cluster culture
The general attitude of GHC3000 seems to be that the place is even more so our home than 5207 was. Probably this is because of the attitudes that the new cluster comes with - complete freedom to eat food inside, etc - and the sort of space it occupies - larger and more open than 5207, and also more central to a lot of campus.
Earlier today evilwombat entered the cluster and announced that there was free food a minute's walk away, and ten or so people went literally running out out of the cluster to get it. When we got there, a woman overseeing what was presumably the wrapping up of whatever event the food was for gave a reaction isomorphic to "Oh, God, it's the CS majors! Take whatever you want, but please spare the women and children!" It felt like we were some sort of primitive or medieval society, taking what would benefit us by force of numbers. Granted, that is how we've always worked, but with the new cluster as our home, moderation seems to be lowered a considerable amount.
EDIT: There are some complaints I have, though. There are no printers in the entire building that I can lpr to, though there are random standalone ones on the upper floors. The abundance of fluorescent lights in the cluster put me to sleep, as always. The curved walls occasionally surprise people when they walk into the focal point and hear everything at once. The building is structured such that to get to the stairs or elevator, you have to either walk three times as long as the distance between your start and goal, or go up and down a staircase. The cluster chairs are completely impossible to sit in comfortably, so I most frequently opt for a beanbag when I can, of which there are two. Finally, there currently is a note on the whiteboard: "Dear Cluster, There are showers in this very building. Please do your part to keep the cluster fragrant."
We did something today that I've been wanting to do since I first saw this particular instance of designer furniture. All the designer furniture in GHC is made by a company called "Moroso", and is unreasonably expensive. This particular piece is called the "Moroso Osorom", which is "Moroso" spelled backwards.
EDIT: oh the best part was when Manuela Veloso (my AI professor) came by just after we finished with grad students in tow, and remarked on how she liked the improvement.
In future, I would like to do this with more balloons, and ideally helium.
Earlier today evilwombat entered the cluster and announced that there was free food a minute's walk away, and ten or so people went literally running out out of the cluster to get it. When we got there, a woman overseeing what was presumably the wrapping up of whatever event the food was for gave a reaction isomorphic to "Oh, God, it's the CS majors! Take whatever you want, but please spare the women and children!" It felt like we were some sort of primitive or medieval society, taking what would benefit us by force of numbers. Granted, that is how we've always worked, but with the new cluster as our home, moderation seems to be lowered a considerable amount.
EDIT: There are some complaints I have, though. There are no printers in the entire building that I can lpr to, though there are random standalone ones on the upper floors. The abundance of fluorescent lights in the cluster put me to sleep, as always. The curved walls occasionally surprise people when they walk into the focal point and hear everything at once. The building is structured such that to get to the stairs or elevator, you have to either walk three times as long as the distance between your start and goal, or go up and down a staircase. The cluster chairs are completely impossible to sit in comfortably, so I most frequently opt for a beanbag when I can, of which there are two. Finally, there currently is a note on the whiteboard: "Dear Cluster, There are showers in this very building. Please do your part to keep the cluster fragrant."
We did something today that I've been wanting to do since I first saw this particular instance of designer furniture. All the designer furniture in GHC is made by a company called "Moroso", and is unreasonably expensive. This particular piece is called the "Moroso Osorom", which is "Moroso" spelled backwards.
EDIT: oh the best part was when Manuela Veloso (my AI professor) came by just after we finished with grad students in tow, and remarked on how she liked the improvement.
In future, I would like to do this with more balloons, and ideally helium.