Entries for January, 2007
January 1st, 2007
Happy New Years!
Posted by bert at 08:48 PM on January 1, 2007 in ME.
nothing really doing.
had a wonderful new years with old friends, Lauren, Joyce, Diane, Tom. and new friends, Erika, Courtney, Roxy
But i'm looking back at this past year and wanted to just revisit a few things.
- my dad has made an insane amount of progress. Last January, we were in hospitals and worried about the malpractice of the kidney centers.
- I was still working at Boeing. Debating a move to Seattle.
- Business school, just an afterthought
- drew the line and rid myself of the ex.
- bought another townhouse
- moved my ass back to NC
- made some great MBA friends
- decided to shift my career away from engineering.
- drank WAY TOO MANY DR. Peppers
- drank WAY TOO MUCH =P
ok.. anyway.. so time for resolutions.
1.) Stop letting certain girls walk all over me. (i intend to keep this one since i'm on such a good roll..)
2.) Go after what i want. While yes.. it's about my parents (re: dad) and they're well being. I still need to chase after what i want.
3.) Figure out what i want in the short term. or how the hell to get to the long term much faster.
4.) do really well in VCIC.
5.) play more basketball and make triumphant return to Baby Blue.
Saddam...
Posted by bert at 09:28 PM on January 1, 2007 in ME.
uh...
good riddance.
January 2nd, 2007
one more resolution...
Posted by bert at 10:31 AM on January 2, 2007 in ME.
mom says i dont eat enough fruit.. which is true.. i'm just too lazy to eat fruit...
anyway.. that'll be my last resolution.. Eat more fruit. like... average 1 a day or something.
January 3rd, 2007
Projects to look into
Posted by bert at 09:18 PM on January 3, 2007 in ME.
just getting some thoughts down. comments appreciated.
1.) write up small business plan for a company that helps people shop. or get deals shopping... Preferably in consumer electronics or something. i.e. most people are looking at buying rediculous tv at bestbuy. they ask you to shop for them for same said TV, only you get it to them for less (and this includes your commission).
why not do this? i've been doing this for my friends forever now.... they come to me for help on electronic widgets for years...
2.) integrative web-enabled alarm clock. basic gist is allowing users to create their own alarm face on some flash site online.. and it'll load to your clock. (blah blah networking features, usb, bluetooth, whatever). it allows users to create whatever they want on a much tinier interface, and it'll travel with them too. prolly have to bum network signals off of one of the major phone carriers... or better yet... trademark this for phone carrier screens since they are getting larger and larger anyway.. lalala... this is what iPhone should REALLY be like.
BTW... whats the deal with all the different versions of T9 out there. can someone just standardize how we text already? and sanyo's phones SUCK in this department.
3.) Create big list of everything iTV is doing wrong.
4.) Explore hiring practices out of b-school/undergraduate universities. I'm constantly amazed by who lands what interviews. Everyone continues to think.. "how the hell did so and so get an interview here." There's got to be a way for firms to get this information. I think back to my engineering days when IBM hired the indian kid who cheated off of my every program/homework assignment. poor kid didn't know how to program upon graduation and got a job at IBM. I heard he was let go within a year... but the fact he got an interview let alone a position speaks volumes. I'm observing it again with MBA school now. There are a few questions marks in some "closed lists" since they look at resume and resume alone. There's got to be a way to profit off of this. like say.. undercover hiring brother? "we'll tell YOU who snoozes in class." hrm.... perhaps this isn't a good thing...
5.) rework old busted remote to act as xbox360 remote. they're broadcasting in same frequency already.. just a matter of reworking the signal output now.
6.) power on technology. I need to wire my home desktop so that it powers on when i get home.. then it can load everything and be connected to the wireless network when my shoes are kicked off. Hell it can go immediately to my RSS aggregator and... shit... ok too much nerdom in this one. i mean it can get my DVR fired up and ready to play last night's greys anatomy.
7.) fatwallet needs a hot deals aggregator. (i want to pull feeds that generate a lot of hits in a small amount of time. the aka exciting post). and i want that feed sent to my phone/crackberry/whatever... so i know when a superhot deal exists... and that way..i don't miss crazy deals like where DSW had shoes that were triplemarked down. wait.. didnt' miss it.. i did get deisals for $12. um.. geez... revealing too much again.
8.) i need a morning aggregate of plane prices.. but kayak isn't cutting it. I still find myself pouring over orbitz/travelocity/kayak/expedia.
