Here are some efficient products I like in 2013. I’ve tested all these products and found that they perform well. Generally, I like things that are ultralight and ultradurable. I also look for things that are sustainably made and come with lifetime warranties.

For purchase things, I like Amazon and REI, due to their efficient return policies — I return a lot of products, and I don’t have time to quibble while returning products.

Everyday Carry

These are the tools I carry on my keychain:

• Fenix LD01R2 LED Flashlight (very durable and produces 80 lumens of light, as much a bright full-sized flashlight)
• Nite Ize Inka Pen (reliable pen for all conditions, impressive design, made in USA)
• Leatherman Micra (ultralight multi-tool, made in USA)
• Swiss+Tech Utili-Key (minimalist multi-tool that looks like a key)
• Titanium Waterproof Medicine Capsule (only available from Singapore — for carrying breath mints)
• Ezy-Dose Pill Capsule (not as good on the capsule above, but easier to obtain)
• Mini Cash Can (holds a spare $20 in case you lose/forget your money)
• Titanium Money Clip (less bulky than a wallet, lightweight)
• Vanilla Visa (a credit card that doesn’t reveal your identity)
• Bluecell Aircraft Key Ring Holder Wire (good key ring to use instead of split ring)

 Optional Carry

These are optional things that I may carry in my jacket or pant pockets:

• Snow Peak Titanium Flask (excellent design, ultralight, made in Japan)
• Toaks Titanium Wine Flask (cute titanium flask, made in USA)
• True Utility FireStash Keyring Lighter (tiny lighter that fits on a keychain)
• Weatherproof Notebook (allows for the taking of notes in any weather condition)

Clothes

These are clothes I find efficient. You’ll see a lot of merino wool here. I like this material because it doesn’t absorb orders, regulates body temperature, l resists wind and warms better than petroleum-based materials. It is also produced in a sustainable manner. The other material I find efficient is hemp. It is more durable than cotton. It is also requires less water and pesticides to produce. New production techniques have allowed manufacturers to produce very soft hemp weaves.

• Icebreaker Icebreaker Men’s Quattro Short Sleeve Polo Shirt (made with merino wool, ethical New Zealand company)
• Hemp Overstone Pants by Patagonia (made with durable hemp but very comfortable)
• Ibex Men’s Boxer (made in USA and made with merino wool, ethical company)
• SmartWool Walking Light Crew Sock (made with merino wool, ethical company)
• Patagonia Whino Lace-up Hemp Shoes (made with hemp and other non-toxic materials)
• Minus33 Merino Wool 702 Acadian (made with merino wool)
• Icebreaker Men’s Tracer Shorts (made with merino wool)
• Icebreaker Men’s Sonic 7″ Shorts (made with merino wool)
• Icebreaker Men’s Oasis Crewe T-Shirt (made with merino wool)
• Icebreaker Tech T Lite Shirt (made with merino wool)
• Maui Jim Ho’okipa Sunglasses (made in U.S., has reliable replacement warranty)

Toiletries

These are toiletry tools that I find particularly efficient:

• Seki Nail Clipper (works well, made in Japan with tempered stainless steel)
• Groom Mate Nose/Ear Hair Remover (works well without batteries, lifetime warranty, made in USA)
• Smile Brite Toothbrush (replaceable heads, natural bristles)
• B-Fresh Cinnamon Gum (provides nice dose of cinnamon [which aid digestion], sweetened with xylitol)
• Stainless Steel Tongue Sweeper (great tongue cleaner, lifetime warranty)
• Tom’s of Maine Natural Waxed Flossing Ribbon (good product)
• Fogless Shower Mirror by ToiletTree (works as promised)

Lasko is a company that still makes its fans in the USA. I like their all-metal fans because they are very durable, and the parts can be replaced by Lasko. They also come with a two-year warranty. The fan featured here is the Lasko 20″ High Velocity Floor Fan, and it will move a huge amount of air in a room. I tested the fan using my Kill-A-Watt electricity usage monitor. I found that on its low setting, the fan uses 122 Watts, but the real treat is the high setting, which will create tempestuous movements of air using only 133 Watts.

