$30 Dongle Defeats China's Great Firewall

I'll admit to a little nationalistic thrill at the thought of being able to easily overcome China's totalitarian stranglehold on its national internets. Even international journalists inside China for the Olympics are subject to the Great Firewall of China, having certain cites blocked and their foreign-fingered keystrokes tracked (if you buy into that, which I absolutely do).

Enter the $30 Freedom Stick, a USB dongle that comes pre-loaded to secure the connection of whatever computer it encounters. Germany's Chaos Computer Club uses anonymous computers linked to The Onion Router network to mask and reroute your connection.

Of course, all of this can be accomplished without hardware, and the Freedom Stick's limited availability (only for the duration of the games) makes this all more of a statement than a solution. Still, it's fun to "stick it" to the Chinese authorities whose ethical practices infringe upon the human liberties of millions, if not billions.

[Product Page via Gadget Lab]