obfuscated.org

The route for the 2008 Tour of California was released a few days back. Pasadena was lucky enough to score the final stage - a road race from Santa Clarita to Pasadena, concluding with a circuit race in Pasadena. Cycling isn’t a really popular sport in the US, but Pasadena is sure to rake in considerable cash when fans in the states come to see one of only two Hors categorie events in the US. (The Tour de Georgia is the other one.)

Of course, Pasadena doesn’t always love the cyclists. From the July 30th City Council Agenda:

(1) PELATON BICYCLISTS - ROSE BOWL

Recommendation of Rose Bowl Operating Company: It is recommended that the City Council approve and direct the City Attorney’s Office to prepare a City ordinance to prohibit bicyclists from riding more than two abreast on any public street in the City other than pursuant to a City permit issued for an event or activity, including the area around the Rose Bowl.

The staff report pretty well comes right out and says “we don’t like those people who ride at the Rose Bowl.” Which seems odd, as those are Pasadena’s hard-core bike racing fans and the city is poised to rake it in from a bike race.

I can understand where the city is coming from, though. From what I’ve heard, the Rose Bowl ride is pretty intense. I’ve heard several horror stories about people just trying to get across the parking lot and almost being run down by speeding cyclists. Is banning it (which banning riding in a peleton may or may not do) the right way to solve the problem, though? These are “50-75 people” getting geeked about a sport. They’re not selling drugs or stealing cars. They’re riding bikes. In our generally obese and out of shape society, you would think that Pasadena would be peeing itself with glee over the public health benefits of a few dozen people getting out and exercising on a regular basis. Especially with a major race coming to town, potentially getting more people in to the sport.

I say deal with the cyclists the same way you deal with skateboarders. They’re a damn nuisance at the mall, but it’s absolutely great that kids are out skating instead of at home playing Halo, so you build them skate parks. Maybe the Rose Bowl riders put some people out, but banning them isn’t a good answer, especially when what they’re doing — getting some exercise, being in the outdoors, being social — is something that more people really should be doing. Figure out a better way for them to do their thing and everybody wins.

As an aside, if I could make one note to cyclists in the SGV: Could you at least try to obey traffic signals and signs? I would say that nothing gives cycling a black eye more than riders breezing through stop signs and lights, making cars that have the right of way slam on their breaks.

I recently worked with two local service providers: Gem Plumbing and Di-No Computers. Both got the job done both quickly and well. I recommend both.

We called Gem a few weeks back when the line running from our bathroom backed up. The disclosure statement for the house suggested that this would happen and that we would indeed have to just get it snaked out every six months or so. My experience with plumbers so far has been mixed. They get the job done, but I have had to sit around for hours waiting for them to show up. I don’t like waiting.

Gem showed up exactly when they said they would. In fact, they called an hour before they were supposed to be there and said that they could get started early if I wanted them to. As I don’t like waiting, this on its own is golden.

When they got to the house, we pointed them to the room, gave our layman’s take on what was up and got out of the way.

Less than half an hour after that we had a functioning drain, an explination as to where the problem was and why it wasn’t any of the other things we thought it might have been and a few things we could do if we wanted to solve the problem permanently. So, yeah. A positive experience to say the least.

Di-No fixes Apple computers. When I bricked my laptop the other day, I called the Apple store who cringed, said that it sounded like an ugly and expensive problem, and referred me to Di-No. I gave Di-No a quick call, verified that they are indeed open during lunch, (why did I think that they wouldn’t be?) took the machine over to them and told them how I had broken it.

The only down side to Di-No is that they weren’t even able to look at the computer for almost a week. (There is a very visible sign on their front desk stating when they will be able to get to your computer, so there were absolutely no surprises involved.) However, once they did, they ordered a replacement part and had it back in to my hands within two days. Further, the repair was all done under warranty, so not one thin dime came out of my pocket. When I picked the computer up, they strongly recommended that I purchase AppleCare, as my factory warranty will run out in May. I think I’ll take them up on that.

If you need a Mac fixed or a drain snaked, you know where to go.

My favorite kooky preservationists over at the 1947project updated their site recently. Everybody loves a good redesign, and it’s got the obligatory Powells advert, so you know it’s cool. The best part, for me at least, is that they now seem to have a full RSS feed so I’ll actually, you know, read their stuff. There’s little that’s more infuriating for me than an RSS feed that gives you like nine words and then “[…]” or “read more” or “I LIVE IN SILVER LAKE FOLKS MORE AFTER THE JUMP.” (Hi, Blogging.la!) I’m really excited to have access to the 1947project’s content in a convenient format. Thanks, guys!

