The Future of File Sharing

Tim Berners-Lee famously invented the internet at CERN in the 1980s to find an easier way to share data in between research teams. The internet today has become the backbone of communication for the entire planet and is a crucial resource for individuals, entire industries or even nations that together form our modern global society. As we move on into the digital transformation of our lives, one surprising thing has not changed much since the early days of the internet: Sharing of files is as important as ever but still often relies on archaic protocols and tools, developed in a time when nobody thought about massive data growth, hackers that are interested in stealing intellectual property and huge organizations with tens of thousands employees that share data amongst themselves and with others on a day to day basis. What are the shortcomings of current tools to share files, what is the state of the art solution at the moment and what technologies are on the horizon to deliver the File Sharing of the future? I will answer these questions within this post and you can also watch the webinar where I discuss the future of file sharing with Subhashini Simha, VP of Product Management and Marketing at Thru.

File sharing today – EFSS is the state-of-the-art

For many years businesses have relied on email or FTP as their main tool for sharing files. Both are, as we know today, not very secure. And neither are unmanaged consumer-grade file sharing solutions that run rampant in many organizations. As file sizes, the need for mobile access and corporate compliance requirements grew, CIOs, CSOs and IT managers were scrambling to gain back control of their company’s sensitive information. The solution to the problem is an enterprise level strategy that is secure, easy to use and in the best case integrates into core business applications. More and more businesses are replacing their outdated strategies to implement state-of-the-art Enterprise File Sync and Share solutions that make it easy to share files of any size from any device in a simple and secure way enabling the company’s employees to exchange information on a daily basis. Not all EFSS solutions are created equal though and it is important that several specific requirements are included to proving long-term effectiveness and business efficiency. A current solution must guarantee full security governance and data sovereignty set forth by legal parameters to the company and give them complete audit and control capabilities. The solution should of course be easy to use and have breadth of APIs that lets it integrate into existing business applications. To get full flexibility and profit from a cloud storage solution, a modern EFSS solution should also be able to be deployed on-premises, in the cloud or as hybrid.

A closer look at the current market reveals that most solutions that are built on consumer-platforms and where business users and consumers share the same platform like Dropbox Inc., One Drive or Google Drive do not match those requirements for businesses, don’t allow secure BYOD, don’t offer automatic workflows and generally do not increase efficiency or the security to share sensitive information. As some vendors are grappling to deliver the requirements of modern organizations that want to choose a solution provider that offers business ready cloud options, the digital transformation is moving ahead and is posing even greater challenges to improve file sharing. Areas that need improvement are file sharing over low bandwidth, sharing big files globally in a shorter time and improving collaboration through automated workflows.

Things to consider for the future, when choosing a solution:

1. Continuous file sharing even on poor connectivity

In urban areas, high speed internet is ubiquitous. Businesses with wide spread operations or businesses like logistics or cruise companies however do not have the luxury of speedy connections everywhere. These businesses need solutions that guarantee a smooth and secure file sharing and collaboration experience over connections with high latency, like satellite connections. To maximize the use of those connections, a modern EFSS solution needs the ability to optimize available bandwidth, for example, by applying parallel block streaming and data caching and prioritization of mission critical file transfers. Connections with low bandwidth also tend to drop entirely at points due to unforeseen weather or physical conditions, so it is important that the solution is able to pick up file transmission where it was left off rather than restarting the process. A solution that addresses those challenges will improve the secure delivery of files and messages irrespective of limited, long-distance networks and will be able to reduce costs on satellite connections and stay on top of their mission critical needs.

2. Transferring large files quicker

As businesses continue to rely on web-based apps to collaborate and exchange content, the need for fast transfer of files from any device is essential. In addition to choosing solutions that use data centers being located around the world, it’s imperative to also look at solution providers who offer faster file transfers using a variety of latest technology , like intelligent “cloud-optimized routing” technology to enable upload and download of files at the fastest possible speed. Like a GPS for file transfers, the solution should be capable to use virtual routers and network measuring agents to map the Internet flow across the world in real-time to maintain a live view of global Internet congestion and automatically avoid high traffic areas. Compliance and security should also be guaranteed with transparency to all traffic with no caching of data at any point.

