google

Torbutton 1.2.5 has been released. You can download it from the torbutton homepage. It has also been submitted to addons.mozilla.org, though it may take a while for Mozilla to review the addon.

In addition to the numerous bug fixes mentioned in the changelog, one of the new features of this release is to provide the ability to automatically redirect to an alternate search engine when Google presents you with a captcha. The current options are IxQuick, Bing, Yahoo, and Scroogle. Since it supports SSL, and appears to have a progressive stance on user privacy, IxQuick is the current default. read more »

As a returning Google Summer of Code student for the second year in a row, I was thrilled to hear that I had been accepted again.

My task was to add BitTorrent support to Thandy, the secure automated updater developed by the Tor project, along with setting up and testing the necessary infrastructure. The goal is to better mitigate load spikes following the release of new software versions and allowing volunteers to easily help users to fetch Tor. read more »

Google is funding a project to create an auto-update feature in Vidalia. This auto-update feature will provide a better user experience for Tor users. The goal is to create a system where Vidalia can detect when a new release is available, fetch the package, verify authenticity, and assist the user in upgrading the Vidalia/Tor package. The auto-update feature preserves the user's privacy and anonymity. Over the next six months we'll develop the auto-update system for general release around November 15, 2008.

We're excited to work with Google on this project and look forward to the collaboration.