Jim Paris has figured out how to help his housemates save time doing the laundry.
The 20-year-old junior has created a Web site that tells if a washing machine is available in his Random Hall dorm before students haul the laundry down four flights of stairs.
“It’s a big time saver,” says Paris, who studies electrical engineering and computer science. “You don’t have to keep running up and down to see if a load is done.”
The Web page tells how long each of the dorm’s three washers and four dryers has been off or on. If a machine is on, it details the current phase of the cycle. It’ll say, fill and wash, add softener, rinse, spin, or high heat. And it also predicts how long it will be until the load is finished.
Six years ago, another student built the server but later the computer crashed and the software was lost. Paris, who recently rebuilt it, is now the talk of the dorm. The idea was so popular that he and his friends also developed a Web page that tells when each of the dorm’s bathrooms is free.
“It’s not that we’re against waiting,” Paris says. “It’s just that, why wait?”