A reason to use something other than Google Maps
Google Maps is awesome. Groundbreaking. We all know it. But, as a professional pedestrian, one thing that always made me sad was no walking directions. Now some people might ask, Rachel, why the heck would you need walking directions? And I shall retort, have you seen the crazy, random, one-way, dead-end-y, zig-zaggy streets of Boston, Cambridge and Somerville? There is almost always a more efficient way to walk to a place than to drive it. So, driving directions are usually pointless for me. But lo! Ask.com has answered my prayers. Isn't that great? You can get walking directions to your heart's content. Now, once we mash that up with public transportation (mbta.com is close, oh so close), I'll be all set, knowing the most efficient way to get from point a to point b and back again without guesswork.
A classic Boston experience
Today was an incredibly cold and rainy day. I decided to try the new Starbucks pumpkin spice latte (with soy, of course). I don't know why I had it in my head that the "spice" would be anything other than syrup. Did I think they'd find some way to manipulate the bean to have actual pumpkin + spice brewed in there, a la Dunkin Donuts vanilla cinnamon? It's a weird concept that frankly kinda freaks me out anyway, so maybe the syrup is for the best. But I still didn't like it very much.
Today's fun fact. Starbucks bagels have like a bajillion calories. Don't get me started on the muffins. What's up with that? You can check it out right on starbucks.com.
Okay, so I'm sitting there, drinking my weird latte, trying to look somewhat erudite while reading Ambient Findability (which so far is a great book). This guy is having a very loud conversation with some other folks, which goes everywhere from the merits of legalizing torture to the right wing's obsession with gay marriage. Ahhhh, Cambridge! I immediately switched to my more pompous reading material -- a printout of a thread on the quantitative social science blog.
It was actually really interesting. In truth, I may not have ever read it, so I guess it was a good thing loud guy was there. While the subject matter was somewhat interesting to me, parts were a bit over my head. What really got me excited was the way academia seems to be really embracing this latest version of open dialog, particularly with regard to discussion about methodology. I'd just had a conversation with a student about the very powerful tendency for academics to keep a tight lid on how they analyze data, so it was nice to see that this may not be the case after all. It seems to me, in fact, that so far, academics can't help but share information. Whether it's loud guy or a stodgy old professor. By the way, loud guy could not have been any more than 23, and from what I heard, while he may be a bit enthusiastic, he's clearly very intelligent. He just wants to share it... with his loud voice. I'll chalk it up to youth. But my suggestion is that he gets some t-shirts made up with his web address on there of his blog, because if this boy don't blog, i'm a monkey's uncle... er, or, well at least he should blog. There, that's a bit safer.