Ask SIPB
Today, we finish off our series of introductory columns with information on a hodge-podge of additional useful services.
Don’t Neglect the Necessities
I don’t like grocery shopping, probably because of the chilliness of the frozen food section and because I don’t like lugging heavy bags. Or maybe it’s just because I’m lazy. Either way, you should not follow my example because it must be possible to enjoy shopping for basics like food, bedding, and toiletries. Here’s a list of places where you can go to try to achieve nirvana or at least find a good deal:
Finding Fun
Most of us are now definable by our Facebook profiles. We’ve named our hometowns, our majors, and our favorite music in neat lists. The moment our tastes change, we rush to update our profiles, lest someone mistakenly believe we still like The Get Up Kids, even though we’ve now declared allegiance to The Yeah Yeah Yeahs.
Ask SIPB
Wishing MIT provided more software and services for your personal computer? Need to use software on Athena at home? This week, we introduce some lesser known computing services supported by MIT.
Ask SIPB
Want to use the software on Athena? Wondered what sorts of cool things you can do? In this column, we discuss lockers on Athena, and the things you can find in them.
Dining Out
I know you’re in awe of LaVerde’s beverage selection right now, and you probably will be for another few months. But once you’ve grown tired of that lingonberry soda and tomato egg salad sandwich (both of which I consumed almost every day of my first semester), you’ll realize that you can’t rely on LaVerde’s for all of your meals. And even if you can and do cook, you’re sure to crave a restaurant-cooked meal someday soon. When that day comes, pick up this guide, find a friend, and eat out!
Outfitting Yourself
It’s no secret that most MIT students don’t give a great deal of thought to how they look. So you used to curl your hair every morning in high school? You think better in a blazer? Forget how you used to look in high school, because odds are, you’ll look a lot worse soon. Depressing, sure, but thankfully there will be days when you’ll feel like an ordinary, non-stressed human and will stop wishing that public nudity were a social norm. Shop now and you’ll be prepared for those bright days when you actually care about what you’re wearing.
Ask SIPB
In today’s Ask SIPB column, we’ll discuss various ways to communicate with others, namely e-mail and Zephyr.
Updated Status: College Freshman
<i>This column was written by Ko, a freshman, just before arriving at MIT for Orientation.</i>
Ask SIPB
Welcome, especially to freshmen and new graduate students! Ask SIPB is a column published regularly by the Student Information Processing Board, the volunteer student group concerned with computing at MIT, to help students like you learn more about the computing resources MIT provides and how to make effective use of them.
Imminent Collapse
Today's topic, one of immense magnitude and of personal significance to us all, shall be Coolness.
Scott’s Travels
<i>MIT undergraduate Scott Berdahl spent a year traveling the world to see what all the fuss was about. Over seven months, he traveled from Moscow to Delhi by train, bus, horseback, and on foot, finding his share of adventure along the way.</i>
Ask SIPB
Ever wondered how you can get to your files from any Athena computer? How lockers work? How you can share files with your friends? In today’s issue of Ask SIPB, we’ll cover these questions and more.
Scott’s Travels
<i>MIT undergraduate Scott Berdahl spent a year traveling the world to see what all the fuss was about. Over seven months, he traveled from Moscow to Delhi by train, bus, horseback, and on foot, having his share of adventure along the way.</i>
How You Doin’
Are you interested in health on campus? Interested in medicine in general? Well, so are we! We’re the Student Health Advisory Committee, or SHAC, and this is the first of our bi-monthly columns that will focus on the health issues you care about.
Imminent Collapse
Before we begin properly today, let me first ask: are you a CalTech student? If so, I must ask, in all seriousness: WTF?
Ask SIPB
Welcome to MIT, prefrosh! We're the Student Information Processing Board ("SIPB", pronounced sip-bee), MIT's student computing interest group. Our office is on the fifth floor of the Student Center, just outside the Athena cluster. You're welcome to stop by and ask us for help, or just use our computers, or even talk with us.
Monkey Gone to Heaven
CPW is finally upon us. I had trouble admitting it at first, but as a senior, I can barely muster the energy to care. I did the whole CPW/Orientation thing with full gusto when I was younger, but I just can't keep up with the '09s and '10s. My roommate applied for us both to host pre-frosh, but as my former pre-frosh can attest, I'm an awful host, and am probably single-handedly responsible for mine and my roommate's rejections. Maybe I just have trouble relating to someone who was four when Shaggy's "It Wasn't Me" first came out.
Scott's Travels
So, now we're in Mongolia. It's late August 2005. After a few days in Ulaanbaatar, the capital and, well, the only real city in that country, I meet Will, a fellow traveler looking to buy a horse and head out into the vast Mongolian steppe, in search of adventure of some sort. Will was about twice my age and a hardened traveler. Some time ago, he had been a graduate student working on a PhD in history, until one day he realized he wasn't doing what he wanted in life. He discontinued his studies, broke up with his girlfriend and took what money he had to travel the world. When that ran out he found work as a chef on a sight-seeing vessel that operated off the British Columbian and Alaskan coasts; hardly work at all by the sound of it, until he had enough money to do it all over again. He's been living like that ever since.