30 September 2006


Somebody posting on this blog is terrified of winter and already missing last summer. The average high temperature in Boston is now below 70 degrees, ouch! (Centerville, UT)
Blogger Firefighter/Paramedic

It's good to see that John has become fully mobile with those I.V. fluid bags.

-Katie 

Blogger Tom

He's a trooper. His middle name is Trooper. 

Blogger Kaahl

Note about MIT: Many students there have the ability to focus intently on one particular subject to the exclusion of everything else. They love routine and deal best with predictable non-fiction where social and emotional relationships aren't as important as cold hard facts. If you correctly identified these symptoms as indicative of Asperger's Syndrome, the milder cousin of austism, you are correct. Apparently when MIT started letting women in, Asperger men started marrying Asperger women creating a race of super geeks. Watch out Tom! 

Blogger mnlop

80 degrees here.

Hah! 

Blogger mnlop

tom, exciting news, you can buy a back-to-school wardrobe. 

Blogger Tom

Spam baleted. 

Blogger Shannon S.

Before moving to Texas, I figured one couldn't really tell the difference between 90 degrees and 100 degrees... turns out the difference between 90 degrees and 110 degrees (on the other hand) is really quite noticeable. I can't really tell what the temperature is these days. All I know is it is STILL hot, humid, still (stagnant) with lots of cedar and no hint of fall in sight. In other words, I am unsympathetic! (but then I am always jealous of anyone who is in Boston!) 

Blogger Liz

Why does everyone's blog get a sidelink except mine? Booohooooo. 

Blogger Tom

Liz? I know of no Liz. I know of the indistinguishable non-individual containing unit called Jason and Liz, but I know of no Liz. 

Blogger Feed

au contraire (link) 

Blogger HSquared

No worries, Liz, Hans has no side bar either. 

Blogger Tom

Mutiny! Mutiny on the blog! Bow the harboard stronghull and tie the winkets! She's run avarty! 

Blogger mnlop

avarty? 

Post a Comment     Link

They call this the Infinite Corridor; when MIT calls something "infinite," well, I expected it to be a lot longer. (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Liz

Psh. What does MIT know about math? 

Blogger Andrew

Uh... What order of infinity is the corridor? I bet that's a hot topic of debate around campus. 

Blogger Kaahl

n00b. Clearly, string theory predicts the existence of 10, 11, up to 26 degrees of freedom (dimensions to the non-1337). M-theory informs us that within that hallway are 6-7 compactified dimensions--hence your infinite hallway. 

Blogger mnlop

dude. 

Blogger Shannon S.

I'm kinda wondering about this "Kaahl" fellow (or fellow-ette) 

Blogger Tom

To know Karl (Kahhl) is to kinda wonder about Karl. 

Blogger Shannon S.

Question for you "order of infinity" types - dealing with a far more finite phenomenon... I was wondering if you would know of a (free, online) model for, say, a linear regression with two independent variables? It is possible that any old statistical graphing package could do it, but I am kind of afraid that my computer will hang up on it or something. I don't know too much about math, but I like to hear people talk math, so maybe I need to "hang out" around here more often 

Post a Comment     Link

27 September 2006


Boston hosts several races like this each year, featuring various empty boats and dozens of disinterested ducks. (Boston, MA)
Blogger ewesa

poor ducks. they're sad those boats are so much bigger and more byouant. buyoant. boyeant than they are. 

Post a Comment     Link

Cambridge runner part 1. (Cambridge, MA)
Post a Comment     Link

Cambridge runner part 2. (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Feed

this must be the first time I've ever been referred to as a "runner"... 

Post a Comment     Link

Whether it's the crew team, the moody weather, or the hundred-plus year old bridge supporting massive public transportation, there's something so quintessentially Los Angeles about this place. (Boston, MA)
Blogger mnlop

My friend joined a crew team in Santa Barbara. The nearest water for crewing was an hour away...by freeway, of course! 

Post a Comment     Link

Weekends being shared, memories being made, fish being tormented for hours after their death by kids with pokers. (Ipswich, MA)
Post a Comment     Link

22 September 2006


I see at least three potential band names in this poster. Find all three! (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Andrew

I see more than that:

Engineering Achievements
Metallurgy (in use, I think)
Concept of 0
Writing Systems
Axe Money
Cu-Su Bells (kinda like Goo Goo Dolls)

I think Agricultural Strategies is too much verbage for a band name. It'd be fine for a lobbying firm, or maybe some high-tech tractor designers. Ceramics has a certain, er, "earthy" quality to it that might lend itself to being used as a band name, but it's borderline. 