Their Pasadena crime bus happens in July. The ticket prices are crazy high — $47/person — and I really should be saving money right now. Still, if the Pasadena tour is put together as well as their amazing Black Dahlia tour, it would totally be worth it. Plus it’s the ‘Dena, so bonus points for crime history in the city where I spend most of my waking hours.

Well, either way I’ll actually read their stuff now. Which is braggable.

The Kid and I went to the open house at JPL today. It was pretty cool. They had all sorts of sciency stuff out to look at and sciency people out to answer questions about the sciency stuff.

There was a machine learning booth towards the top of the campus where they demoed some of the technologies that I worked with at Yahoo Research. They had an SVM hooked up to the audio input of a Mac, and when you spoke in to it it built a model of your speech and used it to determine who was talking at any given time. Not surprisingly, it worked really well. Those wacky kids at JPL and all their science. It was a lot of fun to show The Kid a live demo of the sort of stuff that I worked with.

Also worth noting: big ups to public radio for letting me know that this event was on. Hooray for community news that focuses on science from time to time.

I ordered a pitcher at the last Chippy Friday ever
Originally uploaded by corey_porter.

Today was my last day in Pasadena (photo set). It would have been sad, but it’s Chippy Friday and I ordered a pitcher all for myself, so it wasn’t.

On Monday I start in Burbank. I hope all you crazy kids who are staying behind have a good time. I’ll try to make Chippy Friday every now and again so I can still see you all.

See also: Tearing Down the YRL/Pasadena Server (photo set)

For a big chunk of my Pasadena career, I’ve worked in R&D organizations. First in Idealab’s short-lived research group, then in Overture Research which became Yahoo Research Labs and then Yahoo Research. It’s my job to think of new and exciting things — to innovate. I take this particular charge very seriously, and I think I’ve had great success over the years. I played a part in an innovation that I am very proud of, and I would like to share it with you.

This innovation is the fine and noble sport known as Pasadena-Rules Foosball. While its roots lie in traditional foosball, it has been forged for years by the fires of rigorous study, peer review, carefully crafted experimentation and beer. Pasadena-Rules is the most advanced form of foosball known to man. This is the game that we will all play in the future when we’re wearing silver jumpsuits.

The original game of foosball is a relatively simplistic game with a small set of easy to understand yet limiting rules. It seeks to emulate football (known in the states as “soccer” and not to be confused with American “football”) with little plastic men attached to metal rods. The rules, in short, are as follows:

• Score one point each time you legally get the ball in your opponent’s goal.
• First side to ten points wins.
• No spinning.

These are the rules played by most of the world, and that’s a shame because they quickly become unsatisfying. Foosball provides a marvelous arena for innovation, and over the years we’ve explored every corner of it. At Idealab in late 2000 we discovered the master key to all foosball innovation.

• Spinning is legal.

Because it allows for the ball to easily leave the table, this rule opens up the game to more exciting variation than you could possibly imagine. The first and most popular at idealab added the following rules:

• If the ball leaves the table and strikes your opponent, you score one point.
• If the ball leaves the table and your opponent catches it, they score one point.

More subtle variations on this theme include scoring two points if you hit your opponent in the head or after the ball bounces off the wall, etc. We played with these rules for years. They dominated the Pasadena-Rules foosball scene until a crack team of foosball researchers at Yahoo Research Labs (formerly Overture Research) took to the study of foosball.

Our first change involved dead ball situations (the ball can not be reached by any man or leaves the table). These rules are:

• In a dead ball situation, the ball is served again by the team that did not serve last.
• If there are three consecutive dead-ball situations without a score, the next score is worth two points.

Two additional multi-point opportunities were also developed.

• If the ball passes over the goalie’s bar directly before it goes in the goal, double points are scored.
• If the ball leaves the table, bounces off the wall and returns to the table, double points are scored. This modifier is only good until the next goal or dead-ball.

So if you have three dead ball situations, hit the ball off the wall and then score over the goalie bar, you can get eight points in one goal. To date this has not been accomplished.

Not satisfied with a game that emulated only one sport, we added a new scoring system called “baseball.” The concept is rather simple: Each team has a set of bases which may be populated by runners. Bases can be earned by hitting the ball off the wall. For each wall the ball hits, you get a runner to advance one base. Runners already on base must be forced to the next base by new runners. For each runner to cross home plate, you score one point.

