Columns

Jasmin Sadegh | Engin-nerd

Alex Prewitt | Live from Mudville

Seven semesters ago, an ephemeral time period by any standard except perhaps one labeled "Kardashian Marriage," I began writing this column. Today marks my penultimate penning, the final weekly installment of "Live From Mudville." And there are so many people I would like to thank before the orchestral music plays me off the stage.

Ben Schwalb | Das Coding

The standard definition of cloud computing is a service that allows you to store your files in the cloud (i.e., on a server connected to the Internet) so that you can access them anywhere, anytime. But of course, there's a little more to it than that.

Alyson Yee | Odd Jobs

For those whom Western medicine has failed, traditional herbs and cures can be an appealing alternative. Complementary and alternative medicine has been rising in popularity since the 1970s, in part because it seeks to treat diseases more holistically. In fact, some practices don't distinguish particular causes or symptoms and instead approach general wellbeing. In traditional Eastern theory, qi is the vital energy that flows through the body along 12 main meridians, named after Chinese rivers. Illnesses are caused by blockages in its flow. The practice of acupuncture is that of inserting small needles at some 365 basic pressure points in the body to correct imbalances in qi.

Chris Poldoian | Extra Butter

Think of the ingredients for your favorite recipe. There's probably butter, salt and other stuff you'd find in the various aisles at Stop and Shop. What about liquid nitrogen or sodium alginate? I bet your recipe needs a skillet - why not trade it in for a thermal immersion circulator?

Alex Prewitt | Live from Mudville

On Patriots' Day, that glorious Massachusetts and Maine?only holiday when two states get to bask in our New England eliteness while the rest of the country suffers a painstaking case of the "Mondays," I undertook the most grueling task I have ever faced, one that promised to test - and likely break - my every will and push me to a breaking point never before experienced.

Jack Webster and Hannah Furgang | A Piece of Advice

Dear Jack and Hannah, Due to a combination of lack of sleep and Adderall, my grip on reality has become increasingly tenuous. Given the number of surreal things that happen in college anyway, how do I differentiate between reality and hallucinations? Sincerely, Delusional in Dowling

Alex Arthur | King Arthur's Court

Alex Arthur | King Arthur's Court

Elizabeth Landers | Campus Chic Report

Though taking photographs of stylish passersby used to be the least glamorous part of fashion photography, it has now become the "it" facet of the industry and its own legitimate business. Given our celebrity?obsessed culture, it must seem positively mundane and boring to see normal women wearing great looks when they have to compete with the perfectly manicured celebrities adorning most magazines. That is, until a few years ago when street?style photography became its own highly influential niche in the fashion industry.

James Barasch | Barasch on Books

This week "Barasch on Books" examines a subject underrepresented in serious history, reviewing renowned journalist S.C. Gwynne's book "Empire of the Summer Moon." Mr. Gwynne tells two stories: One is a vivid historical account of the bloody 40?year struggle between the Comanche Indians and American settlers for control of the West, and the other traces the life of Quanah Parker, a half?white Comanche who would become their last and greatest free warchief, and later, their most important advocate and representative to the American public. It is an emotional tale of heroic resistance, tragic defeat and triumphant resilience.

