Win a Hardback Copy of Daemon, by Daniel Suarez!

In September, I blogged a review about the best crypto-cyber-punk-thriller I have read in some time, Daemon by Daniel Suarez. At the time, the first-run paperback was already out of print, and a new re-print in hardback had not yet hit bookstore shelves. This book is a must-read by anyone interested in modern science fiction and techno-writing.

Courtesy of Dutton Press, I now have in my possession 3 copies of the hardback, hot off the press...

And I'm giving them away!!!

The Contest

If you haven't read the book yet, you're really in for a treat! I'm presenting 3 challenges, something like of a crypto-scavenger hunt, reminiscent of the Daemon itself.

The Prizes

• A total of 3 hardback copies of Daemon will be awarded as Grand Prizes to the winner of each challenge. No more than one book will be awarded per person.
• The first person to successfully complete a particular challenge will be named the winner of that challenge.
  
• Any additional successful submissions before March 1, 2009 will earn fame and notoriety by being mentioned here in my blog, with your name and a timestamp of your completion date ;-)
• And hopefully everyone who competes will learn at least something about Daemon, Ubuntu, eCryptfs, free and open source software, and cryptography.
• Kees Cook has independently solved each of these challenges and has graciously volunteered to serve as an independent judge in the event of any tie or controversy. His decision is final.
  

The Schedule

The challenges (increasing in difficulty) will be published here in my blog as follows:

• Challenge 1: Tuesday, January 6, 2009, Noon UTC-6
  
• Challenge 2: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, Noon UTC-6
  
• Challenge 3: Tuesday, January 20, 2009, Noon UTC-6
  

In the meantime, you might want to brush up on:

• Ubuntu, livecd's, virtual machines, encryption, encrypted private directories, eCryptfs, gnupg, md5, sha, john, shell scripting

Cheers!
:-Dustin