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CmdrTaco And Hemos Speaking At MIT Thurs 111

Posted by CmdrTaco from the hey-wait-a-minute-that's-me dept.
Oddly enough, Hemos and I are speaking at MIT tonight, but at different times and places. I'm speaking at 7pm at the lecture hall about whatever comes to mind (bring questions because my agenda is wide open). Hemos is speaking at Bartos Theater in the MIT Media Laboratory at 20 Ames St. on campus at 5pm as part of their Media In Transition series. Normally we tend not to plug stuff like this, but this should be fun, so if you happen to be in the area, swing by either talk. I promise to embarrass myself by stuttering and rambling, proving that I speak just as badly as I write!
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CmdrTaco and Hemos Speaking at MIT Thurs More

CmdrTaco and Hemos Speaking at MIT Thurs

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  • 10-250 . . . a hall number?

    10= Building 10, under the great dome. Possibly a ground zero in the cold war.
    2= Second Floor
    50= Room number

    10-250 was a nice medium sized lecture hall, a _few_ years back.

  • LSC . . . (Score:1)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Isaac Asimov, the last LSC speaker I went to see, must be spinning in his grave.

    I wonder if LSC has started showing 3rd run B movies now too.

    ;-)

  • Got the latest issue of Linux Magazine in the mail last night and saw Malda and Bates interviewed.
    http://www.linux-mag.com/2000-10/toc.html
  • I can't help you with the petrified bit, but IIRC she goes to that small liberal arts college just up the road from MIT.
  • Luckily for Taco, bad spelling is impossible to detect in public speaking. So for once, his incredibly reliable mangling of the word 'weird' will go unnoticed. :)

    Good luck with the trolls, Taco. Maybe a certain Natalie P. will make a surprise appearance??

  • Correction: 10:30 pm tonight, midnight friday and saturday.
  • Not knowing where the /. crew is, I humbly ask, "which MIT?" The Massachusetts Institute of Tech, or Michigan?
  • Because it was the MI6 building that got hit.
    --
  • Frag limits are meaningless... this is a CounterStrike operation.

    I'll do 'im with the AWP.
    --
  • Anyone got good sniping skills?

    I do, but since it's Taco and Hemos and not Katz, I'll be staying at home.

    LK
  • Yeah, I can just imagine the B.O.

    Actually, I cant.
  • While you're there, please remind those kids to take a shower once in a while and get some dental work.
  • The last place anyone who knows better wants to go to is RPI.
  • You're speaking at 7 pm, and you're posting this at 5 am. Shouldn't you like get some sleep or something?

    why? from 5am to 7pm it's 14 hours. theres plenty of time to sleep...

    greetings, eMBee.
    --

  • shut the fuck up, boy.
  • The real question the Boston /. contingent is asking is, what bar will you be sitting in AFTER the speaking engagement?

    I'm sure you can parley your /. status into a few freebies :p

    -spRed
  • This thread is going to devolve into this, or at least some messages will... so here goes. What are the geekiest colleges out there?

    I know CMU, MIT and Caltech are pretty high up. My college, Cornell University, seems to have a pretty high geek ratio too. Any other geeky schools?

    -Nick
  • I just moved to RI, I'm at Johnson and Wales. If I were still in Massachusetts (My home town is 45mins from MIT) I'd probably go.
  • I'm all for CMU pride, but did you say it doesn't get as cold in the winter as Boston? Today's the last day of summer, and already Boston [yahoo.com] is expected to be over 10 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than Pittsburgh [yahoo.com]. But that's okay, because I'll be inside scoring free stuff from big corporations at the Technical Opportunities Conference before '212. So nyah.
  • Awesome! I'll be there! But not because I want to, so much... It's going to be cold tonight.

    -----------

    "You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

  • Or maybe it's because of Natalie Portman...

    -----------

    "You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

  • Hey, I'm considering going to Cornell. How do you like it? If you would email me I'd greatly appriciate it.
  • I don't consider either one of you worthy

    ya know, I really genuinely hate attitudes like that.

    I'd like to know where you get off judging these guys like that. I mean, what are your criteria for "worthy of podium" speakers? College degree? Wrote a book?

    Did you realize that the more educated a person is, the less likely they are to wash their hands?

    Just goes to show where your values lie.


