tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-55863850518604180322024-02-20T20:42:00.258-05:00hwknsThe truth, regardless of its implications.Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-3053386238766288962008-02-10T15:10:00.006-05:002008-02-19T20:59:45.294-05:00Black Voters Like MeThe signs are clear - deserted blog, unread e-mails, two abandoned games of <a href="http://apps.facebook.com/scrabulous/">Scrabulous</a>... I have been severely absent from the <a href="http://xkcd.com/181/">interweb</a>. At work, which is already unnecessarily long, we've been preparing for and going through INSURV, an inspection that occurs every five years. It's difficult to express the amount of stupidity involved in that process, so just think <b>ridiculously</b> long work hours.<br /><br />Things have been busy at home as well. The house is finally on the market, and thus requires constant cleaning. MIT's financial aid deadline had me scrambling madly to get things sorted out in time (if you live in the same state as your parents, I envy you). Chris's car is slowly becoming roadworthy, despite my ineptitude...<br /><br />There we were, lowering Chris's Toyota MR2 around the new engine he had just finished assembling. He was monitoring clearance around the engine, and I was operating the jack that was holding up the car. I was inching it down slowly and keeping an eye on the jack stands to make sure they were properly placed, and Chris said, "Ok, hold what you've got." I turned the handle quickly to lock off the jack and keep the car from moving.<br /><br />Unfortunately, I turned it the wrong way. Oh yes. Instead of <b>not</b> moving, the car moved <b>a lot</b>, and landed on the jack stands (which were in fact perfectly placed)! The damage is trivial as far as either of us can tell, but I still feel pretty stupid. That could have been a lot worse; at least everyone's safe, right? =)<br /><br />In other news, a flier appeared recently on my car (which was parked at my place of residence), and I feel I must share it with you (apologies for the crappy picture):<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRF8ndBHFAGXRVMnYL3uLAAchqVjmWNEQPIIiI10UiZQ8BaWkBXe1wT5f6awcuov5U6SrqZXqkNke9-ZbuRLIAkoL30yfBcm43UHAA-YJxZ6jhE9I8T1MYWSf7yvjA-fSJ9wQCLe09L0mk/s1600-h/flier.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRF8ndBHFAGXRVMnYL3uLAAchqVjmWNEQPIIiI10UiZQ8BaWkBXe1wT5f6awcuov5U6SrqZXqkNke9-ZbuRLIAkoL30yfBcm43UHAA-YJxZ6jhE9I8T1MYWSf7yvjA-fSJ9wQCLe09L0mk/s200/flier.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5168491759886403474" border="0" /></a><br />Apparently, I'm black. Why didn't you guys tell me?! Also apparently, there is no reason to vote unless the country is "going in the wrong direction." If things were going well, it would be cool for all of us to be apathetic. People, please. I'm all about getting people to vote, but this is ridiculous. Can we affect change as a nation, as a people, as a democracy, not just as "black voters"? Your thoughts?Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-43092040713717727602008-01-23T23:10:00.000-05:002008-01-23T23:22:13.602-05:00Polyphasic Sleep TheoryFor many of us, it's very counterintuitive to think that <a href="http://hwkns.blogspot.com/2008/01/hacking-sleep.html">2-3 hours of sleep</a> can meet the same biological needs that 7-9 hours can. To consider this a valid possibility, we must first examine <i>why</i> we sleep. Is it to rest our bodies? No. Our bodies can rest adequately while awake,<span style="font-size:78%;"><i>1</i></span> but we still need sleep. Recent research suggests that the purpose of sleep is to repair and reorganize the brain.<span style="font-size:78%;"><i>2</i></span><br /><br />Now, let's play make-believe. =)<br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">You live in a huge library. You are responsible for the entire library, and your job requires you to spend most of your day outside the library, collecting interesting and informative pieces of paper from everywhere you go. Every once in a while you drop by the library and dump everything onto the floor. "I'll organize it later," you say. Then, at the end of the day, you come back and start to sift through everything. You sort, you file, you consolidate, you associate, and you do it for nine hours straight because there's a <i>lot</i> of paper on the floor. When you're finished, you go back out to collect more.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">One day, your boss tells you that every four hours you must return to the library for half an hour. While you're sitting there you think, "This is useless... it's not that messy in here, and I could be out collecting more papers." Then at the end of the day your boss tells you that you may not stay in the library to organize at night; you must go out and find more papers. What?? "If he wanted more papers, why didn't he let me get them during the day instead of sitting in the library doing nothing every few hours?" you say to yourself. This frustrates you greatly, but you don't want to get fired, so you leave to collect more papers.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">When you return, you dump everything on the floor as usual. "This place is a <i>mess</i>," you think. "I wonder when the boss is going to let me organize all of it..." After a while, you realize that the half-hour stretches in the library are the only time you will be able to organize. You can't possibly keep up with this huge mess in only half-hour sessions, so you start throwing things in the trash. It takes you a couple of weeks to get everything either thrown away or put away on your new schedule, and when you finally finish you sigh with relief. Back to normal!