The GP is correct. USPS is a lot more reliable than Canada Post.

I live in Canada right now, but I've lived in the US for most of my life. Here in Canada, I routinely receive misdelivered mail in my mailbox. For example, I'll get mail addressed to someone with a different street number but same street name, or same street number and different street name, or some combination of both. Empirically I estimate that about 1% of the mail I receive is intended for someone else. As there is nothing particularly special about my address or mail volume, one can extrapolate (at least locally where I live) to conclude that Canada Post misdelivers about 1% of all mail. By contrast, I have never seen this kind of error in US mail.

When law enforcement officers confiscate a computer, they usually (in the US at least) try to transport the computer without powering it down. Standard procedure is to plug a portable generator into the wall outlet powering the computer, unscrew the outlet, and take the whole apparatus (including wall outlet, generator, and computer) to the forensics lab, without interrupting power to the computer. If all the jacks in an outlet are in use, they will unscrew the wall outlet and splice the generator's power cables into the outlet.

The article and summary do mention situations where computers are powered down for transportation. These are exceptions. They are not the norm.

I'm one of the authors of that algorithm. You might be interested in my latest work: an improved cryptosystem based on elliptic curve isognies which seems to be more secure against quantum computers than previous isogeny-based schemes. (In particular, my algorithm for breaking the old isogeny-based schemes doesn't work against this new scheme.) Since posting the paper, we have improved the performance of the new scheme to the point where it is faster than RSA for the same (conjectured) level of security, even against classical computers (never mind quantum computers).

I am obviously biased, but I think my new scheme is the best candidate for quantum-resistant key exchange. It's faster than RSA, it uses shorter keys than RSA, and it's security is based on relatively standard results in elliptic curve theory compared to other systems that involve difficult-to-analyze problems on lattices. It is very much a classical cryptosystem with some nice features, which happens to be quantum-resistant. It's not some kind of cumbersome scheme which you would use only if you cared about quantum computers.

In general, I've given up on replying to Slashdot crypto articles, unless I have a personally relevant reason to do so (your post certainly qualifies). The general level of ignorance in the discussion is so stratospheric that it is painful to read. Even worse, the vast majority of commenters think that they know what they're talking about (they don't), and the vast majority of moderators mod up ignorant (but plausible sounding) drivel while ignoring the comments made by actual cryptographers.

The correct answer to the submitter's question is what you just said: there are plenty of quantum-resistant key-exchange protocols available, among them NTRU, McEliece, learning with errors, and my scheme. The submitter should also have asked about quantum-resistant digital signature schemes. Here the answer is much less reassuring: there is only one, namely, NTRU. This is a huge problem for crypto if we ever build a quantum computer, since authentication is at least as important as encryption. It's a real shame that this entire discussion is based on the wrong question.

Judging from your subject line, you seem to be under the false impression that bankruptcy is a solution. Unfortunately, it's not, because of decades of highly successful lobbying by banks and Sallie Mae.

Student loans cannot be discharged in bankruptcy under any circumstances. This is a federal law, passed in 2005. It applies to both federally backed and private-party student loans. It applies (retroactively) to all student loans, even those which were issued before 2005.

Creditors can garnish wages without a court order to pay off student loans. Creditors can confiscate tax refund checks, disability checks, and social security checks without a court order. Notice the part about social security -- there is no statute of limitations on student loans, so creditors can do all of the above for as long as you live, even into your retirement years. If you die, they can pursue your cosigners for as long as they live.

The only way to win forgiveness for a student loan is to prove undue hardship in court. This is not the same as bankruptcy -- it's a much higher standard of proof. The burden of proof is on the debtor. Few borrowers have the resources to hire the legal representation that this process requires.

A huge part of the problem is that most Americans have no idea just how one-sided the student lending laws have become. Unfortunately, you seem to be contributing to that problem.

You have no clue what you're talking about.

