Day Thirty-One: Return From My Silence...Almost Triumphantly

Although I deeply regret that the reader had to go a day without having any earthly idea what perils and challenges I had met since the last entry and that I have caused the reader to lose a great deal of sleep just wondering what I could possibly be detaining me, I assure you that this lapse in entries has not caused the reader to fall far behind in my endeavors and that it has been merely my work continuing work preparing for the imminent presentation date that has detained me. My diction in the this previous sentence does belie, however, the rigor and enjoyment I have derived from this final internship process; it is fascinating, I must say, to see the fruit of the past two months' labors culminate in a twenty-slide (31 MB thus far!) presentation.

It seems only proper that I discuss some of the ventures this final presentation has sent me on here, but I warn the reader, there is not much to say, for two reasons, I suppose: firstly, there has been little in the process that has not involved sitting in front of a computer laying out the presentation, and secondly, I do not wish to divulge too much about my work. Nevertheless, it seems harmless and noteworthy to mention that, Mr. Pow having benevolently lent me his digital camera yesterday, I spent a number of Tuesday's hours capturing images of various articles that I believed ought to have space in my presentation - the phantom (which I have not mentioned in some time), the Faraday cage scanning probe, a computer screen showing the acquisition and magnitude windows, and, the reader being reminded that I cannot take books from the library and cannot copy pages from them using the copiers within the library, diagrams in various imaging books that I thought would be pertinent to the subject at hand (these book photos came out blurred, but when all traditional modes of operation are closed to you, you have to be resourceful and thrifty!). Nevertheless, having but taken to pictures with a digital camera before, I was exceedingly proud to place these pictures in their appropriate positions within my presentation this morning...

I am afraid the remainder of the seven hours of yesterday and the nine hours of today have been consumed in the computer lab, but this I must admit, the reader will be interested to note,
that this activity does not hold the same negative connotation that it did on July 7th in my first entry of this summer. I would be negligent if I omitted discussion of the fact that this internship has certainly led me to a much wider understanding and appreciation - even if still grudging - for computers and their use...But I must cut this discussion short, I am afraid, to give justice to another pressing issue at hand...

That is, the old map in the second floor computer lab... Joe, computer technology transforms our environment and the manner in which we go about living our lives, and I must admit that RIT does a reputable job in recognizing this fact; but while the circuits and wiring and I- wouldn't-be-the-one-to-know what else are changing probably biannually in the computer lab, the map from 1990 hangs miserably from the wall. Would it be senscial for a technological institution such as yours to have computers from 1990 and try to see the modern world through that lens? The world, with is circuit of borders and matrix of human cultures and people is changing too, and while one must keep with the technology of the, times, one must keep closer, I say, to the changes of our world community...

In short, Joe, or whoever has the RIT money to spare at for an investment in a new world map rather than a De Bella's (sorry, I've never eaten there and am spelling it phonetically) submarine, I would like to call attention to the "undatedness" of the world map yet again.

I, in conclusion, I would like to call your attention to the fact that today's "Classical Piece of the Day" is...
Johann Strauss's Also Sprach Zarathustra (probably familiar to the reader for its selection as the main theme of 2001: A Space Odysessy)

Good Day,
Tyler C. Lucero