Ilana's Blog

An Office Prank

2008-11-23T21:30:00.003-05:00

One of my employees is returning from a two-week vacation tomorrow. Please view the video to see what we did to his office. For more, here are some photos. =)

And, yes, I realize revenge will not be pretty. =D

Traffic!

2007-12-20T14:28:00.000-05:00

Yup, it's been a while. Anyway, if you have ever spoken with me for more than an hour anywhere near a car, I've probably launched into my theories on traffic jams. They have been proven!

Check it out, non-believers!

Vista defending itself against Ubuntu

2007-08-15T14:31:00.000-04:00

I know I've been quiet for a little bit, but I had to post this picture. I bought a new laptop yesterday (which came with a "bad battery" according to Toshiba, meaning I had to charge it overnight as punishment or something). I played with Vista for about 3 hours, determined to give it a chance. It is beyond awful. I mean, you can't even organize your own start menu! That's just first on the list of woes. But anyway, I decided to partition and install ubuntu. I'm guessing Vista has some kind of self-defense mechanism which caused an updated version of the blue screen of death...

2007 MIT Commencement

2007-06-11T13:29:00.000-04:00

On Thursday, I journeyed to Boston for the 2007 MIT Commencement. It was wonderful to see fellow students (I guess I should call them "alumni" now), professors, and administrators. The weekend started with a gathering at Cambridge Brewing Company, a favorite hang-out during my days at MIT.

On Friday, I went to the gym to line up with my fellow graduates. The gym was stiflingly hot, but it was still great to see everybody and catch up. Eventually, we lined up and started moving. After halting at the fields, on the little street outside the gym, on Mass Ave, and on Memorial Drive, we finally made our way in.

I was so excited to see my mom, dad, and Dan sitting about halfway between the stage and the entrance. I stepped out of line for a couple of pictures (reminiscent of what I had done at Dartmouth), then continued on.

This graduation was so different from my Dartmouth graduation. I remember sitting there, feeling at peace, yet confused. I don't remember getting my diploma-I didn't even remember it right after it happened, it was such a blur. One of the things the two commencements had in common were my luck in next-door seatmates. At Dartmouth, my good friend Rusty ended up sitting next to me by luck of alphabetical order. At MIT, I was surrounded by Sam and Fernando who happened to be good friends of mine. Other SDMers were well within talking distance, which made the experience even better.

I also remember the speeches this year, something that was another blur at Dartmouth. The keynote speaker, a former President of MIT, started off by alluding to the fact that Harvard had had both Bill Clinton and Bill Gates talk. Said he, "People may be saying *they* got two Bills, and all we got was a Chuck!" He continued to say that he would be talking directly to us rather than to the world, and proceeded to give a very effective speech about success, service, and giving back.

When I went up to get my diploma this year, I felt much more confident and aware. I had a wreath of flowers around my cap, and two of the professors on stage complimented it, including the greeter. When he said, "I like your hat!" I returned with, "And I like yours!" (seeing as he was in full regalia). I remember getting my diploma and walking down from the stage. Of course, I did not realize we were being filmed and put on big-screen TV's during our walks from the stage, so the camera caught me looking pensive. As a matter of fact, I felt close to tears at many times during the day, I was so happy to be there and proud of myself for getting my Master's degree.

As soon as I sat back down, off came the gown. I was wearing a strapless dress under it, so it's not like I was indecent. The only thing indecent was the 80+ degree temperatures and sun pouring down on all of us poor souls sitting there in black caps and gowns. It was much more comfy without it. For the recessional, I again donned the gown.

Afterwards, we went to the SDM reception, which was just wonderful. Most of the SDM'ers went there afterward, so it was nice to have a place to bid all farewell (for now). The food was great, and it was wonderful to see Pat, Helen, Chris, and Bill as well as some of the families and spouses of my fellow alumni. We were supposed to go to Capital Grille for dinner, but my parents, Dan, and I agreed we were exhausted from the heat and excitement, so went back to Sharon for a nap and eventual take-out pizzas from Town Spa.

On Saturday, Dan and I went into town to wander around. We met up with Elizabeth, Corey, and Suzanne at one of our favorite haunts, the Boston Beerworks. I was overjoyed to be surrounded by so many intellectual people at MIT, and that same sentiment just continued with these girls. Our discussion went all over the map. Dan was a good sport when asked to give opinions as the token male. =) We were joined by Ray, a friend of mine from school, at the Grand Canal. I really miss my friends.

Thank you to everybody who made my commencement weekend so special. =)

How Not to Use PowerPoint

2007-06-06T09:01:00.000-04:00

Oh my goodness, after three years at a defense firm and two years in grad school, this video on how not to use PowerPoint really hit home. Very funny, but a lot of great lessons to be learned!

Commencement approaches...

2007-06-06T08:43:00.000-04:00

MIT Commencement is this coming Friday. I officially graduated in February (and completed and submitted my thesis in November), but am so excited to walk on Friday I can barely sit still.

I really loved my time at MIT. I miss being surrounded by highly-intelligent yet variously-skilled people. I cannot wait to see many of my old classmates starting after I get my cap, gown, and tickets on Thursday afternoon.

Maybe returning to MIT will give me the inspiration I apparently need to finally write my oft-promised MIT Summary. ;)

Dude. Florida has a lot of license plates

2007-05-17T10:35:00.000-04:00

I was just looking at the list of Florida license plates. I can't get over how many there are! We seem to be a very demanding state, telling everybody to save this and protect that. =D Any guesses to which one I have?

Web 2.0 Analogy

2007-05-16T09:26:00.000-04:00

The thesis I completed for my Master's degree was on a Web 2.0 technology, and I frequently get asked by technical people and non-techies alike exactly what Web 2.0 is. Most folks know that Web 2.0 makes the old web look prettier and "slicker" and has something to do with community, but many are not sure of how to distinguish between the two.

Problem is that Web 2.0 isn't exactly anything. It's fuzzily many things. So here is my current analogy:
Web pre-2.0 : dinner at a friend's house :: Web 2.0 : a potluck dinner

I like this analogy because it addresses the inherent fuzziness in trying to define something that is an evolution of its previous existence. First, I'll explain the dinners, then try to relate them back to the different Web x.x's.

When you go to a friend's house for dinner, your friend makes dinner for you...most of the time. Maybe you brought over some brownies for dessert, and maybe he ordered in an appetizer from the local Indian place, but basically, he is presenting dinner.

When you go to a potluck dinner, everybody brings a dish (except those sneaky little lurkers who just show up and help themselves while contributing nothing). You probably would not have eaten 0l' Peggy's meatloaf had you just run into her on the street, but there is an inherent sense of trust at this location, so you help yourself to a large slice. You like Jerry's mini-quiches so ask him for the recipe, which he readily gives you (unlike Lenny who encouraged you to eat all of his rice pilaf you like but would not tell you how it was concocted). You talk to Ann about her potato salad and end up making plans to play tennis in a week.

The Web pre-2.0 is very much like a friend's for dinner. You are going to a specific place for a specific purpose. You used to go to your bank web site to check your account, just as you go to your friends to eat your dinner. Maybe as the web evolved, you began to pay bills there. This made it a two-way street: instead of just getting information, you were giving some back. This is kind of like you bringing a dessert to contribute to a dinner.

On to our potluck. Imagine a typical potluck dinner, maybe at a community center. You look around the room and see all kinds of different people. You wonder which food they bought. You see some people that look out of place or that you may not trust, but most people in the room have earned some kind of trust from you by sharing the communal purpose of a potluck. Some folks are there to see others, some are there to promote services (like the local injury lawyer), some are there to watch you.

Web 2.0 is defined by a communal atmosphere: instead of the company or host bringing the goodies, the community brings it. It is also defined by an atmosphere of trust; not absolute trust, but more trust than was perhaps exhibited before. For example, AJAX is a large part of the slickness of Web 2.0 interfaces. However, AJAX is little more than JavaScript made beautiful with stylesheets. Many people (myself included) used to have their browsers set to not allow JavaScript, as it could be used for unsavory purposes. However, as the Web community grows more trusting, more and more users are allowing JavaScript, trusting that those that wrote it will not be invading their desktops. (Yes, I am ignoring spyware concerns for today...one problem at a time, folks).

