Its all about money, honey!!

I came across this article on the web, thanks again to Delip. Its by some MIT professor, Phillip Greenspun. He has wonderfully articulated how Ivy League universities, and in particular MIT decide on the tuition fee waivers. Though the article itself is about 8 years old, some of his suggestions seem to have been implemented in the form of the OCW. And after you finish reading the article, do not forget to look at the MIT graduation 1998 pics. They are interesting!

After reading the article, and also from some other related snippets of information, it is quite evident to me atleast, that if you are ready to pay the full tuition fees, and are financially sound (actually ultra-sound), you can easily walk into the Ivy League, with just a modicum of aptitude.


Final word: Money can take you to Ivy League, but not to IIT!!

Back Again!!

Thank the "force" that was with me. Thanks to Supreet.
Boy,what an emotional roller coaster the last 24 hours were!!

Wrong?

Is there something wrong with my blog?? I cannot read the text.

PDW

This quarter we have a course called the Professional Development Workshop. Its a nice one actually. We can enroll for Yoga as a part of this course. We are also taught something called the structured response method of handling unusual business situations, for that matter,even the day to day incidents. This method looks very interesting. I will document it sometime later.

Today we had a group activity, wherein our group was stranded on the moon and we had to come up with priorities for a list of 15 things to carry with us to reach the mother ship.The idea was to see the differences between individual preferences and how they change within a group. It was a wonderful experience really.

The feedback was very insightful too. The "neutral" observers felt that I was the de facto leader of the group, very assertive, and not very imposing, at the same time. One interesting comment was that I was very strong in logic, and riding on the strength of my logic, I bulldozed some of the members of the group!!

Who am I?

Sleeping Beauty 75% Peter Pan 75% The Beast 75% Donald Duck 56% Goofy 50% Ariel 50% Snow White 38% Pinocchio 38% Cruella De Ville 25% Cinderella 19% Which Disney Character is your Alter Ego?

This is how I compare with the Disney characters. I am equally like Sleeping Beauty,The Beast and Peter Pan.
I am a schizophrenic. Sorry, not I, we.

Verticalization

To really enjoy this post you need some background information on a chap called Bala. You can read about it here.

Anyways, Bala has divided his consulting business into the following domain specific verticals:

1. Food and Beverages: This vertical largely was a result of consistent beverage demand and Bala’s niche expertise in meeting the demand. Being a platinum card holder at various pubs and restaurants, ranging from swanky to quasi-shady, has helped him in integrating the supply and demand.
2. Entertainment: With weekend demand for the entertainment from the teetotaler clients to “i-don’t-have-money-to-booze-this-weekend” types, on the rise, Bala has risen to the occasion by using his supply-side contacts at multipexes and amusement parks, and realized a highly demanding vertical.
3. Automobile: This vertical was a result of Bala’s prior experience with automobile majors. This has helped him in meeting the clients’ need for new and second-hand bikes, as well as spare parts. Bala has also integrated transport logistics with this vertical, because the economic feasibility of operating his Pulsar was only too logical.
4. Finance and Insurance: Very strong, in Auto insurance, with proven expertise in getting insurance for his own bike. Being a local gives him access to a lot of idle funds in times of his clients’ crises.
5. Information Services: Sound knowledge of local conditions, makes Bala a prime choice for offering value added information services, especially cyclone forecasts (includes their source and destination too…clients love this!!), and accommodation information.

But apart from the verticalization, brand Bala has decided to consciously stay away from a potentially lucrative sector, personal care. With client queries ranging from number of underwears to be brought to Chennai, to the possibility of using an iron box in the girls’ hostel, to helpline services for “sambar-rasam-indistinguishable population” and location – spotting services, Bala is seriously pissed off!!

Next in line: taking his consulting services public!!!!

Wall Street

I watched Wall Street today. Now, this movie is a classic one. A must watch. Slick pace, superb dialogues and very very insightful. Michael Douglas, as Gordon Gekko, and Charlie Sheen, as Bud Fox, have done a remarkable job.
The dialogues are unforgettable, really.Awesome.

Google

At last I have also added the Google search bar and the AdSense. I am very sceptical about the money I will be making out of this, if any, but for all that Google has done to our lives and to the Internet, this is the least I can do.

Blog generator

To help us overcome the writers' block that all the bloggers experience some time or the other, there is something called the blog generator. And it sucks, bigtime!!
To know why, click here

Super stuff!!

Just take a look at this. Its really funny. Thanks to Delip and Lush.

My Video

My video is here and here too. It was shot in my room, #314, also called the 100 pi!
I am sure atleast one of the video runs. So, enjoy!
I had an option of putting the video right here on my blog, but with some complaints regarding plugins pouring in, I decided to give the link.

Debut appearance!!

I am making my first appearance on my blog.
Me(left side with Pepsi in my hand, the proof lies in the foreground of the photo) and Pappu on the right.

Bluffed

I watched the movie BluffMaster the other day. In one my earlier posts, I had expressed the hope that the movie would be good. But it wasn't to be. The comedy was practically non existent. Only the songs were good.

Embellishments!!

I have added quite a few stuff to my blog over the past couple of days. Some cool videos and RSS feeds, but I came across an interesting blog embellishment, called the radio blog. You can listen to my playlist of songs when you are at my blog.Cool!! I have not yet added it though. Also, there is something called the "feedblitz" which will update the readers of my blog, as and when I post something new. That kind of gets rid of the anticipation of coming to my blog and expecting a new post. So, I decided to put that idea on the backburner for the time being.

My favorite songs...

Here are the videos of my favorite songs, "Numb" by Linkin Park and "Moon and Back" by Savage Garden.Enjoy.

New Venture

I have decided to go jogging from today. I hope I can do it regularly.
Yesterday, we had a "summer internship" treat at Vestin Park. I hogged like mad. All that I had not eaten for the past one week was replenished yesterday.
By the way, this is a nice place for picking some ideas on video blogging, my next venture, in all likelihood, after I managed to start exercising again and put RSS feeds from BBC on my blog.

Back...

I came back to Chennai on 1st. The vacation back home was great fun, and as is the case with any vacation, they all appear short at the end of it.