So, the first week of the Stanford school year 2003-2004 is under the belt. The week started on Wednesday following six days of orientation for the Class of 2007. Not to sound like an old man, but back in my day, we only had five days of orientation. Not only did we not have that extra day, but we didn’t have Freshman Seminars, Sophomore College, and a host of other opportunities. I guess the college experience is always going to get better as time goes by, you know?
I had planned to take a couple of classes this quarter, notably STS 279, Technology, Policy, and Management in Newly-Industrializing Countries. I got to the class on time at 11:00 am, but there were only a few students in the room and no professor. A few minutes later, Joe comes in and sits down next to me. We chit-chat about classes as the time goes by. 5 minutes, 10 minutes, and 15 minutes pass until everyone in the room is coming to the realization that something is amiss. A couple of students come in saying that they came from another building where the class might also have been held at (Terman 156). We end up going to the STS office only to learn that the class has been cancelled. The professor is out of the country and can’t get back in!
On Thursday, we held our first DVF Seminar, with the speaker being noted web columnist and blogger, Dan Gillmor. When I had finished development of Soybo back in April, I had written him an email introducing the product. Though I didn’t hear back from him, I see that he’s been investigating various remote technologies for his home. In an article from last week, he wrote about ThinkingHome’s products for monitoring one’s house. Soybo is an alternative to their product, plus it’s Open Source and more extensible!
Friday was the big Activities Fair at Stanford. Held at White Plaza, this is where the various student groups on campus set up booths to lure in new recruits to their cause. There were a few new booths that didn’t exist (or that I didn’t know of) when I was a student, including the Stanford Gaming Group. I asked if they played MLB Showdown but alas no one did (one thought it was a computer game!). No one played Victory in the Pacific or Car Wars either. Ah, but they can learn to play!
I signed up onto the mailing list for the Climbing Club, the Cycling Club, the Gaming Club, along with talking with the folks who run the Viennese Ball (I designed the logo for the annual dance way back in 1995), TAPS, the Solar Car Project, and more. Connecting back with the Stanford community is fun again! Rae, who had ridden her bike 10 miles to campus earlier in the day, even met people that she knew from Cal Wushu and Stanford Wushu. Small world, eh?
Some photos from week one at Stanford.
There are a few more photos in the photo gallery. Click on the link below to see them!
tow.com 