One of the aspects of MIT culture I most enjoy is the Institute's culture of entrepreneurship. MIT students (and professors!) don't just want to learn about science and technology -- we want to apply our knowledge to make the world a better place.

Another cornerstone of MIT culture is that we're highly collaborative. Instead of competing with one another, we work together and rely on each other to pull through.

So, in the spirit of entrepreneurship and collaboration, I'm doing something I don't normally do on my blog. I'd like to ask you all to do me a big favor and consider voting for Ksplice, an MIT-founded tech startup, in Forbes "Boost Your Business" Competition. Their concept is actually a beautiful example of tackling hard problems on a foundational level. Ksplice was founded by four MIT alums and friends of mine (Jeff '07, Waseem '07, Tim '07, and Anders '08) on the principle that security updates are incredibly valuable for companies, but restarting servers to apply these updates cost thousands of dollars in uptime or other costs. Ksplice's answer? Make reboots obsolete by "ksplicing" in security patches on the go, without any loss of uptime. The Linux world has really taken hold of their concept - they've won a ton of competitions and awards already (including the MIT $100k Competition and being Slashdotted) - and winning the Forbes contest would really be another feather in their metaphorical cap.

If you're willing to support an amazing example of what MIT alumni can do after MIT, please click here to cast your vote for Ksplice! The competition ends on Friday, so vote soon. (The vote will require an email validation, but you won't get any spam.)

Thanks everyone, and happy Thanksgiving!

(P.S. Amusing side story: when Waseem asked me if I'd be willing to post the voting link for him, I asked him if he actually thought it'd be effective. To figure it out, he compared data from when I posted the link to whatamiforgetting.mit.edu, which netted that site over 400 hits in the first day, and 700 hits overall in the next four days. Swayed by that data, I knew it was more than worth my while to write up a short little piece for the Forbes Competition.)

Fortunately, I already have a bunch of things on my closet that I could use as costumes (blame the Assassins' Guild).

Unfortunately, I'm hosed and indecisive.

Conveniently, I have a blog (and a penchant for adverbs).

This calls for crowdsourcing!

Prospective MIT students and blog readers of the world, your mission (if you choose to accept it) is to pick my Halloween costume. Voting will last until Saturday, October 31, at noon. I will actually wear whatever costume you pick, so choose wisely. :)

Your options are...

whatamiforgetting.mit.edu

Short, sweet, and simple. Now if only it could help me wake up in time for my flight....

(Also, hi! Yes, I'm alive - Sorry for my absence. Summer stories - and blog entries - to come, eventually.)

Naturally, I was no exception. In spite of my camera having trouble focusing (not to mention coming close to running out of battery!), I prevailed against all odds and secured a photo of myself at the foot of my goddess.

Athena is also the name of MIT's distributed computing environment, and her likeness has been featured on a number of Brass Rats - including my own.

Besides her sheer size, one of the most impressive aspects of the statue was the beautifully-crafted shield she bore, emblazoned with MIT's official seal. The motto, Mens et Manus, means "Mind and Hand" - representing MIT's dedication to teaching theoretical knowledge, but also focusing on hands-on learning. An appropriate axiom to keep in mind during the finals season!

Of course, the Lunar Lander could also be seen behind Athena's imposing shadow.

As recently as tonight, the statue is still standing vigil over Killian Court, guarding all those who will venture forth to battle their finals throughout the coming week. Pretty impressive stuff.

If you're so inclined, you can see more photos at Eric Schmiedl's gallery.

Also courtesy of Eric, here's a relevant factoid: "This is not the first time the goddess has been associated with Killian Court. The original architect of MIT's Cambridge campus, William Welles Bosworth, included in the plans a 50-foot tall statue of Athena that would be the centerpiece of the Court. The statue was cut from the construction plans due to an Institute budget crunch in 1913."

One of the things I love most about MIT is the history that surrounds our campus. Ever since 1861, when we were founded, MIT's had a vibrant, distinguished, and sometimes downright strange history. I love hearing the old tales about what MIT used to be like ten years ago, or more, and MIT's one of the few places I know that has so many great stories to tell.

Anyway, happy finals, everyone!

• finding a UROP for the summer (I'll be working in the Lang Lab!)
• checking out the Boston Marathon
• hanging out with prefrosh at my fraternity during CPW
• writing a live-action roleplaying game for the Assassins' Guild
• attending Burchard Scholars dinners
• editing the upcoming issue of the MIT Undergraduate Research Journal
• preparing for MIT's upcoming Spring Weekend Concert (I'm working security :D)
• playing with robots in 6.01 and writing about riboswitches in 20.111

...and probably a few other things I'm forgetting right now. Although my classes are heating up as we race towards finals, I'll do my best to blog about all these things over the coming weeks!

While I'm busy with things here at MIT, I know that many of you are currently in the midst of choosing where to spend the next four years of your life. It's a huge decision, and I hope the admissions blogs and events like Campus Preview Weekend have helped you learn more about MIT. That said, having questions or doubts at this stage is totally natural. Is there anything I can do to help clarify the admissions process? Any questions you want to have an actual MIT student answer? Just post them in the comments!

At a press briefing at the White House on Monday, MIT President Susan Hockfield joined U.S. President Barack Obama in calling for a "truly historic" new level of federal funding for clean energy research.

The event came as Congress prepares to take up the president's budget, which calls for dedicating $150 billion over 10 years for a new clean energy R&D and technology fund. This initiative represents "the largest and most important investment in science and technology" by the U.S. government since the Apollo moon-landing program in the 1960s, Hockfield said.

Read more (and see the video): Hockfield, Obama urge major push in clean energy research funding - MIT News Office

Energy has been a central, vibrant part of MIT's mission ever since President Hockfield's inauguration. In her inaugural address, President Hockfield said, "A second great opportunity, and a great obligation, is our institutional responsibility to address the challenges of energy and the environment." Today, that responsibility is embodied in the work of the MIT Energy Initiative (MITEI).

Founded in September 2006, the Energy Initiative helps coordinate MIT's significant research into the energy sector. It also houses a wealth of resources and opportunities for students interested in making a difference - so if you're at all interested in energy research or energy education, be sure to check out their website! In particular, the Energy Initiative has been a key player in helping establish a new inter-disciplinary Energy Minor at MIT, which is projected to be available this coming semester in Fall 2009.

With all that in mind, here's a sampling of the hundreds of energy-related opportunities that abound at MIT.

In the classroom:

• 8.21 - Physics¬†of¬†Energy, which has been talked about quite a bit on campus, explores how energy actually works. From a physics standpoint, the course material ranges from a mechanical and electromagnetic understanding of energy systems to talking about thermodynamics, quantum mechanics, and nuclear physics. But the class also covers some of the overlooked aspects of the energy problem, such as energy transport and conversion. Finally, the class explores some of the side effects of energy use, such as global warming and nuclear radiation hazards, that capture so much of the media's attention.
  
