Scott’s Travels
After having given up on our horses mid-journey, my adventurous acquaintance Will and I found ourselves standing alone on a remote dirt road in the Mongolian countryside. As we weren’t sure how long we’d have to wait, be it minutes or days, we were quite relieved when an old Russian minivan shortly came chugging around from behind a hillside and into view.
A Frosh Out of Water
There’s something overwhelming about arriving on the MIT campus that makes me sound both apathetic and verbally primitive. “Why did you show up a week early without an FPOP or a sport to go to?” “Just ’cuz,” I said. “Why did you choose that major?” “No reason,” I responded. “What’d you have to suck the helium out of all those picnic balloons for, and why is your face turning blue??” “… I dunno,” came the reply, with me sounding and looking not unlike a Smurf shortly before losing consciousness.
Scott’s Travels
The first bright yellow and orange glimpses of autumn peeked out from the underbrush between the trunks of the pine forest outside. As the heaters pushed the morning chill from the car, we made our way over a pass on a bumpy dirt road. For a few moments, it seemed as if I was home again; the scene could have occurred on any of the frosty fall mornings of my childhood spent growing up in the Yukon. But as we descended around a corner, the distinct cylindrical profile of a nomadic Mongolian tent — called a <i>ger</i> in those parts — came into view, and the illusion quickly vanished.
IHTFP Already!!!
It was Thursday. I was about a week into my time at MIT, and sure enough, on the phone to my buddy, I found myself screaming, “IHTFP already!” Well, not the acronym. You get the idea.
Ask SIPB
Today, we finish off our series of introductory columns with information on a hodge-podge of additional useful services.
Don’t Neglect the Necessities
I don’t like grocery shopping, probably because of the chilliness of the frozen food section and because I don’t like lugging heavy bags. Or maybe it’s just because I’m lazy. Either way, you should not follow my example because it must be possible to enjoy shopping for basics like food, bedding, and toiletries. Here’s a list of places where you can go to try to achieve nirvana or at least find a good deal:
Finding Fun
Most of us are now definable by our Facebook profiles. We’ve named our hometowns, our majors, and our favorite music in neat lists. The moment our tastes change, we rush to update our profiles, lest someone mistakenly believe we still like The Get Up Kids, even though we’ve now declared allegiance to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Ask SIPB
Wishing MIT provided more software and services for your personal computer? Need to use software on Athena at home? This week, we introduce some lesser known computing services supported by MIT.
Ask SIPB
Want to use the software on Athena? Wondered what sorts of cool things you can do? In this column, we discuss lockers on Athena, and the things you can find in them.
Dining Out
I know you’re in awe of LaVerde’s beverage selection right now, and you probably will be for another few months. But once you’ve grown tired of that lingonberry soda and tomato egg salad sandwich (both of which I consumed almost every day of my first semester), you’ll realize that you can’t rely on LaVerde’s for all of your meals. And even if you can and do cook, you’re sure to crave a restaurant-cooked meal someday soon. When that day comes, pick up this guide, find a friend, and eat out!
Outfitting Yourself
It’s no secret that most MIT students don’t give a great deal of thought to how they look. So you used to curl your hair every morning in high school? You think better in a blazer? Forget how you used to look in high school, because odds are, you’ll look a lot worse soon. Depressing, sure, but thankfully there will be days when you’ll feel like an ordinary, non-stressed human and will stop wishing that public nudity were a social norm. Shop now and you’ll be prepared for those bright days when you actually care about what you’re wearing.
Ask SIPB
In today’s Ask SIPB column, we’ll discuss various ways to communicate with others, namely e-mail and Zephyr.
Updated Status: College Freshman
<i>This column was written by Ko, a freshman, just before arriving at MIT for Orientation.</i>
Ask SIPB
Welcome, especially to freshmen and new graduate students! Ask SIPB is a column published regularly by the Student Information Processing Board, the volunteer student group concerned with computing at MIT, to help students like you learn more about the computing resources MIT provides and how to make effective use of them.
Imminent Collapse
Today's topic, one of immense magnitude and of personal significance to us all, shall be Coolness.
Scott’s Travels
<i>MIT undergraduate Scott Berdahl spent a year traveling the world to see what all the fuss was about. Over seven months, he traveled from Moscow to Delhi by train, bus, horseback, and on foot, finding his share of adventure along the way.</i>
Ask SIPB
Ever wondered how you can get to your files from any Athena computer? How lockers work? How you can share files with your friends? In today’s issue of Ask SIPB, we’ll cover these questions and more.
Scott’s Travels
<i>MIT undergraduate Scott Berdahl spent a year traveling the world to see what all the fuss was about. Over seven months, he traveled from Moscow to Delhi by train, bus, horseback, and on foot, having his share of adventure along the way.</i>
How You Doin’
Are you interested in health on campus? Interested in medicine in general? Well, so are we! We’re the Student Health Advisory Committee, or SHAC, and this is the first of our bi-monthly columns that will focus on the health issues you care about.
Imminent Collapse
Before we begin properly today, let me first ask: are you a CalTech student? If so, I must ask, in all seriousness: WTF?