I've been getting used to living in a dorm. Unlike my roommate, who had already gotten posters, I didn't have much in the way of decor for my side of the room. That changed yesterday, when I went to the poster sale and got some posters. Now my dorm is actually worth taking pictures of, so for all of you curious eyes, here are my environs:

Under that blob of sheets is my bed. It's pretty high up. I could have it lowered, but I haven't done that yet. The posters are of John Lennon, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Back to the Future, and the Beatles. Next to the microwave and fridge is a sink, which is pretty cool. And here's a closeup of my desk.

It's good to have a desk that's big enough for me to do work at. The desk in my room at home was fine when I was younger, but there's no space to put anything on it. I can even put a large printer on this desk and have plenty of room to use my computer or study. (Note also the recently emptied jar from the Change Contest.)

In other news, I finally have an Internet connection in my dorm. I called the Department of Housing a few times last week, but since they only work regular office hours and I have classes to go to, our paths didn't actually cross. I talked to another Linux user who was having the same problem -- there was just no way to get onto the university's wired network. Finally, while I was on one of the wireless networks in my dorm's common room, he sent me a fix. When I went back to my room to try it, I connected my Ethernet cord to the wall and... it just worked. I didn't have to do anything. I'm not sure how that happened, but they did know what room I was in, so they might have just turned off authentication for me. Or, my credentials for the wireless network worked for the wired network. I'm not sure, and I don't want to jinx it. But even if it stops working, at least I know how to set it up properly.

Here's the mindset of incoming college freshmen like me. It's an annual list designed to make anyone over 30 feel extremely old. For example: according to our worldview, there has never been a Cold War or a Berlin Wall.

Here are 10 amazing facts about the earth. I don't know if they're the most amazing, as the article claims, but they're pretty amazing.