I didn't mean to say most companies sell user data, but rather of the companies that sell user data, most are not straight forward about it.
Example: Onavo, Dolphin Browser, Opera Mini, Ask Toolbar
What I am emphasising is that while they could ask plainly, and state they are collecting your data, and then selling it to 3rd parties (even if in aggregate), they do not.
I would want users to be given a clear choice about what is happening with their data, and some companies have the integrity to do this.
This advice is dangerous, because the author fails to mention other precautions the user can and should take, such as:
* Use a Linux live CD on the "burner laptop" -- don't trust the preinstalled OS
* Change the MAC address of the Wifi used to connect at the internet cafe
* Use Tor, most easily via the Vidalia browser bundle
The author also does not mention that leaking documents can expose the whistleblower via watermarking and user information embedded in the file (most infamously in MS Word documents with versioning).
> I don't think this is an invasion of privacy at all.
I vehemently disagree. Most companies will just hide the fact they are collecting (and often selling) user data within slimy legalese.
Consumer protection includes niceties such as warranties, and protection against false advertising, and clear display of nutritional information and safety warnings.
Privacy also deserves the same treatment so users can make an informed decision, without having to wade through a hefty licence agreement.
I can't speak for their dictionary, but KingSoft has an antivirus/internet security program which is nigh on impossible to uninstall, including extremely misleading messages on their uninstall screen.
I wouldn't touch any of their other stuff for that reason alone.
After reading some of the insightful comments above, I'd like to add that it would be good to round out your skill set beyond web development. Learn C, it will teach you great things. Learn Linux (and read the source code), you'll learn a lot about how complex systems work.
If you do go down the path of university, then make sure you stray outside what they teach. Challenge yourself, because that's how you improve, and you'll also differentiate yourself when someone is looking to hire you.
> I consider myself pretty good; I honestly have no baseline...
This is your only blocker to success. I also had a lack of self confidence -- I put this up to the pedestal we put university degrees upon.
By what you've done so far, it sounds like you are better than most 90% of people finishing with Computer Science degrees. There are employers who can see that -- but most recruiters do not (though they do latch on to buzzwords).
Demonstrate your passion and your skill and you'll easily get a job somewhere in the industry.
I second this. Take the first professional job you can get (and you can start freelancing and putting stuff on github to help you get that job), you can use that to bounce into a higher paying job after a year or two. Once you're inside the industry people won't bother looking at your piece of paper or lack thereof.
I spent 3 years at University doing a completely non software related degree, gave it up, was doing feelance web design, then luckily managed to get into a professional software developer position (for relatively low pay). After 16 months I moved into another job with a 40% pay increase and much better environment/conditions.
Australia is similar in the regard, except the Federal government covers part of the full course cost, the rest being covered by a CPI indexed loan (HECS) which needs to be paid back once employment income exceeds $38k per year (taken from tax refunds -- we have tax deducted every payday).
That said, a typical university student will accumulate $9000 a year of HECS debt.
And yet Universities continue to cry poor, cutting student services and teaching staff, despite increased revenues from full fee paying international students over the past decade.
I'm perplexed as to why this is.
Edit: Just found this: http://www.nteu.org.au/library/view/id/3828 --
RMIT University spent $8.2 million on 19 "senior executive and council members".
That's ~$431k a head, or according to the Union "125 HEW 6 academic staff."
There is also a Python based "gpglib"[1] which currently is able to parse and decrypt GPG messages. All heavy lifting is done via PyCrypto so its quite fast.
It's fast like Slackware (which I liked when I tried it), very customisable by using PKGBUILD/AUR (similar to Gentoo portage, which is amazing for absolute control) and has an excellent wiki (https://wiki.archlinux.org/).
You'll also get the most up-to-date packages, and roll along happily.
If you feel you need a little more stability, then go with a Gentoo or Funtoo Stage3 install. :-)
Re FreeBSD, the best thing about it is the Port system, but you'll likely be hating the non-GNU userspace!
I want to thank the flask team for this. we are using flask + gevent in production and it has been highly performant (1200 requests a second for our app) and stable :-)
I have noticed some older versions of WebKit do not support WebGL or are less stable, so please ensure your libwebkit is up to date for maximum enjoyment :-)
having a controlled state for foreign repos is absolutely essential.
having worked with all-in-one repos, where external stuff is thown in... then rots... submodules are a better way, making keeping external code up to date. simple yet controlled.
Example: Onavo, Dolphin Browser, Opera Mini, Ask Toolbar
What I am emphasising is that while they could ask plainly, and state they are collecting your data, and then selling it to 3rd parties (even if in aggregate), they do not.
I would want users to be given a clear choice about what is happening with their data, and some companies have the integrity to do this.