work

This week was definitely front heavy with a lot of work. I had to issue a couple corrections to the final project, write up the last problem set, and refine some lecture notes for my class. I got it all done, though! And now I've covered all the material that will be on the final. It was tricky to decide how much of PKI and TLS I wanted to cover in this class, and I ended up writing a lot of detailed notes and only presenting the high-level overview in class. This was probably the right call, because I didn't really have the time to properly define all the relevant security definitions. Next week should be much more relaxed, where the class will be mostly review.

I also have a paper with some external collaborators that we're hoping to submit to CCS next week! We've already submitted the abstract, but there's a lot to do on the paper. Unfortunately, the part that I had carved out for myself isn't as strong as we were hoping, but I'm hoping that I can still state something interesting.

non-work

I had a pretty relaxing week outside of work! I wasn't very active outside the home, but I did enjoy my time playing games, watching TV, reading, etc. I played some more Slay the Spire 2, and am slowly climbing the ascension ranks. I'm trying to keep it balanced across the characters rather than focusing just one. It makes it a little tough to remember all the cards/strategy, but I still find it really fun.

I just got to a big turning point in Severance by Ling Ma too. The book as been more engaging that I initially expected. It shows a perspective of America, NYC, and China that I haven't seen in a lot of other media. I should probably finish it in the coming weeks, and have some more complete thoughts about the book.

questions

• What PIR settings require authentication in practice? What is the model for updating the database in these settings?
• What should I make sure to cover in my next course on Quantum Information Science?
  • So far, I have very few students enrolled, so I might be able to go pretty fast and cover interesting things
• Is it better to teach CS Theory or cryptography to identify undergraduates that are interested in research?
  • I wonder if it's better to find students earlier in their academic career vs seeing them only in their last year or two

Thanks for reading to the end! Here's a picture of Timmy finding all the good places to hide.