9.) Crap.... got to plan that spring break still. goal.. full package drink inclusive deal to Cabo or Puerto Vallarte for under $900 including airfare for a WEEK.. I think this is possible =)
10.) destroy tabulas.
11.) just kidding roy.
12.) uh.... end post.
<ep> i like it.
January 5th, 2007
i'm tired already
Posted by bert at 11:30 AM on January 5, 2007 in ME.
and the school year hasn't really began.
granted 14 hours pent up doing a MOCK evaluation of a company doesn't help.
btw... our evaluation says to sell Apple stock if it's above $75. granted this assumes constant 7% growth across its product mix for the next 5 years...
that's such a lame assumption..... although 8% growth puts us at.... $85.50 =)
January 7th, 2007
Good Job Joe Biden
Posted by bert at 09:34 AM on January 7, 2007 in ME.
“I am running for president,” he told “Meet the Press” anchor Tim Russert. “I’m going to be Joe Biden, and I’m going to be the best Joe Biden I can be.”
way to authoritatively state that you are running for president.
now who the heck are you?
(democratic senator from delaware)
only i'm not sure of what exactly he's done in 6 years of senate duty. But apparently he's in process of being named chairman of the foreign relations committee... if he can fix iraq in the next year i'd vote for him... doubt it though.
January 8th, 2007
iTV is going to fail...
Posted by bert at 02:25 PM on January 8, 2007 in ME.
because these guys understand it better.
and they're not preoccupied trying to relaunch the ROKR.
http://www.orb.com/
January 9th, 2007
iPhone Entry...
Posted by bert at 11:36 PM on January 9, 2007 in ME.
I’m sure you’ve seen Steve Jobs’ unveiling today. I’m sure you’ve read up on all the accounts too. And I’m sure you agree, the iPhone Apple pushed is pretty darn sexy.
What really struck me though is how iPhone completely leapt the innovation chasm as opposed to approaching and crossing it.
The more I think about Apple and its iPod, the more I realize the marketing brilliance (or luck) behind it. Here we have a product that is the IT thing of a current generation. It almost defines the new generation, yet is so simple that other generations engagingly use and crazier yet, love it.
And Apple uses it to gain acceptance in anything else it does. What does Apple know about gsm vs cdma technology. What competencies do they have in tri-band signal theory, let alone symbols, signals, SNR, et. al. But you package it with an “i”Pod and add a fancy touch screen and everyone loves you. Because it’s recognized? I think it’s because Apple has now something more concrete and fundamental.
They are not feared change. There does not seem to be any resistance to their products. More or less welcomed and even encouraged. Even Google can't say that....
iPhone is hot. I give them that. iTV is still not. btw.. microsoft did annouce the introduction of IPTV on XBOX360 as a software download by the end of 2007.
I still like ORB, but they're going to get blasted.
January 10th, 2007
and the (iPhone) beat goes on.
Posted by bert at 10:20 PM on January 10, 2007 in ME.
http://consumerist.com/consumer/iphone/cingular-confirms-iphone-will-require-2-year-contract-227684.php
or... in short.. If you want the iPhone when it comes out.. you need to resubscribe to Cingular for 2 more years. no if ands or buts.
somehow i'm not shocked.
January 15th, 2007
24
Posted by bert at 05:54 PM on January 15, 2007 in ME.
its back...
damn good to have you back Jack Bauer.
January 16th, 2007
ok... not too bad a couple of weeks ahead..
Posted by bert at 11:03 AM on January 16, 2007 in ME.
Lets seem microsoft interviewer had jury duty so my interview got pushed to wed of next week. That means teh 15 hours i blew in vegas for studying... shut it..nevermind.
casing goes nuts this week as all the deloitte people go hardcore case study mode. Man.. thursday will be fun huh?
Casing continues afterwards as well since McKinsey, Bain are next week.
Sustainability conference friday afternoon followed by...
IBM strategy case competition this weekend, and i wouldn't mind winning it to fund my new phone purchase that will be made this week. (sanyo 8400, here we come. I swear to God... if it keeps dropping calls on my way home, i'll be done with sprint). secretly i think Linda wants us to hedge our bets to cingular. Well NO.. go get a google phone. You'll know what i'm saying =P
next week: Already touched on more casing. Microsoft got pushed here. and then friday is VCIC start time, which kills my next weekend. Oh yeah.. this one is mandatory as well. I can't wait to rip these startups a part. "why didn't you think of this market segment?" "how is your debt ratio sustainable over 75%?!?!?" "wait you want 100 million to do what?" ok it'll be fun.
