

Ask YC: What to do with myself? - huh

Dear YCers,<p>This summer I'm working part time in a media lab on my college campus. The lab is stocked with all sorts of creative media applications and technology. Brand new, top of the line Mac Pros, all of which have the full range of picture editing/movie and music making software, plus all of the cool peripherals to go along with them. Technically I'm supposed to be monitoring the lab and assisting with tech support, but this being the summer semester, I almost never see people in the lab. With all of this awesome technology at my disposal, I feel like I need to put my creative side to good use, but I'm a little overwhelmed by all of it. My question is this: I have the lab to myself for six hours a day, twice a week. What should I put my mind to? What would you do if you were in my place?
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blogimus
I would

1) Brainstorm: Write a list of the things I want to do that involves the
resources in the lab,

2) Prune: Pick the top five I want to do.

3) Summarize: For each one, write out a quick description which identifies
basic resources you need and major milestones to meet, and what you expect to
get at the end. Keeping it to two or three paragraphs for each idea.

4) Choose: then pick two. First one is the quickest to get done. The second is
the most challenging. Then decide which one, but shoot for doing both.

For bonus points, write time estimates for the milestones on the back of an
envelope and see how close you get to your schedule estimate. Out of
everything I do, estimating projects is the most challenging, especially
because I'm usually doing something new.

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brentr
What are the policies of the lab when it comes to the employees using the
technology for the greater good of mankind? Do you have a deep knowledge of
something? Use the media to create a series of video lectures on that topic. I
always love watching lectures about interesting things.

