November 2010

Billion Prices Project: Introducing Real-Time Economics

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on November 29, 2010

Billion Price Project tracks daily economics changes.

The Billion Prices Project (BPP), an initiative started by a pair of alumni Sloan professors, collects prices from hundreds of online retailers around the world on a daily basis. The result is an Internet-based resource that measures price changes from around the world and gives real-time inflation estimates.

Currently BPP monitors daily price fluctuations of ~5 million items sold by ~300 online retailers in more than 70 countries. That’s a lot of numbers—and crunching them is producing results. Consult the Inflation Map, for example, to drill down to a country of interest for its daily price index and inflation rate for each of the past 365 days.

The co-founders, Alberto Cavallo MBA ’05 and Roberto Rigobon PhD ’97, are both members of Sloan’s Applied Economics Group, with expertise in Latin American economics. They are also using the data to investigate price-stickiness, price adjustments to shocks, the relationship between asset and retail prices, sales strategies, and premiums paid for green or organic products around the world.

Index Universe says the project provides pricing data at much greater speed than conventional inflation indices, but also in greater detail across countries.

The article notes that this type of data also is helpful in countries where the official inflation statistics are unreliable: “MIT has been publishing alternative inflation estimates for Argentina since 2008, for example, and its index has become a widely used measure of inflation there. MIT estimates that annual inflation in Argentina is over 20 percent, compared to the government’s official figure of around 11 percent.”

Read a News@MITSloan article for background on the project.

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Photo of the Week by Owen Franken ’68—Nov. 27, 2010

by Amy Marcott on November 27, 2010

in Franken Photo of the Week

Women monks on their way to receive offerings of food in Rangoon, Myanmar (Yangon, Burma)/(© Owen Franken).

Curious about Owen Franken? View more of his work via the Franken Photo of the Week category, learn more in this profile, read a What Matters opinion column he wrote called “Life in Brownian Motion,” or visit his Web site.

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Slideshow: Alumna Sets Marathon Record

by Liv on November 26, 2010

in Athletics

Click the image to view slideshow.

Slice readers may recall the story we posted last week about the class of 2009 alumna who became the youngest woman to run marathons in all fifty states, as well as Washington D.C. We just received a bundle of pictures from the record setter, Morgan Cummings, which are viewable in a slideshow on the Alumni Association website. Check it out!

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Politics Survey: What Do Students Think?

by Nancy DuVergne Smith on November 25, 2010

in Campus Culture,Student Life

The Tech's politics survey in charts.

For one thing, MIT students think that the economy is the top political issue facing the country. We know that because The Tech surveyed undergraduate and graduate students with questions paralleling many asked by the Pew Internet & American Life Project.

With responses from 20 percent of MIT students, The Tech offers a snapshot of student political thinking compared to the Pew results for Americans in general and for 18-29-year-old young adults plus they compared views by MIT course and living group. Here are a few highlights:

How MIT Students Compare to—All Americans

Conservatives: 12 percent report being conservative vs. 30 percent of Americans overall; however the percentage of moderates was virtually the same.
Evolution: 75 percent believe living things evolved due to natural processes vs. 52 percent of surveyed Americans.

How MIT Students Compare to—Young Adults

Optimism: 34 percent say America is heading in the right direction vs. 18 percent of young adults.
Voters: 66 percent are registered to vote vs. 77 percent of young adults.
Liberals: 52 percent describe themselves as left of moderate vs. 37 percent of young adults.

How MIT Students Compare—to One Another

Living Group Politics: Senior House was the most liberal dorm compared to McCormick, the most conservative.
Course Politics: Course 24-Linguistics and Philosophy was the most liberal compared to Course 16-Aeronautics and Astronautics, the most conservative.

To get the nitty gritty, download Nov, 2, 2010, issue of The Tech (PDF) for details and charts on pages 8-9.

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Holiday Gift Giving—MIT Style

by Amy Marcott on November 24, 2010

in Alumni Life,Authors,Modern Geekhood

Time for the second (possibly annual) edition of ways to infuse your holiday gift-giving with MIT-ness. Items below—in a range of price points—are either created by MITers or about MIT. View last year’s list as well.

