I can has Internet?
Last weekend, the biggest names in Internet fame, academia, and entrepreneurship descended upon MIT for the third installment of ROFLCon, a biennial celebration of web culture. From accidental celebrities such as Scumbag Steve and Chuck Testa to researchers like hacker anthropologist Biella Coleman and MIT’s own Ethan Zuckerman, a diverse cast of guests came together to unite under the common banner of “the Internets.” Prior to the keynote speech, event co-founder Christina Xu put it succinctly: “One out of eight people in this room has done something crazy on the Internet.”
A friend in need
Over the past month, I’ve written about mental health issues from the perspective of the afflicted. But for every individual who struggles with these issues, there are many more who are affected by association. Friends, partners, and family members end up shouldering some of the burden.
Events May 8-May 14
Events May 8 – May 14 Tuesday (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) After the Factory screening and director Q&A — 7-431 Wednesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Artists Beyond the Desk presents Angela Ambroz and Jessica Barber book reading — 14W-111, Killian Hall (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Emerson Scholar student violin recital by Latifah Hamzah — 14W-111, Killian Hall Thursday (10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m.) D-Lab International Craft Fair — Lobby 10 (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) China Forum: International Artist Cai Guo-Qiang Keynote and Sculpture Dedication Friday (12:45 p.m. – 2:00 p.m.) Launching SpaceX: How to Build a Rocket Company — 3-270 (7:00 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows The Adventures of Tintin — 26-100 Saturday (9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Westgate Spring 2012 Yard Sale — W85 lawn Sunday (8:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Techiya Spring 2012 Concert: The Search for the Quest — 6-120 Monday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) 7 Laws of Magical Thinking book reading by Matthew Hutson — 32-141 Send your campus events toevents@tech.mit.edu.
The nuts and bolts of getting help
It seems that at MIT, toughness is valued above almost all else. We take pride in stretching ourselves thin, whether taking an absurd number of classes, pulling multiple all-nighters, or doing well in a class we never actually attend. With our workloads, time is precious. When we’re tired, sick, or in a bad mood — we learn to cope.
Events May 1 - May 7
Events May 1 – May 7 Tuesday (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) How Can We Feed a Growing World and Sustain the Planet? Talk by Professor Jonathan Foley — E51-115 (6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Digital Media SIG Event: In-Store Shopping Goes Mobile, panel on mobile phones in retail stores— E51-149 Wednesday (5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.) MISTI Foreign film night: Pan’s Labyrinth — 4-237 (9:00 p.m. – 10:30 p.m.) Egyptian Cultural Night — NW86 Thursday (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Renee Green: Endless Dreams and Time-Based Streams, book signing and film screening Friday (12:45 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) UNBOUND: Speculations on the Future of the Book — E15-070 (3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) 10th annual Prokopoff violin music concert — 14E-109 Saturday (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) American Teacher screening and discussion — NW86-161 Sunday (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Eastgate Garden Party — E55 (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) MITHAS Spring Series presents Kumaresh & Jayanthi, Carnatic violin and veena — E51 Wong Auditorium Monday (4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Starr Forum: Inequality and Instability: A Study of the World Economy Just Before the Great Crisis — E62-262 (4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) International Development Career Fair — 10-105 Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Comic fans, unite!
A far cry from the choked hallways and extravagant TV and movie premieres of the San Diego Comic-Con, Boston Comic Con is a true convention for comic books, their creators, and their fans. It’s somewhere where fans can have great interactions with their favorite artists as well as meet new ones, and take part in events that were truly about the joy of comic books.
Sweat, tears, and miles
Ever since I ran New York City’s Marathon in November 2006, nostalgia has made me a race-watching enthusiast. Last Monday, on Patriots’ Day, I was very excited about going to see the 116th Boston Marathon. I found a free spot on the fence on Commonwealth Avenue just a couple of miles before the finish line. We were standing next to hundreds of people, watching and trying to cheer the marathon runners — I say trying because at that point the only cheerful thought in a runner’s mind is knowing the proximity to the end.