I take it you live in the USA? The set of Asians who live in the USA is a very very biased and unrepresentative sample of the set of all Asians. The US immigration system is designed to select the best and brightest immigrants. That's why the Asians in the US are so smart and hard-working. The average Asian from an Asian country would be nothing special in America. But Asian Americans as a group are taken from the top 0.5% of all Asians, because US immigration laws are designed to keep out the stupid people. It's completely the opposite of what you claim.

If you actually go to an Asian country you'll find that the people there are no smarter than Americans. But from your condescending attitude it's clear that you're happy to claim international expertise without ever having left the USA. Try traveling or even immigrating to another country sometime -- it'll work wonders on your world view.

With blacks and Hispanics, it's a totally different story. African Americans came mostly as slaves, and Hispanics have illegal immigrants to skew the numbers. That's why the selection effects of US immigration law are significant only for Asians and not other races.

No, it's not a fact. The "fewer than 50" claim is outrageously false. Wikipedia alone lists dozens of western speakers.

I personally know three westerners, neither born nor raised in China, who are completely fluent in Chinese (could pass a spoken or written Turing test), and another five who are fluent except for a foreign accent. It's absurd to claim "fewer than 50" when I personally can think of eight firsthand without even trying.

Having visited foreign consulates in China, a quick estimate indicates that there are likely at least 500 westerners with total fluency in Chinese in the embassies and consulates alone.

In the first sentence of the post to which you are replying, the GP explained convincingly that s/he is more used to metric, and not American.

I live in Canada as a permanent resident. I've imported and registered American cars in Canada (permanent registration, not temporary, and yes I've done this more than once, in different years). The process is a pain, but not as difficult as you imply.

The Canadian authorities require a speedometer capable of displaying km/h. A speedometer dial that shows both sets of tick marks is fine, even if one is larger than the other. A digital speedometer that has a metric option is also fine. I've seen cars with analog dials and only one set of markings, where you press a button on the dash to change the meaning of the needle from mi/h to km/h. (If you press the button while the car is moving, then the needle will jump from X mph to Y kph). That's fine too.

There is no requirement that the odometer display support kilometers. This is a fact, that I have personally verified with border agents during my previous importation experiences.

The main difficulties in importing American cars to Canada are:

1. Daytime running lights: Basically the car must have low-intensity headlights or (at a minimum) fog lights that are on at all times while the car is in operation, and the driver must not be capable of turning the lights off.
2. No automatic seat belts (prohibited in Canada).
3. Attachment points for car seats (mandatory in Canada).

It's quite possible that converting American cars into Canadian cars is cost-prohibitive, but I bet the cost has much more to do with things like daytime running lights than the relatively trivial issue of units.

Your reasoning is fallacious, and (unfortunately) quite common. Although it is not politically correct to put a price on human life, in reality money is a finite resource which can directly save lives (food aid, etc.). A crime which causes monetary or productivity loss can certainly be viewed as catastrophic, depending on the amount of monetary loss involved. 3.2 million people losing internet access for 5 hours can certainly affect a country's economy and measurably impact their tax revenue. Presumably the government is doing something productive and (dare I say) life-saving with that tax revenue. Indirectly, massive financial crimes can in fact cause loss of life, and this loss of life can be quantified.

If you think just a little bit outside the box, you'll see that financial crimes can be just as devastating as murder in terms of society-wide effects.

The GP said that the ratio of Ph.D candidates to positions was dozens to one, not that the ratio of applications to positions was dozens to one. The two numbers are not the same, unless each candidate applies to exactly one position on average.

In reality, each candidate applies to dozens of academic positions on average. (Some apply to hundreds, some apply to none; the average is probably on the order of a few dozen.) A few dozen people per position, multiplied by a few dozen applications per person, is entirely consistent with the range of 150-800 applicants per position.

You say that you are (applying to be) an English professor. I am a math professor. I have no sympathy for mathematicians who can't write. Writing is a big part of my research, and every individual on this planet is better off having rudimentary skill in communication. One can even reasonably argue that English in particular is the most important language worldwide. But, by the same token, I also consider foundational math, like English, to be a basic skill that every individual needs. Those who lack mathematics skills are bound to make the same kind of mistake that you displayed.