Today marks the 1 year anniversary of the devastating tsunami that laid waste to coastal communities around the Indian Ocean. I was in Phuket, Thailand a year ago. I recall blue-sky and perfect temperature - relatively dry and mild for a tropical country - just before the tsunami struck. Seriously, I was paradise. Then the wave came and everything in this path was razed to the ground. I was farther inland and was able to run to higher ground quickly. Earlier on, my group that I was with had contemplated going to the beach. Had my group taken the path to the beach that day, I am not sure if I would be alive today. You can read the full story here. For now, let us mark the anniversary by observing a minute of silence in memory of the victims of the tsunami disaster.

12/26/2005 12:21:47 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Personal

Moving is a time consuming undertaking and I hate doing it with a passion. Yet, I have moved twice this year. I was overconfident and made a miscalculated decision to move earlier this year - just don't ask why I did what I did. Nonetheless, I couldn't have asked for a better time to move than today. There was absolutely no problem getting a moving truck and parking it right outside the apartment building. Best of all, today's spring-like climate was perfect for moving - not too cold, not too warm. I also have helpers, who are essential to a successful move. Thanks to Michelle, Milt, and Brian B., we were able to transfer all my stuff over to the destination in record time. Thanks guys.

Afterwards, Michelle, Brian B., and I went to Michelle's family's house in Reading for Christmas dinner. It was great to finally meet Michelle's family after hearing so much about them. This year's Christmas movie at Michelle's family was Fantastic Four. The movie, like any superhero comic adapted movie, has enough entertaining value to keep me occupied while I digest my Christmas dinner but I don't think I would rent the movie on my own - you seen one, you seen them all. Nevertheless, the food was delicious and time spent at the Hayes was great. Well, it's almost (or past) midnight now. So merry Christmas everyone.

12/25/2005 12:01:45 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [3]

Personal

I am a huge fan of Ikea as I like furniture that is affordable and has modern design appeal. In the past years, I have driven over 150 miles to Connecticut and New York to visit the Ikea stores in those states. I am very excited to finally learn that an Ikea store has opened within a 20 minute drive from my house.

Last night, Camille and I, along with his dad and brother who are visiting the States from France went to the newly opened Ikea store in Stoughton. After hearing that traffic to the Stoughton Ikea store has virtually come to a standstill in the first 2 days of its opening on November 9th, I anticipated a similar experience last night especially during the peak of Christmas shopping rush. On the contrary, my first trip to the Stoughton Ikea store was the most pleasant experience ever. There were no traffic around the store. in fact, we found a parking spot right next to the entrance. With very few customers shopping that night I was able to easily browse through the merchandise in the store. Best of all, there were absolutely no checkout lines. I went straight to the checkout counter. Overall, I really like the Stoughton store. The place is huge and the merchandise are well organized. Knowing that the store is open till 10pm and that there are very few people during the week, I am going to start shopping at Ikea after 7pm.

12/23/2005 12:26:29 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [3]

Personal

I was paying for my groceries at the checkout counter of a local Whole Foods Market when I heard the following:

A young checkout operator singing: "People are people, so why should it be..."
The cashier in her late 40's said: "No, no, it's more like 'People, people who need people...' Hmmm... Who sings that song."
Me (to the cashier): "Well, the song that you had just sang is by Barbara Streisand."
Me (to the checkout operator): "Ah, the song 'People are People' is by Depeche Mode."
Checkout operator: "That's right. I think there's a generation gap between Sylvia and me."
Me (shrugging): "Well... I bridged the two disparate generations."

Anyway, this is probably the my only highlight of the day. I really don't have any exciting anecdote to share since school ended last week. Also, I have been really tired the past couple of days - as if the whole year of cumulated fatigue from my busy schedule has finally taken its toll on me. That's why I am staying put in Boston this holiday season to catch up on sleep.

12/22/2005 12:55:15 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [2]

Personal

For the past year, I have always felt guilty for not being productive. I have to finish an assignment or read something to prepare for a class. Even though the fall semester is officially over, I am actually having difficulty adjusting to the free time. That said, I am glad that I am finally done with this semester as I have finally completed all SDM core courses. From now on, I only have electives left to take, something that I looking forward to.

Last week has been a lot of fun as some of students in my SDM cohort organized several socializing events to celebrate the end of the semester or the end of the program (for the some of us who are done with the program). From basketball to singing I'm Going Be (500 Miles) at Thirsty Ear, I really enjoy the time with my fellow SDMers. Things are going to be different next semester. I will miss some of them.