Note that the fan is somewhat noisy, but personally I find the sound soothing and much like over-sized hummingbird hovering in the room.

The Lasko 20″ High Velocity Floor Fan is available on Amazon for about $63.

In A Nutshell

I’m chosen the V-MODA M-80 as my pick for the Best Portable Headphone Of 2013. This headphone is extremely durable, and it has excellent sound. It comes with a two year warranty, and life-time warranty that allows you get 50% off a replacement headphone.

The Design Details

Out of all the portable headphones I’ve tested, the V-MODA M-80 is the sturdiest so far. It sports a steel frame, a bendable Steelflex headband, metal earphone sheilds, a microfiber suede and replaceable memory foam cushions. This headphone can be bent, twisted, sat on, and pushed and pulled beyond intended limits.

The M-80s have kevlar reinforced cables, and they can be bent over 1 millions times, according to the company’s tests. The kevlar keeps the cables from tangling too. Also, the cables will detach from the headphones if you accidentally yank the cable — this is very handy for people like me who are rough on their gear. Pictured below are just some of the portable headphones I’ve managed to break over the years (usually due to a cable bend).

Just some of the portable headphone that have broken on my over the years!

V-MODA also says the headphones have been tested for MIL-STD-810G environmental conditions — basically, exposure to high and low temperatures, humidity, salt spray and UV exposure.

Sound and Vision Magazine said this about the design:

Interestingly, even with all the steel, the M-80s aren’t particularly heavy. They’re probably the most comfortable on-ear phones I’ve tried. Usually this category is my least favorite headphone design, given they rarely fit well on my head. Headphone comfort is about as personal as you can get in consumer electronics, so YMMV. On my head at least, there wasn’t a lot of on-ear pressure needed to keep them in place.

The Sound Details

The m-80 headphone is up there with best sounding sub-$200 portable I’ve tested. It has a rich, warm sound with food fidelity but plenty of bass. This is what Stereophile Magazine has to say about the sound:

 It’s time to get into the musical qualities of the M-80 in greater detail. At this point in my listening, the highs are smooth and extended, and the midrange sounds just right. Then there’s the bass. Ooooh, the bass. Compared to other portable headphones I’ve had, the bass is tighter and more detailed, yet has greater impact. I can not only hear 15 hz softly and 20 hz strongly, but I can hear the beats of those frequencies, albeit at 20 hz it’s too rapid to hear as a clearly enunciated staccato sound. And this is not just harmonics playing tricks – the 15 and 20 hz fundamentals with low distortion are obvious and well defined.

The V-MODA Crossfade M-80 On-Ear Metal Headphone is available on Amazon for about $161.

In the U.S., toilets account for 30% of indoor water use, but this is mostly due to their inefficient designs. So I was pleased to find the Stealth Ultra-High-Efficiency Toilet toilet by Niagara. This is probably the most water efficient flush toilet available for residential use. The Stealth (great name by the way) uses only 0.8 gallons per flush (GPF). This is much less than the average toilet, which uses around 2.5 gallons per flush. It’s also 37% less water than a “high-efficiency” toilet (those certified by EPA WaterSense).

The Stealth achieves this low rate because of its innovative hydraulic design. By harnessing the energy of water filling the tank, Stealth uses an air transfer system to pressurize the bowl’s trapway (the exit pipe). It creates swift, powerful flush using 0.8 gallons. Niagara, the manufacturer of the Stealth claims that the Stealth also the quietest toilet available.

I’m had two of these toilets installed in my house — and they flush better than most toilets I’ve encountered. They are also very quiet. Of course I’d prefer to have a composting squat toilet with bidet functionality.

Here’s a diagram of the toilet’s inner workings (click enlarge):

The Stealth Ultra-High-Efficiency Toilet is available on Amazon for $211.

Here’s the Stealth home page.

