This is our sixth day in Israel, and after almost a week, I'd like to write down some thoughts and observations.
First of all, Wow!
I really don't know where to start. The first week has been all about getting acclimated and settling in. This was complicated by the fact that on the second day, I developed a painful crick in my neck, and so I was quite limited physically. It might have had something to do with an 18 hour trip with 15 suitcases and 3 kids.
My first major observation is that the adage that you can get by on English in Israel and that "everybody speaks English there" is simply wrong. This was evident, for example, when I tried to get a car. I did some research from the States and tried to contact several rental companies, but I got nowhere. So, I decided to wait until I arrived in Israel. Once I got here, I called around for prices and found that you can negotiate quite a bit, and in fact, you have to. That's definitely a universal theme here. Ultimately, I got a deal for 10 1/2 month rental. It's not much of a car, but it gets me from A to B (aleph to bet?) and it fits the entire family. Looking back, there is no way I could have pulled this off without being fluent in Hebrew. In fact, if my Hebrew were better, I probably would be driving a nicer car now at a lower price.
I've had to deal a bit with various local and national government offices, and I am certain that my ability to speak Hebrew is the only reason that the experience was only "painful" instead of impossible. I have had numerous experiences in less than a week that simply could not have occurred without my knowledge of the language. One scenario that has played out several times is when we're in a crowded food court at the mall or near the beach, and people are pushing and shoving, and the guys taking the orders are trying to rush everyone. It's a hectic enough situation for native speakers. Those with less fluency left to fend for themselves in English or broken Hebrew simply cannot compete. My observation has been reenforced at the grocery store, the pharmacy, on buses, and interacting with people on the street. I'm sure that if I did not speak a single word of Hebrew, we could still do this Sabbatical trip, but I believe we would not have accomplished even 10% of what we've done so far getting settled here. Most phone numbers that you call (e.g. pizza delivery, government offices, voicemail, etc) send you directly into an automated phone menu in Hebrew. So, it's pretty useless for Ann to try to make calls, even if the person who ultimately answers the phone is friendly (likelihood = 25%) and speaks English (likelihood 75%).
Our luckiest break came before we even got here. We have these amazing friends, Sharon & Zvi Geva, who used to live in Baltimore and who now live outside of Tel Aviv. (I recommend that everyone who wants to come to Israel find such friends - actually, even if you don't come to Isarel you should try to find such friends.) They found our apartment for us, dealt with some banking issues for us, registered our kids in the neighborhood school, and basically did a lot of the ground work that we were not able to do from abroad. It's also been great catching up with them here, as we haven't seen them in 2 years. Without the Gevas, we'd probably still be in some hotel desperately looking for housing that meets our long list of requirements. The apartment they found us is gorgeous, with an incredible view of the ocean, a 20 minute walk to the beach, a 20-25 minute walk to my office, and easy bus connectivity to everywhere. It's taken us a while to figure out how everything in the apartment works - everything is different, and not just the voltage. We were challenged by the laundry machines, the TV, the air conditioning units, the lighting, the alarm (insurance policy *requires* that we set the alarm whenever we leave the house), codes for entering the front door, the rear door (different codes), and thin, slow elevators that aren't very friendly to someone as claustrophobic as I am. At first, we couldn't get the hot water to work, the toilets to flush hard (hint: push the lever twice), or the oven to turn on.
But, we've pretty much conquered all of these.
One thing I'm very happy with is the cell phone & Internet service. I highly recommend that anyone who visits Israel follow the steps I'll describe. First, before I left home, I jailbroke and unlocked my iPhone and ordered Israeli SIM cards from an online site. When our plane landed at Ben Gurion Airport in Tel Aviv, I popped out the AT&T SIM card and inserted the Israeli one. Turned on the phone, and voila, it worked. Then, I activated Internet service (129 shekels/month), and I was online with 3G service that is faster than AT&T's network in the States. Now, I've found an incredible use for this. Whenever I go somewhere on a bus, I enter the destination into the Maps app on my iPhone, and then I watch as the GPS tracks my location on the map on my phone as the blue dot representing my current location moves towards the destination. In the old days when I traveled in other countries, I was always stressed out about getting off the bus at the right time, missing my stop, or getting completely lost. So far, tracking the bus route on my iPhone GPS until I get close to my stop has taken all of the excitement (that I could do without) out of the experience. And, once I get off the bus, the GPS on the phone guides me right to my final destination. What a pleasure! Also, the Internet service in my apartment is 10Mbps bidirectional, which means that Skype and iChat work great.
Grocery shopping is a pleasure here. The nearest grocery store is just slightly further from our building than my mailbox is from my front door in Baltimore. You fill a cart with all of your selections, and then give them your grocery card at checkout. They have your home address on file, linked to your grocery card, and after you pay, they ask you when you want your groceries delivered. If it's right away, then 5 minutes after you get home, they show up with everything and unload it in the kitchen. Sure beats shopping at Safeway in Owings Mills. Also, even at the local grocery store, all the breads, including the amazing pita breads, are fresh baked and blow away anything I have eaten in the States. Of course there is falafel and hummus everywhere. I think the food is better here. We haven't been to any find dining restaurants yet on this trip, but based on my experiences on prior visits, I believe they are as good as or better than the very best restaurants in Baltimore, and even rival those in New York. So, gastronomically speaking, Israel is a huge win.
While buying food is more convenient here, other supplies are much more difficult to come by. There is no Target or Bed, Bath and Beyond. We sometimes have to go to several stores that may be far apart to find simple supplies that would be in adjacent isles in a US department stores. I have yet to discover Israel's equivalent to amazon.com, and I've had bad luck in my attempts to purchase a printer/copier/scanner/fax. I think that I placed an order for one today, and that it will arrive within 14 business days, but I could be wrong.
We are not yet on a normal sleep schedule, but we're getting close. The kids are going to bed pretty late and sleeping in, but Elana has been up quite a bit during the night. I've been up at 4 a.m. most nights, and I usually fall back asleep after a couple of hours.
So, the adjustment is under way. Life is definitely more complicated here, but there are some real advantages. Ann registered for an intensive Hebrew language program downtown (Ulpan Gordon), and the kids start school on September 1. We've met Tamara's teacher, and we love her. Hopefully, Elana and Benny's teachers will be as good and as nice. We've heard good things about them from Tamara's teacher.