• 12.213 - Alternate Energy Sources - is a six-unit class that explores a number of alternative energy sources, ranging from wind and solar to geothermal and nuclear. Because it's only 6 units and has no prerequisites, it's easy to drop into your schedule! And because the class changes from year to year, you can even take it more than once.
  
• 14.44 - Energy Economics and Policy - investigates various aspects of the energy economy. The class also talks about novel ideas for the future, such as energy tax, price regulation/deregulation, CO2 emissions, and pollution controls.
  
• 4.411 - Building Technology Laboratory - is an architecture project laboratory that explores how to integrate energy-saving techniques into new buildings. The class focuses on building and testing models, and pays particular attention to applications for developing countries.
  
• ...and more!

In the lab:

• Center for Excitonics explores organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) and how they can be harnessed to create light-absorbing antennas, new solar cells, and other energy-efficient technologies.
  
• John M. Deutch is an Institute Professor of Chemistry with a passion for understanding fuel cells and other energy sources. With a number of other faculty, he recently completed a comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of nuclear power including technical, economic, and environmental concerns. He is currently working on a follow-up study regarding the future of fossil fuels.
  
• The Juanes Research Group (Civil and Environmental Engineering) explores CO2 storage and carbon sequestration.
  
• Professor Angela Belcher, whom I've blogged about before, unites a number of diverse fields - ranging from biochemistry to materials science to electrical engineering - to explore new approaches to energy. Her lab's research results have from improved solar cells to viral nanobatteries.
  
• ...and many, many more!
  

In student groups:

• MIT Energy Club seeks to bring together all the members of MIT's vibrant energy community. The club hosts a number of serial programs, including an Energy Lecture Series and an Energy Discussion Series, in addition to large signature events like the annual MIT EnergyNight and the MIT Energy Conference.
  
• The MIT Solar Electric Vehicle Team (SEVT) works to build and race its very own solar car, as an example of an "alternately-powered vehicle" that may someday revolutionize the auto industry. Working with the famous Edgerton Center, the team frequently refines their design, drawing upon a wealth of past experiences and expertise in all of the scientific and engineering disciplines. They unveiled their latest car, Eleanor, last month and are currently preparing for the World Solar Challenge in Australia in October.
  
• Solar Decathalon is an international competition sponsored by the Department of Energy that challenges college students to design and build an energy-efficient solar-powered house. Last year, MIT's "Solar 7 Team" developed a Zero Energy Home that draws its power solely from solar energy without sacrificing any comforts of the modern era. Here's a write-up of their project.
  
• Sustainability@MIT is a student group dedicated to promoting sustainable development at MIT and around the world. They coordinate a number of events on campus, ranging from the MIT Generator - designed to serve as a starting point for students with big ideas (or small ones!) about how to make MIT a more sustainable environment - to large events like the upcoming Sustainability Summit.
  
• Biodiesel@MIT is a group of students working together to implement a campus biodiesel system. Their goal is to reprocess used vegetable oil from the dining halls on campus into a biofuel that can be used to run the MIT SafeRide.
  
• and more...!

And now, here's a cute little something to brighten your day.

Maybe I'm a little crazy, but isn't that just too cute for words? :)

The video, Challenges at the Office, was produced by a alum friend of mine from SIPB, Waseem '07. The video's been entered in the Linux Foundation's "We're Linux" contest and it's been doing quite well. If you liked the entry, I'd really appreciate it if you took a moment to vote for it online, but no big deal either way.

Any other Linux users out there, among the current students or the prefrosh? What distro do you use?

Patrick Bennett, a Berkeley grad student, submitted this video for the Nanonation Video Contest.

Relatedly, I've been getting quite a few questions about nanotechnology at MIT, so I figured I might as well take this opportunity to clear up some of the more common questions:

Is there a nanotechnology major at MIT?
Not specifically. However, many of MIT's larger departments offer courses and other opportunities to focus on nanotechnology. The primary majors connected to nanotechnology are Mechanical Engineering, Biological Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering (Courses 2, 20, and 3) - but Physics (Course 8) and Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (Course 6) are also closely related.

Can I get involved in nanotechnology at MIT?
Absolutely! In addition to taking classes, the best way to become part of the nanotechnology movement is to get a UROP at one of the many laboratories conducting nanotech research. Here's a few of the nanotech labs I'm aware of:

The Laboratory for Multiscale Regenerative Technologies, led by Professor Sangeeta Bhatia, uses nanotechnology to develop new techniques for tissue repair and regeneration. The lab has a particular emphasis on liver disease and cancer.

The BioInstrumentation Lab, which Melis '08 worked in as an undergrad, is also involved in some nanotechnology projects, including things like nanowires that could be used as intravascular neural electrodes.

Professor Matt Lang's lab, which focuses on biophysics, works with nanoscale phenomena regularly. Thanks to the magic of single molecule fluorescence and optical tweezers, researchers in the Lang Lab can manipulate molecules with nanometer precision (and with piconewtons of force!).

Professor. Angela Belcher's research group sits at the interface of materials science and biological engineering, mixing the two disciplines to create some truly amazing things - like nanobatteries!

The Institute for Soldier Nanotechnologies focuses on using nanotechnology to improve military technology - everything from hi-tech battle suits to new medical treatments.

Space Nanotechnology Lab and NanoStructures Lab both work on some of the more physics-oriented applications of nanotechnology, such as nanoscale fabrication, nanomagnetics, and scanning-electron-beam lithography. The lab features a combination of professors and students from Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Aero/Astro, and Physics.

Finally, Melis '08 wrote a great great entry on nanotechnology last year, and it's still quite relevant. Check it out!

What other types of research do you want to hear about?

"Today, 3/3/09, is square root day, which only occurs nine times each century. The last such day was five years ago, Feb. 2, 2004, which coincided with Groundhog Day. The next is seven years away, on April 4, 2016."

This is part of why I love MIT - people here actually appreciate this kind of joke.

(In related news, Pi Day is only eleven days away. Get pysched!)

Fortunately for me, my first class on Mondays is at noon. So the roads looked pretty good by then. :)

Happy Anti-Snow Day!

mymit.info

And, of course, where would be without a little help from our friend Randall Munroe.

I like the last panel, personally.

Things change quickly, sometimes.

One thing that hasn't changed is my personal proclivity towards "doing things": whether it's taking on a new project, writing a computer program, or putting together a well-organized spreadsheet. I'm always looking for ways I can improve what already exists, always eager to make progress on the goals and projects I care about. But that attitude has drawbacks, too - sometimes I get easily frustrated by lack of progress, or by people who seem more content to talk rather than do. On more than one occasion, I've taken on more responsibilities than I could actually handle - and I've been trying especially hard to avoid doing this in the future.

For a while, I've been trying to come up with a word to succinctly describe this aspect of my personality. A few weeks ago, I realized that the word I was looking for was results-driven, or maybe just driven. Either way, I think it fits.