Alex Prewitt | Live from Mudville

This is a scam of Winklevossian proportions. Looking for evidence of sweeping NCAA corruption, of the proletariat jealousy plaguing college sports' governing body? Look no further. March Madness will begin later this week, the bracket officially announced Sunday in a travesty of shameful decision-making. Sixty-eight teams. Four will reach New Orleans. And Harvard is only a No. 12 seed.        Are you kidding? We're talking about Harvard, folks; the pantheon of upper-class academic and fashion prominence down Mass. Ave, and yet again the NCAA fails to recognize the superiority oozing from ivy-classical architecture in equal parts crimson and green. I'm surprised that Harvard wasn't mysteriously left out of the tournament all together. Thesis: Harvard should have been a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and its absence from the ranks of the nation's great men's basketball teams demonstrates a longstanding anti-Harvard bias prevalent not only in collegiate athletics, but in this nation. Supporting evidence: In clinching their first bid since 1946, the Crimson had 26 wins this season. Franklin Delano Roosevelt, a Harvard graduate, spent only 12 years in office. Twenty-six versus twelve. That's math even I can do. Snubbing Harvard is just plain un-American. Do you hate Harvard? Then you hate this country. More supporting evidence: Coach Tommy Amaker's unit boasts wins over MIT, Yale, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia, Penn, Brown and Princeton. That's not a resume, that's a curriculum vitae worthy of a presidential appointment. So Harvard's weak Ivy League schedule equates to the Crimson deserving a No. 12 seed, meaning that they'll face a first-round matchup against No. 5 Vanderbilt in the decidedly cardigan-lacking Albuquerque. The Commodores don't stand a chance, and neither does the rest of March Madness.    Listen, Harvard needed this. The student body is athletically starved. Not since the illustrious Ed Smith reached the NBA in 1953-54 have the Crimson demonstrated this much fanaticism for hoops. Rare is the occasion when success marches through the Harvard gates all willy-nilly. When Princeton beat Penn last week, sending Harvard to the tournament, some players were studying in the library; for a Harvard man is far too consumed in learned affairs to engage in such plebeian celebration. This is not about the program, about the tradition of triumph that Amaker has reintroduced into the Harvard community. This is about something bigger. Harvard made the Boston Herald's front page on Monday, but where was the Boston Globe or the New York Times? Denying veritas, that's where. The least the Times could do was muster a reaction story on March 7 that quoted passers-by on the Harvard campus. Take sophomore Danielle Rabinowitz, for example, who told Bill Pennington that, "People always stereotypically feel that our conversations are generally about philosophy, or obscure topics that the common man can't relate to. I think that just adding this element of sports to the mix kind of grounds us in a more human way that is really great." Spot on, Danielle, but let's not forget that we refer to athletics as "sport" in the singular. A-minus. Tyler Neill was spotted walking along campus, reading a copy of Kant's "Critique of Pure Reason." He said, "I watch sports none at all." Impeccable sentence structure, and an even better choice of literature. If only the NCAA selection committee adhered to pure reason, then Harvard would have been a No. 1 seed instead of Kentucky. Come on, Vanderbilt beat Kentucky, and Harvard will beat Vanderbilt. Transitive properties never lie. The East Regional semifinal and final will take place at the TD Garden, Harvard's backyard. This amounts to nothing more than a glorified taunt from the selection committee. "Try to make it," they say. "It won't happen." Well, what happened when people told Matt Damon he couldn't become the Sexiest Man Alive? That's what I thought.

Ben Schwalb | Das Coding

As spring break approaches, many college students are dreading spending yet another session in front of their relatives' computers, installing printers and explaining that if you double?click too slowly, it's not really a double?click anymore. However, few Generation Y'ers realize that many of the terms and strategies we attempt to teach others are lies.

Elizabeth Landers | Campus Chic Report

So you want to work in the fashion industry? Then, first you must intern somewhere. As midterms overwhelm us, we must all be reminded that summer will be upon us (and hopefully spring will hurry on up so I can break out those espadrilles and white dresses) which means that internship application time is … now. There are many areas one can go into in fashion: design, marketing, PR, advertising, publishing, copy, photography or coffee fetching. Some of these tips are specific to the fashion industry, but others might be good life lessons.

Alyson Yee | Odd Jobs

For some people, making a living playing video games sounds like a dream come true. They always say you should do what you love, right? Personally, my video game prowess comprises one ill−fated Halo tournament with high school buddies, when I trapped myself in a corner for most of the round and only managed to shoot at the sun. While I've never understood the appeal myself, I've had enough obsessed friends to realize that there's an entire culture surrounding fantastical worlds. The games are notoriously addictive, spawning urban legends about players dying because they forgot to eat or pee for days on end. But there is something admittedly really cool about interfacing (albeit in a bizarre, fictional way) with 10 million other players worldwide.

Ben Schwalb | Das Coding

The majority of the world seems to have reached a consensus that our current transportation systems are not sustainable. Most notably, the transportation system in America accounts for about one−third of the country's greenhouse gas emissions. For one thing, we rely too much on cars.

Alex Prewitt | Live from Mudville

A clear and present danger exists among sports media, an inevitable vortex of sorts that consumes the young and veterans alike, gathering them up like houses and cows in a tornado. This is the danger of the "false narrative," derived from a minute sample size and extrapolated into a national sensation. We talk about bandwagon fans. There are bandwagon media members, too.

Ben Schwalb | Das Coding

So tech has been in the news a lot recently. Congress flip−floppedSOPA and PIPA into nonexistence. MegaVideo.com was shut down. But what does it mean? And why should you still care now that it's already happened?

Elizabeth Landers | Campus Chic Report

On Feb. 5, Target added yet another luxury label designer to its ever−increasing list of collaborations. Jason Wu, the fashion designer who dreamt up Michelle Obama's ethereal inauguration gown, channeled his ladylike silhouettes for a 16−look collection. The bargain−hunting masses, whom I enthusiastically endorse, will flock to Target for his frocks. But I am going to be sitting this one out. Read on, and I'll explain the pros and cons of these collabs.

Sam Gold | The OT

Sports have always provided a lifeline for the underprivileged and downright destitute, and for the rest of us more fortunate but less gifted, a trove of heartwarming, Alger−esque stories. This brand of story has appeared and reappeared over time in some form or another, but the theme remains the same: how athletics helped a young man or woman out of poverty.