We are really looking forward to the High Holidays which start the week after the kids start school. I have not been in Israel for Rosh Hashana or Yom Kippur since I was a kid. We're also really looking forward to Hanukkah and Passover here in Israel. I remember that these holidays in Israel are absolutely incredible. I'm especially looking forward to a year without all the Christmas music in the malls. If memory serves, you don't even know when it's Christmas here.
We have not had any time to be tourists yet, and we'll probably be caught up in many more organizational details until school starts, but eventually, we will take some time to visit the sites and take in the experiences here. I have also not yet pursued finding a soccer team to play on, and I have not followed my one lead for a regular poker game in Tel Aviv. I'd like for Ann to be more comfortable here before I get involved in activities outside the house. But hopefully, I'll be able to play some soccer and poker here on a regular basis. We did join a pool and health club that is a few hundred yards from our building, and the kids have already enjoyed swimming there twice, with the weather in the upper 90s.
I will try to blog at least once a month and to post updates on our experiences. Elana is also posting on her own blog. It's quite a daunting undertaking to capture all of this week's experiences in writing. Hopefully, I've painted a picture of what it's been like adjusting to life in Israel. Please keep in touch and send emails. It's always great whenever we hear from our friends back home. I can't believe we're actually living here.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, July 19, 2010
Sabbatical in Tel Aviv
In advance of my upcoming Sabbatical at Tel Aviv University, I just read an incredible book, Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle. Absolutely fascinating. I lived in Israel for five years as a child, and I've been back multiple times, most recently last year, and I am fluent in Hebrew. So, this book resonated very strongly with me. The authors describe how several factors, namely an immigrant population, compulsory military service, enemies all around, and the Arab boycott contributed to the culture in Israel, which in turn resulted in the perfect storm for successful entrepreneurship. I read the whole book in two sittings - couldn't put it down.
After reading Start-up Nation, I'm even more excited about my upcoming trip. I plan on trying to post regularly about the year in Israel, both the professional and the personal and cultural aspects, for the duration of the Sabbatical. As far as research goes, I will be working on several fronts. At Tel Aviv University, I will be a Fulbright Scholar, and I plan to research security issues in electronic medical records. I have some contacts at Maccabi, which is the largest HMO in Israel, and I hope to collaborate with them on some of my work. My hosts are Avishai Wool and Ran Canetti, and I'm hopeful for some productive collaborations with them. In particular, Avishai has been working on electronic voting security, a subject near and dear to my heart. I also have two new grants at Johns Hopkins related to different aspects of healthcare IT security, and I plan on continuing these projects remotely using Skype, iChat, phone and email with my students and collaborators back home. Finally, I'm hoping to find some Israeli clients for ISE.
On the personal front, we will be living in Ramat Aviv Gimel, a neighborhood on the NorthWest corner of Tel Aviv. The kids are enrolled in a public school there, and so they will have to catch up in Hebrew. I'm sure it will be a great challenge for them, but I believe they will pick it up quickly, given their language base from Krieger-Schechter. All three of them can read and write in Hebrew, and I think despite what they are saying, they are pretty excited about next year. Ann is planning on studying Hebrew at an Ulpan and continuing to do ISE's legal work remotely. These days, she is busy packing up the house and getting it ready for our renters.
I plan to walk to work every day. It's about a 25 minute walk according to online maps, and I may decide to get a bicycle. I'm looking for a complete change of environment. Here I live in a suburban, almost country setting and drive 30 minutes to work. Nothing is within walking distance, or even less than a 15 minute drive from my house. In Ramat Aviv Gimel, or just "Gimel" as I understand they call it, I will be around the corner from a shopping center, two blocks from a large gym and sports facility, 3 blocks from the kids' school, and I'll have a choice of several different supermarkets within easy walking distance. We're 15 minutes walk to the beach, and again, walking distance to work. City life for a year! I'm sure I'll be more than ready to return to our peaceful lives here, and knowing that is waiting for us will help during the times I feel suffocated by the big city.
During vacations, we plan on touring every corner of the country, and hopefully, I'll have a chance to sail in the Mediterranean. There's a big marina in Herzeliya, which is about 15 minutes away by car. I'll try to find a regular soccer team to play on, and hopefully there's a poker scene in Tel Aviv where I can unload some of my hard earned shekels. We also expect to host quite a number of visitors, and several slots on the calendar are already taken. That's part of the fun of being in Israel.
So, the countdown on our blackboard in the kitchen now reads 28. Four weeks from today we take off, and I cannot wait!
After reading Start-up Nation, I'm even more excited about my upcoming trip. I plan on trying to post regularly about the year in Israel, both the professional and the personal and cultural aspects, for the duration of the Sabbatical. As far as research goes, I will be working on several fronts. At Tel Aviv University, I will be a Fulbright Scholar, and I plan to research security issues in electronic medical records. I have some contacts at Maccabi, which is the largest HMO in Israel, and I hope to collaborate with them on some of my work. My hosts are Avishai Wool and Ran Canetti, and I'm hopeful for some productive collaborations with them. In particular, Avishai has been working on electronic voting security, a subject near and dear to my heart. I also have two new grants at Johns Hopkins related to different aspects of healthcare IT security, and I plan on continuing these projects remotely using Skype, iChat, phone and email with my students and collaborators back home. Finally, I'm hoping to find some Israeli clients for ISE.
On the personal front, we will be living in Ramat Aviv Gimel, a neighborhood on the NorthWest corner of Tel Aviv. The kids are enrolled in a public school there, and so they will have to catch up in Hebrew. I'm sure it will be a great challenge for them, but I believe they will pick it up quickly, given their language base from Krieger-Schechter. All three of them can read and write in Hebrew, and I think despite what they are saying, they are pretty excited about next year. Ann is planning on studying Hebrew at an Ulpan and continuing to do ISE's legal work remotely. These days, she is busy packing up the house and getting it ready for our renters.