</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 102);">But you soon realize that things are different. When you enter the library every few hours with a stack of paper, you simply file it and go. The complexity of the task has greatly diminished, as there isn't a huge pile of paper in the floor. All you have to deal with is the paper collected in the past few hours. Now your library requires less total attention each day, and it stays relatively free of clutter at all times. Maybe your boss knew what he was doing after all?</span><br /><br />This "library model" is pure speculation on my part, but I believe it represents the processes of the brain during the adaptation to polyphasic sleep. It certainly explains why several polynappers perceive a boost in mental clarity<span style="font-size:78%;"><i>3-5</i></span> and why sleep deprivation causes impaired memory and cognitive ability.<span style="font-size:78%;"><i>6</i></span> If the purpose of sleep is indeed to repair and reorganize the brain, I propose that this process becomes increasingly complex with more time spent continuously awake, and that the limit of its complexity marks the beginning of the cognitive effects of sleep deprivation.<br /><br /><span style="font-family:times;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>References:</b><br /><i>1</i>. <a href="http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/hu/groups/old_sleep/karger.htm">The Phenomena of Sleep</a> by <a href="http://www.lboro.ac.uk/departments/hu/groups/sleep/contact.htm">Jim Horne</a>:<br />"Humans can usually rest and relax quite adequately during wakefulness, and there is only a modest further energy saving to be gained by sleeping. We do not enter torpor, and the fall in metabolic rate for a human adult sleeping rather lying resting but awake, is only about 5-10%."<br /><i>2</i>. <a href="http://www.news.harvard.edu/gazette/2007/03.15/01-sleepsize.html">Sleep Found to Repair and Reorganize the Brain</a> by <a href="http://www.news.harvard.edu/contact/">William H. Cromie</a>:<br />"Our data are consistent with the idea that sleep is primarily devoted to the critical activities of repair and reorganization in the brain, not the whole body, and that this reorganization probably includes learning and memory,"<br /><i>3</i>. <a href="http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&FriendID=135620083&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;blogMonth=3&blogDay=22&blogYear=2007">Polyphasic Sleep Log - Day 120</a> by <a href="http://www.worldwidenlightenment.com/">Nicholas Powell</a>:<br />"One of the most noticeable aspects besides feeling more awake, adjusted, aware, alive, vibrant, and energized is the fact that the mental chatter noise disappears completely. No more mind clutter and continuously having that background noise of worry and going over problems."<br /><i>4</i>. <a href="http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2005/11/polyphasic-sleep-log-day-21/">Polyphasic Sleep Log - Day 21</a> by <a href="http://www.stevepavlina.com/">Steve Pavlina</a>:<br />"The alertness and energy are there, but there’s something else too. The best way to describe it is to say that my mind feels a lot less noisy. It has become exceedingly calm, like a still lake. Somewhere along the way, I seem to have lost the chatterbox in the back of my mind. Now there’s a feeling of mental stillness, like the background mental noise has been turned off... Now when I sit down to work, I feel as if I’m working with deeper focus, clarity, and speed of thought than ever before."<br /><i>5</i>. <a href="http://jseely.com/2007/07/after-adaptation/">After Adaptation</a> by <a href="http://jseely.com/">Jeff Seely</a>:<br />"The post-nap state of mind was especially effervescent and unconstrained. My thoughts would flow faster than normal. If you have ever attempted difficult math proofs before, then you’re probably familiar with the frustration of hitting a mental block. It’s like writer’s block for mathematicians. I found that if I worked on my math problems after a nap, I usually experienced more lucrative thought processes, which helped get past mental blocks."<br /><i>6</i>. <a href="http://www.thieme-connect.com/ejournals/abstract/sin/doi/10.1055/s-2005-867080;jsessionid=C26819310D6A339B37A76A9BBDD74577.jvm3">Neurocognitive Consequences of Sleep Deprivation</a> by Jeffrey S. Durmer:<br />"Specific neurocognitive domains including executive attention, working memory, and divergent higher cognitive functions are particularly vulnerable to sleep loss."</span></span>Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-3908233050889995662008-01-13T16:45:00.001-05:002008-08-27T18:15:06.557-04:00Hacking Sleep<span style="font-size:100%;">There is an old saying about time management at MIT - "Work, sleep, friends: pick two." Like any good MIT student, I'm going to bend the rules and exercise some creativity. After my first semester (which I will use to establish a performance baseline and make sure I can survive), I'll be experimenting with a new sleep schedule that will add hours to my day, among other exciting effects. In other words, I will be hacking sleep. =)<br /><br /><b>Polyphasic Sleep</b><br />"Normal" people (whoever they are) sleep once per day for eight hours. This cycle is called monophasic sleep, and it follows the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circadian_rhythm">circadian rhythm</a>. Polyphasic sleep, sometimes called "polynapping", involves separating sleep into smaller cycles that may follow <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultradian">ultradian rhythms</a>. There are many different polyphasic sleeping schedules, but perhaps the most widely known is the uberman schedule. Generally considered the most extreme form of polyphasic sleep, it involves sleeping six times per day (every four hours) for 20-30 minutes, resulting in 2-3 hours of sleep per day.