Update

Well, it seems as though I fell off the face of the earth this semester because I haven't posted in so long. Really I am alive and well, but I was trying to be a wife, a mother of a baby, and take 9 credits this semester. So I was really busy and didn't post for a long time. This will be an update.

First of all, I think my last post was a couple of months ago and promised a recipe for Potato Bacon Chowder. Like many recipes I try, it comes from allrecipes.com. It was the most delicious potato soup I have ever had, and I didn't change a thing. Here is the recipe.

Well, I just have to tell you about another recipe I tried that was absolutely amazing! Mike's birthday was a couple of months ago, and I made Too Much Chocolate Cake. I actually took a picture (for once), but it doesn't do it justice at all, so I won't even bother posting it. Here is how good it was though...normally I don't even like chocolate cake, but this was the best cake I have ever tasted in my life...hands down. It was so moist and fudgy! Yum! I frosted it with cream cheese frosting. Also, I used mini chocolate chips instead of the regular sized ones. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly.

I took three classes this semester: geography, math, and English. They weren't too bad. I am never a fan of English classes though, but I learned stuff from it...and hey, it was my last English class ever! I think my grades should be pretty good (even though I didn't always do my math homework).

I am taking my last few classes this summer. All I need are a few more credits of electives to graduate, so I am taking some fun classes. I am taking jogging, which should be a piece of cake since I am currently training for a half marathon. I am also taking Spanish and golf...two classes that Mike can easily help me with. Mike talked me into the golf class, and I think he is pretty excited about it because then I can actually go play a round with him sometimes.

Did I mention I graduate in August?! I am so excited! Part of me wants the rest of my classes to fly by, but then again I want to actually enjoy the summer. We have some fun things planned, so I'm definitely looking forward to it. I'll keep you posted on our summer adventures as they happen.

School Update

My second semester of grad school is winding down. I have been taking 2 classes, a seminar and some thesis research hours this semester. The classes have been good and I have learned a lot. My favorite would probably be my Cryptography and Codes class (Math 5405). I had done some applied crypto work in the past (implementing crypto algorithms, using crypto for networking protocols, etc), but it was interesting to get some of the mathematical background behind crypto. My other class, Programming Language Analysis, was very interesting too. It was basically on how do we look at a computer program and reason about what it will do without actually running it. This is important because the program might never even halt.

I am starting to get into some thesis research on covert communication channels. The best example I can give of covert communication channels comes from Kahn's book "The Codebreakers." A long time ago, a king in Asia would shave the head of a trusted slave and tattoo a secret message on it. When the hair grew back, the slave was sent to another king in order to plan a revolt. The other king would shave the slaves head to reveal the message. It turns out these types of covert channels exist all throughout networking. My research should develop a type of covert channel that is nearly undetectable, robust and still usable. It should be some exciting stuff to work on for the next few months!