If the ball is hit off the table and caught by the other team, they score an out on your team. If three outs are scored your bases are cleared.

If you hit the ball in to some sort of container — a trash can or a bowl of candy or similar — you earn a ground-rule double for your team. If the container is “way over there” — a subject term — a basket is scored rather than a ground-rule double and you score two points rather than bases.

If there are non-players in the room, you may declare a certain base value for hitting them. If they catch the ball, the other team earns those bases.

Several multi-purpose rules that we developed:

• If you hit something made of glass, you score one base.
• If you break something made of glass, you score one point.
• If you draw blood from you opponent, you score one point.
• If your opponent is forced to go to the emergency room, you win the game.
• If you knock the phone off the hook with the ball, you score one point.
• If you activate speed-dial with the ball and call the boss, you win the game.

We have found these rules to be vastly superior to the rules of classic foosball and are confidant that they will be adopted for tournament play in the near future. You should give them a try the next time you enjoy a fine game of foosball.

Over the last few years, my coworkers and I have developed some interesting language ticks. This happens whenever a group of people spends time together, and in my experience it’s a pretty fun thing. Probably the most pronounced example of this is the naming of restaurants. We rarely if ever use the proper names of any of the fine dining establishments in Old(e) Town(e) Pasadena — each and every place has its own special name or names. I’ll miss this a lot when I’m in Burbank. Coming up with new ways to say “it’s the cafeteria again today, isn’t it?” will get old after a while.

That said, here’s a few of my favorite renamed restaurants in the ‘dena.

The Dong

Saladang Song, a Thai restaurant just south of the office. The food is OK, but it’s a little expensive. For whatever reason, this is where we always went for group lunches or to interview a candidate.

Jerk City a.k.a. The Jerk a.k.a. Let’s Jerk it

Soda Jerk, defunct. A deadly combination of the worst service in town and the closest restaurant to our office, this rat hole got far more of our business than it ever deserved. It’s been closed for a few months now and I honestly haven’t missed it.

Boring City

The Crown City Brewery, a few blocks east of the office by the gold line. The food was nothing to write home about and it’s a little expensive, but it’s a safe choice so we often ended up eating there when we couldn’t think of anything else. It got the name after we inadvertently went there four days in a row.

It’s more of a dinner place a.k.a. I heard the beers have gotten better

The Union Cattle Company nee The Pasadena Brewing Company. It’s not open for lunch any more, and when it was the food was expensive and the beer horrible. They serve their own line of poorly-executed extract brews. Definitely avoidable. After we tried it out the first time, I urged a second trip as I was told that some of the beers were OK. This definitely isn’t the case.

Oysters and Lamb Chops a.k.a. Is Scott Buying? a.k.a. Corporate Action

De Lacey Club 41, a schwanky eatery for the executive set. Jeremy has a thing for their oysters and lamb chops. Indeed, he was at times compelled to buy lunch for me and Clancey just so we would agree to go there with him. This is also a favorite destination for lunch paid for by the boss, so we aim for it when Scott is buying.

Finally, by tradition we go for cocktails whenever there’s a stock split or a change of senior management or an acquisition, etc. etc. (any sort of corporate action, really). This is the best spot for lunch that also has a full bar.

That Place with the Pub Food

Barney’s, a restaurant so exciting that at times we can’t remember its name despite having gone to it dozens of times. The food is about average. The service is about average, and the beers have only recently achieved average. (Their selection was plain old poor before they put Chimay on the list.)

Eat Fresh a.k.a. Eat Cheap

Subway. Stolen from the restaurant’s commercials, this is (I hope) the only instance of a corporate tag line being used as a name. The alternate name reflects the notion that this is The Place to eat when you’re running low on funds.

Breakfast

Russell’s, notable because it serves breakfast all day long. Sometimes you just need pancakes at noon if you’re going to make it through the day.

Cheap Thai

NaNa, a Thai joint with good lunch specials. It’s not the best in the world, but it’s good enough and the price is right.

Bad Thai

City Thai, home of moderate to poor food and marginal service. I can only remember going there once.

P Thai

President Thai, which no longer delivers to our office and is therefore one of two places that we’ll drive to for lunch. Their lunch specials are really good, and I’m a huge fan of their food.