<br /><br />During the adjustment period (normally one to two weeks), the body experiences severe but controlled <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation">sleep deprivation</a> and adapts to the new schedule by compressing sleep cycles into the allocated nap times. All <a href="http://www.dreamviews.com/sleepstages.php">stages of sleep</a> are still present - and in roughly the same proportions as in monophasic sleep - but the total daily amount of each stage is reduced.</span><span style="font-size:78%;"><i>1</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> Upon completion of the adjustment period, sleep deprivation ends and the schedule becomes comfortable and easily sustainable.<br /><br /><b>What are the costs and benefits?</b><br />The obvious negative aspect of this experiment is the adaptation. For about two weeks I'll be in a zombie-like state, battling sleep deprivation and self-doubt. That will be quite the adventure, I'm sure. There is also the burden of having to schedule naps around everything else, but that shouldn't be too difficult.<br /><br />If I can pull off the transition (many have tried and failed), the most obvious benefit of the schedule is the addition of five to six waking hours to each day. I could use the extra time for sports, projects, studying, blogging, etc... There's hardly a shortage of things to do at MIT. But the real reason I want to do this is plain old curiosity. From the accounts I've read, experiencing life as a continuous stream without a daily reboot is pretty fascinating. I also want to see if I can make it through the adaptation, since it's likely to be the hardest thing I've ever done.<br /><br /><b>What About Health Effects?</b><br />The long-term health effects of this schedule have not been scientifically studied. Of those who have successfully adapted, none have reported major health problems. In fact, some with pre-existing sleep-related problems experienced a sudden end to their disorders.</span><span style="font-size:78%;"><i>2</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> The inventor <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buckminster_Fuller">Buckminster Fuller</a> successfully followed a polyphasic schedule for two years with no problems.<span style="font-size:78%;"><i>3</i></span><span style="font-size:100%;"> <span style="font-size:100%;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonardo_da_Vinci">Leonardo DaVinci</a> is said to have slept polyphasically throughout most of his life (unverified). At any rate, I'll be doing this at my own risk.<br /><br /><b>How Does It Work?</b><br />The official answer is "no one knows," but I'll give you my theory in the next entry. I'm sure you all have some questions, and I've done a lot of sleep research over the past six months, so ask away!<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:times;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><b>References:</b><br /><i>1</i>. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Why-we-nap-STAMPI/dp/0817634622">Why We Nap</a> by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Claudio_Stampi">Dr. Claudio Stampi</a>:<br />"The nap mean overall percentage composition of stages 1 (18.9%), 2 (32.8%), SWS (27.4%), and REM (20.9%) was very similar to that of baseline sleep (13.5%, 38.6%, 26.1%, and 21.8%, respectively). The total daily amounts of each stage, however, were considerably and proportionately reduced."<br /><i>2</i>. <a href="http://www.everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=892574&displaytype=printable">Uberman's Sleep Schedule</a> by <a href="http://www.puredoxyk.com/">PureDoxyK</a>:<br />"If you have sleep disorders like nightmares, night terrors, mid-sleep choking fits, thrashing, muscle soreness or sleepwalking, this will probably flat-out cure you. I had many of the above, and they all disappeared on me virtually overnight."<br /><i>3</i>. <a href="http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,774680,00.html">Dymaxion Sleep</a> by <a href="http://www.time.com/time/">TIME Magazine</a>:<br />"For two years Fuller thus averaged two hours of sleep in 24. Result: 'The most vigorous and alert condition I have ever enjoyed.' Life-insurance doctors who examined him found him sound as a nut."<i><br /></i></span></span></span></span>Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-84390542711889290132007-12-29T18:38:00.000-05:002008-01-09T01:40:25.392-05:00Car vs. ConcreteConcrete wins, in case you were wondering. I had heard of this result from other sources, but the day after Christmas I took it upon myself to try it out with my own car, pirouetting elegantly across the road and into a concrete median. In retrospect, I could have picked a better time than the night before my 11-hour drive back to Virginia. On the other hand, maybe subconsciously I was trying to get stranded in Tennessee... Unfortunately, my subconscious isn't that smart; there was a spare car at the house (a Toyota Echo that gets 40 mpg!), so I was able to get back to work.