To the city

Yesterday, 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

Yahoo! Games

On Monday I spent my evening playing board games at Yahoo! If you are thinking I spent my time staring at a computer screen, then you are wrong. I drove to Yahoo's campus in Sunnyvale (about 16 minutes from my house) and joined a meeting of South Bay Boardgamers, a group that meets every Monday on Yahoo!'s campus to play board games.

Today I played Vegas Showdown and Clippers. The former has (surprisingly enough) nothing to do with gambling (but a lot to do with bidding), and the latter features ships of different colors that do not belong to any of the players. Both games were interesting and full of strategy (Clippers more so).

This is the second time I attend such a meeting (last time it was Silicon Valley Boardgamers). In both times I've learned new games I've never seen before. I'm enjoying myself very much here.

Licensed!

Today I got a license. Not for software, but a driver's license. As of today, I am a fully licensed driver in the state of California. As I have mentioned earlier, I had to pass both a written and a driven exam. Today I passed the driven exam and immediately got a temporary license.

My plastic license will be mailed in 10 days, and then I will be just like any American with a Social Security Number, credit and debit card, and a driver's license. I can't vote and don't have a US passport, but then again, most Americans don't vote or have a passport either.

I see dead people

Today was a Saturday, and in the US most things are still open on Saturday, so I decided to go to the Tech museum in San Jose, which was recommended to me by several people at Stanford.

The Tech by itself is an average science museum, not too impressive. However, now at The Tech there is a temporary exhibition called Body Worlds 2. This special exhibition shows real bodies of dead people who were preserved using a special technique called plastination. The exhibiion shows full bodies and body parts and demonstrates the structure and function of various organs in the human body.

The most stunning part of this exhibition were various diseased organs, such as kidneys with tumors, smokers' lungs, and aortas with fatty residue. I have less enjoyed the bodies places in various poses, as I do not think these poses serve a real scientific purpose, but only have artistic merit.

After completing the body exhibition, I returned to the main museum and toured the permanent exhibitions. The exhibitions were quite standard science museum exhibitions, though I liked the fact that many exhibitions allowed you to view stuff online after your visit. For example, here is me caught red-handed by a thermal camera (click to enlarge):

Update: Here are some glowing bacteria I have made:

Errand day

After returning from Mexico, I had a lot of things to take care of. I got lots of mail in my office: A new miniSD card and a new SIM for my iPAQ, an American Express credit card, a and VISA debit card. I also had to print a paper I have to review and read a backlog of Hebrew e-mails I couldn't read on my iPAQ (I still have a backlog of blog posts to read).

After taking care of all that in Stanford and eating lunch, I headed for the Social Security office in Redwood City. After I few wrong turns I have finally arrived and had to wait in line for about an hour, so I read the paper I have brought with me. When my turn finally arrived, I submitted the form and was told I'd get a social security card that's valid for employment in six weeks, however the number will remain the same.

Two blocks from there is a California DMV office, where I applied for a driver's license and passed the written exam (with only one mistake). I was issued a temporary license on the spot and scheduled a driven test for two weeks later.

After finishing these errands, I returned to Stanford and joined another event of the Stanford Jewish community, held in the Sukkah. There I met another new post-doc (only a week here) that knew me from FishEye. I told him some useful information about getting a car and a driver's license and we exchanged e-mails.

The event ended at 9pm, and it was just time to go see House on FOX. It seems that the TV method of seeing shows has the major disadvantage of having commercial breaks interleaved with the show, however you can see shows only 3 hours late (we're on the west coast) and before they arrive on file sharing.

Today I came to the office early as I forgot the charger of my iPAQ and my battery has run out. I'm still waiting for the extended battery I ordered to arrive. No special plans for today, though I do plan to begin doing actual research.

P.S. check out the posts from Mexico, as I have added links and pictures.

New car, new friends

I haven't updated in some time. You don't have to worry. I'm doing fine. Yesterday I picked up my brand new blue 2008 Toyota Yaris, all paid for and insured. So now I have a car and a place to live. I got a good deal on the car and paid only $16,300 for it including all taxes.