Events Apr. 24- Apr. 30
Events Apr. 24 – Apr. 30 Tuesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Shake the World: Too Good to Fail, Legatum Lecture presented by James Marshall reilly — E62-276 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) The Solitude of Prime Numbers film screening — 32-155 Wednesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Culinary Chemistry: Pop and Fizz at the MIT Museum — N51 (5:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) 6th Annual Science Trivia Challenge — Broad Institute Thursday (12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Energy 101: Nuclear Fusion — 4-159 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Fierce Forever 9 — W20, La Sala Friday (6:30 p.m., 10:00 p.m.) LSC shows In the Family — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) That Time is Now, jazz songs presented by MIT Festival Jazz Ensemble — W-16 Saturday (10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m.) 2012 Undergraduate Research Symposium in Chemistry — 56-114 (9:00 p.m.) Spring Fever: MIT/Harvard Mixer Party — NW86 Sunday (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.) Interactive Ideas Fair at the MIT Museum — N51 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) The Armenian Genocide showing — 34-101 Monday (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) City Design and Development forum: Shrinking Cities — 7-431 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) Play Reading: Berthold Brecht — 14W-111 Send your campus events toevents@tech.mit.edu.
Games and panels at PAX East
Do video games get reviews, or criticisms? What’s the difference? This panel, hosted by a number of editors from The Escapist, Ars Technica, and the Boston Phoenix, among others, focused on the distinction between the two types of writing. A review, it seems, is focused on a product and potentially convincing a reader to buy something or not. A criticism, the panelists argued, is a piece written with a much deeper intent — to truly understand the game and communicate a particular experience to the reader. A review might be something you read before playing a game, and a criticism something afterwards. Reviews give you a comprehensive view, while a criticism is more on an in depth snapshot. Which is more effective and useful for the reader? That’s for you to decide.
PAX East 2012
PAX East, a three-day-long festival of everything game related, returned to Boston for the third time, this year at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center (BCEC). PAX is a gaming convention started by webcomic Penny Arcade (PA) founders Mike Krahulik (known as “Gabe” in his comic alter-ego) and Jerry Holkins (“Tycho”) in 2004. The show is meant to cater to gamers of all types — handheld, console, PC, and table top. Originally held in Seattle, PAX has also come to Boston for the past three years in the form of “PAX East”, and recently booked the annual event at BCEC until 2023.
Ten years of Anime Boston!
Students and passersby taking the T this past weekend were likely baffled by the high number of folks in strange costumes; they were here due to the arrival of two conventions in town. Cosplayers flocked to Boylston for Anime Boston, and to south Boston for the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). I split my time between the two cons, though I spent considerably less time at Anime Boston than PAX — I was there only for Saturday morning. This is Anime Boston’s 10th year since its inception in 2003, when it was created by the New England Anime Society Inc.
It’s not you, it’s a disease
We MIT kids are a messed up bunch. Alright, fine, I haven’t been immersed in enough collegiate environments to say that we are more or less messed up than anyone else our age, but still — we have problems. Over the last three and a half years, I’ve met a lot of people who are having a really crappy time and think there’s no feasible way to improve their lives. I’m not talking about your run-of-the-mill, overworked MIT students, I’m talking about people whose relationship with life is tenuous at best. People who are suffering because of their anxiety, lack of motivation, sadness, or whatever else. I’m extrapolating from what I’ve seen first-hand, but it’s a safe bet that there’s a silent fraction of MIT students who are experiencing some kind of depression but not addressing it.
Carrots, characters, and cheeses, oh my! Haymarket provides a variety of foods for a student’s budget
An Italian friend who has lived in Boston for five years, and is a cooker and a baker from the bottom of her heart, was the one to introduce me to Haymarket. She told me stories about the variety of produce, and above all, how cheap it can be, though the value depends on some variables, e.g., the fruit is not the freshest. The market, which originated in 1742, is open every Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. and is right outside the Haymarket Station on the Orange and Green Lines — very close to Faneuil Hall and across the street from the North End area.
Lessons Learned at the Anime Boston Formal Ball
• Incorrect dosages of sleep, food, and Viennese Waltz may result in extreme dizziness, nausea, loss of equilibrium, and mild hysterical laughter.
