University of California Information Security Symposium

UC Info Sec Symposium

Sacramento/Davis

Not a bad hamburger, but not worth the ridiculous price, even by airport pricing.

Terminal 1 is very modern and very busy.

The red rabbit at Sacramento International Terminal B.

Very boring ride.

Brand-new, only 2 miles on it!

So new it's still updating.

SpringHill Suites. Decent enough.

The clearly often-photocopied welcome note is a little sad.

University conference food was actually decent.

So hot there's bottles of water under every seat.

Trend Micro at UC Info Sec Symposium.

The Welcome Center and surrounding are new and shiny. Most of campus is not. *grins*

The Press Bistro in midtown Sacramento.

The Girl with the Ginger Tatoo. Pretty good.

Celery salad.

Hard to go wrong with deep fried potato!

Endive salad.

Squid. Nice and soft, perhaps a little too soft. Still good.

The interior's good side. The reverse angle does not have the same character.

Braised beef.

Duck looked tasty.

Braised lamb and cauliflower. Again quite good.

Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates.

Midtown Sacramento is super contemporary these days.

Chocolate mousse from Ginger Elizabeth.

Needs at least two photos, it's so pretty.

See No Evil/Hear No Evil eggheads.

Mondavi Center at UC Davis.

Four Seasons Gourmet Chinese.

Yes, they are inside of a gas station.

Food is done in the old school Taishan style. Not good but what do you expect for a gas station?

Dan tat were awful. Super weird taste from nutmeg or cinnamon or something on the crust.

Steak salad from Jack's Urban Eats at SMF literally had an entire steak atop it. Yum but also a little crazy?

Not sure if it's wetlands restoration or something else entirely?

The bi-annual University of California Information Security Symposium, held this year at UC Davis.

The trip starts with a surprisingly decent quality, yet unsurprisingly overpriced hamburger at Cassell's inside Terminal 1 at LAX. Yet another delayed flight on Southwest, and yet another uneventful arrival at SMF. A pleasant surprise amid a sea of ordinary was the fact that the Toyota Camry I got was completely brand new-- just 2 miles on the odometer!

Day two kicks off the University of California Information Security Symposium. As a typical UC campus, Davis is a mix of old and new. The welcome center, conference center, museum, and Mondavi Center are so shiny that you could almost mistake them for a tech center campus, while much of the rest of campus feels like the usual 1970s-era-and-earlier concrete hell. At least they have nice pathways for bicycles and a large pond in the middle of campus, plus a vineyard at the edge?

Conference food was surprisingly decent, and the day 1 keynote was excellent, but it was even nicer to be able to get away from the symposium afterwards to meet up with Frances and Patrick. The Press Bistro is pretty good high-end food given it's Sacramento-- innovative by Central Valley standards, although it wouldn't rank as much more than ordinary for the Bay Area. Frances' dessert pick, Ginger Elizabeth Chocolates, was also very good, and a quick walk from The Press Bistro. t'was great to see the Dea-Sanchez family!

Entered day three with final day of solid presentations, starting with an excellent one on AWS for Research by UCSF. Fast-forward to lunch, opted to skip out on conference food to try a local place, Four Seasons Gourmet Chinese. Built-in to a gas station, it works despite how mediocre it is. Sort of a perfect example of Sacramento-area Chinese food: ordinary, accessible, hasn't evolved much from 1950s-era Taishan village cooking.

Wrapped up the symposium by early evening and slogged through traffic straight to the airport, where a steak salad at actually had an entire steak atop it (!). The flight out showcased downtown Sac and some interesting formations along the river, although before you ask, yes, it was delayed as well. *sigh*