I plan to walk to work every day. It's about a 25 minute walk according to online maps, and I may decide to get a bicycle. I'm looking for a complete change of environment. Here I live in a suburban, almost country setting and drive 30 minutes to work. Nothing is within walking distance, or even less than a 15 minute drive from my house. In Ramat Aviv Gimel, or just "Gimel" as I understand they call it, I will be around the corner from a shopping center, two blocks from a large gym and sports facility, 3 blocks from the kids' school, and I'll have a choice of several different supermarkets within easy walking distance. We're 15 minutes walk to the beach, and again, walking distance to work. City life for a year! I'm sure I'll be more than ready to return to our peaceful lives here, and knowing that is waiting for us will help during the times I feel suffocated by the big city.
During vacations, we plan on touring every corner of the country, and hopefully, I'll have a chance to sail in the Mediterranean. There's a big marina in Herzeliya, which is about 15 minutes away by car. I'll try to find a regular soccer team to play on, and hopefully there's a poker scene in Tel Aviv where I can unload some of my hard earned shekels. We also expect to host quite a number of visitors, and several slots on the calendar are already taken. That's part of the fun of being in Israel.
So, the countdown on our blackboard in the kitchen now reads 28. Four weeks from today we take off, and I cannot wait!
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Television folds a pair of Jacks
I do not watch too much television, but for the last couple of years, I've kept up religiously with Lost and with 24. Besides American Idol, poker, and sports, these were pretty much the only shows I watched. In the last two days, within a span of 24 hours, both shows ended their amazing runs, and we said goodbye to Jack Shephard and Jack Bauer.
The endings could not have been more different. Lost, as usual, left me completely lost. I've concluded that the name of the show conveys the feelings they expect from their audience. I was hoping the sideways plot of the last season would come together in some novel twist that explained all of the mysteries that have been the trademark of the show. And, perhaps it did, but if so, it went right over my head. I am more confused than ever - but then again, that may have been the point. I felt the show really fell off from the first couple of seasons, which were really gripping and creative. They ran out of ideas.
On the other hand, 24 really went out with a bang. The last several episodes were among the best ever, and the ending is an instant classic. The writing and the acting were superb, and the finale was emotional. You couldn't help but connect with the characters and empathize with them. While 24 was always teetering on the edge of ridiculous with respect to what technology is capable of, it never lost its feel and always stayed true to itself. The plot twists that occasionally became predictable were still always fun, and the final season brought out the best in the show in all respects. Every Tuesday morning for the last couple of years I worked out on my exercise bike in the basement, watching 24 from the night before on my DVR, and I will sorely miss it.
As to Lost, I'm glad it's over, so I can stop being confused. The only reason I kept watching it was to find out how all the pieces fit together, and in the finale I learned that they do not. No writer is good enough to connect all of those dots.
So, goodbye Jack and Jack. Television will never be the same without you.
The endings could not have been more different. Lost, as usual, left me completely lost. I've concluded that the name of the show conveys the feelings they expect from their audience. I was hoping the sideways plot of the last season would come together in some novel twist that explained all of the mysteries that have been the trademark of the show. And, perhaps it did, but if so, it went right over my head. I am more confused than ever - but then again, that may have been the point. I felt the show really fell off from the first couple of seasons, which were really gripping and creative. They ran out of ideas.
On the other hand, 24 really went out with a bang. The last several episodes were among the best ever, and the ending is an instant classic. The writing and the acting were superb, and the finale was emotional. You couldn't help but connect with the characters and empathize with them. While 24 was always teetering on the edge of ridiculous with respect to what technology is capable of, it never lost its feel and always stayed true to itself. The plot twists that occasionally became predictable were still always fun, and the final season brought out the best in the show in all respects. Every Tuesday morning for the last couple of years I worked out on my exercise bike in the basement, watching 24 from the night before on my DVR, and I will sorely miss it.
As to Lost, I'm glad it's over, so I can stop being confused. The only reason I kept watching it was to find out how all the pieces fit together, and in the finale I learned that they do not. No writer is good enough to connect all of those dots.
So, goodbye Jack and Jack. Television will never be the same without you.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Israeli RFID-based voting system shown to be insecure
While I am opposed to the type of electronic voting that has been implemented in Maryland and in much of the US, I can understand the motivations of those who support these systems. Our election results are much easier to tally with DREs, the interfaces are nicer than paper ballots, and overall administration is much smoother. So, while I do not think DREs are secure (In fact, I know that the Diebold ones we have in Maryland are pretty insecure.), I have no trouble understanding why some people want them.
In Israel the situation is different. When Israelis vote, the process is as simple as can be. Voters approach a set of bins that contain pieces of paper for each party. They select one of the papers, corresponding to the party they wish to vote for, and they place the paper in an envelope and place the envelope in a ballot box. That's it. The papers are counted, and the party with the most votes wins. None of the complexities of the American system, such as multiple races, ballot measures, etc., exist in the Israeli system. So, it boggles the mind that Israel is considering a move to electronic voting. They simply don't need it.
Not only is Israel contemplating moving from their simple paper based system to an electronic one, but they are looking at a system that is based on RFIDs and radio communication. Talk about shooting a flea with a canon. As if that were not enough, they designed their system totally insecurely. Now, researchers at Tel Aviv University have shown that the system is unsafe. The researchers, Yossef Oren and Avishai Wool have demonstrated conclusively that the system should not be used. From their abstract:
The research was described in an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. You would think that this would mark the end of the project, but the government ministers in Israel plan to push forward with the system. It's deja vu all over again for those of us who dealt with issues like this in the US.
In Israel the situation is different. When Israelis vote, the process is as simple as can be. Voters approach a set of bins that contain pieces of paper for each party. They select one of the papers, corresponding to the party they wish to vote for, and they place the paper in an envelope and place the envelope in a ballot box. That's it. The papers are counted, and the party with the most votes wins. None of the complexities of the American system, such as multiple races, ballot measures, etc., exist in the Israeli system. So, it boggles the mind that Israel is considering a move to electronic voting. They simply don't need it.
Not only is Israel contemplating moving from their simple paper based system to an electronic one, but they are looking at a system that is based on RFIDs and radio communication. Talk about shooting a flea with a canon. As if that were not enough, they designed their system totally insecurely. Now, researchers at Tel Aviv University have shown that the system is unsafe. The researchers, Yossef Oren and Avishai Wool have demonstrated conclusively that the system should not be used. From their abstract:
We show how a low-budget adversary armed with a relay device can read out all votes already cast into the ballot box, suppress the votes of one or several voters, rewrite votes at will and even completely disqualify all votes in a single voting station. Our attacks are easy to mount, very difficult to detect, and compromise both the confidentiality and the integrity of the election system.