I think it's this part of my personality that's secretly behind my not-so-secret love for the Internet. Things just happen so much faster online, with a sense of immediacy and a let's-do-it-because-we-can attitude that you rarely find in "real" life, except maybe in start-ups. And in a sense, I think many of the attitudes of the computing culture has spilled over into the culture and attitudes of MIT in general (which probably explains why most MIT students are compelled to check their email at least once every hour, on average). Or perhaps you could argue that it was the culture of MIT, which provided the cradle of the Internet, that spilled over into the Web culture at large.

More likely, the truth oscillates somewhere between those two poles. I feel that the culture of MIT is, almost by definition, in a constant state of flux, subtly altered by every new technological trend or novel school of scientific thought, shifting slightly but perceptibly throughout the years as each new class of students arrives and makes their mark upon the Institute. By saying this, I don't mean to say that administrators, and professors, and all the other hard-working individuals at MIT don't make their mark as well - but the changes those people bring to MIT often end up being many levels abstracted from what students actually experience and do "on the ground," as it were. And so the most significant changes students tend to see and care about are, as far as I can tell, those that occur in their living groups or their clubs.

Originally, I wasn't entirely sure what this entry was going to be about, or why I was writing. Now I think I know what pushed me to write it: my fraternity initiated our latest pledge class last December, and I still hadn't fully come to grips with what that meant. In my opinion, initiating someone into a fraternity means more than simply completing a rite of passage. It means entrusting them with your traditions and your secrets - with the very future of your house and brotherhood. Sooner than I can possibly imagine, the people I know of as freshmen now will become sophomores, juniors, seniors, ascending the totem pole of experience and responsibility.

And tonight, I realize this and accept this truth completely and wholly, just as the brothers who initiated me last year must have, and I begin to look forward to another year, another class of MIT students who will go out into the world and do things.

Oops. :)

So, here's a quick recap of what I've done so far during the first week of MIT's Independent Activities Period.

• On Monday, I had Orientation at the Broad Institute for my UROP there - which, among other things, means that I now have a Broad email address! Right now I'm working on identifying the genetic basis of various tuberculosis strains' antibiotic resistance using computational methods...which is basically a fancy way of saying I'm using computer scripts (which I'm working on writing!) to compare a bunch of genetic sequences.
• For three hours a day, Monday through Friday, I'm taking 6.189 - a crash course in Python programming. So far we've gone through functions, conditionals, for and while loops, lists/tuples, and various other things. I'm enjoying it quite a lot, because although I'd previously taught myself a bit of Python, it really makes a difference when I'm learning it alongside fifty or so other people. Plus the projects we've been working on have all been really interesting: so far I've coded a hangman program, a primitive login system, the game of nims, and a Pig Latin converter (in addition other, less interesting things).
• On Tuesday and Thursday nights, I've been taking jiu-jitsu lessons as a PE class. I'm really quite glad I decided to take jiu-jitsu, as I've been trying to pick up a martial art for quite some time - there really is no time like IAP for doing those things you never seem to find time for during the term!
• Finally, on Friday, my friends JR '11, Jesse '11, and I worked together to fun Athens, a live-action roleplaying game we wrote (with Susan '11) over last summer. I'll be blogging about Athens (and what live-action roleplaying is) more in-depth later on.

And here's a look at what I'll be doing for the next three weeks:

• More UROPing! More jiu-jitsu! More Python! Yay!
• Teaching a truffles-making class with Laboratory for Chocolate Science, one of MIT's more...unique student groups. Mm, chocolate.
• Teaching an introductory LaTeX class with Jess '09.
• (Hopefully) playing in Thebes, a ten-day-long immersive roleplaying game put on by the Assassins' Guild.
• Beginning a very casual and very short campaign of Dungeons & Dragons with a few friends.
• Attending UPOP, a one-week, for-credit, internship strategies class designed for sophomores majoring in engineering.
• Going on a week-long retreat with LeaderShape

And, of course, blogging. Is there anything in particular you want to hear about? Just let me know!

Poetry, prose. Prose, poetry. Sometimes I think there's not a whole lot of difference. Sometimes I know that they are worlds apart.

I wrote a fair bit in high school. Poetry, mostly, with the occasional short story or narrative. Since coming to MIT, I've had far less time to dedicate to my writing than I really would have liked, which is one of the reasons I'm leaning towards taking more writing classes for my HASS concentration. Mostly I put my literary energy into blogging instead - although I'm hesitant to even mention creative writing and blogging together, since they're such very different genres, arguably even mediums, of writing - each with their own advantages and limitations.

I can't just make things up when I blog, for one thing. :)

I don't know how many of you reading this are writers or bloggers yourselves, so perhaps the past few paragraphs didn't make a whole lot of sense - my apologies. But my point is that it's taken me a while to get my thoughts down on paper (or motherboard, as the case may be), partly because sometimes other, more interesting thoughts march inside my head and demand to be taken out and allowed to shine, which is basically the cause of those past two paragraphs of digression. Also that hyperlink.

Isn't Cummings wonderful?

Last week, during finals, a bed spontaneously appeared in the student lounge off of the Infinite Corridor.

(Photo courtesy of Yan.)

For some reason this hack struck me more vividly than pretty much any other hack pulled this semester. Part of it is the simple fact that it appeared during finals week, when everyone is at their most hosed, most stressed, most sleep-depped - and yet still find time to put together amazing things. (Interestingly enough, two other hacks also occurred during finals time...)

And part of it is just the meaning of the hack. Hacks, in their purest form, are designed to make the viewer laugh - marvel - think. A lot of hacks simply make you scratch your head and wonder how did they do that? This semester's Epiphany Toilet definitely falls into this category, as does the infamous police car on the Dome. Other hacks, while apparently simple, nonetheless just sort of stick in your memory like the chorus of some Top 50 song, and keep bubbling to the forefront of your mind when you least expect them.

For me, the Save Point hack was one of these. The simple phrase "You may rest your party here" remained embedded in my subconscious far longer than it should have, and it's taken on new shades of meaning over the past ten days or so, as I finished up my finals and packed up my bags to head home after another long - but enjoyable - semester. And then I spent the next couple days sleeping until noon. :)

Winter break. A time of rest, recovery, recharging. Assembling one's forces and laying plans for the future. Preparing for the struggles that are to come with any semester at MIT: the tiny defeats, the small victories. Finals, again, sooner than we expect: the last battle. And the cycle begins again each fall, with new faces and new names as another class of freshmen arrives.

I love talking to people. I love listening to their stories, trying to understand what makes them who they are, and why. Getting to know their passions, their hobbies, all their little imperfect and intensely human quirks. This is part of why I wanted to become an admissions blogger, so I could connect to the students who might someday become part of MIT. Because in the end, I truly believe that MIT is what it is today because of its students, this population of self-selected and self-acknowledged geeks, nerds, technorati, entrepreneurs, innovators - whatever label or labels you try and put on it, you will only come two-thirds of the way to the truth, in a Zeno's Paradox sort of way.

