You know you’re a grad student if you spend your Saturday nights watching the Control Room Channel to see some of the first 900 GeV collisions. Although that sounds like a bad Jeff Foxworthy joke, sure enough, here I am with my laptop open and my monkey pants on. The lamest TV ever is on Saturday night, but it doesn’t matter. Word is that there will be collisions this weekend and even though I’m not in the control room, I’d still like to see them live (even though for some reason there’s no sound…). Some of my friends at CERN are at the LAr (liquid Argon) desk. Here’s a sneak picture I got of them 
In the Atlas Control Room
Although it’s almost 3 am there, the control room is still full. Normally the control room isn’t this packed, but like a baby’s first steps, the first few collisions are always exciting. Unfortunately about every half hour, I have to refresh the page. I don’t even remember how long I’ve been watching, but it sure is exciting. Good thing there’s a coffee machine in there, and I’ve got my fresh pot here. Ooh winter storm warning for New York, you can’t phase me now… I’m in for the night.
-Regina
U haz CERN External PW? Try 4 Vidcam. No pw? get 1.
How can I watch the Control Room Channel? Can anyone watch, or do you need to be an official LHC-type person?
Sorry I wasn’t too clear on my previous post.
It seems almost anyone can get an external password to view some protected info at cern. the link is here.
It’s a great thing for enthusiasts to follow along.
Also The LHC Portal is an excellent resource with much info. And as always the CMS team of Acosta and Barney are doing yeoman work at CMS e-commentary.
Does anyone know if they will go higher then 900 this year? Or will they focus on getting it all perfect at that level before they move on?