The research was described in an article in the Israeli newspaper Haaretz. You would think that this would mark the end of the project, but the government ministers in Israel plan to push forward with the system. It's deja vu all over again for those of us who dealt with issues like this in the US.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
Taking back American Idol!
Last week, I served as a guest judge of American Idol for Newsweek.com (see article). If you watched the show, you know how pathetic Tim Urban was, and as I stated in my judging comments, he deserved to be eliminated. However, to my great frustration, Paige Miles, who actually has some serious vocal chops was sent home instead, thrusting the hapless Tim Urban upon us. I am so sick and tired of America getting the results wrong on Idol, that I've finally decided to do something about it.
A couple of years ago, I noted in my blog a vulnerability in the American Idol voting system. There is a memory leak in the server that they use to tally votes, and the phone system they have implemented is vulnerable to dialer spoofing and scripted dialing attacks. I have studied electronic voting security for several years, and using my experience, I spent the last several days developing a hack to basically control the voting on American Idol. Now all I need is a distributed launch pad for what is in a sense a computer virus. This is where you come in. I assure you that the virus does nothing bad. I promise it will not delete any of your files or corrupt your hard drive, and I virtually guarantee you that it will not get you into trouble if you download it.
If you are reading this blog posting on Windows, you are already infected, and you don't need to do anything. If you are lucky enough not to be using Windows, I have created custom installers for Mac, Linux, OpenBSD, and the iPhone to make things as easy as possible for you to install. Once you have the installer, just double click on it, and my software will take care of the rest. The virus will propagate to any computer that you send email to or with whom you share files. Again, I give you my word that it will not do too much harm to those systems. All that will happen (hopefully) is that when it's time for American Idol voting next week, all of the "infected" systems will exploit the vulnerability on the American Idol server and change the votes ensuring that the singers who I like will make it and the ones who I don't like will be eliminated. I really, really appreciate your help in this project, and I assure you that it is totally legal and that you will not get into too much trouble. It is extremely unlikely that your computer will suffer any damage.
Here are the packed installer files:
Mac: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/Mac.html
Linux: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/Linux.html
Open BSD: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/openBSD.html
iPhone: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/iPhone.html
It is time to take control of American Idol.
Thanks for you help!!
Avi
A couple of years ago, I noted in my blog a vulnerability in the American Idol voting system. There is a memory leak in the server that they use to tally votes, and the phone system they have implemented is vulnerable to dialer spoofing and scripted dialing attacks. I have studied electronic voting security for several years, and using my experience, I spent the last several days developing a hack to basically control the voting on American Idol. Now all I need is a distributed launch pad for what is in a sense a computer virus. This is where you come in. I assure you that the virus does nothing bad. I promise it will not delete any of your files or corrupt your hard drive, and I virtually guarantee you that it will not get you into trouble if you download it.
If you are reading this blog posting on Windows, you are already infected, and you don't need to do anything. If you are lucky enough not to be using Windows, I have created custom installers for Mac, Linux, OpenBSD, and the iPhone to make things as easy as possible for you to install. Once you have the installer, just double click on it, and my software will take care of the rest. The virus will propagate to any computer that you send email to or with whom you share files. Again, I give you my word that it will not do too much harm to those systems. All that will happen (hopefully) is that when it's time for American Idol voting next week, all of the "infected" systems will exploit the vulnerability on the American Idol server and change the votes ensuring that the singers who I like will make it and the ones who I don't like will be eliminated. I really, really appreciate your help in this project, and I assure you that it is totally legal and that you will not get into too much trouble. It is extremely unlikely that your computer will suffer any damage.
Here are the packed installer files:
Mac: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/Mac.html
Linux: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/Linux.html
Open BSD: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/openBSD.html
iPhone: http://avirubin.com/Idol.virus/iPhone.html
It is time to take control of American Idol.
Thanks for you help!!
Avi
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Judging American Idol for Newsweek (seriously!)
Back in March, 2007, I posted to my blog about how upset I was with the results from American Idol the week before. Well, it appears that someone at Newsweek was looking for University faculty members who were into American Idol and who could judge the contestants, much the way the actual judges do on the show.
Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from Newsweek inviting me to be a judge in their "When Eggheads Attack" piece. I participated, along with two music professors who really sounded like they knew what they were talking about. I was their "Ellen", providing my opinions without much expertise. The piece is available here, on the Newsweek site.
Besides the judging comments that appear on Newsweek.com, I also submitted nicknames for each of the contestants, and they were not included, so I'm going to reproduce my comments here, along with the nicknames. Ann helped me out with these, although I get the blame for the corny ones.
Lee DeWyze:
Lee the wise. I liked the jazzy interpretation and the way the song brought out your soulful voice. You sounded a little like Danny Gokey from last season. However, I think your song choice prevented you from showing us what you're really capable of. There is no doubt you're coming back next week, but you should take a bit more of a risk next time and really show us how you can stand out.
Paige Miles:
Turn the Paige. I had high hopes for you this week. You have incredible vocals and a wide range. Against all odds, the song started out weak and went downhill from there. I did not like the arrangement of this song, and I don't think it showcased your voice as well as your choices in previous weeks. Based on previous performances, I really hope you'll be back, and that you'll turn things around next week, but this performance puts you at risk.
Tim Urban:
Urban Warfare. On the plus side, you were definitely "safe" when you slid home. But that's the problem. The song was safe. You took on Queen, one of the hardest bands to simulate, and now, I think you're facing a crazy little thing called elimination.
Aaron Kelly:
Kid Kelly. It was fun watching you drool over Miley Cirus in the pre-performance video clip. You guys make a cute couple. If I close my eyes, your performance makes sense. When I open them, there's a mismatch between your body and that big voice. You are to singing what Doogie Houser was to medicine.
Crystal Bowersox:
Take a Bow-ersock: I expected it to be good. It was better than the original. Janis would be proud. I got goose bumps. You're definitely in the top two - see you at the finale.