Part of the MIT culture is that it tends to defy labels, anyway.

What am I saying, here? What is the point of this? Simultaneously everything and nothing. I am writing to hear myself talk, I am writing to reach out and convey a message that right now seems desperately important but might mean nothing tomorrow. "These people ought to know who we are and tell that we are here," or something like that. So much of writing - and blogging, especially - is simply trying to find the right audience.

And as far as readership concerns, I really do think that numbers are not as important you might think. Even so, my audience, on this blog, is far larger than I would have expected. Originally I thought of myself as only ever writing for the prospective students - showing them what the school I love is like, and maybe helping them (you) through the maze that is the college admission process along the way. But over the past year and a half I've discovered a staggering other array of readers ranging from my old grade school teachers to the parents of my fraternity brothers - not to mention the other current students, who always provide useful perspectives and have this wonderful habit of pointing out things I otherwise would have overlooked.

I'm only human. Even on this blog, where I can say exactly and precisely I want, I ramble, I rant, I rave - because that's part of who I am in real life, and I want to share that part of myself with you on this blog. Just because I go to MIT doesn't make me any different, any less flesh-and-bone than you. If you cut me I bleed. I am not so old that I have forgotten how to cry. MIT has changed me, yes. But not maybe as much as you'd think.

Mostly, I think MIT has made me more aware of who I truly am, and of the person I always wanted to be. At MIT, hundreds of miles from my hometown, blissfully and terrifyingly torn apart from everything I used to know, I've been able to rediscover myself - all in the company of four thousand other strangers, classmates, friends who are making the same kind of journey I am.

Applying to MIT is its own kind of journey. And I think the real, fundamental purpose of this entry is to encourage all of you applying to MIT, all of you who will be getting that life-changing decision in March, to just take a moment and think. I remember high school, especially senior year: so busy juggling classes, SATs, extracurriculars, friends, and all the rest to ever find a moment for yourself. But you need self-introspection, sometimes.

Right here, right now: I challenge you to stop, think - rest your party for a moment. Create a save point for yourself. Think about how far you've come and how much you've accomplished. Break down the assumptions you've been carrying about yourselves, about MIT, about the world. There is so much more than you know, than any of us can possibly ever know. Humility in the face of the great unknown (including admissions decisions) is one of life's greatest virtues.

As I write this, wondering where I should stop, I realize that the streets and sidewalks of South Bend are coated with a fine sheet of snow and ice, beautiful and dangerous at the same time. MIT is like that, too, in a way. And that's part of why those of us who go here love it.

You have been warned.

Just in time, the blogs shall provide. This list is not intended to be comprehensive by any means - if you have suggestions, let me know!

Webcomics
xkcd
The classic.

Questionable Content
Angst abounds in this comic about an indie boy, his robot, and some friends. You have been warned.

Freakangels
A beautifully-drawn dystopia set in post-apocalyptic England.

Penny Arcade
For, by, and about video game nerds.

Order of the Stick
D&D comes to life, basically.

PhD Comics
Can't believe I originally forgot this gem! Called to my attention by Nick '12.

Games

Armor Games
I recommend GemCraft, among others.

Addicting Games

Miscellaneous

Wikipedia
But at least it's an informative distraction, right?

TVtropes
One of the most addicting and hilarious sites I have yet been exposed to. Don't blame me if you fail your classes.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along-Blog

Science

Neil Gaiman Quotes
...I couldn't resist throwing this one in here.

In Real Life...

Baking

Cleaning Your Room
My friend Ternus '10 comments, "Insidiously distracting things you can do include doing your laundry, cleaning and reorganizing your room, etc. This makes you feel like you're accomplishing something (because you are!), but it is, of course, not what you're supposed to be accomplishing."

Reading

Not Stressing About MIT!
Best of luck to all of you. As the countdown clock gets closer to zero, our thoughts are all with you.

Well, that happened to me today. After my 24.900 lecture this morning, I decided to take a brief nap in the student lounge off of the Infinite Corridor. When I woke up I found someone had put this sign on me:

Basically, I got hacked.

Can I just say I love this school? :)

Well, once an entry leaves the main page, you can find it two places: the personal archive of the blogger who wrote it, or the general information pages accessible by the colorful navigation bar at the top of this page. That's one of the great features of the Admissions website as a whole, because it shows how the blogs are fully integrated with the core content of the site. When you read about MIT - whether you're exploring MIT's Majors & Minors or The Match - you don't just get the Admissions Office's view of things...you get a student's perspective as well.

Nonetheless, there are currently upwards of 2750 entries (written over a little more than four years!), which translates to a lot of verbiage. And while there's nothing wrong with new posts, every now and then I get kind of nostalgic for old posts. Some things have changed about MIT in the past four years - but many things haven't, and I think it's important to recognize this.

There are some truly beautiful entries here.

So that's the motivation behind this entry: to repost some of the "oldies but goodies" from blogger days of yore - to reverse the exponential decay of the MITblogs, as it were. I've gone through and picked out one favorite or representative entry from (almost) all the bloggers and blogger alums. (Apologies to the new bloggers...)

Matt '00: The Years of the Rat

Daniel: LiveBlogging Ben's Info Session

Mollie '06: Round here we stay up very, very late

Bryan '07: Unfold

Jessie '07: Mind and hand

Mitra '07: Grind Time

Sam '07: Slow down, fast train.

Melis '08: 10 things I love about MIT

Derrick '08: At What Cost

Anthony '09: Making Tracks

Lulu '09: Desired things

Laura '09: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Balloons

Evan '10: Go Sox!

Jess '10: e) Other

Keri '10: Well at least you didn't fail, right?

Chris '11: Oh the Places You'll Go!

Karen '11: Bread at Desk

Paul '11: What Though the Odds

Snively '11: Tour/Hack/Math

Nance: I've Got 99 Problems... Admissions Is Not One

Ben Jones: It's More Than A Job

If I didn't post one of your favorite entries, post the link in the comments!

And now, I sleep, perchance to dream...

But now that I'm a sophomore, I get to start taking exciting Course 20 classes!

...well, sort of.

I say "sort of" because although three of my five classes this term are recommended and required for a Course 20 degree, only one of them is, strictly speaking, Course 20.

But that's actually part of the point of biological engineering: it is a highly interdisciplinary field, especially here at MIT; and it is continuing to evolve from the various fields that originally gave birth to it. Bioengineering is still incredibly ground-breaking, with new research pushing the limits of our knowledge every day - and that's why I'm so excited to be part of bioengineering here at MIT, where so many fantastic discoveries have already been made.

* This is actually over-simplifying things slightly. Originally I wanted to study biomedical engineering, which tends to incorporate a lot of things from Course 2 (mechanical engineering) as well as Course 20. So for a while I contemplated declaring Course 2 or Course 2A (mechanical engineering with a particular focus; I would have chosen biomedicine, like Melis) instead of Course 20. Yet ultimately I decided that Course 20, which is just straight up pure biological engineering, was the right choice for me personally.