Programming Language from MIT

2007-05-15T08:36:00.000-04:00

MIT has been testing a new programming language designed at enticing the younger crowd into coding. My programming experience started when I was in elementary school with a book on BASIC my dad gave me in which I would "code" designs that would eventually print out something resembling an American flag, a house, or a dog.

In Nancy Leveson's class on programming language, we often discussed how there was very few differences among the languages, whether they be procedural, object-oriented, or a loosely-classified "other." However, in this case, it's not so much the language as the perception of it.

There are still way too few female programmers. I remember my first week of freshman year at Dartmouth, walking into a large theatre-style-seating lecture hall to take a placement exam for computer science. Most of the seats in the hall were filled. I was the only female.

Since then, I've often considered why girls don't go into programming. I think there are a variety of reasons for it. Perhaps two of the largest are the nerdy stigma that goes with it and that lack of a social quality. Face it; despite how many meetings or collaborations we might have, developers still sit in front of a computer most of the day (except for those doing the XP-team-programming thing).

I loved that this article pointed to the collaborative element of this language, that students could laugh and share a joke. The picture at the top of the article showed two girls laughing while sitting in front of a machine. So, while the BASIC I learned on was simple like Scratch, it did not have the collaborative, "fun" element this new language seems to have. While I do not think that this language will be the panacea for the gender disparity in programming-type jobs, I do think that people on the Scratch project are thinking in the right direction.

It's raining!!!!

2007-05-14T16:18:00.000-04:00

It hasn't rained here in a month (since April 13th or so). Yay!

Weather in Sarasota

2007-05-08T10:39:00.000-04:00

The air in Sarasota today is so smoky it made my eyes water. It's been smoky since last night; it's very eerie out. The sun was red as I drove to the gym today.

It's an understatement to say that we are all ready for a little rain down here. There's a chance of thunderstorms toward the weekend, but not much before then. Who ever thought I'd be *hoping* for rain???

Love from Florida

2007-05-03T16:33:00.000-04:00

Just wanted to say a quick hello to everybody and let y'all know I am still doing well here in Florida. It's just like Boston, only sunnier, less rain, and instead of an influx of college students from September through May we get snowbirds from December through May. Yup, those are the major differences in a nutshell.

Last night I saw "Akeelah and the Bee." If anyone of you remember this blog, you will recall that I love spelling bees. I began to miss blogging while watching the movie, especially when I actually recognized spellers from past competitions in the movie. Typical Ilana moment I thought my blog followers might appreciate.

I am going to MIT in June for my official graduation and getting very excited for it. I'll try to slip a few posts in here and there, as I do miss blogging and have been doing some cool stuff with AJAX that a few of my geekier readers may enjoy learning about =)

10th Man Plans

2007-02-19T18:07:00.000-05:00

If you Google "10th man red sox," this blog is link 5 or 6. For all my fellow 10th-man-planners who find this blog this way, I apologize. I, too, am trying to find out when to expect my 10th man tickets!

And, oh yeah, I still owe y'all an "End of MIT Era" blog post. It's coming, I swear!

Update

2006-12-23T07:03:00.000-05:00

I apologize for my lack of writing (and for the fluff-filled entries when I have been writing as of late). =)

I originally started this blog to write about my experiences in the SDM program at MIT. I finished my last class this summer, and submitted my thesis on November 22. School has therefore been effectively over for me for some time now.

On the same day I submitted my thesis, Dan proposed to me. I accepted, and we are now engaged to be married (no date set). I will be moving to Sarasota, Florida next week.

SOoooo...things have been busy! Once I am in Sarasota, I will get to a wrap-up post.

Happy Holidays and New Year, everybody! =)

Very moving story

2006-11-17T09:15:00.000-05:00

This is an incredibly moving story, (even if the kid had to settle for Harvard rather than playing for the Big Green ;)). But seriously, it will make you count your blessings.

Murphy's Lesser-Known Dictums

2006-10-26T08:28:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Lissette for this email:

Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.

He who laughs last, thinks slowest.

Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't.

Nothing is foolproof to a sufficiently talented fool.

The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong.

The things that come to those who wait will be the things left by those who got there first.

Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will sit in a boat all day drinking beer.

The shin bone is a device for finding furniture in a dark room.

A fine is a tax for doing wrong. A tax is a fine for doing well.

When you go into court, you are putting yourself in the hands of 12 people who weren't smart enough to get out of jury duty.

On Deion

2006-10-16T09:33:00.000-04:00

Right now, I hate Deion Branch with a passion unbridled. Seriously! =D

I picked him up for my fantasy football team back when he was still a Patriot. I decided to stick with him, playing him the previous few weeks. When he scored me few points, I ditched him.

My opponent, Vicious and Delicious, has won like 3 of the last 6 fantasy football seasons (bastid). He picked Deion up. I played V&D this week. Look at the difference in our scores thus far:

And, yes, I'm bitter. =D Fortunately, I get to go to the beach now, so my bitterness will be fleeting.

"Pay it Forward" - Not a Happy Movie

2006-10-11T18:41:00.000-04:00

Okay, if you haven't seen this movie yet and want to, do not read this entry. Of course, I would highly recommend NOT seeing it.

Last night I was futzing about, baking cookies (yes, you read right), cleaning, talking on the phone, and avoiding my thesis. For the more mundane tasks, I wanted background noise, so I noticed that TiVo had picked up "Pay it Forward" as one of its suggestions.

I see very few movies in the theatre, so usually know a lot about a movie before I watch it at home (as it is usually a few years old). For some reason, I had only heard good things about this movie. It made a nice little backdrop to my tasks. Some parts of it were cheesy, but whatcha gonna do with a feelgood flick??

THEN THE KID DIES. What the hell? I was so mad. There was no reason for him to die saving his friend from getting his butt kicked. Yes, I saw the obvious martyrdom/new religion themes, but seriously....so sad! Afterwards, I had to watch "Dumbo" to perk myself back up. Nothing like a big-eared elephant in an antiquated Disney film with questionably-valued birds to make a girl smile....

Back from NY

2006-10-09T13:39:00.000-04:00

Just got back from New York after spending a day with Eve, Jeff, and Hannah. The drive was gorgeous; the leaves are changing but not yet falling. Eve and I spent the day in the city with Hannah, then came home for a home-cooked meal by Jeff for us and his parents. SO much fun.

Okay, now I'm going to working on my thesis, I swear ;)

College Football

2006-10-07T17:38:00.000-04:00

I love college football. There are so many games and so many good stories. Also, it's not working on my thesis. ;)

Party at Bob's, Football game at UNH, No more Baseball....

2006-10-07T16:13:00.000-04:00

This weekend started off with a party at Bob's in which much pong was played. It was great to see everyone (and to play pong, of course). Fernando and I were kicking butt for a while. =) The one hour I had planned on staying quickly turned into many more. Hence the thesis writing now =)

Today, I went to the UNH game with my parents. Considering the last football games I have gone to have been Florida State-Clemson (yeah, I need to blog about this...thanks again Dan), Bucs-Pats, and Miami-Florida State, I wasn't expecting much. However, the stadium was small but packed. We saw a dude break Jerry Rice's touchdown catch record. 'Twas exciting.

I was pretty surprised to see that the UNH fans didn't know when to be loud or quiet. UNH had a third and goal and the fans were screaming and banging on the stands. Dude! Not right! Anyhow, UNH (#1 in 1AA) beat Richmond (#4 in 1AA). It was a good game and a great day...and now I'm procrastinating doing the thesis writing I had planned to do last night, back when I figured I'd stay at Bob's for just an hour... =D

Also, it being the end of the baseball season (for us Sox fans, and hopefully the Yankees ones too after today's game), it is time for me to reread (and hence post) one of my all-time favorite pieces of prose:
Giamatti's Green Fields of the Mind. It's gorgeous, especially when read outloud.

Bye, Fenway, for another year....

Okay, back to the thesis this time, I swear!

(Awww...but Dan and I look so happy and summery! I can't possibly do work now...hmmm...what else to do...)

Mom's Art Show, Meeting Johnny Pesky

2006-09-27T17:03:00.000-04:00

A piece of my mom's art was shown at Fenway a couple nights ago. I am so proud of her! It's a gorgeous plate. She was given a color palette with which to produce something, and I have included a picture below.

My mom, dad, and I were lucky enough to attend, thanks to my mom's friend and classmate, Shelly. Part of the festivities included meeting Johnny Pesky, of Pesky Pole (the right field foul pole at Fenway) fame.