Today I bought a parking permit for the car, so now I can actually park on campus. I also finally got my student number and ID card, and my network ID, so now I can use my laptop anywhere on campus.

I have done other stuff this weekend. On Sunday I went on a short hike to "the dish", a radio-telescope here at Stanford and made some new friends from all over the world.

I was also told about a BBQ at the Jewish center here at Stanford on Monday night so I went there as well. Many nice people, very few Israelis there. After the BBQ party, they aired the first episode of season 2 of Heroes on a big screen, so I stayed to watch.

Next post I'll talk about the wonders of eBay.

Residential Address

Good news: I have found a place to stay!

Today I started my search for a less temporary place to stay and I immediately found one. The chepest place available answered and had all what I need (bed, electricity, wifi) and for only $450/month. It's also a short 12 minute drive from my office. After several calls to the landlord and my parents I decided to go for it, without seeing any other places. The room was so cheap because I am barred from any kind of cooking in the room. However, with the money I saved I can eat out every day if I want to. All in all, I think I struck a great deal.

My residential address, if you would like to send me mail, is:

Alon Altman
256 Walter Hays Dr.
Palo Alto, CA 94303
USA

Yesterday I went to Stanford's compulsory postdoc orientation meeting. In this useless 2.5 hour meeting, we were explained a lot of practical information I have already read online. I didn't even get my student ID number, as the postdoc office did not receive all my information on time. I also went to the weekly meeting of Yoav's group and got introduced to all the other researchers in the team.

Later that day, I went to the social security office to get my card replaced to one that is valid for employment. They told me that I must arrive after the start date of my program, which is October 1st.

Office 2007

Yesterday was my first full day here. In the morning I went to eat breakfast at McDonald's, guided by my trusted navigation system. The first McD I went to was closed, so I went to another one which was open.

After breakfast I returned to the motel, and figured out I somehow managed to lose my room key. In any case, I decided to go on line and plan the rest of my day. It was still early to go to the International Center at Stanford, so I decided to go to see a new car for sale. I called the person I've been in touch with at the dealership and set an appointment for an hour later. The price he quoted at the dealership was too high for my parent's taste, so I did not yet buy the car.

From the dealership I made my way to Stanford, ate lunch, and went on to get my temporary ATM card and visit the Int'l center for an orientation. Then, I drove to the CS faculty and met with the administrator there. I signed lots of forms to be on payroll and got signed up for an orientation meeting today. Then, I went to see Yoav -- the professor I'll be working with. Even though he was not expecting me, he took the time to give me a short tour of the faculty and have his assistant assign me an office and give me a key. Now I have an address where I can get mail! The address is:

Alon Altman
Gates Computer Science
353 Serra Mall, room 258
Stanford, CA 94305
USA

After arranging all that, I went back to the hotel room and on line. I had a chat with my friend whom I met in Hawaii and met up with her for dinner. I really enjoyed it.

Overall, I feel good and even though getting settled is hard, I think I'm doing pretty well. Today will be another day at Stanford and I hope to start looking for places to stay tomorrow.

Arrival

Today I flew to Stanford. To stay. Here is my story.

I flew with KLM with a connection at Amsterdam Schiphol airport. At Amsterdam, I tried to get admitted to the lounge even though I was not upgraded to business, and did not yet technically qualify for Gold. As I only had 600 miles less than needed, I was granted lounge access. At the lounge I asked for a temporary gold card and they decided to issue one for me even though I did not yet qualify for gold. The actual gold card will be sent to Israel in about a month, and then I'll ask my parents to forward it here.

On the 747 flight to San Francisco, I enjoyed the best seat on the plane (11F), however when I tried to use the space in front of the seat to sleep in my sleeping bag, a flight attendant told me this is not allowed, so I had to sleep in my seat. I spent most of my time on the plane reading a book I bought and trying to sleep.

