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Also, 500 words is not a long essay. And standardized tests and grades are a poor judge of talent.

Agreed on both points. I think what all this boils down to is that the key to getting better answers is to do away with the questions. More schools are making SAT scores optional because, while it makes for easy racking and stacking, it tells you very little about the applicant beyond "alble/unable to score well on a big test." In reality, most of the application items are little more than good/neutral/bad check boxes (insert generic off-topic D&D joke here if you must). Outside of the truly exceptional and the painfully unqualified, most applicants are largely indistinguishable when judged by the typical criteria.

And then there's the essay. This should be an opportunity for the applicant to fill in some of the gaps left by the application, but all too often it is filled with trite nonsense like the example essay. The alternative is the set of mini-essays, but I personally despise that sort of application (any school that required one of those types of applications was immediately crossed off my list). Judging from the comments here, people tend to strongly prefer one, the other, or something else entirely. Maybe there's some utility in using the format to narrow the focus to particular personality types, but I don't see how employing a rigid structure in this part of the application is any more useful than requiring SAT scores.

My own opinion is that all of this should be optional but encouraged, with no limitations or requirements. Applicants who don't include something aren't penalized, but those who do have the advantage of presenting a more complete picture of themselves to the admissions staff (and anyone who sends a thousand-page manuscript is automatically rejected, no matter how ornate the binding is). The minimum/maximum lengths and BS topics absolutely have to go. Giving examples of preferred topics is helpful, but any required elements will make the essay less about the applicant and more about the requirement. Opening this part up to more than just essays (while requiring that it be the applicant's own work) is probably ideal, but I can understand why an admissions office would want to avoid truckloads of abstract sculptures and creative uses of fecal matter.

Personally, it didn't take me long to realize that I could just take something that I wanted to write and fit that to the essay topics. Once you understand the purpose of the essay, it becomes a simple matter to come up with an answer without knowing the question. When I applied to college, I wrote one essay and sent it with each of my applications. Aside from the 500-word limit (mine is 1850 words), it fits the topic of the MIT essay in question (not perfectly, but it wouldn't take too much massaging to fix that). It didn't get me into Harvard or anything, but it served its purpose and didn't require any effort to be wasted on bullshitting.

(Padding to reach 500 words.)

1) Free stuff. I know its stupid, but free stuff really will get you some attention. But DON'T go overboard.

It's not stupid, it is absolutely essential. Who wants to be stuck with a reputation for having crappy freebies? I happen to have a bit of experience in this area:

1997 Free Stuff Awards
1998 Free Stuff Awards
1999 Free Stuff Awards
2000 Free Stuff Awards

Many college students at these fairs aren't looking for jobs, they are just getting a feel for the job opportunities when they graduate. In many cases, they may not even have a clue about what to look for in an employer. The free stuff gives them an excuse to talk to company reps they might have otherwise ignored. Never underestimate the power of free stuff. It also doesn't hurt to share some of your goodies with other company reps, particularly those in less popular fields. Think about it, if you see a guy at a booth playing with a roomerang, wouldn't you try to find the company giving them out?

1) Free stuff. I know its stupid, but free stuff really will get you some attention. But DON'T go overboard.

It's not stupid, it is absolutely essential. Who wants to be stuck with a reputation for having crappy freebies? I happen to have a bit of experience in this area:

1997 Free Stuff Awards
1998 Free Stuff Awards
1999 Free Stuff Awards
2000 Free Stuff Awards

Many college students at these fairs aren't looking for jobs, they are just getting a feel for the job opportunities when they graduate. In many cases, they may not even have a clue about what to look for in an employer. The free stuff gives them an excuse to talk to company reps they might have otherwise ignored. Never underestimate the power of free stuff. It also doesn't hurt to share some of your goodies with other company reps, particularly those in less popular fields. Think about it, if you see a guy at a booth playing with a roomerang, wouldn't you try to find the company giving them out?