3. File transfer automation and workflows with centralized IT management

File management within their systems is a growing pain for enterprises. It is complex due to growing file sizes, extensive file types and various protocols used within their systems. Organizations need specialized workflow tools within their EFSS-platform to easily create automated business workflows between any enterprise application, repositories and services
The right solution should allow enterprises to easily schedule simple and multi-step workflows to improve collaboration for their workforce with minimal steps. An IT head should consider a solution that offers a centralized top down management of workflows to avoid the fragmentation of workflows and a potential workflow mess. Automation done right can offload mundane and tedious file transfer or file processing jobs from employees and aging systems by automating file synchronizations between various repositories including: FTP, SFTP, HTTP, Amazon S3, Azure, EFSS servers and custom file repositories.

Information exchange has become much more complex since Tim Berners-Lee first invented the HTTP-protocol to share files. For a long time, file sharing technologies have relied on archaic technologies like email that are not fit to meet the requirements of modern organizations. EFSS platforms replace those tools and enable enterprises to overcome those shortcomings and improve flexibility, security and ease of use. The future of file sharing with latest solutions in the market like Thru, will improve existing platforms even further by adding tools that, amongst others, improve file sharing over low bandwidth, help sharing huge files globally very quickly and help to optimize workflows. Businesses that are investing in EFSS-solutions need to make sure that a solution meets both their current and future requirements.

To hear more on getting ready for the future of file sharing, watch the webinar where I discuss this with Subhashini Simha, VP of Product Management and Marketing at Thru.

Go to > http://www.thruinc.com/webinar-future-of-file-sharing/

A Beginner's Guide to Exploring the Darknet

A hidden Internet exists underneath the 'surface web,' hidden from the view of ordinary web users. It always aroused my curiosity, but I never really followed up to see whether I could access it. The dark web is intimidating. I assumed it was full of criminals and would have little to offer a law-abiding citizen such as myself. I also thought it would be difficult to access and that it would require some kind of advanced technical skill, or perhaps a special invitation from a shadowy figure on seedy bulletin boards. I decided to investigate these assumptions.

One of the things that really struck me was how easy it is to access and start exploring the darknet—it requires no technical skills, no special invitation, and takes just a few minutes to get started.

In this article I will share information on how to access and navigate the dark web, as well as my personal experiences and thoughts.

What Is the Darknet?

Most people are confused about what exactly the darknet is. Firstly, it is sometimes confused with the deep web, a term that refers to all parts of the Internet which cannot be indexed by search engines and so can't be found through Google, Bing, Yahoo, and so forth. Experts believe that the deep web is hundreds of times larger than the surface web (i.e., the Internet you get to via browsers and search engines).

In fact, most of the deep web contains nothing sinister whatsoever. It includes large databases, libraries, and members-only websites that are not available to the general public. Mostly, it is composed of academic resources maintained by universities. If you've ever used the computer catalog at a public library, you've scratched its surface. It uses alternative search engines for access though. Being unindexed, it cannot be comprehensively searched in its entirety, and many deep web index projects fail and disappear. Some of its search engines include Ahmia.fi, Deep Web Technologies, TorSearch, and Freenet.

The dark web (or dark net) is a small part of the deep web. Its contents are not accessible through search engines, but it's something more: it is the anonymous Internet. Within the dark net, both web surfers and website publishers are entirely anonymous. Whilst large government agencies are theoretically able to track some people within this anonymous space, it is very difficult, requires a huge amount of resources, and isn't always successful.

Anonymous Communication

Darknet anonymity is usually achieved using an onion network. Normally, when accessing the pedestrian Internet, your computer directly accesses the server hosting the website you are visiting. In an onion network, this direct link is broken, and the data is instead bounced around a number of intermediaries before reaching its destination. The communication registers on the network, but the transport medium is prevented from knowing who is doing the communication. Tor makes a popular onion router that is fairly user-friendly for anonymous communication and accessible to most operating systems.