We arrived in SFO 10 minutes late, and I was among the first to exit the plane, even before some business class passengers. I rushed to passport control and was admitted without waiting in line at all. The J-1 admission process was longer than usual but I still arrived at the baggage claim area before any luggage came out. After some time, both my suitcases arrived and an airport employee helped me take them off the belt and onto my trolley.

After baggage claim, I took the AirTrain to the car rental building and waited in line. After a short while I got my contract and navigation system and was told to go to the garage and take any compact car. The only problem was, there weren't any. After 30 minutes of asking several employees in the garage and back outside, I was told to take a midsize car instead. The midsize car was huge. I had no problem loading all the luggage in the backseat and the trunk and installing the navigation system. Finding how to adjust the seat, however, took some time.

After all these adjustments, I entered my destination (Wells Fargo bank at Stanford) and started driving out of the airport garage. For some reason, the navigation system did not update and stayed stuck at the airport. I discovered this only when I was in the middle of an 8-lane road going somewhere I didn't know. Luckily, there was a traffic jam and I managed to restart the navigation system, which proceeded to recalculate my route and direct me to the bank. I used that traffic jam also to figure out how to close the windows in this car, which is not as simple as it seems.

When the navigation system told me I have arrived, I noticed a large parking lot, so naturally I parked the car there. I saw parking ticket sales machines so I tried to pay for the parking, but it turned out no change was given and the smallest bill I had was $10. So, I decided to head for the bank without paying for parking.

After asking several people and looking around, I finally managed to locate Wells Fargo bank, which were delighted to have me open an account with them. They filled in some forms for me and told me my account will be ready in 15 minutes. So, I changed my $10 bill into ones and went to pay for the parking, just as I paid $1 for the ticket, some girl there told me I don't have to pay for parking after 4pm. So I headed back to the bank and picked up all the forms and information required to transfer money and also deposited most of my cash.

After finishing with the bank, I went to a small convenience store nearby and bought something to drink. I forgot to mention that while driving I managed to hurt my finger and start bleeding, and since the landing in SFO I had developed a headache, so it was quite hard concentrating on renting the car and opening the account.

With the more important errand settled I could now drive to the motel. I keyed in the address to the navigation system and drove directly to there. I did have to figure out I had to turn into a side street in order to park, though.

I checked in at the motel and paid for 5 nights ($302.5). The room is very small and has almost no closet space, but has hi-speed wireless Internet, a queen-size bed, and a shower and toilet. I brought my luggage into the room, plugged in my laptop and went on line to check email and make some local calls. Then I went to sleep at about 18:30.

I woke up today at 4:30 am, headache free, and ready to start a new day. My plan for this day: blog, unpack, make a plan. Probably I'll go to Stanford and start settling stuff there.

Last hour in Israel

I am writing this post from Tel Aviv Ben Gurion international airport, in the VIP lounge awaiting my departure to Amsterdam and then to the US.  A few hours ago I said goodbye to both my parents. My father has escorted me all the way to the security gate and helped me carry all my luggage. Now I'm all alone and will remain away from my homeland for seven long months. That's it there's no going back now.

My last day was spent on meeting with a friend, last-minute shopping (shoes), packing, watching some TV, and helping my father with his computer.

It turns out the packing was really optimal. All three bags (two checked and one handbag) were exactly 1/2kg less than the maximum weight allowed.

In  other news, a MD-81 plane has crashed in Phuket, Thailand (HKT). The plane was operated by Two go airlines, and the crash was probably weather related. We'll know more when the investigation report is published. I'm looking forward to another great episode of Air Crash Investigation.

This blog will follow my process of settling down in my new home in the United States and as a means of communication will all of you - my friends back home. In order to make this communication two-way, please do comment with suggestions and encouragement, as well as chatting with me on line.

Tomorrow I’ll be gone

Tomorrow will be my last day in Israel before my big move. Almost everything is packed, the room is clean, and soon I'll be dining a last supper with all of my friends (and it's not even Passover).

