Tom 7 Radar: They have this new security thing where a grid of jets fires bursts of air at your body, a sort of ''puff'' test

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They have this new security thing where a grid of jets fires bursts of air at your body, a sort of ''puff'' test (22 Aug 2005 at 10:16)

Well, I made it! Due to a three-hour delay on my first flight, I missed my connection to London by a mere 5 minutes, so I had to take the next flight—twelve hours later. I ended up having to "sleep" in the airport, which is not awesome. All sorts of other things, like exploded watches, lost power adaptors, and ketchup spills, made for a somewhat exhausting trip. But Oxford itself is very nice. I need to buy an umbrella.

I gave my talk this morning, and though I wasn't able to make any of the last-minute revisions I had wanted to make (no power, after all), I still think the talk is good and that it went well. You can check out the slides (although you will have to do the voices for the animated featurette yourself): CS5-CSL23.SWF.

Most of the other talks are way out there. It is very weird to be the most implementation-oriented guy at the dinner table!

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Jana (63.193.182.44) – 08.22.05 10:29:14

That puff test is showing up in more places than ever--Statue of Liberty, even. When we asked the security folks about it, they said it is "sniffing" people, the puffing can detect chemical/dangerous odors. All sorts of possibilities for jokes here...

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jcreed (wittgenstein.wv.cc.cmu.edu) – 08.22.05 13:39:12

The animated featurette is great!

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ASAnymous (cobamide.bio.pitt.edu) – 08.22.05 14:45:26

so good.

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Rob (ip-83-134-238-117.dsl.scarlet.be) – 08.22.05 18:52:35

Hey Tom.. never been to Oxford but sure you won't have any trouble finding something cool to do and post on your blog. When you make it to Brussels I can be of more help ;).

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Tom 7 (awacs.physics.ox.ac.uk) – 08.23.05 05:57:27

Thanks H, glad to see you speaking again. ;)

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William (gs4082.sp.cs.cmu.edu) – 08.23.05 16:54:19

"... fearing robbery, or worse ..."

Nooo! Whatever you do, don't steal my swinging lightbulb or power outlet...

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Tom 7 (163.1.19.53) – 08.24.05 07:00:20

wm: I told you I'd furnish it. ;)

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waqas (beacon-ext.nus.edu.sg) – 08.31.05 09:10:45

They still have chalk boards in Oxford!

Space and Time travel interesting. I would choose to address it in a more interesting way though :). didn't get a thing of ur presentation may thats becoz i'm still an undergrad from an absolutely irrelevant department.

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Tom 7 (h-72-244-68-9.phlapafg.dynamic.covad.net) – 08.31.05 09:42:51

Sure, in fact those chalkboards are made of canvas and they roll up and around so you don't need to erase during a lecture.

Yeah, the presentation isn't going to make much sense unless you have a background in logic and computer science, at a minimum. But if you thought that was obscure, you should have seen the others. ;)

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