Who Uses the Darknet?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the onion network architecture of the darknet was originally developed by the military—the US Navy to be precise. Military, government, and law enforcement organisations are still amongst the main users of the hidden Internet. This is because ordinary internet browsing can reveal your location, and even if the content of your communications is well-encrypted, people can still easily see who is talking to whom and potentially where they are located. For soldiers and agents in the field, politicians conducting secret negotiations, and in many other circumstances, this presents an unacceptable security risk.

The darknet is also popular amongst journalists and political bloggers, especially those living in countries where censorship and political imprisonment are commonplace. Online anonymity allows these people, as well as whistleblowers and information-leakers, to communicate with sources and publish information freely without fear of retribution. The same anonymity can also be used by news readers to access information on the surface web which is normally blocked by national firewalls, such as the 'great firewall of China' which restricts which websites Chinese Internet users are able to visit.

Activists and revolutionaries also use the darknet so that they can organise themselves without fear of giving away their position to the governments they oppose. Of course, this means that terrorists also use it for the same reasons, and so do the darknet's most publicized users—criminals.

Accessing the Darknet

As I said in the introduction, accessing the hidden internet is surprisingly easy. The most popular way to do it is using a service called Tor (or TOR), which stands for The Onion Router. Although technically-savvy users can find a multitude of different ways to configure and use Tor, it can also be as simple as installing a new browser. Two clicks from the Tor website and you are done, and ready to access the darknet. The browser itself is built on top of the Firefox browser's open-source code, so anybody who has ever used Firefox will find the Tor browser familiar and easy to use.

The Tor browser can be used to surf the surface web anonymously, giving the user added protection against everything from hackers to government spying to corporate data collection. It also lets you visit websites published anonymously on the Tor network, which are inaccessible to people not using Tor. This is one of the largest and most popular sections of the darknet.

Tor website addresses don't look like ordinary URLs. They are composed of a random-looking strings of characters followed by .onion. Here is an example of a hidden website address: http://dppmfxaacucguzpc.onion/. That link will take you to a directory of darknet websites if you have Tor installed; if you don't, then it is completely inaccessible to you. Using Tor, you can find directories, wikis, and free-for-all link dumps which will help you to find anything you are looking for.

Another onion network is The Freenet Project, which offers similar functionality but also allows for the creation of private networks, which means that resources located on a given machine can only be accessed by people who have been manually placed on a 'friends list.'

Another privacy network called I2P (the Invisible Internet Project) is growing in popularity. Although Tor still has many users, there seems to be a shift towards I2P, which offers a range of improvements such as integrated secure email, file storage and file sharing plug-ins, and integrated social features such as blogging and chat.

Using a VPN for Added Protection

Many Tor users also like to add an extra layer of protection by connecting to Tor using a virtual private network, or VPN. Although no one can see what you are doing online when you use an onion router, surveillance entities can see that you are using Tor to do something. In 2014, Wired UK reported widespread substantiated speculation that the NSA was tagging Tor users as extremists or persons of interest ("Use privacy services? The NSA is probably tracking you"). Although that is likely a very long tag list and there is no concrete evidence about what is done with it, it is understandably something people want to avoid. Using a VPN to connect to Tor means that nobody will be able to see that you are using it, and is therefore seen as a good solution to this problem.

Here is an interesting read if you want to learn more about VPNs and using these two systems together: Combining TOR with a VPN.

My Meanderings on the Darknet

I should make it clear from the very start that I am a beginner—a n00b, if you like, far from being a seasoned veteran. Having said that, here is my beginner's perspective on what I've found.

Diversity and Strange Contradictions

One of the things which immediately struck me about the darknet was the unusual juxtaposition of different users on the websites I found. In some ways, the dark web is a very idealistic place. You will find a lot of political writing (particularly of the libertarian, anarchist, and conspiracy-theory varieties), but also some mainstream liberal and conservative stuff.