Private Internet Access

Private Internet Access is a U.S.-based VPN provider that doesn’t retain user logs. The company currently operates out of the United States with gigabit gateways in the US, Canada, UK, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

I’ve been testing their VPN service for a couple months now,  and so far it’s been fast and reliable. It use it continuously now, and I don’t notice any lag when browsing the web, or downloading files.

Concerning activity logging, the company says:

We absolutely do not maintain any VPN logs of any kind. We utilize shared IP addresses rather than dynamic or static IPs, so it is not possible to match a user to an external IP. These are some of the many solutions we have implemented to enable the strongest levels of anonymity amongst VPN services. Further, we would like to encourage our users to use an anonymous e-mail and pay with Bitcoins to ensure even higher levels of anonymity should it be required. Our core verticals are privacy, quality of service, and prompt customer support. We will not share any information with third parties without a valid court order. With that said, it is impossible to match a user to any activity on our system since we utilize shared IPs and maintain absolutely no logs.

Their services cost $6.95 per month, and they accept credit cards, Paypal, Bitcoin, and Liberty reserve. The support all the major platforms: Window, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Andriod. They support the following VPN protocols: PPTP, OpenVPN and L2TP.

Link: Private Internet Access

IPVanish

A newcomer to the VPN scene, IPVanish started operation in 2012, and is headquartered in the USA. They have already earned a good reputation for privacy and fast connection speeds. According to the company there are “no restrictions on any legal use of the VPN”, and protocols such as bittorrent are not filtered. The service costs $10 per month or $77 per year. IPVanish has 35 VPN servers located throughout 14 countries giving 2,500+ potential IP addresses. They run their own tier-1 network, and they company claims that they have the fastest VPN connection speeds. IPVanish supports OpenVPN, PPTP and L2TP/IPSec protocols.

IPVanish offers a 7 Day Free Trial in the form of a money back guarantee. You will need a credit card to signup, but if you decide that you do not enjoy the service, email the IPVanish Support Team (available 24×7) and they’ll issue a refund.

Link: IPVanish

Astrill

Based in the Seychelles, Astrill is another VPN that gets consistently high ratings from reviews sites and customers, due to their straightforward connection software, robust support and comprehensive documentation.

Astrill supports Mac OS, Windows, Linux, iOS, and Android, and they have 80 VPN servers in 44 countries. According to VPNSP, when connected to an Astrill VPN in the U.S., the resulting internet connection speeds were: 40.27 Mbps download and 1.51 Mbps upstream. Connected to Astrill’s German VPN, the connection speeds were 24.60 Mbps download and 1.25 Mbps upstream. Astrill supports a wide range of VPN protocols — Astrill OpenWeb, OpenVPN (SSL VPN), PPTP, L2TP/IPSec and Cisco IPSec.

If you’re in the market for a new router, Astrill sell routers pre-configured with the Astrill VPN — so you don’t need an additional client to protect your data.

Astrill does not provide dedicated IPs, and they do not offer monthly service plans (the 3 months plan is the shortest they offer). Their service costs $9.98 per month or $69.95 per year.

Link: Astrill

I also review other VPNs in my article The Best VPNs Of 2012.

Linux is a great operating system. But realistically, not everyone wants to install it from a DVD or ISO file. During installation, there’s often hardware capability problems that are difficult to resolve. Instead, you might consider buying a computer Linux installed on it, ready to go. Unfortunately, Linux computers are rarely available from large retail outlets. This is because large computer manufacturers (such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo) only really market Linux computers to businesses.

Dell, which at one time did a good job of supporting Ubuntu Linux, has made it very hard to pre-order Linux-powered PCs. Asus offers a limited range of Linux computers — you can find one available on Amazon here.

Beyond that, you’re going to have to order one from niche retailers that specialize in building Linux machines. Luckily, these vendors are well-regarded and have been in business for number of years (some were even started in the 1990s). If you are new to Linux, I would suggest getting a machine with the Ubuntu or Mint Linux installed.

