I'm not sure why this isn't modded higher since this is essentially the only tactic (besides actually catching the guy) that has ever successfully shut down bomb threats campaigns. It's not exactly that you need to stop treating the threats as credible, but you need to stop allowing your response to the threat to disrupt things and therefore remove the payoff for the person/people doing it.

For example, they can tell everyone in the building "There is a bomb threat and the police will be coming through. If you see any suspicious packages, speak up now. You can leave if you want and have a no-penalty retake for any tests or whatever, but class will go on."

The fact that they didn't implement something like this after 10-15 threats and are still forcing people out of their dorms into the cold night is actually infuriating to me. Maybe this is just nostalgia speaking, but it sure seems to me like we've collectively lost our backbone in the last 20 years or so. So what if the school administration might get sued or slammed with some bad PR headlines if something actually happened? They can stand up and defend themselves with logic and reason and WIN. If the only people in the world condemning you are stupid and irrational, that should just make you look better to everybody else.

Racial profiling makes absolutely no sense as a method of guarding a secure area. Then all you need to do is find somebody in a non-reviewed ethnic group to mule your box cutters through security (pretty much any junkie will do it for their drug of choice, to name one possibility) and have your Arab hijackers walk through their extended security completely clean and pick up the gear on the other side.

Of course the entire TSA process is just a combination jobs program for petty tyrants and security theater for the sheeple. "Let me take away your dangerous toothpaste tube ... and toss it in this completely unsecured bin over here."

I think it's great that Rand Paul is willing to take a stand on this issue. Sure it's a stunt to boost both his dad and his own ambitions, but it's still making an important point on the side of freedom. If the Republicans start making moves like this on a regular basis and manage to contrast that against Harry Reid regurgitating phony MPAA statistics as press releases in support of SOPA/PIPA, the Democrats will soon be in real trouble.

Your only option for keeping data secret for 100 years is use one-time pad of really good, truly random data and keep it secure until the instant you no longer need to retrieve the data, then completely destroy it. Once it's completely destroyed, then it's even safe from two guys with blowtorches going to work on your knees. On the other hand, now you don't have anything you can say to save your knees! So it may be a matter of defining priorities for you.

If somebody with massive resources is seriously committed to getting a particular piece of data, they are probably going to be able to get it. Yes, I could save network captures of SSL traffic and decrypt it someday to get some credit card numbers, but it's a whole lot easier just to steal your wallet and it's a whole lot more efficient to run a social engineering scheme some credit card processor and steal 100,000+ at once.

I was able to pick up an advanced reader copy and I've already read it cover to cover 3 times. I was asked not to relate any spoilers, so I'll stay away from any specifics. However if you're holding out for a return of Reason or hoping to find thugs with implanted skull guns ... I'm afraid you'll be a little disappointed.

There is a definite break from the action style of the Baroque cycle (which I also enjoyed). While Anathem is quite heavy compared to Stephenson's early works, the areas of hard theory transition smoothly into action and character development (rather than, say, having a chapter break and switching off Waterhouse with Half-@%^* Jack ;))

If I was going to compare it to any of his other books, I think it's the closest a rewrite of the Cryptonomicon with a focus on linguistics and philosophy rather than cryptography. Instead of a dissertation on quantom physics, you may simply find that Raz is both alive and dead ...

Oops, I may have said too much! ;)

So if you are into philosophy or linguistics or you liked Cryptonomicon without being a cryptography geek, you will definitely enjoy Anathem. Oh and don't forget the CD full of monk chants ... I highly recommend having them ripped and ready to queue up for the appropriate spots of the story because you won't want to leave your chair to go find them.