What a great guy! He signed autographs and flirted with all of the women. He really could not have been more pleasant, and seemed like a genuinely happy person. I told him that I had a great picture of him on a certain Duck Tour in 2004 (the Sox Victory Parade), and he said, "I was pretty happy that day." It was awesome. Pictures are around.

Lani and Pesky
Originally uploaded by ilanad.

Moms piece 2
Originally uploaded by ilanad.

More thesis procrastination...

2006-09-18T20:54:00.000-04:00

So I finally checked on my fantasy teams. Not looking so good, boys:

1. spike sharpeners (Atlanta friends baseball) are out, having lost to Nole Control! in the consolation round.
2. Dirt Dogs Plus One (Boston friends baseball) have advanced into the game for the bronze model (yes, also consolation round)
3. Studmuffins (Atlanta friends football) won their second game on Peyton Manning's 31-point performance.

Okay, back to the thesis. =)

College Football

2006-09-17T23:39:00.000-04:00

Just got back from a weekend including watching the Clemson-Florida State game. It was amazing. Everybody should see a big-time college football game. There is nothing like the energy of the crowd, either before or after the elaborate tailgating.

I'll write more soon, when I'm not writing my thesis. (what a great excuse that is =D)

Traveling by Air?

2006-08-30T20:47:00.000-04:00

Here is a good list of what you can and cannot bring on airplanes.

Sorry, kids...still no meat cleavers allowed on planes. You can bring pointy nail files and blunt scissors, but your defrizzer? Fuggedaboudit. Your hair will be HUGE.

Thesis

2006-08-27T19:45:00.000-04:00

I have started work on my thesis. It's not that I'm not writing on this blog because I'm always writing the thesis, it's because I feel guilty writing on this blog instead of doing the thesis. =) I therefore have effectively avoided doing both...yay!

I know you're all thinking, geez! I wish Ilana would write more. I wonder what I can do to help...

Well, folks; here it is: you can go fill out a survey for me. Nine multiple-choice questions, that's it! Please?

Click here to take survey

Thanks, all!

Sigh...

2006-08-21T20:49:00.000-04:00

Seems like just yesterday we were debating if Manny would be traded or not. Now it looks like the season is over. Sigh...

Red Sox vs. Yankees Towns

2006-08-18T11:47:00.000-04:00

The Red Sox and Yankees play a five-game series this weekend. Katie sent me a great link about the division of fans in towns in Connecticut. Here it is. =)

Where is the Quickie going?

2006-08-18T09:55:00.000-04:00

It seems like ESPN's Daily Quickie is going in the same direction as this blog...way less writing! They are ending it on August 31. Needless to say, I'm distraught. All the sports highlights with a definite East Coast bias in one page. So sad!

(See here for what the Quickie is if you don't already know)

LucchinoLogic

2006-08-07T15:52:00.000-04:00

Those of you who know me know that I have my own special breed of logic: we call it "IlanaLogic." Now it seems that the Red Sox have *their* own special kind, which I have summarily dubbed "LucchinoLogic." Seems that they have decided that paying $75 to get on a season ticket waiting list is worth only three shots at semi-season tickets. They are now forcing people on this waiting list to take an offer of 10th man passes. If said season ticket list person does not accept the tickets three times, they are OFF the list. NO season tickets, no nothing.

It's absolute crap. I'm sure I'm not the only one upset about this. I already have a 10th man pass (about which I am not complaining; I LOVE that plan), but had really wanted the shot at season tickets...hence joining the wait list. Grrrr....

Here is the email from the Red Sox:
Thank you for your continued support of Boston Red Sox Baseball. The commitment and patience you've shown as a valued member of our Season Ticket Waiting List is truly appreciated. Our records indicate that you joined the list on 04/13/04.

With a season ticket renewal rate of nearly 100% each of the past few seasons, we had been unable to accommodate anyone from the waiting list since it began.
As you are likely aware, Fenway Park was under major construction this past off-season. The additional capacity created by the new State Street Pavilion Level enabled us to upgrade some current season ticket holders to better seating locations and larger season ticket plans. This created an opportunity for us to offer season tickets to many waitlist members. The process began with those who joined the list in December 2003 and progressed all the way through August 2004.

For the most part, waiting list members were offered the opportunity to purchase
2 tickets for one of our 10th Man Plans. Please note that this will normally be the case - as the first opportunity for larger season plans that may become available will go to our existing season ticket holders seeking an upgrade of their plan and/or location.

Please be aware that we have implemented a "three strike" seat offer policy; fans will be given the chance to decline a seat location (or season ticket plan) being offered to them three times before losing their place on the wait list and being moved to the back of the list.

When seats do become available, we want to be sure we are able to contact you.
Please take a moment to review your account information above and call our Season Ticket Services department at 877-REDSOX9 to update any discrepancies.

Once again, we appreciate your loyal support and thank you for your patience through this process.

House on the Beach

2006-07-23T15:46:00.000-04:00

Today, I woke up relatively early and drove up to Wingaersheek beach to enjoy a couple of hours reading at the ocean. When I got there at 11am, there were only about 10 other cars in the lot, and very few people on the beach. I decided to put my stuff down and go for a walk.

I hadn't gotten very far when I was accosted by an adorable little girl, probably about 6 years old. She asked if I "wanted a tour of their house" and gestured toward a group of rocks spanning about 50 square yards that the beach is known for. I noticed her mother there, caught her eye for approval, then said, "Sure."

She walked me over to the rocks, and her little brother (probably about 4) joined in. Together they walked me around: "this is our master bedroom...this is our guest room...this is where we pee...(you have to poop in another place). This is our fish pond (we don't have any fish yet; we still need to catch them). This is our whirlpool..oh! and here's our pool. This is the grand ballroom. It's where our mommy and daddy got married."

brother: "Show her the jacuzzi!"
sister: "we don't have a jacuzzi. (pause) Oh, wait! Yes we do. (points at rock) Here's our jacuzzi. It's new!"

The tour went on for about 10 minutes. I asked about future additions, then got the tour of "Grandma's house," which was the group of rocks next to the main one through which I had been touring. Poor Grandma; the place to poop was actually a hole in the ground dug right in the middle of her guest ballroom. Luckily, as the little boy pointed out, "We haven't used it yet. We still have to go up to her real house over there." (Points to Grandma's real house. Grandma is one lucky lady, let me tell you). By the end, the little girl was grabbing my hand and saying, "Come HERE!" It was so cute that I am smiling still as I write this.

I think the tour would have gone on for about an hour or so if I hadn't finally stopped and thanked the little girl for her time before she put too many new additions on her rockhome. Her mother in turn thanked me profusely for accepting the tour, and I said I had enjoyed it. It was great to see the brother and sister creating a house of rocks. (So can they throw glass in it? Sorry, bad joke.) It was a wonderful break from reality (i.e. writing my thesis) to be reminded of how incredible children's imaginations can be.

I ain't got no class no more

2006-07-19T17:30:00.000-04:00

I had what most likely will be my last class from the SDM program today. I front-loaded a lot of my classes because they were directly applicable to the work I was doing for my former company at the time, so I have all of my required classes out of the way.

I am really going to miss the SDM classes. I loved seeing everybody, and many of the classes were fun and interesting. I still have my thesis to do, and am not graduating until January 2007.

After class, I had lunch with Paul B., Joe, and Biju. Mmm....Anna's burritos...

On meetings

2006-07-17T09:56:00.000-04:00

I can't stand meetings, and therefore loved this article on meetings.

Who'sh a bad blogger?

2006-07-17T09:09:00.000-04:00

I am!

Quick update:
In the last few weeks, I have kept very busy with my new job at Car Gurus, travel, and school. I am LOVING my job...it is so much fun.

On the travel front, I visited my dear friends Kellie and Allen and their daughter Payton down in Raleigh. I've also been to the beach up here a couple of times.

Other things sucking up my spare time have included driving in Boston. Since the tunnel collapse, traffic has been unreal. One thing that has struck me as ironic is that drivers in other sections of the Big Dig are driving more slowly than usual. Personally, I just want to get the hell out of that place as quickly as possible. Not quite sure what the slow-driving logic is, but I am trying to zip through the poorly built hole in the ground.

Now I'm in Supply Chain class, the second-to-last class of my last required course here at MIT.