Listed below are some vendors that specialize in Linux computers.

Update: Here’s another vendor that looks good too: Ohava Computers.

Eight Virtues

Eight Virtues is a Georgia-based business builds its own AMD-powered desktops and Intel-powered notebooks. On these you can either pick their customized Ubuntu Linux; or a variety of others. Their list of ready-to-go Linux distributions includes: CentOS, Debian, Fedora, Mandriva, openSUSE, PCLinuxOS, Sabayon Linux or Linux Mint.

Eight Virtues prices tend to be a bit lower than other Linux-specific desktop resellers. Many of the others aim for power-users looking for high-end hardware.

Emperor Linux

Emperor Linux has been in the Linux PC business since the 1990s. These days they sell high-end Dell Latitude and Lenovo ThinkPad laptops. You get your choice of their own house-brand Emperor Linux, which is based on Fedora, or you can opt for Ubuntu, Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL), SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED), openSUSE, Fedora, Debian or SlackWare. They also offer not just the current versions, but older ones as well. At Emperor Linux, you really can have your Linux PC your way.

Los Alamos Computers

Los Alamos Computers also specializes in high-end Linux-powered laptops and computers. They offer Lenovo ThinkCenter, ThinkStation, and ThinkPad T and X series laptops. On these, you can get a selection of Linux desktop distributions including Fedora 15; Ubuntu 11.04 and 10.10; and the nothing but free-software Tisquel Linux distro.

System76

It’s a toss-up between System76 or ZaReason as to which is the better known of the Linux-specific desktop companies. Both are very good and they’ve earned their reputations as being outstanding computer vendors. System76 builds their own laptops and desktops. On all their platforms, they only offer Ubuntu 11.04. They tend to be very solid and well-made.

ZaReason

ZaReason also offers laptops, desktops, and servers that they’ve build themselves. Like system76, they offer a range of systems from the inexpensive to the Chimera. ZaReason calls this last one the most powerful Ubuntu laptop around. On these machines, ZaReason offers Ubuntu and some of its variations such as Kubuntu, with its KDE desktop.

I thought I’d publish an update on my quest to create a computer set-up that eliminates tracking companies from my world. Basically, this infographic explains why (it’s a large graphic  — you may have to zoom in). So far I’ve really only eliminated the following: Google, Facebook and various other data collection companies. I’ve made my web browsing relatively free of tracking using the techniques I explain in this previous article.

However, there are several other companies that are still tracking me: Verizon (my ISP), AT&T (my mobile ISP), HMA (my VPN provider which keeps logs), Rackspace (my email provider), Apple (I still use an iPhone), and various online stores that I patronize. I also use Dropbox, which means my files are not encrypted before they leave my computer, and are readable by Dropbox.

I still need to make these transitions:

• Install SpiderOak (eliminating Dropbox)
• Switch my email provider to Lavabit or CounterMail (eliminating Rackspace)
• Switch my VPN to Private Internet Access (eliminating HMA)
• Get rid of my iPhone
• Use Linux Mint exclusively on my home computers (eliminating Apple’s OS X)
• Stop using certain online stores with questionable privacy policies

Also, originally, I was using Google as my DNS provider, then I switched to OpenDNS, but now I’m using the DNS services listed on this page, because they are supposed to clear their logs regularly.

I’ve also testing Identica, as a Twitter replacement, OpenPhoto as a Flickr replacement, and Libre.fm as a Last.fm replacement.

It has become the norm to trust large online corporations with intimate details of our lives. Is this really a good idea? Here’s a page that explains pretty simply why its probably not a good idea, and here’s a longer article by the Atlantic. Most large online companies today take an very arrogant stance on privacy issues, and are often found to be actively invading our privacy. This is probably because their business models rely on exploiting the information they can gather about you. Let’s take Google as an example, because it’s an example of company that, if you use their services, probably knows more about you than even your spouse or closest friend. Here’s a list of known Google violations in a recent article by IVPN:

Last week saw Google slapped with a $22.5 million fine by the US Federal Trade Commission, in order to settle allegations that the search giant broke its privacy policy, by secretly tracking the browsing habits of millions of people who use Apple’s Safari browser…

Last week’s FTC ruling, wasn’t the first time Google’s been wrist-slapped around privacy violations. In March 2011 Google was found guilty of deceiving users and violating its own privacy policy when it launched Buzz in 2010. Buzz – a geo-location social network similar to Foursquare – harvested personal information from Gmail users without permission and exposed private data.