    _______________
    you may quote me
  • Having attended CmdrTaco's speech, I gotta say it sucked. Seriously. At sometime around his 5th interruption of a question with "Blue!" or "Boxers!", I realized that the proprietor of technophile village's 'town pub' lacks any perspective or insight at all. Most bartenders have a more perspective on life. Folks, your fearless leader is nothing but a guy who had the right Pearl at the right time.
  • I have to agree..

    Gee thanks for giving us a whole 12 hours notice !!

    Some of us have Theory of Computation AND Cryptology problem sets due tomorrow too.

    So if i walk out early it's not because you guys are boring or nething :)

    Smthng.
  • Damn! You beat me to it!

    It was a pretty amusing piece of irony, though! =)

    It's okay CmdrTaco, we understand. =)

    And good luck tonight! I wish I could be there, but I'm stuck in picturesque Cleveland (proud polluters of Lake Erie, but at least our river isn't on fire anymore!)
  • If you do go, I recommend finding the MIT museum as well. It is well worth the time it will take you to find it.
  • The roads full of geeks

    uhh... We are talking about MIT, right?

  • Just out of curiosity, where did you guys go to college?
  • "Michigan Tech." = Michigan Technological Institute = MTU. Unless there's some new university that was just started. They're just not founding as many universities nowadays as they used to, you know?
    Not knowing where the /. crew is, I humbly ask, "which MIT?" The Massachusetts Institute of Tech, or Michigan?
  • No way. Way, dude! I just filled my butane lighter and bought some toilet paper rolls.
  • no kidding. me too. DAMN.
  • Guys,

    This is rather short notice. How about some
    earlier announcements next time?

    Hari.
  • Thoroughly blocking Mem Drive to those of us who commute under the overpass to our cubicle rat jobs in Kendall Square.
  • mit anime, harvard anime, boston u. anime... anime crash, tokyo kid, the brattle, hfa... stuck in new york, it's okay, but i really miss boston and mit!
  • And I was actually hoping to get a seat in Bartos...damnit!
  • Hey, come on! You guys can drive a couple hours outside of the Geek Compound to come speak at U-M, cantcha? Huh? HUH?

    :)
  • how many "frist ps0t" geeks will get there early to get "frist question"?

  • I have no words... (except for these) :)

    --

  • damnit, I wish you guys would of said something earlier - I could of actually made it over there to seeone of you guys talk. I mean how often do such famous members of the geek community come near me, oh yeah I'm at MIT - never mind.

    "Now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb."
  • Will there be a contingent of ~20 people running into the Auditoruim to try and claim first seat? Funny, I always thought you had to audition for First Chair...
  • I was waiting for that...
  • Hey, what am I doing reading /, at 5am? I have truly crossed over to the darkside... It might be interesting to see you guys talk. I'm in Mass., maybe I'll swing on over there.
  • "Hemos is speaking at Bartos Theater in the MIT Media Laboratory at 20 Ames St. on campus at 5pm as part of their Media In Transition series.. "

    Later, they will both be at the Pine Street Inn, feeding the homeless as part of their community service..
    :-)


  • I hope your claimed lack of preparedness is ironic.

    I saw him speak at the Geek Pride festival in Boston back in April [geekpride.org]. An appropriate title would have been "CmdrTaco babbles incoherently". There was clearly little to no preparation involved. It was quite slow at first, but he did manage to engage the audience in some discussion after a bit, and then it actually got interesting.

  • The part where they said Boston makes me think it is the Mass Inst o' Tech one. I'm merely guessing there though - that and the links are there too - but again, I could be crazy.
    ------------------------------------------ --------
  • Hot damn - first I miss the Geek convention in Boston, now I miss these b/c I have sit and stare at commerce site code... son of a - how about just giving me a nice fat job at Slashdot?
    ------------------------------------------------ --
  • This is a geek meeting. It will be all big fat guys (or pale skinny guys).
  • Dude, MIT had Ralph Nader last May. But, you guys had Mike Nelson. Damn you. He shoulda been Nader's running mate.
  • Sniping skills? Sure! What's the frag limit?

    Connah
  • What is a frist ps0t?
    Are you trying to be an "31337 h@x0R |-r@d d00d" again?

    Connah
  • As far as I know, at least Rob, Jeff, and Nate all went to Hope Christian College in Michigan.

  • The roads full of geeks cars, and the building overflowing with /. readers...

    And not a fucking chick in sight.

