I had dinner at Penang with Camille last night and as usual our conversation included a good dose of office politics and high-tech business trends. We speculated that in the light of the massive layoffs at HP, other companies (including the company that we work for) are likely to follow suit in order to save operating cost. There was absolutely no basis in our statements, just pure speculation.

Earlier today, I read from Good Morning Silicon Valley that HP has announced the disbandment of not 1 but 4 of the company's advanced development group in the wake of retrenching 14,500 employees off its workforce. Quoting an excerpt from John Paczkowski's blog:

"In disbanding the last group, HP is bidding adieu to legendary Silicon Valley technologist Alan Kay. A founder of Xerox's Palo Alto Research Center, Kay - who once said, 'The best way to predict the future is to invent it' - was instrumental in the development of the windowing GUI and modern object-oriented programming. He envisioned a laptop computer long before the first ones rolled out and won a Turing Award in 2003 for his work on Smalltalk, the dynamic object-oriented programming language on which Sun Microsystems' Java is modeled. Hard to believe HP's cutting him loose. But it is. According to the company, his research doesn't jibe with HP's new focus.

Let's analyze this announcement from several perspectives. From a public relations point of view, the disbandment of several research facilities and departure of a legendary technologist will likely send a wrong message to its customers and investors that research is no longer an important activity valued at HP. From an accounting perspective, HP maybe in deeper financial trouble than we knew when CEO Hurd took over the company. The shakeup may be inevitably and justified. In strategic terms, how would this move affects HP's competitive advantage? HP has always prided itself as an innovator and inventor of many technologies, the word "Invent" is even written distinctively below the company logo. Visit their website and see for yourself. The knowledge lost from the closure of research facilities and departure of experienced engineers is likely going to impact HP's ability to create and deliver innovative products in the long run. On the other hand, if those R&D facilities aren't aligned well with HP new corporate strategy or producing results that add value to the company, then reduction in R&D activities in HP makes sense. In conclusion, I think that the financial state of HP may require the managers to act quickly to realign its resources and imperatives. But, regardless of HP's new focus, R&D is still and should continue to be HP's core competence for a while. I feel that the magnitude and extent of the recent cut in R&D may actually undermine HP's long-term growth.

7/22/2005 2:06:00 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [1]

Business

Not much happened today. For people who missed today's class, the first half of the class was about the principle that was advocated by Prof. Clausing of always asking "Why" in the design process. The second half of the class belongs to our guest speaker, Madhav Phadke who spoke about the application of orthogonal array in software testing. Overall, System Engineering class was okay but nothing groundbreaking.

Later today, I managed to procure a book on Statistical Process Control. With this book, I hope to complete my System Engineering homework, which has so far been a time-sucker, by this weekend.

7/21/2005 11:22:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Eating one of my favorite dish, Chinese Pork Chop, is like flipping coin; there is a 50% chance of getting gastric pain the following day. But to satisfy my craving, I had the dish for dinner last night. Unfortunately, this eventually became my downfall as I suffer from severe stomachache the whole morning and most of the afternoon today. The moral of the story is: gluttony is not worth the gastric punishment.

7/20/2005 5:09:40 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Food

Today, we had Professor Olivier de Weck as guest lecturer speaking our System Engineering class. He is engaging and his lecture on Isoperformance was interesting. In short, Isoperformance is a concept conceived by Prof. de Weck, in which he argues that the goal of any system (or product) development project is not seek for a solution that produces the optimal performance. Because of resource constraints, solution leading to optimal performance will usually end up being over-designed and often costing too much and being too narrowly focused. A better approach is to define a set of desired performance targets and work backwards to discover a set of acceptable solutions.

Two interesting questions were raised in the lecture. First, Uday asked the question: "If safety is a critical requirement of a product, shouldn't engineers strive to optimize safety in their design." This question wasn't adequately answered in today's session but it was argued that Isoperformance still has its place in the design process as long as we can define the desired level of safety performance. I am not too sure if this is true, after all this argument works only if we assume that such desired level is known at design time. So here's my question, how safe is safe? Can there be too much safety available in a product?

