Yesterday, we had Prof. Don Lessard as guest speaker in our System Project Management (SPM) class. He spoke about managing risks in projects at all levels, from 1-person to large-scale enterprise-level. He mentioned the following story to illustrate a point in his lecture:

Two guys are out in the woods hiking. Suddenly, a bear started chasing them. The first guy took his pair of sneakers out of his backpack and started putting them on. The second guy asked: "What are you doing? You can't outrun a bear." The first guy, at this point, said, "I don't have to outrun the bear. I only have to outrun you."

Prof. Lessard said that the point he was trying to make with his story is this: In a competitive business context, you just have to "outrun" the other competitor. To do so, we have to create value, but value brings risk. Don't try to minimize risk because you won't get any value from it. Instead learn to manage risk. I like that advice.

11/2/2005 9:58:43 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Business

Happy Halloween everybody... So far, my day today revolves not around ghosts and goblins but rather the wonderful world of telecommunication. Lately, I have grown really bored in the class Introduction to Technology and Policy. I really need a lecture that has value and will prop up interest for that class. Well, my prayers were answered with Sharon Gillett - a TPP 95 grad - as the guest speaker in today's Intro to Tech & Policy. She was extremely engaging and her talk was very interactive. As an Electrical Engineer and someone who has been involved in IT for many years, I thought I knew everything about the telecommunication industry. I was pleasantly surprised to learn something new today, particularly how regulated the telecommunication (and broadband) industry is and the implications of a few landmark legislations that were passed for this industry.

I am currently working on a case study on Iridium - a satellite-based telephony company that went bankrupt in 1999, a year after the launch of its service. Surprisingly, the more I read about the case and doing research on the company, the more I like this case study. It is a classical case of a company possessing great innovations but in the end made some really bad business decisions and failed spectacularly. Also, for those who are currently taking Prof. Richard de Neufville's class on Real Options (aka ESD.71), the Iridium case presents a real life example where management should have defined a set of objective goals (rather than one that is based on experience and observations) and evaluates the project or long-term investment opportunities as real options.

10/31/2005 11:28:47 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

One talk that none of my classmates blogged is Partha Gosh's talk on Leadership. Gosh was invited last Wednesday to the SDM business trip to talk about leadership. I had attended Gosh's talk on leadership that was part of my TPP curriculum a month ago and even blogged about it. Like before, I enjoyed his talk on leadership last week. I like like the spiritual and human value of what he was trying to bring to the table. Likewise, my TPP classmates like him so much that we invited Gosh back for more lectures on leadership development. Conversely, the reaction from my SDM classmates were mixed. I surveyed the class about the lecture and for those who responded, half of them liked the talk and the half didn't. One of my classmates said: "Why would I want to learn leadership from someone whom I won't want to follow?" That was an interesting quote because here is a bigger question: Should people who teach leadership exude presence and inspiration? True, Gosh's talk that night was a little dry and slow. Indeed, I think that it is much harder to talk about leadership to a group of people who are more mature and has significant professional experience than a cohort of students with the majority who are in their early twenties. Anyway, those are my observations. Oh, time to go for a run...

10/30/2005 4:52:48 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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Sports

I meant to blog this a few days ago but I have been too lazy to do it. No, I wasn't busy; I have been feeling really lazy lately and I felt unmotivated to share any of my insights and thoughts on my blog.

Last week was filled with many social events and interesting activities at school as current students, incoming students (recently admitted), and alumni of the SDM program converged at MIT for a week long period of activities comprising the SDM business trip, SDM open-house, and SDM alumni conference. Also, there was the Sloan Innovation Period (or SIP) at Sloan, which I didn't participate it. Thankfully, Robbie blogged about his blogs on many of the fine talks that took place last week. Here are his notes.

10/30/2005 4:27:04 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

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School

US News posted a special report entitled "America's Best Leaders" with profiles and stories of the top 25 leaders in America. My initial thoughts were: In a land of more than 250 million people, are these the best leaders that we have? I strongly agree with the selection of a few individuals who made it to the list and remain ambivalent on most individuals on the list. Ultimately, while I may not agree with the positions or values of certain individuals, it doesn't necessary mean that they are bad leaders in my mind. But I simply baffled by Condoleezza Rice's appearance on the list - I don't think I agree with her values or policies, nor do I think that she's a good leader. Can someone tell me what positive impact she made in the last 5 years (yes this is one of the criteria in the selection process)? Where is Rudy Giuliani and John McCain? Why aren't they on the list?