1) Free stuff. I know its stupid, but free stuff really will get you some attention. But DON'T go overboard.

It's not stupid, it is absolutely essential. Who wants to be stuck with a reputation for having crappy freebies? I happen to have a bit of experience in this area:

1997 Free Stuff Awards
1998 Free Stuff Awards
1999 Free Stuff Awards
2000 Free Stuff Awards

Many college students at these fairs aren't looking for jobs, they are just getting a feel for the job opportunities when they graduate. In many cases, they may not even have a clue about what to look for in an employer. The free stuff gives them an excuse to talk to company reps they might have otherwise ignored. Never underestimate the power of free stuff. It also doesn't hurt to share some of your goodies with other company reps, particularly those in less popular fields. Think about it, if you see a guy at a booth playing with a roomerang, wouldn't you try to find the company giving them out?

1) Free stuff. I know its stupid, but free stuff really will get you some attention. But DON'T go overboard.

It's not stupid, it is absolutely essential. Who wants to be stuck with a reputation for having crappy freebies? I happen to have a bit of experience in this area:

1997 Free Stuff Awards
1998 Free Stuff Awards
1999 Free Stuff Awards
2000 Free Stuff Awards

Many college students at these fairs aren't looking for jobs, they are just getting a feel for the job opportunities when they graduate. In many cases, they may not even have a clue about what to look for in an employer. The free stuff gives them an excuse to talk to company reps they might have otherwise ignored. Never underestimate the power of free stuff. It also doesn't hurt to share some of your goodies with other company reps, particularly those in less popular fields. Think about it, if you see a guy at a booth playing with a roomerang, wouldn't you try to find the company giving them out?

What I don't get is when do people have time to use WiFi at an airport?

When they fly from Logan.

Lock your damn door, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

But keep it open when you're there (and are awake and decent). You want to be social, don't you? At a tech school, just having your door open could make you the most social person around (sad but true).

If you're on the ground floor, don't forget about the windows. One year I watched the guy in the room next to me walk into the building, open his door, and run outside. It turns out that when he opened his door, he saw someone climbing into his window trying to steal his stereo. The building I was in had flimsy screens that would fall out with a slight nudge, making entry simple when the window was open for ventilation.

Oddly enough though, I made it through a year with an unlocked door with almost no trouble. My roommates (I had 3 that year) had trouble remembering to bring their keys with them, so they never locked the door (these doors didn't lock automatically when closed). On the night before I moved out at the end of the year, someone swiped my cheap phone, leaving all of the computer equipment untouched (that was the same night someone put a dead squirrel on my windshield, but that's another story). Thieves are strange, don't think you can understand what they're after.

1. Sex. Women do all their freaky stuff in college, so have an open mind and hit as much of it as you possibly can.

If you're at a tech school, this might be little or none. Don't obsess over sex - women at that age, while appealing, are probably still somewhere between "Oh my god, you'll never guess who looked at me in math class!" and "I wonder what I can get him to buy me if I wear this dress?" Mix in a male/female ratio that is highly in their favor, and you have enough emotional trauma for an entire season of after school specials. If you manage to find a good one, go for it, but you won't know that until you get to know her. Learn to talk to people and get to know them as human beings and not sex objects. Chances are, you'll have fonder memories of late-night conversations that go nowhere than of easy scores. Listen, talk, and don't be afraid to take a few chances.

2. Class. A good education is important, but don't let it interfere with #1.

Don't miss lectures. You still will of course, but don't get it in your head that you don't need to go. Don't fall asleep in the lecture until you've finished going through the day's material and are sure that you understand it better than the professor. If you have to cut corners, don't read the book, especially if it was written by one or more professors at your school.

3. Network. Not TCP/IP, but people. Every job you get in the future is going to be because of who you know, so get to know a LOT of people. Get to know them well so they don't forget you.