After that it should be smooth sailing.. Except for all you stupid people (who don't read this so it's ok to call them stupid) who are getting married all the time. Well i'm a student so you're not getting all that crap from Crate and Barrel or willam and sonoma. Unless you just want 1/3 of that silverware set. I'm not getting you the $150 serving platter. I'm paying 400 for a plane tickets so that's enough! And i can't imagine how fun boston/minneapolis/or detroit will be this time of year. Couldn't you get married in vegas or hawaii? ok enough ranting.
at least i have jack bauer to veg out with on monday nights.
January 18th, 2007
That's it
Posted by bert at 11:50 AM on January 18, 2007 in ME.
no more studying for interviews. i'm done.
for this week.
gotta start prepping for the IBM case competition this week and hte VCIC (much more important) next week.
gotta love semi-blatant viral marketing
Posted by bert at 07:59 PM on January 18, 2007 in ME.
www.becomeanmm.com
so... word of mouth interactive marketing it is..
except.. i still won't eat an mm.
i realized... that despite learning about how marketing works... and how target markets are identified, and how target customers are marketed towards...
well... i still really do not understand marketing... in the slightest.
so.. i guess... i am now a M&M
yay for political battles... in mmorpgs
Posted by bert at 09:10 PM on January 18, 2007 in ME.
http://nwn.blogs.com/nwn/2007/01/stronger_than_h.html
January 19th, 2007
how Cingular turned it around... and landed the Apple iPhone
Posted by bert at 11:42 AM on January 19, 2007 in ME.
so i read this interesting article about how Cingular is this great company and was able to turn their fortunes around. so much so that they landed the Apple iPhone.
read it here =P
http://money.cnn.com/2007/01/18/technology/pluggedin_mehta_cingular.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2007011911
so yeah anyway... I can sum up how cingular did it in 3 short succint letters.
GSM GSM GSM GSM GSM GSM GSM
oh yeah... pretty much the rest of the world uses GSM based multiplexing to do deal with their wireless signals.
hrm.. apple wants big market. GSM is the way to go. Cingular is only GSM carrier in US.
GSM + US = iPhone.
or you can read that diatribe in the article which skirts around facts and makes crap up about Cingular.
January 21st, 2007
weekend update
Posted by bert at 01:18 PM on January 21, 2007 in ME.
not much this weekend.
Had the IBM case competition where i think i did some very creative things in what came down to a pure marketing play-based case competition. Not to say that we deserved to win... but when you have 40% of your presenters unprepared, and reading off of pieces of paper... you aren't going to win.
what really got me is that the person we did this for, the one who wanted most to do this, and would stand to benefit the most from it... well this person didn't do much, and was most quickly frustrated, and gave up. HE GAVE UP!.. where is the passion for what you want to do.. ok.. yeah.. so that was frustrating, but alas.. it's over and we dinae win.
VCIC is coming up next week (should be fun...) as well as the Microsoft interview.
but as for today.. its all homework, all the time. and while we're at it.. a 4-5 hour hw assignment on market segmentation, as well as opening night of our intramural basketball team. Game time at 7. Bowling league starts tuesday.
here's a current list of books on my reading list:
"Cradle to Cradle," - Bill McDonough. Basically about how we as global citizens should look at product development and sustainability. Hes a bit um.. straight forward, but if you read the book with a grain of salt, he really does have a lot to say. How to make sure all your products are not only sustainable but truly recyclable
"Banewreaker," - Jacqueline Carey. Yet another book in my never-ending library of Sci-Fi Fantasy. This one is interesting because it takes the "bad guy" point of view and puts you in a position to regularly root for who typically is the antithesis. It truly feels like Lord of the Rings with a little twists, but the objective here is to kill Frodo. Pretty cool read so far.
"The Audacity of Hope," - Barack Obama. I'm reading more into the thoughts behind someone who is sure to be a big political force in the 2008 election cycle. I want to know if this guy has more than just a pretty surface to every political issue. haven't started yet =(.
"The World is Flat," - Thomas Friedman. Its about globalization. um.. how the markets are now all international, and all that jazz. interesting read if you care about future market trends and how we need to adopt a lot of our domestic firms to adapt to a life now where information is almost instant.
Trafficking "Good" news
Posted by bert at 01:52 PM on January 21, 2007 in ME.