Quick Update

2006-06-30T16:27:00.000-04:00

Sorry I have been slacking. When I was blogging every day, I used to think, "Why don't more people blog? It takes no time." Well, Ilana-from-the-Past, I have news for you: it does. Not once you start, but in actually finding time to start.

I have been working at my new job for the past two weeks and absolutely loving it. I really, really, really promise to fill in more details next week. I just wanted to get a post up as many people have been asking me how I’m doing. =)

Lots of News

2006-06-21T09:16:00.000-04:00

So much has happened since last blog.

1. Atlanta
Will and I went down to Atlanta for the weekend and the Red Sox games. My friend Harry treated us like royalty: he gave us tickets about 30 rows behind home plate, passes to the 755 club (private club on the field), and even MARTA tokens. Thank you SO much, Harry!

We stopped by the CNN Center, and were able to see some of the people I had wanted to--Dennis, Yuliya, Unni, David, Firf, Greg,and of course Harry. We were unfortunately too late to see Mark, Mark,, and a few others. Never visit on a Friday! However, we did head over to Turner Field to tailgate with Lance, Laura, and Corny, before meeting up with Steve and John. The game was awesome. The Sox looked great, our seats were amazing, and it was great to be back at Turner Field.

The next day we were up early to head to Vinings for the June Birthday Trip--each year Derek organizes a party bus to a ballgame, and it happened to be to the Sox game this year. We hung out with the gang: Fronja, Radio, Mary, Chris, Larry, Jamie, the Riegers, and some fun new folks. We spent a couple of innings with them at the chophouse before heading to our seats for the majority of the game. Too much fun. Then bus it back.

Unfortunately, the game proved a bit much and we were unable to meet up with Greg and Deirdre, as we fell asleep at about 8pm. Sunday morning we were up early to have lunch with Suzanne, which was just wonderful. We spent Sunday at the pool, with a brief lunch with Blair and Pamela before heading out to the Botanical Gardens and finally the airport. SUCH a great weekend. Thanks to Will and all my Atlanta friends for making it so special.

Since then, I have started my new job at Nimalex. I am LOVING it. The first day was overwhelming (as first days usually are), but the second day (yesterday) I settled right in and had such a productive day. It's fun to sit with Yoav, and he has been doing a great job of getting me up to speed on the company.

Yesterday, I was able to have lunch with Will, and ran into Alli on my way back to the office. Dudes, I'm loving this. I 'll write more on the job later.

Last Day at MITRE

2006-06-15T10:13:00.000-04:00

Today is my last day at MITRE. I am leaving to go to a startup (same one as Yoav). I'm SO excited for my new job, but of course sad to be leaving my current one as well. I'm going to miss coworkers and all.

Just wanted to drop a quick line. I plan to write again early next week. I start the new job on Monday.

TRIZ lives!

2006-06-09T10:29:00.000-04:00

I was shocked to see an article on TRIZ in BusinessWeek. I remember learning about TRIZ in class, and wondering who would ever use it. Can't remember which class or when, but I definitely learned about it.

Phone Banking for Dan Ryan

2006-06-07T19:33:00.000-04:00

How annoying are dinner-time cold calls? SO annoying, that's how annoying. Well, today I took a walk on the wild side and was on the other end of the phone.

Dude. Phone banking is tough! I volunteered to do some for Dan Ryan, who is running for Boston City Council. Dan is a great person and friend, so I was excited to help out, so I volunteered for two hours.

Some people are rude, some are rude in a funny way. ("Dorothy? Are you here? Sure? Who is this? A political campaign? Are you *sure* you don't want to speak to them?") Anyway, I was surprised by how nervous I got before placing the calls.

All this rambling means that next time someone cold calls me, I will be much more polite. =) Unless, of course, they're professionals...then they're built to handle the rudeness =D

Excellent Video

2006-06-06T11:20:00.000-04:00

Here is an evolution of dance. I can think of only one major thing that he missed. I"ll post my opinion in my comments...let me know yours. =)

Shortness as Excuse for no Jail Time

2006-05-26T15:27:00.000-04:00

I cannot get over this article about a 5'1" man who is excused from prison because he is too short after having sexual contact with a 12-year-old girl over a couple of months. The situation I wrote about earlier this week is cruelty; this is stupidity.

On a brighter note, everybody have a great Memorial Day Weekend! I'll blog again on Tuesday.

Rape in the Congo

2006-05-24T10:02:00.000-04:00

This article is very disturbing, discussing the rape and torture of women, men, and children in the Congo. Does anybody know of any charitable organizations set up specifically to help support hospitals there?

Why am I watching this?

2006-05-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

ESPN Classic is showing "Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Bill Buckner." My heart is breaking all over again. Why am I watching this?

The three singles, the passed ball, the error....(shudder)...

Ilana Heaven

2006-05-21T21:41:00.000-04:00

Check out this site: Ilana heaven. How great is that? =D

Don't boo Canada =(

2006-05-15T20:03:00.000-04:00

Sharks fans booed during the Canadian National Anthem prior to an NHL playoff game. Sooo absolutely disgusting.

It brings back a good memory though: after the Montreal Canadiens booed during the our National Anthem, the series was coming back to Boston. All of the news outlets in Boston (never ones to blow things out of proportion of course) were worried about the reaction of the Bruins fans. However, the fans made everybody look great by cheering loudly during the anthem. Ironically, they still drowned out the sound of the anthem with their cheers (not sure if that was on purpose or not).

In other sports news, both of my fantasy baseball teams fell a place this week, the spike sharpeners from 2nd to 3rd out of 6, and the dirt dogs plus one from 1st to 2nd out of 10. I have been too busy to manage either team thus far, and realized on Sunday that I had Pedro on the bench for one of those teams. He is the 2nd most valuable player OVERALL throughout that league, behind only Pujols. And he was on my bench because I hadn't checked since his first-week-of-the-season injury. Grrrr. He's in now, so be ready 2006 DD Reunion League!!!

PDD Over!

2006-05-14T17:31:00.000-04:00

On Saturday, I spent the day at the Product Design and Development presentations. My dad went with me last year, and this year he brought my mom along. We all had a great time.

Most of the inventions were pretty impressive in terms of ideas, the actual product, or just the presentation. I found only a couple of the presentations to drag; most went very quickly.

We went second-to-last with ours. Rachael and I presented, and I think it went really well. I will post a link to our product as soon as our patent comes through. =)

Dartmouth is not conservative

2006-05-09T19:00:00.000-04:00

It's been a while since I've blogged. The term is wrapping up, and I have been buried in papers and projects. However, I was taking a break and reading the news, and I came across an article about The Dartmouth student body electing an openly gay president. While I'm happy for the guy, I'm not at all surprised that we elected a gay president. Dartmouth kids are smart enough to vote the issues, dudes.

The winning candidate is quoted as saying, "I hope people see Dartmouth as not as conservative as they once thought." Why does everybody still think that Dartmouth is so darn conservative? Yes, it was once. IN 1985. Dudes. Big hair was in then. So were flourescent clothing and parachute pants. Michael Jackson was a well-respected singer. 1985 was a looooong time ago.

Dartmouth had already begun getting very liberal while I was there. The politically correct atmosphere bordered on stifling; not because I disagreed with the intention of the movement, but because the care with which people avoided elephants in the room made my stomach turn at times. (Yes, I'm sure that little old lady is carrying a bomb. Be sure to frisk her to prove there is no profiling of any kind going on).

Anyway, I love Dartmouth, don't get me wrong. If I had to live my life over, I would still apply there early, and would still participate in all the activities I did while there. I guess I'm just ranting about people still considering Dartmouth conservative in order to avoid doing the PDD or System Safety presentations. Who knows?

Just keep in mind that times have changed since the Dartmouth Review and Michael Jackson were popular. Now the Review is run by a group of nerds; nerds so nerdy that they would stand out at MIT. The Review barely made a peep while I was there. Once a week, I would find a paper lying in front of my door. When I had a bunny, I would line the cage with it. Once they wrote me up for being too liberal. Some people around campus had the article I wrote hanging on their walls...I had the Dartmouth Review's review of me on mine. It was hysterical and poorly written. What can ya do?

Okay, I'm done procrastinating. I'm going to go out humming the Dartmouth Fight Song (yes, there is one...) Glory to Dartmouth, loyal we sing, now all together...LET THE ECHOES RING FOR DARTMOUTH...