The FTC’s ruling on Buzz, resulted in a settlement that forced Google to submit to independent privacy audits for the next 20-years. It also stipulated that Google cannot make privacy misrepresentations. But Google’s inability to adhere to this last point is precisely what caused the FTC to impose its record fine last week, which hardly inspires confidence.

But the biggest privacy scandal concerning Google concerns Google Streetview. In 2010 German regulators forced Google to reveal its Streetview cars were collecting personal data from private WiFi connections, as they roamed across the country. The data included personal emails, passwords and images. Google said the data collection was unintentional and not intended for any Google products.

However, it turns out – surprise surprise – that Google lied. In fact, an engineer at Google designed the software included in the Streetview cars to specifically to collect data. This engineer even shared his plans and documents with the rest of the Streetview team. The FCC therefore concluded that Google “intended to collect, store and review” the data. The FCC also concluded that this data was probably intended to be used in other Google products.

Did you get that? Google deployed cars around the country to spy on private WiFi connections and collect your personal emails, messages and images, with the probable intention of profiting from such information.

All the FCC did in the above case was impose a laughable $25,000 fine on Google for obstructing the investigation. Apparently Google’s data collection was not breaking any specific laws. However, the case has been reopened in the UK because – guess what – yep, Google lied to UK regulators too.

You can read about more questionable practices here. Do these actions sounds like the actions of a trustworthy company? Former Google CEO, Eric Schmidt, suggested in 2009 that privacy should only be of a concern of those that have something to hide. This is a misunderstanding of privacy, and it’s probably deliberate. See this paper for a full explanation of the “nothing to hide” argument make no sense. Privacy isn’t about having nothing to hide — it’s about having control of your personal information. Most of use would baulk at publishing our all of our emails, medical conditions, travel plans, reading lists and purchasing habits for public viewing. Yet we are publishing that information to a corporation that then takes the data, records and analyzes it in depth. Do we go this because their services are so convenient? Google isn’t the only company engaged in these practices, most online companies do so too. I suggest alternative services that ensure your privacy in a previous article.

Today, there are numerous databases and search engines being filled with our personal data, and more people are using online tools to do background checks on their neighbors, business associates and potential employees. Here are some tips for removing personal information from online databases:

Removing Personal Information From Search Engines

If you search on someone’s name, you’ll find a surprising amount of personal information about them on Google and other search engines. Removing this information is often quite difficult. Most requests to have pages removed from search engines will go unheeded, except in very special circumstances. For more information, see this article about Removing Your Personal Information From Google. Generally, search companies will tell you to take it up with the websites hosting the pages in question — they recommend submitting an email or letter to the website hosting the content. Indeed, this often the easiest route — I’ve had success with this approach myself.

If you have a lot of money to spare, a company called Reputation will attempt to obliterate any unwanted search engine results about you. They do this by pushing more flattering search results about you to the top of the results page. Their services don’t come cheap however — their prices are around $3000 to $5000 per year!

Since removing information is so difficult, it’s best not to allow your information to reach search engines in the first place. Here’s a guide to stopping your personal information leaking into search engines and other databases.

Removing Personal Information From Background Check Websites

There are companies called “Background Check Websites” that make a business out of gathering people’s personal information from public records and market companies, and then reselling it in a convenient package. They collect public records like real estate transactions, arrest records, court cases, marriages, divorces, etc. Before the Internet, investigators would have to go to the local town hall or the state records office and request this public information in person. Now anyone can obtain this information for as little as $3.95 (from Spokeo).