12/19/2005 11:54:39 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [7]

School

Yesterday we had our last lecture in ESD.10 - Introduction to Technology and Policy. I learned several things from this class but nothing groundbreaking. I have to admit, I did have high expectations coming into this course but at the end the course just fell short of my expectations. I feel that the course is a little introductory for my liking and there are times that I didn't feel super excited about this class. I think the delivery of the course can be improved. Overall, this is an okay course. I hope my feedback to the professors who seem very open and constructive would help them to improve this course next year.

Afterwards, the students stopped by at Building E40 for the TPP Holidays Party. The food was great. Thanks Yoko and Sydney. It was good to meet all fellow TPP students once last time this year before we part ways for the holidays.

I came back home to catch a quick nap before going back to MIT for a game of squash with John, a PhD student from the Mechanical Engineering department. I met John in i-Teams and we have been playing squash for about 3 weeks now. Since I brought a pair of indoor shoes, my lateral feet movements have improved and I have been playing a lot better. John and I played a competitive game today. It was a great way to say goodbye to John before he returns home to Michigan later this week.

12/15/2005 1:00:54 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [3]

School

I really enjoy the movie March of the Penguins last Saturday. Although the movie is labeled as a documentary, I prefer to call it an inspiring, heart-warming, and heartbreaking drama of love against all odds. Watch as the Emperor Penguins walk 70 miles inland in frigid -30F temperature to procreate. But the mating ritual is the easy part. Once the female lays her eggs, she transfers the egg to the male for stewardship before marching back to the sea to feed. The father remains at the breeding ground and is given the responsibility of looking after the egg. For the next 3 months, these male penguins will go without food and brave the harshest winter on Earth with temperature dropping down to -80F and with winds reaching hurricane level of 100 mph. Nonetheless, the community of penguins will collectively do whatever it takes to survive the harsh winter by huddling together for warmth while tending the egg within their pouches. There are heartbreaking scenes in the movie where the parent penguins watch their young ones confront the perils of the weather and of predators. On the other hand, the movie is a powerful movie given the penguins' defiance to the cold and their love for their young ones. Just earlier today, I was complaining about winter while walking home in 35F and 10mph winds. If I only have even a quarter of their resilience, I would be satisfied. So don't think of penguins as cute, little creatures. They deserve more respect for their resilience. I give this movie an 85% rating.

12/12/2005 11:56:12 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [4]

Movies

So far, this weekend has been great. I spent most of this weekend taking numerous study breaks to spend time with several classmates who will be leaving MIT by the end of the semester. For brunch yesterday, Robbie, Yoav, Ilana, Deming, John W., Paul B., and I went for some really good crab-meat dumplings at a Chinese restaurant in Chinatown. I haven't had Chinese food that good for ages, I really like the food there. A return trip to the restaurant is definitely in the order.

Later that night, I hung out with Paul B. again at the Middle East for beer and Shawarma before heading to MIT to meet Ilana and John W. to watch a screening of the March of the Penguins movie. Sitting in 26-100, the room where most movie at MIT are screened, was reminiscent of my undergrad days. The movie is great and I will write about this movie later. Unfortunately, both Ilana and John were no-shows at the movie. :-(

I also started my winter running this weekend by making 2 runs yesterday and today with Camille. I didn't run that well today as my Honey Smacks with milk (been in the fridge for more than a week) was acting up half way through the run. That resulted in a very cute female runner overtaking us. We started catching up to her but with me being in a bad shape we were in no position to catch up to her. So I told Camille to take it for the team, leave me behind, and catch up to her. Hmmm... I wonder if he got her number?

12/11/2005 3:42:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Personal

With the war looming in Iraq and the current political discourse on America's dependency on foreign oil in a post-9/11 world, it makes it all more relevant to watch Syriana, a serious movie about the politics of oil. Last friday, l went to see the movie with Camille and Brian. My take on the movie is mixed. As you would expect, this movie relates to the human fragility of greed. In the struggle for wealth and power, tragedies and betrayals are inevitably the norm not the exception. I enjoy this aspect of the movie where I am able to step in the vast, complex world of the most powerful industry on Earth. I also like the shuffling of between scenes of lawyers and oil men brokering deals in Washington and the disenfranchised Pakistani migrant workers in the Middle East However, there are 2 things that I don't like about this movie. While I don't see the type of self-righteousness (something that I detest) that is often pervasive in many political tinted movies, I do find several aspects of the movie largely exaggerated. Another problem that I have with this movie is the large number of storylines that unfolds during the movie although at the end of the movie, the storylines were weaved together quite nicely. Nonetheless, you can get a quite lost in the middle of the movie especially with such a complex background and numerous disparate characters to contend with. Overall I enjoy the movie as it makes me think about the questions of U.S. energy and foreign policies in a post-9//11 world. I give it a 70% rating.

