Archive for the ‘USA’ Category

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Going Out Alon(e)

Sunday, March 23rd, 2008

Computer History MuseumThis week I started doing stuff in my free time instead of staying home all day. It all started with me searching Google for information about the movie “Be Kind, Rewind.” That search popped up a link with showtimes in my area, so I decided to look around and see how much to movie tickets cost here.

So I browsed the ordering site, and found that tickets for the early screening cost $7.50. Not expensive, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to go, so I browsed out of the ordering screen. That popped up a message saying I could get the ticket for free. After a short signup on some other site I got my free ticket cupon (I’m a big sucker for free stuff). After going through all that work, I decided I might as well pay $1 for my “free” ticket and go see the move.

I went off directly from work to the theater in Redwood City: 20 auditoriums and lots of space, cheap and plentiful parking, and generally a nice place to be. As usual, I was about 15 minutes early, so I went into the theater and watched trailers before the movie. The movie itself was funny and enjoyable, and I didn’t feel weird watching it alone.

After the movie I felt like I wanted more, and wanted to see a more serious movie I heard good things about, so I went out to the cashier and bought a ticket for “Juno.” It was one of the best dramas I’ve seen in a while and I could really identify with the main character, even though my situation does not resemble hers.

That concluded that night out, but not my excursions for the week. Coming back to Google’s movies site, I noticed that an Israeli film called “The Band’s Visit” is showing in a small arthouse theater in literally on my way from work home. So I decided and go see the movie the next day. Even though I read very positive reviews about it on FishEye, I still think that Juno was much more moving. That said, I don’t think it was a bad movie.

Today is Saturday, and the day before Easter. I decided to finally do something I’ve been thinking of almost since I got here, and went to the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, about a 5 minute drive from my home in Palo Alto. Admission is free and we got a nice tour of the exhibits. The docent has also shown us some of the exhibits in storage that are not usually accessible to the general public.

After visiting the museum I visited the museum website, and found out that they do not have a Dragon-32 computer and are seeking donations. The Dragon-32 was the first computer I’ve ever used (The 32 stands for 32 Kilobytes of RAM it has). We should still have a working Dragon-32 at home in Israel, and I would like to ask my parents if they are willing to donate it.

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Posted in American Culture, Leisure, Tech stuff, USA | 6 Comments »

From home to home

Friday, March 14th, 2008

A few days ago I have landed back in the US after a 10-day visit to Israel. It was really strange to be flying “back” but away from my friends and family and the home I’ve lived in since I was a child. Because both places are “home” to me, but it doesn’t feel like I’m going “back”, no matter what the immigration officer said.

When I arrived in Israel two weeks ago, I immediately felt at home, even though I haven’t been there for half a year. My house, my room, all stayed the same as if I have never left. I was surprised how quickly I have adjusted to the 10-hour jet lag and to being at home. The first weekend was spent mostly playing my suitcase-full of board games. The weekdays were mostly spent at the Technion, meeting old friends and research colleagues, though I didn’t do any new research. In the second Friday, we hosted a mini boardgame party in our house, and the next day I went to my brother’s house in the center.

In between all that, I managed to review 12 papers, do some family tech support, and realize that my backup HD is officially dead (I’ve placed an order for a new one).

Some information about my flights: On the EWR-TLV (Newark – Tel Aviv) leg, I was in a fully booked brand new 777-200, with personal touch-screens and on-demand video, much better than the channel-based entertainment personal system on the 767. Therefore, I was surprised to see that channel-based system on the 777-200 on the way back. Luckily, I had an encapsulated entertainment system called “a book”, that’s even allowed during takeoff and landing. The next leg (EWR-SFO) was on a brand new 737-800. The plane was so new that they didn’t install the entertainment system yet — not even audio or public TVs. On the plus side, the plane was almost empty and I took over a whole row in the back of the plane, and lied does while using my paper-based entertainment system.

Now I’m back at Stanford, trying to do some new research.

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Posted in Family, Frequent Flyer, Travel, USA | 4 Comments »

Cold, bill’d, stuck and fixed

Wednesday, February 20th, 2008

Yesterday I woke up with a cold, for not apparent reason. Had a work meeting with my advisor and told him about my sinister plans to go home. He immediately approved my decision. On my way back to the office, I peeked into the AI lab meeting room, where I saw a familiar face, someone the building was named after, the chairman of the most hated company in the world — Bill Gates. I didn’t stay much longer, as his bodyguards told me to move along, but still he really was there.