10/26/2005 8:41:12 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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News

I attended the Lux Executive Summit on Nanotech the last 2 days at Charles Hotel in Harvard Square. I am used to listening to the academic and technological viewpoint of nanotechnology at MIT. It was refreshing on get a different perspective on the business impact of nanotechnology from industry leaders and analysts. Here are some notes from the conference.

• Many customers and investors aren't sophisticated enough to understand nanotechnology. Unless they ask, don't explain to them about the technology. Explain the applications of nanotechnology and how people may benefit from them. For example, start off by saying that nanotechnology enhanced-batteries have a longer lasting battery life. Your laptop will last much longer with one of these batteries.
• 3 industrial segments impacted by nanotechnology are:
• Manufacturing and materials
• Electronics and IT
• Biotech and life sciences
• Nanomaterials face huge barriers as traditional companies maybe reluctant to adopt this new technology. Manufacturers are more concerned about process change than the technology.
• Startups can't sell their nanomaterials based on technology, they have to have a case for lowering their costumers' overall cost with minimal or no process change.
• China will become both the largest consumer and producer of nanotechnology by 2010.

Sorry for the short list of notes, I wasn't really taking notes at the conference.

10/25/2005 11:49:57 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Technology

After living in the U.S. for almost 2 years, Lana and Chris will be leaving for their home country Australia next Wednesday. As a close friend of the couple, I stop by at a little get-together that Lana had organized last night at the International Restaurant & Pub in the financial district of Boston. Because the pub doesn't serve food after 6pm, we had decided to go to Houston's in Quincy Market for a sumptuous dinner; but the long line deterred us from eating there. I am glad that we finally ended up at Nebo, a hip, upscale pizzeria in the North End, since it gave me the chance to say hi to some SDMers who were dinning at the restaurant. It was my first time at Nebo last night and I immediately liked the place. I think Nebo is a great location for chat over a glass of wine and some antipasta dishes or gourmet pizzas - note to self, this is a great date location.

But food aside, Lana and Chris will be missed. They are the most genuine and generous couple I have ever met. I thoroughly enjoy their company during their stay in America. Fair Dinkum, I have also picked up a lot of Aussie slangs from Chris. Listening to Lana and Chris's talk about Australia last night made me want to visit Australia again. I am definitely planning to make a trip to Down Under some time soon. To Lana and Chris, have a safe trip back to home and all the best in your life in Australia.

10/22/2005 4:17:22 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Social

Taking advantage of the gorgeous autumn weather this afternoon, Kat and I went for a run in West Cambridge, Watertown, and Allston. Since Kat was relatively new to Cambridge, I led the run and took a few detours off the beaten path to better show her the hidden neighborhoods. We made a quick stop over at Mount Auburn Cemetery, a magnificent landscape in the fall, before running along the Charles River to catch the rowing teams practicing for the Head of the Charles, a regatta taking place on the Charles River this weekend. The Harvard side of town is hopping with people and activities today in anticipation of the regatta. The almost 2 hrs run turned out to be a fun event.

10/21/2005 7:06:49 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Personal

2 days ago, I blogged about my concerns on the termination of "This Weekend in God" now that Stephen Colbert has his own news show. My concerns turned jubilation when Rod Corddry summoned the "God Machine" and did a remarkable, hilarious rendition of "This Weekend in God" last night. Kudos Rob for continuing my favorite segment on TDS.

10/20/2005 11:39:53 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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The Daily Show

One of the reasons why I bought in an Apple powerbook was because my IBM thinkpad broke down last July. I finally sent the thinkpad back to IBM for repairs last week. It was still under warranty, so why not? Yesterday, I received my thinkpad with the motherboard and BIOS replaced. The newly repaired laptop is working very well and it has been a relief not seeing the blue-screen-of-death when I power up the machine. More surprisingly, I realized how much I miss Windows when I was using the laptop earlier. Sometimes I think that Mac OS X is simply overrated. Sure Mac OS X is snazzier than Windows, but in terms of functionality both operating systems are about the same. Both my thinkpad and powerbook have the same system configuration with 1.5GHz CPU and 512 MB RAM. Yet my powerbook is consistently slower than my thinkpad. Word and Excel on the PC are a lot more responsive than their counterparts on the Mac. But the mac isn't without merit. My 12" powerbook is still the lightest and smallest laptop I have ever used. Wireless and bluetooth support on the mac is still top-notch. OmniGaffle still beats Microsoft Visio hands down.

