Despite fully intending to for several years, I haven't actually sat down and devised a coherent plan for key management including an authoritative physical store for the private keys (a problem because in any given day I use 4+ computers and not one of them accesses my email directly), revocation certificates, choosing a reliable keyserver, and choosing a web-based way to distribute my public key to anyone so inclined.

To make matters worse, I'm still in a state of severe digital identity flux (SDIF henceforth). I've been in SDIF for a number of years, and the problem is compounded by the fact that all the commonly used and centralized "identity authorities" (self-styled) are corporate and make me acutely uncomfortable. Until I resolve SDIF and establish the requisite collection of identities, boundaries to each, and reputations, I feel as though what digital assets I have aren't worth the trouble, especially if it's going to be temporary. I don't want to go to all the trouble of planning things (as per paragraph #1) only to then have to revoke and re-issue everything.

Slashdot has been a significant part of the formation of my identity in terms of interest, exploring diverse issues, and exposure to technologies that I wouldn't otherwise have encountered. I thank you, Rob, for everything you've done to create and cultivate this community.

I've been thinking more about Slashdot recently because of my involvement in "Nym-Wars". In at least one place Slashdot was cited as a stellar example of the civility and quality that can be fostered in a community that functions primarily pseudonymously, but also allows anonymity (two things I very much are about). The moderation system in place here is complex (I myself still find it a little confusing) but there is no question that it works. Slashdot is one of the few places where I consider the comments on an article as much (often more) worth reading as the article itself. Obviously my appreciation for this applies to the whole Slashdot community, but I am posting this specifically in recognition of CmdrTaco's influence in shaping the community.

Rob, may everything else you do in the years to come be as interesting and fruitful as your work here! Community and communication are essential, amazing things, and I'm sure your contributions to the world at large are far from over.

or just use 4.2.2.1 and 4.2.2.2.. or 8.8.8.8 and 8.8.4.4.

it's not necessarily the regexp comparisons, but that DOM manipulation is pretty slow in Firefox.

so if you spend millions/billions developing a microchip, then sell a phone that uses it..

you'd be okay if I just opened up the first phone that rolled off the assembly line and duplicated your chip? then started selling clones for a tenth of what you charge?

that's what happens when there's no [reasonable] patent protection for hardware. see: China.

a lot of the time this can point to patent issues. there might be chipsets (often the radios or something else fairly narrow) that prevent legitimate US import.

I'm having trouble finding it now, but sometime in the last few years there was a pretty major seizure by Customs in a situation like this. I believe it was related to this, if memory serves.

What if I sniff all the guests' network traffic in a hotel? (via ARP spoofing or otherwise)

There's certainly no warnings presented in any OS when you plug in ethernet and grab an IP, and the average computer user certainly doesn't know that it's possible to do this.. so, how do you feel about that?

There is, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Android_Dev_Phone - you can buy it directly from Google. Sign up as an Android developer for $25 (one-time fee that gets you access to submit apps for the Market, required to purchase the phone unfortunately). The latest version of the phone is actually just a completely unlocked HTC Magic; it costs $399 from Google (no contract subsidy here obviously.)

If you're interested in a "solution" (only workable to tech savvy folk, really) for from-carrier devices you can pick up any Android device you'd like, root it (attain su via exploits, there are one-click scripts for every popular device) and install whatever OS version you'd like on it. XDA-Developers forum has hundreds of custom Android "ROMs" that have been developed by regular users with no more access than the phone they bought and the Android SDK.

You can install a regular 'vanilla' release of Android OS from source and customize (or not customize) to your heart's content.

They _are_ only storing a thumbnail; the article just sucks.

C:\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb shell
# cd /sdcard/.bo*
# ls -l | wc -l
62
# du -h .
2.0M .
#

Here, I uploaded the largest one out of the 62 for your review.

I really wish you and that commodore64 kid would leave the Slashdot I know and love with your paranoid delusional trolling.

C:\android-sdk-windows\tools>adb shell
# find . -name *.jpg | grep -v -e customize -e contacts -e wallpaper -e DCIM | more ./sdcard/.footprints/thumbnails/1272099190529.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/mcd0bb890.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/scd0bb890.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/m46bb1b3c.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/s46bb1b3c.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/mdabb3bb3.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/sdabb3bb3.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/m66c70c76.jpg ./sdcard/.bookmark_thumb1/s66c70c76.jpg

[snipped for brevity, more of the same follows]

the /emmc/ folder that's present on some Android devices (including the incredible) is a mount point for the internal eMMC storage. it's a bus for a type of embedded flash memory (like SDHC for removable cards).

when there's no SD card, the phone might choose to use this embedded storage (or might choose to use it for other reasons).. it's not really the same as the "internal storage" (which is wiped in a factory reset).

this is a simple oversight on the part of HTC and/or the Android team - not making it more obvious, on devices that have eMMC (very few models of which exist yet), that this is another persistent area of storage that needs to be treated like the SD card when it comes to privacy concerns.

there is no conspiracy here, just innocent mistakes in a massive contribution-driven software project.

CPM