Awesome. Simply Awesome.

MIT hackers prank Harvard Statue with Master Chief's helmet and assault rifle.

In recognition of the release of Halo 3, a highly anticipated video game by Microsoft and Bungie, MIT hackers adorned the John P. Harvard statue, in Harvard Yard, with a Spartan helmet. The back of the helmet, which is worn by the protagonist of the game, Master Chief, was labeled with “Master Chief in Training.” The statue was decorated with an assault rifle (bullet count of 2E), as well as a Beaver emblem on the right shoulder.

http://www-tech.mit.edu/V127/N41/graphics/halo3.html

First day of class

He has trained and planned and waited 28 years.

He thinks he's ready....






What a whirlwind the last couple of weeks have been. Pre-term, orientation... but it's finally here, the first day of classes.

Why Entourage is starting to feel a lot like the end credits of CHiPs

Towards the end of last week's episode of Entourage (which, in terms of plot, seemed only to serve as a 30-minute commercial for Marquis Jet and Kanye West's new album) I couldn't help but think that, with yet another feel-good and somewhat cheesy ending, the show has been treading dangerously into CHiPs end credits territory.

You know exactly what I mean: those last 2-3 minutes during the 80's cop show where Ponch (Erik Estrada), John (Larry Wilcox) and the rest of the merry gang of California Highway Patrolmen would start beaming their teeth, high-fiving each other, and generally ham it up on cue as the end credits started rolling.

Seriously, thinking back to that classic 1980's show's endings and its inimitable closing theme, I took a look back at what I was watching on HBO in 2007, and thought to myself: SSDD.

All they'd really need to do at the end of last week's Entourage episode was cue up the old CHiPs theme, have Turtle or Drama do some kind of pratfall to the bemusement of all, and have the camera capture the trademark freeze-frame reaction shots on Vin, Ari, etc. that Erik Estrada and crew so perfectly mastered back in the day. And there you'd have it: CHiPs for a whole new generation.

Seriously, I know Entourage is all about escapism and living vicarious lifestyles, but it's pretty obvious the show's been trending into a listless pattern of predictability of late. What, for instance, separated this episode from the four or five (dozen) ones that preceded it? Let's see:

E./Vin/Ari (take your pick) is about to lose his job/shot at bigger stardom/a huge deal because Billy Walsh/Turtle/Drama/studio villain of the week is being unreasonable/an idiot/a bigger idiot/an ass. Enter deus ex machina (i.e. Kanye West in this past episode), and everything is back to being hunky dory. High-five everbody!

Look, I'm sure they'll come up with something great for the season finale... a cliffhanger, some sort of bitter-sweet plot twist, or Drama being kidnapped and sent to a Chinese prison (hope lives). But I've been wrong before.

On the other hand, in sticking with and ending on the whole escapism theme, would I or the multitude of Entourage viewers really want something to screw up our perfect vicarious movie-star lives??

As they say, a lifestyle is a terrible thing to waste.

Message In A Bottle

Two great articles in this month's issue of Fast Company.

The first article, by Charles Fishman, narrates the meteoric rise of the bottled water industry. From ancient times to the present where bottled water has a chokehold on the global beverage market, Fishman details our fascination with bottled water, and tries to wrap his head around what it all means to us, the environment and our wallets.

A few choice nuggets:

• Americans drink more bottled water than milk, coffee and beer combined.
  
• Last year, we spent more on bottled water than we did on movie tickets, ipods and dry cleaning combined.
• Aquafina and Dasani–marketed by Pepsi and Coke respectively–hold about a quarter of the domestic market share, yet their product is merely purified municipal tap water.
  

Check out more factoids, as well as a sobering revelations on an industry that essentially fleeces us daily, but make us feel oh so healthy.

Second, but just as great a read, is this month's cover story on what may be one of the most impressive brand makeovers of this decade: Al Gore's comeback from epic loser (circa. 2000) to multi-millionaire, climate change spokesperson/impresario and potential kingmaker for the 2008 elections.

Somebody please give her a medal

MSNBC journalist, Mika Brzezinzki, attempts to burn, rips, and finally shreds her script while live on television in protest at being made to lead her news bulletin on Paris Hilton.



Seriously, why in god's name are the so-called tribulations of a débutante news?? There's a war out there. There are people dying and living thousands of miseries every day. There are people out there who have been usurping their powers and the public trust for years without once being held accountable. And this is news deemed fit to print?!

Badass! (Updated)

Hot damn. This just made my day.

(Courtesy of EW.com)

I'll admit it. I haven't been too enthralled by this summer's sequels so far.

But next summer... oh man. This is going to be *good*. For a full res view of this pic, click here.

*UPDATE*: No sooner did I post this, that more production pictures leaked on to the web. Check out Bats new wheels:




PS: For those of you who wanted me to weigh in on The Sopranos finale. Well, to tell you the truth, I thought the finale was absolutely

In anticipation...