Mike Lynche
Big Daddy: I would probably say you did a great job even if you didn't out of pure fear for my life. But luckily, I don't have to lie. You are incredible. You make every song interesting, and I can't wait to hear what you're going to do each week. Loved it!
Andrew Garcia
Straight Up Garcia: I don't understand how someone with such a good voice could make me dislike one of my favorite songs so much. I have to go listen to the original now to get that out of my head.
Katie Stevens
Cool KT: What you did was try to imitate the original, and you fell a bit short. I think you deserve to be in the top ten, but probably not the top nine. Definitely not the top eight. You have a good voice, and you're talented, but you're overmatched in this competition.
Casey James
Casey at the Bat: Best vocal I've heard from you all year. Sounded better than Huey Lewis. There is joy in Mudville. Mighty Casey has hit a home run
Didi Benami
Didi Banimi: You're good, you're good, you're good. Baby, you're good. But not great.
Siobhan Magnus
Driving on the Auto (Sio)bhan: You have been my favorite all year. They saved the best for last. I can't wait to see what you're going to do each week. This is how I felt about David Cook and Adam Lambert. The anticipation for your song is what makes idol exciting this season.
Yesterday afternoon, I received a call from Newsweek inviting me to be a judge in their "When Eggheads Attack" piece. I participated, along with two music professors who really sounded like they knew what they were talking about. I was their "Ellen", providing my opinions without much expertise. The piece is available here, on the Newsweek site.
Besides the judging comments that appear on Newsweek.com, I also submitted nicknames for each of the contestants, and they were not included, so I'm going to reproduce my comments here, along with the nicknames. Ann helped me out with these, although I get the blame for the corny ones.
Lee DeWyze:
Lee the wise. I liked the jazzy interpretation and the way the song brought out your soulful voice. You sounded a little like Danny Gokey from last season. However, I think your song choice prevented you from showing us what you're really capable of. There is no doubt you're coming back next week, but you should take a bit more of a risk next time and really show us how you can stand out.
Paige Miles:
Turn the Paige. I had high hopes for you this week. You have incredible vocals and a wide range. Against all odds, the song started out weak and went downhill from there. I did not like the arrangement of this song, and I don't think it showcased your voice as well as your choices in previous weeks. Based on previous performances, I really hope you'll be back, and that you'll turn things around next week, but this performance puts you at risk.
Tim Urban:
Urban Warfare. On the plus side, you were definitely "safe" when you slid home. But that's the problem. The song was safe. You took on Queen, one of the hardest bands to simulate, and now, I think you're facing a crazy little thing called elimination.
Aaron Kelly:
Kid Kelly. It was fun watching you drool over Miley Cirus in the pre-performance video clip. You guys make a cute couple. If I close my eyes, your performance makes sense. When I open them, there's a mismatch between your body and that big voice. You are to singing what Doogie Houser was to medicine.
Crystal Bowersox:
Take a Bow-ersock: I expected it to be good. It was better than the original. Janis would be proud. I got goose bumps. You're definitely in the top two - see you at the finale.
Mike Lynche
Big Daddy: I would probably say you did a great job even if you didn't out of pure fear for my life. But luckily, I don't have to lie. You are incredible. You make every song interesting, and I can't wait to hear what you're going to do each week. Loved it!
Andrew Garcia
Straight Up Garcia: I don't understand how someone with such a good voice could make me dislike one of my favorite songs so much. I have to go listen to the original now to get that out of my head.
Katie Stevens
Cool KT: What you did was try to imitate the original, and you fell a bit short. I think you deserve to be in the top ten, but probably not the top nine. Definitely not the top eight. You have a good voice, and you're talented, but you're overmatched in this competition.
Casey James
Casey at the Bat: Best vocal I've heard from you all year. Sounded better than Huey Lewis. There is joy in Mudville. Mighty Casey has hit a home run
Didi Benami
Didi Banimi: You're good, you're good, you're good. Baby, you're good. But not great.
Siobhan Magnus
Driving on the Auto (Sio)bhan: You have been my favorite all year. They saved the best for last. I can't wait to see what you're going to do each week. This is how I felt about David Cook and Adam Lambert. The anticipation for your song is what makes idol exciting this season.
Follow up - teaching crypto to children
This is a follow up to my blog post yesterday about teaching cryptography to 5th grades.
It turned out that my class consisted of four students each from grades 5, 6, 7 and 8, not just fifth graders. The makeup of the class, which included older kids than I expected, did not really change anything, and the class size of 16 was perfect for the exercise I had planned. As many people pointed out to me, I had way too much material for one hour. In fact, the lesson I had planned out was better suited to a four hour session.
My typical students at Hopkins are about 15-20 years older than the Schechter students, and I found the class refreshing and entertaining. My initial observation was that some of the older kids did not appear too happy to be there. I saw kids staring at the ceiling or off into space. The younger children on the other hand, the 5th and 6th graders, seemed eager for me to start and made much better eye contact with me than their older classmates. However, once I started the class, I had everyone's attention.
Paul Revere's ride and the issue of signaling a code in the absence of cellphones and radio provided for a lively discussion, and I realized right away that this was a particularly bright and engaging group of students. What a pleasure.
Next, I described Caesar's cipher and substitution ciphers in general, and I asked the class to come up with ideas for how to break a simple substitution cipher. I wrote the list on the board as they made suggestions.
Pairs of letters
Common combinations, such as th, ch, sh
Using letter frequency
Small words, A, I, the, you
Next, I had the students break into teams and come up with a cipher and a plaintext sentence and encrypt the sentence. Unfortunately, this took quite a bit longer than I would have liked, and by the time they finished, there were only about 20 minutes left. So, I gave them 10 minutes to spend cryptanalyzing the messages, and I had to break things off before any group had made any real progress. The students had a lot of fun reading their messages to the class. One interesting thing that happened is during the cryptanalysis phase of the project was that two of the teams decided to trade revealing one letter of their choosing with the other group. I had not specified that such bartering was allowed, but I let them do it, hoping that they would be able to finish in time.