12/11/2005 2:22:02 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Movies

MIT recently launched 2 podcast sites to encourage members of the MIT community to contribute podcasts. For podcast submissions from departments, labs, and MIT sponsored events and lectures, visit the IS&T podcast site. For informal podcasts contributed by individuals, go to IS&T Podcast Wiki.

12/7/2005 11:46:28 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [3]

School

Stephen Colbert, the anchorman of the Colbert Report and a former senior correspondent for the the Daily Show (BTW which correspondent on the Daily Show isn't a senior correspondent), was interviewed by Terry Gross on Fresh Air earlier today. You can listen to the interview here. You will hear none of Colbert's usual satire on the interview, but it is nonetheless humorous and insightful.

12/7/2005 11:15:22 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [2]

The Daily Show

In our iTeams class yesterday, we had a panel of VCs and entrepreneurs who led an open, interactive Q/A style discussion about their experience in the VC world. Here are the notes that I took from the session:

• What are VCs looking for people in a team?
  It takes a deep understanding of the technology to bring it to the market and presented in a way that people in the market may care. For a high-tech startup, the people need to be deep in the underlying technology and still be broad to know how business can be generated. (I realized VCs in the high-tech sector value technologists who are business savvy than pure MBAs who maybe know something about technology. At the end of the day, it's really the technologist's idea that is going to bring value to the firm and business people can always be replaced by people of the VC's liking).
• On sustainability...
  It is the job of the CEO to make the startup stay alive long enough to get lucky. Have confidence in yourself. Entrepreneurs who mess things up are the ones who worry too much. Don't do it for money, do it for business and the money will come.
• On startup team dynamics...
  There is a lot of smart people, don't over analyze.
• On funding...
  If you can stay away from VC, do it. Get funded by other means, like government SBIR. VCs are awful to deal with. Don't take money from VC without calling the CEOs who deal or had dealt with them before. If you hear hesitation from CEO, that is enough to tell the entrepreneur what the CEO thinks about the VC. Without a doubt, non-diluted funding is wonderful.
• On strategies...
  Staged business models are great. Getting into a market is the best way to understanding a market, but may also be the riskiest especially without funding. Find markets that technologies can solve the problem completely.
• On the roles of the founders...
  Keep an open mind, do what best for the company. Be thoughtful. Make mistakes a lot and quickly, then stop. As a founder you will be bombarded with endless day-to-day activities so do things that have value-added. Also, you want to establish good rapport and trust with investors.

12/6/2005 6:54:56 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [0]

Business

Since I started my academic program at MIT, I have not been able to, either deliberately or unintentionally, stay abreast of the latest developments in the software and Internet industries. Still lamenting from the fact that I was barely able to explain Web 2.0, I decided to sit in as a guest listener at Cusumano's Software Business class yesterday to listen to the presentation of student's term projects on various software-related businesses and technologies. Thankfully, Cusumano has graceful enough (albeit a little reluctant) to let me sit in the class, which normally has a policy of no listeners. I was impressed by most of the presentations. The Digital Media Content, Mobile Industry, RFID, and Web 2.0 presentations are my favorites. They were well presented and insightful. Overall, the 3 hours spent in that class was worth the effort as I learned some new business and technological trends and landscape in the IT world - a good summary of what I missed the past year. Even though I am now trying to make inroads to nanotech and management, my strongest technical expertise is still in software. I should really stay on top of the latest developments in the software industry.

12/3/2005 7:30:59 PM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [3]

School

I love it when the Daily Show (TDS) points out contradiction of a politician's current position with a comment that was made in the past. This was from 2 nights ago:

Jon Stewart: A couple of weeks ago, Congressman John Murtha, a very hawkish democrat and former marine from Pennsylvania came out with a support of withdrawal of U.S. troops. And this drew a response from Ohio freshman Congresswoman Jean Schmidt after she had talked to a Marine colonel.

[Footage of Jean Schmidt speaking]

Jean Schmidt: He also asked me to send Congressman Murtha a message that cowards cut and run, Marines never do.

