I know. I feel so incredibly stupid, looking back. And I have no fucking excuse since I had read a bit of history, so can't even claim ignorance. If I had children today, I would absolutely sit them down and make sure they fully understand what's what, and the dos and don'ts of using the networks. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hundred_Flowers_Campaign > .. the web .. Operating Systems, Devices, Browsers, Biometrics (voice/image), Communities, Search, email, ... did I miss anything? That operation is run by "Agent Metatron" ;) Do you remember TIA?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Information_Awareness_Office
Just found out about this from FSF Foundation. No binary blobs, no locked boot loaders, all open source software:
http://www.h-node.com/hardware/catalogue/en (pimping: support and join FSF :)