TTCBCOAB #50, Cycling Goals, and Privacy

Here are some things that can be carried on a bicycle, from a recent Costco run. It's much easier to negotiate the parking lot on a bike rather than a car. I park right by the entrance and lock up my bike, which makes for a pleasant and quick escape. Plus, I can ride through the gaps in the parking lot speed bumps. Sweet!

Various odds and ends That Can Be Carried On A Bicycle...

Milestones

My stated goal for this year is to log 4500 commuting miles on my various bikes. Halfway through this year my running total stands at 2700 miles, which is well over the 2250 miles I expected. Assuming no hideously bad weather this fall, I may very well exceed that goal. I use MapMyRide to track my mileage and have found it a very useful service. It's easier to stay motivated when you have a measurement of how you are doing.

Stats, courtesy of MapMyRide

Got Privacy?

The recent revelations about the NSA data collection and surveillance (which many of us already suspected was occurring) got me to thinking about privacy and how we unconsciously change our behavior when we think someone is watching us. Chatting with many friends and acquaintances, I discovered they are thinking about expectations of privacy, too. So what's a law-abiding citizen to do? Here's my top ten list:

1. Ensure you have a good password on your all your devices.
2. Enable FileVault, BitLocker, or an equivalent product to encrypt your hard disk.
3. Use an anti-virus prorgam to regularly scan your computer.
4. Install Tor and use it for anonymous browsing.
5. Install Gnu Privacy Guard on your computer (I use GPGmail).
6. Encrypt your email and encourage your friends to do the same.
7. Install a version of GPG on your mobile device (I use ipgmail for iOS).
8. If you access email with a browser, consider using mailvelope .
9. Make a donation to the Electronic Freedom Foundation.
10. Tell your senators and congressional representative that privacy is important to you.

Remember that as citizens, we enjoy only those rights we are willing to defend.