** For the prospective students applying, do not worry about what you list as your "intended major" on your application form. Because of MIT's centralized, "single-door" admissions policies, all applicants are reviewed by the Admissions Office equally no matter what you put down. That question's only purpose is to help the Admissions Office get a sense of what your passions are and how you have explored them before applying (for example, competing in science fairs, attending engineering summer camps, participating in FIRST, or doing research).

It's also perfectly fine to put down "Undecided" if that's what you honestly are. I know several friends who put that down on their application and got in. Don't let anyone tell you that being unsure about your future stop you from being admitted to MIT - who really expects 17-year-olds to be 100% sure about what they want to do for the rest of their lives, anyway?

As I was saying, though, I'm taking three "Course 20" classes this term:

• 20.110 - Thermodynamics of Biomolecular Systems
  
• 5.12 - Organic Chemistry I
  
• 7.03 - Genetics

20.110 and 7.03 both have homework assignments - problem sets - due tomorrow. I've been making good progress on them so far. But because I realized I haven't talked about my academics all that much this term, I thought I would give you a brief insight into some of the questions that have been on my mind lately.

First, from the 7.03 problem set, Question 1:

Growth on glycerol in yeast requires a functional electron transport system. Some of the enzymes in this electron transport system are encoded in chromosomes residing in the nucleus and some in the mitochondrial DNA. This situation means that a strain unable to grow on glycerol could have a mutation in the nuclear DNA, the mitochondrial DNA, or both. For the nuclear notation, a wild type strain is GLY1+ and a strain that has a mutation in a nuclear gene preventing growth on glycerol is gly1-. For the mitochondrial genome notation a strain can be ρ+ or ρ- where the strain that is ρ+ can grow on glycerol and the strain that is ρ- can not. Thus, a wild type strain is GLY1+ ρ+ and a glycerol non-grower could be gly1- ρ+, GLY1+ ρ-, or gly1- ρ-. You have known haploid stocks of strains with these four genotypes to characterize any new strain.

When you cross a ρ- strain with a ρ+ strain the resulting diploid is ρ+.

a) You isolate a haploid strain that can not grow on glycerol and want to know what its genotype is with respect to the nuclear GLY1 and mitochondrial ρ DNA. What strains would you cross it by to distinguish whether its genotype is gly1- ρ+, GLY1+ ρ-, or gly1- ρ- ?

b) In a cross of gly1- ρ+ x Gly+ ρ- what would be the glycerol genotype and phenotype of the four meiotic products?

And from the 20.110 pset, Question 3:

When raindrops fall, they are distorted slightly from a spherical shape due to drag forces on the sphere. Consider a droplet that is initially 1 mm in diameter. Its surface area is increased by a factor of 1.75 while falling. What is its change in free energy during the process (do not include the change in potential energy)? If this free energy were converted into heat, would the temperature of the drop change appreciably? The surface tension of water is γ = 72 dyne/cm and the heat capacity of water is 4.1 J/gm/K.

As you can see, problem sets are a lot different from high school homework. There are (usually) fewer problems, but they're each individually more difficult and more likely to make you want to tear your hair out. Moreover, they generally can't be answered just by using some formula you copy out of your chem textbook - you actually have to think outside the box and applying what you learned in lecture and from the text.

But that's what MIT's all about. We wouldn't be here if it weren't challenging.

1. You only have one freshman year. Live it up.

2. Pass/No Record is not an excuse to slack off and not learn the basics - it's a chance to adjust to MIT and learn the study habits you'll need for the next four years without having to be (as) afraid of failure.

3. Don't save all your work for the night before it's due. Seriously.

4. Caffeine is not a substitute for sleep. Try and get 8 hours a night - your body (and your friends, and your grades) will thank you.

5. Excuses are for high school.

6. Sometimes it's possible to get extensions or have allowances made for extraordinary circumstances - but you shouldn't rely on it. Remember that compassion isn't a prerequisite to becoming a professor at this school.

7. In my humble opinion, xkcd used to be a lot funnier than it currently is. Sic transit gloria mundi.

8. Running into people you haven't really talked to for a year can be immensely satisfying.

9. At MIT, we have the luxury of being within walking distance of one of the world's greatest cities. It'll take you at least four years to explore everything Boston has to offer. Get started soon.

10. Sometimes, you should just T it. - and sometimes you should F the T. The hard part is figuring out when.

11. One thought about choosing your living group: it's not about the quality of the facilities, but rather the character of the people who live in them.

12. Help is rarely as far away as you think it is. Don't be afraid to take advantage of it.

13. Don't be afraid to approach your professors - whether it's because you have a question about lecture, you're hoping to get a UROP in their lab, or anything else. This is how Melis and I got an interview with Eric Lander last year. The worst they can do is say no, and either way they'll know your face the next time you ask. :)

14. If you ever find yourself saying you don't have time for a boyfriend/girlfriend/significant other, you're doing something wrong.

15. Don't pick ozonolysis.

16. You don't have to go out and party every Friday night to be "popular." In fact, if you go out and party just "because it's Friday" and not because you actually trying to have fun, you're just a sheep.

17. Regarding East Campus and West Campus: yes, they're different. That's the point. But we're still all MIT students.

18. MIT is one of the few institutions in the world that offers you near complete freedom in choosing where you live. Whether you live in a dorm for four years or you join an FSILG, don't overlook the value of Rush.

19. There's sometimes a grain of truth to the stereotypes you hear spread around. But more often than not, that grain is microscopic. In the long run, it's better to judge the rest of MIT - and its students - for yourself.

20. It's true: sometimes, going back and forth across the river just to get to school is a pain. But at the same time, it's taught me how to keep walking, even when I'm going against the wind. It's showed me exactly the value of knowing exactly how many smoots away I am from Hell - plus or minus an ear or two. It's helped me find time to walk by myself for a while and just think about things. And I'm grateful for that.

21. Trying to develop your own personal website can be a great exercise in learning HTML and CSS.

22. LaTeX is your friend - except when it's not. But it's still worth learning, or at least playing around with. Of course, I'm biased.

23. Sometimes it's good to just step away from everything and everyone online and just exist in the real world - whether it's studying, hanging with your friends, or just being by yourself and thinking about the world. Facebook, AIM, and your inbox can all wait.

24. Finding time for your high-school hobbies - writing, an instrument, reading - can be hard at MIT. But it's worth it. I'm trying to get back into poetry. :)

25. Donating blood or volunteering at a blood drive is one of the easiest and simplest ways you can make an impact on someone's life - without even having to leave campus.

26. Sometimes it's okay to do silly things.

27. Don't forget to take care of yourself. Eat breakfast. Don't skip other meals. Cook for yourself every now and then. Try and get into a consistent workout schedule - MIT's athletic facilities are fantastic and free - or join an intramural team. Do something just for fun.