An engineering problem on Mem Drive

2006-05-04T14:35:00.000-04:00

I was walking on Memorial Drive when I saw a mother duck with a line of ducklings following her. She was walking near train tracks about thirty feet below Mem Drive (right after the BU bridge). Suddenly, she turned and stepped over the train tracks. The ducklings all tried to follow her, but couldn't seem to make it over the first rail.

There were eight of them, and they kept popping up one at a time like popcorn. It took about four minutes before the first one got over. He stood with his mother between the two rails, waiting for the others.

The rest of the ducklings ran back and forth as a little mob by the rail, trying to pop over. Eventually, they found a spot that had a pile of leaves and five more of them climbed over that, leaving two behind. These two ran around for another couple of minutes before finding a tie to cross on.

So now we had a mother duck and eight ducklings in the middle of the track. Mom stepped over the next rail, with her little overachiever following closely behind her. The exact same struggle occurred as with the previous rail. After another 5 or so minutes, all the ducks were on the other side. The whole thing had me standing there watching for about 15 minutes. It was delightful for the most part, but a little sad whenever there was only one little ducky left trying to hop over each rail.

Just thought I'd share =) I didn't have my camera, and my camera phone couldn't get a close enough picture, or else I would have some really cute photos.

My reaction to Johnny Damon

2006-05-02T21:17:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is my condensed reaction to why I would boo Damon: he went back on his word.

Yes, baseball is a business. However, if you work for Sun and bolt to work for Microsoft, your former coworkers won't exactly be cheering for you as you return to Sun after sharing all of Sun's secrets with Microsoft. There. "Baseball as a business" argument discarded.

Furthermore, if you are going to do something for yourself, say you are going to do it for yourself. At one point, Damon was quoted as saying that the extra money he earns with New York could "help a lot of people." Yeah, him and his wife. (Sorry, too much to do or else I would dig for the quote).

Lastly, and most importantly: he broke his word. On May 25 of last year, Damon said that he might leave the Red Sox, but would never play for the Yankees. I do not like liars.

Yes, Damon helped us win the World Series. For that I am grateful. However, think about Ford's CEO bolting for Dodge. Would you as a Ford employee still love him for something he did years ago?

It's like a man cheating on his wife and her saying, "Well, he cheated on me. But we went out for a really good dinner two years ago." Nuh-uh. Ain't gonna happen.

Stick It!

2006-05-02T21:09:00.000-04:00

The creators of "Bring It On" are coming out with "Stick It," the gymnastics equivelent to the cheering of the prior film. Yes, "Bring It On" is one of my favorite films. I share this weird love with Katie, the other female engineer in the group. We want to plan a girls' night out to go see the film and enjoy martinis afterwards, as soon as I am done with class (along with Liz and Corey, of course!)

Chickies--let me know if you are interested. Guys--I am sure you are happy to be dodging a bullet with this one. =D

Catching Up

2006-04-30T05:58:00.000-04:00

On Friday, I heard a wonderful lecture from Al Ford on the Subsafe program in my System Safety class. He spoke about how to embue a stringent safety program without having those in the company become jaded. The Subsafe program was started after the Thresher sank in 1963, and they have not lost a sub since. We saw very moving video of the Thresher, the Challenger, and the Columbia. The final film we saw showed men involved with the Thresher talking about how scared they were that something they had done had caused the death of the 129 men aboard the Thresher.

After that, Will and I met Josh, Ed,, and Ed's brother Adam out for drinks, followed by a sushi dinner.

Saturday, we went to Hannah's naming. The service was almost two hours long. The rabbi seemed nice, but he did not skip a single prayer, which is pretty ridiculous considering many who attend baby showers are not necessarily Jewish. After the service (during which Eve cried more than Hannah...no, I'm not tired of that joke yet), we had a good lunch at the temple followed by some hang-out time at home with my family, Naomi, and Steve.

That evening, Will took me out to dinner at Sibling Rivalry and then for drinks at Excelsor. The food, drinks, and company were all excellent. =)

Need a cap?

2006-04-26T10:48:00.000-04:00

I am in a short break from a meeting, but wanted to share this info.

Distant Replays, an excellent sports memorabilia store in Atlanta, is having a sale on all of its caps. 25% off! I was able to find Red Sox stuff here I could never find, even in Boston.

Lazy Day with the Evies

2006-04-22T14:21:00.000-04:00

This morning Will and I drove to New Rochelle to see Eve, Jeff, and Hannah. We are having a nice, lazy day full of watching quality TV such as Nascar (yeah), baseball, and cheerleading competitions.

Hannah has grown a lot and has a really cute personality. Soooo cute!

Firefox Rules!

2006-04-19T13:23:00.001-04:00

I have spent about 6 hours trying to get certificates that work just fine in Firefox to work in Explorer without letting any cooties into my system. Thanks to Keith for this link.

Patriots' Day and System Safety Homework

2006-04-18T19:39:00.000-04:00

Despite Monday being a holiday, I had to work all day. This included one two-hour meeting and another 3.5-hour meeting. From there, I went to school for a two-hour meeting about our PDD project. Luckily, we were very efficient about time use and accomplished a lot. It probably helped that before the meeting, Will and I grabbed a drink with Katie and Josh. I work with Katie, and she was in the 3.5-hour meeting so we rehashed a bit, but mostly conversation was about fun stuff =)

Today I spent a lot of time on my system safety homework. We are applying DOE analysis to the Milstar Centaur incident. Yes, I know, sounds like fun =) Actually, it was very interesting and the time went quickly. Yay!

Bob Francis in System Safety

2006-04-16T22:02:00.000-04:00

On Friday, Bob Francis came to speak to my System Safety class. He was Vice Chairman of the NTSB, and headed up the handling of the TWA 800 flight and Valujet investigations.

I took copious notes and will post those later this week. He was an absolutely amazing lecturer. The class only has about 12 people in it, and to have him speaking in such a conversational tone about different aspects of safety was incredible.

This was made even better by the fact that after spending three hours listening to talk about airplane safety, Will and I met up with his Northwest airline pilot Uncle Hal and his co-pilot Joel. We contined discussing the issues of system safety, unions, and airlines over drinks. It was awesome to see Hal again (he and his wife Rae treated us like royalty when we stayed with them in Key Largo...absolutely amazing people. Yeah, i still need to blog about that. Dammit!)

So anyway, I'll post details later in the week when it's not past my bedtime.

Bad blogger!

2006-04-16T21:56:00.000-04:00

Yeah, i'm a slacker. Here's a quick run-down:

Been to two Red Sox games, Wednesday and Saturday. They lost both. Grrr...David Wells looked absolutely awful. He had no business pitching. On Saturday, Wakefield looked great and pitched a complete game, but the Sox couldn't bat. I was ready to run on the field and take a shot. I went with Will to both games. On Wednesday, Jon and Meredith, the couple that sits next to me was there. We also met up with LFMers Brooke, Aimee, and Ray. Good times, good times.

Other than that, nothing too exciting. Friday was dinner at the Capital Grille for Will's birthday. I had french onion soup and lobster, both outstanding. Will had lobster bisque and filet mignon. We shared a piece of key lime pie, and I had an amazing Cabernet Franc ice wine. Yum! I tell you this for no other reason than to make you all insanely jealous ;)

After the Red Sox game and some subsequent bar-hopping on Saturday, we shared a couple of bottles of wine with Nick and Liz at Will's place.

Oh yeah! On Thursday, I had a very fun dinner of Matza, wine, and cheese with Jamie. We sat in, ate, drank, and told stories for several hours. Girls' nights are fun =)

Okay, that's enough details for now. I promise to be better about blogging this week.

First Red Sox game of the season

2006-04-12T13:26:00.000-04:00

Tonight I have tickets to the Sox. I had to make a tough decision: Seder or Red Sox. Unlike Yoav, I have decided to be a bad Jew and fulfill the needs of my other religion instead. The Jewish tribe vs. Red Sox Nation: what can ya do?

I'm debating if I will be a completely terrible Jew and have a beer. I already have conceded the Fenway Frank, something I eat at every game. I guess I will play everything by beer...I mean ear!!

Go, Sox! I'm so excited.

Another softball game....

2006-04-10T14:04:00.000-04:00

Still sore from the game on Saturday, my fellow Zara's Revengers took the field vs the LFM '07's. It was a really fun game, despite the fact that we got pulverized.