In the next question, Joe asked the question that alluded to how Isoperformance may stifle innovation in the design and development process. I respectfully disagree with Joe on this one. I believe that innovation and Isoperformance can co-exist harmoniously in engineering environments. Drawing, once again, from my professional experience, I remember that the lofty goals of a particular project at my company have undermined the company's ability to release the product on time to the market. The designers were simply fixated in delivering the highest performing products and neglected other aspects of the process, such as lead time, manufacturing cost, etc. Innovation isn't about optimal design but rather the introduction of new concepts that have positive impact on the product, and its users and producers. I believe that Isoperformance can help to achieve a balanced system by using a set of pre-defined expected performance while still allowing innovations to flourish under these conditions.

7/19/2005 11:35:15 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Business

Prof. de Albeniz lectured about Kaizen or the English term: "continuous improvement" and how it has greatly benefited Toyota and other Japanese automakers in today's lecture. While I don't question the merits of Kaizen, I am cynical about the way Kaizen is implemented at my company where I still work on a part-time basis. In my humble opinion, there has been a divergence of perception and expectation on the execution of the Kaizen program between management and the employees. It has become apparent that the goal of the program has become nothing more than posting fancy powerpoint slides on bulletin boards than to really use the concepts of the program to solve problems or improve processes. To most employees, the program has become just another fad and despite enormous amount of resources that have been invested in the program. To management, it serves no more than a public relations tool by window dressing the program as the panacea of solving any of the company woes. Sadly, the program that was designed to reduce Muda (Japanese for waste) has itself become muda.

7/18/2005 2:11:15 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Business

Today, we have Professor de Albeniz from IESE and a former student of Professor Simchi-Levi as guest lecturer in our Supply Chain and Operations Management class. We finally started talking about Operations Management, the second half of the course and something that I am very familiar with. Phrases like Kanban and Conwip were immediately recognizable as I have been involved with several Operations Research (OR) and Optimization projects with several LFM graduates and an Operations Research alumnus at work in the past. Apart from the basics, I never really delved further into topic of Operations Research as I was more involved in implementing the information systems part of the project. I hope to learn a little more on OR while I am at MIT to compliment my past professional experience and make a more solid credential in OR on my resume.

7/18/2005 2:10:32 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

Since moving 2 weeks ago, it amazes me how much computer and electronic junk I have accumulated at my old apartment. To reduce inventory at my new place, I gathered all those junk and went to the MIT Swapfest (flea market of computer/electronic goods) to dispose of my excessive junk. I set up shop at 8am and already I have people asking about my acoustic guitar and that ancient Apple Newton 100 that I have on sale.

Business was brisk until I was left with less popular items. Concerned with the inability to liquidate my remaining inventory by the end of the session, I then decided to sell most of items way below my original asking place and even gave many of them away for free. My motivation wasn't to make a profit from this endeavor but rather to get rid of my junk. Thankfully, by 1pm I was left with only a handful of items (about 10% of what I had brought into the flea market). I am happy; I got rid of my inventory and even got decent money from it.

7/17/2005 11:36:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Personal

I am devoted to the pursuit of the enjoyment of good food ranging from gourmet cooking of various types to simple confectionary delights. I am also downright critical when it comes to food. Yes, I have even angered people by my candid yet unflinching remarks on their culinary skills. Since I have been talking about food on my blog, I thought it would be great to actually grade the restaurants that I have eaten at. So I retroactively updated all food related blog entries with new ratings yesterday.

7/17/2005 10:42:01 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Food

Last night, my sister and I went to Sugar & Spice to celebrate Fanny's birthday. There were the usual suspects: Hanri, Denise, Milt, Bruce, and Eimear. There were also additional surprises like Bruce new love interest and Simon and his guest.