I have spent the last few days packing all my stuff, both the stuff that's going with me to the states (three suitcases) and the stuff that stays here (two boxes and several drawers).

Tomorrow I will do some last-minute shopping and laundry and finalize all the packing. My flight leaves at 04:30 on Monday instead of 05:30 due to the fact that Israel ending daylight savings time tonight while Europe will keep on DST until October 28th.

Interestingly enough the US will do the DST move on November 4th. This means that will move my watch backwards by one hour three times the same year (Israel, Europe, and USA).

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Now playing: Eagle-Eye Cherry - Save Tonight

One week to go!

The D-day is getting closer and closer. In one week my life as I know it is going to end, and I'm going to start my new life in Stanford. There is no way back now.

This week I spent mostly on configuring the computer setup at home for the to allow for operation without me physically maintaining it. I have also consolidated hardware from three computers into one server with five hard disks and almost a terabyte of storage.

I still have so many things to do. I have still not closed a deal on the car, haven't even started packing, and still need to buy new shoes, get a haircut, and finish writing a paper before I leave.

Yesterday there was also the family farewell party (it seems many people will be abroad next week, so we did it a week early). We went to Canibar and ate burgers with two of my brothers, parents, and neighbors...

Next week I will hold a farewell party for friends on Saturday 15/9 around 17:00 in El Gaucho Kiryat Motzkin. If you did not receive an invitation by mail and would like to come please e-mail me (party at 8LN.org) and I'll add you to the list.

All the family

This weekend all my family was united. My parents have returned from their trip to China, my brother has also arrived from Germany, in what turned out to be the single busiest day in Ben-Gurion airport ever.

We had a surprise ready for our parents when they returned from abroad.  With the help and planning of the neighbor,  we have invited a gardener to make a new front lawn and garden.

The next day, the entire family (including my younger brother and the older brother that lives in Hertzeliya) have gathered for a family dinner.

On the organizational front, I'm also pushing forward. I have cleared up some of the mess in my room and have begun sorting all the paper. I have also booked my flight to Germany in October (18-28/10; 13,582 miles). Next step - sort and file all non-paper, and begin packing.

One month to go

That's it. The final countdown. I have less than a month left till I leave for Stanford. So, what am I doing these days? I'm sick and tired, that is, I'm ill and fatigued. Probably the common cold. It started mildly, but now I really can't do anything useful, like grade exercises or write papers.

There are still many things to be done in the upcoming month. My parents will return from China next week and will help with the non-academic organizational matters. Until then, I'll remain in bed until I feel better.

Moving out

That's it! I have moved all my stuff out from my dorm room and office. My father helped pack and move all the stuff I have gathered in the past nine years into boxes and bring it all home to my parents' house, where it all stands (as you can see on the right) filling up the entire room.

After four hours of work packing and carrying, all my physical belongings are now in this one room. Moved items include lots of clothes, paper, and one computer and printer.

The next step is the hard one: unpack and sort all of this junk and pack only two suitcases for my new life in the United States.

Things to do before I leave (part 3): Preparing for Stanford

In the first two parts of this list, I've written the thing I need to do in order to leave Israel. Now comes a list of things to do in order to get acclaimed at Stanford.

• Stanford
  
  
  
  • Send PhD completion certificate
  
  
  • Confirm payment for flight to germany in October
  
  
  
  


• Temporary organization
  
  
  
  • Order hotel for first days
  
  
  • Buy temporary health insurance
  
  
  • Rent a car
  
  
  
  


• Research car purchase and maybe order a car


• Research cellular phone


• Money
  
  
  
  • Research banks and accounts
  
  
  • Figure out if and how to transfer money
  
  
  
  


• Pack (clothes and other items), buy stuff if needed.

Things to do before I leave 2: Academic obligations

Part two of my to-do list include academic, teaching and research obligations. Not all of these stuff HAVE to be done before I leave, but optimally they should:

• Submit initial draft of thesis.


