stimulant

G: I can’t even calculate the probability of like a roll of the die. I’m just praying I didn’t fail.

I have no idea what the justification for this ridiculousness is, but please contact Jeffrey Hampton, Senior Zoning Planner for the City of Boston and register your protest.

A new city regulation in Boston will limit the number of undergraduate college students sharing the same apartment to no more than four. more stories like this The Boston Zoning Commission unanimously approved the measure Wednesday after a tense City Hall hearing. Opponents of the restriction include property owners and college students who say the occupancy limit violates property rights and unfairly singles out a specific group of people.

Nearly a month ago, prompted by a well-attended MIT Faculty Meeting regarding the “Star Simpson affair” and the concerns raised by Patrick Winston and Kenneth Manning about MIT’s conduct in the matter, I started to look into how Faculty Meetings might be recorded and archived. The meeting was lively and surprisingly revealing. The next Faculty Meeting that went around came from Lily Burns, a staff associate in the Office of the President. I emailed her, asking about having Faculty Meetings recorded. After a month of stonewalling, I haven’t made much progress in my efforts to have faculty meetings broadcast. Chancellor Philip Clay said that finding a faculty member to sponsor the motion would be necessary, and I’ll be following up on that lead this week.

But, in looking over my conversation with Lily Burns, I thought people might be interested in one of the least productive 22-message email threads ever:

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Sat, Feb 16, 2008 at 4:46 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Hi Lily! I had a quick question: to whom should I speak about the possibility of recording faculty meetings?  I’d love to make them publicly available; unfortunately, I won’t be able to make the Wednesday afternoon times this term… Thanks a bunch. Gratefully, a. 2008/2/15 Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>: [Quoted text hidden] > _______________________________________________ > Facmtgs mailing list > Facmtgs@mit.edu > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/facmtgs > >  —  alec resnick aresnick@mit.edu http://aresnick.mit.edu/ 617.229.5036 256 Brookline St. / #2 Cambridge, MA  02139  —

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 11:12 AM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Hi- This has come up before. At present there is not a plan to record the Faculty Meetings. You can look at the minutes on line through the archives website after the meetings however. Thank you, Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 11:22 AM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Hi Lily —  I’d be happy to set up the necessary equipment and personnel to do this.  Thanks! Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 11:29 AM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu> Cc: "Bevin P. Engelward" <bevin@mit.edu>
Alec- Thank you for your enthusiasm. At this point, we are not ready to do this. There are no recording devices allowed at the Faculty Meetings other than those for the Secretary of the Faculty. Again, you can read the minutes following the meeting if you want to find out what happened. Thank you, Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:19 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Alright; whom should I speak to about setting something like this up? Really, I’m happy to undertake it as a project. Thanks for your help! Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:32 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
I am the right person. I can bring it up at a Faculty Officers Meeting the next time we meet. Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:34 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Great, thanks a lot.  I appreciate it.  When is the next Faculty Officers Meeting? I’d be happy to scrounge up the supplies, get the appropriate paperwork signed (if releases are necessary), and implement whatever online component would be necessary. Thanks again!  And please don’t hesitate to let me know what else I can do to help. Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:47 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Alec- This is a lot more complicated that you seem to think. Again, I appreciate your enthusiasm, I really do, but this is not something that can just start all of the sudden. I will keep you posted. Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Feb 19, 2008 at 12:52 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Oh?  I guess I haven’t necessarily thought _too_ carefully about it. What’s subtle about it?  I’d be interested to meet sometime to talk about it, if it is that complicated. Thanks again! -a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 5:21 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Hi Lily! I was wondering how the Faculty Officers’ Meeting went, and what I should do to start working toward getting faculty meetings recorded? Thanks! Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Mon, Mar 10, 2008 at 5:25 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Alec- There are no recordings at the Faculty Meetings. Thank you- Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 12:58 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Hi Lily! Can you tell me a bit more about what people said at the Faculty Officers’ Meeting?  I understand that the current policy allows no recordings, but I’d appreciate it if you helped me to try to find the right people or channels to look to change this. Thanks for your time. Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 2:43 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Alec- Why don't you come by my office to talk. Can you come today around 3:15? Or tomorrow morning? This is not something that can be changed as it is an MIT Tradition of the Faculty. Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 2:57 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Unfortunately I can’t today; however, I can tomorrow afternoon.  When I spoke to Philip Clay about it, he said that one way to approach it would be to have a faculty member sponsor a motion during a Faculty Meeting.  [Philip] said that it was a Faculty Rule, which is set by the Faculty.  Is that the same as an MIT Tradition of the Faculty? Thanks! -a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 3:05 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
How about tomorrow at 2pm? [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 7:44 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Hi Lily! A meeting I wasn’t going to have tomorrow was just rescheduled; unfortunately, my afternoon times dried up.  Are you free Thursday morning, by any chance? Thanks! Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 8:02 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Hi- I can meet at 9:30am. Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 8:03 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Sounds good to me! Thanks, Lily. -a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Tue, Mar 11, 2008 at 8:04 PM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Great.  My office is 7-211. Have a good night, Lily [Quoted text hidden]

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Lily U. Burns <lub@mit.edu>	Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 10:12 AM
To: Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>
Alec- I am not able to meet on Thursday after all. I think if you can explain to me why you are interested to record the meetings, I can pass it on to to right people. Lily On Mar 11, 2008, at 8:03 PM, Alec Resnick wrote: [Quoted text hidden] [Quoted text hidden]