Zankou Chicken

Zankou Chicken. You don’t really need a name when the restaurant is called “Zankou.” This is the other place that we’ll drive to. If you want a plate full of chicken and hummus and pita and garlic, there is no place better. I like to order some extra falafel.

Fake Zankou a.k.a. Fankou

Rotisserie Chicken on Colorado, the eatery of choice when we just don’t feel like driving to Zankou. It’s a pale imitation both in terms of food and price. I don’t think they even serve falafel, but we can get there on foot.

The Buffet

Mezbaan, an Indian restaurant with a really good lunch buffet. Only advisable if you’re in the mood to put down a metric ton of food.

The Other Indian Place

All India Cafe, which we haven’t been to since Mezbaan started doing a buffet. I’m honestly surprised that it’s still in business.

Corey isn’t coming to lunch

The Kitchen, an Italian joint up by Idealab that I just don’t like. I kick and scream and refuse to go whenever it’s suggested, so whenever I don’t go to lunch, this is the destination.

Jake’s

A pool hall and diner that doesn’t open until noon. We go there seldom enough that it doesn’t really have a proper name.

It isn’t Monday

Kansai, a Japanese noodle joint most notable for not being open on Mondays.

Curry

Hurry Curry, a lately-popular curry and rice joint.

Greasy Burger

There use to be a burger stand on the corner of Union and Pasadena that we called greasy burger. The name is now used to elide lunch decision precedence rules which stipulate that if you shoot down somebody’s lunch suggestion you must suggest something different. The name of the Greasy Burger is invoked when you can’t think of anything better. (Kansai is sometimes used for this purpose on Mondays.)

The Chippy a.k.a. The Chip Shop a.k.a. The Winchester a.k.a Jake’s UK a.ka. Kansai

Lucky Baldwin’s, Pasadena’s beer Mecca and our single most common destination for lunch. They serve British pub food, which is nothing to write home about, but their beer selection is amazing, the wait staff is (usually) marvelous and the jukebox is top notch, sporting the likes of Foreigner, Abba and Peggy Lee.

The “Chip” names come from the fact that it serves fish and chips and from “Chippy Friday,” a tradition started by my sister that mandates trips to the chip shop every Friday. We have since expanded the definition of “Friday” to include any day that is somebody’s last day of the week (i.e., Thursday if somebody is taking Friday off), Monday if somebody missed the previous Chippy Friday, or any day when one of us feels like having a pint with lunch.

“The Winchester” is an homage to the fine film “Shawn of the Dead.” Once we sat at Jake’s without getting served for fifteen minutes, so we moved lunch to The Chippy, forgetting to tell a coworker who planned to meet us at Jake’s. When he eventually showed up at LB’s, we claimed to be at “Jake’s UK.”

The “Kansai” name comes from the one and only one time we took Tom from the algorithms group to lunch with us. We claimed to be going to Kansai. When we got there, he ran next door to buy smokes. At the same time, we decided that the restaurant was too full, so we went to The Chippy, completely forgetting that Tom was with us and rather thoroughly ditching him.

I just don’t like you guys

Secret code for bringing your own lunch.

Today is the first day of my last week working in Pasadena. Starting next Monday my group will be housed in Yahoo’s Burbank facility.

I’ve never worked in any other town. Since my sophomore year in college, from JPL to First Quadrant, The Idza to Visualize and finally Overture Research/Yahoo Research Labs/Yahoo Research (I’m sure the name will change again after our next reorg) I’ve worked in the home of the Rose Bowl, the Doo-Dah Parade, Caltech and that little old lady.

A lot has happened while I’ve been working in Pasadena. The Lakers won the NBA championship three times. The internet bubble came and went. (I hear it’s back again.) The president was impeached, but it all worked out in the end. O.J. was found not-guilty, and a big pack of crazies crashed airplanes in to a couple of buildings. I spent that day in one of Pasadena’s fine bars.

I had a child, got married and divorced, and owned three cars. More friends than I can count got married, and a whole mess of them either have children or are about to. I’ve met some of the best people I ever will. All while working in Pasadena.

Needless to say, I have mixed feelings about leaving. On one hand, it’s an adventure. I’ll get to show up somewhere new every day. I’ll drive on new and exciting streets and eat in new and exciting restaurants. On the other hand, Pasadena is my work home. It’s comfortable, friendly and has been exceedingly kind to me.

So here’s to this one last week. I hope I can be as good to Pasadena over the next five days as it’s been to me over the last ten years.