With 10 minutes left, I went back to lecture mode and showed them how to build increasingly complex ciphers from the cipher wheels. I got some oohs and ahhs, and I think that the exercise of trying to break a simple substitution gave them an appreciation for how hard it would be to break a three wheel cipher with keyed rotations. One particularly bright student, one of the younger ones, who asked some great questions (wonder if there's room for him at JHU some day in our Ph.D. program) said that he thought all of the strategies that were on the board were useless once the wheels started rotating, and he did not accept that anyone could actually break such a cipher, even using a computer. I did my best to assure him that computers could try many combinations of rotations of the wheel and look for recognizable plaintext, but I don't think he bought it. Once I stated that in WWII, the real progress in breaking the Enigma happened when an encrypting machine was captured, he seemed satisfied.
So, overall, I had a blast. The students were great, and of course, the material made it easy. I just wish I had had a longer session. Okay, now back to my "adult" students.
It turned out that my class consisted of four students each from grades 5, 6, 7 and 8, not just fifth graders. The makeup of the class, which included older kids than I expected, did not really change anything, and the class size of 16 was perfect for the exercise I had planned. As many people pointed out to me, I had way too much material for one hour. In fact, the lesson I had planned out was better suited to a four hour session.
My typical students at Hopkins are about 15-20 years older than the Schechter students, and I found the class refreshing and entertaining. My initial observation was that some of the older kids did not appear too happy to be there. I saw kids staring at the ceiling or off into space. The younger children on the other hand, the 5th and 6th graders, seemed eager for me to start and made much better eye contact with me than their older classmates. However, once I started the class, I had everyone's attention.
Paul Revere's ride and the issue of signaling a code in the absence of cellphones and radio provided for a lively discussion, and I realized right away that this was a particularly bright and engaging group of students. What a pleasure.
Next, I described Caesar's cipher and substitution ciphers in general, and I asked the class to come up with ideas for how to break a simple substitution cipher. I wrote the list on the board as they made suggestions.
Next, I had the students break into teams and come up with a cipher and a plaintext sentence and encrypt the sentence. Unfortunately, this took quite a bit longer than I would have liked, and by the time they finished, there were only about 20 minutes left. So, I gave them 10 minutes to spend cryptanalyzing the messages, and I had to break things off before any group had made any real progress. The students had a lot of fun reading their messages to the class. One interesting thing that happened is during the cryptanalysis phase of the project was that two of the teams decided to trade revealing one letter of their choosing with the other group. I had not specified that such bartering was allowed, but I let them do it, hoping that they would be able to finish in time.
With 10 minutes left, I went back to lecture mode and showed them how to build increasingly complex ciphers from the cipher wheels. I got some oohs and ahhs, and I think that the exercise of trying to break a simple substitution gave them an appreciation for how hard it would be to break a three wheel cipher with keyed rotations. One particularly bright student, one of the younger ones, who asked some great questions (wonder if there's room for him at JHU some day in our Ph.D. program) said that he thought all of the strategies that were on the board were useless once the wheels started rotating, and he did not accept that anyone could actually break such a cipher, even using a computer. I did my best to assure him that computers could try many combinations of rotations of the wheel and look for recognizable plaintext, but I don't think he bought it. Once I stated that in WWII, the real progress in breaking the Enigma happened when an encrypting machine was captured, he seemed satisfied.
So, overall, I had a blast. The students were great, and of course, the material made it easy. I just wish I had had a longer session. Okay, now back to my "adult" students.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Teaching Cryptography to 5th Graders
My kids attend the Krieger Schechter Day School. Today, they are having a learning festival where professionals from many different fields are teaching classes in their areas of expertise. The topics include, Drama, Animal Communication, Art, Conflict Resolution, Israeli Dance, Sports Signals, Hieroglyphics, Sign Language, Media, Electric Circuits and Morse Code, Woodshop and many others. I'm teaching a unit called Codes and Ciphers.
Designing the class proved to be more challenging than I initially realized. These are very smart kids, but they are only 11 years old, and so one time pads, modular exponentiation, and Diffie Helman key exchange are off limits. I decided that the best approach is to give them something hands on to do. I teach in a few hours, and I'll post something afterwards about how it went. Here is the lesson plan.
First, I'm going to talk a bit about basic codes. I'll describe "One if by Land, Two if by Sea". Although that code was not designed for confidentiality, it was nonetheless a code. Next, I'll move into Caesar ciphers and general substitution ciphers. Then, I'll divide the class into 4 groups of four students, as I was told there will be 16 students in the class.
Elana (my 5th grade daughter) and I prepared cipher wheels out of paper plates. Each wheel consists of an inner and an outer paper plate. The inner plate was cut so that it is a few inches smaller in diameter than the outer one, and a tack was placed in the middle of the two plates so that they can spin independently of each other. We filled in the inner plates with the letters of the alphabet around the perimeter. The groups in the class will each fill in the outer plates with letters, lined up with the letters on the inner plate, to produce a substitution cipher. At the same time, they will generate a message of several sentences and encode it with the cipher.
Each group will receive an encoded message from the another group, and they will use letter frequency and other clues to try to decipher it and to reveal as much as they can about the cipher from the other group.
In the remaining time, I will show them how they can build an increasingly sophisticated cipher by turning the wheel after each letter is encrypted by a fixed amount and then by a variable amount. I'll show them how decryption would work by running an example with one of the cipher wheels and encrypting/decrypting a simple sentence on the blackboard.
Next, I will show them how to combine three cipher wheels and rotations via a key to obtain a cipher similar to the Enigma Machine, and I will talk about the role of the Enigma in WWII, and how it was ultimately broken, as well as the importance of capturing a device.
Finally, I will explain the intuition behind modern ciphers that use a key, and I hope that I can get them to appreciate Kerckhoff's Principle that the algorithms can be made public, and that all of the security of a cipher system needs to lie in the key.
So, it's an ambitious undertaking, but I hope I can get through all of this and give the students an appreciation for the beauty and complexity of Cryptography while showing them a good time and not overwhelming them.
Designing the class proved to be more challenging than I initially realized. These are very smart kids, but they are only 11 years old, and so one time pads, modular exponentiation, and Diffie Helman key exchange are off limits. I decided that the best approach is to give them something hands on to do. I teach in a few hours, and I'll post something afterwards about how it went. Here is the lesson plan.
