K (and stuff like that)

When you've got worries, all the noise and the hurry 

Seems to help, I know - downtown 

Petula Clark 

It's been pretty much forever since my last update. But I am still proud to own a real, old-fashioned blog like those that existed before the Facebook & co bubble, so here I am finally.

Things have changed, by the way. I'm in Amsterdam at the RIPE NCC again for some time, working on a visualization tool for K-root. We call it Visual-K: I presented a prototype few days ago at Graph Drawing 2011 in Eindhoven.

Time flows. Ideas flow. Cheers.

(Visual-K, prototype presented at GD'11)

The European Pilgrimage

I was just guessing at numbers and figures 
pulling the puzzles apart 
Coldplay 

The concept of day before leaving keeps teasing my subconscious, so here I am with a new entry before flying back (is back the right word anyway?) to San Diego. Online check-in, baggage optimization, tedious checklists & co are yet to be done, but I can still handle a little update.

Rome welcomed me (back?) in October with a cold and sunny weather, which happens to be my favorite combo. I got over the jetlag right on time and passed the admission test for a PhD at Roma Tre University! Then I went (back?) to Amsterdam and fell in love again with the city, no matter how rainy or windy it is. Spent two weeks at the NCC working in preparation for the RIPE meeting, had a great time with old and new people. Finally flied (back?) to Rome and attended RIPE61 in a fancy venue called Westin Excelsior; also contributed giving a small talk at the MAT working group about the stuff I did at CAIDA, gathered precious feedback and interest in my work, collected business cards, got a clearer picture about future projects and collaborations. And had a crazy blast at the social events...

Time to go. See you at the next eve!

(Westin Excelsior, Rome.)

Crazy Schedule

An electric concrete fantasy 

Strung Out 

Flying in a few hours to Rome; then Amsterdam, then Rome, then back in San Diego, in less than one month. I knew when I first arrived here my motto would be I either die or become someone... so let's see what nice compromise I can come up with.

I heard so many people saying they didn't like LA, that I actually did. And also LV of course. And most of what I saw in these busy, busy months - zero time for details, but I'm learning how to speak with pictures (here and here).

California hills, I'll be back!

(warm lights.)

Snow over Amsterdam

I'm on my way to hell
Brand New

Here it is - the snow, reminding us all that time goes fast and the holidays are just round the corner. The cold started setting in last week, letting me wonder what should I do to survive in January; but whenever the sun peeps out I immediately revert back to a child, really.

Updates? So many that I wouldn't know how to start, other than picking randomly. The NCC is an erupting volcano, based on an incredible balance between efficiency and madness, and I'm really enjoying my hours there - whether it's time for a gnuplot graph or a beer after the soccer match. My house is going quite messy as well, I know I should make some effort to add some rationality... one day or another.

I eventually understood that there's no rule to get in touch with people, you just forget any useless criteria and find a folksy path in every circumstance. Every.

And yes, I easily found a way to waste the very first paycheck in my young inexperienced life. Hint? Look at the big picture.

(NCC's Christmas present. photo by me)

Going Technical (not that much)

There's always a siren singing you to shipwreck
Radiohead

As the title suggests, this (pretty verbose) post is for anyone interested in what my work will roughly consist of. For those who do not master things like graph theory and routing protocols, it may still be interesting to read the example below, or to look at the bottom of this post for a colorful example.

The first step of my thesis concerns the enhancement of BGPlay, an application developed by the CompuNet Research Group at Roma Tre University and currently hosted by Oregon Route Views. It shows animated graphs with edges (peerings) connecting nodes (Autonomous Systems), therefore allowing an intuitive analysis of interdomain routing events related to a specified prefix, within a time interval. My contribution will be to adapt BGPlay's interface to the INRDB, a prototypical database realized by the Science Group at the RIPE NCC, containing historical data gathered from many authoritative sources. The aim is to provide an instrument for a long-term, coarse-grained analysis of major trends and events affecting the Internet throughout its (relatively) long history.

In plain words? Alice wastes hours on Facebook playing FarmVille. Her CowComputer unwillingly converts every passionate click into a Mooossage, sending it to some FarmerComputer somewhere. Before reaching the FarmerComputer, every message goes through many welcoming TransitFarms. If a FlockOfDumbSheep proudly blocks the path, the Mooossage is incredibly smart enough to find another way visiting different TransitFarms, without letting Alice notice any difference. If however a MadFarmer puts some misleading road signs on the way to the FarmerComputer, or if some NastyChickens tear down all the bridges to cross over the unfailing river, the Mooossage is only able to commit a honorific suicide. Well, in both cases BGPlay acts as the black box secretly hidden under the Mooossage's skin, allowing Alice to understand what led it to such an extreme action.

If you are still awake, here's a video showing a real case study: the Youtube prefix hijacking by Pakistan Telecom in February 2008. It was realized using the previous version of BGPlay, already hosted by the RIPE NCC for some time. Enjoy!

 (Youtube prefix hijacking. More info here)

Welcome to the RIPE NCC

We hope faith forever keeps us young
Gregor Samsa

Yesterday was my first day at the office. Actually nothing hard, because we still have to choose the proper direction of my future work, and also because the RIPE NCC greets newcomers by introducing them to the staff during the first week, under the guide of mentors (that are employees as well). As a consequence I only challenged myself with tasks like: printing six useless sheets just to check if the remote printer connection was up, almost falling down the typical Dutch stairs and so on...

Changing the subject, I finally bought a second hand bike. Very cheap, very rusty, and above all very Dutch: one noisy bell and no hand brakes. Only foot brakes. I definitely have to practice before falling into a canal.

Finally, just one quick mention about food: as you can see, italians always find their way!

(dinner. photo by me)

Leaving

California, here we come
Phantom Planet

It sounds incredible, but that's it: I am moving to Amsterdam on October 14th to work on my MSc thesis at the RIPE NCC. Some weeks ago I was still wondering what to do with myself - and then this offer came just like a calling from the heavens. It took me one night to realize that there was no choice but to accept it.

Maybe this will be the right excuse to exhume this poor blog left to itself, covered in dust! Updates will follow.

 

(RIPE NCC. retrieved on Google Maps)