  • say hello to mr. chomsky for us.
  • I just got back from the talk, and I have to say that I found Rob to be quite an engaging speaker, even if he wasn't able to be honest with the audience about how 'phyiscally close' he and Jeff Bates were when Slashdot was starting...
  • 100 points if someone is actually injured in a vi/emacs war.

    --
  • Will who ever gives the first speech will be modded down as -1 troll ?
  • while your at it stop by RPI too
  • Of course, those of us working in the tech office parks of Burlington and Waltham do not have to worry about the Republic of Cambridge.
  • >Just don't screw up and imagine just yourself in >your underwear (Now you're going to wake up >screaming from a horrible nightmare where you >lecture at MIT in your underwear...)

    Hmm..
    Actually I always found that it worked better that way...

    Elrond
    Reality Bytes
  • Yeah...Given more notice, I might have made the trip over from Michigan. When did you guys schedule this, yesterday at midnight?

    Hey! Get outta our lakes! Filthy scumball...

  • Man I would love to come down and see you guys!

    But I got a class in Danvers (to the north about 30 min) from 7pm to 10pm. Maybe I'll skip it and come see you guys.

    The class is COMP101 and last week we covered what part of the sentence is the verb and the subject. Due to me attending high school prior to college and a slight understanding of the english language, I was ready to chew my hand off my wrist. So I doubt I'll miss much (Isn't justifying great).

    How long do each of the shows run?
    -- MPCM
  • Well, I skipped my class and came down for both lectures. Very nice.

    Deffiniately better than finding the verb in a sentance (which happends to be 'finding' in this sentanct).

    Again, very cool. --
    MPCM
  • no way, first seat sucks, the thing to aim for is first person to interupt with a good troll question like, "Can you imagine a beowulf of those?" or better yet... just a completely offtopic question involving grits, portman, and linux.
  • How many moderation points is CmdrTaco giving him self? Will you be moderated out of the lecture for showing up first?
    "Freedom of speech has always been the abstract red-headed stepchild of the Constitution"
  • at a minimum, tomorrow you'll get to hear their first-hand accounts of the actually definition of "hack" from their new and unique perspective.

  • I mean, let's face it - these guys aren't huge thinkers or public activists. They run (ran?) a popular website which is essentially a "gosh-gee-wiz-look-at-this" portal.

    I find such comments troubling especially when it comes from a community that supposedly embraces the spirit of open source and the belief that ideas discussed in the open arena can lead to better progress. Being a member of the academic community at a prestigious West Coast university, I see this kind of mentalty all the time. People are pro-DeCSS, pro-Napster, pro-Linux ... but they get offended when members of the general Internet community who "lack" the credentials (e.g. big University diplomas, impressive titles at flashy companies/start-ups) begin spouting out their opinions and rise to prominence.

    Give me a break. No one said you had to agree with what people say. But even non-Nobel laureates deserve to be heard (note the other lecturers in the series in recent weeks besides D. Adam are Nobel laureates). Now is the MIT lecture halls the proper medium? I think so. Creating and running an online phenom like /. is much more difficult and beneficial than most people give credit (see previous poster). Cmdr Taco not a social activist? C'mon, you don't think a lot of people get their DeCSS/Napster/Open Source juice from this website?

    Good luck Rob. Just remember, that as long as you talk about things you know and believe, you'll do fine. No sense trying to pull off the "Cambridge" trick of trying to sound more intelligent than you actually are ;-P

  • So why give the /. guys a hard time? On the ArtWithBrainInMind list, someone recently asked why popular science writers like Sagan, Damasio, and Gould (who are/were serious academic scientist as well) get dissed by their peers for speaking publically. My answer was that it was like the response of a contemplative monastic to a fellow monk who decided to become a TV preacher one day a month. I get a similar feeling from the geek community -- recognition by and interaction with the outside world gets treated as sin, heresy!

    /. has provided a very interesting forum that differs from usenet in significant ways. The tone set by the founders has much to do with it. Sure there's fluff, first posts and Natalie Portman crap, but people here tend to appear intellectually playful, honest, and interested. I have learned a lot.

    I'll miss the talks because I have band practice, but these things at MIT are usually good.

    Oh, and I second the rec for the MIT museum. The holograms are closed, but the Hall of Hacks and kinetic sculptures are well worth it.

  • I'll probably go see Rob, because Hemos' discussion about "public intellectuals: the cyberspace generation" sounds a little too Wired-y pretentious even for the media lab? (And isn't Annalee Newitz the one who wrote the article about RMS sex life? I sure don't want to hear more about that.)