First, I'm going to talk a bit about basic codes. I'll describe "One if by Land, Two if by Sea". Although that code was not designed for confidentiality, it was nonetheless a code. Next, I'll move into Caesar ciphers and general substitution ciphers. Then, I'll divide the class into 4 groups of four students, as I was told there will be 16 students in the class.
Elana (my 5th grade daughter) and I prepared cipher wheels out of paper plates. Each wheel consists of an inner and an outer paper plate. The inner plate was cut so that it is a few inches smaller in diameter than the outer one, and a tack was placed in the middle of the two plates so that they can spin independently of each other. We filled in the inner plates with the letters of the alphabet around the perimeter. The groups in the class will each fill in the outer plates with letters, lined up with the letters on the inner plate, to produce a substitution cipher. At the same time, they will generate a message of several sentences and encode it with the cipher.
Each group will receive an encoded message from the another group, and they will use letter frequency and other clues to try to decipher it and to reveal as much as they can about the cipher from the other group.
In the remaining time, I will show them how they can build an increasingly sophisticated cipher by turning the wheel after each letter is encrypted by a fixed amount and then by a variable amount. I'll show them how decryption would work by running an example with one of the cipher wheels and encrypting/decrypting a simple sentence on the blackboard.
Next, I will show them how to combine three cipher wheels and rotations via a key to obtain a cipher similar to the Enigma Machine, and I will talk about the role of the Enigma in WWII, and how it was ultimately broken, as well as the importance of capturing a device.
Finally, I will explain the intuition behind modern ciphers that use a key, and I hope that I can get them to appreciate Kerckhoff's Principle that the algorithms can be made public, and that all of the security of a cipher system needs to lie in the key.
So, it's an ambitious undertaking, but I hope I can get through all of this and give the students an appreciation for the beauty and complexity of Cryptography while showing them a good time and not overwhelming them.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
24 is GOOD again
I've posted before about the Fox TV show, 24. My DVR records it on Monday nights, and I watch it early in the morning on Tuesday when I work out on my exercise bike. This morning, I watched last night's episode, and for the first time all year, I was completely gripped. I won't spoil it for those who have DVRed it and haven't watched or those who will watch it on Hulu. I will just say that the plot twist at the end was ingenious, and I felt stupid for not picking up on it. Well done. Probably the best episode in 3 or 4 years. The writing was clever - almost perfect. The only negative was the silly sub-plot about Dana's ex-boyfriend. Other than that, this may be a top 3 or 4 all time episode. (Either that, or the recent ones have been so dull and predictable that this one just stands out by comparison.) Anyway, 24 is good again. I'm very excited to see next week's episode on Tuesday morning.
Saturday, March 06, 2010
14 hours in Vegas
After the RSA conference in San Francisco this week, I had 24 hours before I had to be in San Antonio for my nephew's bar mitzvah. So, I rearranged my flights, got a comped room at Harrah's, and ... free trip to Las Vegas!
After checking in and dropping off my luggage in my room, I walked over to the poker room at Harrah's. It was dark, dingy and depressing looking, and there were only 2 tables with players. So, I crossed the street over to the Mirage, and found a beautiful, large poker room that was hopping. I bought into the 1-2 no limit Hold 'em game for $200 and started playing at 6:30 pm. The table was mostly weak with a few aggressive players pushing the action and several tourists who were in way over their head.
I watched a couple of rounds without playing any hands until I picked up K-Q suited in middle position. An active player with a stack about like mine in second position (player A) raises to $6 (the bet amounts in this trip report are the best approximation I can make based on what I remember). I call, and two other players behind me (players B & C) call. The flop came K-T-3 rainbow, giving me top pair with a decent kicker. Player A, the original raiser, bets $12, which was half the pot, and I call. Player B, behind me folds and player C raised to $30. Player A folds, and after giving it some thought (although clearly not enough), I call. The turn card was another ten. That was a scary card given the betting so far, so I check. Player C pushes all in. I didn't see how I could call for all my chips with top pair decent kicker on my very first hand on that board. Furthermore, I had pegged player C as tight and this was her first big move since I sat down. So, after contemplating it a bit, I folded. Player C shows a pair of tens for quad tens, and in addition to the pot, she collects a special jackpot that the casino paid for anyone showing quads or better.
So, I had a bit of a dent in my stack after one hand, but I had averted early disaster. About 4 hands later things weren't going well, I was down to $15, and in less than 15 minutes from when I played my first hand, I bought in for another $100. I had some unlucky breaks and in short order, I was down to $55. At this rate, it was going to be a very short night of poker. I got up and walked around and tried to relax and decided to tighten up and focus, so that my $55 would last a little longer.
About an hour later, I was doing better and up to about $90 playing very tight and occasionally stealing some pots due to the table rep I had established. I wasn't getting any cards. Then I hit a turning point. I was in the big blind wit Q-5 offsuit. It limps around to me with 8 players and I check. The flop comes 5-5-3. After a couple of checks, one player (A) bets $10 into a $16 pot. Another player (B) calls, and I call, so three players see the turn. The turn card is a Q, completing my well-disguised boat. Player A bets $25; player B who had us both covered raises to $50. I push all in. Player A folds, and player B calls. The river card is irrelevant, and player B shows a pair of 3s for a lower full house than mine. I'm back in business, doubling up to $180. I got lucky because player B flopped his boat and I didn't get mine until the turn. Furthermore, had the Q not come, I would have lost a lot of money with my trip fives.
I decided to shift gears and loosen up a bit. The more aggressive players at the table had left and were replaced by tight, passive players. I was able to chase out limpers pretty often. There was one guy at the table, Don Quixote (pronounced 'Donkey Chote'), in particular who like to limp and then raise on the flop and then fold on the turn to a big bet. I noticed this pattern with regularity, so I started exploiting it very successfully. His tactic, however, had been working for him surprisingly well (due in large part to luck), and he had a decent stack, well over $400.
I had built myself up to about $300 (breaking even for the night at that point) when I was dealt suited connectors. I don't remember which cards exactly, but I ended up in an all in showdown with Don Q., and my flush beat his two pair, and so I doubled up again, to twice my total buy-in.