<br /><br />Now that I am back in Norfolk, the "armpit of the Navy," I'm counting down the remaining days. It's astonishing to think that this year I'll become an MIT student! There's so much to prepare for, having been out of high school for four years... I know a lot of people feel this way, but I think I'll be way behind the rest of my class. I do have some useful skills though; my superpower is sleep deprivation. Right now it's 1:00am and I have to be up at 4:30am to get ready for work, and what am I doing? I'm blogging.<br /><br />I'm also checking Facebook, since someone thought it would be a good idea to ban Facebook at work. =( I've been too busy to check it at home, because I'm helping my friend Chris get his house ready to sell. This involves new tile, new carpet, new trim, new doors, new lighting, new wiring, new appliances, new paint, new cabinets, new counter-tops, and a few other things, so it has been an interesting project. Everything should be finished by this weekend, and we can finally relax (I will relax; Chris will work on his car, because he likes to work on things).<br /><br />One of my goals for the year is to get more involved in the <a href="http://www.opensource.org/">open source</a> community. I started by switching to <a href="http://www.openoffice.org/">OpenOffice</a>, and I'm in the process of switching to <a href="http://www.linux.org/">Linux</a>. I'm happy to say that I now own a Linux laptop (made by Dell) and I love it! I'm still learning (understatement?), but my normal daily computing tasks have given me no troubles thus far.<br /><br />In the next entry, I'll be unveiling my secret plan to hack the number of hours in a day. Suspense!Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-20035493246690674842007-12-18T21:01:00.000-05:002007-12-18T21:59:25.179-05:00Back to the BlogosphereHello again, readers! If you're wondering why I've taken a break from blogging for a while, my father died suddenly a couple of months ago. It has been a strange and staggering experience, but I think now is the time for me to return to those things that made my dad so proud. During the next six months I'll be finishing up my enlistment in the Navy, preparing for MIT, and doing some research that will help me hack the number of hours in a day. Next week I will be acquiring a very rare book to aid my research efforts, so that will likely become the focus of much blogging. =)<br /><br />In other news, MIT released early action admissions decisions last Saturday. I now have over 500 fellow members of the Class of 2012! To my new classmates, CONGRATULATIONS!!! See you next fall! Until then, keep in touch and get to know yourselves on the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=2416062620&ref=mf">Facebook group</a>. To all those deferred, take heart! I was deferred last year, and when I got accepted during regular action I turned the tables and deferred my enrollment for a year! Unfortunately, I think it had less to do with dramatic irony, and more to do with completing my commitment to the Navy.<br /><br />Our holiday stand-down starts on Thursday, so I'll be driving 11 hours to Nashville, Tennessee to be with my family for Christmas. I can't wait! What are <b>your</b> plans?Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-47803509568823407932007-10-07T09:58:00.000-04:002007-10-08T11:46:18.035-04:00Fly Sex<span style="font-family: verdana;">On Friday morning I walked over to MIT from the hotel, picked up a copy of </span><span style="font-style: italic; font-family: verdana;">The Tech</span><span style="font-family: verdana;">, and called </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://mitadmissions.org/JKim.shtml">Jess Kim</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. She had invited me to her Genetics lecture, which I normally would have avoided at all costs (Biology is not my friend). But JKim was going to be there, so I wasn't going to miss it! =) I found my way to 54-100, an old lecture hall in the Green Building, and sat next to her.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">The lecture itself was really boring, probably because I had absolutely no idea what the professor was talking about. None whatsoever. At all. Not even a little bit. But JKim kept me entertained. =) One of her friends was taking a very expensive nap...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6VOvfD1gpYJRUV0stdpTbfAJCKAFkQ7akYNheIz0VUrW79SOFNUWPDYAQ_EAnyJYcr5riWHdQWFceDXVZMuYlEzeQaoBTGnPYkK-yGOyVU_bHXBNunzBlWlJqYBTnwGXhpUD-2c4IgzI/s1600-h/IMG_0109.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc6VOvfD1gpYJRUV0stdpTbfAJCKAFkQ7akYNheIz0VUrW79SOFNUWPDYAQ_EAnyJYcr5riWHdQWFceDXVZMuYlEzeQaoBTGnPYkK-yGOyVU_bHXBNunzBlWlJqYBTnwGXhpUD-2c4IgzI/s320/IMG_0109.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118646913867544466" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">JKim probably has a short story about every person she has ever known. Here's an interesting one:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCEdltJut5TrIqriWxf9FXzMNNHnI76euwqkuF4LRUsCFYJQ4C269BSBCs3c1_voPH6RM-TdtVgqrjgElzZnYQ39X94620tXGk7eqslx0501KvxNOa4q3Owpo7DQs5jnK6_jpJxqEIELM/s1600-h/IMG_0108.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHCEdltJut5TrIqriWxf9FXzMNNHnI76euwqkuF4LRUsCFYJQ4C269BSBCs3c1_voPH6RM-TdtVgqrjgElzZnYQ39X94620tXGk7eqslx0501KvxNOa4q3Owpo7DQs5jnK6_jpJxqEIELM/s320/IMG_0108.