exchange at the center of economic activity. Its shape has evolved; Of the primitive state (raw materials, agricultural or artisanal products) to three commonly used forms: metal parts based on precious metals, banknotes (also known as fiduciary money) and bank money (also known as bank money: Deposits, checks, transfers, etc.). Today, the currency is mainly dematerialized: cash is only a small part of the money supply.

Crypto-Currencies

A variety of currencies is used throughout the world, commonly referred to as the monetary currency in a defined territory or zone. The issuance of banknotes or coins in currency and monetary creation is controlled and regulated by the State or Institution exercising its authority over the defined area (Central Bank).

These currencies are exchanged within the framework of the international monetary system.

Under the umbrella of the digital era, trade and financial exchanges have evolved considerably, leading the system to unprecedented crises. Also, new technologies resulting from the combination of the Internet and computing capabilities of computers are causing a tremendous change in information technology, it’s authentication and processing.

In fact, the computational capacity of large networks must make it possible to keep the state of the debts and claims of the various agents of the economy in an instantaneous manner. It is, therefore, a digital currency that is emerging.

This digital currency will have a second characteristic: it will be peer to peer, and it will be universal. This digital revolution is manifested today by the appearance of crypto-currencies, of which the bitcoin is a part.


many ways to use a steam cleaner

I clean my house without toxic products, and I am proud of it!

Nothing like a home clean and welcoming! But no question that cleanliness rhymes with toxicity. Henceforth, environmentally friendly, green and environmentally-friendly cleaning products are cleaning an oven is probably the worst experienceavailable to us to maintain our houses efficiently.

Moreover, who said cleaners are ecologic, they are full of volatile organic compounds, a real source of allergies and irritations.

Many studies show that air quality can be worse in the home than outside. A phenomenon caused in particular by the regular use of chemicals which release volatile organic compounds irritating or even carcinogenic such as benzene or formaldehyde.

Ecological and natural care products are within reach, let’s enjoy! Without phthalates, rechargeable, with a 100% recyclable packaging, compatible with the septic tank, these eco-friendly products that facilitate our daily life are endowed with a soft and natural fragrance and meet the standards of the very strict Ecological Label of the European Union.

Products you need to know

Sodium bicarbonate

Sodium bicarbonate is the multi-purpose product par excellence. Made from natural raw materials and totally harmless to the environment, it is very useful and economical for the maintenance of the house.

The black soap.

clean with baking sodaThanks to its cleansing and degreasing properties, the solvent allows to maintain your floors: a tablespoon of black soap in a bucket of water and the turn is played!

White vinegar has become a must for household chores. 100% eco-friendly, inexpensive and powerful, white vinegar helps to clean pans, coffee maker, silverware, microwave, bathroom surfaces, etc …

Eco-friendly steam cleaner.

A convenient household appliance that takes up little space in your closet. It’s strong point?

It does not require any detergents and the accessories provided allow it to be multi-function, acting from floor to ceiling: windows, floors and even textiles. Find more on Les balais vapeur!

It is therefore critical to choose your cleaning products. For laundry detergents, there are so-called “diluted” detergents or so-called “green” or “green” detergents

 

Hope this article helps you switch to a greener approach for your home.


mind-and-brain-for-only-one

Psychics: the spirituality or psychology?

The existence of psychic powers can hardly be questioned, as there have been millions of people who admitted that those psychic readings have significantly helped, and improved their lives. However, explaining the phenomenon, in reality, may not be as easy.

the-fathers-of-modern-psychology

the-fathers-of-modern-psychology

While some argue that psychics rely merely on psychology while performing their readings, others claim that they use spiritual powers that are supposed to be different. To find out the answers, we have questioned the Oranum – one of the most authoritative psychic portals.

Most of the psychics said that they have particular spiritual talents, and that their craft is unrelated to psychology. However, according to the encyclopedic literature the psychic powers are nothing more than the ability of psychological reading.

In fact the psychics could be the very good psychologists, but when asked questions unrelated to a particular person, their readings would turn out highly inaccurate. So it is like, when they see their client in person, they can read from the manner that he dresses, speaks as well as facts from his life and any related information, but when they have no clues, they just start imagining, and then it never works.

Thus, these who claim to be enlightened, or actually to possess spiritual powers are likely either hiding the truth about their craft or simply believing in their extraordinary powers. From our experience with Oranum, we think that the latter supposition is true.

In fact, it makes good sense, why sceptical individuals suddenly start believing in extraordinary powers after an actual contact with these psychics. It is just the psychics tend to have an excellent natural psychological perception, and as they never flaunt it as psychology, the individuals are left with no other choice than to conclude about the existence of spiritual powers.

It is indeed difficult to spot the psychology where not even a single traditional psychology term or question is being used. Hence, due to inability to explain their psychological sense, they start imagining to have extraordinary powers and claim themselves anyone but psychologists.

However, this is absolutely no reason to discard their abilities altogether. Psychics help so many people, and Oranum makes a great job in providing them with a complete freedom of different approaches, rather than demanding a scientific explanation of each end every technique.

All in all, even psychological help from an excellent institution can provide us with many insights, and resolve as many problems. It is just in the modern society psychology has received some atrocious reputation, and most of the people refuse to ask the help of psychologist unless they realise going mad.

Thus, who don’t consider themselves crazy would rather prefer to talk with clairvoyant or any occult practitioners than with actually certified psychologists. That way the psychics are effectively stealing the potential clients of the latter… What in the world?


Analytic Philosophy

Brian Leiter has an interesting (but I think wrongheaded) discussion of analytic philosophy on his blog. I think he confuses a particular program or conception of analytic philosophy with analytic philosophy itself. I’m an analytic philosopher. This means that, unlike certain other philosophers, I care about clarifying (rather than obscuring) concepts, arguments, and methods. Philosophy is a second-order discipline, a discipline about disciplines (as well as practices, professions, and institutions). Philosophy is not science. Nor is it continuous with science. It occupies a different logical order from science. Analytic philosophers, to use John Locke’s quaint terms, are Under-Labourers, not Master Builders.

I, for one, am not committed to the idea that there are necessary and sufficient conditions for every concept. Some concepts succumb to this type of treatment; some don’t. The analytic philosopher examines the concept in question to see how it behaves. He or she comes to the task with no preconceptions or assumptions about what will be discovered. For Leiter to say (or imply) that analytic philosophy is “defunct” is to mischaracterize the field and, I am afraid, marginalize those of us who consider ourselves analytic philosophers but do not buy into particular (defunct?) research programs.

For those who wish to understand analytic philosophy, read the following essay by one of its ablest practitioners: Alan R. White, “Conceptual Analysis,” chap. 5 in The Owl of Minerva: Philosophers on Philosophy, ed. Charles J. Bontempo and S. Jack Odell (New York: McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1975), 103-17. Some of the material in this essay appears in Alan R. White, Grounds of Liability: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Law (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1985).