The major players in background checks are listed below:

• Intelius.com
• Acxiom.com
• MyLife.com
• ZabaSearch.com
• Spoke.com
• BeenVerified.com
• PeekYou.com
• USSearch.com
• PeopleFinders.com
• PeopleLookup.com
• PeopleSmart.com
• PrivateEye.com
• WhitePages.com
• USA-People-Search.com
• Spokeo.com
• PublicRecordsNow.com
• DOBSearch.com
• Radaris.com

There’s a more extensive list maintained by the Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.

You can check out your own records by going to these sites and entering your name, age and state of residence. To pull up the actual record, you’ll have to pay them a fee.

If you wish to remove your information from these sites, it will requires time and patience. Each site has a different procedure. For some, you can delete your record by just filling out an online form, other sites require you to make a telephone call, or mail or fax in forms and copies of your driver’s license. See this handy guide to get your started.

If you prefer, you can pay a company like Safe Shepard or Abine to do the grunt work for you. Safe Shepard has a free service that removes records from services that don’t require a fax or snail mail request. A premium service, which performs more thorough records removal and includes a personal customer service representative, costs $14 per month. Abine offers a service called DeleteMe that “removes your private data from 50+ of the largest websites that collect and sell your data”. The service costs $99.

Is it annoying to have to shell out cash or spend days filling out forms to get your information deleted? Yes! And even when you delete all these records, the public records will still exist in government databases — you are just making the information more difficult to obtain.

Deleting Online Accounts

I recommend that you delete any accounts with online companies that have poor privacy records. At the top of this list would be Google and Facebook accounts. See also this latest report on Google’s privacy violations, for example. You can get help deleting account on the Account Killer website, or you can check out this guide: Permanently Deleting Accounts on Popular Websites. For a list of alternative services that maintain your privacy see my article How To Control Your Online Data.

We’ve become accustomed to online companies hosting our data, but this practice is actually highly inefficient. This page explains the situation pretty simply.

My advice is to use “unhosted” online services that support personal data control, or “zero-knowledge” services that encrypt your data before it leaves your computer. I’ve created a list of suitable services at the end of this article.

Let’s take a look at the problems with hosted data:

Your data can be sold, consolidated and stored indefinitely

If you have accounts on popular websites like Facebook, Google and Flickr — you do not control own your data — you usually have to agree an extensive Terms Of Service, where you give all data rights to the company involved. Often this data is shared, and once your data goes “into the wild” it becomes available for anyone to use or store indefinitely. This is not optimal.

Your account can be deleted or suspended without notice

Most online companies have “Terms of Service” agreements that often include the right for the company to terminate your account at any time without cause. For example, there’s the case of Mirco Wilhelm, whose 4000 linked Flickr photos were deleted when the service accidentally flagged him for copyright infringement. Or read the story of Dylan, whose seven years of Google activity vanished when the system “perceived a violation.”

Your photos, posts and files can be censored

Most online companies have detailed Acceptable Use Policies, that restrict your online activities, often leading to outright censorship. For example, the recent story about Twitter censoring a journalist for criticizing NBC.

Hackers often gain access to hosted data and passwords

Your data can also potentially be hacked. You’ve probably seen numerous incidents of major sites being hacked in news headlines, for example: Linked-In and iCloud.

It’s difficult or impossible to move your data a new service provider

Online companies usually don’t make it easy to extract your data from their systems — it’s not in their interest to do so. Here’s a guide to Permanently Deleting Accounts on Popular Websites.

Those are the problems with having a company host your data. However, there is another way.

Listed below is my recipe for making your online life private and unhosted. Many of these steps will require significant effort on your part, to make transitions. Personally, I made these changes slowly over a number of months.

How To Achieve Private, Unhosted Data

For a search engine, use StartPage or DuckDuckGo because they do not track your searches. I like StartPage by Ixquick because they incorporate search results from Google. StartPage removes all identifying information from your query and submits it anonymously to Google. DuckDuckGo is another good search engine with a focus on privacy. Like StartPage, DuckDuckGo and does not record user information — see their privacy policy for the details.

