(no subject)
So much has been going on these past few days, so a journal entry can't really do them justice. A list, however, just might suffice in highlighting the most exciting/frustrating/neat/interesting events that've happened. So...without further ado:
1 - DME, my FPOP is finishing tomorrow! We're off to the Boston Museum of Science, where we'll be putting our robots to the test and seeing which robots make the best team. My bot works fine (actually, in all honesty, when I need to go forwards, I must push my controls backwards, and vice versa. Mixed up the wiring) so hopefully I won't make a fool of myself. My robot is in the lab now, but I do have the 'hat', or the body, which is lying strewn in pieces in my dorm room. Sparkly pink and rainbow polka dotted.
2 - I visited the Media Lab for the first time! Which is where some pretty awesome inventions come out of. Think the 100$ laptop program (it's actually 140$, who knew?) and Lego Mindstorms. They actually have a room full of toys and the areas are labeled cool things like, "Lifelong Kindergarten".
3 - I also visited a company today called Design Continuum, an engineering/design firm. They do all sorts of things, ranging from Swiffers to Reeboks, so it was amazing. We began in the "Great Room", or the main meeting room, listened to a man talk about his work, and then had a tour. I asked what a typical day was like, and he said there was no typical day - some days, he's talking with clients, some days, he's getting into the mindset of consumers (right now, for instance, they're doing a project involving luxury, so they sent a few people round the world to stay at fancy hotels. Or another guy was a park ranger for a weekend, or when doing a diaper project, they followed moms/babies around) and other days, he's building prototypes. It was really cool because my mom works in an office, but you could tell they have totally different work days. He was dressed pretty casually (the last time someone wore a tie to work was two years ago, and they were laughed at) so overall, I have to say, I liked the enviroment. They had labs downstairs, full of stuff you see in a machine shop, and areas to test inventions. Upstairs was the 'studio' where people had their desks. The Studio looked like something out of the Apple Store. I'd like to work in someplace like that someday.
4 - My final night all alone in my quad! I'll actually miss the space. Still, it'll be nice to have a roommate (or three). I've already decided I'm not too keen on living here...four to a room is a bit much.
5 - My control box, or the remote control for my robot, doesn't work. I spent nearly three hours working on it, and I only got a wheel to move. Then, I tried it again, and no go - nothing at all moved. It was so frustrating, especially because my gut feel was that it wouldn't work - I'm so bad at wiring circuits, connecting things up...and then if one teensy connection is off, all is lost. ARGH. Still, I gave it a shot (the remote controls were optional) so I'm glad at least I tried. I was so frustrated, I would've tried anything to make it work, but right now, the control is sitting behind me, useless, but if nothing else, a tribute to my hard work. The guy next to me did three remote controls (he worked super fast, but maybe too hastily? The first two didn't work and the last one short-circuited and began smoking) so I guess at least, I took my time and really did try.
6 - Grad school at MIT can be free. what the heck.
7 - I have made friends! Which is always a nice feeling. So now I've got my DME group, my WTPers...yay! Oh, and my DME mentors! most of them are guys, but they're all pretty nice. There's also a staff member named Emily, and both of us tirelessly address each other just, I suppose, to hear the lovely name 'Emily'. ("Hi, Emily!" "Hi, Emily!" "How's it going, Emily?" "Pretty good, Emily!" "Okay, well bye, Emily!" "Bye, Emily!") We're now working on unintentional sychronyzation.
8 - My room is a mess. I must clean it up before my roommates arrive. I also am waiting for a call from my mom. Who should be calling in half an hour.
9 - I feel like I'm eating really unhealthily. Well, not overly so, but I feel like DME (which provides all my meals) is failing to give me adequate fruits and vegetables and milk! I must remedy this.
10 - Life is so much fun right now. Except when my wiring doesn't work. I played Wii yesterday, tennis, and everytime my team lost a point, little angry clouds appeared above our characters' heads. So, angry cloud above my head right now.
1 - DME, my FPOP is finishing tomorrow! We're off to the Boston Museum of Science, where we'll be putting our robots to the test and seeing which robots make the best team. My bot works fine (actually, in all honesty, when I need to go forwards, I must push my controls backwards, and vice versa. Mixed up the wiring) so hopefully I won't make a fool of myself. My robot is in the lab now, but I do have the 'hat', or the body, which is lying strewn in pieces in my dorm room. Sparkly pink and rainbow polka dotted.
2 - I visited the Media Lab for the first time! Which is where some pretty awesome inventions come out of. Think the 100$ laptop program (it's actually 140$, who knew?) and Lego Mindstorms. They actually have a room full of toys and the areas are labeled cool things like, "Lifelong Kindergarten".
3 - I also visited a company today called Design Continuum, an engineering/design firm. They do all sorts of things, ranging from Swiffers to Reeboks, so it was amazing. We began in the "Great Room", or the main meeting room, listened to a man talk about his work, and then had a tour. I asked what a typical day was like, and he said there was no typical day - some days, he's talking with clients, some days, he's getting into the mindset of consumers (right now, for instance, they're doing a project involving luxury, so they sent a few people round the world to stay at fancy hotels. Or another guy was a park ranger for a weekend, or when doing a diaper project, they followed moms/babies around) and other days, he's building prototypes. It was really cool because my mom works in an office, but you could tell they have totally different work days. He was dressed pretty casually (the last time someone wore a tie to work was two years ago, and they were laughed at) so overall, I have to say, I liked the enviroment. They had labs downstairs, full of stuff you see in a machine shop, and areas to test inventions. Upstairs was the 'studio' where people had their desks. The Studio looked like something out of the Apple Store. I'd like to work in someplace like that someday.
4 - My final night all alone in my quad! I'll actually miss the space. Still, it'll be nice to have a roommate (or three). I've already decided I'm not too keen on living here...four to a room is a bit much.
5 - My control box, or the remote control for my robot, doesn't work. I spent nearly three hours working on it, and I only got a wheel to move. Then, I tried it again, and no go - nothing at all moved. It was so frustrating, especially because my gut feel was that it wouldn't work - I'm so bad at wiring circuits, connecting things up...and then if one teensy connection is off, all is lost. ARGH. Still, I gave it a shot (the remote controls were optional) so I'm glad at least I tried. I was so frustrated, I would've tried anything to make it work, but right now, the control is sitting behind me, useless, but if nothing else, a tribute to my hard work. The guy next to me did three remote controls (he worked super fast, but maybe too hastily? The first two didn't work and the last one short-circuited and began smoking) so I guess at least, I took my time and really did try.
6 - Grad school at MIT can be free. what the heck.
7 - I have made friends! Which is always a nice feeling. So now I've got my DME group, my WTPers...yay! Oh, and my DME mentors! most of them are guys, but they're all pretty nice. There's also a staff member named Emily, and both of us tirelessly address each other just, I suppose, to hear the lovely name 'Emily'. ("Hi, Emily!" "Hi, Emily!" "How's it going, Emily?" "Pretty good, Emily!" "Okay, well bye, Emily!" "Bye, Emily!") We're now working on unintentional sychronyzation.
8 - My room is a mess. I must clean it up before my roommates arrive. I also am waiting for a call from my mom. Who should be calling in half an hour.
9 - I feel like I'm eating really unhealthily. Well, not overly so, but I feel like DME (which provides all my meals) is failing to give me adequate fruits and vegetables and milk! I must remedy this.
10 - Life is so much fun right now. Except when my wiring doesn't work. I played Wii yesterday, tennis, and everytime my team lost a point, little angry clouds appeared above our characters' heads. So, angry cloud above my head right now.