Wednesday Tech Tips: National Security and You

By now you've heard about how the U.S. government could be accessing your phone records and other communications.  Some folks will think, "Meh, I've got nothing to hide," some may say, "That's creepy but what the heck am I supposed to do about it," and still others are learning encryption.

Guess what we're going to talk about today!  As a matter of fact, I just finished listening to Cryptonomicon and I read Little Brother not too long ago -- both of those books talk about public keys and encryption.  It's heck of interesting, even if you don't want to encrypt all your emails just yet, and will give you total nerd credentials. 



(Or maybe it's geek credentials...whatever.  Either are most excellent to have.*)

Since the good people at Ars Technica have waaaaaaay more extensive nerd credentials than I do, I'm going to send you to their article on email encryption here.  You may want to tackle it in chunks so your eyeballs don't dry out, but it is truly engaging so give it a shot. 

Then you can find a chum to practice encrypted email exchange with!  It's a game! like the 21st century version of pig latin** or mirror writing.






Meanwhile, please to enjoy the sweet sounds of Rockwell.  These guys put the groove into paranoia.











*So help me, that is not an invitation to get huffy in the comments on the delicate and excruciating differences betwixt nerd and geek and how ignorant plebes should have forks stuck in their eyes.

Just groove out to Rockwell already.

**Y'all do know what pig latin is, yes?