I found it very strange that one of the main themes of the writing I saw was 'freedom of information'. The idea that information should be free and available to all seems to be very dear to the netizens of the dark web, as does the idea that governments and big business are threatening this. I found this very strange coming from a group of people for whom hiding and encrypting their own information seems to be such a major obsession. I also found it common for websites to have one section preaching high ideals and filled with moralistic exhortations, and then another filled with links to criminal enterprises. The publishers of these websites seemed either unaware of or unwilling to confront these contradictions.

The fact that so many of the dark web's users are enemies also leads to a strange dynamic. Governments, terrorists, law enforcement, and criminals are amongst the biggest users of darknet communications. I was tickled to see website security experts and criminal hackers sharing the same forums to discuss their common interests in computer security whilst hardly recognising that they are nemeses.

You Can Buy Anything With Bitcoin

The darknet's large criminal marketplaces are well known. Here, you can buy everything from drugs to assassinations. One of the first sites I came across purported to be run by a hit man offering his services to anyone willing to pay. Personally, I don't believe it. This site was probably set up as either a police sting or by a conman who will just take your money and run (there are many, many times more scammers pretending to sell illegal items than there are people genuinely selling illegal stuff in places like this).

The famous criminal marketplace Silk Road was recently taken down by a major police operation which made it into the international press. Last night it took me five minutes to find links to Silk Road 2.0, as well as other similar marketplaces. The most commonly traded illegal items appeared to be hacked PayPal accounts, drugs, fake passports, and other IDs.

All of these businesses accept only bitcoins because they can be used to conduct entirely anonymous transactions.

**If you're serious, follow this link > https://turbofuture.com/internet/A-Beginners-Guide-to-Exploring-the-Darknet

Bookmark the page, purchase a Linux thumb and contact me.

Extreme Gadgets

WHY YOU CAN’T BE A PRO GAMER WITHOUT THE RIGHT TECH

They say a poor workman blames his tools. Indeed, becoming a pro gamer take a lot of raw talent – you won’t automatically become a pro simply from having the best tech money can buy. However, for those already making their way into the echelons of professional gaming, competing with players of the same level means being able to have the same reactions as them. A low performance computer could hinder these reactions, which is why you need better tech. Here are just a few of the perks that buying gaming tech can achieve. Read More →

SONY CONTACT LENSES – THE FUTURE IS CREEPY

We are living in a very strange world at the moment. A mysterious transformation has taken place over the past 120 years or so. The industrial revolution paved the way for a technological revolution and a branch of the technological revolution is the digital revolution. Before you know it, even paper money will be phased out and we might end up using a universal digital currency so the enslavement of mankind can continue. Some people look forward to that day although I personally think that’s a terrible idea. Advancements in technology are occurring at an extremely fast pace and an example of this is the patent Sony has been awarded to record videos via contact lenses. Read More →

Click me > https://always-hiring-appointment-setters.blogspot.com/

THE MOBY MART – 24/7 AUTONOMOUS, STAFF-LESS, MOBILE STORE

I generally pick an inconvenient time to do my grocery shopping because I’d rather be inconvenienced at an odd hour to shop in a store with almost no customers as opposed to shopping on the weekend or after work hours and deal with a chaotic supermarket. Have you ever been to Costco or Super Store on the weekend? The “traffic” within the store is enough to drive me insane. At the present moment, I use a service called “Click and Collect” at Super Store. I basically pick my groceries online and then for a $3 fee, the store employees pick my items, and I simply go to a designated parking spot at the store and have the items delivered straight to my vehicle. Pretty simple, right? Read More →

AMAZON ECHO – MUCH MORE THAN A SOUS CHEF

While the Amazon Echo is not perfect – yet, there are so many things that can be achieved with it. It is an incredibly intelligent device which offers so many possibilities. It is unbelievable therefore, that anyone could think that its capabilities are only limited to helping you with a couple of recipes on a random day you decide to whip up a fresh batch of cookies. Read More →

FUSION: SQUATTING TOILET STOOL RAISES THE FEET FOR A BETTER POOPING EXPERIENCE

For most people, a trip to the bathroom is boring and monotonous and like a daily ritual. Well, such is always the case at least when you do not have a running stomach, constipation, hemorrhoids or worse. However, thanks to Fusion, your trips to the washroom are about to become more comfortable, fun and healthy by enhancing your bathroom experience. Read More →

***It's 4:13am, I'm in Miami and I'm supposed to be relaxing... Not my nature but due to the thoughts that just ran through my mind, I'm going to let you take it from here.

