P.S. A Column On Things

MIT in Popular Culture

 

(While researching what I’d written about being a diversity admit to MIT, I ran across this item from July 18, 2005, which I thought was worth repeating. And, I might add, Dilbert and Doonesbury’s daughter are both MIT grads as well))

I was watching the Fantastic Four when I realized that Reed Richards, Susan Storm and Victor Von Doom are all depicted as MIT graduates. Earlier in the week, Dan Grobstein had sent me to a page on the Internet about "who's Jewish." I think I shall start such a page with regard to MIT (although Wikipedia has an excellent start on this subject). Here are my first few entries; please feel free to submit yours, and I'll print them in the column and eventually post a separate page.

MIT Faculty and Students in fiction

Crichton, Michael. State of Fear. Richard John Kenner, a scientist who heads the fictional MIT Center for Risk Analysis.

Good Will Hunting (1997 ) Will Hunting (Matt Damon) and Professor Gerald Lambeau (played by Stellan Skarsgård)

Heinlein, Robert. Have Space Suit, Will Travel. Kip Russell is admitted to MIT at the end of the novel (I believe this may be why I applied to MIT)

Right Column Redux: Paul Pans The Mac

The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder.

Yes, I am the Paul Schindler who predicted, in 1985, on the Computer Chronicles television show, when the Macintosh was a year old, that it wouldn't be a success in business. I stand by that opinion. You can see Paul Schindler Pans Mac

Amazing First Paragraph

The first paragraph of a news story, known to journalists as the lede, is supposed to tell you who, what, when, where and how (and sometimes why) in a way that will make you want to read the rest of the story.

Or, it should just knock your socks off.

Here is one from Category Two:

Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert got into heated clash: report
By Brian Niemietz
New York Daily News
Apr 29, 2022 at 5:29 pm

There was a heated battle of wits between two of the GOP’s most performative congresswomen. Fortunately, neither combatant was armed.
...
Upon hearing about Greene’s appearance at the toxic far right-wing rally earlier in the year, moderate Republican senator Mitt Romney of Utah said he was reminded of a scene from the Western classic “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” when one character said, “I’ve got morons on my team.”

Right Column Redux: Stories of a Young Journalist

The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder.

Stories of a Young Journalist
These are stories from early in my career

Column In The Tech

I’ve been contributing old-timer columns to my college paper. Here are some excerpts from one of them:

Work Life Balance: It’s OK, even here.

I never fully signed onto a full-time job at the Massachusetts Tool or Die Company (a nickname we used in the early 70s). Sometimes, I even went entire Sundays without doing any tooling, not even a problem set. And I was fully invested in my student activities: The Tech and the MIT radio station (then WTBS, now WMBR).

You are not going to turn to your relatives on your deathbed and say, “I wish I’d spent more time doing problem sets.” Feel free to take the path of least resistance. You will still learn, as I did, methods of learning and analysis which will stand you in good stead no matter what you end up doing for a living.

…

In my case the Massachusetts Tool or Die Company came close to turning me into a disc jockey. But as it happens, an optimal work life balance at MIT produced an optimal work life balance in my life as a journalist – one of the most unlikely careers an MIT student can end up in. It could happen to you, if you let it. 

I should note that a 50/50 academics/activities split would have been a literal balance and would probably have been better for me.

First of May

I don’t subscribe to any pricey newspaper databases, so I can’t quote him exactly, but I know that Herb Caen, the late great SF Chronicle columnist, used to drop a bit of doggerel every year at this time: “Hooray, Hooray, it’s the first of May! Outdoor ****ing begins today!”

I only tried outdoor ****ing once, and later, when I was receiving a cortisone shot in a sensitive area, the doctor reminded me of another piece of doggerel: “Leaves of three, beware of me.”

Let me assure you, you do NOT want to have Poison Ivy there.

PSACOT at MIT

If you were just sitting there saying to yourself, “Gosh, I wonder what Paul was thinking and doing during his freshman year (1970-71) at MIT,” you’re in luck! I spent a few minutes posting all of my college P.S. A Column on Things outings to Typepad. You can find them here.

• PSACOT / ERGO (18)
• PSACOT/The Tech (6)

Alex Makowski invited me and my column to The Tech in 1971; his successor Robert Fourer pulled the plug as soon as he took over. I’ve been told I should get over it.

Right Column Redux: Audio Editing Hacks

The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder of said content each week.

Fun with electronic editing. At WTBS, these were called hacks. Back in the 70s they were done with spliced magnetic tape. Now they can be done with electrons.

Alphabet Medley

Frank Sinatra/Ella Fitzgerald Duet: I've Got A Crush on You

Alphabet Song from single sung syllables

Pantone’s Color of the Year

I think we called it periwinkle back in my crayon days, but in any case, if you have both your artsy and your fartsy, you probably already know this:

Announcing the Pantone Color of the Year 2022

PANTONE 17-3938 Very Peri

“A New Pantone Color Whose Courageous Presence Encourages Personal Inventiveness and Creativity.”

Right Column Redux: Women in Journalism Movies

The column to the right on this blog contains permanent content, most of which has appeared at one time or another in the main body. I’ve decided to include a reminder of said content each week.

Women in Journalism Movies