Computers and Electronics

e-Readers
The Amazon.com Kindle, Sony Reader, and Barnes & Noble NOOK all use electronic ink technology developed at the MIT Media Lab.

Hyperscore music composition software
A program designed to teach students and adults how to compose music simply by drawing lines on the screen. It was created by MIT Media Lab spin-off Harmony Line, Inc.

LEGO Mindstorms are based on MIT's programmable brick technology.

LEGO Mindstorms
These robotic invention kits grew out of a 20-year collaboration between the Media Lab and LEGO company. They are based on MIT’s programmable brick technology, where a tiny computer is embedded inside a traditional LEGO brick. With this technology, kids (or adults) can build and program robots or other computerized contraptions via sensors and motors.

Interactive fiction
Nick Montfort SM ’98, an MIT associate professor in the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies and a digital media producer, creates programs (sometimes called “games”) that let users type commands to a character who interacts with a simulated world. Learn more about and download some interactive fiction.

Mobile Apps

You might have to buy a gift card and then strongly suggest your recipient try these out. Or stand over their shoulder to make sure they buy exactly what you suggest. Either way.

Satellite Augmented Reality
By Adam Eisenman SM ’07—for iPhone 3GS and 4

Point your iPhone camera to the sky and find out which set of more than 370 satellites are visible above in real time using the Satellite Augmented Reality app.

Point your iPhone camera to the sky and find out which set of more than 370 satellites are visible above using the Satellite Augmented Reality app.

Find out which set of more than 370 satellites are visible from your current location in real time simply by pointing your iPhone camera. The app also includes a mechanical slide rule interface and provides pointing directions (azimuth and elevation angles) toward each of the satellites or any other potential geo satellite location. You can also input a virtual location and discover what the view of the sky would be there.

JumpTask
By Ryan Kabir ’05 and Alvin Liang ’05, MNG ’08—currently web-based, available for iPhone within a few weeks

Ask for small favors from nearby friends (or strangers!) without overly inconveniencing them. You can even offer a tip to show your gratitude. Pay someone $2 to put $1 in your expiring parking meter, for example. Or ask someone to verify a restaurant is open. These work best with location-specific requests.

Screen shot of the Locale app. Specify conditions, including time of day, place, and more, under which your phone's settings should change.

Locale
By MIT students in the 2008 EECS class Building Mobile Applications with Android

Clare Bayley ’10, Carter Jernigan ’08, Jasper Lin MNG ’08, Christina Wright MNG ’08, and additional contributor Jennifer Shu MNG ’05 won grand prize in the Android Developer Challenge with this app. Use it to specify situations and conditions under which your phone’s settings should change. Like to automatically revert to vibrate in a movie theatre, or to let VIP callers always ring through, or to alert you when your battery is low upon walking in your front door. You can also add third-party plug-ins for more features. Astrid, for example, will remind you to pick up milk when you drive near the grocery store (among other cool things).

Crittercism
By Robert Kwok ’05 and Jeeyun Kim ’05—for iPhone

For the iPhone app developer, this manages support requests from within the app and offers a way to reply to users directly. Integrate it into your app in less than 5 minutes and take care of any bugs or complaints before they hit the app store as negative ratings. Go to the website to sign up for private beta testing.

Metal Detect
By Adam Eisenman SM ’07—for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad

Convert your device into a metal detector. Just calibrate and pass it over metallic objects and the dial moves according to the amount of metal detected. You’ll hear audio feedback too. Great for checking your person before passing through airport security or finding treasure at the beach. Eisenman has created numerous apps, including trackers for public transportation in various cities. Discover more.

IdeaTable
By Ryan Kabir ’05—for iPad

Organize tasks and ideas as well as identify patterns and relations in your thinking through virtual cards/Post-It Notes. Write one idea per note then shuffle and sort however you like on the table.

Alumni, have you created any mobile apps? We’d love to hear about them. Post in the comments.

MIT Press Books

Alumni receive 20% off any MIT Press title. A few of the most recent publications with MIT connections are listed below.
Becoming MIT book cover
Becoming MIT: Moments of Decision
Edited by David Kaiser, MIT associate professor of science, technology, and society

The evolution of MIT, from William Barton Rogers’s novel laboratory-based system of instruction to today’s pioneering research, as seen in a series of crucial decisions over the years.

