David L. Farquhar, computer security professional, train hobbyist, and landlord
So what are Google and Apple doing with this location data? And Microsoft, now that it’s clear they’re gathering it too (but they claim they aren’t storing it anywhere on the phone).
They aren’t saying a lot, but they’ve said enough to take a pretty good guess. And no, I don’t think the intent is to be evil.
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In the wake of yesterday’s iPhone mess, Android isn’t coming up completely clean either.
While Google’s intentions aren’t completely clear, the approach is safer.
After agonizing for a few weeks, I bought an Android phone. Specifically, a Samsung Galaxy S 4G. Being a T-Mobile phone, it’s a potential dead end, but I opted to do it for a few reasons.
Why? I’m sick of not being able to play Angry Birds. Not really, but I like seeing people’s reaction when I say that.
Here’s a tip for those of you who own HP or Compaq laptops and netbooks. Most of these machines ship with HP Wireless Assistant, which basically does two things: display a popup telling you if your wireless network is on or off, and in some cases, enable a wi-fi on/off button on the keyboard.
But some versions of it moonlight by causing WMIPrVSE chew up 20% of available CPU power. People sometimes pay hundreds of dollars to get 20% more CPU power, so that’s not exactly welcome.
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It’s not enough to know what to look for in a router. I wanted to get some solid advice on wi-fi network security. Who better to give that advice than someone who built an airplane that hacks wi-fi? So I talked to WhiteQueen at http://rabbit-hole.org, the co-builder of a wi-fi hacking airplane that made waves at Defcon.
Hacker stereotypes aside, WhiteQueen was very forthcoming. He’s a white hat, and I found him eager to share what he knows.