Personally, I had a great game. I got a ground-rule triple over the left-centerfielder's head that I could have stretched into a home run if it hadn't run into bushes on the periphery (I actually ran all the way to home and had to go back to second, then to third, as the rules were decided). Will did great as well, with a double and a single, which I guess add up to my triple. ;)

Amazing Coincidence

2006-04-09T22:15:00.000-04:00

Eve, Jeff, Hannah, and their cats moved on Friday into a house formerly owned by Jeff's grandfather. They were cleaning up the house and my dad was tasked with clearing a bookshelf. In doing so, he came across a text book. When he opened it up, he saw his name on the inside cover. On the outside was Jeff's father's name.

In short, my dad bought a book, which he sold back, and was then bought by Jeff's father, ending up in the house that Eve and Jeff would eventually move into. How cool is that?

Softball with the LFMers

2006-04-09T15:49:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my first softball game of the season with Zara's Revenge, the LFM softball team run by Aimee that I played with last year. It was great to see everybody again and be out on the field.

It was very cold out, so it was hard to grip the bat or the ball, but I did okay. I batted out to the pitcher, then got a base hit to short right-center field, and batted out to the right fielder. (I can place the ball pretty well, so was trying to get it over the right fielder's head into a nice, clear spanse of field...didn't quite make it).

The other "highlight" was when I went to turn a double play. I was playing second (as I have been doing since I was 19) and our shortstop made a play on the ball and tossed it to me. I was about to turn to first when some little brat from the other team came SLIDING into me. Who in the heck tries to break up a double play in softball???? I have been playing recreational softball for over 10 years now and have never seen anything like it. I was too schocked to even say anything. It was kind of a nasty fall, and I am sore today from it. What a jerk! Will overheard members of the other team saying that they should "Be aggressive on the bases," even if it means "taking out" members of our team. Asses.

The ump called this ass safe because (surprise) I dropped the ball during my unexpected spill. Next play, the guy at first comes over to second, where again the shortstop tosses to me. I had my foot on the edge of the base (after 13 years of playing this position, I know not to block the bag. Hear that, first guy?) The ump calls him out and the guy starts bitching. I said, "Dude. You're out. You're standing on my foot. I got here first with the ball." Idiot.

Aside from those two incidents, it was a really fun game. The team stayed afterwards for some batting practice, but I had to go get ready to have dinner with Will's parents, who were in town from Texas for the evening. They were staying at the Custom House (in a room with a gorgeous view of the Harbor), so Will and I took a cab to meet them there. We had dinner at the Sail Loft, then grabbed some dessert at Modern pastry in the North End which we brought back to eat in the room. It was my first time meeting Will's dad, second time for his mom. I really like both of them, and it turned out to be a great evening despite my various bruises. =)

Joke for you

2006-04-07T10:13:00.000-04:00

I am still slammed at work and school with little time to blog. To tide y'all over, here is a joke (warning: SDM-centric joke ahead). Thanks to Nick for helping brainstorm such a lovely joke:

What is a pirate's favorite class?

(See comments for answer.)

Oh, and

2006-04-05T09:39:00.000-04:00

it's snowing.

You know you're a dork when....

2006-04-05T09:36:00.000-04:00

...you're running on an elliptical, and the number of strides comes up as "777" and you think, "Cool! Now everybody has permissions!" For those non-dorks, read about chmod and 777 here.

Ilana is back!

2006-04-04T17:15:00.000-04:00

Sorry I haven't written yet. I had an amazing time in Key Largo, but have been paying for it since my return. Things have been very hectic at work (DBA: "I made the change only to the production database, because I thought you were working on the development one." Me: "Noooo...I was in Key Largo, and regardless of where I was you never make a change to production without testing in at least development first!") and school.

I will try to post highlights of the trip by tomorrow night =)

Troy is back!

2006-03-24T15:48:00.000-05:00

The Pats have re-signed Troy Brown! Yay! Now who's going to teach our favorite d-back/receiver/etc to kick? ;)

By the way, I am going to be taking a week off from blogging to enjoy a nice, relaxing Spring break. I'll talk to y'all again on the 2nd. Have a great week! =)

This is the spike sharpeners' year!

2006-03-24T15:30:00.000-05:00

Dudes. I love my fantasy baseball team. No, not the one that automatically drafted A-Rod. I have two teams: one with Massachusetts folk, and one with Georgia boys. I love the latter league, as I seem to always get my choice of the American League. Anyway, break is over, here's the team:

Things to look for: my all-steroid bench (Giambi (21st round), Bonds (18th round), and Huff (20th round)). And my all-toe injury pitching (Pedro).

Dartmouth + MIT =

2006-03-24T15:25:00.000-05:00

I had a revelation last night. All these years, I was always bothered by the expression "Going to sleep." I always figured that sleep wasn't a place, and so the "going" word really bothered me.

Well, last night I finally figured out that it could also be like, "What are you going to do?" "Well, I'm going to sleep." So, instead of being a noun (people, thing, in this case, place), it's a verb! (something you do)

I feel so much better now. Man, I really need the upcoming spring break.

Hectic Days

2006-03-24T08:18:00.000-05:00

I know I have been awful about blogging. This has probably been my toughest term at MIT time-wise. I am currently taking four classes, all of which have us working in groups. Scheduling for these have been absolute hell. Here is a listing of my groups so you can see the variety of names:

PDD - Rachael, Biju, Paul (all work full-time), and now three others, including Nhan
Disruptive Tech - Rajiv, Kevin (works full-time), and three Sloanies
System Safety - Paul, Maggie (both work full-time)
System Optimization - Joe, John (both work full-time)

As you can guess, with the majority of us working pretty regular hours, getting in all this work has not been easy. In addition, most of the tasks for all these projects have been very difficult to divide, unlike other terms.

Swearing off Sports

2006-03-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

First McGinest, then Arroyo, now this. Argh. I'm going to take up knitting.

Mad at the Sox

2006-03-20T13:23:00.000-05:00

Bronson Arroyo took less money then he probably could have gotten elsewhere to remain with the Red Sox, and the Sox trade him for a backup outfielder. If I didn't have to get some work done, I'd be on a major rant right now. Sooo mad at the Sox. There is so little loyalty in today's sports world and they completely snubbed someone who displayed it. Disgusting.

Worst....bracket....ever....

2006-03-19T16:23:00.000-05:00

Just go ahead and cross out UNC in my final four as well....

Adopt from Shelters!

2006-03-19T16:00:00.000-05:00

Here is a moving article on some of what goes on in animal shelters. Those of you who know me know that the one constant in my life (other than love of family) over the last eight years has been my shelter kitty, Scully. The thought of giving her up for anything is unfathomable to me (and actually bringing tears to my eyes...or maybe that's just that UNC is losing and I have them winning it all...kidding, it's Scully). I cannot imagine the reasoning in a person's head that leads to giving up a pet, though this article has a couple of examples.

If you're looking to get a pet of any kind, I recommend at least visiting a shelter and spending some time with pets there. You can often find young puppies or kittens in addition to the older pets (they estimated Scully at 9 months). Definitely worth a look, despite the risk you may want to take all the animals there home with you. Scully says, "Go Tarheels!" I mean, "Thank you!"

Kansas?

2006-03-19T14:35:00.000-05:00

When did I jump on the Kansas bandwagon? For some reason, I had them going to the final four!! D'oh! Not good. I have them beating out Indiana, having taken the opposite tack as fellow bracket-filler Yoav, who had them lose in the first round this year. My total potential points for the Oakland bracket therefore tops out at 12 out of 32. Ouch.

Television show on US Soliders Returning from Iraq

2006-03-18T15:47:00.000-05:00

This show on Iraq will detail the returns of three soldiers, including one who is a fellow Dartmouth alum. It looks very sad, but worth watching.

Mad PowerPoint Skilz

2006-03-16T17:48:00.000-05:00

Sometimes working on a PowerPoint-happy defense firm can really pay off!

Upon arriving in product design and development today, my team discovered we had missed a presentation deadline. I was able to whip up 10 slides complete with pictures in under 20 minutes! Yeah, I'm just shamelessly bragging because I am happy my rapid prototyping powerpointing has finally come in handy =D

Please, please let the lawyers take all his money...

2006-03-16T15:20:00.000-05:00

Can you believe this guy?

Oh no! Not A-Rod!

