The Midas List - 2009

Just released.

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/99/midas09_The-Midas-List_Rank.html

The Brand called You

This is refreshingly sensible. Considering decades of career-related articles that mislead individuals into not focusing on this aspect.

http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/10/brandyou.html

Nikki Flores - Suffocate

Cool, kewl song.

Golden Globes 2009

Slumdog Millionaire won four Golden Globes. Indian Music Composer AR Rahman won in the category.

Here's the trailer for the movie.

Taleb - Black Swan

A friend of mine recommends this book. Here's the related link for Taleb's (author) interview with Charlie Rose.

http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/9713

Acer Aspire One

Bought one of these only today. $300 + tax in Texas. So far, I don't have any major complaints. It is small, lightweight and should work well as a backup, for travel and for school. We shall see.

India Pakistan peace

http://www.indiapakistanpeace.org

It's clear that all enemies of the sub-continent want continued conflict between India and Pakistan.

Carlo Ponzi AKA Charles Ponzi

This is hilarious.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/12/23/mf.ponzi.scheme/index.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ponzi

Newsweek's 50 Most Powerful

Sonia Gandhi and ShahRukh Khan are the two Indians on the list.

http://www.newsweek.com/id/30166

I am not sure what the rankings mean though.

Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi

I could "feel" Punjab when watching this movie - even though I have never been there. Now, I want to visit even more than I wanted to previously.

I am Back

Got done with my first semester. Three more semesters to go.

First semester has been great. The HBS cases in the Strategic Management course expanded my thinking. So, did the Managerial Statistics and Financial Accounting courses. Although I took the latter two courses in some form some 18 years ago. The learning experience and being able to connect concepts with real business problems was enlightening.

Next semester will be intense. Everyone that knows about the content of the courses says so. Here is the course list for Spring 2009.

1. Financial Management
2. New Venture Creation
3. Managerial Economics
4. Managing People and Organizations

Learn the Tabla

This is a great musical instrument. There is an instructor in the Austin Area.

http://www.austintabla.com/schedule.php

Financing New Ventures

I have come across a lot of folks who think now is a bad time to kick off a new venture. Apparently, it has something to do with the sad state of the economy. I have a contradictory view.

I don't think the timing could be any better. With the stock markets in shambles, the rich folks need a good place to park their money. What could possibly be a better place to invest than in a great idea?

I'll put my theory to test early next year and see if I can impress any folks to invest in my new venture :)

Nibble Theory

Easy reading with a lot of pictures. This might radically change the way you see all of your relationships, specifically at work.

About Losing

For a long time I have seen losing as a positive experience. Losing allows you to analyze the reasons behind why you lost, strategize on how to fix deficiencies and execute on those strategies the next time you face a similar situation.

But, what if you don't even realize that you have lost? Maybe it means these things.

1. Good News: You won't be depressed.
2. Bad News: You haven't learned a thing.
   
3. Ugly News: Your individual brand (reputation) will take a beating.

About Monkeys and Ginger

Old Indian saying. This is my rough translation with words added for clarity.

Someone gives a monkey a piece of Ginger. The monkey tosses the Ginger.

Someone gives a top chef a piece of Ginger. Chef enhances his preparation with ground ginger.

Moral of the story: If a numskull dismisses your talent, then move on and find someone that actually understands/appreciates your talent. Of course, this assumes that your "talent" is real.

Google Chrome

I like the ease of use. Currently I am using it only for 90% of my needs - because of some glitches. Once the glitches are fixed, I will use this browser exclusively.

http://www.google.com/chrome

For Aspiring Management Consultants

Should be good for interview preparation.

The Obama Strategy

Interesting read.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Axelrod_(political_consultant)#2008_presidential_campaign

World Reaction to Election Results

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27542176/

The video is a must see.

Vote Now !!!

http://www.rockthevote.com/

http://www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Voting.shtml

Changed Focus

With all that is happening, the focus of my blog has changed. It is not about my EMBA experience anymore. Instead, it is about all things that I am becoming aware of while going through life.

Which open up the possibility of a changed focus sometime down the road. :)

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

If you are feeling charitable, you could donate as little as $10 here.

http://www.komenaustin.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1609614&pg=personal&fr_id=1090

Federal Reserve's Balance Sheet

I ran into this article couple days ago. Very interesting.

http://www.econbrowser.com/archives/2008/10/balance_sheet_o.html

Blog List

I started my blog list - the blogs that I follow. The very first entry is Hall Martin's "Angel Investing in Austin".

The Google Story

I think this book is a must read for Entrepreneurs.

Wall Street Journal Rankings

The Wall Street Journal's Executive MBA rankings (October 2008) have been published.

http://online.wsj.com/public/page/executive-mba-rankings.html

Meanwhile, here's a video of the Texas MBA faculty talking about the current economic crisis. I don't regret the 1.5 hours that I spent watching this.

http://media.mccombs.utexas.edu/Dean/Deans_Forum100308.wmv

Null Hypothesis

H0: You like http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfE2W1kxaO0.

Z = 0.001
p-value = 0.9998

Null Hypothesis is accepted.

Belated blog creation

I originally planned a blog to document my EMBA experience in January 2008. Yeah. This is even before I was accepted into any of the EMBA programs. At that time, I did not know which program I would end up going to. But, I knew I would be going to one of my chosen programs AND that I would be doing a blog :) So, here I am.

In any case, I finally got to creating the blog after we got done with the Fall 2008 mid-term exams. I will do some catch up blogs to document some of the things that have happened until now. Maybe I will have a Catch up Section and a Current section to all of my future posts.