Thoughts Of Your Future Dictator

Currently listening to The World Has Turned And Left Me Here from the album Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer

Just got back from Eurotrip with Joe and Jacob. Funny as crap. Two scenes were utterly horrible. They were just… so…. horrible. But the rest of the movie was hilarious. And there was this song…. Scotty Don’t Know. Too bad I can’t find it on iTunes. On a totally unrelated note, I’ve been considering (quite heavily) getting a SSL certificate (encrypts stuff on the internet- my primary concern being webmail). Well, the latest “upgrade” the CCC (Cobb County Communists- a term coined by Zollo) has really screwed up the internet. First, I now have to login to do anything (which isn’t a big deal), but their stupid proprietary crap has a self signed SSL certificate (which should not really be trusted since there is NO web of trust that backs up that that login is generated by the CCC) and won’t work with Safari. Firebird works well enough, but Safari has a Mac UI and opens faster. This upgrade also has created problems for everyone with images (they don’t load half the time). There “no expectation of privacy” login screen concerns me and with this latest upgrade has made me concerned enough to ask myself, “what’s to stop them from looking at my webmail? There servers overzealously cache stuff. They could just cache my webmail to, under the guise of school saftey, make sure I’m not doing anything ‘bad’.” My logic is, these people have no right to enter the digital equivalent of my mailbox regardless.

My research into the CCC has yielded the find of big brother clauses in their tech use policy:
3.1. Privacy and Security 3.1.1. The user understands and agrees that he/she shall not have an expectation of privacy in the use of and storage on Cobb County School District’s technology. By using Cobb County School District’s technology, the user consents to routine monitoring and maintenance of Cobb County School District’s technology performed in the ordinary course of business to maintain security and integrity. Monitoring includes, but is not limited to, reading, listening to, or otherwise monitoring the user’s wire, oral or electronic communications, including screening e-mails and tracking the user’s on-line Internet activity and other computer usage. This routine maintenance and monitoring is necessary and may lead to discovery that a user has or is violating this Technology Use policy and implementing regulation, other Cobb County Board of Education policies and implementing regulations, or the law. In addition, backup files may be maintained for archive purposes and may contain copies of all user files, records and communications.
It gets better
3.2.5. User communications, including e-mail, conducted on or using Cobb County School District’s technology may not be encrypted in order to avoid security review without the prior authorization of the Chief Information Officer of Cobb County School District.
Luckily, I am required to make sure my username and password is protected. I’ll choose to ensure the security of my username and password with a Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) certificate.
3.1.2. The user will be ultimately responsible for the use of his/her individual computer and email accounts and all activity that occurs there. The user will take all reasonable precautions to prevent other users from gaining access to and using the accounts. Users will not share any account names and passwords, including e-mail, with other users or leave computer files, emails, or electronic network sessions open or unattended. Users will change passwords on a regular basis as they expire or sooner if necessary to ensure security. The user will immediately notify appropriate personnel if a potential security problem is identified.
Needless to say, I’ll be getting a SSL certificate. Which will cost me $50-150 depending on how long I want to wait to deal with this again :?.