2006-03-16T13:07:00.000-05:00

I had to miss the draft for one of my fantasy teams due to my PDD meeting Tuesday night. As Lance pointed out, I ended up with the first pick...and my stupid picker took AROD!!! YUCK! The name of my team was the dirt dogs. Now it has to be dirt dogs plus one. Ain't no way I'm calling A-Rod a dirt dog.

Argh...I have no pitching.

Isaac Hayes leaves South Park

2006-03-14T17:54:00.001-05:00

Isaac Hayes, who plays Chef on South Park, is leaving due to religious differences. In this article, creator Matt Stone alludes to the fact that Hayes never objected to making fun of religions other than his own. Bummer. The Chef character was awesome, and hypocrisy is uncool.

Happy Birthday, Dad, Happy Anniversary, Blog, Happy Slacking, me

2006-03-14T09:31:00.000-05:00

Duuuude. I have been busy. Events I have missed:

March 12 was the one-year anniversary of this blog. This is my 520th post. I thought I talked a lot....now I know I can write a lot, too! Thanks again to Robbie, Yoav, and Matti for providing me the inspiration to start my own blog.

March 13 was my dad's official 60th birthday. Happy birthday, dad!

So where have I been? I was buried in work and school, then left for Atlanta for Suzanne's wedding. A quick run-down:

Friday: Finished up class, took a deep breath, then went to the Sloan Unity Party for about 20 minutes and the Cowboy Mouth concert with Will. The concert was incredible, as usual.

Saturday: Will took me to the airport for my 6am flight. I passed out cold as soon as we got in the air, which is very rare for me. Upon landing, I picked up my rental car and drove immediately to Ulta, where I spent way too much money on makeup and hair stuff. I also checked out DSW Shoes, but was able to withstrain (aka restrain) myself. Then Shannon called to say she was running late for lunch, so I went to Intimacy. I was just waiting for AmEx to call to see if my card was stolen.

I had lunch with Shannon at Neuvo Laredo, then went up to Tara, Goober, and Jeff's where I would be staying. We hung out and talked for a while, then I had to leave for the wedding. The wedding was wonderful: I barely recognized Rachel and Emily as both girls looked like beautiful, grown-up women. It was very strange. =) Matthew looked great as well, as did Suzanne and her new hubby Burt. Unfortunately, Suzanne's oldest son, Adam, was home sick with the flu =(

Anyway, the wedding was great, and then I went back to the house where I joined a party in progress with Grant and Tracy and the housefolk.

Sunday: Went to the wedding brunch. Very nice. I got to spend more time with Suzanne's parents, who are just wonderful people. From there, I went to see Pat and Amy, two of my freshmen from when I was a floor mom. They have a gorgeous daughter, Meghan, who is now 18 months. I stayed there for some time before having to head back to the house to go to a party at Tracy and Grant's. We were later joined by Patty, Nate, Sully, and Badonkadonk. It was great to see everyone. I was in bed by 8:30 =)

Monday: Dentist, then a walk through Piedmont Park. I was feeling very contemplative, and enjoyed sitting on a swing staring out at the city. After that, I went to the CNN Center (where I used to work), and saw Shannon, Steve, Yuliya, Firf, Mark, Unni, Jeff D, Mick M, David, as well as several others I hadn't planned to see, such as Joey, Mark and my favorite security guard. It was great just running into them. I hadn't seen some of these folks for quite some time.

I then flew out, arrived in Boston, was picked up by Will, then went over to Sloan for a meeting.

Today: Dude, I'm tired.

Olives in my Black Pants

2006-03-09T14:35:00.000-05:00

Last night, Will, Elizabeth, Nick, and I went to Olive's to take advantage of Boston's restaurant week. Food was delicious and company was great. After dinners including steak, gnocchi, fish, and chocolate cake with a yummy red zin, we headed over to Warren Tavern. I actually had to pay cover! They are under new ownership and apparently the local discount is over. So annoying. The place was hopping and I got to see Brie, Andrew, Gregg, Jimmy, and of course singer Justin. Too much fun.

I wore black pants out. I have worn three different pairs of black pants in the last 24 hours and still have 5 or 6 pairs in my closet. I guess I really like black pants.

Demo Complete!

2006-03-08T15:55:00.000-05:00

The big demo I have been ramping up for during the past week is over. It was actually one of those dream demos: my boss was in the room, and the customer said (and this is an exact quote): "I cannot believe how much functionality you got into that application in such a short time and small budget." Duuuude. That was awesome.

I really love doing demos and presentations, so it was fun, especially since the walk-through of the product went really well, with none of the blips that can pop up and kill a demo occurring. It was my first demo of a Ruby on Rails product. Looks like I will be doing more of those. Yay! =) The customer is already talking about funding for FY07. (By the way, when did we leave 2003? I can't believe it's 2006. I must have missed something.)

Ice, Ice Baby

2006-03-07T16:12:00.000-05:00

Professor Utterback gave an absolutely amazing talk today on the history of the ice industry and how it was affected by innovation and technology. It was probably one of the best lectures I have heard since arriving at MIT, which I guess means ever.

I'm not going to try to paraphrase it, as there is no way to do it justice. However, you can read the bulk of the information here.

Long Day

2006-03-06T21:46:00.000-05:00

Today was a long, long day. Too many meetings, not enough fun. I was excited for dinner with Susan Hockfield and the Graduate Women's group, but the first speaker was so god-awful that she makes my stories look coherent. I mean, really, top 10 worst speakers I have heard.

Anyway, I wanted to blog to get something out there, but now need to get back to doing some work. Hopefully after Wednesday I will be able to catch my breath and blog some more.

Dad's Birthday - Duke/UNC

2006-03-04T23:08:00.000-05:00

I got back from Sharon, where I celebrated my dad's 60th birthday at Coriander with my mom, dad, Jeff, and Eve. Unfortunately, BT couldn't join us. Probably scared him Friday night when Eve made me laugh so hard that I couldn't swallow the water I was drinking at the time and inadvertantly spat a little of it into the water pitcher on the table. I tell ya, sometimes I'm class on a cracker.

I am now watching the end of the UNC-Duke game. Holy crud! What a game! I guess I have to cheer for North Carolina to make Robbie happy. =) Just a great game regardless of who wins for us unbiased NCAAB lovers.

UNC won! Yay, Robbie! From unranked at the beginning of the season to beating Duke at Duke during their senior night. Dude!

Would you like some Jesus with that pepperoni?

2006-03-02T18:54:00.000-05:00

I don't like Domino's pizza, not only because it tastes terrible, but because the founder donates copiously to anti-abortion causes.

I've been trying to summarize this article graciously, but just can't seem to do it. Just read it.

Sloan Visiting Committee

2006-03-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

On Wednesday, I met with members of the Sloan Visiting Committee along with Jim, Monica, Luis, Uday, Alex, and Sam. The Visiting Committee evaluates all of the Sloan programs once every few years. The committee consisted of four men, all MIT alums, from a range of classes, the youngest of which was 1972.

I thought we presented SDM very well, and that we were very well received. We talked about our interactions with Sloan and the classes we take there. Good times, good times. =) For more details, come talk to me. Class is starting =)

Indra Nooyi

2006-02-28T14:03:00.000-05:00

Today Indra Nooyi, President and CFO of PepsiCo, Inc, came to speak at Sloan. I really liked her, but found her talk to be a bit more mixed. The topic she was supposed to be speaking about was "Diversity in Action." I kind of felt that the talk that resulted was like an Atkins diet sandwich: two really crappy pieces of bread surrounding some real quality stuff in the middle.

I did not like what she said about diversity (or, for that matter, the number of times she used the word "diversity.") She spoke at length about how PepsiCo tries to hire a diverse set of people, with at least half being minorities or women. I cannot stand demographic creation such as this. As a woman, I would rather not be hired than be hired because I am a woman.

For example, I once had words with a supervisor because I felt he did not treat women with equal respect as men. He told me that he feels very strongly about his women, and goes out of his way to hire and protect us. In that very statement, he revealed his different standards for treatment of the genders. While I appreciated that he thought he treated women well, the idea that he had to differentiate showed that I was still viewed as a woman, not as an engineer.