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118647154385713058" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">She also tried to translate the lecture into words I would understand:</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPDtl8TPzIBl5YuBx-CwCNKwdIsi3MRKFjquD2YW9LOnAT0sFfd3KjCNlkIEgbjLM20LaoNDN8muxI3Ho8SiYbzUOci89uqarXrMS9RUMl79fIbWWlncKP71k2qmi7Dcv6KnVqIOYDLiu/s1600-h/IMG_0113.JPG"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhqPDtl8TPzIBl5YuBx-CwCNKwdIsi3MRKFjquD2YW9LOnAT0sFfd3KjCNlkIEgbjLM20LaoNDN8muxI3Ho8SiYbzUOci89uqarXrMS9RUMl79fIbWWlncKP71k2qmi7Dcv6KnVqIOYDLiu/s320/IMG_0113.JPG" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118647403493816242" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">When the lecture ended I hurried back to the hotel for a quick lunch before our tour of Boston. The lunch, at California Pizza Kitchen in the CambridgeSide Galleria, was a very pleasant experience until someone attempted to exit through the door labeled, EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY - ALARM WILL SOUND. Not too observant... maybe they should work for Logan Airport; I hear they hire people who can't even tell LEDs from IEDs. ;)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">It was a bit strange touring Boston with a group of businesspeople (the event was organized as part of Dad's business trip), but all the same it was enjoyable. I'm not normally a fan of history, but the American Revolution is one of the few exceptions. We visited some important historical places, including the site at which the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shot_heard_%27round_the_world">shot heard 'round the world</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> was fired. We also walked through Harvard Yard - I did so wearing my MIT hoodie, which garnered a few strange looks - and saw the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:John_Harvard%2C_statue_at_Harvard_University.JPG">Statue of Three Lies</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. This was just a few days before the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://snively.blogspot.com/2007/09/mit-hacks-harvard.html">Halo hack</a><span style="font-family: verdana;">. I'm not sure why the tour guide took us to Harvard but not MIT... Lame!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Meanwhile, my cell phone had decided to stage its own revolution. The screen had gone blank and I apparently missed several calls from </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://mitadmissions.org/Paul.shtml">Paul</a><span style="font-family: verdana;"> regarding our dinner arrangements for that evening. When I got back to the hotel and finally realized what had happened, I was already late. Paul, nice guy that he is, waited for me to walk back to MIT, and we set off toward PKS. One of the brothers met us there and we went to UBurger. I had never been before and was downright impressed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">After the burgers we went back to PKS and I hung out while the pledges were doing super-secret, pledge-related things. When Paul returned (at about 0100) it was my turn for some super-secret activities. =) We walked back to the campus and did some, er... exploring. Anyone want to venture a guess as to where this photo was taken?</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimihHJqBU5drP0UwAkZ7-gyDHznBRryyNiWupUL8iHv25WpnSEBbdwh8ZgBjfkVBZnWoFP7tK5aimqJ1fa_FNBcv1vcs3wnnKfD-R2kpFOcsNbkG_VJQff2W3hymkkyosfFSvG0Cc5wpTt/s1600-h/MIT+034.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimihHJqBU5drP0UwAkZ7-gyDHznBRryyNiWupUL8iHv25WpnSEBbdwh8ZgBjfkVBZnWoFP7tK5aimqJ1fa_FNBcv1vcs3wnnKfD-R2kpFOcsNbkG_VJQff2W3hymkkyosfFSvG0Cc5wpTt/s320/MIT+034.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5118805990866253762" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family: verdana;">Although my adrenaline levels were pretty high at the end of our adventure (for reasons not to be discussed here), by the time we returned to PKS I was ready for some sleep. I crashed on a spare bed for a few hours and woke up early enough to eat breakfast before heading back to the hotel to meet Dad and Melisa. We took a cab to the airport and talked about our amazing weekend over lunch, and then we parted ways. So long, Boston! See you next year! =D</span>Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-90742038449078334842007-09-28T13:40:00.000-04:002007-10-03T23:31:03.659-04:00Are You a Freshman?So once again I'm slacking with the content... Sorry, readers! I really do love you. But I have been extremely busy the past couple of weeks and for my own personal sanity I took the weekend off from everything and went climbing at the other end of the state. I'm behind on everything from laundry and blogging to making appointments and replacing my cell phone. That said, I now give you day two of my visit to MIT! =)<br /><br />I woke up and went with Paul to his first class of the day, 8.012 (Physics). I had forgotten how much I actually liked Physics, and I actually understood what was going on during the entire lecture! I was lost on a couple formulas and some of the math, but I knew what was happening. There's no way to describe just how encouraging that was! I might just make it through freshman year after all.<br /><br />Next stop was the <a href="http://career-fair.mit.edu/">career fair</a>! <b>Wow</b>. I had never been to anything remotely like this before. There were a few hundred booths set up in the Johnson Athletic Center - booths belonging to companies like Google, Firefox, IBM, 3M, General Motors, NVIDIA, etc. (no, Microsoft does not make the list of cool companies that impress me). All these companies were recruiting MIT students, which meant there was an abundance of free stuff! I suppose I wasn't technically allowed to be there at all - owing to the fact that I'm not a student yet - but I never liked following rules anyway.