Dispatches from the front, avid friends. I'm writing from a darkened room. The only light is the soft yellow bleed of a hallway table lamp and the phosphorescent glow of mnemosyne's LCD. The room is dark. In front of me two men work in a desperate and feverish silence to install Ubuntu on a tablet PC. To my right, a ToughBook. To my left, another. I, my intrepid reader, am hiding under a coffeetable as I transcribe these events for you. As long as I am here, my cranium is protected from the possibility of concussions delivered by my closest and dearest freshman year lab partner.
I almost choked out Rodin earlier tonight. At least, that's how I'll tell it to my children when I recall these halcyon days. We also made (a most excellent) pie. In the morning, there may be swimming in 60 degree waters. There might be kayaking. Welcome to the Lake.
Sunday, May 29, 2005
Monday, May 16, 2005
Nostalgia
If you're ever tempted to re-watch that movie that was so cool when you were between the ages of 8 and 14... For the love of God, don't do it. No! Put down that copy of 'Ladyhawke'! No matter how much of a cute, awkward nerd boy Matthew Broderick might be, the bad 80's synth soundtrack makes it very much not worth it. Not with only one other person. No, it takes a horde of snide, irreverent over-educated college jackasses to make this film entertaining. Do you hear me? Put it down!
I'm nostalgic for a time when I didn't want to rip my eyes out and bang my head repeatedly against a cinberblock wall. Yeah, that's it. That would hit the spot, right now.
I'm nostalgic for a time when I didn't want to rip my eyes out and bang my head repeatedly against a cinberblock wall. Yeah, that's it. That would hit the spot, right now.
Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Editorial Rag
Just for knowing me, I'll give you a bonus preview of 25% of the text in Issue 91 Volume 1 of VooDoo, MIT's Only Intentionally Humorous Publication. It's the editor's note, otherwise affectionately entitled, "Editorial Rag". If nothing else, it will give you a good laugh at my bitterness quotient.
[REDACTED -- Ed.]
You people can just read my rag when the issue comes out. It will be posted on the VooDoo website, never fear.
In the next... 30 hours, I have to finish compiling my knowledge of conduction and charge transfer in organic polymers, write a 10 page paper analysing a published paper on the topic and give a 15-minute presentation on same paper. I really hate making presentations, but I don't even have powerpoint, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Ada warned me that everyone in this class does a professional job, so it's not like I can go in with some grungy course VI overheads. We'll see. I will then need to go back and finish my analysis of organic solution laser spectral data in addition to emission and VI data for an organic LED. Somewhere in there, we'll get together the Final Review packet and give a Final Review session! If I were nice, I'd make sure all of my pulmonary mechanics notes were completely correct before posting them for the students' use -- we'll see how much time I have. My work is due in a day and a half, and the final exam is in 6 days. I'm having a hard time motivating myself to get cracking because, when you're cocky and on your way out of school, everything seems like a previously solved problem.
Not that I'm lazy (although I am), but things just don't seem like nearly as much work as they actually are. But if I get this paper on the formation of conductive wires in "solid electrolyte" films read before I go to bed, I'm on a good route to having an answer as to why these guys are seeing such a fantastic change in conduction when they apply a high enough bias.
[REDACTED -- Ed.]
You people can just read my rag when the issue comes out. It will be posted on the VooDoo website, never fear.
In the next... 30 hours, I have to finish compiling my knowledge of conduction and charge transfer in organic polymers, write a 10 page paper analysing a published paper on the topic and give a 15-minute presentation on same paper. I really hate making presentations, but I don't even have powerpoint, so I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Ada warned me that everyone in this class does a professional job, so it's not like I can go in with some grungy course VI overheads. We'll see. I will then need to go back and finish my analysis of organic solution laser spectral data in addition to emission and VI data for an organic LED. Somewhere in there, we'll get together the Final Review packet and give a Final Review session! If I were nice, I'd make sure all of my pulmonary mechanics notes were completely correct before posting them for the students' use -- we'll see how much time I have. My work is due in a day and a half, and the final exam is in 6 days. I'm having a hard time motivating myself to get cracking because, when you're cocky and on your way out of school, everything seems like a previously solved problem.
Not that I'm lazy (although I am), but things just don't seem like nearly as much work as they actually are. But if I get this paper on the formation of conductive wires in "solid electrolyte" films read before I go to bed, I'm on a good route to having an answer as to why these guys are seeing such a fantastic change in conduction when they apply a high enough bias.