    Anyway, I'l play RobLimo here -- post the questions you want me to ask Rob and I'll ask the highest moderated ones.

    My own questions:

    • Is the karma freeze a bug or a deliberate policy? If a policy, why?
    • Is RobLimo still alive? What's happened to him?
  • "Rocky, watch me pull Douglas Adams out of a hat."

    "But that trick never works, Bullwinkle."

    "This time for sure!"

    Adams has stood up these engagements
    many, many times. So keep your fingers
    crossed and eyes peeled.
  • CT and Hemos (and any other /.ers in the Boston area),

    I just heard that the new General Cinema at Landmark Center (former Sears building near Fenway) is having a $2 midnight showing of the Matrix tonight.

    Hope you guys can make it!

  • I'm assuming MIT has roads round it.. Never been there tho...
  • You mean 6.840 is due TODAY ;)

    speaking of which, I better finish it now.

  • BULLSHIT!!

    We all know they'll be at John Harvard's Pub and Brew House from End-Of-Lecture till Closing-And-Beyond! It's well known that all good brew issues forth from John Harvard's at Harvard Square unless imported from exotic places like Ireland and Germany and Canada. :)

    If you have to ask what John Harvard's is, you are required to listen every episode of CarTalk start to finish, continuously. Especially since Dewey, Cheetham, and Howe is none too far from John Harvard's.

    If I didn't have previous commitments (look for a metallic black 1987 Buick Grand National T-Type Intercooled BiTurbo with white pearl flames on I93 in excess of 120MPH) I might actually show up.

    Maybe we should get Click and Clack to be the hecklers. }:)

    =RISCy Business
  • And I thought CMU [cmu.edu] was so geek-friendly because we had Mystery Science Theater 3000's MIKE NELSON here on Monday, and Ralph Nader next Tuesday. Come on our, guys! We need you for Geek Week!
  • Gosh you're so cool. Can we all be like you now?

    What was the point of that post? To show your distaste for MIT? To imply that you're a super-smart badass who doesn't need a measly school like MIT? Get a life.

    -----------

    "You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

  • I really doubt that either of them want to be asked questions about Slashdot. It's not an interview.

    -----------

    "You can't shake the Devil's hand and say you're only kidding."

  • Since Asimov, they've already had Shatner. I think the Good Doctor will glad of the rest.
    ------------------------------------------- ---

  • I'm still trying to find the picture of CmdrTaco hoolding a "Taco sucks" sticker that Lion made at the last linuxfest.
  • Just imagine everyone else in their underwear.

    Just don't screw up and imagine just yourself in your underwear (Now you're going to wake up screaming from a horrible nightmare where you lecture at MIT in your underwear...)

    Another possibility is to look out and think "You will all be enslaved once my Satanic Minions take over the world." I hear that works quite well for Bill Gates. Pity he didn't use it when giving testimony under oath.

  • Hey, since you'll both be in the same area at the same time, maybe you could get CowboyNeal in the area or just some other random people for a Geeks in Space reunion. This time including Hemos who was absent at the last show. Or you could make your guest the entire crowd that shows up for the talk.

  • You're speaking at 7 pm, and you're posting this at 5 am. Shouldn't you like get some sleep or something?
    --
  • So how about a European tour too? :o)
  • Comment removed based on user account deletion
  • Jeff Bates is a co-founder of Slashdot.org, and executive editor of Slashdot.com [slashdot.com]
    No, really! Right here [mit.edu]! In related news, Battleship Potemkin will be screened tomorrow in 10-250 (I be damned if I know what that means, a hall number?). A classic movie, must see, no copyright, DVD, DeCSS, you get the picture.
    --
  • You're giving lectures at the premier technological university and no one has arranged a video feed of the events? Tsk tsk. I don't suppose there's any chance that it will at least be videotaped for posting on a web site later? It would be nice to see what you guys look like. It makes stalking so much easier ... 8-)
  • Thanks for the info. I went to the time site and found a picture [time.com], tho it may not be the one you're referring to, since they definitely didn't make his face white. Odd pose and facial expression too. They ended up making him look like an alien skinhead contemplating his next Paki-bashing.
  • You've come a long way from Hope College [hope.edu] baby! A school whose basketball sked includes Hope vs. Calvin. The theological implications are chilling.

