“We had a flurry of phone calls from travelers in Europe asking where they could buy our laptop cases. Some were even calling directly from Heathrow wondering if we sold the cases there at the airport,” says David Sebens, VP of sales and marketing at ZERO Halliburton.

The Salt Lake City-based company makes a line of high-end aluminum laptop cases with a shock-absorbent polyurethane foam interior. More closely resembling a portable bomb shelter than a briefcase, the bag also has an aura of geek chic that makes it popular among the techie crowd. The company, which sells thousands of the cases each year, says it has seen a spike in demand in the past week.

DAMN THE TSA! DAMN THEM TO HELL!

Decius bought a ZERO Halliburton years ago, which he almost never used. I took custody of it about a year ago. Since that time, I have truly fallen in love with it. Love. Pure love.

Not only does it fit my 17" Powerbook perfectly (few cases fit it at all), but it protects the hell out of it. The internal padding does an amazing job of absorbing sock, and the aluminum can stop anything up to a carbine round. (No, I have not tested this.)

But the best thing about it, is the fashion statement. And I'm not much one for fashion. It stands out. When you trod along kicking the Halliburton, people notice. You can watch their eyes drift down to the case. One look at it says a thousand words. Words like "bomb", "cocaine", "unmarked $20 bills", "negotiable bonds", "guns", "classified documents", "plutonium", etc.. When I plod around the campus I attend classes at, I get asked at least once a week, without fail, "what's in the case?" I have about a dozen answers. "Schemes and plans" tends to be my favorite.

Now, thanks to TSA, everyone is going to have one. It's like when your favorite band gets popular with people you hate. I feel it coming. DAMNIT.

Update: Must... fight... turning into hipster.. must.. not.. turn.. into.. hipster..

ZERO Halliburton going mainstream. NOOOOO!!!!