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To the future occupants of my office at the MIT Media Lab

ethanzuckerman.com

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Re: To the future occupants of my office at the MIT Media Lab

#4
There's something so beautiful about a place so dysfunctional that you can't even replace standard office equipment; I know it was alluded to in the article, but in case anyone forgot, the MIT Media Lab played a part in Jeffery Epstein and he often leveraged it for good PR https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/business/mit-media-lab-je...

Re: To the future occupants of my office at the MIT Media Lab

#5

There's something so beautiful about a place so dysfunctional that you can't even replace standard office equipment; I know it was alluded to in the article, but in case anyone forgot, the MIT Media Lab played a part in Jeffery Epstein and he often leveraged it for good PR https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/business/mit-media-lab-je...

Some quick additional info, since I wasn’t familiar with all the context. I am glad I looked deeper, I am ashamed to admit I assumed some wrongdoing given he had resigned!

Wikipedia notes that he “...resigned from his position[19] as director of the MIT Center for Civic Media, in protest of the Media Lab's involvement with Epstein.”[0]

[0]: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethan_Zuckerman#Career

Re: To the future occupants of my office at the MIT Media Lab

#7
It's very MIT.

It's also an illustration of what went wrong with the "internet of things" concept. Sensors are easy today. Actuators are hard. Most "IoT" things can't do much.

Try to buy a home power window. They exist. They're an exotic luxury home item. Even controllable home HVAC dampers are rare. It makes good sense to have a system where windows, fans, dampers, heaters, and compressors are all coordinated to maximize comfort at minimum cost, automatically. Will NeXT sell you that? No. It takes too much installation.

You might see that at a well run convention hotel. They have to keep customers happy, yet many of their big rooms are empty much of the time. So they'll have CO, CO2, temperature, humidity, and motion sensors tied to a control system that senses what the room needs for the current people load.

There's real IoT, but it's under commercial building automation.

Re: To the future occupants of my office at the MIT Media Lab

#8
post #3

Awesome post. Who was the cranky researcher who developed the climate-controlled window system with the Linux box and python scripts? I want to do the same thing.

Same, but it seems overkill. I'm in an old office where the only openable window is consumed by a window A/C unit.

I want to put a 120mm fan in a small opening next to it that'll turn on when it's more than 3C cooler outside, and more than 24C inside.

Seems like an Arduino would do it.

Re: To the future occupants of my office at the MIT Media Lab

#10
post #3

Awesome post. Who was the cranky researcher who developed the climate-controlled window system with the Linux box and python scripts? I want to do the same thing.

Same, but it seems overkill. I'm in an old office where the only openable window is consumed by a window A/C unit. I want to put a 120mm fan in a small opening next to it that'll turn on when it's more than 3C cooler outside, and more than 24C inside. Seems like an Arduino would do it.

So when it is 21C outside, and 24+C inside is close enough.

Two analog temp switches will be far more reliable, easier, and adjustable.

(I get the fun with an Arduino, but it is hard to beat century old tech)

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