Operations Rules: Delivering Customer Value through Flexible Operations
By David Simchi-Levi, MIT professor of engineering systems and civil engineering

Simchi-Levi, considered one of the premier thought leaders in supply chain management, offers a set of rules that will help managers achieve dramatic improvements in operations performance.

Reinventing the Automobile: Personal Urban Mobility for the 21st Century
By (the late) William J. Mitchell, former dean of MIT’s School of Architecture and Planning; Christopher E. Borroni-Bird; and Lawrence D. Burns

Explores how to leave behind unwieldy, gas-guzzling, carbon-dioxide-emitting vehicles for cars that are green, smart, connected, and fun. Mitchell, who pioneered urban designs for networked “smart” cities and helped oversee an ambitious building program that transformed MIT’s physical campus, died at age 65 on June 11, 2010, after a long battle with cancer.

Looking for other books by members of the MIT community? Find a list the Atlantic website deemed part of the Tech Canon.

Arts and Crafts

Photomosaics
While at MIT, Robert Silvers SM ’96 invented the process of using thousands of tiny photographs to create a larger image and has since displayed his artwork worldwide. The American Spirit poster replicates a Time/Life cover of the Statue of Liberty. Books include his original artworks, a Disney collection, and portraits.

Origami T-shirts
Origami master Brian Chan ’02, SM ’04, PhD ’09 also creates 2-D art and metalwork. Buy some origami-themed T-shirts he designed. View more of his work.

Money

Of course, when all else fails or you procrastinated so long that not even the most expedited shipping will deliver the present in time, money works. Douglas Crane MBA ’98 is VP of family owned Crane & Co. cotton papers, which has continuously supplied the United States Treasury with its currency paper—and an evolving array of embedded security features—since 1879.

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Thanksgiving: How to Ramp Up the Geek Level

by Liv on November 23, 2010

in Modern Geekhood

There’s something sweet about observing Thanksgiving in a traditional manner, but if that’s not cutting it for you this year then we at Slice have some suggestions for how to geek it out. Like almost everything (Halloween, Valentine’s Day, March 14) — Thanksgiving, too, can be geekified.

Want to make the perfect turkey? Learn how to AND learn the scientific reason behind it in this CNET video.

Hoping to play on your iPhone but still revel in the Thanksgiving spirit? Install a Thanksgiving iPhone App! There are so many to choose from! Word Spree: Thanksgiving Lite, for example, involves creating absurd and quirky Thanksgiving-themed stories.

Word Spree: Thanksgiving Lite
After everyone has eaten and the dishes have been cleared, invite your guests to make an LED turkey centerpiece. The folks at Sparkle Labs can help you.

Make your own LED turkey centerpiece! Credit: Sparkle Labs
After you’ve completed the LED turkey centerpiece, maybe it will be time for a drink. Wired has 14 geeky cocktails to choose from.

Credit: www.geekologie.com
Tomorrow, when you’re wondering what to do with the leftover turkey and that bag of onions you ended up not needing, go to the store and pick up Jeff Potter’s Cooking for Geeks. Prepare to be inspired.

Cooking for Geeks: Real Science, Great Hacks, and Good Food by Jeff Potter

Whether your Thanksgiving is traditional, geeky, or some combination of the two, we hope it’s a good one!

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Koch Institute Opens—Ahead of Schedule

by Amy Marcott on November 22, 2010

in Campus Culture,Classroom,Engineering,Health,Research

At night, the center vertical panel of windows cast a golden glow.

At night, the center vertical panel of windows casts a golden glow.

Cancer researchers and staff recently began moving into the seven-story David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT—a month ahead of the scheduled December opening. Located on Main Street between Ames and Vassar Streets, the new building is adjacent to the Stata Center and is surrounded by the Whitehead Institute, the Broad Institute, and the rest of MIT’s biomedical research community. It serves as the center of cancer research at MIT and beyond. Learn more about the philosophy behind the building and view a slide show of how the building will transform East Campus environs.