I am going to continue using my powerbook but it's good to know that I have a backup in case my powerbook dies.

10/20/2005 11:21:16 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Mac

Ah... the reporter was paddling in what looks like a river until 2 guys walked by her canoe. It then became apparent that the canoe is really in no more than 4 inches of water. Here's a video of it.

Jon Stewart: "What? It's very interesting. Very rarely has the media cover anything with that kind of depth. In this case it's only only inches deep."

Touted as the show to watch if you have the balls, The Colbert Report (TCS) premiered last night with Stephen Colbert, one of my favorite correspondents from the Daily Show (TDS), as the anchorman. Being a spin-off of TDS, it uses the same tried and true satirical formula of TDS. While TDS reports on the the hypocrisy and contradictions of politics and the news media, TCS is supposed to make fun of news talk show and media pundits like Bill O'Reilly and Sean Hannity. And you know what, I love it. It's like having the a 30-minute extension of TDS or what I consider the best show on TV right now. Colbert was hilarious last night although it still has some way to go before it catches up to Stewart's smooth, relaxed presentation style. Colbert seemed a little tense and unsettled when he was interviewing his guest. Still, the gravitas face-off with Stone Phillips last night was entertainingly funny. I see myself sticking around on Comedy Central after TDS. I hope that Stephen Colbert will continue "This Weekend in God" segment on the Colbert Report.

10/18/2005 6:19:07 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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The Daily Show

I have a lot of zen today, which I attribute to a good weekend of partying with my buddy Brian. The great thing Brian brings with him whenever he is in town is his amazing ability to gather everyone that we know together. So it is no surprise that Eimear, Blanche, Alberto, Brian, and I spent a good portion of Sunday at 647 Tremont to catch up with one another's life. It was a great time.

Speaking of 647 Tremont, I have wanted to visit the restaurant ever since I heard about its pajamas brunch where their staff and some customers are dressed in pajamas for brunch. But I was a little disappointed by the pajamas thing during my first visit to the restaurant yesterday. Now that I have seen it in person, I just don't see the novelty in seeing people wearing pajamas while eating. While the food quality is above average, there's a certain lack of freshness that makes it fall short of outstanding. I tasted my friend's Enchilada and found it to be too rich and overloaded with oregano. I had the pizza with bacon, potato, cheddar, scallion, and toppled with eggs done over easy. I have to admit the pizza is creative and quite tasty but the dough just wasn't as fresh as I had hope. It's just me, fresh, warm, and tasty dough is something that I look for in a delicious pizza.

10/17/2005 11:48:35 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Food

I am turning the TV off, the New England Patroits game is getting too painful to watch. This is a good choice since I also need to focus on finishing up my homework. With the way the Pats are playing now, I don't see them playing in the playoffs; but then again, the entire AFC East is playing so bad at the moment, the Pats may still stand a good chance.

10/16/2005 6:30:17 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Sports

It was interesting to see 2 different groups of my friends coming together this weekend. One group is made up of people I know from MIT and the other group consists of people I knew prior to MIT. You might think that these 2 disparate groups have very little in common. But in reality, they all share one thing in common - they all read my blog. Moreover, through my blog entries, blog comments, and links to friends' blogs, my diverse group of friends have unknowingly crossed paths in some point in their life before.

A case in point, I introduced Yoav to Brian as the guy who is the first to comment on my blog entries. Brian immediately recognized who this guy is. Likewise, Yoav had apparently read Brian's travel blog prior to meeting Brian last Friday. When I introduced Ilana to my friends at Blanche's party, people apparently recognized her as the lady of the pink blog than some random stranger at a party. On the other hand, Yoav and Ilana are always keen on meeting the real Siobhan, whom had made several comments as well as being mentioned several times on my blog. It also find it amusing when I hear people citing my blog. Today, Eimear cited several interesting material not just from my blog but from the blogs that are connected from my blog site. Last but not least, I sometimes have random people coming to me to tell me that they have read my blog and enjoyed doing it. Overall, it is a highly gratifying experience knowing that I have readership and that people are some how connected to one another through my blog.

10/16/2005 4:12:21 PM (Eastern Daylight Time, UTC-04:00)

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Blog