censorship – Backerjack

Shellfire Box hides all your home Internet traffic from prying snoops

Censorship and other draconian tactics to keep the Internet anything but the free and expansive entity it should always be are unfortunately enforced in countries around the world to various degrees every single day. Luckily, the virtual denizens of the Internet are a sly bunch, employing tactics like VPNs and the use of the Tor network in order to skirt prohibition. VPNs can also be used to circumvent location restrictions around accessing certain Web sites such as the BBC iPlayer or Hulu if you’re not in their home countries.

Shellfire is a VPN service, has been operating out of Germany for the past 12 years. While its service works for computers and some smart devices, there are many other devices like consoles and Blu-ray players that can’t connect and be protected. As such, there are many people looking for a single solution that can securely connect any device on their home network. That’s the mission of the Shellfire Box.

Appiom censorship app gives parents control over kids’ Wi-Fi usage

As more and more Lifetime movies revolve around the dangerous effects the Internet can have on young ones, parents are beginning to think they should limit online usage. However, these damn millennials are smart and have figured out ways to get around a lot of censorship tools.

Introducing Appiom. A little box and app that casts a safety net over the kids. The app allows users to choose different profiles and collect devices for each profile. For instance, one child’s profile may include their smartphone and laptop. With Appiom, parents can block certain apps entirely, like Facebook, or for just one hour. Similarly, they can set a timer on Internet usage, blocking kids from going online after their bedtime. Understanding that these kids are much more tech savvy than any other generation, Appiom also has capabilities to block 4g and LTE usage, preventing kids from switching from Wi-Fi to phone data to surf the Net.

Installation for this product is quite easy, requiring no router configuration or software downloads. Best of all, for smartphones at least, it only blocks certain apps, letting parents customize phone time for their kids. It would beneficial if there could be some sort of Web site blocking customization too for laptops. Still, this is an easy-to-use product that allows parents to be reasonable in their control over Wi-Fi time instead of downright Web Nazis. One will cost backers an affordable $29 donation for delivery in March 2015. Appiom is hoping to raise $25,000 on Kickstarter.