28. Have you ever noticed how sometimes you can be so focused on taking the perfect photo that you forget to just enjoy the moment?

29. Call your parents. No, really.

30. Read this entry, which makes this sound like a caveman's muttering in comparison. But trust me: you'll be glad you did.

31. Some people can't be replaced, no matter how hard you try. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't welcome new faces in their place.

32. Stand up for yourself as a student. Strive to make this school everything you thought it would be when you were a prefrosh. Remember that culture is truly defined by the students who actually create it and are part of it - not the administrators who impose it from ten thousand feet up. Above all else, keep MIT special.

33. No one is going to respect you simply based on the title (or titles) you hold. Conversely, it is possible to be incredibly influential and respected in an organization without ever holding an official title.

34. The pace and energy of this place make it hard to find time to reflect. It's still worth trying.

35. Some of the most important mentors I've had at MIT have never been officially recognized as an advisor by any department or academic office.

36. Don't compromise on what you believe in.

37. People screw up - in your classes or your relationships or whatever else. At MIT, it's pretty much bound to happen sooner or later. Rather than beating yourself over the head, it's better to just dust yourself off, learn from your mistakes, and get back up swinging.

Note the plume in my hat. Hats with plumes make everything cooler.

This particular photo was taken by some of my friends in Senior Haus. Note the mural of Death (from Neil Gaiman's Sandman) in the background, which is one of my favorites, out of all the many murals on campus. :)

I'd also like to give a quick shout out to Anna '11, who loaned me most of the costume, including the marvelous coat - which she made completely by herself! When she's not busy being a physics major, Anna spends quite a bit of her time working with the various theater groups and classes here at MIT. She made this very coat as part of a Costume Design for Theater class she took last semester, and I have to say her efforts paid off many times over!

At this point, you may be wondering why, exactly, I chose to dress up as a Renaissance duke, especially when there are other, more MIT-specific costumes available to choose from. Well, to be honest, I was actually using my costume to kill two birds with one stone. I'm a member of the MIT Assassins' Guild, which was holding one of its many live-action roleplaying games over Halloween weekend. I had been cast as Duke Barras, one of the four lords of Carbuncle - a mythical and mystical city set in the apocalyptic world of Gaia - so it made sense to use the Renaissance as my primary costuming inspiration.

Of course, costuming isn't strictly required for Guild games - but it's a lot more fun to be debating political issues with the other nobles when you're sweeping around from place to place with a fancy coat. At least, that's my opinion. :)

For more Halloween photos, check out this gallery, put together by the 2011 Class Council. What's your favorite costume out of this bunch?

At this point, you may be wondering, dear reader, why I'm pontificating about the joys of getting mail. Well, for one, I wanted something to take my mind off of linear algebra and eigenvalues for a little bit by blogging. And more importantly, and more to the point of this entry, some shirts I ordered finally arrived in the mail today.

Autumn = Embarrassment

Donut Panic!

I love funny t-shirts. :)

I saw the hack this morning on my way to class and it absolutely made my day - although, sadly, it had made like a ghost and vanished by early afternoon.

Elsewhere on campus, the Halloween fervor was in full swing as students (and administrators) dressed up. Walking around campus, I spotted a member of the USS Enterprise, Dr. Horrible, Captain Hammer, a lambda function, some nuns, Hugh Hefner, Sarah Palin, two girls dressed as DNA, the Seven Deadly Sins, the Fanta Girls, Grimmjow from the Bleach manga, a butterfly, that and more.

For my own part, I dressed up as an absolutely ridiculous Renaissance duke, complete with the long coat and feathered cap - I will post some photos later.

Happy Halloween, everybody! And good luck finishing up your applications.

Things I am excited about:

• my new UROP investigating the genetics of tuberculosis at the Broad Institute
  
• the freshmen in my fraternity
  
• the Class of 2012 in general
  
• Independent Activities Period! Only two months away!
  
• picking my classes for spring semester
  
• learning more Python and more LaTeX
  
• showing off my Brass Rat in the spring
  
• this upcoming summer :)
  
• this weekend!

Plans for this weekend:

• studying for the upcoming 20.110 (thermodynamics) test
  
• getting a head start on my 18.700 (linear algebra) problem set
  
• 18.02 grading
  
• shopping at the Garment District for my Halloween costume
  
• transcribing the minutes from my fraternity's recent house meetings
  
• working on the MURJ website
  
• updating the Medlinks website
  
• sleeping lots
  
• blogging :)

Blog entries I want to write:

• recap of the Medlinks retreat
  
• thoughts about Fraternity Rush
  
• all the photos and events from last year I never had time to post :)
  
• a look at MIT's tunnels
  
• advice and thoughts about the application process
  
• more about some of my student groups (Assassins' Guild, MURJ, Medlinks)
  
• a look into my previous UROPs at the Langer Lab and the Amon Lab
  
• whatever you want me to talk about! Let me know what you want to hear!

First, MIT is filled with so many different kinds of people, with so many different interests, it's really hard to classify anything as "typical." Academically, I know kids who are taking four classes, but I also know plenty are taking five, six...even two pretty crazy people who are taking eight (and are feeling the pain appropriately). And even beyond the classroom, MIT students have drastically different ways of spending their precious "spare" time. From bhangra dancing to fighting poverty, from helping improve MIT computing to practicing for the upcoming performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and much more. And let's not forget the value of simply chilling with friends.

The second reason it's a hard question to answer is because students at MIT don't really take things day-by-day. A typical day is usually not all that stressful - but then you look at all the things you have to do in a week, and you sort of want to die inside. :)

For example, this is my week:

• Studying for my 24.900 (linguistics) midterm tomorrow
• Studying for my 5.12 (organic chemistry) test on Wednesday
• Weekly pset for 18.700 (linear algebra), due Thursay
• Weekly pset for 20.110 (thermodynamics), due Friday
• Meeting with my new UROP mentor at the Broad Institute
• Medlinks Exec weekly meeting
• Organizing the first big editing session for MURJ, the research journal I'm co-editor-in-chief of
• GM meeting to work on a game I'm helping write for the Assassins' Guild
• Starting my summer job search

Yeah, it's a lot for one week - although really, it's only slightly more work than usual (other weeks, I would have had psets in 24.900 and 5.12 instead of tests). And all in all, I'm not terribly worried about things, mainly because I only have one big assignment due each day (as opposed to some truly awful weeks where there's something ridiculously terrifying like two gigantic tests on the same day), and also because I'm not leaving everything for the last minute. :)

Fundamentally, even if the amount of work sometimes feels overwhelming - that's what MIT is. Everyone understands this, and I think it's important for prospective applicants to realize that, yes, MIT is an incredibly challenging four years. But one of the nicest things about MIT is that your friends aren't going to give you funny looks if you say, "Sorry guys, I can't go apple-picking with you because I need to study for my big midterm." They're MIT students too; they probably just happen to have a little more free time this week.

