(2) Hmmm..well Google Calendar just had an outage.

I'll stick with Fastmail is very reliable and independent. They can't really be blamed for a DOS attack.

> They can't really be blamed for a DOS attack.

That doesn't really hold when their competitors have teams of engineers working on DDoS mitigations and successfully handle most of these attacks. Falling to a DoS is a technical failure just like other causes of outages.

A ~1 hour response time from identifying to mitigating the DDoS isn't exactly bad. I'd say their engineers did a pretty good job.

Security really isn't my strong suit, but isn't it standard practice to automate DDoS mitigation strategies?

Depends on the type and size of the DDoS and where on the network path it's hitting.

DoS is a threat from identifiable source, like Russia. DDoS looks just like normal users, like terrorist sleeping cells.

Yes, I dig Gray Code. It's not at all related to my site http://GreyCoder.Com

I see what you did there :)

I dig Gray Code too, and here are some pretty pictures http://datagenetics.com/blog/november32014/index.html

Nothing related to Gray codes, but I love your site. There are so many interesting things to explore there. Thanks for making it!

Thanks for the kind words!

The Blackphone is built for privacy and Linux is pretty at not leaking private info, although you have to configure Ubuntu a bit I hear.

I looked into blackphone a while ago. If I remember correctly the first thing it asks for is your e-mail address so it can sign you up to their proprietary anonymity/cloud service. I'm not sure if this is still the case, but if it is I think they've completely misunderstood their target audience. Thanks for reminding me though I will have another look into it.

You can use Disconnect Search that make your google searches anonymous: https://search.disconnect.me/

There are better VPNs for China: http://www.greycoder.com/openvpn-china/

I agree the app is good - but the user interface has always needed simplifying.

Do you mean you simplify the UI yourself with the configuration settings or that you wished it was simplified ?

I found calibre less clunky and very clean once I hid icons, menus and submenus I don't use.

Maybe there should be some kind of toggle mode (easy, god, expert, etc.).

More specificity on what you'd like simplified would be useful.

I keep an updated list of reliable VPNs with good support: http://www.greycoder.com/best-vpns-2014/

Yep, check out my full review here: http://www.greycoder.com/the-best-usenet-providers-of-2012/

greyone, they also have an android app. You can browse and download directly to your tablet or phone.

Good introductions for beginners. This overview was useful: http://www.greycoder.com/recommended-products-and-services/

You can also use Countermail which provides end-to-end PGP security (unlike Hushmail). Here's my article with more info: http://www.greycoder.com/how-to-stop-the-nsa-from-spying-on-...