Is anyone sick of the fact that all network and cable new stations only traffic in bad to awful news? Does it bother you that 2-3 deaths a day in Iraq aren't worthy enough to report, but when that count hits 25... it's HUGE news. how many people die a day at a hospital?
more importantly... how many people are checked out of a hospital, healthy enough to go home, and continue life? why doesn't anyone care about this?
or about when someone donates over $1 million to a good source
or how about how well lousiana is doing in wake of kitrina.... or what about southwest asia, after teh tsunamis.
or about the good contributions of a community oriented guy who is awarded some sort of honor regarding his citizenship?
or how about when some needy family moves into a habitat house?
sadly, i don't think there's a market for this either.
for now i'll have to be happy and content with this.
http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
second life...
Posted by bert at 09:35 PM on January 21, 2007 in ME.
this almost killed me...
http://www.getafirstlife.com/
January 23rd, 2007
Bye Dad
Posted by bert at 09:32 PM on January 23, 2007 in ME.
some of you know that somethings been up. some of you have no idea. but it took me these past 48 hours to realize that my Dad would not be coming back this time.
Flash back to very early Monday morning. By the time any sane person on the East coast was waking up, my Dad's heart had beat its last beat. Since then I've been with my mother and sister for the majority of the past 48 hours. And while I love Linda and my Mother to death, I would have much preferred being bored silly in another classroom at Kenan-Flagler. Alas, that was not God's intention.
My mom has been a rock. She is utterly amazing, but she is also tasking herself too hard with running the funeral arrangements, micromanaging every small singular detail.
Linda has been on and off with her faucets, but for the most part she holds it together quite well. We were able to sit through yesterday's Heroes and managed to even crack a joke.
But me... I'm the man of the house now. (now THAT sounds weird) But I am and i accept it, and i feel like I have to be strong. I'm not though. I teared up today at the supermarket thinking of my Dad's egg dish. I have no clue (nor does my mom) about how to make it. It's gone with him.
Same with how we won't be able to ever start our consumer electronics company.
But really? those are the short list of my regrets. I feel that I am so much more fortunate than anyone else who has gone through a similar situation.
Two years ago, on New Year's Day, my father had a major brain aneurysm. What that means is that he basically had a stroke in his brain. This is apparently 98-99% fatal, but we were fortunate since he was able to survive. He made an AMAZING recovery, and I can only attest that to his strong will to live. Had he passed away that day, I would be full of regret even now, but I have since had the opportunity to make up for anything I have missed.
It's no coincidence that I am now at UNC Chapel Hill, doing my business school studies. For those that truly know me, they understand it's not that I am going to school. I am here for my family. And it is perhaps the greatest and most rewarding decision I have ever made. I've been blessed to be able to spend a couple a days a week with my parents for the past 7+ months. I spent my quality time with my father, playing cards, or silly memory games, or stupid little hand slap games. I ate at restaurants reminiscing about silly things in the past. I've teased my dad by touching his nose (he hated that..) ALL THE TIME. But I got to hang out with him, and don't have any true regrets. How blessed am I to be able to say these words? My last words to him were "I love you Dad." Like I said, no regrets at all.
but I still miss the hell out of him.
Note:
For those of you who are in the area, the funeral will be held this Saturday afternoon. Please give a call if you want to attend.
January 25th, 2007
Wow Microsoft
Posted by bert at 08:14 PM on January 25, 2007 in ME.
I had 3 interviews this past week. All of which I will not be attending. I'm not going to say which two other companies i had interviews with, except the last one is Microsoft.
I called each of these companies on monday afternoon. Just informing my school and them that I would not be able to make my interview. Each one i told why, and each one was a different response. One of them i received a measure of skepticism.
To Microsoft's credit they were immediate in willingness to help me out. Immediately giving me contact information for the person who would reschedule for me. They told me to e-mail them when I was ready, and they would work with me on my schedule. Now while all my companies came to this conclusion, Microsoft was by far the most willing to accomodate.
They teach us in business school, that to win, you have to be at least one or two steps ahead of your competition.
I arrived at my townhouse this afternoon to a huge box outside. Microsoft had sent me a gift package. And offered me condolences on behalf of their MBA staffing team. Its amazing... I who could not be bought, am completely bought. It really is the thought that counts, and I could not be enamored with this company any more. And even if I don't get a internship with them this summer, I will speak on behalf of the people there.
They do go above and beyond. and i'm not even an employee. My school hasn't said anything to me, but Microsoft overnighted me a care package. What can I say? (besides the fact i own 500 shares of MSFT? =P)