The good thing about dinning in a group setting in an Asian restaurant is that everyone gets to sample someone else's dish. While the food at Sugar & Spice is fresh, I was a little disappointed with a few dishes. Stay away from Chili Lime Salmon and Deep Fried Ice-cream. For the best Thai sweet and sour fish, try Three Flavor Fish from Thai Rice. Avocado Chicken Curry, on the other hand, is acceptably delicious. Overall, the food there was so-so but on the upside, the staff are friendly and attentive. I don't want to recommend this Thai restaurant considering that there is a much better Thai restaurant call Tamarind House, down the street from Sugar & Spice. In closing, Sugar & Spice gets a 6.5/10 from me. It is interesting that my ratings for all the restaurants mentioned are inversely proportional to those of Citysearch. Hmmm... In any case, happy birthday again, Fanny.

7/16/2005 12:36:48 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [9]

Food

This blog site just expanded slightly with 3 new categories: Radio, Mac, and Travels.

7/15/2005 6:12:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Blog

I can't believe this... Citing financial shortfall and poor program ratings, WBUR is ending their flagship radio program, the Connection, in 3 weeks. I am still not buying to the officials' argument of poor program ratings. The show airs from 10am to noon and from 9pm to 11pm; while these hours aren't prime-time, they still fall within good listening hours. I am a big fan of this program and it would be sad to see it go.

7/15/2005 5:29:10 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [5]

Radio

These days, computers have an average of 3 years lifespan. Believe it or not, computers and most electronic devices contain harmful toxics (or e-Waste) that shouldn't just be disposed in landfill. As more and more people and corporations are getting rid of their computers and electronics devices, businesses specializing in e-waste recycling/reuse have proliferated. One of the e-waste recycling/reuse companies that was mentioned on an earlier NPR program is RetroBox. If are on a budget or nostalgic for a particular computer, you can get a cheapo computer from them.

7/15/2005 5:28:13 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [8]

Computers

I have advocated the benefits and importance of networking a few times in my blog in the past. In fact, business schools and professional business seminars have been promoting the adage of "It’s not what you do but who you know." But there is also an ugly side of networking, specifically the superficiality and spuriousness of networking. Has business cards and v-cards become trophies, and the mere possession of them is simply to satisfy an ego and bestow some recognition of how big one’s network has become? Anyway this article explores more on this issue in more detail. Thanks to Siobhan for the article.

7/14/2005 11:42:32 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Business

So News @ MIT Sloan, the weekly newsletter for students, staff, and faculty at MIT Sloan, has once again decided to make me a star. The last time they interviewed me was for my survival story in the Thailand tsunami. This time, apparently my blog along with Yoav's, Ilana's, and a few other Sloanies' were noticed by Diana, one of the newsletter writers. She is currently researching a story about MIT Sloan student bloggers and would like to know why we blog despite our very busy schedule. If I decide to participate in the story, it means that my identity and the url of my blog will be published on the newsletter. My blog will certainly see an increase in hits from students and even faculty members, and I am not sure if I am ready for that yet. I am also concerned that my blog may be a little dry on content and that my writing may not be eloquent enough for massive viewing by my peers. On the positive side, since I started blogging seriously 6 months ago, my rhetoric along with self-articulation and self-expression have improved dramatically. Broad exposure of my blog will challenge me further in blogging more eloquently.

So to those of you who have been reading my blog regularly, what do you think? Should I get my blog mentioned on News @ MIT Sloan?

7/13/2005 7:18:31 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [17]

Blog

I had my mid-term examination for my accounting class today and I really don't know how well I have done. This accounting course on steroid is taught by Prof. Plesko who puts students on a trial-by-fire basis by using real financial statements (or 10-k) in all lectures, homework assignments, and even tests. This is a testimony of why I like this class: it keeps it real. I concur with Prof. Plesko that it is important to learn the fundamentals of accounting and apply them to the analysis and synthesis of real financial statements.

Nontheless, there's one word to describe today's test: OVERWHELMING. We were given 15 pages of material that resembles a typical homework assignment in today's examination. Instead of working in team of 4 and taking days to complete the work, we were given 1 1/2 hours to work on the problem set individually. The "cheat sheet" that I have meticulously compiled was hardly any use in a context where time is the essence. It's not exactly a setback for me because I felt that I really understand the material and had used the right approach in tackling the questions in the test; but I know that I have committed a few stupid mistakes like extracted the wrong information from a different fiscal time. It's probably not A grade stuff but I should do fairly well (I hope).