Later, I placed some orders for people who wanted me to bring them stuff, and went to buy a thermos (so I can have some tea) and then to the Tuesday games group. In the games group, we played my copy of Container. Then it started raining. So, someone with an umbrella helped me walk to the car without getting my game wet, and I put it in the trunk, and closed the trunk…. with my keys inside. Luckily, someone else from the game group was generous enough to drive me home and back so I can get my spare keys and open the car.

When I finally reached home again, I found a pleasant surprise. My laptop was back from repair. I did not expect it to return so soon. It was picked up on Saturday, repaired on Monday, shipped the same day, and arrived back on Tuesday. Not bad, especially given the fact that it was flown to Memphis for the repair.

So, now I’m home, with a working laptop, and a cold…

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Posted in Gaming, Health, Tech stuff, USA | 2 Comments »

I’m coming home next week!

Monday, February 18th, 2008

The title says it all. I was feeling homesick, and I get 2/3 of the flight back in miles, so next Friday, Feb. 29th (yes, there is one this year), I’ll arrive at Tel Aviv Ben Gurion Airport. I’ll stay for ten days until March 10th, and then stay here till passover.
I’m essentially free all this time, so those of you who would like to see me, please send me an e-mail. I’ll guess I’ll set up a meet around one of the weekends.
Also, if you want me to get stuff for you that’s only available in the US, please ask.

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Posted in Family, Travel, USA | 1 Comment »

Memory Loss

Friday, January 11th, 2008

2GB miniSD CardI know I haven’t blogged in a while. There was not much to write about, and I skipped writing about some interesting stuff, but anyway I have something to write about today.
Last night, as was walking to my car like any other day, except that I had dinner with a visiting professor. I didn’t want to be late so I left half an hour before the meeting, even though it was 5 minutes away from campus. On my way to the car, I keyed in the location into my GPS just to be sure. Trying to type while walking, I dropped my iPAQ (which is also my GPS). The drop did not damage the iPAQ, but it did separate the screen cover and the stylus, which I have easily recovered, and kept on walking. After a few meters, I noticed that the GPS software wouldn’t work. After another try I realized that my miniSD memory card was gone.

Now, you should understand that a miniSD card is only 2cm x 2cm large, about the size of a SIM card. Looking for the card on a sidewalk in the darkness, when I did not know where exactly it fell was not an easy task, and indeed I did not find my card.

As time was running out, I decided to head for dinner, without a functioning GPS. It shouldn’t have been hard since it was basically one right turn in a major intersection. I missed the turn. If I had GPS, I would have known exactly where to go. Being GPSless, I decided to take the next right turn. Unbeknown to me, that road did not intersect with my destination road. Anyway I had to turn several times until I finally reached my destination. Google map of my path.

Today, I looked for my card in daylight and I couldn’t find anything, so I restored my backup into my old 1GB card, which am using now.

Lesson: Always look for your memory card if you drop your phone.

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Posted in Daily Life, Stanford, Tech stuff | 2 Comments »

Christmas and the Jew

Friday, December 28th, 2007

This post was written on Christmas day – December 25th. Ever since Thanksgiving there are decorated Xmas trees everywhere, the radio plays Xmas music, and everyone is away with family.

As everyone is with family, most of the boardgame events were canceled, and Stanford is almost empty.

The only ones still around are the Jewish community. A person I met in a conference invited me to meet some of his friends at an Israeli restaurant on the Sunday before Xmas. It turns out that the person who operates the largest Jewish site in the bay has the same name as my brother – Tomer Altman.

They have invited me to join them to a Chinese restaurant on Xmas day. They forgot to mention that the meal is strictly veggie. Luckily, I got some veg-less noodles so I could eat. The whole occasion was long and boring. I left as soon as the meal was over.

Earlier that day I realized that most restaurants are closed on Xmas day. After trying two “24 hr” McDonald’s branches which were closed, I settled for Mediterranean food in a Greek restaurant I found open on University Ave.

That concludes my Xmas tales. This weekend will be boardgames again.

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Posted in American Culture, Gaming | 3 Comments »

To Eat Turkey and Rest

Friday, November 23rd, 2007

Thanksgiving Turkey(Title sounds better in Hebrew)

Today is the 4th Thursday of November, which means Thanksgiving Day is celebrated throughout the United States. This is the day where Americans celebrate their conquest over the native Americans (“Indians”). This is the most family-inclined of all US vacations, and most people use this holiday to meet with their families and eat together, similar to the Jewish Passover.

