Well, it is that time of year again. Actually, it’s that time of year again, again, again. This is the fourth BaBar collaboration meeting of the year, the one that most directly influences our work going into the particle physics winter conference schedule. We start on a Sunday so that traveling is easier and cheaper for all those who come from great distances to be here at SLAC for this meeting. In particular, the 60% of the collaboration that is non-U.S. should get many budget benefits from this Sunday start. As Brian at “Stacks” in Menlo Park put it this morning, we can afford to miss a little football to accomodate the millions of dollars that our international partners have invested in this world-class experiment.
Here I am, in the not-so-vast SLAC main auditorium, with my little laptop. My little laptop is being temperamental again – it seems that despite all the nice, new technology in Linux for autodetecting and connecting to wireless networks, NetworkManager is **still** having trouble with my wireless card. I have to do this hardware ballet of popping the card out, popping it in, out again, in again, at which point it finally gets power and then NetworkManager will hang it. Signs of either an aging PCMCIA system, wireless card, laptop, or all of the above.
Wireless or no (it’s only a distraction during most of the meeting, anyway), science marches on!