Instead of using Twitter and Facebook, you can use Indenti.ca or Friendica or Movim. These are open-source social networking platforms that allow you to retain control of your data.

Instead of Flickr, you can use OpenPhoto. Instead of using Dropbox, you can use SpiderOak or Wuala or ownCloud or Symform — these services encrypt your data before it leaves your computer.

There’s really no unhosted version of YouTube, you may wish to use a non-Google alternative like Vimeo. You can share videos privately amongst your friends using a private cloud service like Symform. If you happen to have you own server, you can use Joomla with the HWDTube plugin.

For email, you can a use a browser-based email service like CounterMail, which operates like Gmail, but it provides full email encryption and runs on diskless servers. Countermail costs $60 per year. Lavabit is similar service it doesn’t offer quite as many security features, but Lavabit offers free accounts and their paid accounts are only $8 per year. Alternatively, you can use the open-source Thunderbird with Enigmail and GnuPG, and connect to your mail server using SSL. If you are technically inclined, you can even host your own email server. Zimbra and Sendmail are free and open-source email servers.

CrashPlan is a “set it and forget it” backup application that encrypts your data before it to goes into the cloud. It is also the easiest and most reliable way to back your computer I’ve come across. See my article on backups for more information.

You can switch to the open-source Linux operating system. Both Windows and Mac OS X limit your control when using your computer, and both systems have proprietary code that is not accessible to you. You can read about the problems with Windows, Mac OS X and the iPhone.

I recommend using Mint Linux (KDE Edition) because it’s easy to use and doesn’t require complex installations to get started.

You can use Firefox as your web browser in combination with a password manager such as Lastpass & Yubikey. Additionally, use these Firefox add-ons to enhance your privacy: HTTPS-Everywhere, Ghostery, Ad Block Plus and Cookie Whitelist. When you need extra web browsing privacy, use the Tor Browser or Tails. See my article, An Introduction to Privacy Tools, for more information.

For instant messaging, use Pidgin or Adium (with Jabber). These are open-source applications that support encrypted messages.

Instead of Skype (which was recently bought by Microsoft and has eavesdropping capabilities) look into these projects: GNU Telephony, Empathy, Ekiga or Red Phone.

Deluge and uTorrent are torrent clients that support encrypted transfers. To be anonymous you must still use a VPN (like Private Internet Access). Open VPN is a good VPN server can run on your own server. Alternatively, you can use a private file sharing application like Retroshare or OneSwarm.

Banshee is a good open-source iTunes alternative. VLC is an excellent open-source video player. XBMC and Plex are excellent media center applications. Libre Office is an open-source alternative to MS Office. GIMP or GIMPShop and Inkscape are good replacements for Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator. Serious photographers should also check out the excellent digiKam, for photo management.

Calibre is an e-reader that supports numerous e-book formats. It converts and sends your e-books to your e-reading devices.

On mobile devices, the Firefox OS promises to be the most open operating system. Until then, Android is the your best choice.

On Android, these apps support privacy: Orbot, OrWeb, Gibberbot, ObscuraCam, TextSecure, K-9 and APG, CSipSimple.

On iOS, these apps support privacy: Wickr, Atomic Web Browser, Chat Secure, Onion Browser.

You may wish to switch to these alternative ISP: Freedom Pop, Karma, Open Garden, Calyx Institute, TruConnect, republic wireless, Ting and Clear.

That’s my entire recipe so far — if you know of better options, please let me know in the comments.

See also these lists: the Freedombox list, the Libre Projects list, the Open Source God list (on Mashable), the Free and Open Source Software list (on Wikipedia) and the Free Culture List (on Reddit).

A lot of services  I mentioned could be improved by using true client-side data hosting. The Unhosted group, is trying to develop “browser-based apps with no server-side backend. Unlike server-side or client-server apps, unhosted web apps leave users in control of their valuable user data and privacy, by default.”