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Alec Resnick <aresnick@mit.edu>	Wed, Mar 12, 2008 at 5:51 PM
To: "Lily U. Burns" <lub@mit.edu>
Well, I think that transparency is really important.  The power structure at MIT is pretty obfuscated (at least to undergraduates). The intersections of various jurisdictions and responsibilities of different organizations, groups, and individuals is not at all clear. The Faculty Meetings are one place where a lot of things very germane to students’ concerns are discussed and decided upon.  As a result, I think these deliberations should be public domain.  I understand that there are a variety of concerns for faculty in this regard, but I’d at least like to open up a dialog regarding what students see as due process. Thanks a bunch for connecting me to the appropriate people; I’m excited to email/meet with them. Gratefully, a. [Quoted text hidden]  —  [Quoted text hidden]

If you fall asleep in a computer cluster, other students, acting in good faith, will wake you up, concerned that you didn’t mean to fall asleep and might instead be falling behind on your work.

Endearing, but freaking weird.

So, that little red nub on Thinkpads? It’s part of the so-called “Trackpoint” system. And on my Thinkpad, running Ubuntu 7.10 Gutsy Gibbon, when I attempted to scroll with it (using the middle mouse button), if I deviated to the left or right while in Firefox, Firefox would attempt to go Back or Forwards. This was pretty annoying — I was constantly going back and forward without meaning to — but, I found a fix, preserved here.

In Firefox’s address bar, type about:config, and then change the following variables to the following values:

mousewheel.horizscroll.withcontrolkey.action = 3;
mousewheel.horizscroll.withcontrolkey.numlines = 1;
mousewheel.horizscroll.withcontrolkey.sysnumlines = true;
 
mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.action = 0;
mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.numlines = 1;
mousewheel.horizscroll.withnokey.sysnumlines = true;
 
mousewheel.horizscroll.withshiftkey.action = 1;
mousewheel.horizscroll.withshiftkey.numlines = 1;
mousewheel.horizscroll.withshiftkey.sysnumlines = true;

I hope that this instructable is portentous:

The stock cupholder tray between the front seats of the Honda Odyssey is a well-known spill hazard. It is possible to modify the stock cupholders to make them less prone to spill. This instructable gives you step-by-step instructions on how to do it.

Think about this: someone, dissatisfied with their Honda, wants to help other people who are also, inevitably, dissatisfied. They come up with a fix for their dissatisfaction. With whom do they share it? Instructables! Not Honda! That’s a stunning endorsement of the instructables community and a flagrant admission of disengagement from the technological establishment.

And this is not unique. Many of my daily thoughts begin with a complaint or note of potential improvement. Whenever I approach a door, I take note of the distribution of wear. If the paint or finish is worn away in a place other than the handle, you have concrete evidence friction between design and usage. Several months ago, while on the commuter rail, I noticed how poorly suited trains are for what many people use them: reading and sleeping. The impulse to tell a train designer what I wanted led to the vision of a company that makes public and advertises the physical design of its products. Even something as simple as being able to annotate images of products with suggestions would be fantastic. And if a company showed itself responsive to user input, and went out of its way to solicit input and capture it painlessly, you’d have the most sensitive (and well-targeted) industrial design team — or at least, quality assurance team — ever. Capturing customer input at the point of service is a thorny problem but an obviously fantastic investment.

But it does know where Black Rock City is. What’s Dopplr?

Dopplr lets you share your travel plans privately with a group of friends and colleagues whom you have chosen. It then tells you when people you know will be in the same cities. It also reminds you of people who live in the places you’re planning to visit.

So, I was putting in my trip out to Nevada this year for Burning Man, and when I tried to enter, “Gerlach, NV,” Dopplr gave me the following:

If you can’t see the image¹ , Dopplr said, “We can’t find exactly what you typed [Gerlach, NV] but we believe this may be nearby: Black Rock City, NV, United States.”

Notably, Black Rock City is:

an ephemeral town that exists for only one week each year, during Burning Man, a radical arts festival.

On a sidenote, if you’re interested, you can sign up for Dopplr and “follow” me here.

On another sidenote, I’m back on the [blogging] bandwagon.²

1. Available here on my photostream. And if you really can’t see the image — that is, if you’re having technical difficulties — <a href=”http://aresnick.mit.edu/blog/get-in-touchdrop me a line. [↩]
2. Update: I suppose bandwagon is pretty accurate, too [↩]

Yesterday, I heard about the Boston Public Library’s baleful DRM policy, and a protest staged by the Free Software Foundation and DefectiveByDesign in front of the BPL this afternoon from 1-3PM. So, I arrived at the BPL around 12:55PM, waited ‘til 1:35PM, and then left.

No one showed up.

So, I wrote a letter to the BPL Board of Trustees, instead.¹ And left the fifty flyers I printed in various shops in Boston and on campus.

1. And you should, too! [↩]

B [addressing group, in all seriousness]: OK everyone, Brenda is part of our clique now!

G: The psets¹ were doable, and the grade only depends on the psets. Why go to class? B: Why take the class? G: That was my thinking.

1. problem sets; homework assignments [↩]