General / Security/identity · 2005-01-10

Whatever you do, please cook this

I tend to fly American Airlines these days, and the “Road Warrior” award issue of their American Way magazine just came out. I scanned the names of the winners on the off-chance that I would recognize one. Bingo! (Not that he knows me, but I sure know his name.) Bruce Schneier, cryptographer extraordinaire, won third place and has what I think is the best story. Read the whole thing, but here’s one, um, taste:

The woman brought three orange things and three brown things and proceeded to clean them. She set two bowls of water out in front of her: a green one and a white one. She cut open the orange things and put the orange insides in the green bowl, and the orange outsides in the white bowl. Then she cut open the brown things and put the brown outsides in the green bowl with the orange insides, and the brown insides in the white bowl with the orange outsides. I didn’t have the foggiest idea which bowl was for eating and which was for throwing away.