As in Vinge 's other work , the concept of security in such an increasingly digital/virtual world with ubiquitous computing is a major theme of the novel . It examines the implications of rapid technological change that empowers both the disgruntled individuals who would threaten to disrupt society and those that would seek to stop them , and the implications for the age-old " who watches the watchers " issue at the interplay between surveillance ( oversight ) and sousveillance ( undersight ) . Although 9/11 is only mentioned once , having been supplanted in the minds of the characters by more recent history , its overall impact is unmistakable ; Bob Gu muses offhandedly , " Chicago was more than a decade past . There had n't been a successful nuclear attack on the U.S. or any of the treaty organization countries in more than five years . " Much of the novel 's action occurs on the campus of the University of California , San Diego , especially in and around the Geisel Library , the architectural centerpiece of the campus .
9/11
September 11 attacks
Rainbows End