AppSec USA 2012

I attended AppSec USA 2012 in Austin this past Thursday and Friday. It's a conference devoted to Application Security (Web Application Security mostly), but I learned how to pick handcuffs, open combination locks with a simple lock pick, open formerly high-security locks with a bic pen, purchased a lock pick set for practice, and learned a lot about HTML5, cryptography, and Javascript.

More pictures will come soon.

Austin on Thursday

Dusk over Lady Bird Lake

Pipedreams Episode 1235

http://pipedreams.publicradio.org/listings/2012/1235/

With especial attention to Astor Piazolla's 'Oblivion', performed on the 2003 Ruffatti in the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Kansas City, MO by Hector Olivera. I performed this piece at American Festival for the Arts, reformulated for piano, violin, and cello, five years or so ago. 

Being an alumnus

Things I miss: The variety of people, the imagined feeling that everyone bustling past are students, the shared camaraderie. Also, the multitude of people. When on campus now it feels somewhat alien, and for good reason: once again I'm like a freshman, staring at the buildings going up left and right.

Pros: Alumni Parking pass for just 20 dollars. Also coming to an organization you founded and seeing it continue to thrive.

This year's Sukkoth pic

Yes those are unripe wild persimmons

To the left is the car covered with branches for the hut/booth/sukkah (which in Russian means female dog :)). Incidentally this is post #300.

End of Shabbos and Erev Sukkot

Well, that was an interesting end to Shabbat. Rain dripping just hard enough to soak the adventurous, hying to synagogue to pray with a quorum. The sisters chanting the name of an ancient, fictional Russian prostitute, just for laughs. "Babba".... "Alla"..... "BABBA".... "Alla"... A sound somewhat primeval and filled with the boredom of two people addicted to their phones and instant connectivity, suffering classic withdrawal symptoms for the 25 hours of the Sabbath, afraid to be by themselves for even a few moments.

Baba Alla stems from a video, bits of which have been floating around the 'net for years, ostensibly made by a Yaacov Levi, featuring an old Russian prostitute on the beach, or standing next to a dumpster offering discounts for kids. If it was really made by a Jew then it's as bad as a Jew making the "Innocence of Muslims" video, except that this one does not insult a major world religion. I'll leave it as an exercise to the reader to find the full six minute video (hint: it's Russian with subtitles, and very unsafe for all environments).

In other news, it's the eve of Sukkot, where Jews build booths outside and eat their meals en plein air. Also my favorite holiday. We'll be eating bharta made from the following eggplants, the plants of which put on a burst of growth come the slight cool-down of late September.

One bush on the left, another on the right

The eve of Sukkot

The above picture is from 2007, as evidenced by a young citron tree to the right of the cozy setting.