My worst beat of the night also came against Don, who at that point, not surprisingly, was down to about $100. Under the gun, I bet $8 with pocket aces, and only Don calls. Heads up. The flop comes 8-J-Q with two spades. I bet $25, hoping to shut out any draws he might have and take the pot right there. Don raises me all in. I had to think a little bit. The hands I can think of where I'm not a favorite are 9-T, two pair, and the three sets. Don was always raising preflop with pairs, even low ones, so I had to figure he had flopped two pair or a straight. He was also very capable of a bluff, and I also figured he might make that play with hands like A-Q or (more likely since I had 2 aces) K-Q. The way Don played, I also thought he could push with any two spades as some kind of misguided semi-bluff. I had no idea which of these I was up against, although I suspected it was not a set, and I didn't see much choice with a third of my stack already in the pot and a decent hand, so I called, and he turns over 9-T of spades and ends up getting his flush on the river, although he already had me beat with the straight.
The characters at the table changed over time, and I stayed until 3:00 a.m. - my longest poker session ever. At one point my stack got as high as around $700, and I ended cashing out $518. When I got back to my room, I got ready for bed and called Ann to say hi. She was just getting up at 6:20 a.m. EST in Baltimore. I set a wake-up call for 4 hours later and got a little bit of sleep. I'm on the plane now heading to San Antonio. Tired as hell, but I had a total blast. Can't wait to play poker again, and incredulous that I came out ahead on my first trip to play poker in Las Vegas. I'm sure I'll be redistributing my winnings to the folks at my regular house game before long.
After checking in and dropping off my luggage in my room, I walked over to the poker room at Harrah's. It was dark, dingy and depressing looking, and there were only 2 tables with players. So, I crossed the street over to the Mirage, and found a beautiful, large poker room that was hopping. I bought into the 1-2 no limit Hold 'em game for $200 and started playing at 6:30 pm. The table was mostly weak with a few aggressive players pushing the action and several tourists who were in way over their head.
I watched a couple of rounds without playing any hands until I picked up K-Q suited in middle position. An active player with a stack about like mine in second position (player A) raises to $6 (the bet amounts in this trip report are the best approximation I can make based on what I remember). I call, and two other players behind me (players B & C) call. The flop came K-T-3 rainbow, giving me top pair with a decent kicker. Player A, the original raiser, bets $12, which was half the pot, and I call. Player B, behind me folds and player C raised to $30. Player A folds, and after giving it some thought (although clearly not enough), I call. The turn card was another ten. That was a scary card given the betting so far, so I check. Player C pushes all in. I didn't see how I could call for all my chips with top pair decent kicker on my very first hand on that board. Furthermore, I had pegged player C as tight and this was her first big move since I sat down. So, after contemplating it a bit, I folded. Player C shows a pair of tens for quad tens, and in addition to the pot, she collects a special jackpot that the casino paid for anyone showing quads or better.
So, I had a bit of a dent in my stack after one hand, but I had averted early disaster. About 4 hands later things weren't going well, I was down to $15, and in less than 15 minutes from when I played my first hand, I bought in for another $100. I had some unlucky breaks and in short order, I was down to $55. At this rate, it was going to be a very short night of poker. I got up and walked around and tried to relax and decided to tighten up and focus, so that my $55 would last a little longer.
About an hour later, I was doing better and up to about $90 playing very tight and occasionally stealing some pots due to the table rep I had established. I wasn't getting any cards. Then I hit a turning point. I was in the big blind wit Q-5 offsuit. It limps around to me with 8 players and I check. The flop comes 5-5-3. After a couple of checks, one player (A) bets $10 into a $16 pot. Another player (B) calls, and I call, so three players see the turn. The turn card is a Q, completing my well-disguised boat. Player A bets $25; player B who had us both covered raises to $50. I push all in. Player A folds, and player B calls. The river card is irrelevant, and player B shows a pair of 3s for a lower full house than mine. I'm back in business, doubling up to $180. I got lucky because player B flopped his boat and I didn't get mine until the turn. Furthermore, had the Q not come, I would have lost a lot of money with my trip fives.
I decided to shift gears and loosen up a bit. The more aggressive players at the table had left and were replaced by tight, passive players. I was able to chase out limpers pretty often. There was one guy at the table, Don Quixote (pronounced 'Donkey Chote'), in particular who like to limp and then raise on the flop and then fold on the turn to a big bet. I noticed this pattern with regularity, so I started exploiting it very successfully. His tactic, however, had been working for him surprisingly well (due in large part to luck), and he had a decent stack, well over $400.
I had built myself up to about $300 (breaking even for the night at that point) when I was dealt suited connectors. I don't remember which cards exactly, but I ended up in an all in showdown with Don Q., and my flush beat his two pair, and so I doubled up again, to twice my total buy-in.
My worst beat of the night also came against Don, who at that point, not surprisingly, was down to about $100. Under the gun, I bet $8 with pocket aces, and only Don calls. Heads up. The flop comes 8-J-Q with two spades. I bet $25, hoping to shut out any draws he might have and take the pot right there. Don raises me all in. I had to think a little bit. The hands I can think of where I'm not a favorite are 9-T, two pair, and the three sets. Don was always raising preflop with pairs, even low ones, so I had to figure he had flopped two pair or a straight. He was also very capable of a bluff, and I also figured he might make that play with hands like A-Q or (more likely since I had 2 aces) K-Q. The way Don played, I also thought he could push with any two spades as some kind of misguided semi-bluff. I had no idea which of these I was up against, although I suspected it was not a set, and I didn't see much choice with a third of my stack already in the pot and a decent hand, so I called, and he turns over 9-T of spades and ends up getting his flush on the river, although he already had me beat with the straight.
The characters at the table changed over time, and I stayed until 3:00 a.m. - my longest poker session ever. At one point my stack got as high as around $700, and I ended cashing out $518. When I got back to my room, I got ready for bed and called Ann to say hi. She was just getting up at 6:20 a.m. EST in Baltimore. I set a wake-up call for 4 hours later and got a little bit of sleep. I'm on the plane now heading to San Antonio. Tired as hell, but I had a total blast. Can't wait to play poker again, and incredulous that I came out ahead on my first trip to play poker in Las Vegas. I'm sure I'll be redistributing my winnings to the folks at my regular house game before long.
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