Nolan's Notes

Hello everyone, I apologize profusely for not posting for a while, but be assured that the semester is going well and I’m back into the swing of things.

Over the break, I mostly relaxed and visited family and high school friends, tried to play in the 16″ of snow we got (a 40-year-record for Portland), and did some website work. Before I knew it, January had rolled around and I was leaving to fly back to Pittsburgh. As most of you know, the Steelers won the Superbowl this year, but apparently the tradition is that all of the college students have a “party” in Oakland to celebrate afterwards. Their interpretation of party included burning garbage bins,  breaking a bus stop, trying to uproot trees, and generally showing their enthusiasm for Pittsburgh’s win. Once a few of my friends and I got there, most of the ruckus was calmed, and mounted patrol units started coming in to clear people out. I’m definitely looking forward to the next time Pittsburgh wins!

The week before last was “Engineers Week”, a nationwide celebration for engineers and by engineers. Carnegie Mellon demoed some cool student projects during the open house including the awesome Hexabot robot (made by a member of our Robotics Club) and a project called HandTalk that translates pseudo-sign-language into words on a cell phone.

Also, earlier this week I had a first experience with “snow showers” (not to be confused with the Northwest’s “<rain> showers”)…they were so weird! Lastly, we had a great Kiltie Band concert last night, especially because everyone played in their kilts!

I’m looking forward to a great 2009. So long!

Also, here’s a bonus panorama of the CMU “cut” and “mall” last Wednesday. After snowing last weekend, it has been 50° and beautiful in Pittsburgh these last few days, and I felt like taking a few pictures to prove it.