SAN FRANCISCO — Here's a tour of the sights, sounds and smells of the 35th Design Automation Conference.

For instance, formal-design toolmaker Chrysalis was giving away luggage tags with its stylish butterfly logo on one side. Some suggested that with Synopsys now a competitor in the growing formal verification market, the giveaway was more like a toe tag.

More formal proceedings: Just before DAC, Cadence announced its formal verification tool, named Affirma. A competitor suggested the following marketing theme: Affirma is medication for an aging EDA company having trouble sustaining a verificaiton business. It has no known effect, but people who take it will see red for several quarters.

And making the rounds, Q: What's the difference between Mentor Graphics and the Titanic? A: The Titanic had a band.

Where's Joe?
The first DAC in years took place here without the presence of Joseph Costello, the charismatic former chief executive of Cadence Design Systems Inc., who had a big influence on framing themes in the industry. Apparently Costello — who landed finally at an Italian m-cad company — was glad to leave his longtime perch at Cadence.

Spies tell EE Times that Costello told a colleague on a recent panel that he'd been dying to leave Cadence for years. Costello told the colleague that Cadence was a "snake pit" and said, "Thank God we acquired Cooper & Chyan" — because the arrival of Jack Harding was his only ticket out.

Where's Gerry?
Costello's old nemesis, Avant! chief executive Gerry Hsu, was at the center of a DAC rumor that he'd acquire Mentor Graphics Corp. for an undisclosed amount of money. The consensus response was "why?" No one could figure out what Mentor had that Avant! would need. One wag suggested getting together some cash, buying 51 percent of Mentor at its current price of $5 a share, and then selling off the pieces for a tidy profit. Mentor sources found little amusing about the theory. One CEO suggested the Avant! - Mentor marriage wasn't that far fetched.

"He wants to be king," he said of Hsu.

This ain't Brigadoon, Toto.
Cadence boldly expanded its consulting business this past year when it opened a huge design center in Scotland. But all is not well in paradise. Apparently housing prices are as bad in Silicon Glen as they are in Silicon Valley. One Cadence employee paid $400,000 for a small flat near the design center.

What a difference a year makes
Last year's DAC saw the embarrassing specter of keynoter Scott McNealy of Sun Microsystems dropping to his knees in effect begging the engineering audience to support his Unix workstations. No sign of "McKneely" this year. Instead, the opening keynote was delivered by Sematech chairman William Spencer, who made a sober assessment of the need for industry to pool its efforts to tackle long-term design and process issues.

News you can use
In its 35 years, DAC has grown 150X.

Culture clash
Synplicity Inc. had a cartoon "barker" at its booth as part of its demos. The barker, with an unspecified prize hanging in the balance, asked an Asian customer a trivia question most American kids know by the third grade: "Who was buried at Grant's Tomb?" The poor fellow flunked.

Willie World
Cadence held a press party Monday night that began at Victor's at the top of the St. Francis Hotel. A surprise guest, expected to come to address the crowd, failed to show before the group had to move on to a restaurant. But at the bottom of the elevator greeting the surprised Cadence guests was the surprise — San Francisco Mayor Willie Brown. One out-of-town editor was so thrilled he practically bear-hugged the controversial mayor.

The world according to Will
Asked what keeps him awake at night, Viewlogic chief executive Will Herman replied dryly, "150 yen to the dollar."

The last time he took a trip to Japan, Herman noted that the exchange rate changed from 120 yen to 135 yen to the dollar between Boston's Logan Airport and Narita Airport outside Tokyo.

Will the scattershot reforms undertaken by the Japanese government stimulate that economy?

Herman is hopeful. Still, "They have to get off this full-employment kick," he said.

Cruisin' with Cooley.
Does it surprise anyone that one of only four men in a packed Sunday workshop on women in EDA was John Cooley, industry gadfly and purveyor of the Synopsys Users Group?