[CALUG] NSA Museum Field Trip

[Chuck Frain]

Recently there has been growing talk and interest in the area of 
computer data privacy. This typically leads to a discussion about 
methods for encrypting files and email communications. The defacto 
standard for this currently is public key cryptology in the form of 
GnuPG/PGP. So for the July 9th meeting of CALug we will have a 
presentation on what GnuPG is and how to use it followed by some 
discussion as time permits.

This will be followed up on July 17th at the Ubuntu Maryland LoCo Team 
meeting. Many times when you go home from one of these presentations you 
start to experiment a little and run into questions. Please feel free to 
bring your laptops and/or questions on generating GnuPG keys, the use of 
the command line, email integration and front ends. We will do our best 
to help you through any issues you have. We will attempt to have a few 
demo machines if you do not have a laptop available to you.

To get some history of cryptology the Columbia Area Linux Users Group 
and Ubuntu Maryland LoCo Team are presenting a field trip to the NSA's 
National Cryptologic Museum on August 2, 2008.

A description of the museum from their website (http://www.nsa.gov/MUSEUM/):

"The National Cryptologic Museum is the National Security Agency’s 
principal gateway to the public. It shares the Nation’s, as well as 
NSA’s, cryptologic legacy and place in world history. Located adjacent 
to NSA Headquarters, Ft. George G. Meade, Maryland, the Museum 
collection contains thousands of artifacts that collectively serve to 
sustain the history of the cryptologic profession. Here visitors can 
catch a glimpse of some of the most dramatic moments in the history of 
American cryptology: the people who devoted their lives to cryptology 
and national defense, the machines and devices they developed, the 
techniques they used, and the places where they worked. For the visitor, 
some events in American and world history will take on a new meaning. 
For the cryptologic professional, it is an opportunity to absorb the 
heritage of the profession."

We will arrive at the museum at 10am for an hour and a half tour of the 
exhibits with one of the museum's staff (or volunteers) as a guide. 
About 15 minutes after the tour is over we will gather for a GnuPG key 
signing event. Details of the keysigning and what you will need will be 
discussed at the July CALug meeting.

All are welcome to come on the tour, however we do need to get the 
number of attendees for the museum staff to properly accommodate us. 
Please sign up at the Ubuntu Maryland wiki if you have a login. 
Otherwise please email chuckfrain at pobox.com with your name or to request 
anonymity and the number attending with you.

Some Relevant Links:

http://www.calug.org
http://www.ubuntu-maryland.org
https://wiki.ubuntu.com/MarylandTeam/Events/FieldTrips/NSAMuseum
http://www.nsa.gov/museum
http://www.gnupg.org