Entries for July 2006
What You Need, When You Need It
So, it's midnight and I'm sitting in the basement of Olin. I'm looking up schemes to help The Segelmeister's wireless connectivity, which has been less than optimal for the past week. I settle on these plans for a coffee can wireless antenna. I spin around in my chair, ready to collect some parts. I look down at my feet. About one foot away, sitting in a box, is a completely assembled coffee cantenna, including enough spare parts for another.
Where else could this happen but in Case's very own Thunder Labs a.k.a. Project Club Lab? I've mentioned Thunder Labs and Project Club several times on this blog, but I've never really explained it to the uninitiated. The wiki page does it no justice. Project Club is where hackers, builders, and inventors can go on campus to tinker!
Located in Olin 101, we've got enough toys to keep the creative and technically minded busy during their time at Case. We have oscilloscopes, soldering irons, motors, wheels, batteries, tons of tools and materials, workstations, servers, computer parts, a projector, a laminator, secure storage lockers, engineering & programming textbooks, a silkscreener, and more. Did I mention we have pirate costumes? Top shelf, in the Dell box.
Want to run a live web cam through some awesome Linux software for your crazy art show project? (Ian?)
Want to use a terminal for the awesome Linux setup in the Jennings lab, except on a couch, with a nice stereo, and even a nice paint job?
Want to build a robot? A tesla coil? An electric bike?
We want to do all that stuff, too. So come give us a hand in Olin 101!
Now, back to Sara's wireless problem...
We Can Do It!
What can we do?
Two things, my friend...
Item number one. We can take back Planet Case, tech bloggers! I'm looking at you Aaron, Alex, Andrew, Greg, Jeremy, Lev! Those political bloggers snuck up on us, didn't they? Where we once thoughtfully argued over such matters as programming languages, educating readers and stimulating critical thinking, a new wave of bloggers has claimed for such hopeless matters as political discourse!
What happened, guys? Here's my theory: Forum happened. Notice the lack of political threads on there, despite their abundance on home dot cwru? Notice the existence of threads with such phrases as "Computer Curricula," "multiple hostnames," and "DC++." We took to the forums to discuss our nerdy concerns and look what happened!
Well I won't stand for it. Tomorrow I promise to post something about Python or Linux or web services; is your mouth watering yet?
Item number two. We can take back Sara's Bike, concerned bloggers! That's right, some scumbag stole the bike right out from under Planet Case's own Sara Segel!
Here is a picture of me on now-stolen bike, which may or may not now have a basket attached:
(Don't ask.)
So here's what we're gonna do. We're gonna use Tran Tran's stash of crappy bikes to create a honeypot at the location of theft. We then stalk anyone who shows interest in said bikes. Then we get Sara's bike back.
Meanwhile, someone should take a hint from chicagocrime.org and get the Protective Services daily crime log outfitted with some Google Maps action. If these unwashed, mouth-breathing bike thieves have a pattern, we'll find it! Then we'll get Sara's bike back.