Blogger Jenni

I must be so tired because I read this as "bland" names and I thought Agricultural Strategies for sure. Reminds me of Idaho....Zzzzzzz. 

Blogger Monique

Pretty good. But not quite "J.F.O.D." or "Blowing Zeroes. 

Blogger Feed

From now on, everyone will refer to me as Axe Money. 

Blogger Shannon S.

Hello to all who reside in Tom-land... I am not sure of blog etiquette, but before barging into your personal conversations I thought I would say hello. Hi. My name is Shannon (can I say that on the Internet?) and I knew Tom for a short time between junior and senior years of high school... we check in from time to time. This time I have discovered that somehow over the years he has become a lot cooler than me.

And has a way better apartment.

I don't know how I feel about that. 

Blogger Tom

Eh, half the people who comment on here don't know who the other half are anyway (and we're talking family members), so have no fear Shannon, and welcome! 

Blogger Brittany

Since we're all happy and friendly here I have a question for you. How did you get the comments to appear on the main page of your blog? That's way cool. My family members haven't even discovered yet how to leave comments on my blog (let alone get to my blog). Maybe if they could see the comments right in front of their faces they would say something once in a while. ...Or maybe that's just wishful thinking.

I enjoy looking at your pictures. I'm jealous of your apartment too. 

Blogger Tom

You have to go into your template and basically copy and paste the stuff from the "comments" section into your "posts" section, and then I did a bunch of stuff with the CSS formatting code to make it look nice. I can send you my template if you want to look at it or use it. 

Blogger ewesa

please send me your secret blogging technology. thanks! 

Post a Comment     Link

There are some fronts where nature is winning the battle. But technology is winning the war. (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Rust_E Z

what technology is that?, Is that some sort of high definition audio cartrige? 

Blogger Andrew

Better believe it. That's what we call a "CD Killer" in audioland. Maybe not so much in the noise department, but definitely in the resolution department. Remember, kids, nothing nice lives below the noise floor on a CD. A tape, on the other hand, can have plenty of nice creatures underfoot below the hiss. And that's your audio lesson for today. Tune in tomorrow when we discuss the merits of various jitter-reduction technologies for D to A conversion (and vice-versa) and the word of the day is "RADAR"... 

Post a Comment     Link

21 September 2006


I haven't taken many photos lately, so here's an alternate version of one I posted last Halloween. (Bellevue, WA)
Post a Comment     Link

16 September 2006


Stephanie entertains an anonymous blob. Our rug is not pinkish. (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Monique

We all know this is really a picture of the TV. 

Blogger Liz

You're right, I would probably characterize that as fuchsia. 

Blogger Feed

I'm glad Steph entertained you by talking to me.

Ha ha ha! ZING! That makes YOU an anonymous blob, not me! LOL 

Post a Comment     Link

09 September 2006


That? That's the pope factory. (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Rust_E Z

Sure they can crank out alot of Popes at that factory, but everone knows the only quality Popes come from Italy. 

Post a Comment     Link

08 September 2006


And finally, my trip from Los Angeles to Boston ends in modernist bliss. If only I knew some artists who could fill our white walls with large abstract paintings... (Cambridge, MA)
Blogger Firefighter/Paramedic

Whoa - wait a minute, you're wearing a BASEBALL CAP!!! Oh Tom, what has Boston done to you? 

Blogger Firefighter/Paramedic

Not that baseball caps are bad, I've just never seen you wear one... inside... at night. 

Blogger Tom

Yeah, it's strange, I've never wanted to own anything that related to baseball or that was associated with anyone who was related to baseball. Now I just need to learn some of the players' names so I will dare to wear it outside around the locals. 

Post a Comment     Link

Upstate New York. (Upstate, NY)
Post a Comment     Link

Pennsylvania didn't look much different from Indiana or Ohio, except that the trees by the side of the road steadily get taller. (Somewhere, PA)
Post a Comment     Link

Cleveland rocks a little less than the song would imply, but a little more than I would have guessed. (Cleveland, OH)
Post a Comment     Link

Indiana, where the toll roads really get going, probably because this road is all that they have. (Somewhere, Indiana)
Post a Comment     Link

Illinois has some illin' noise down at the local Steak n' Shake. (Chicago, IL)
Blogger Monique

We look so bloated from the steak burgers and rich, rich shakes. 

Post a Comment     Link