Nathan Gregory

  • HOME

  • WRITINGS

  • BIO

  • CONTACT

  • More

    Wordpress Blog
    Wordpress Blog
    Wordpress Blog
    Book Website
    Book Website
    Book Website

    Black James Bond?

    December 24, 2014

    If Dr. Seuss were a technical writer

    September 17, 2014

    Communications

    August 3, 2014

    Lost Cell Phone Redux

    June 5, 2014

    Lost Cell Phone

    April 20, 2014

    So You're Still Using Windows XP?

    April 5, 2014

    Canned Perl - Using and enjoying Perl Modules

    November 19, 2013

    Who is Snooping?

    August 7, 2013

    Wither Privacy?

    August 5, 2013

    Carrying Your Data

    September 1, 2012

    Please reload

    Recent Posts

    Texting is a form of the spoken word, not writing. If you look at it in terms of how it is used, etc. The spoken word is generally ephemeral, for comm...

    Communications

    August 3, 2014

    Childhood Memories, Coincidences and a Dog named for a Monkee

    May 6, 2012

    The twitterverse erupted today when a popular talk show host expressed his disdain at the prospect of Idris Elba, a black actor of modest following, w...

    Black James Bond?

    December 24, 2014

    1/7
    Please reload

    Featured Posts

    Carrying Your Data

    September 1, 2012

    We live in a data driven world. In his 1985 novel “The Cat who Walks Thru Walls”, Robert Heinlein describes his protagonists methodical hiding of his important business records in data chips which he stored in a cavity in his prosthetic leg. Such ideas were foreign to the world at large then, but seem much more practical in today's data intensive world.

    We are approaching 30 years since Heinlein used this plot device, and in today's world carrying an entire life's worth of data conveniently on one's person is a much more reasonable prospect than it was then. USB “Thumb” drives are available in sizes of 64 GB and even 128 GB for very reasonable prices. Tiny hard drives are available up to a TB in size. Several Thumb drives, or a small hard drive can be easily carried in one's pockets. The most interesting example of compact portable storage at this time is the Micro-SD card form factor.

    Use the Cloud?

    Today's protagonist should not need to carry their data. Cloud storage provides easy access from many places, and quite a volume of data can be stored on remote servers for free, with almost any amount of such storage available for a small fee. So why would today's hero bother to fill his hollow leg with data wafers?

    Heinlein's hero Colin Campbell was running for his life from an extra-galactic conspiracy. From the moment that the dying man uttered those fateful words “Tolliver Must Die” he was running for his life. He did not know who was friend and who was foe, and indeed, when he stepped thru that portal into another dimension, any data he had stored in a cloud server would have been unreachable. Even if not for the inter-dimensional transit, the Authority may well have been able to read, destroy or alter his cloud data. From the very opening moments of the story, any cloud data, if accessible at all, would have been highly questionable. Clearly the only trustworthy data is that he carried on his person.

    Offline?

    Perhaps you are not involved in an inter-dimensional conspiracy, and have no reason to distrust cloud services. Even so, in order to access the cloud services, you must have access to a WiFi or LTE connection for your Droid to access the cloud. When you are offline, much like Colonel Campbell the only data you can use is that which you carry on your person. That brings us back to the Micro-SD card form-factor.

    Most Android and Windows phones and tablets have a slot for a Micro-SD card (Sorry Apple IOS owners). These devices are no bigger than a thumbnail, and are readily available in sizes up to 32 GB. A 32 GB flash memory device can hold up to a hundred or so hour format TV shows, or 40+ full length movies. Countless hours of music, or a starkly unbelievable number of pages of documents, pictures and other materials. There are plastic “wallets” in precisely the form-factor of a credit card, that house up to 8 of these devices. With a “credit-card” holding 8 cards and a 9th card occupying the slot of one's phone, a starkly incredible amount of data can be easily carried.

    Heinlein's protagonist was a freelance writer, and was carrying the product of his work, as well as his business records. Even a very prolific modern writer with a bustling business could store his entire life on one Micro-SD card with room left over for a few movies and a great deal of music.

    Today's intergalactic hero can easily carry far more data than suggested by Heinlein's 30 year-old plot device. Not all data is equally important. Music tracks, movies, digital books and other such materials can be carried freely and openly, but some data requires a bit more special handling. A lost wallet could be a boon for an identity thief and a disaster for the wallet's owner. Bank records, business receipts, tax records and personal data of all sorts need to be stored in encrypted form. In Safe Computing #8 – Protecting Your Data I address the topic of using encryption.

    Please reload

    Follow Us

    bond hero canon race

    circus boy

    corky

    internet

    letters

    pet

    text

    writing

    Please reload

    Search By Tags

    December 2014 (1)

    September 2014 (1)

    August 2014 (1)

    June 2014 (1)

    April 2014 (2)

    November 2013 (1)

    August 2013 (2)

    September 2012 (1)

    August 2012 (4)

    June 2012 (4)

    May 2012 (5)

    Please reload

    Archive
    • Facebook Basic Square
    • Twitter Basic Square
    • Google+ Basic Square