As a tribute to this togetherness, the family I live with have invited me to join their Thanksgiving celebrations. I got to meet many members of their family in their house in Palo Alto. They have invited me for dinner as well, but I have already booked dinner at Stanford.

The Stanford dinner included Turkey and mashed potatoes. I met there someone I have met while walking “the dish” on one of my first days here.

Tomorrow is Black Friday. While in most cultures calling a day “Black” implies a negative context, Black Friday actually celebrates the most American tradition of them all: Shopping. The use of the word “black” comes from the fact that retailers start making profit, and thus are “in the black” after this day. It turns out that the day after Thanksgiving marks the start of the US Winter Holiday Season, and specifically the shopping season before Christmas. Many retailers have sales on this day, and unless your are shopping-crazed it’s advised that you stay home, which is exactly what I plan to do.

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Posted in American Culture, Stanford | 4 Comments »

To the city

Monday, November 19th, 2007

View from Vista point on I-280Yesterday, was my birthday, and my friend Jesse and I went over to “the city” known as San Francisco. At start, I drove and she navigated (with the aid of my friend Miss GPS). We went to see city hall and the opera house, then to Japantown and ate an American lunch. The next stop on our journey was Coit Tower (nothing to do with the radio station KOIT).

Here we switched places, with Jesse driving and me navigating, and didn’t get much out of the car. We saw the palace of fine arts, and the golden gate bridge. The route took us by the Pacific shore, though we couldn’t see anything due to heavy fog. At this point we decided to head back home. We ate dinner at a nice pie restaurant and back to Jesse’s house where we saw the movie Garden State.

Pictures from the Tour

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Posted in Leisure, Personal, US Travel, USA | 3 Comments »

Univarsity

Monday, November 5th, 2007

Stanford Football StadiumAmericans love sport. They simply define it differently than the rest of the world. According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, sport is defined as:

Physical activity that is governed by a set of rules or customs and often engaged in competitively.

In American popular culture however, the idea of physical activity does not really exist. For most Americans, sports are somet/hing you watch not something you do.

This relates to the true aim of US colleges and universities: To house sports teams for people to watch. Research is what they do behind people’s backs when they’re busy watching sports.

Why am I telling you all this? Well, yesterday I decided to go to the pool I heard was open at Stanford. I looked through Stanford’s athletics website and found no relevant information. You see, the athletics website is for people who want to watch sports. So, there is information about events and how to buy tickets. Even when you do locate the page about the pool (or “aquatic center“) there is no information about using the pool. Why would there? Athletic facilities are for varsity athletes and people coming to see them.

Anyway, after finding the much more obscure site for Stanford recreation and wellness, I found the very limited opening hours of the pool, and headed there yesterday afternoon. What a mistake I have made. Stanford was full of cars, all parking lots in the north side of the campus were full, a high school located just off campus sold parking for $10. All this on a Saturday. Why? Because there was a football game, and when I say football, I mean the strange American sport similar to rugby.

So, I decided to try again today (Sunday). I arrived and parked my car and headed at first in the wrong direction. It seems Stanford has stadiums for many strange sports, and they are all used by the few select athletes who compete in that sport. Same goes for the aquatic center. It is clear that is was designed for training and competition, and not for recreational use. One pool is surrounded by audience seating and the only open pool is also designed for competition. It is deep almost all way across, with no shelf in the deeper end, and with ladders only in the shallow end. On the other hand, there are jump boards all around the pool and a big scoreboard. There is no clock anywhere around the pool, but there are many timers all around the pool.

So, after a few laps of swimming, I head back home. I’m not sure if I’d be returning there any time soon.

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Posted in American Culture, Stanford | 3 Comments »

Quake 5.6

Wednesday, October 31st, 2007

5.6 Magnitude EarthquakeYesterday night, I have felt an earthquake of magnitude 5.6 on the Richter scale. At the time, I was playing boardgames in Mountain View and all the tables started moving slightly and then stopped. No damage or injury was caused by the earthquake, but immediately people called their friends on cellphones to check on them and to tell them they are OK. I didn’t call because it was 4 AM in Israel. I decided I’ll blog on it when I get home. When I did get home, I started writing this post, but I fell asleep due to jet lag.

In other news, I’m giving a talk today at the group lunch as the person who was planned to talk today had to cancel. I’m giving the same talk I gave at Dagstuhl, so it should be easy for me.

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Posted in Academia, Daily Life, Gaming | 4 Comments »

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