• Finish all obligations for PhD, including exam and final submission of thesis.


• Review paper for JET.


• Revise paper for JAIR and submit.


• Complete guiding Avivit in writing journal version of our joint paper.


• Guide Ohad Lutzky in conducting experiment and then writing a paper for AAMAS 2008 (deadline: October).


• Write journal versions for two additional papers.


• Write, supervise, and check second exam in Electronic Commerce.


• Check final project in Electronic Commerce course.

Stay tuned for part 3, which will include preparations for arrival at Stanford, and part 4 which will list the stuff that need to be done upon arrival.

Things to do before I leave (part 1)

One of the things one can do to reduce the stress of an uncertain situation is to prepare, and the way to prepare is to make lists of things that need to be done. It's much easier to cope when you know what you need to do, and even easier when you have a plan on when to do what.

So, here's my todo list for my trip abroad. If you have any tips or comments about this list, feel free to comment or e-mail me.

Part 1 of the list is stuff related to leaving the country. Striked off items have already been done.

• See a doctor.


• See dentist.


• Close bank accounts and cancel credit cards.


• Find place to host new server.


• Move all services to new server.
  
  
  
  • Blog
  
  
  • Course websites
  
  
  • Debate club website
  
  
  • Fisheye scripts website
  
  
  • Tab system (gentab)
  
  
  • Taki game
  
  
  • Main server and short link generator
  
  
  • Move default subdomain
  
  
  
  


• Make a notraized power of attorney document.


• Clean up and evict dorms and office.


• Organize my room and stuff to be left behind, gather documents that need to be with me.

Today I striked off the first item on this list and went to see a doctor, and scheduled blood tests to ascertain my medical situation and to deal with some non-urgent problems.

Stay tuned part 2 of this list -- preperation for living abroad.

Moving Servers

As many of you know, I host my own server with domain name 8LN.org. What many of you do not know, is that this server is hosted in my dorm room at the Technion. As part of the process of leaving the Technion and moving to Stanford I need to move this server as well, and this is not an easy task.

Dedicated server hosting, which is comparable to what I have now costs an arm and a leg. The cheapest hosting I could find is in the order of $30/month. Therefore, I decided to go with a web hosting service. After doing a brief survey, I signed up with bluehost.com. For less than $100/year, I get all the bandwidth and disk space I need, plus a free domain name.

I registered the domain epsalon.org and have already moved this blog there (please tell me if there are any problems). I'll soon start copying all the contents of my website to the new server, one service at a time.

I expect to leave the dorms around late July - early August. By then, most of the primary services should already be hosted on the new server. There should be no change in the URLs.

Visa, Mastercard, American Express

Contrary to what you may think, this post is not about credit cards. It's about the process of obtaining a United States J-1 (Exchange Visitor) visa.

So, my story begins at 8:00 in the morning on Thursday when I wake up. I take the train to Tel Aviv and a bus to the US Embassy, the only US Consulate in Israel. In the embassy I wait in line (line - not queue - this is the American embassy...) for about half an hour and submit all my forms for inspection including my all so precious DS-2019 and SEVIS fee confirmation. They quickly check the forms, and I'm on my way to the next step - fingerprinting.

In America, foreigners don't have privacy rights, and this includes the requirement to surrender your fingerprints. They had to scan me again even though they already had my fingerprints in the system from my previous visa request. The next step is the visa interview.

According to what it says on the embassy website, you need to bring lots of documents to the interview: Salary slips, student permits, and proof that you have ties to Israel. Well, I did bring all that, but the only thing the consul looked at was my invitation letter from Stanford, and specifically on the paragraph saying how much they're going to pay. After this very short interview my visa was confirmed, but I had to leave my passport and all forms behind.

The last step of the process was to pay to have my passport and DS-2019 mailed to be by courier. I payed the 33.50 NIS (US$8) fee by MasterCard, and off I went. The whole process took less than an hour. This is what I call American Express...