New Site Helps Users Vanish From Internet.

New Site Helps Users Vanish From Internet.HT: TECH CRUNCH
It’s tiring, isn’t it? Doing everything online, I mean. Everyday you log into services tailor-made for shopping, searching, sharing, watching, chatting, curating, reading, bragging - that’s a lot of places to keep your personal information, and no one could blame you if you wanted to try to pare down on those extraneous connections. I’d like nothing better myself sometimes.
A U.K.-based duo consisting of developer Robb Lewis and designer Ed Poole seem to understand that desire awfully well, and they teamed up to create what may be a truly indispensable resource. It’s called Justdelete.me, and as the name sort of implies, it’s a directory of links to pages where you can lay waste to your myriad online accounts.
It’s a deceptively simple resource. You’re greeted with a sizable grid that points you to a slew of popular web services that you probably use. More specifically, those links point you straight at the pages where you can deactivate all those pesky accounts… or at least where you can try. Thankfully, Lewis has done the due diligence to figure out which services can be disconnected from painlessly and which ones require you to (ugh) actually communicate with someone to get the job done.
A disconcerting number of sites and services fall into that latter category. Of the ones that Lewis has added, 10 won’t let you kill your account without first talking to a customer service rep, and 4 (Steam, Starbucks, and WordPress) don’t seem to let you delete your accounts at all. Of course, it’s in these companies’ best interests to keep the account deletion process as obtuse (one might say dark) as possible. The less progress you make on that front, the more likely you are to remain in their clutches.
As useful as the site can be for people looking to disconnect sans headaches, it’s far from being a complete compendium. Lewis notes on his blog that Justdelete.me is very much a work-in-progress - he’ll gladly accept suggestions for services that people think should be on the list, and here’s hoping this thing continues to pick up steam.

Reports: Lanza destroyed computer hard drive.

Reports: Lanza destroyed computer hard drive.(USAT).Before Friday's school massacre, Adam Lanza removed his computer disk drive and smashed it, making it difficult, if not impossible, to recover data, authorities and tech experts say.
Two sources told The Hartford Courant the hard drive was broken in pieces, while ABC News reports the drive "appeared to have been badly damaged with a hammer or screwdriver."
Lanza may have also overwritten the drive, wiping out the data, tech experts said.
The FBI electronics experts will examine the drive to see whether its data is salvageable. Authorities are also attempting to learn whether Lanza communicated with others about possible plans to kill his mother and attack the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.
The Hartford newspaper writes that one source said Lanza "used the computer to play a violent video game in which life-like characters engage in graphic battle scenes." The game was not identified, but other news outlets reported that it was Dynasty Warriors.
If the 20-year-old Lanza knew enough to remove the hard drive and break it, data recovery is unlikely, the CEO of Kessler International told Computerworld.Read the full story here.

Related:  "GHOST" - Adam Lanza, 'computer genius,' left no online footprint.

"GHOST" - Adam Lanza, 'computer genius,' left no online footprint.

"GHOST" - Adam Lanza, 'computer genius,' left no online footprint.HT: CitizensforLegitimateGov.By Lori Price.According to numerous media reports and witnesses, alleged Newtown, Connecticut shooter Adam Lanza was a 'genius' with computers. And yet, we are told that Lanza apparently left no online footprint. The question must be asked: Was the electronic history of Adam Lanza scrubbed?

Many articles, including witnesses' accounts, have described Adam Lanza's advanced skills with computers, a skill-level common with Asperger's sufferers. Indeed, many computer hackers have Asperger's syndrone -- Adrian Lamo, Ryan Cleary, and Gary McKinnon, for example. And yet, Adam Lanza 'left no online footprint?'
According to a New York Daily News article (15 Dec 2012), "[Adam] Lanza, who friends and officials said suffered from Asperger's syndrome or a personality disorder, had a tortured mind. He was socially awkward and at times unstable, but also extraordinarily bright. 'He was smart,' the insider said. 'He was like one of these real brainiac computer kind of kids.'"
A Honolulu Star Advertiser/New York Times (15 Dec 2012) article, 'Gunman left few hints about his life or motives,' noted the alleged shooter's lack of electronic footprints. "In his brief adulthood [Adam] Lanza had left few footprints, electronic or otherwise. He apparently had no Facebook page, unlike his older brother, Ryan... Lanza did belong to a technology club at school that held 'LAN parties' -- short for local area network -- in which students would gather at a member's home, hook up their computers into a small network and play games, The Associated Press reported."
Even 'original' school shooting suspect Ryan Lanza, Adam's brother, had his computers and phone records searched by law enforcement. "Ryan Lanza had been cooperative and was not under arrest or in custody, but investigators were still searching his computers and phone records." This news was reported in an MSN item (15 Dec 2012), 'Conn. gunman recalled as intelligent but remote.'
The MSN article includes a statement by one of Adam Lanza's classmates, Joshua Milas. "Adam Lanza attended Newtown High School, and news clippings from recent years show him on the honor roll. Joshua Milas, a classmate who was in the technology club with Lanza, said that he was generally a happy person but that he hadn't seen him in a few years. 'We would hang out, and he was a good kid. He was smart,' said Milas, who graduated in 2009. 'He was probably one of the smartest kids I know. He was probably a genius.'" The article also notes Adam's attendance at the LAN parties.
Anyone with enough computer knowledge to attend and participate in LAN parties would likely have an online footprint. Where's Adam Lanza's?Read the full story here.