  • Re:What about us... ;-) (Score:3)

    by Mike Hicks ( 244 ) <hick0088@tc.umn.edu> on Thursday September 21, 2000 @01:40AM (#765042) Homepage Journal
    uh.. The US isn't very small.. It'd take me quite a while to get there.

    Though I may like my mental version of the talk better. CmdrTaco wanders on stage and says, ``Geez, I'm at MIT, and I know something you don't! Nyah, nyah!!''
    --
    Ski-U-Mah!

  • Am I the only one that has a bit of an issue? (Score:3)

    by nasalgoat ( 27281 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @04:42AM (#765043) Homepage
    I mean, let's face it - these guys aren't huge thinkers or public activists. They run (ran?) a popular website which is essentially a "gosh-gee-wiz-look-at-this" portal.

    Although, what with fame these days being dictated solely on face time, I guess these guys are celebrities or something.

    Nothing personal guys, but I don't consider either one of you worthy of a podium lecture at a major university...

  • Doug's coming too............ (Score:3)

    by rtmfm ( 125519 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @12:29AM (#765044)
    Douglas Adams [mit.edu] will be there too.....Later date, though.

  • i·ro·ny (i-ra-nee) noun, plural i·ro·nies (Score:4)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21, 2000 @12:05AM (#765045)
    proving that speak just as badly as I write

    Indeed.

  • Maps (Score:4)

    by The Musician ( 65375 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @12:22AM (#765046) Homepage
    Of course you'll want maps...:

    CmrdTaco at 26-100 [mit.edu]
    Hemos at Bartos Theater [mit.edu]

    --

  • What about us... ;-) (Score:4)

    by Lion-O ( 81320 ) on Wednesday September 20, 2000 @11:36PM (#765047)
    And what about the rest of the world (outside of the US)? Can we follow it too by realvideo or something or is that a bit too much to ask? (on the other hand; media in transvision, the name sounds right for it IMHO).

  • Wow! M.I.T.! (Score:4)

    by stinky monkey ( 222818 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @04:57AM (#765048)
    I haven't been to the Missouri Institute of Trucking in forever! If they roll one of those fake coyotes on rollers out in front of you, just nail it. Takes em hours to glue all the fur back on.

  • The Question the Trolls want to know (Score:5)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 21, 2000 @12:33AM (#765049)
    Will there be a contingent of ~20 people running into the Auditoruim to try and claim first seat?

  • Slashdot effect... (Score:5)

    by malkavian ( 9512 ) on Wednesday September 20, 2000 @11:24PM (#765050)
    Oh my god..
    I can picture it now... The roads full of geeks cars, and the building overflowing with /. readers...
    Hopefully though, the building won't collapse under the load.

    Malk

  • Re:The Secret to Public Speaking... (Score:5)

    by sec ( 20916 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @01:38AM (#765051)
    Just imagine everyone else in their underwear.

    Tried that once. Problem was, there was a bunch of hot chicks in the first few rows. Ended up giving myself a woody.

    Mind you, that might not be such a big problem for the type of crowd Taco is likely to attract. :)

  • Re:The Question the Trolls want to know (Score:5)

    by rrogers ( 48345 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @03:10AM (#765052)
    Will there be a contingent of ~20 people running into the Auditoruim to try and claim first seat?

    At the Geek Pride Fest back in April in Boston there was one guy who looked about 16-17 who jumped up holding a large posterboard sign that said "First Post" when CmdrTaco got up on stage. CmdrTaco said "hold on a minute, I'm prepared for this", ran offstage and grabbed something out of a duffel bag and handed it to the kid. It was a box of grits (not hot unfortunately...) and what did this kid do? Poured them down his pants right there in front of everyone! I was sitting right behind him, and for the next hour he was fidgeting and trying to get these grits out of his pants.

    At least there weren't any petrified Natalie Portman's...

  • Preparation (Score:5)

    by Ninja Engineer ( 224395 ) on Thursday September 21, 2000 @12:26AM (#765053)
    I hope your claimed lack of preparedness is ironic. Otherwise it is moronic. It is all well and good to know your subject matter thoroughly, but to expect to be able to carry the show by answering questons is a BIG mistake. Without preparation and a good start to your talk, you will not generate enough enthusiasm in the audience for them to ask any questions worth answering. There is still time. Do it!. Write it out verbatim if you have to. At least WRITE down all the points you want to cover, and the order you want to cover them in. Otherwise you will die, even in front of a small audience. Good luck!

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