Full article > http://www.geekextreme.com/category/gadgets

Headed to Miami

*I don't celebrate holidays, every day is a holiday if you're happy and fulfilled. The thoughts of cooking, having a drink, having fun to be dictated to me by a piece of paper displaying little boxes with numbers in them seems very indoctrinated to me.
 But what do I know? Enjoy the 4th how ever you wish to do it.

NDJ

Weapons, Gismos & Gadgets Personal Safety Devices

Having a weapon or gadget for self-defense does not lower the chance of attack or improve your personal safety because an assailant may not know you are armed, or he plans to neutralize its effectiveness. Purchasing an item or weapon for personal safety can be successfully used for self-protection when used properly and under favorable conditions. There are advantages and disadvantages of relying on a man-made device or improvised item for self-protection and personal safety.

Improvised Weapons

Other times any number of improvised weapons such as tools, kitchen utensils, or many other household items can be effective during the chaos of assault. Plenty of success stories demonstrate this point, and there are other stories where the item did not work well during a criminal assault. Improvised weapons may be as simple as a rock or stick. Others include screw drivers, hammers, bug spray, keys, book, coffee cup, or a pen. almost any item can be used as an improvised weapon if delivered with force and especially to a vulnerable area on the assailant’s body.

Personal Safety Weapons

Protective items may successfully stop an attack such as chemical agents, electronic devices, and weapons. The most common are pepper spray, tasers, and firearms. Sometimes these are referred to as quick fix items that can become a “crutch” that creates dependency, reduce environmental awareness, downplay intuitive warnings, and weaken response to threats, both physically and mentally.

Weapons and quick fix items are also stranger-danger oriented in their application, which require foreknowledge of potential assault. Consequently they can limit one’s potential for self-preservation during violent crime committed by acquaintances. Most items take valuable seconds to bring to the “ready” position for deployment and can become a mental distraction inhibiting effective fighting. Thinking about where the item is or how to use it can be a distraction. If the item is not available, panic may ensue making it a debilitating crutch. Relying too heavily upon a device for self-protection and personal safety becomes a disadvantage if you did not have the selected device in your hand, the device malfunctioned or the threat was too close, or it was taken away.

After taking a self-defense course or studying a martial art, any personal safety weapon can be applied to your training because you know you are not relying solely on a mechanical device. If you did not have the selected device in your hand, you can still effectively protect yourself. If it did not work right, or it was taken away, there are other ways to protect yourself and stop an assailant. You know other ways to protect yourself to stop an assailant.

Personal Weapons

After taking a Model Mugging course, any weapon may enhance your training because you know you are not relying solely on a mechanical device or other weapon. When properly trained to use your personal weapons, you can protect yourself and stop an assailant. Spontaneity and quickness of using personal weapons such as hands, elbows, or knees to strike and kick can be very powerful.

Model Mugging self-defense training provides knowledge and experience that can be empowering and simultaneously lead to a greater capacity to de-escalate volatile situations using the gentle are of verbal self-defense.

Weapons and improvised items can also work to the advantage and disadvantage of the assailant. In the Model Mugging Advanced course, students learn the psychology of armed assailants and how to deal with various weapons commonly used by some criminals.

Return to Choices in a Self defense Course for more suggestions.

You can have a nice living building websites

*No worries, I teach others to build websites, I'm not afraid of competition.

http://tinyurl.com/wzcu6ak

Networking Basics: What You Need To Know

When looking at networking basics, understanding how a network operates is the first step to understanding routing, switching, and wireless. The network operates by connecting computers and peripherals using switches, routers, and access points. These devices are the essential networking basics that allow the various pieces of equipment connected to your network to communicate with one another, as well as with other networks.

