Special Interest Group on CRAP

Thoughts by Kevin McCurley
Not affiliated with ACM. They have their own crap.

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Entries from August 2008

Thoughts from the Crypto conference

August 28th, 2008 ·

I was having a hard time summarizing my thoughts from the Crypto conference. As always it was nice to see old friends and engage in discussions about the state of the art in crypto, but in retrospect I think the field of mathematical cryptography has dug itself into a hole and has a hard [...]

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Tags: Research · security

The artistry of automobile design

August 27th, 2008 ·

I recently visited the Blackhawk Auto Museum and I was reminded of how artistry and engineering can complement each other.

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Tags: Inspirations

The Annual Pilgrimage

August 15th, 2008 ·

I started working on cryptography as a way to do something more practical than pure mathematics. Waaaaaaay back in 1985 I discovered the Crypto conference in Santa Barbara at UCSB, and I was enthralled because I could interact with computer scientists, electrical engineers, business people, and other mathematicians on a subject that seemed to [...]

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Tags: Research · security

Why AT&T is CRAP

August 12th, 2008 ·

Today my wife and I received text message spam on our cell phones from AT&T. The offer said we could download a free application (except that standard data rates apply). It’s amazing that these assholes continue to find new ways to alienate their customers. And they wonder why they have no customer [...]

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Tags: Rants

The Olympics and Nationalism

August 10th, 2008 ·

Once again the world seems to be agog about the olympics. I can appreciate the interest that people have in watching the best people in the world perform in sports, but what bugs me most about the olympics is the constant drumbeat of nationalism that pervades it. I think that the American public [...]

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Tags: Politics

Electric vehicle heaven

August 4th, 2008 ·

Picture taken recently at work, taken in the area of parking spaces reserved for electric vehicles. In this picture you’ll see five electric vehicles, including:

A Tango
A RAV 4 EV
Larry’s Tesla (the silver one)
Sergey’s Tesla (the red one)
A gemcar

I can’t wait to park my Aptera in one of these spaces…

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Tags: Inspirations