This song is perfect because kids just see the world from a completely different perspective and I was always taught to turn things (like maps and puzzles) upside down to see then from a different angle and learn a new point of view. Enjoy the song, it is awesome!

I’m sure everyone has tricks for optimizing their commute to work or wherever.  For example there are specific lanes I drive in at specific spots on Rt. 128 because I think I progress faster when I do that.  The reality may be otherwise but it’s still entertaining and almost like a game.  Here are some things I try while riding the “T” and Commuter rail (Boston’s glorious public train and subway system) from Anderson/Woburn stop to Kendall Square in Cambridge:

1. Let’s start off with buying a monthly parking and T pass.  This always saves time.  You don’t have to wait in line to buy tickets and if you’re “cutting it close” to minimize your commute time you can park quickly and hop right on the train.
2. Now that you have a parking pass park strategically.  I try to park near the stairs away from the actual station.  There’s usually fewer cars there and it’s quicker to get on the platform.
3. When headed inbound to Boston sit in the bogey closest towards the in-direction.  It’s a lot quicker to get out of North station as you don’t have to wade through all the crowds on the way out.  Mind you you’re trying to maximize time here.  You just walked the entire length of the train earlier to get to the first bogey!
4. Try grab a seat as close to the train door as possible.  Once again you can exit the train faster.  Ideally you have an aisle seat as well so that rude people (or should I say desperate to get to work quick folks) don’t cause you to be stuck in your seat for a bit kinda like on an airplane.
5. Try getting up from your seat and standing near the coach doors a few minutes before the train has reached the stop.  If you didn’t get a well-placed seat earlier you can make up time by doing this.
6. Get in the walking line on the escalator.  Usually folks on the right stand and use escalation to take them to the top.  The left lane is for impatient people like me who use the escalator as stairs.
7. Speaking of stairs just use them.   Everyone in the world is trying to squeeze down the narrow escalator to get into the subway.  The stairs are faster and broader, plus you’re headed down.  It’s not that hard.  Be warned sometimes you run into oncoming pedestrian traffic!
8. Find a strategic spot on the subway platform so when a T train stops you’re right in front of a door.  Even better the particular bogey of the T stops closest to the exit on your destination stop.  I always stood near this indent in the wall on the Orange line (one the way home).  It would drop me off closest to the escalator to bound up to North station.  I learned this from Shyam, thanks dude!
9. Now that you’re on the T, find a seat right next to the door.  Most of the time these are reserved for the elderly or disabled.  So you’re better of finding a place to stand that is very close to the door but still not in the way of people trying to get on or off the train.  God help you!  Sometimes a spot near the opposite door is ideal because it’s right across from the exit door and you’re rarely in anyone’s way.  But watch out for Park Street cause the doors open on both sides there.
10. Last but not least you’re probably timed your trains so that you have to wait the least amount of time when switching from the commuter rail to the subway train and of course between subway trains.  I had to switch from Orange to Red to get to Kendall.  Later on I found that Commuter rail to the Green T line was faster, but I had to walk 10-12 blocks to get to work from Lechmere!

So net net how much time did this save me?  Absolutely none.  I could try and time it as precisely as possible and be as efficient getting from door to door.  But the commuter rail is often behind and the T is awfully slow at specific spots (like in between Charles MGH and Kendall — I could walk faster).  With the Red Sox playing 18X games a year, there’s bound to be times when the T is so crowded you’d rather walk all the way home and then there’s often break downs and medical emergencies.  If you miss your train home late in the day you’re probably waiting an hour to get the next one.

So what do I do now?  I drive to work.  Of course I time it and plan it as much as I do my public transport commute but then again if the ride is bad, I have my radio that I blast Ludicras’ “Move bitch”, or I can yack on my mobile phone without harrassing anyone.  And there’s always my BB to give me company.  Remember hands free people!

Have fun!

Here’s a bunch of things I love about cereal:

What are some of the things you love about cereal?

In archaeology I studied about the pulsating state model. The theory is that powerful empires like the Incas had tipping points in the form of natural or man-made catastrophes which caused them to shrink or diminish. After each dip they would make a short comeback but never as large as its zenith. The flickering (or rather pulsating) flames of these empires grew smaller and smaller till they faded away and were ultimately buried by time.

We’ve seen this with Rome, with Egypt, the Mughals and it probably happened earlier in the Harrappan civilization. But at times it feels like it is happening right before our eyes. I came across this article about St. Louis, MO which shows shrinking urban landscape since the late 19th century. Also great examples are cities like Detroit (or once booming town Flynt, MI), amongst others.

There are undertones of similar pulsating state decay in this awesome presentation called the Tragedy of Suburbia by James Howard Kunstler from the TED series. BTW this is an awesome site. I love it and highly recommend everyone watch a couple of vids. Enjoy!

Well that’s my Onion like rant for the week. It’s bizarre that there’s almost a tabloid like following around certain tech companies now days. We need to be wired at every second lest we miss some opportunity. When does it end?

My specific rant is in reaction to this comments thread on TechCrunch today and perhaps a gazillion other places as well or should I say Googol.

When there is nothing happening anything will fascinate us, cause nothing else is happening in the world right now. Time to media fast. Talk about random!

A few months back I tagged this awesome article I found on reddit which explained how to hack ones Canon camera. Since I had some down time this weekend I started tinkering with my digital Canon A550.

I downloaded the CHDK hack and played around with a bunch of the settings. Here are the results I got while having fun with the camera although none of these involve the hack yet. I still need to experiment with that. Will post some in the near future. Hope you enjoy this!

Meet Roslyn Lunetta who is responsible for a lot of happiness in the Monadnock valley in the Granite State - New Hampshire. She drives a vintage 1970s ice cream truck and provides exceptional service to nine towns in the area from Hancock to Jaffrey.

We had the pleasure to meet her over the July 4th weekend which we are spending up here with cousins. She is the coolest ice cream person I’ve met and she hung out with all of us for a bit.

We took a bunch of pictures of her and she did the same with her Nikon digital SLR which she uses to take pics of kids to whom she imparts happiness. Some of those kids are 100+ years old!

BTW she is a huge fan of Andy Rubin of Android fame who she called the love of her life. If you know him, do let him know!

The new layout for Wordpress 2.5 is awesome and they have ajaxified almost everything.  Very slick and easy to use.  I especially like that they simplified the navigation.  Now there are just 4 major tabs for managing your blog and this is very intuitive.  I hope we can replicate this simplicity on the HubSpot platform.

I found this awesome theme (thanks Antbag) which I used on Markitechture.com, here, and now on the SOPtalk blog.  Hopefully Seemantini, Hardik and I will be regular in posting to the blog.  The last post also was in 2006.  Shame on us but that is going to change!

Feel free to drop by SOP and check out the blog or the site if you are applying for school.  We have some useful advice on writing your statement of purpose and some sample essays.