philosophysmoker-Mstarz

View from the seminar room at the University of Houston, submitted by Cynthia Freeland. Thanks for submitting, Prof. Freeland.



Also, I'm sorry I've been tough to get ahold of for the last few weeks. I had a suckier-than-average spring-semester finale, and then Mrs. Zero took me on a little vacation so I could recharge my batteries a little. So I was away from our secret hideout for a while. But I'm back in residence here at Smoker HQ (Branch Zero), and so if you have been in touch with me about a post you'd like to see, or something like that, you'll probably hear back or see it this week.

Yours most sincerely,

Mr. Zero

So, it seems as though enthusiasm for the contest format of the View From Your Window series has waned significantly. And I include myself here. Going forward, I'm just going to tell you where the photos were taken.



Portland State University, Portland, Oregon, USA. Submitted by Nicholas Havrilla and Angela Coventry. Thanks for submitting, and keep 'em coming!

--Mr. Zero

With the first day of spring coming up, I thought I ought to run the last of the really wintery ones now.

#6

This one came in from an email address with no name, so if you're the submitter and you'd like credit for it, shoot me another email.



#7

Submitter #7 says that the windchill was in the neighborhood of -30 to -40 F for this view.



As always, the first person to guess the campus wins the right to brag about it. Signed comments are preferred, although you have the right to win without taking credit. Once somebody guesses correctly, I'll announce a winner, confirm the campus, and credit the submitter.

Update: Uh, I guess I kind of let this one get away from me. Sorry about that. #6 still goes unclaimed; #7 is from Robert Schroer's window at the University of Minnesota, Duluth. He writes:" the low cloud you see is actually mist coming off of Lake Superior. (The windchill was between -30 to -40 F!)" Ouch. Thanks for submitting!

--Mr. Zero

Sunset.

As always, the first person to guess which campus this is wins the right to brag about it. Signed comments are preferred, although you have the right to win without taking credit. Once somebody gets it, I'll announce the winner, confirm the campus, and credit the submitter.

Update (2-28-12): Our submitter sent in a daytime version of the same view. It's better lit, though less lovely. Taken at 12:42 pm local time:



Update (2-29-12):Pound Foolish, taking the hint, gets it. The view is sunset from Prince Lucien Campbell Hall, University of Oregon, submitted by Phil Mayo.

Thanks again to Phil M. for submitting; thanks to all the guessers for guessing; and let's keep those submissions coming. Let us look out your window, Smokers.

--Mr. Zero

A bit of winter. 8:19am.

As always, the first person to guess which campus this is wins the right to brag about it. Signed comments are preferred, although you have the right to win without taking credit. Once somebody gets it, I'll announce the winner, confirm the campus, and credit the submitter.

Update, Monday morning: I'm calling it. It seems like this view was the toughest one so far. We're looking at a view from Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, submitted by Antony Aumann. But Chrono, who didn't realize that whoever guessed UCLA was kidding, gets an honorable mention for the closest guess, Western Michigan. (Although, looking at the map, it seems that Minnesota-Duluth is closer to Marquette than Kalamazoo is. But I don't think that's what "closest guess" means.)

Thanks for playing everybody, and better luck next time.

--Mr. Zero

I don't think people are going to get this one.



Good luck!

Update: Somewhat improbably, chobbs nails it. Penn State Hazelton. Submitted by Shane. Thanks for submitting, and thanks for playing.

--Mr. Zero

I think this one is going to be easier than the last one.



Taken at 11:00 AM, facing west.

Like last time, the first person to guess which school this is in comments wins the right to brag about it. Signed comments are preferred, although if you want to win without taking credit for it, I guess that's your right. Once somebody gets it, I'll announce the winner, confirm the campus, and credit the submitter.

Thanks again for all the submissions; we've got some nice views lined up—some of which are going to be substantially more difficult to guess than the ones we've seen so far. But it would be horrible to eventually run out, so don't by shy, Smokers. Let us look out your window.

Update: Lee Faber is the winner! The view is Notre Dame, submitted by Bradley Rettler. The toughest part about this one was ringing in first. Thanks for sharing your view, Bradley, and nice work, Lee.

Here's a wider view from the same window:



Thanks again for playing, and let's keep the views coming.

--Mr. Zero

Here we have two submissions from the same place. The first was taken last year late in the Fall; the second was taken at 10:30 yesterday morning.





I like the idea of turning it into a contest, so the first person to guess which school this is in comments wins... uh... nothing, other than bragging rights. Signed comments are preferred for this, although I don't know what kind of a sick person would submit a photo in order to then win a contest like this, anonymously. If somebody gets it, I'll announce the winner, and edit the post here to credit the submitters.

Thanks for all the submissions so far; we've got some nice ones coming down the pike. Keep 'em coming, Smokers.

Update: Carissa wins the contest. Nice work, Carissa. The photos are of Simon Fraser University, Burnaby B.C. The first was submitted by Holly Andersen, and is taken from her office. The second was submitted by Endre Begby and is taken from Philosophy Department Seminar Room, 10:30 AM. Thanks!

--Mr. Zero

My favorite thing about Andrew Sullivan's blog, the Daily Dish, is the "view from your window" series. I was thinking it would be a good thing for the Smoker to rip that idea off.

So I'd like to invite Smokers to take pictures from your windows and send 'em in. Submissions should include a photo of the view from your window (obvs.), the name of the school (I'm assuming most submissions will be from windows on campus, though that's not a requirement), the city, state/province (or equivalent), country (if other than US or Canada), and what time it was when the photo was taken. I'll try to post them all, but I'll also try to space them out a little (so don't worry if yours doesn't show up right away). Let's see your views, Smokers.

DOUBLE UPDATE: Oh yeah, send 'em here: "zero.mrr at gmail.com" (In the original update, I put the email address between brackets, because I am dumb. Sorry.

(The photo above is stolen from here, and is the view from a window the Ginkgo Reading Room, Olin Library, Washington University, St. Louis.)'

--Mr. Zero