<br /><br />NOTE: <i>Walk quickly and look like you know what you're doing - you'll be surprised what you can get away with.</i> ;)<br /><br />My presence prompted some interesting questions, the most common of which was, "Are you a freshman...?" What a simple question, right? Not for me... I must have answered this question (in one form or another) a hundred times during my visit, explaining my deferral of enrollment and trying hard not to induce further questions by mentioning that I'm in the Navy.<br /><br />All this deferral talk was making me feel a bit estranged, so I was very glad to receive a call from Vicky '12, a fellow defer! She was about to have lunch, so we hurried away from the crowd of companies to join her in the student center. On our way there we met someone who knew Paul (big surprise), so the four of us ate together. Vicky had to get back to work (she interns at <a href="http://web.mit.edu/inventeams/index.html">InvenTeams</a>), so I walked and talked with her on the way and then started to make my way back to the hotel.<br /><br />Having never walked through Cambridge before, I had no idea where I was going. While getting un-lost I took this awesome picture of the Boston skyline from the Longfellow Bridge. =)<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQeQ8RqjNXlVzey9jRJUU4ke8JplB8MSV_omz-00gul3pUut3z3YxHEhsu4XRLw1n3AkpgzS6zd1nLlTpcys63vr7g4dGfBxAjDT6K2KOnGaXV0EXUcksR0Ub-NFpL-dlAFDpJn1PpsqG/s1600-h/MIT+013.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLQeQ8RqjNXlVzey9jRJUU4ke8JplB8MSV_omz-00gul3pUut3z3YxHEhsu4XRLw1n3AkpgzS6zd1nLlTpcys63vr7g4dGfBxAjDT6K2KOnGaXV0EXUcksR0Ub-NFpL-dlAFDpJn1PpsqG/s320/MIT+013.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5117285228846086018" border="0" /></a><br />Once I found my way to the hotel I met Melisa (my acquired mother) for a second round of lunch. We talked about our fun times in Boston so far, and I explained the theory behind my secret plan for hacking the number of hours in a day (it's a secret because I'm still doing the research; as soon as I have a firm grasp on things, I'll tell you all everything). She and Dad were going to a banquet dinner that night, so I went to explore the CambridgeSide Galleria for a few hours (it was just across the street from the hotel).<br /><br />We all returned to the hotel at about the same time and went down to the hotel restaurant for a late dinner (I ate - they sat with me). I was tired and sleep soon sequestered me, but little did I know that the next day would prove to be the biggest adventure yet...!Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-87361650004874956622007-09-25T22:14:00.000-04:002007-09-25T22:23:56.028-04:00The Institvte<span style="font-family:verdana;">I returned Saturday from my first-ever visit to MIT! After doing some laundry (ok, a lot), catching up on some blog reading, stalking some Facebook, catching up on work, answering some e-mail, and otherwise building suspense for this entry, I'm finally ready to recount my exciting experience in demonstrative detail. =) My story, like all good MIT stories, begins at night.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">I arrived at BOS on Tuesday shortly after 10pm. At this point I had the option of getting to know Boston's public transportation system - taking multiple subway lines and walking a few blocks to the hotel and probably getting lost at least once in the process - or taking a taxi. For efficiency's sake (a valid reason to do </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">just about anything</i><span style="font-family:verdana;">) I had crammed my belongings (minus liquids, and minus flashing LEDs that look absolutely nothing like a bomb) into a carry-on bag and a backpack. This abundance of luggage, plus my utter lack of subway knowledge, encouraged me to take a taxi.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Arriving at the hotel, I met my dad and acquired mother (I don't like the word "step-mom"), quickly repacked, and started in on sleep. Despite my random, restless thoughts about the days ahead, I fell asleep quickly. This was possibly the result of the Navy forcing me to wake up at 0400 every morning and myself refusing to go to bed at a decent hour. =O</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">The next morning at 0830 we took a free shuttle van from the hotel to the MIT campus and stood for a moment on Massachusetts Ave, taking it all in.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrv4LsIRhdMA3vEJQgNsuTEnwnVKkTzqFA2I0tEi3x6yZNUp5fc9OwaDbySsUgYDQczdiRj1jCFi_EAsxRWSNaDEkUsABx-3cxVdCDyLskE76LYwgoDRW6RudIwISU1YEdqjUN5Enp8kZ/s1600-h/MIT+006.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgrv4LsIRhdMA3vEJQgNsuTEnwnVKkTzqFA2I0tEi3x6yZNUp5fc9OwaDbySsUgYDQczdiRj1jCFi_EAsxRWSNaDEkUsABx-3cxVdCDyLskE76LYwgoDRW6RudIwISU1YEdqjUN5Enp8kZ/s320/MIT+006.