slow but fun week
work
I took it pretty slow this week. I did some writing on all of my projects and had a handful of meetings. But, mostly, I tried to take time to myself and relax when possible. I want to try to save as much energy as I can for the next couple of weeks. Next Wednesday, Stevens has the new faculty orientation and the week after I start officially. Really hope I get to hit the ground running and find a good rhythm for the semester.
non-work
Outside of work, I continued my regular games and reading. The weather was amazing, though, so I ended up spending more time outside than normal, which is always welcome. And on Friday, my partner and I went to the Empire State Building! It's touristy, but I hadn't been since I was a kid, and somehow she had never been, despite living in NYC for over seven years. The view was super clear, and it was actually really fun to see the city from the tower there. Afterward, we also had the chance to eat in Korea town, which has become rarer since we moved out of the city.
Also, Silksong finally got a release date!! Can't wait to play that in a couple weeks.
things i saw this week
A PC Mag article about some VPN settings which should probably become more standard for people looking for privacy
A ATIH blog post about issues with AI companions that's a bit more empirical than the vibes-based analysis a lot of people give
A Proton blog post about where surveillance occurs and how it can be resisted
An Reclaim the net post reporting that Google is expanding its age verification to search
questions
What are the most interesting open problems in big key cryptography? I've drawn on this area for lower bounds and now have some interest in formal models of exfiltration, so I hope to catch up on the latest results and open problems.
Thanks for reading to the end! Here's a picture from floor 102 of the Empire State Building:
