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Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Why US service men and women deployed abroad should use an anonymous proxy

By Cindy Marshson


Around the globe, the US has men and women serving in the navy. These brave soldiers are defending our country under what can be very harsh conditions. While it can be argued that they chose to serve in the military freely, we still owe them our gratitude. It's up to us to make sure they have everything they need to be safe when deployed. Safety however, is not only making sure they have the military equipment, it also means that we provide a way to let off steam. The USO does a great job at this with shows right at the front line. Remember, a soldier's best weapon is his or her mind. If they are well cared for, they will be better prepared. Years ago, all the military had was R & R, letters from home and the USO. Now soldiers on the front line also have access to other entertainment via the Internet.

So what do they do on the world wide web? Believe it or not, many of them watch television. Sure, they might be able to watch TV using a television set, but the shows available in country are either in a different language or they are old reruns of old American television programs. While I'm sure that "I Love Lucy" is still a favorite, and who doesn't want to watch "Gilligan's Island", current US television shows are not usually available. On the Internet, they can stream TV shows from the major networks. They could have watched the last episode of "Monk" or the new "White Collar" program on the USA Network. Or maybe they want to watch sports. The web makes this possible.

There are also several social networking websites out there that they can use to keep in touch with friends and family. Sure e-mail works to an extent, but if you have ever used any form of social networking, you know exactly how much simpler it is. You can type a message on your homepage, and suddenly all of your friends and family will be able to see it. Soldiers are very pressed for time, and sometimes there just isn't an opportunity to respond to every single person. This makes social networking extremely important. There is a problem however, a huge problem. Sometimes soldiers cannot get to the websites that they need. Why exactly? Well let's talk about it.

While Internet access is common around the world. And while our soldiers can usually access the Internet while overseas, many times the sites they want to visit are blocked. That's right, blocked. There are two types of blocks. The first type is put in place by the country they are in. Many countries have restrictive Internet censorship. Apparently watching US TV or reading the New York times online is considered subversive or dangerous. Think I'm joking, do a Yahoo search on Internet censorship and see what pops up. It's downright scary. They other blocks are understandable and just as annoying. Many US sites block access from overseas. They do this by looking up the IP address of the surfer to determine their location. If it's not in the US, it get's blocked. They do this because it costs money to run a site. And many of these sites make their money with advertising. And advertisers don't pay to advertise to people that they cannot sell to. Think about it, do you think it does Toyota any good to advertise their US versions of their trucks to consumers in Iraq? Not really. There is a way around these blocks though. Anonymous proxies.

For those who don't know, a proxy is a server that one can connect to. This server will then connect you to the Internet via its own connection. What does this accomplish? It provides you with a new IP address which is based in the US. You are not visiting websites via your own connection, but instead you are using the ISP that the proxy subscribes to. What you're dealing with there is surfing the web using a computer across the ocean. The moral aspect is up to you, but if you get a proxy with decent encryption, the ISP you use overseas will never know the difference. This is also a great way to protect your privacy. By using a proxy you will be able to hide your identity while catching up on your favorite shows. The one thing you don't want to do in a war zone is broadcast who you are and what you are doing. With that in mind, start shopping for a good proxy today. Once you arrange a good one, you will be able to sit back, relax, and enjoy your favorite shows.




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