Security Enhanced (SE) Android Released

In early January (January 6, 2012) the US National Security Agency (NSA) released the first public ​version of Security Enhanced (SE) Android.  This past week, more articles mentioning it were published such as "NSA Releases SE Android With Better Sandboxing, Access-Control Policies".

SE Android is based on SE Linux (originally released back in 2000) and implements stricter access-control policies and sandboxing.  Applications, processes, and applications are now isolated from each other.  File-level permissions and and individual locking/encryption has been enabled.

News has been circulating for months that the U.S. Army is planning on using Android devices and the first device using SE Android, Dell Streak 5, received accreditation and approval by DISA in October 2011,  "First Android device certified for Pentagon personnel".  The government-issue Streak 5 also includes DISA-approved security provided by Good Technology’s Mobility Suite.

Passive Solar (Photovoltaic) Tracking Systems

While doing more research on solar power systems recently, I discovered the ZomeWorks Track Rack system.  This is a passive PV tracking system that works based on solar heating of liquid inside the rack systems.  There are no complex electronics involved in this very simple design which is described at How ZomeWorks Trackers Work.  The ZomeWorks Track Rack system supports from two solar panels up to twelve and are priced accordingly.

ZomeWorks states that their passive PV tracking system can improve solar efficiency by 25%-40% over a static mounted PV system.  This is impressive.  They also have a few reference articles that have reviewed their designs in their Applications page.  The "To Track... Or Not To Track", HomePower Jun-Jul 2004 article contains an excellent review and overview PV tracking systems (passive, active) and explains how they work in more detail.  The article mentions doing a site survey using Solar Pathfinder device (available for $299) and available software (available for $189) which will evaluate specific locations for this solar potential.

Passive PV tracking systems are more reliable, have fewer components, require very litle maintenance, less accurate in cold/winter months, and are less expensive.  Active systems have electronic components and motors that increase their accuracy, maintenance, and cost.  So the trade-off in accuracy vs. costs and improvement in PV efficiency would require some type of decision analysis (break-even analysis) or other method to determine which one is better for your particular PV application.

Solar Experimentation 2011

Earlier this year I found a portable solar power company, Goal Zero, that designs and distributes very practical portable solar panels.  They use super efficient monocrystalline photovoltaic cells which are the best on the market today.  I bought one of their kits from Amazon, Guide 10 Plus Adventure Kit + 4 AA batteries, after doing a lot of research and tested it while on vacation in summer 2011.  The Nomad 7 solar panel works as advertised.  It charges AA/AAA batteries with the Guide 10 device, and directly charges my Android phone, iPod, Nintendo DS, Nook Color, and all portable small devices that can use the built-in USB interface.

So on 17 December 2011, while out X-mas shopping my sister called me and said CostCo has some GoalZero solar gadgets on display.  So I serendipitously saw Goal Zero display at my local CostCo store.  This was a special event for the X-Mas 2011 that had many more of the Goal Zero products.  I was able to physically touch and inspect many of their products. The quality of their solar panels and designs are excellent.  I was really surprised at how small and light the Boulder 15M panels are.  The Boulder 15M mono-crystalline solar panels are 17-18% efficient which is really impressive.  See the GoalZero Learn page for details.  I ended up buying an additional Nomad 7 solar panel, a Scout 150 Power Pack, two Boulder 15M panels, and a Luna light on 12/24/2011.

After making the impulsive purchase, I started testing the Scout 150 with the two Boulder 15M solar panels chained for total of 30W of solar panels.  Given the time of year, this equipment has been performing as expected.  I attained a 60% on a sunny day (6-hours of quality sunlight) in late December (12/28/2011) which has the poorest quality of sunlight of the solar year.  Based on my observations, a 100% charge of the Scout 150 Power Pack would require about 10-hours of quality sunlight in Dec/Jan.  I can see getting a 100% charge from the solar panels in May-July which has much better solar radiance at our geo-location.

As a side note, I have been able to keep my Chromebook and Acer netbook (AAO L110) off-grid for 3-days in a row and recharging (not to 100% though) them both from the Scout 150 Power Pack.  This has been quite a fun time for unplanned solar experimentation.

