It’s Cold War days, and on his first day at a defense contractor, this pilot fish is taken to lunch by his new boss. Who has some advice upon leaving the campus: Remove your ID badge. He explained that foreign government agents were suspected of showing up in local restaurants and bars looking for employees of the contractor.

Three decades on, fish still follows the advice, though the Cold War is long over. And he has extended it to another sphere: He never wears conference badges outside the venue. He calls them “Mug-me” tags.

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