All you need to go off-grid

February 28, 2014

Mobile

New secure cellphone is hard to use

Barcelona – Telecommunications Weekly reports the launch of a new secure phone for those who do not want the NSA or anyone else spying on their communications. However Silent Circle, the secure communications firm that launched the phone- later said its not immune to NSA-level break-in

And although the aptly-named Blackphone says it “is not just for the tinfoil hat crowd” in fact it is exactly for the technically minded since it requires complicated software to use, which must be operated, and paid for, separately from the phone itself. It relies heavily on a peer to peer sharing network which was founded by Phil Zimmerman, the author of the PGP encryption protocol.…

February 28, 2014 No Comments

UK energy firms kept £400m when customers closed accounts

Big six thieves[/caption]The “big six” energy firms have been told to hand back more than £400m owed to customers when they switch accounts and forget to reclaim overpayments from regular monthly payments.

Credit left in customer accounts when people and businesses move or switch suppliers has accumulated over the last six years, energy regulator Ofgem said today on BBC Radio.

The energy regulator, which says its estimates are the minimum owed, has called the amount “unacceptably large”. Industry lobby group UK Energy claimed that it can be hard to trace customers who move, but did not deny that they never even try.

Ofgem thinks 3.5 million domestic and 300,000 business accounts are affected.…

February 28, 2014 No Comments