Interestingly, this inspired me to start planning and scaling up to a self-designed solar power storage system with much more capacity. I saw some Kirkland deep cycle batteries while at CostCo for really good prices.  Approximately $63 for 85aH and $83 for 115 aH marine deep cycle batteries.   According to my research on the Kirkland batteries are made by Interstate which is an excellent battery manufacturer.  My next experiment dubbed Winter2012, will be a fun learning experience with the science and engineering of solar power and power storage.

IBM Open Sources Its EGL Technology

On December 8 2011, IBM open sourced their Enterprise Generation Language (EGL) technology and has donated the technology to the Eclipse Foundation.  Here is the developerWorks blog announcement, “The open era for EGL begins today”.  See the new Eclipse EGL Development Tools page.  Prior to the new Eclipse EGL project, EGL was released as the Eclipse-based Rational Business Developer suite.


EGL (Enterprise Generation Language) is a high level, modern business oriented programming language, designed by IBM to be platform independent. EGL is similar in syntax to other common languages so it can be learned by application developers with similar previous programming background. EGL application development abstractions shield programmers from the technical interfaces of systems and middleware allowing them to focus on building business functionality. EGL applications and services are written, tested and debugged at the EGL source level, and once they are satisfactorily functionally tested they can be compiled into COBOL, Java, or JavaScript code to support deployment of business applications that can run in any of the following environments:

• Microsoft Windows, Linux, UNIX running JVM, for example in the context of a Java EE servlet container (IBM WebSphere Application Server,Apache Tomcat, GlassFish)
• IBM System z: CICS Transaction Server, IMS, z/OS Batch, UNIX System Services, WebSphere Application Server, z/VSE, Linux
• IBM System i: IBM i5/OS, IBM WebSphere Application Server, Apache Tomcat
• Internet Explorer, Firefox, Safari browsers for Ajax rich web applications

 This is a welcome tool addition to the continuously evolving open source Eclipse ecosystem.  

Reclaiming 15 minutes every day

The ZDNet blog, If Forrester likes Macs for IT today, they’ll love Chromebooks tomorrow , hits it right on the money. Highly Empowered and Resourceful Operatives or HEROs are really the types of people that are migrating to the instant on computing experience.

It's all about the 'boot time' reclaiming that 10-15 minutes first thing five times a week first thing in the morning. The 8 seconds to cold boot a Chromebook and instantaneous wake from sleep are the primary reasons I like it. That is roughy one hour of time weekly gained and countless hours of increased productivity due to getting online and starting my mental work when I am ready and not waiting for when my computer is ready. As a high-output high-productive user this is all the difference in world.

Back after a few months in the Google+ Realm

I've been playing in the Google+ space since I joined it back in June when it was invitation only. Since then I have really slacked off on posting anything to my blogs. I have even almost stopped 'tweeting' and find myself spending less and less time on Facebook. Google+ I can say has become a place where I spend a lot of time not just lurking and doing nothing like I would do on Facebook, but actually having discussions on various subjects with people about topics that interest me.

I like the ability to be expressive in G+ with longer posts and the capability to add font effects and multiple links within a G+ post. This has long been an issue I've had with FB and Twitter. The 140-character limit in Twitter has always been a constraint that I have found frustrating at times and at other times a blessing when I was a at a lost for concise words. I think I like the balance that G+ represents which is be as expressive as you want or as concise as you want. Just be expressive.

I find that G+ has been replacing what and where I used to spend my time on the social media net (ex. Facebook, Twitter, etc..). What I have been experiencing these past few months can be summed up a 'new way' to spend my time on the 'social web' that blends research, socialization, technology, politics, techno-politics, local news, and news that interests me.

I have recently just realized a way to bring blogs back into my social web and the G+ experiment. It's taken a few months but now I think I see where blogs and G+ can and will coexist.

Upgrading Removable Storage on Android Device

Upgrading your removal storage (microSD) on your Android is really easy. Just unmount, remove the microSD, copy all the files from the old card to the new microSD card, install the new card into your Android device. Android will detect the card and mount it automatically. Ignore the messages to format the card. You are done.

I just did this on my Android phone upgrading from the 2GB microSD card that come with the phone to a larger 8GB Sansdisk microSD card I had laying around. I copied the files from the old card to a local folder on my Mac, then copied the files onto the new microSD card. There is no proprietary DRM or other stuff on the removable storage that Android creates so is really straight forward. Good to know. This should also work on any Android tablet.