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113934067728480050" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Our first stop was the Admissions Reception Center in room 10-100, where we received a warm welcome and plenty of reading material. I called <a href="http://paul-mit.blogspot.com/">Paul</a>, and he stopped by before class so we could finally meet in person. As it turns out, Paul is </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">not</i><span style="font-family:verdana;"> a </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://thenerdlylife.blogspot.com/2007/08/hodgepodge-of-summer-reading-back-to.html">forty year old man from Wyoming</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">. =)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We were the only people at the morning information session, which became pleasantly informal for this reason. I was already admitted, and I had already decided on MIT as my top choice, so there weren't many questions left to be answered. Most of our concerns centered around financial aid, and for those we were taken immediately to someone in the <a href="http://web.mit.edu/sfs/financial_aid/index.html">SFS</a> office. During the information session was the first time I heard the words, "Oh, you're </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">that</i><span style="font-family:verdana;"> Hawkins!" which took me by surprise. I'm a regular reader and commentator of the blogs on the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.mitadmissions.org/">admissions</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> web site, but I had no idea how many people actually read those things!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Next on the schedule was the campus tour. We waited for our guide in lobby 7.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoW3KZA81frVUbmRGUzaeS-WThqCFH2NiSF66GJIDcOIQJ10HrSpU0_uyzmEn3FOHu3Q2aFjRypJ8WwaDJATBSGCE5M4L0ePUzm_K_44yTrqIgp70rrWpOqDnnU2V6EDmRqgLREx1-MgyJ/s1600-h/MIT+011.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoW3KZA81frVUbmRGUzaeS-WThqCFH2NiSF66GJIDcOIQJ10HrSpU0_uyzmEn3FOHu3Q2aFjRypJ8WwaDJATBSGCE5M4L0ePUzm_K_44yTrqIgp70rrWpOqDnnU2V6EDmRqgLREx1-MgyJ/s320/MIT+011.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114261417250879314" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Ann, our amazing tour guide, took us all over the campus, walking backwards 95% of the time.</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLAIr1Z3UdM2G0zpAdCtL80NwLpAdekch-q26KO9F6mvXT59XhMMvPQPKMvq3nxh7tg0OFaf4f42K10D16dWJhuzAZq4JH7JHqj-K3p-J4aBDw20JlDpi9OSSkxrSBdciVTyBOVOwf0N0/s1600-h/MIT+005.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGLAIr1Z3UdM2G0zpAdCtL80NwLpAdekch-q26KO9F6mvXT59XhMMvPQPKMvq3nxh7tg0OFaf4f42K10D16dWJhuzAZq4JH7JHqj-K3p-J4aBDw20JlDpi9OSSkxrSBdciVTyBOVOwf0N0/s320/MIT+005.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114264711490795362" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">She spoke of people and places, of hacks and history, and she walked backwards. The parents were impressed and amused, and hopefully began to see some of the wonderful aspects of MIT that make it so much more than just a great engineering school. We didn't go to any of the dorms; they're all so unique that seeing one or two really doesn't give an accurate impression of the rest.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">We had some time between the campus tour and the EECS tour, so we ate lunch at the Stata Center...</span><br /><br /><a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGAXybmg8oppl3h75JkNXYG4PbxQ1vqFAGPtiJe6O222QwmldJy6dxrwFKq0HtquvxMp1t5t2RV1DCNCOsoJ9TZSpnZW7DC6KX-9lL43cgqtUGkZ771XwBBismhDNUPhL2By0bw0jQrba/s1600-h/MIT+009.jpg"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEGAXybmg8oppl3h75JkNXYG4PbxQ1vqFAGPtiJe6O222QwmldJy6dxrwFKq0HtquvxMp1t5t2RV1DCNCOsoJ9TZSpnZW7DC6KX-9lL43cgqtUGkZ771XwBBismhDNUPhL2By0bw0jQrba/s320/MIT+009.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5114273017957545842" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">...and we went to a lecture! Yay, my first MIT lecture, 6.041 (Probabilistic Systems Analysis)! The professor was excited to have visitors; he approached us before he began, introduced himself, and invited us to talk with him after the lecture. It was the fifth lecture in the course, so I didn't follow every detail, but I wasn't totally lost either. (yay!) It made me believe that, given the other four lectures, I could probably hold my own in the course.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Next on the schedule was the EECS tour. I met Anne Hunter, the undergraduate administrator for the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.eecs.mit.edu/">EECS department</a><span style="font-family:verdana;">, and was surprised to learn that she too recognized my name from the blogs! We were taken on a tour of Course VI labs and classrooms, and we learned a bit about what it's like to be an EECS student. I didn't take any pictures because almost everywhere we went there were people working. =)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">At this point we were finished with the schedule. It was time to visit the COOP! I purchased the requisite MIT hoodie and a t-shirt for my sister. My dad bought a t-shirt too, which he proudly wore to his meeting the next day (he was actually in Boston on a business trip, so we modified his plans to include a campus visit)! We could have spent much longer in the COOP, but Paul called and said he was meeting up with Ben Jones (widely known as the mastermind behind the MIT Admissions web site) in a few minutes if we would like to stop by. So we crashed Ben's meeting with the newly chosen bloggers and finally met him in person! Ben remembered me from the blogs, and even told me I was famous. What?!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">It was getting close to dinner time, so we walked to Kendall Square for some food. We sat and talked about the day's events, and they walked back towards the hotel. I walked back towards Mass Ave., knowing that the day was nowhere near over. I met up with Paul again and we ate burritos at Anna's in the student center. He showed me his dorm, Simmons, and his fraternity's house (PKS).