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All the traffic coming off your phone, if unencrypted, is clear for the telco to see. With the advent of sniffing using RF or IP based solutions it is becoming increasingly easy to intercept email traffic. Toss in the mobile, on-the-go world and we are stuck with soft targets. For corporate folks there are certificates, but that isn’t a solution generally trusted for home users. Root CA are easy to compromise with the “everything goes” Microsoft and Linux root updates. Enter PGP/GPG which allows you to take out the middle man (although you can still use a key server if you choose) and validate the keys yourself. The “what if” can still be an issue, but overall for personal communications I find it the most secure method. With Android being a more open platform there exists solutions for sending secure emails on-the-go. First lets get some software installed on your phone. All of these are found in the Google Android Market or from the links provided: ...

Reading through Sonny’s post shot me back into a time of awesomeness. Be sure to read his post on what we can learn from our past. People always ask me why I collect old computers and he does a great job of outlining why. Just because the technology isn’t modern doesn’t mean the underlying principles are not applicable to todays world. Be sure to stroll on over to Sonny’s blog to read more: ...

For there record if you say "CAC Card" in my presence you will be "SOL Luck" talking again soon. If you are running Linux or Mac there is a good chance you haven’t been touching my CAC, otherwise known as Common Access Card. George Bush signed HSPD-12 way back in 2004 to mandate the usage of CAC and multifactor authentication on federal networks. The DoD giggled as it was already deploying limited installs at choice commands and was way ahead of the curve. The rest of the government and corporate entities are starting to roll-out the installs and a common theme I see is lack of heterogenous OS support. In this day and age your CIO/CTO/CISO must think beyond what the Microsoft sales lead tells them and think of the user base. Here is a big hint to save you from looking silly – You can’t say iOS/Android development is important to your divisions and then mandate they use Windows computers to comply with your SmartCard policy. I only mention that having sat in the room when the mobile development PM had to make his leadership aware they were basically shutting his group down. ...

Men in my Family either grow kickass beards or what amounts to patchy peach fuze. Having been military and in the corporate world my whole life I was unable to determine my future. With the departure from Boeing and some personal days to take care of, it was decided to join in on No Shave November. Becca was on board as she always liked me a little scruffy. I did what any man did to prepare for a beard…nothing…I have to admit it is tough work growing a beard. Between the scratching and avoiding the “about to go hunting” or “I drive a white van with no windows” look, I found myself questioning the task at hand. In the end it grew thick and manly. Had I dared to wear flannel, there is a good chance I would have been drafted into Smokey Bears forest protection team. ...

This morning I gave my badge back to the Boeing FSO. Lots of smiles and hand shakes, but a sad day all the same. Leaving anything you have been with for 3 years is difficult. In the spirit of my fellow techs (see Ray Ozzie or Lars) I wanted to write a letter to the world. I think as geeks we equate our passion as art and wether or not the world agrees, code is a thing of beauty. Putting this to paper will help me evaluate this decision in the coming months to see if it really was a good one :) ...