Theory Days

This weekend I was at Computer Science Theory days in Rakari, Latvia.

Usually, it has been a small conference-type gathering for estonian cryptographers and formal languages people. This year, it was held together with latvian complexity theorists, which explains why we had to make a 3 hour drive to get to the conference venue.

The venue itself was really nice, having small cottages with grass roofs. The sea was also quite nearby. And the weather was great. Only thing that was not so great was the internet connection, which was nearly unusable, since about 50 people were trying to use it simultaneously.

My own talk went pretty well. I talked about Bob and hish Hash... function. And oracles. It was by far the most politically incorrect presentation I have ever given.. so it got mixed reviews.. but it did get peoples attention. One of the questions I received after the talk was "will the slides be available somewhere".

Link for the readers of this blog.

After the talk I went to the seashore. The sun had just set and..

well..

it was magical

to say the very least...

There was a slight red glow on the horizon. And a barrier of sand behind against which the waves crashed.. and stars.. and no moon, and also a mist so I could barely make out the road when going there.

The way back was even cooler - as it had got even darker so I could just barely make out the outline of the path.. and it constantly felt like I would hit my head into a tree branch.

Walking back, I suddelny heared footsteps.. so I slowed and quieted down my own walking. They were moving towards me, but due to the darkness and mist I could not see anything. Then, suddenly, I could make out two small embers, at about belt level.. cigarette ends, as it turned out. They were pretty surprised to see me though, because they noticed when I was only a meter away from them.

Later, I heared another set of footsteps. 6 more people surprised :)

After that, the night was pretty uneventful. Practiced bass a little, had a chat with my collegues and got to bed around 1.

Woke up at around 8. Drank 3 cups of coffee during the morning session

On the way back, while still in Latvia, we were forced to the side of the road by a military convoy.. of around 50 cars.. bearing estonian banners and number plates...

Looked suspiciously like Estonia invading Latvia. Of course, that was not the case, as a later news program informed us that it was the Scoutsbatallion heading for week-long training and assesment maneuvers in Latvia. Still, you do not see a military convoy every day..