Anyhow, on to my bullet points. Like I wrote, I really liked Nooyi. When she spoke about her personal experiences, she was an engaging and intelligent speaker. She gave five C's that are essential for being a good leader:
1. Competency: What do you do best? Are you the "go to" person for this skill? Once you have this skill, never stop fine-tuning it.
2. Courage and conviction: Without these, you are not a leader; you are just another competent person.
2a. Confidence: You will find confidence comes from role models. She cited her mother as one of hers, having always believed in her. She then told a wonderful story about a bad suit-buying trip which resulted in her wearing a sari and being herself for an interview, which resulted in an offer from Booz Hamilton.
3. Consistency: This is about efficincy. Leaders erode trust when they waffle. There must be a logical reason for all choices.
4. Compass: Each of us has an internal compass which should know "true North." In other words, know yourself and your direction.
5. Coaching: Find supportive, encouraging, and blunt mentors. Mentors usually choose their mentees, so be sure to show off your other C's in your every day doings.

Hmmm...then my notes have such enlightening tidbits as "this diversity stuff is crap." I really don't like the whole affirmative action thing (at least as it pertains to myself), if you can't tell =) I just think it gives others the right to assume that I am where I am today, or that another minority is where he is today, due to our gender or ethnicity. I do think that a way to solve this is to be sure to recruit equally...that is give people equal opportunity to get the job, just don't hire or promote any differently.

Okay, this isn't a rant about my feelings, so back to the talk.

One thing I really liked is that she said that her competency is her problem solving. She has the ability to demystify the most complex situation, to assign others to it, and solve it. She said she was perceived for being like a dog given a bone once given a problem.

Her closing words were also very intelligent. She said there is no such thing as a work-life balance at her level or ones similar to it. Work becomes life, life becomes work. One must make tradeoffs constantly. One might not feel like he or she is good at anything, but one needs to be comfortable with who he or she is.

So, in short, a great speaker, but too bounded by the topic assigned for her speech.

Call me Lewis....or Clark...

2006-02-28T10:51:00.000-05:00

I successfully navigated the MIT tunnels today from the West side of campus all the way to the East! (Okay, Lewis and/or Clark in reverse then) I'm so proud of me =)

In other news, Cowboy Mouth was on Ellen this morning. They are one of my favorite bands, and I'm really happy for them. On the other hand, now their concert in Boston next week will likely be crowded. Dammit!

KFC + Disruptive Tech

2006-02-24T11:08:00.000-05:00

This article details an advertising strategy by KFC that encourages users with DVRs to watch their commercials at a slower speed in order to decipher a hidden message. Very interesting way of dealing with a technology which most other advertisers have tried to ignore.

PDD Advice

2006-02-23T17:12:00.000-05:00

Our lecturer today just gave great advice: When one sees duct tape on an existing product, it probably represents a latent need.

Funny, but true!

Like, totally, gag me with a spoon

2006-02-23T09:49:00.000-05:00

From today's Daily Quickie:

"Johnny Damon's arrival at Yankees' spring training confirms that he might give Derek Jeter a run as the team's most popular player."

EW. Ew ew ew!

1. I actually like Derek Jeter. An absolute class act.
2. I actually do not like Johnny Damon. He was never among my favorites. Touting stupidity ain't exactly my thang.

Running with Scissors

2006-02-22T17:20:00.000-05:00

I know I have been pretty bad about blogging lately. I still feel absolutely wiped out. I know, I'm such a wimp. =D

Yesterday, I somehow managed to find a needle I had lost after stitching my comforter....by putting my hand down on it and having it go pretty darn deep. Thanks to BT for the first aid. =)

The big news of today was that my backpack strap got stuck in my car's cup holder thingy. I had to walk into work holding my laptop like a schoolgirl with her books. Eventually, I got to school, parked at Sloan, and came up to SDM to get scissors. Some people are scared to run with scissors; I don't even want to walk with the darn things.

So I walked through the SDM building, through the corridor to a Sloan building, down three flights of stairs, and out to the parking lot holding the scissors facing downwards, safely protected by my fist, just like we learned in kidnergarten. I cut loose the backpack, and I was free!

Anyway, that should give you people enough ammo on me for a while. Now it's off to CEO perspective: Corporations at the Crossroads.

Absolutely disgusting

2006-02-21T16:43:00.000-05:00

Just when I thought I couldn't feel any sicker, I came across this article. Please tell me that somehow, in some parallel universe somewhere, this whole Rev Phelps crowd is just a sick, sick joke.

Busy Day at Work

2006-02-20T20:21:00.000-05:00

I had a very busy day today at work, with the exception of a quick jaunt over to the doctor for a strep test and to make sure that I wasn't contagious enough to be infecting my co-workers.

I bounced among three projects today: Ruby backend Oracle, J2EE backend eXist, and J2EE backend Oracle. Pretty cool. It's like being a multi-lingual translator sometimes. =) Then I got really tired, considering it was the most I'd been awake since Thursday.

Okay, brain sleepy. Me go now.

Cold --> Sore Throat

2006-02-19T20:27:00.000-05:00

So my cold progressed into a nasty sore throat. Instead of meeting with Jonathan about joining his 50k team, I stayed at home, napping, drinking tea, and watching really bad tv. Fun thing about being sick: my normally brief attention span shortens itself even more, so homework is pretty much a waste. (Yeah, I used the same excuse as a kid.. ;))

Anyway, the day was not without some merit. This page I found through StumbleUpon is pretty darn funny.

Classes this Term

2006-02-18T16:46:00.000-05:00

I have to say that my classes so far this term have been excellent. I was not expecting much from a couple of them, but am impressed with all of them. I also have great teams. Here is what I am taking by order of class (i.e. Monday-Friday, 9-5, etc)

Systems Optimization: This class is interesting so far. Students last year raved about the quality of the class and instructor. So far, they are correct about the instructor. Simchi-Levi is excellent. A 9-12 class is a bit harsh on the ol' attention span, but I try. The first homework was tough, but hopefully the second will be better now that I have learned the tool (Solver in Excel)
Team: Joe, John Haj, maybe Yaming and Yuhong

Disruptive Technologies: Excellent. Utterback is a great and engaging lecturer (as I wrote earlier this week. Not much more to say than that.) As for the team in this class, it seems as though it will be good. We all had to choose a disruptive technology for the possibility of presenting before the class. I chose Open Source, and was among the 25 out of 60 to present my technology. I had planned on joining Sam's team, but found a number of people asking me about joining up after class (we were given time to make teams).
Team: The only ones on the team that I know so far are Kevin B and Rajiv. Both are SDMers that I have not worked with as of yet. The other three members are Sloanies. We temporarily had Paul B, but he was stolen by Sam's team. (You boys just wait til basketball....elbows will be flying!)

Product Design and Development: I was not expecting much from this class at all, but find myself really happy with it. In this class, we need to design and product a product (see Sorin's blog for more details). I am very excited about my product and team (no details yet =))
Team: Rachael, Paul W, and Biju.

Corporations at the Crossroads: The CEO Perspective (auditing): I'm excited for this class, but have only been able to attend one of the two lectures as I was sick last week. Apparently, Sloanies call this course "Clapping for Credit" (thanks, Dave!), but I'm not taking it for the credit, just for the clapping.

System Safety: This is probably not a course I would have taken if Nancy Leveson was not teaching it. I took her Software Engineering Concepts last term and loved it, so figured I would try this one out. It is actually very interesting. She details accidents such as the Challenger and air contamination in Bhopal, and talks about what could have been done to stop them. This class is Friday 1-4, so is at a bad time. However, Leveson realizes this and gives us ample breaks; we had two on Friday.
Team: Paul W and a woman from Lincoln Labs.

Okay, now that I have detailed each class and used the word "excited" more times than a third-grader would in his "What I Will Do with my Summer Vacation" essay, I guess I should go do some homework.

Soooo sick....

2006-02-18T13:19:00.000-05:00

The cold I've been fighting has progressed into a sore throat. I forewent a weekend ski trip in favor of catching up on homework (that, plus it was going to be way too cold for me to be skiing). However, my illness-induced fogginess is making homework very cumbersome, so I'm blogging.=)

I am trying to rally for a pub crawl this afternoon with Jamie, Alisha, Liz, Lauren, et al, but don't know if I am going to make it. Dangit. I was really looking forward to it, especially after seeing everybody at our Valentine's Day girls' night in (which i just realized I never blogged about =))

Yay, Stupid Lawyer Girl!

2006-02-17T13:02:00.000-05:00

Some people are unbelievable. Unbelievable, yet somehow entertaining.

Hungry?

2006-02-16T17:43:00.000-05:00

How about a Rose of the Prophet Mohammed to go with your Freedom Fries?