As for me, I'm going to go back to studying x-bar syntactical linguistic theory.

But there's a dedicated cadre of people at MIT dedicated to changing that perception - and their numbers are growing. When you come on campus, in fact, it's almost impossible not to notice the tremendous amount of resources that MIT is pouring into a host of international development issues. Whether your passion is combating poverty, improving healthcare in Third World countries, or anything in between, MIT is pushing international development forward on pretty much level, from fostering student groups and Institute initiatives to creating more classes and UROPs dedicated to these issues.

This entry is about one of the most well-known classes focusing on international development at MIT: D-Lab. D-Lab is actually a trio of one-semester classes; the three D's stand for Development, Design, and Dissemination. The classes can be taken individually or as a series, and some students even elect to continue their D-Lab projects for longer than three semesters - such as through UROPs or other initiatives. No matter how little or how long students spend in D-Lab, the skills and perspectives the participants learn continue to be relevant long beyond they've left MIT.

I first heard about D-Lab during freshman year, when one of my upperclassman friends in Simmons started eating crackers for dinner. When I asked why she'd suddenly changed her eating habits, she explained that it was part of an assignment for D-Lab: surviving on $2 a day - the typical living income for a Third World country - for an entire week.

Recently, I discovered that a good friend from freshman year - Chris '11 - was taking one of the D-Lab classes this semester. In celebration of Blog Action Day, I asked him if he had any perspectives to share about the class. Here's what he had to say:

I'm currently taking D-Lab: Development, the first class in the series, where we learn about technologies in the developing world and different factors that cause poverty to continue in developing countries. In January (MIT's Independent Activities Period, the class splits up into teams of four or five and spends three weeks in a village in a developing country. I will be heading to northern India, while others will be going to places as far and varied as Tanzania, Ghana, and Guatemala. In D-Lab: Design (the second class of the series), you build your own technology that could be distributed in a developing country. The third class, D-Lab: Dissemination, takes the principles of D-Lab: Design to a real-world level by showing you to create a plan to distribute a technology or business model throughout the developing world.

D-Lab is unlike any other I've taken. In most engineering classes you're simply given the screws, metal, and circuits that you need in order to build a project, and you can shop around if there’s a part you need that isn’t around the lab. In D-Lab, the materials we use are restricted by the things easily and cheaply available in the villages we're each visiting. The goal isn’t to make our technology as flashy as possible, but rather to make it as simple as possible, so that anyone using it will know exactly how it functions and how to fix it if it breaks. A week ago we had an assignment to estimate the amount of energy we use in a day. As we consider various projects that we can do in the villages we’re visiting, we are realizing how much cow dung we would need to produce that much energy using a biogas digester.

Of course one thing that our professor, Amy Smith, reminds us of as we work on our projects is that with all the technical knowledge we gain in class, nothing can substitute the indigenous knowledge of the people we're helping. They’ve been on their land a lot longer than we have and they can shed a lot of light on the best technologies. Amy tells a story in class about a cheaper charcoal briquette that she and a group of her students were having trouble with because it dissolved if water was poured on it, as is typically done to extinguish it, after the first use. This was causing a lot of trouble for the group, until finally they were presenting the charcoal to one village and a young boy suggested that they just throw sand on the briquettes instead of water.

All in all, D-Lab allows fifty students each semester to delve into how grand the problem of poverty is and the kinds of solutions that are needed to solve it. Some technologies still need to be invented, while others already exist and just need people to go out and disseminate them. D-Lab trains its students to figure out how to assess the needs of a village and introduce effective solutions that will allow the village to be more self-sustainable. And visiting an impoverished place helps reminds us that we aren't just studying concepts and equations, but rather a global issue that affects people not very different from ourselves.

Of course, this is hardly the first time D-Lab has been mentioned on the blogs. Mitra '07 took D-Lab her senior year and ultimately blogged about her trip to Zambia, where she and her group worked with government programs and NGO's like the Agricultural Support Programme, Peace Corps, and CARE; and helped strengthen ties with the University of Zambia (UNZA) administration. You can also find two of Mitra's actual blog entries from Africa here and here. D-Lab's own website also lists some of the projects past students have dreamed up in the Project Portfolio.

For even more information on D-Lab, check out some of these other excellent articles written about the class and the amazing things its students have done.

• New York Times: Necessity Is the Mother of Invention
• Popular Mechanics: Latest Inventions from MIT Help Developing Countries
• Boston Globe: Shared beliefs engineer technical changes for better
• MIT News Office: Students tackle flooding in Honduras
• MIT News Office: Charcoal technology holds promise for Third World
• and more...
• even more...

Why is the Undergraduate Math Office relevant? Two reasons. First off, I'm a student grader for 18.02 (multivariable calculus), which is one of the freshman GIRs. Each semester, the Math Department (and most other majors at MIT) hire a bunch of undergraduate minions - I mean, employees - to help out with the brunt work of grading the hundreds of problem sets MIT students produce every week. Because 18.02 was my favorite class when I was a first-semester freshman (Classical Mechanics, you're cool and all, but I've realized lately that Calculus is more my thing. Especially when she starts going all Stokes' Theorem on my psets. No hard feelings?), I submitted my name as a prospective grader...and I was hired! Woo!

So, that's the first reason the Math Office matters to me: it's where I pick up the twenty (give or take) problem sets I'm responsible for grading every Friday, and where I bring them back every Monday.

The second reason the Math Office matters is to me is because they have a stapler, and also because they have a bowl of free candy.

The situation, you see, was this. It's 4:30 PM. I'm sitting in the Building 12 Athena cluster, where I've been working to finish up a thermodynamics problem set for the past four hours straight...ever since I finished a linear algebra test that let out at 12:30. I'd gotten about a third of the pset done last night, but studying for that test prevented me from finishing all of it - so now it's crunch time. The problem set is due at 5 PM, but everything's going smoothly - I started with the easy problems, but with those out of the way now I'm going back to that tough problem about isothermal titration chemistry and everything is just falling into place, and I box my last answer explaining why the reaction in question is endothermic, and I feel awesome, and it's 4:55 and I suddenly realize that I have ten pages of thermodynamics ready to turn in to my TA in 4-159 and somehow I need to find a stapler in the next five minutes.

And then I realize...oh, yeah. I'm in Building 4. So I book it to the Math Office, where I find - as always - a stapler just waiting on the front desk for students to use. The receptionist smiles at me as I hastily staple my pieces of gridpaper into something resembling an actual problem set. I smile back as I grab a tootsie roll from the candy bowl - a familiar ritual, which somehow brings me more satisfaction than the candy itself ever could. I round the corner of the hallway and make it to my TA's room with time to spare.

