What's in a name?

As some of you already know (since I am no longer abroad and don't have to resort to providing you with information through my blog), I am applying for US citizenship (or naturalization). The interesting thing about the application is that it allows me to legally change my name. (The uninteresting part is that it costs around $400.) Suggestions are welcome!

Computer Security II

Some advice from my Systems Security professor:

Don't confuse pseudorandom and random, when it comes to keeping your spy safe.

So for our project, my group decided that we should procure some Uranium (or some other radioactive element) to produce truly random numbers. The system we're currently planning to implement is an anonymous chat, GABS. GABS is a clever permutation of the first letters of our last names.

The plan is that GABS will be resistant to traffic analysis. In other words, if two people are talking over the network, no one will be able to tell that they are talking to each other. This is useful for two spies talking over a network. Moreover, a user can talk back and forth to another user without the latter knowing the identity of the former. This is of course highly useful to police informants who wish to remain anonymous to the policemen they're supplying with information (think Law and Order or CSI).

Things that should go onto my resume

Hair cutter. I gave JR a hair cut earlier this week and granted I am no Pete, but it looks pretty good.

And the ability to effectively work on a laptop that overheats and freezes regularly (for four years and counting). The battery to my laptop quietly died about a week ago. One day I was using it just fine and the next time I pressed the power button no lights came on and I was very confused. My response was of course to try the power button about five more times for good measure to make sure that I didn't forget how to press buttons.

Come to think of it, sometimes it seems like computers are against me. Computers and right-handed people! All my lecture halls this semester have no left-handed desks.

Also, Cornell classes are in session tomorrow. Actually, I have to be on campus from 10am - 7pm. Classes, office hours and meetings aren't so bad really, but it's this microteaching from 5-7pm that I'm dreading. First of all, it's my fourth semester teaching. Second, there will be 5 TAs in training there, each of us has to teach a 7 minute mini-lesson, which is VIDEOTAPED. Not only do I have to give and receive constructive criticism for 2 hours, but I also have to watch myself on tape. So enjoy your Labor Day!

Computer Security

I'm getting back into the swing of things at Cornell. Being a grad student is only slightly different from undergrad. It's a little more relaxed in terms of degree requirements and I'm taking all computer science related courses. I feel like my brain is finally turning on, probably working at about 65% of its capacity, but at least I can now pay attention through a full lecture and not feel like I'm daydreaming.

My professors are all great this semester and of course, there is no avoiding nerdy jokes. For example, my computer security professor was telling us that we have to do a group project, but that the topic was up to us. So some smartass asked:

Does that mean we can write a virus?

And everyone laughed... Silly computer science majors.

Other than that, I’m starting to actually look for a job. So anyone want to finish my resume? Really, it’s almost done. I just need an objective…

"Soften the contents of your skull,

soften your eyes, soften your nervous system."

Advises Baron Baptiste, a fairly famous yogi, on his Putting Posture to Your Prayers CD where he aims to “push you, poke you, prod you, challenge you” with phrases like:

Gently walk the fingers of your mind up the backside of your calves and knees.

My yoga teachers have had their funny moments. Most of these involved leading us into a posture and calmly saying: “Now we’re going to hold this for seven minutes” or, even better, “try to relax” as we’re bound in eagle posture (left) and desperately trying not to fall sideways setting off an avalanche of flailing limbs across the whole classroom.

But Baron Baptiste topped all that in his instruction for a proper downward facing dog.

Lift your pubic bone to Pluto, your sit bones to Saturn, press your hands to the earth, work the planets. Now breath, mind in the heavens, get your body well rooted to the earth.

By the way, yogis lovingly refer to downward facing dog as a resting pose and after three year, I still fail to see the humor.

Hi stranger...

And I mean the title literally. After my one and only 2:30pm Friday class I was walking to my car and a man about my father's age said "hi" as he walked by me. It caught me completely off guard and I probably gave him a weird look. But a bit later another person did the same thing. I'd completely forgotten this quirky custom of saying hello to strangers.

Back to I-town

It seems that the only change in Ithaca is that construction has migrated slightly to the left. In other news, jetlag isn't fun and I've been freezing since I got back.

Goodbye Bangkok!

Well, my summer has almost come to an end. Just a 17 hour flight ahead of me. I'm sitting in the restaurant of my apartment building and browsing the internet as a dessert after a good Thai dinner. In case you're interested I had chicken in sweet chilli paste with cashews, a fried egg, rice and a banana milk shake. In about a quarter of an hour I'll catch a taxi to the airport. This time I thouroughly pampered myself before the long flight with a Thai massage and a manicure/pedicure. It's sad to leave, but it's been a great summer seeing knew places and observing a culture quite different from my own. Soon enough I'll be back in Ithaca where people won't be staring at me as I walk by. And then it's back to lectures and teaching and Yoga. But now candy and Neuromancer await me.

Ayutthaya

Tuesday we went to Ayutthaya, which used to be the capital of Thailand. The photo below is from Wat Yai Chaimongkon.
We biked around the ruins of the ancient city and saw many Buddha statues, both with and without their heads and saffron robes. The old part of the city is on an island, so we had to take a cross river ferry to get there. This involved carrying our bikes down stairs onto the boat and once across the river, off the boat and back up a flight of stairs. That wasn't so much fun and my arms are still sore. However, the bikes ended up being a faster form of transportation that the elephant that some tourists we riding.

Mother's Day

Last Monday afternoon I was enjoying a peaceful free period and doing what I usually do to pass time: browsing online and probably reading about something nerdy. All the sudden I heard the girls screaming in the high-pitched way that only teenage girls are capable of and running out of the classrooms. After things settled down a little, I felt safe enough to go investigate.

It turned out to be not one or two or even three, but FOUR Thai teen stars: two actors and two actresses. Later, I found out their names - Pare, Au, Kung and Kwong. They came in to the school to get the girls excited for Mother's Day, though the girls were more excited to take pictures of the superstars and scream after either of the guys said something cute or did something cute, which in their opinion was just about everything.

Mother's Day is celebrated on the same day as HM the Queen's birthday, which was this past Saturday. The school celebrated on Friday with an extended assembly.
Followed by singing and traditional Thai dance performed by some of the older girls.
Some of the dancers claimed they are in M6, but in their costumes and makeup they look so much older and completely unrecognizable.