Access is currently restricted to employees (and movers) as people settle in over the course of seven weeks, and the Koch Institute will be formally dedicated on March 4, 2011, as part of MIT’s 150th anniversary celebration. Here are some other facts and photos to enjoy.

Big empty space (and former parking lot)—we remember you when. Photo: April 2008, from MIT Facilities.

Local architecture firm Ellenzweig designed the 365,00-square-foot building that will house some 25 faculty labs and about 600 researchers. Sustainable design elements include a storm-water filtration system, heat recovery methods incorporated into the HVAC systems, low-flow fume hoods to reduce ventilation requirements, low-velocity duct work to reduce fan energy, and a construction waste-management plan that recycled and salvaged waste.

A long corridor facing Main Street will feature a gallery displaying scientific images submitted by members of the MIT community. The plaza and courtyard outside the building (shown below) should serve as a gathering place for those who work and study on the east side of campus.

building also features the Swanson Biotechnology Center, a 20,000-square-foot cluster of “core facilities” available to the entire MIT community that offer researchers access to cutting-edge technology that individual labs likely could not afford to purchase. Those include technology for whole-animal imaging, cell imaging, DNA sequencing, and nanomaterial characterization.

Located next to the Stata Center (shown left), the new building also features the Swanson Biotechnology Center, a 20,000-square-foot cluster of “core facilities” available to the entire MIT community. These offer researchers access to cutting-edge technology that individual labs likely could not afford to purchase, including technology for whole-animal imaging, cell imaging, DNA sequencing, and nanomaterial characterization.

All of the building’s common areas—meeting rooms, tea rooms, elevators, even the bathrooms—are clustered in the center of the building to help promote chance encounters that could lead to new research collaborations.

What’s happening in cancer research? The MIT News Office recently published a four-part series spotlighting targeted cellular cancer treatments and what needs to be done to make them a reality. Check out these articles.

A better way to target tumors
In spite of slow progress toward targeting cancer drugs to individual patients, hope remains.

Turning off cancer genes
RNA interference holds much promise as a cancer treatment, but technical challenges remain.

Using the body’s own defenses to combat cancer
By engineering T cells to attack tumors, researchers hope to add a new weapon to their cancer-fighting arsenal.

Direct delivery
Cancer scientists believe nanoparticles could accurately target tumors, avoiding side effects.

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Symmetry breaking in 10-250

by Patrick on November 21, 2010

in Classroom,Prof. Winston's Ideas

Professor Patrick Henry Winston ’65, SM ’67, PhD ’70

Gerry Sussman came by, as he often does. “You don’t look happy,” he said.

PHW: Well, I thought I just got off a pretty good lecture, but they didn’t laugh much at the jokes.

GJS: Everyone has bad days.

PHW: The students have been flat all semester. Maybe I’ve lost a step.

GJS: Everyone has bad years.

Gerry taught 6.001 to extremely large classes for more than 15 years, so I knew he knew what he was talking about.

PHW: It’s strange. You would think with 200 students, the law of averages would dictate that each year would feel the same, but that’s not the way it works. I wonder if it is because the outliers determine the look and feel.

GJS: No, actually, it’s symmetry breaking.

At this point, I vaguely recalled the spinning-coin idea. Inherently, the stable states are lying down, showing heads or tails, but while the coin is spinning, the situation is symmetric, and you can’t tell which state the coin will be in when it falls over.

GJS: The students don’t realize it, but they all want to be like everyone else, so on the first day of class, they are all sensing the overall mood. Within a few minutes, the symmetry breaks spontaneously, and the class falls into a fixed state.

PHW: So if you have a bad first day, you’ve had it, and there is nothing you can do after that.

GJS: Yes.

Come to think of it, that first day wasn’t so great. The OpenCourseWare folks are recording my lectures this year, and it was a little disconcerting to wear a microphone and know each blunder would be a forever blunder.

PHW: So, there is nothing you can do other than put extra effort into the first lecture.

GJS: No, actually, I used to have my UROPs and graduate students come to the first lecture. They were instructed to sit down front, nod approvingly and frequently, and laugh at all the jokes.

Great idea. I knew the standard model of physics would come in handy someday.

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