You see, underneath our calm exterior, each MIT student is quietly dealing with about a hundred different things all clamoring for our attention. Classes, problem sets, reading, office hours, recitations, tests, club meetings, UROP, living group commitments, email, AIM, Facebook, "just hanging out" - sometimes, it feels exactly like a circus act. Except that clowns get it much easier than we do; they just juggle the same brightly-colored, uniform balls day in, day out. But MIT students have to become master jugglers in a circus where each ball is a different color, a different shape, a different weight. Some are feather-light and a breeze to handle. Some are as heavy as lead. And then some feel as though they might as well be on fire.

When you're used to life in Hell, sometimes a stapler, a piece of candy, and a friendly, no-questions-asked smile are all an MIT student really needs.

It was a hack! For those of you just tuning in, a "hack" at MIT is clever, elegant, and anonymous prank, designed to amuse and catch the attention of the MIT community (and sometimes the world), while also providing interesting physical and logistical challenges for their perpetrators. As you'd expect, hacking is one of MIT's most celebrated traditions, and the actual hacks that result are admired by pretty much everyone on campus.

This particular hack was done to honor the 50th anniversary of NASA, which was founded in 1958 and began operations on October 1 of that year. Naturally, no one really knows for sure who executed the hack, but I figure some people in MIT's legendary Course 16 program (Aero/Astro Department) would be a good guess.

I first heard about the hack from a few friends talking about in the morning, and I managed to catch a glimpse of it on my way to a 7.03 (genetics) exam in the morning. After the exam, I headed over to the hack, which had been put on the "Dot" in front of the Green Building. The Dot is one of the few grassy areas on MIT's rather urban campus, so it's a prized location for playing ultimate, having picnics, and - naturally - hacks.

The hack looks okay from the ground...

...but not incredibly impressive. Fortunately, the Green Building provided an excellent location for trying to shoot a better photo, so I took the elevator to the 18th floor...and promptly realized there were no public lounges from which I could try to to take a photo, only private offices. Fortunately, a few of the doors were open, so I picked one near the middle, poked my head in, and asked the (slightly confused) occupant, "I'm really sorry to bother you, but can I please borrow your window for a moment to take a photo?"

Happily, the grad student said yes. (See, even grad students can be nice sometimes.) I climbed up to their window, looked down, and saw this:

The Green Building was too close to the Dot for me to see the entire thing! It ended up being an okay photo of Walker Memorial, where I had just taken my genetics exam (on the left), and the Big Sail sculpture, but not quite what I was looking for. So before leaving, I snapped a quick photo of the Boston skyline, which happened to look rather foreboding at the time...

...thanked the confused but polite grad student and then headed down to find a better vantage point. Deciding that multiples of three were a good rule to follow, I tried the 15th floor first, but the view was basically the same. I ran down the 12th floor next, where I seemed to be getting closer...

..but not quite what I wanted. I did, however, see something pretty amusing while wandering around the floor, which apparently happened to be dedicated to geological research. I noticed that many of the scientists in the Building had a habit of putting interesting things on their doors - comic strip cutouts, photos, and the like - to make things more welcoming. But I have to say that this was the most amusing by far.

Finally, on the 10th floor - although not a multiple of three! -I found a view that proved much more suitable for my purposes, and I finally snapped the photo I had come for.

All in all, it was definitely a great way to spend 20 minutes between classes. I think it's safe to say MIT is one of the few places on earth that would choose to celebrate NASA's birthday with a hack. Just another reason I love this school.

Fortunately, music can help. Which is why I'm taking 20 minutes off from working on genetics and thermodynamics to show you a few of the top hits on my playlist right now. Some of these are old favorites, others are recent recommendations by my friends. But they're all pretty good for helping me stay up. :)

Enjoy!

REM: King of Birds

Stars: Your Ex-Lover Is Dead

Coldplay: Viva La Vida

Snow Patrol: Run

Linkin Park: Numb

Goo Goo Dolls: Iris

Dragonforce: Through the Fire and the Flames

Mokoma: Takatalvi (Liz '11)

VNV Nation: Chrome (Kevin '10)

Venetian Snares: Szamár Madár (Cody Daniel '11)

Fortunately for all of us, MIT has a remarkably strong social life and (dare I say it on the MITblogs) party scene. If you're done with your problem sets for the week (or even if you aren't...) and are looking for something to do, you virtually guaranteed to find something going on. As has been said before, MIT definitely does know how to party. Just maybe not the same way that anyone else parties.

Of course, not every party at MIT is as strangely awesome as, for example, Fifth East's Reawakening. Last Saturday, my fraternity, Phi Kappa Sigma, hosted our annual Fall Formal, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like: a chance for the Skullhouse brothers and pledges to invite friends over to our house for a classy dinner, some dancing, and an all-around good time.

Although most of the coordinating for our parties is done by our social chairs, the rest of the house always pitches in to set things up and ensure the party goes smoothly. Because we have four formals each year, we've set things up so that each class "works" one of the formals and puts in most of the manpower for actually running things during the party. As per tradition, the sophomores work the Fall Formal, which meant that some of us worked in the kitchen helping our (amazing) house chef, and some of us worked in the dining room being waiters.

I wanted to dress up, so I asked to be a waiter. :) Although most of the guys wore dress shirts and maybe a suit jacket, I felt like trying something a little more original. Here's what I wore (posing with Emily '10):

Anyhow, we started off the evening with delicious hors d'oeuvres in our chapter room, ranging from little spinach rolls to cheese and crackers to mini-hot dogs. I didn't take any photos of the food, so you'll just have to take my word that (a) it was delicious and (b) I was an excellent waiter and got many compliments on my choice of attire. :)

I did, however, take photos of all the happy couples enjoying the food.

Clark '12 and Kate '12.

Mitch '10 and Lauren '10.

Yazan '12 and Viral '12.

Claire (BU '12) and Dan '12.

I convinced Dan to let me steal Claire long enough to take a photo...

...and then I stole Dan from Claire. Because I could.

After the appetizers, we moved into the dining room, where things really began to get busy for me and my fellow waiters. We spent the next hour almost continually bringing up food from the kitchen (in the basement) up to the first floor. Since we were serving a three-course dinner to about thirty people, you can imagine how much running up and down this involved. :)

That said, the dinner was absolutely delicious and went pretty much flawlessly. Things started off with a simple caesar salad appetizer. For the entree, our chef Gerry cooked up a delicious chicken marsala, complete with mashed potatoes and green beans. Finally, dessert was extremely scrumptious cream pie (chocolate, strawberry, or vanilla).

After dinner, we had a dance instructor come and teach everyone how to do a little swing.

I, meanwhile, took advantage of the opportunity to take more photos.

Mitch '11 and Hilda '11.

Dan '09 and Tammy (Wellesley '08).

Kathleen '10 and Brent '10.

Becca '11 and (my roommate) Cody '10.

Jackie '09 and Trip '09.

Louis '09 and Michelle (BU '09).

Finally, after learning how to swing, the party moved back upstairs to engage in a more traditional dance party.

Some our new pledges dance together.

Katie '12 dances with her date, Ben '12.

Just another great way to spend a Saturday evening at MIT!