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100-word version
hackers
MIT students free to talk about bugs in Boston bus system
Three MIT students who'd been blocked by a judge from presenting their findings on "vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system" at this month's Defcon security conference are free to speak starting Friday. A U.S. District Court judge refused to extend the 10-day gag order issued against Zack Anderson (pictured), RJ Ryan, and Alessandro Chiesa just before the conference. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority had asked for a five-month restraining order to allow time to fix the vulnerabilities. San Francisco's Electronic Frontier Foundation represented the students. (Photo by Zack Anderson)
hackers
MIT brats' free-bus scheme blocked by judge
You can fill this blank in yourself: Three students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology were scheduled to present an analysis of "vulnerabilities in Boston's transit fare payment system" at the Defcon security conferences in Vegas. They were stopped at the last minute after the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority sued them for allegedly violating the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has chosen to represent the students. That's great news, if only because it involves the EFF standing up for something besides BitTorrent.
caption contest
"Yeah? Is this Yahoo HQ? I heard you are running low on people"
Financial engineer Joshua Persky, an MIT alum, is walking the streets of Manhattan looking for work. Can you suggest a better headline? Do so in the comments. The best one will become the new headline. Yesterday's winner: "Those Mormons might be on to something" by Duncan. (Photo from Getty/Spencer Platt)
Google's siren song calls MBAs to Mountain View
Nearly a quarter of business school graduates surveyed said the number one company they want to land a job at is, unsurprisingly, Google — what with the pools, hair cuts, massages, legendary cafeteria and valuable stock. Other tech companies included Apple in fourth, Microsoft in twelfth and Amazon in 23rd place. For you managers of the future looking to get an interview with Steve Jobs, the school Apple recruits most heavily at is Stanford, followed by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the University of Michigan and the University of Chicago. [Fortune] (Photo by Sam Pullara)
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social networks
Facebook chat beta required a 1500 SAT score, or at least a legacy
Facebook Chat launched in beta earlier this week, available first to students at Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, Berkeley, Brown, Dartmouth and MIT— schools known for their brilliant graduates who go out and change the world. Or at least make a lot of money. Or write nasty things about the people who do. Also: Harvard, Stanford, University of Chicago, Berkeley, Brown, Dartmouth and MIT were the first schools to make Facebook popular, having been the first networks allowed access Mark Zuckerberg's creation. So we have that to thank them for too. Harvard's Alexander Konrad begins to earn our forgiveness, panning the new feature in the Crimson.
caption contest
"And then I thought, 'Blue sneakers, why not?'"
"Everything happens for a reason," MIT's Henry Jenkins tells Outside.in CEO Steven Johnson in a SXSW keynote conversation. Does that include Johnson's wardrobe? Suggest a better caption in the comments below.
geek love
Love in the time of PDP-6
Before Jakob and Julia, before Brett Petersel's wad of cash, before Jason Calacanis's roaringly single '90s, there was Ed Yourdon, a young geek in love and already connected to the social graph. In 1965. Yourdon, known for his innovations in structured programming, graduated MIT that year and soon after started up at a NYC-based consulting firm. There, he reunited with Toni, a friend from high school and Yourdon's future wife. They soon split again. That's when the proto-poking began. Social media minx Alisa Leonard hosts Yourdon's entire account on her Socialized blog. Here's the 100-word version to help you remember a more innocent time for nerd romance.More »
subparchitecture
MIT sues Gehry for negligent design
MIT is suing famed architect Frank Gehry, for negligence. Let's get this straight: The man designs his buildings by piling up cardboard and crumpled paper, and yet his customers expect sturdiness? Predictably, the $300 million Stata Center is not withstanding New England's weather. Cracks have emerged, leaks have sprung, drainage is faulty, mold is growing, and snow and ice fall dangerously from its many curved surfaces and sharp edges. Beacon Skanska Construction is also named in the suit, but it argues that Gehry ignored warnings that the design was flawed. What did the brainiacs at MIT expect? More »
think of it as evolution in action
So the picture on the left is MIT student Star Simpson's attempt to win a Darwin Award. Obviously, a piece of socket board, a LED star, and a 9-volt battery aren't exactly threatening, though we can see how loose wires on a jacket could jar security guards with loose wires upstairs. A DIYer, Simpson fabricated the sweatshirt ornament in honor of an MIT electrical engineering course, inscribing on the back "Socket To Me / Course VI." One might conclude that security personnel at Boston's Logan International Airport may have overreacted — a bit. But even if she wore it out of habit, let us not forget that we can barely smuggle liquids onto planes these days.
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Bomb or not?
So the picture on the left is MIT student Star Simpson's attempt to win a Darwin Award. Obviously, a piece of socket board, a LED star, and a 9-volt battery aren't exactly threatening, though we can see how loose wires on a jacket could jar security guards with loose wires upstairs. A DIYer, Simpson fabricated the sweatshirt ornament in honor of an MIT electrical engineering course, inscribing on the back "Socket To Me / Course VI." One might conclude that security personnel at Boston's Logan International Airport may have overreacted — a bit. But even if she wore it out of habit, let us not forget that we can barely smuggle liquids onto planes these days.
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