</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">On the way back toward campus, we saw the </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://web.mit.edu/parking/www/pksafe.html">safe ride</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> shuttle and ran to catch it. Someone asked how I knew Paul, and Paul said, "We met online." This met with a good laugh and was retold more than once during the rest of my stay. =)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">Once we returned to Simmons, it was time for a PSET party! I tagged along, wanting to see how the process worked (I've never really done homework as a group before). It was pretty chaotic and very cool. I'm actually looking forward to that part of being an MIT student. I love collaborating with other people, and there are precious few groups of people with whom you can use engineering language and be understood.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">At about 0300 we finally left the "party". Paul not only offered to let me stay in his room, he slept on the floor and left me the bed! I'm not used to people being this hospitable - I thought for a moment I was back in Tennessee. And so ended the first day of my visit, in true MIT fashion, in the middle of the night.</span>Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com17tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-79255094587189905322007-09-13T23:48:00.000-04:002007-09-14T00:02:30.940-04:00Radio Shack<span style="font-family:verdana;">When it occurred to me that I would finally have the opportunity to take some pictures of MIT during my upcoming campus visit, I came to the conclusion that my trusty old camera - the sluggish and bulky Nikon Coolpix 4200 - was just not going to cut it. Don't worry, it will not go quietly into the night... My dad has not yet entered the age of new-fangled digital picture-taking contraptions, and he seems to think my old camera will be a great (read: free) way to get himself started. What will take its place in my photo sharing arsenal, you ask? Check </span><a style="font-family: verdana;" href="http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/SD600/SD600A.HTM">this</a><span style="font-family:verdana;"> out.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;">When was the last time you found the cheapest price for an item at </span><i style="font-family: verdana;">Radio Shack</i><span style="font-family:verdana;">? Believe it or not, that's where I found this camera - for $50 cheaper than everywhere else I had looked. <a href="http://www.google.com/prdhp?tab=wf">Google</a>, FTW! After calling the store to verify that this epic event was not just my imagination, I sped away in the car to make my purchase. Halfway there, I realized that in my excitement and disbelief I had forgotten my shoes. I turned around, grabbed some flip-flops from the house, and took off once more, arriving at Radio Shack before closing time and leaving - for the first time - feeling like I hadn't been ripped off.<br /></span>Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5586385051860418032.post-87362485801352440052007-09-11T10:42:00.000-04:002007-09-11T10:49:20.594-04:00Hello, World<a style="font-family: verdana;" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDli0ec8HgFEcV2QN4P3IRTC7cugBSqKJDqZkFRfASVbMTyW6HinvplUPSmyP9rheLEPVwhSJ4EX-76SL7ZbyFusZawbpm7qvh4uXTCIGWkmyEaelWWkQ_2Ugw9b1PZq7mccZvuR3hi54K/s1600-h/name.png"><img style="margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDli0ec8HgFEcV2QN4P3IRTC7cugBSqKJDqZkFRfASVbMTyW6HinvplUPSmyP9rheLEPVwhSJ4EX-76SL7ZbyFusZawbpm7qvh4uXTCIGWkmyEaelWWkQ_2Ugw9b1PZq7mccZvuR3hi54K/s320/name.png" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108788259785919330" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:verdana;">I am a professional procrastinator. I maintain that chivalry is not dead. I spend too much time on the internet. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I recently returned to Mountain Dew after a lengthy caffeine fast. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I climb rocks, trees, and anything I'm not supposed to. I am addicted to education. I eat ice cream from the carton. I judge you when you use poor grammar.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I think the glass is half full if it has just been poured into and half empty if it has just been poured out of.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I like to help people, even when I'm already over-committed. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I believe sarcasm to be the highest form of humor known to man. I have more books than I can realistically read, but I want more. I think Anchorman is the funniest movie in the history of the world. I have a secret plan to hack the number of hours in a day.<br /><br />I believe that in pleasure and pain, in passion and tedium, in bravery and doubt, lies the beauty and simplicity of life.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I'm from Tennessee, and I miss it dearly. </span><span style="font-family:verdana;">I currently belong to the US Navy, and next fall I'll be a student at MIT! Next week will be my first visit to the campus, and I plan to share my adventures with you here. Now that you know who I am, feel free to introduce yourself!<br /></span>Hawkinshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07110999911524698859noreply@blogger.com15