Routers, switches, and access points perform very different functions in a network.

Networking Basics: Switches

Switches are used to connect multiple devices on the same network within a building or campus. For example, a switch can connect your computers, printers, and servers, creating a network of shared resources. The switch, one aspect of your networking basics, would serve as a controller, allowing the various devices to share information and talk to each other. Through information sharing and resource allocation, switches save you money and increase productivity.
An unmanaged switch works out of the box and does not allow you to make changes. Home networking equipment typically includes unmanaged switches.
A managed switch can be accessed and programmed. This capability provides greater network flexibility because the switch can be monitored and adjusted locally or remotely. With a managed switch, you have control over network traffic and network access.
There are two basic types of switches to choose from as part of your networking basics: managed and unmanaged.

Networking Basics: Routers

Routers, the second valuable component of your networking basics, are used to connect multiple networks together. For example, you would use a router to connect your networked computers to the Internet and thereby share an Internet connection among many users. The router will act as a dispatcher, choosing the best route for your information to travel so that you receive it quickly.
Routers analyze the data being sent over a network, change how it is packaged, and send it to another network or to a different type of network. They connect your business to the outside world, protect your information from security threats, and can even decide which computers get priority over others.

Depending on your business and your networking plans, you can choose from routers that include different capabilities. These can include networking basics such as:

Firewall: Specialized software that examines incoming data and protects your business network against attacks.
Virtual private network (VPN): A way to allow remote employees to safely access your network.
IP phone network: Combines your company's computer and telephone network, using voice and conferencing technology, to simplify and unify your communications.
Networking Basics:  Access Points

An access point allows wireless devices to connect to the network. Having a wireless network makes it easy to bring new devices online and provides flexible support to mobile workers. Think of what an access point does for your network as being similar to what an amplifier does for your home stereo. An access point takes the bandwidth coming from a router and stretches it so that many devices can go on the network from farther distances away. But an access point does more than simply extend Wi-Fi. It can also give useful data about the devices on the network, provide proactive security, and serve many other practical purposes.
Access points support different IEEE standards. Each standard is an amendment that was ratified over time, and the standards operate on varying frequencies, deliver different bandwidth, and support different numbers of channels.

There are four different types of deployments that an organization can choose from to create a wireless network. Each deployment has its own attributes that will work better for different solutions. They are:

Cisco Mobility Express: A simple, high-performance wireless solution for small or medium-sized organizations. Mobility Express has the full complement of advanced Cisco features. These features are preconfigured with Cisco best practices. The defaults allow for a quick and effortless deployment that can be operational in minutes.
Centralized deployment: The most common type of wireless network, traditionally deployed in campuses where buildings and networks are in close proximity. This deployment consolidates the wireless network, allowing for easier upgrades and enabling advanced wireless functionality. Controllers are based on-premises and are installed in a centralized location.
Converged deployment: A solution tailored for small campuses or branch offices. It allows customers consistency in their wireless and wired connections. This deployment converges wired and wireless on one network device—an access switch—and performs the dual role of both switch and wireless controller.
Cloud-based deployment: A system that uses the cloud to manage network devices deployed on-premises at different locations. The solution requires Cisco Meraki cloud-managed devices, which have full visibility of the network through their dashboards.
Next:

Unsung Heroes - How Routing & Switching Keep the Business Going
Building a Small Office Network: Getting Started

http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/small-business/resource-center/connect-employees-offices/networking-basics.html

Personal Autonomy is vital to Personal Growth

What is Personal Autonomy? 
Personal autonomy is our right to be self determining, our right to choose how we live our lives. It is I think of particular importance when people are involved in any kind of therapeutic situation.
As humans we have a desire for personal autonomy. We have a desire to be the person who chooses how we live our lives. We have a desire not to be controlled by others. As young children when we are learning about the world we may be happy to follow what those we trust tell us, but, as we all know as we approach adolescence we fight with fierce determination for our right to change this situation and make our own choices, independent of those whom we have been accustomed to following. If we are not able to move into a position where we are self determining, if we feel under the control of another then we find ourselves in a very difficult situation. To not act in accordance with what feels right to oneself results in severe mental confusion because we are not able to be who we are. Indeed this problem begins far earlier than adolescence. If as babies and young children our basic needs are not looked after, or if we are expected to act in ways which are against our basic nature, then damage will have been done in our psyche.
What cuts us off from our Autonomy?