This might apply at the more well-known schools, but at the smaller ones, the only people there who will be of any importance will have dropped out by their Junior year (they will go back to get honorary degrees and have buildings named after them though). Instead, learn to talk to people. If you can't grab someone's attention from a crowd and get a clear and concise point across, you're not ready to graduate. Work the career fairs, even if you're not looking for a job. You'll still get lots of experience dealing with people, and if you come up with your own unique angle, they will remember you next year (even if the representatives are different). And there's plenty of Free Stuff to grab while you're there...

4. The Law. Graduating from college doesn't erase your law record, so don't get arrested.

And remember, at schools where the students are too geeky to think up good pranks, the cops might have nothing better to do than enforce laws pertaining to the possession and consumption of alcohol. If the police want to have a chat with you when you're out walking late at night, be ca

What I'd like to see: a compelling movie about Q.

Second of all, I'd like to see a movie/series about the beginings of the borg.

How about this plot synopsis I put together for Enterprise after the first few episodes? It has the Q, the beginning of the Borg, and convenient links to the rest of the Star Trek timeline.

The easies boundry would be anything with an ISBN.

That limits you to books that have been printed in the last 30 years or so. Even then, many book club-only printings do not have ISBNs.

There you quickly have a unique ID for each book as well.

Actually, you will have many unique IDs for each book. For public domain material, there is no limit to the number of different publishers that could print a book. Even for recent publications, books can change publishers (and publishers can change names, merge, etc.), resulting in considerable variation in the ISBN. Add in ISBN changes for different editions of a book, and the best you can do is keep a unique set of ISBNs for a particular book. But then you have anthologies, so do they count as single books or multiple books? If multiple, what about anthologies of short stories, poetry, essays, or mixtures of long and short works? ISBNs really don't provide you with anything unique beyond the link between the number and a specific published work.

See my Book List for examples of the above.

How often do you upgrade your computers?

As often as possible. However, most upgrades are just component upgrades: hard drives, RAM, video cards, connectivity, peripherals, etc. For full system replacements, I'm probably on a 3 or 4 year cycle. Here's how my primary desktop system has evolved:

1995: Purchased PowerMac 7500/100, added RAM, purchased laser printer.
1996: Added RAM, added hard drive, upgraded processor to 120MHz, purchased scanner.
1997: Added RAM, added hard drive (moved one to external case), upgraded processor to 150MHz, purchased 17" monitor.
1998: Added RAM, added hard drive (moved one to external case), added USB card, upgraded processor to 225MHz, upgraded CD-ROM drive, added video card, purchased 15" monitor.
1999: Added RAM, upgraded processor to 400MHz G3, purchased barebones Umax S900, moved contents of 7500 to S900, purchased CD-RW drive.
2000: Added RAM, added ATA/33 controller card, added hard drive, replaced video card.
2001: Added RAM, added hard drive, added Firewire/USB card, added video card, purchased 19" monitor, purchased photo inkjet printer, purchased Laserwriter 16/600.
2002: Purchased PowerMac G4 Dual 800, added RAM, added hard drive, added ATA/133 controller card, added hard drive, added hard drive.

And that brings us up to today. The 7500 and S900 are both still in use today, though the 7500 is only being used as a TV. The S900 sees about as much use as the G4; the G4 is primarily for video and graphics (and for playing around with Mac OS X), and the S900 is for most internet activities (web browsing, e-mail, etc.) and anything that requires Mac OS 9 or SCSI. I don't play games, so their requirements have not played a part in my upgrade schedule. 2003's upgrades will probably include an 18" LCD to replace the 17" CRT currently connected to the S900 and a TV to replace the 7500/15" monitor. I should be able to go for at least another two or three years without another desktop system, so the new line of PowerMacs doesn't mean much to me.

I know everyone here has been anxiously awaiting a picture of my computer setup, so here you go.

Yeah, I know, it's not much, but I don't consider myself a true geek anyway. I just have enough computing equipment to get by.