Jon Stewart: Boy freshmen grow up so quickly. You know what. I remember (eh...) Congresswoman Schmidt, back in September, (eh...) her first address to the Congress. This is how she was talking:

[Footage of Jean Schmidt speaking]

Jean Schmidt: I pledge to walk in the shoes of my colleagues and refrain from name calling or the questioning of character. It is easy to sink to the lowest form of political debate.

Jon Stewart: Yeah, it is (eh…) amazing. But clearly Jean Schmidt is (eh...) showing us that the shelf life of idealism in Washington is [John counting fingers, whispering September, October, November...] 2 1/2 months. Ouch...

12/2/2005 2:41:12 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [0]

The Daily Show

One of the perks of being at MIT is that students get to form teams with other entrepreneurial minded students and enter the $50k competition to compete for the best business plan at MIT. Prelude to the $50k competition is the $1k competition, which serves as warm-up to the big event. Ever since I went to my first $50k competition event, I have been hooked to entrepreneurship. Back with a vengeance from not getting into the finals of the last $50k competition, our team was one of the 10 winners in last night's $1k award ceremony. We won the tiny tech category. It was a good team effort. The next stop: the $50k competition next spring.

12/2/2005 1:52:16 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [1]

Entrepreneurship

Ever since I knew that Randal Pinkett was on the Apprentice, I have been drawn to the show every Thursday night. And why not? Randal is a friend of a friend and MIT alum. It is not often that one gets to root for someone on a reality show. Besides, I am also curious how a Sloanie would perform in the Apprentice. So far, Randal has been performing great; he played smart by solidifying his status early in the season by wining twice as project manager. But Randal was close to getting axed by Trump 3 episodes ago by having the wrong station number written on a poster during a presentation to the XM Radio executives. After falling out of favor with the Donald, Randal was all fired up to win back credibility. So Randal took the role of project manager, responsible for advertising Shania Twain's fragrance in last week's episode of the Apprentice. So aggressive was Randal in winning the task, he sabotaged the other team by buying over all megaphones (a critical hardware that made Randal win and the other team lost) that the opposite team had reserved at Radio Shack. The move was somewhat questionable but Randal was later praised by Trump for such move. Well, like they all say, it's all fair in love and business. Tonight, Randal has finally made it to the final 2. Both Randal and Rebecca - the woman on crutches - will be on the finale next week. I was hoping for a showdown between Randal and Alla - the 2 contestants whom I consider the strongest on the Apprentice. Too bad, Alla got fired tonight. Well, 50 bucks on Randal for becoming the Apprentice.

12/2/2005 12:31:55 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [2]

News

Lately, I have been hearing a lot about Web 2.0 - not just from the usual SDM software geeks like Yoav, Robbie, and Ilana but from other people who aren't software centric. Yesterday, I was asked "Hey MIT guy, you should know this. What is Web 2.0?" I shrugged and then proceeded to B.S. my way through by saying that Web 2.0 is a new paradigm in the Internet and it has something to do with AJAX, which makes the web is more interactive and blah blah.... The truth is I had no idea what I was talking about. Nonetheless he accepted my explanation and said "So it is like web services and wikipedia, huh?", which I then answered with a grin, "Exactly."

Being a geek myself (yeah, high marks on the geek test done 2 weeks ago), I felt embarrassed for not knowing what Web 2.0 is. So I did a little googling and found this out. Coined by Dale Dougherty, an associate at O'Reilly Media, Web 2.0 is a term that is used to describe the transformation of the Internet from an information-based architecture to a user-centric platform with applications and services centered around user's needs. Technologies like blogs, bit torrent, wikis, rss, web services, and of course AJAX (I was right after all) contribute to the evolution. This technological shift has social and economical implications. The empowerment of individual users through open communication, knowledge sharing, and decentralization led to radical changes in social networks and behaviors. For example, blogging has now replaced personal website as a form of communicating one's thoughts to friends and the rest of the word. Last but not least, new businesses, with Google being the prime example, have already started to exploit the potential of Web 2.0 by offering software products that intimately involve the users in the development cycle. Here are some good links for further reading on Web 2.0.

• Tim O'Reilly orginal article on Web 2.0
• Wikipedia on Web 2.0
• Tim Berners-Lee on semantic Web 2.0 (a different take on Web 2.0)
• Web 2.0 relate businesses

12/1/2005 4:11:39 AM (Eastern Standard Time, UTC-05:00)

Comments [7]

Internet