I Probably Should Have Done a Little More Research ...

... and spent just a few extra bucks.

Arriving tomorrow: A Thetis FIDO U2F Security Key.

Every time I am about to travel, I get more security-conscious. Going from a PIN to a full-blown passphrase on my phone and reducing the inactive time before it locks, for example. And updating my PGP keys. And setting up Boxcryptor.

I finally decided that part of all that is upping to two-factor authentication with respect to various sites I use (an added security layer in case my Chromebook gets lost, stolen, or held hostage by government ghouls) and that I would prefer authenticating with a dongle to receiving a code via phone (with the phone as backup in case I lose the dongle).

The Thetis only supports U2F authentication, not OTP. I did research U2F versus OTP and am convinced U2F is pretty good to go. What I hadn't really noticed, though, is that not nearly as many sites support U2F as OTP (here's a site that keeps track of which sites support two-factor dongle authentication and what types).

Neither of my preferred password managers (LastPass, which I use, and Password Tote, which I just took out for a test drive) supports U2F (they both support OTP, although LastPass only does so in its premium version, which I might have bought if it supported U2F). That's kind of a buzz-crusher.

Fortunately, Google and DropBox DO support U2F, and that's a good portion of what I want to keep behind a little more protection than e.g. my RSS reader or Disqus account. But for $5-10 more I could have had both U2F and OTP. Live and learn, I guess.

This is What a Sh*thole Country Looks Like

Per ABC News:

As teachers across the country combat the growing numbers of students vaping in schools, administrators are now using technology in high school bathrooms to cut down on e-cigarettes.

Edward Salina, the superintendent for Plainedge Public Schools on Long Island, New York, told ABC News' Brad Mielke during an interview for the "Start Here" podcast that Plainedge High School is involved in a pilot program for Fly Sense, a sensor system that alerts school officials when students are vaping.

...

Fly Sense, which is also an anti-smoking and anti-bullying sensor system, can be placed where cameras aren't allowed, such as in bathrooms or locker rooms. Salina said the high school has cameras located outside bathrooms to catch people five minutes before they enter and five minutes after they exit the bathroom.

Our would-be masters have pretty much dropped any pretense that their "public schools" are anything more than combination day prisons and serf indoctrination/conditioning centers.

A Couple of Fun Facts

Fun Fact #1: In 2015, the Garrison Center's first year as a going concern, the Center's op-eds were picked up by mainstream newspapers and non-libertarian political publications 545 times. In the first four months of 2018, Garrison Center op-eds were picked up by mainstream newspapers and non-libertarian political publications 571 times.

Fun Fact #2: Not long ago, I opined that perhaps one reason Garrison is doing better than the Center for a Stateless Society in the op-ed mill racket is that C4SS's op-eds have to be explicitly anarchist while Garrison's don't.  I may have been wrong. Here's the final paragraph of the April 26 Garrison op-ed, in support of California secession:

"Ultimately, political government itself is the problem and a system of market anarchy or panarchy (competing “public service” providers within the same geographical area) is the solution. Until we can feel our way to such an arrangement, peaceful secession, decentralization, and devolution are probably the best outcomes we can reasonably hope for."

Anarchy, panarchy, and secession, oh my!  Too radical for mainstream newspapers? Nope. Picked up by USA Today, the Reno Gazette Journal, the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, the Des Moines Register, the Fon du Lac Reporter, the Saint George Daily Spectrum, the Fort Collins Coloradoan, The Arizona Republic, the Detroit Free Press, the El Paso Times, the Nashville Tennessean, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, the Cincinnati Enquirer, the Indianapolis Star, OpEdNews, the Ventura County, California Citizens Journal, and the Winchester, Tennessee Herald Chronicle.

Fun, fun, fun.