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Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

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Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#81

Post by znowi »

buro9 wrote: post #28

My visa takes a long while. Not quite as long as it took Adi Shamir, but long. On average it takes about 14 weeks to get a visa, but on occasion it has taken many many months. I've done the calculations, the worst-case scenario for the full process is 32 weeks. It's never actually taken that long, but it's not been far off. I remember having to explain to Microsoft that they needed to write a sponsor/supporting lette…

> The vast majority of the time I have been invited, or had opportunities to visit, I just do not choose to visit the USA.

This. I think it's the only viable solution today. Do not put yourself in a derogatory position, if you can afford it. Just don't go.

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#82

Post by teh_klev »

JanezStupar wrote: post #48

I have been to the USA in the past. I would like to see more than I have seen and I would also like to participate in the wonderful US economy. However upon the last visit I really took offence with the security theatre (that was in 2008 mind you and I am from a visa waiver country). Another factor is that USA chooses to not grant me a visa under which I start a business in the US under reasonable terms i.e. without…

I flew to New Zealand on Air NZ back in 2005. Unfortunately there's a stop off in LA to refuel and change crew. Everyone is taken off the plane and corralled into a holding area with not enough seats and horribly stained walls. There is no humour from the immigration officials who escort you through a myriad of corridors to this zone.

Then you're marched out in batches and electronically finger printed/eyeball scanned by more humourless uniformed officials before being deposited back in the holding area to await your onward journey. It was a demeaning experience and I wasn't even visiting the US. Technically I haven't entered the US, how do they get away with that?

This contrasted heavily to my previous arrival on US soil (Boston in 2002) which was pretty straight forward - visa waiver (I'm a UK citizen) thing during final approach on plane and traditional show your passport procedure at immigration and off you go.

Upon arrival in Auckland the only grilling we got was from a bunch of cheerful bio-security folks, with a cute sniffer dog, who wanted to make sure we didn't have any fresh food in our bags and that our footwear wasn't caked in dirt/earth (which could potentially harbour unwanted seeds or spores).

After my 2005 experience I decided that won't be visiting the US again, I'll stick to travelling in the EU.

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#83

Post by sluukkonen »

UnoriginalGuy wrote: post #62
informatimago wrote: post #45

What is obvious is that "Adi Shamir" is a name of someone living in a country dominated by Islam, and further that person is known to work in cryptography, so he is obviously a terrorist trying to send secret orders to other terrorists. In any case, he's a PITA for the NSA and other good guys like that. What they should have done, is to give him a visa, and redirect his flight direct to Guantanamo for further interro…

Two things, first off attributes are rarely placed on closing tags, and secondly you forgot to enclose the value in quotes as in level="big"

Quoting attributes is optional in HTML (though recommended).

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#84

Post by Kliment »

gambiting wrote: post #80
nir wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm Israeli, not sure why this should be offensive :) AFAIK most foreigners need a visa, except for EU and few other nations.

And even within the EU Polish citizens still need visas, it's a massive pain. It's basically because after the fall of communism a lot of Polish people went to US with travel visas and stayed, so when the visa requirement was dropped for all EU countries, Poland was explicitly excluded from that arrangement. So now if I wanted to go to US I would need to apply at an embassy first.

Many EU countries are excluded from the VWP, not just Poland.

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#85

Post by pasbesoin »

Stratoscope wrote: post #76
tedunangst wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And now the current (3) title is "Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences".

And as always, there is no accountability for the mod who destroyed the very useful information in the submitted title. The title wasn't editorializing or linkbaiting. It helped inform those of us who didn't recognize Dr. Shamir's name at first glance. Shame on the mod who did this. Shame on HN for encouraging this destruction of value.

"Early on" in HN history, posters would generally respect the "original title" mandate but upon occasion (1) would qualify it -- briefly, concisely -- with a few words in square brackets, e.g. [the "S" in "RSA"].

I don't know whether the mods still generally accept this, but I'd suggest it for such instances. And try not to intermingle bracketed qualifications within the title; appending them is generally better.

I'm not a mod, and I don't know whether this is (still) an accepted practice. So, just my suggestion.

--

(1) when really helpful; not all nor anything approaching a majority of the time

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#86

Post by grecy »

adnam wrote: post #57
rrrrtttt wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not much to elaborate. You're told to bring a stack of documents if you have a scientific or technical background, such as CV, a list of publications, an invitation letter from your US host, a letter from your university etc. If the embassy official isn't satisfied, you are asked to send more documents to a state.gov email address. On one occasion they wanted more information about my work as a programmer before I st…

It sounds like they're doing more than simply determining ones suitability for entry.

> It sounds like they're doing more than simply determining ones suitability for entry.

Did you honestly think that's all they are doing?

They can do anything they want, for as long as they want.

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#87

Post by grecy »

nir wrote: post #75
bowlofpetunias wrote: post #65

I'm surprised nobody is offended by the fact that an Israeli needs a visa for the US in the first place.

I'm Israeli, not sure why this should be offensive :) AFAIK most foreigners need a visa, except for EU and few other nations.

Actually, there are 37 countries on the VWP. Quite a few outside the EU.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/without/without_1990.html

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#88

Post by andrewcooke »

saljam wrote: post #78
buro9 wrote: post #28

My visa takes a long while. Not quite as long as it took Adi Shamir, but long. On average it takes about 14 weeks to get a visa, but on occasion it has taken many many months. I've done the calculations, the worst-case scenario for the full process is 32 weeks. It's never actually taken that long, but it's not been far off. I remember having to explain to Microsoft that they needed to write a sponsor/supporting lette…

A few years ago I applied with my sister, she got hers straight away, while I (Arab, early 20s, with a rather pathetic beard) got a letter telling me to wait and not ask them about its status. About half a year later I got another letter asking me to apply again if I still want to go. I thanked them and said I didn't.

so your sister got in because she's not arab? or because she has an awesome beard? ;)

(joke! i live in chile; the us embassy is famous for charging so much and doing so little)

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#89

Post by daurnimator »

cantrevealname wrote: post #50
ra wrote: post #25

I think if the US must continue to have such draconian and onerous entry requirements they should offer a fast track or simplified program for persons of note to attend a specific event in their field. To not do so simply hinders the progress of human knowledge, or at least, it hinders the United States.

> fast track or simplified program for persons of note There actually is a visa for Outstanding persons called O-1A: individuals with an extraordinary ability in the sciences, education, business, or athletics ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/O_visa ). I don't know if it's any faster to get it.

It takes even longer; the documentation required is very strict, and due to the wide range of applicants, hard+subjective to judge.

Re: Adi Shamir Prevented from Attending Crypto and Cryptology Conferences

#90

Post by CamperBob2 »

blisterpeanuts wrote: post #36
Sidnicious wrote: post #31

Why not attend by telepresence? Let him present by video and hook him up with a Double or similar internet-controllable robot to talk to people around the conference. Or go full-on Bluth and pair up with an American proxy wearing a headset. This sucks, sure, but there's always another way.

I've been thinking you could hook up a cam/mic to one of those Roomba vacuum 'bots and then you could cruise around the conference and network with your colleagues just as though you were there. I understand those things have wifi already, so.... The coolest part would be bumping into other Roombas that represent colleagues from elsewhere (you'd need a way to distinguish from an ordinary, autonomous Roomba). There co…

Someone did this a while back -- it made HN, but I don't remember who was behind it. It had a camera and an LCD display and could travel between offices and conference rooms in an office building several states away, attending meetings and generally hanging out with coworkers.
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