7/13/2005 6:41:18 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School

I used to shop at Whole Foods, located down the street where I used to live, for grocery almost everyday. It was in effect my personal pantry (like I used to call it). Unfortunately, I have not shopped at the place since moving to my new apartment. Today, I finally stopped by at the supermarket after class to pick up my favorite bagels - Iggy's Bagels. While shopping at Whole Foods did relive my withdrawal syndrome somewhat, I also felt weird due in part to my recent disengagement to the store. It seemed like eons since I last stepped my foot onto the store.

7/12/2005 12:30:11 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Personal

While having lunch with Noah at Hi-Rise Bread Company (or Hi-Price as I like to call it) in West Cambridge on the weekend, I have discovered what is perhaps the best sandwich that I have ever eaten. It is call Fern's Problem Solver. I have never been disappointed by Bread Company albeit expensive, so this place gets a 8.5/10 rating from me.

7/12/2005 12:02:03 AM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [13]

Food

On Friday, I attended the "Networking & Interview Workshop" organized by Helen Trimble - the SDM career placement officer. The person who presented the workshop was Dan King, a career development consultant with Career Planning & Management. It is no surprise that the theme of the workshop is networking, in particular Dan urged everyone that the key of finding in one's ideal job and consequently getting hired is networking. In all, I walked away from the workshop with some new ideas and inspirations. The most interesting data that I found in the workshop is that today, 70% of the professionals found their jobs through networking and only 5% of the pool found their jobs through job postings. I am still not buying King's questionable figure, but I do agree that networking is significant in landing someone his/her dream job. In any case, John, a fellow classmate has effectively summarized King's prominent ideas in his earlier email:

1. Always prefer networking methods to getting a job over “open, public knowledge” methods: you’re in more control when networking.
2. Always be on the lookout for networking contacts, even at the barber, hairdresser, or donut shop. But never ask your networking contacts directly for a job, that's a NO-NO.
3. Never, in an interview, climb up on the table with your elbows and get too "in-your-face," or conversely, slouch way down and adopt an "I don’t care" posture.
4. Never let your leg get to rockin’, or shuck and jive, bip and bop, keep your limbs relaxed instead of communicating nervousness. Fold hands in lap if necessary.
5. Never lick your palm and shake hands like a wuss. Conversely, do not “bone crush” your interviewer in an annoying display of male dominance.
6. Always have an answer to the most common interview question: “Tell me about yourself.”
7. Always have an answer to the most common “gotchya” question and its variants: "What is your weakness?"

Well John, thanks for the summary. Of course, these are some of the highlights of Dan's workshop.

7/11/2005 11:27:45 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

Comments [16]

Business

Sorry folks, I have been missing in action in blogspace because I was up the wall busy the last couple of days. Interestingly, I seem to have more thoughts in my mind whenever I am busy. Thankfully, I was able to jot some of these thoughts on paper and update my blog with them retrospectively.

7/11/2005 11:16:43 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Blog

Last night was the second time this semester that the SDM staff has treated us to a sumptuous meal at Summer Shack. Good food and I have say that I can really get use to such treats.

I arrived late at Summer Shack last night as I had to spend 1 1/2 hour prior to sort out the mess with the cable installation fiasco at my new apartment. To be frank, I'm not the biggest fan of Comcast. But what can I do? They're the only cable provider in the city of Cambridge and I am addicted to Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi channel, and broadband Internet. I simply can't live without my cable connection. Before I digress further... The crowd at Summer Shack has dwindled down substantially when I arrived. I hung out for another hour before a group of us decided to head down to Harvard Square for more boozing. Disappointingly, not every one who said that were going to the bar ended up at the bar. Robbie, Jeff, Paul, and Jason... Where the hell were you guys? I didn't stay for long at the bar as I had wanted to retire early. We were all lame.

7/8/2005 11:30:49 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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School