My Week in Germany

I've been in Germany all this week, first speaking at a conference and then visiting my father in Idstein, where I've been introducing my father to his granddaughter.

Your author giving a keynote speech at YAPC::Europe 2012
Photo by Claudio Ramirez

One of the things I love about my profession is that I get to travel to conferences all over the world. At this conference, I was surprised to speak with several readers of my blog and I've learned a few things:

• One reader is thinking about renouncing their US citizenship.
• One reader is in the process of renouncing US citizenship.
• Another reader is afraid to respond to my blog posts unless they can do so anonymously.

For those who wish to renounce their citizenship, it all boils down to one thing: the US is demanding they pay taxes but offering nothing in return. It's a common refrain I hear.
If you wish to comment anonymously, one of your best options is to download the Tor Browser Bundle. This software can be downloaded to a USB key, if you don't want to install it, and run from there. It allows you to safely and anonymously browse the Internet. Yes, some people use this to do bad things, but others, such as freedom advocates in Iran and China, use this to to communicate with each other safely.
Please note that Tor makes your internet life much more anonymous, but to truly get anonymity, you should read the Tor Web site carefully. It will explain what Tor is and how you can use it to be safe. For normal Web browsing, you don't have much to worry about (as long as you have Javascript turned off). However, if you start using "advanced" features, there are caveats you will want to know about.
There are ways of compromising Tor security, so don't take it for granted. However, they don't appear to be commonly used.