Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!dali.cs.montana.edu!milton!hlab From: straz@media-lab.media.mit.edu.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Steve Strassmann) Newsgroups: sci.virtual-worlds Subject: Re: The Media Lab Message-ID: <1991May1.025229.29211@milton.u.washington.edu> Date: 1 May 91 00:53:02 GMT References: <1991Apr30.183007.26998@milton.u.washington.edu> Sender: hlab@milton.u.washington.edu (Human Int. Technology Lab) Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge, MA Lines: 68 Approved: cyberoid@milton.u.washington.edu From: trump@elaine45.stanford.edu (Michael Jason Lewis) Having just read _The_Media_Lab_ by Stweart Brand, I have been struck by a bolt of white light, obviously engineered by someone above, that has instructed me to apply my life's work to this VR field. Uh oh, another divine intervention. It's as if Cosmic Customer Support issues a patch release for the universe every so often. What do you think this is, unix? :) Wishing to learn from the masters, though, I would like to visit the AI/Media Lab and speak to some of these geniuses in their natural habitats. Um, I'd better just leave this one alone. 1) Is the lab general-access (guided tours, etc.) or can anyone get in? "or must you be authorized to get in?" The MIT AI Lab and Media Lab aren't exactly top-secret nuclear weapons facilities, but on the other hand, we're not set up to handle crowds of tourists either. We're just university research labs with a few students and professors. Speaking for the Media Lab, we can't afford to give general guided tours because then we'd have no time left to work on building things. Just imagine, say, your chemistry professor, handling dozens of visitors a day. It'd be nice to show visitors a cool explosion or two, but it'd be kind of a drag after the first few months, especially when you've got systems to build, papers to write, and grants to beg. It's true, we do give tours to corporate visitors and folks from the National Science Foundation, but heck, if a guy writes you a check for $500,000, the least you can do is invite him in for a cup of tea. We nalso have a few guided tours (once or twice a year) for people interested in becoming grad students. For more information about applying, contact Linda Peterson (linda@media-lab.media.mit.edu, or 617-253-5114). Getting in is pretty much the same routine as any other graduate school - an essay, some recommendations, etc. About those recommendations and having an impressive resume - it's never too early to start thinking about grad school (and/or jobs). It's relatively easy for MIT undergraduates to get part-time and summer jobs at MIT research labs because there's a bureaucracy set up to promote that. Perhaps the Stanford AI Lab and other colleges have a similar deal, if so, I strongly recommend you go for it. By all means, try to get a challenging summer job, and get involved in research as much as you can during the school year. Even though you're a freshperson, you might be able to get some real computer work experience if you look hard enough. If you're really determined and clever, you can probably figure out a way to do an independent study if nothing else falls into your lap. Keep looking around, asking questions, call the dean's office... people respect that kind of thing (well, up to a point) and might just find a way to give you some money. Good skill! [MODERATOR'S NOTE: The tour problem is endemic to all the labs. Tourists have to consider that, unless the work can get done, there won't be anything to see, in the lab or elsewhere. However, such a nice letter as this one will probably encourage more people to want to visit the Media Lab. :-) -- Bob Jacobson]