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MIT student blogger Snively '11

Canceled? by Snively '11

HOW COULD THEY!?!?!?!

MIT gives students the month of January off, it’s something they call the “Independent Activities Period,” or IAP.

Turns out, due to budget cuts, it’s been canceled this year.

http://iap.mit.edu/

[please note, this is a hacked website. IAP will be proceeding as planned, psych!!!]
[Also know that this is the product of a winter break quasi-flame war. See! They can be fun!]

40 responses to “Canceled?”

  1. Tree says:

    “Turns out, due to budget cuts, it’s been canceled this year.”

    OMG that scared me. Chuh.

  2. Narce says:

    Hahahah, it’s a good joke, but I’m amazed that so many of you fell for it!

    Let’s be honest, if that was going to be the case, they’d have been truthful about it from the beginning of the school year.

  3. Anonymous says:

    Oh man, that cow video gets me every time I watch it.

  4. Diana says:

    First! raspberry
    I thought it was too weird to be real raspberry

  5. Mina Adel says:

    W8 a sec…
    you mean that in MIT a bunch ( or maybe 1 ) of hackers hacked into the MIT IAP site, and they still lived to tell the tale ? I really love this place !

  6. Arly says:

    The online application site is still down. I barely got any sleep last night lol. been periodically checking. This is killing me lol.
    Anyone know anything new?

  7. Anonymous says:

    Its all happening at MIT……….
    is the message for the repair of online application also a hack?

    if yes, please make it working again……the wait is killing a lot of online applicants

  8. Bridger '13 says:

    Haha, too funny.

    Just wondering, what are the rules on hacks like this? Do people ever get in trouble for doing them? Do people ever get caught? raspberry

  9. Ngozi '13 says:

    I gotta say… I fell for it for like a 10 seconds.

    Wow. Haha.

  10. Snively says:

    pssst, just to clarify . . .

    It’s not an actual hack of the IAP website, it’s just a website hacked to look like the IAP website.

  11. Anon says:

    So is there a confirmed extension or something for the online application? cause im gettin really worried

  12. Anonymous says:

    The online application have technical issues AGAINNN!!
    OMG… does any one know when it will let us go in site??????????
    Due date is tomorrow!!
    Please H E L P ! ! !

  13. Roshal says:

    hahaha roflmao!

    look at all the sad faces they substituted for the regular pics usually on the header of the IAP website. Pretty damn close to the really thing! Fooled me for a second!:P

  14. Prayosha says:

    Is there so many people trying to log in at same time??
    Is this causing this technical issues???

  15. Snively says:

    My guess? MIT uses a similar software build as the Zune.

  16. Roshal says:

    MyMIT works fine for me, and I was able to successfully log in. I’m not sure about these rumors of an “Extended Deadline”; your best bet is to submit to the Jan 1 deadline. Note the “Admissions Bulletins” to the left on this site, it should tell you what you need to know. As for me I still have to finish my essay and submit Part 2. I wish you all good luck, wish me luck too wink

    PS: The DEADLINE of Jan 1 means that we can submit BEFORE OR ON Jan 1, 2009.

    :D

  17. Mike Goodman says:

    Payment was accepted just prior to the site going down. Will there be an extension to filing of applications

    Mike

  18. -_- says:

    Prayosha don’t worry, just log in at 6:66 AM;it’s noted to be the time with the lowest in log ins. (it’s also noted to not exist)

    oh, and that’s in Hell Standard Time.

    lol

  19. Prayosha says:

    Hey thanks… I got in and submitted my application before anything happens! LoL
    GOOD LUCK to all of you… ÔÅä

  20. Nathan '13 says:

    ahahaha good one.
    the real IAP website is http://web.mit.edu/iap/
    clever though.

  21. Reena '13 says:

    Snively, that was mean.

  22. Reena '13 says:

    Actually, whoever hacked the website – that was mean.

  23. tlyon says:

    zune . . . hahaha

    don’t stress

  24. Sudhanshu says:

    I haven’t yet submitted my Part 2 application online yet, and was wondering whether the MyMIT website will be up & running on time. I am getting really worried now. Will there be a deadline extension if it does not start working on time?

  25. Colton says:

    Even as a deferred student, this prank still got me for a moment. Immediately was worried that there wouldn’t be IAP next year, too.

  26. Colton says:

    @Sudhanshu
    I think the site was also having problems when I was working on my application. Don’t worry, you still have about 45-46 hours before it is due. The website will most likely be back up shortly.

    It was down on December 30th for a little bit, too.

  27. Matt A. says:

    @Colton
    Amen to that

    and speaking of weird things, this website has gone all wonky on my computer.

    i.e. the thing that says which section the entry was filed under and the entry titles on the main page are missing several consonant, is this happening to anyone else?

  28. Corey says:

    Come chat with hopeful students at http://coltonprovias.com/?page_id=426 please??? We’d love to chat!

  29. Anonymous says:

    (Ok, maybe it was a little bit funny….)

  30. darkblue303 says:

    O_O

    I thought you were serious at first….

  31. Steph says:

    I was fooled! For a moment I was thinking “Oh noez to Mystery Hunt!”

  32. grape says:

    Why am I so gullible?

    but seriously, IS the school actually having budget cuts?

  33. Ben Zheng says:

    @Bridger ’13: Well, most “hacks” don’t get caught. Mainly just because they are for fun, and people recognizes that it’s for fun (and no harms done). However, there have been a few major hackers that were caught; but generally, they are the lesser-known trainee that try to bite an apple too big for them. (aka government stuff, don’t touch)

    And I think the rules (don’t quote me though) is that you are not allow to modify someone else’s code. I know for hacking programs, as long as you leave the original code unmodified and no copyright infringement, it should be ok. In this specific case, I highly doubt MIT would make a big deal out of this. (because MIT is cool like that) And furthermore, the hacker made a site really similar to the actual site without actually modifying the original. So no harm is done.

    Oh yeah, also you might get screwy if you use a company’s trademark and SUCCESSFULLY confused the public. So IF I made a website claiming to be Pepsi and show how unclean their production is, AND a majority of people believed it (that’s the key)..then I might get a civil litigation on infringing on Pepsi’s trademark.

    Heh. the random stuff that I shouldn’t know.

    Side Note to hacker: really clever!

    @all the people still applying: don’t worry! I am in the same boat, still writing my optional essay. ._. But at least it’s an interesting essay to write about. ^_^

  34. Anonymous says:

    ummm… the link is no longer working. It automatically redirects to the real site now. Too bad, I wanted to see the hack :(

  35. Ehsan says:

    Huzzah! The links are back!

  36. Ehsan says:

    Also, how do you not notice when your plane hit a cow.

  37. Wow! That is…disturbing. Economy will hurt us.