The reality is that it is more or less impossible in our world as it is now for someone to grow up being a truly autonomous person. If we did we would probably be what is considered enlightened. Most of us early on lose contact with who we are. We then develop our ego, which we believe is who we are. People acting only from this stance will be "living in their heads" and will not be able to feel empathy for others. However, thankfully, very few people are so hurt that they lose contact with their inner resources completely. The less good part of this is that most of us will grow up with some areas of disturbance. We will notice that sometimes we do not act as we would like to act and we do not feel as we would like to feel. Everyone deals with this in different ways. Some people take to criminal activity and end up in jails. Others will "go loopy" and end up in a mental hospital. Some get interested in Politics. Others become very good at their jobs. Still others will make sure they have the "best kept" family in the neighbourhood. Whatever avenue people take they are either acting out their problems or distracting themselves from the feeling of unease.

Getting our Autonomy back

However there is one other avenue that people may choose to go down. They may look for a way to sort out the problems so that they can gain access to their own genuineness and hence their personal autonomy. This is not the sign of a weak person, it is the sign of a honest person and this is where personal growth comes in.

Personal growth is all about and should be all about helping a person to be in touch with their own authenticity and hence their personal autonomy, and sadly much of supposed help does not do this. In a healthy world people who ended up in a psychiatric hospital or prison would also be given this help because this is the very thing that people need if they are to work constructively.

The problem with going for help which will respect one's autonomy comes about because the person who is "giving" the help frequently does not have very much autonomy themselves. The are frequently 'doing’ the help rather than genuinely "giving" in any way. They are so often more in a situation of controlling rather than empowering.

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Record Number Renounce U.S. Citizenship in 2016

 **This post is personal.

This is my future 60 days away.

A record number of individuals renounced their U.S. citizenship or chose to expatriate in 2016, according to data published by the Internal Revenue Service today.

The government agency, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury Department, publishes the names of those individuals in a list each quarter, in accordance with the Internal Revenue Code. Before 2011, less than 1,000 individuals chose to expatriate each year, according to the lists published on the Federal Register. More than 2,300 expatriated in the last quarter of 2016 alone, and this year's total of 5,411 individuals is 26 percent more than last year's 4,279.

The connection between the list of expatriates and the IRS implies a link to tax policy. The U.S. is one of a very small number of countries that tax based on nationality, not residency, leaving Americans living abroad to face double taxation. "The escalation of offshore penalties over the last 20 years is likely contributing to the increased incidence of expatriation," according to the tax attorneys at Andrew Mitchel LLC who track the expatriate data on their International Tax Blog.

U.S.-born British Foreign Minister Boris Johnson – who has spoken out against the U.S. tax code, The Guardian reports – appears on this quarter's list, which was initially released on Wednesday and published online on Thursday.

However, today's list that covers the last quarter of 2016 – the time period after Donald Trump was elected president – is nearly twice as long as the list from the last quarter of 2015.

Leading up to the U.S. election, a number of high-profile individuals, including Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg and actor Bryan Cranston said, jokingly or otherwise, that they would leave the country if Trump was elected. A number of countries, including Canada and New Zealand, also launched campaigns promoting themselves as destinations for Americans looking to leave the country after the election.

The IRS reports include the names of expatriated individuals for which the Treasury secretary has received information, which is subject to logistical delay, but the annual totals of individuals choosing to expatriate has been steadily rising since 2012. 

https://www.usnews.com/news/best-countries/articles/2017-02-09/record-number-renounce-us-citizenship-in-2016