[First and foremost, happy birthday to ellipticcurve. C’mon, you know the words. Sing with me: “Put another candle on your birthday cake, we’re gonna bake a birthday cake. Put another candle on your birthday cake, you’re another year old today. We’re gonna have a party with your birthday cake, come on and take some birthday cake. Put another candle on your birthday cake, you’re another year old today. We’ll have some pie and sandwiches, and chocolate ice cream too. We’ll sing and play the day away, but one more thing we’re gonna do. You’ll blow out the candles on your birthday cake, and when you do, a wish you’ll make. Put another candle on your birthday cake, you’re another year old today. Happy birthday to you, you’re another year old today.” No, I didn’t embarrass her by having the entire conference sing “Happy Birthday” to her during the open plenary session (but I did think of it). I did, however, have everyone at the Chanukah party sing to her!]
I’m tired. It’s been a long day. We started out with me up on the podium, introducing everyone and thanking everyone for coming. As usual, the demographics were interesting, with a large number of first timers. Our opening plenary speaker was Steve Lipner of Microsoft, who spoke about the process they follow to engineering security into new products, such as Server 2003. It was very interesting, especially if they indeed follow it. The sessions were… sessions: some good papers, some soperific papers. Folks: If you have to present a paper at a conference, learn how to give a good talk! We also had a wonderful debate about the efficacy of evaluation standards with system acquisitions.
This evening, we hosted a small Chanukah party for those who wanted to attend. It was lots of fun, with three Chanukiyot, lots of gelt, sufganiyot, and latkes. We went out for Chinese afterwards: traditional Jewish food!
I’m now off to make reservations for the drive back Saturday, and then it is off to bed. Tomorrow, we have Rebecca Mercuri, an expert on electronic voting, speaking, as well as our Classic Papers session!