Events Apr. 10 â Apr. 16
Events Apr. 10 – Apr. 16 Tuesday (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Film screening of Searching for Angela Shelton presented by the MIT Sexual Assult Awareness Month Committee — 6-120 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Free Food and Improv Comedy Night at the Thirsty Ear Pub (21+ only) — NW35 Wednesday (5:30 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Sex Positivity Discussion — 1-242 (7:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.) Revisiting Port Huron, presented by Tom Hayden and Noam Chomsky — E51-Wong Auditorium Thursday (4:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.) A Stretchy, Curvy Future for Electronics presentation on flexible electronics — 32-123 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Geothermal and Renewable Energy in the Middle East - Oil and Falafel: Why the MENA Region Needs an Energy Diet — 6-120 Friday (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Second Fridays: Rivers of Ice exhibit opening — MIT Museum (7:00 p.m.) LSC shows Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows — 26-100 (8:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) Aspergers Are Us comedy show — 34-101 Saturday (7:00 p.m.) Fighting the Occupation with Architecture for Palestine Awareness Week 2012 — W20 Sunday (12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Salsa/Rueda Dance Workshop — Student Center Room 407 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.) Bang on a Can All-Stars featuring bassist Robert Black — Killian Hall Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
An exchange of view
I was sitting in a taxi on my way to Wellesley, a handful of American monopoly money in my back pocket. I had no real idea what I was getting myself into. I had come from the University of Manchester to study at Wellesley College for a semester, cross registering at MIT. Boston and Wellesley would be my home for the next five months, before heading back to Manchester for my final year. Both extremely exhausted and simultaneously extremely enthusiastic (an unnerving mix of feelings), I arrived in a snow covered Wellesley. As I was to discover, my expectation and the reality can be two very different things.
Ballet, minus tutus and drama
For eight years, I took classical ballet lessons three times a week, or when we were in rehearsal for a play, six times a week. I made my two very best friends there between pirouettes and bleeding toes; we spent our teen years dancing, competing, and laughing while growing up together. However, that magic shattered when I entered college, and my afternoon and evening classes overlapped with the ballet studio schedule. I wasn’t able to attend ballet anymore — until now.
Events Apr. 03 - Apr. 09
Events apr. 03 – apr. 07 Tuesday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) How to Find a UROP: a discussion about UROP projects presented by the UROP Staff — 5-233 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Selecting a Medical School Workshop — 4-231 Wednesday (5:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.) Transportation@MIT and MIT Transportation Club present a talk by MIT alum Robin Chase ’86 — 32-123 (7:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.) What is Happiness and How Do You Get It?: A discussion on the nature of happiness — 32-D461 Thursday (11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.) 2012 Spring Career Fair — W20 (Student Center) (5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.) Adapting Journalism to the Web: experiments and ordeals on the news frontier — E14-633 Friday (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.) Being a Woman at MIT: Conversations You Can’t Have On-Campus — 32-4 (R&D Common) (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) European Short Film Festival at MIT — 10-250 Monday (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) Project X Physics: A discussion on Project X accelerator technology — 26-414 (Kolker Room) Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.
Go ahead, cross the line Plyometric workouts give cardio and strength training
Looking for a full-body workout to do at home? Plyometric circuits offer intense combinations of cardio and strength training and can be done in 10–15 minutes every day. So the next time you’re looking for a change of pace at the gym or a tough at-home workout, consider incorporating some or all of the drills in this circuit.
Events Calendar Mar. 20 - Mar. 26
Events Mar. 20 – mar. 24 Tuesday (12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) MIT President Search: Student Forum — 3-442 (7:00 p.m. – 10:00 p.m.) MISTI and Amnesty International present a Film Screening: Khodorkovksy — 10-250 Thursday (12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m.) Energy 101 : The UN Framework for Climate Change, lectures aimed at providing basic understanding on various topics in the energy field — 66-144 Friday (2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.) Earthsickness: Circumnavigation and the Origins of Planetary Consciousness — E51-095 (5:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.) Emerson Scholar Student Recital: Sherman Jia and Vincent Cheung — Killian Hall (14W-111) Monday (12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.) Buoyancy Waves, Density Currents, and Their Possible Roles in Intensifying Continental Convection — 54-915 (4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.) An Update from ATLAS: Recent Results and the Road Ahead — 26-414 (Kolker Room) Send your campus events to events@tech.mit.edu.