An Ongoing List of Terms and Acronyms Related to ITP
When I got here, I quickly realized that just being an ITP student means having to learn a whole new jargon. Now that I’ve picked up most of these terms and acronyms, it’s probably helpful to share them with my readers, since I will conceivably soon get to the point where I forget that this terminology isn’t common knowledge for everyone. So, without further ado:
ITP: Interactive Telecommunications Program, the masters program I’m doing
The floor: In its broadest use, this refers to the entire 4th floor of the Tisch building occupied by ITP. It’s somewhat synonymous with the way we used the phrase ‘studio’ at the CMU School of Design; it is most often encountered in contexts like, “You should spend time working on your projects on the floor rather than at home.” (The CMU Design version: “You should spend time working on your projects in studio rather than at home.”)
ER: refers to the Equipment Room, NOT the Emergency Room! I actually work here, staffing the ER part-time. Its function is to provide ITP students and alumni with a variety of audiovisual and computer equipment available for check-out.
Shop: This is not a store but instead refers to the small wood shop we have on the floor. Referring to it as just “shop” is pretty standard jargon in design, but I figured I should clarify this for my family and friends who don’t have design backgrounds.
PComp/PhysComp: This is an abbreviation of “Physical Computing” and can refer to: the field known as physical computing; the course Introduction to Physical Computing that all first-years have to take; or, the physical computing area just outside of the wood shop on the floor, which is a large workspace with handheld power tools and soldering equipment available for student use.
ICM: Introduction to Computational Media, the intro to programming class all first-year ITP students have to take unless they have a strong programming background (like me; I thankfully waived out of the course). It’s become notorious as a source of pain and suffering for many a first-year.
The List: This refers to the ITP-students-only e-mail mailing list. Aside from talking about class projects, discussing developments in the world of interactive art and new media, and getting groups together to go to events throughout the city, it’s also home to a lot of random, sometimes vulgar conversations and the source of many inside jokes.
Drive-by: Every Thursday at 9:30pm, ITP students host a teach-in on a variety of subjects ranging from different software, to programming languages, to resources available to ITP/NYU students, to a variety of useful and useless skills. We’ve had drive-by’s on juggling and how to be a better pirate.
TNO: stands for Thursday Night Out and happens, as the name suggests, every Thursday, after that week’s drive-by. A large group of ITPers (mostly first-years) head out to a local bar, pretty much take over the venue, drink to their hearts’ content, and have a dance party. I’ve only gone once, and left early, because there were over 150 people and large parties aren’t really my thing.
I’ll try to remember to come back and edit this list whenever I pick up any new terms!