With only a few hours to go before the last episode of The Sopranos EVER, it's not without certain trepidation that I await the ultimate fates of Tony, his family, and crew. Once those precious 65 minutes are over, I too will feel like a chapter in my life will be closing.

Okay, fine. The connection between us may not be quite so solemn, but like Tony, I do feel like I'm–in the words of Little Carmine–"at the precipice of an enormous crossroad"... a time of imminent transition, if you will.

You see, I associate much of my time spent religiously watching The Sopranos with my early years in Boston. The ship has since sailed on that era, but it brings me back to when I was still at my first job, and living alone (quite poorly in hindsight) in a crap apartment of my own doing [Note to self: police locks on doors, never a good sign]. Ever the opsimath, it took me some time to get into the show everybody was talking about. More precisely, it took me a Netflix subscription and a complimentary subscription to HBO to realize that I was in a very good position to get into it if I really wanted to.

Naturally, I was skeptical at first. Like perhaps 50.3% of the world's population, i.e. men, I am utterly fascinated with mob movies. The Godfather, Goodfellas, and Casino all hold a very special place in my heart, and dvd collection. Having seen the promos for The Sopranos and heard the hype for quite a while, I couldn't help but wonder how it would compare to the canon, and to what degree I would be disappointed. A show about the mafia and the main character is called Soprano? Fuhggedaboutit!

I received the first 3 dvds of Season One on a Tuesday night in the fall of 2002, slid them into my dvd player, and was immediately hooked. As I watched the episodes back to back (even after dinner while doing the dishes in a sink that was only a sink in name) I thought to myself: This is great television. This is masterfully nuanced art. This is f*****g amazing.

And it only got better. There are many pretenders out there, but what the creators of the show and its inspired cast have been able to do in the last 8 years, 86 episodes and 18 Emmy awards is put together one of the best TV shows of all time.

The generation before mine had the Godfather. We have the Sopranos. And I guess the children of the future are better off for having both. So thank you, Mr. Chase. Thank you, Mr. Gandolfini et al.

There are way too many good qualities to enumerate about the show, but among them and at the top of my list would certainly have to be the pacing of each season... it's like every one of them was a new "dish" being prepared from start to finish. It would begin at a slow-burn, throwing characters new and old into situations that would cause them to blend, simmer or–when things inexorably heated up–burn. Nothing was guaranteed, no one was safe, and loose ends were often left untied. Also, years would pass between certain seasons and the creators chose to use that to their advantage. The show moved with the times... often even presciently predicting them.

The second great quality that set the show apart in my eyes was the myriad of insights into characters (major or marginal) that were offered through both the stellar writing and performances. That Adrianna's ill-fated dog was called Cosette, or more recently, that one of the girls responsible for running Chris (Cristofuh!) and Tony off the road and refusing to call the authorities because they were driving on a learner's permit after dark was called Kennedy, for example, stood in my mind as being just masterful. Paris, anybody? Not to judge a book by its cover, but with names such as those you get an unbelievable amount of subtext from which to infer from. And that's writing, folks. One word *can* say it all.

And then there were the performances: nobody was really played for laughs or really over the top except perhaps for Paulie Walnuts, but that's just who the dude was... and it's believable. Everything is. Time and time again, it's been reinforced in the show that Tony and his crew are fully functional sociopaths, and that's exactly how they come across. I don't think Edie Falco or James Gandolfini could ever get enough plaudits for their portrayals of Carmela and Tony respectively. I particularly enjoy the additional heft that Gandolfini has conveyed to Tony this season as heard through his character's increasingly lumbered breathing. This again is not real, but legerdemain. And that's a testament to their craft.

Which brings us to tonight.

Will Tony live, die or turn? That's ultimately what everybody wants to know, and I for one can't wait to find out.

Hillary equals France

Last post in observance of France Appreciation Month, I promise. The following is a column by Bill Maher that appeared in Newsweek as well as Salon. Say what you will about Maher, he's absolutely dead on here.

[Found the video of this bit as delivered on his show. Since I love embedding YouTube videos I've added it at the bottom of this post. Enjoy.]

New rule: conservatives have to stop rolling their eyes every time they hear the word France. Like just calling something French is the ultimate argument winner. "Aw, you want a health-care system that covers everybody and costs half as much? You mean like they have in France? What's there to say about a country that was too stupid to get on board with our wonderfully conceived and brilliantly executed war in Iraq?"

Earlier this year, the Boston Globe got hold of an internal campaign document from GOP contender Mitt Romney, and a recurring strategy was to tie Democrats to the hated French. It said, in the Machiavellian code of the election huckster, "Hillary equals France," and it envisioned bumper stickers that read FIRST, NOT FRANCE.

Except for one thing: We're not first. America isn't ranked anywhere near first in anything except military might and snotty billionaires. The country that is ranked No. 1 in health care, for example, is France. The World Health Organization ranks America at 37 in the world—not two, or five—37, in between Costa Rica and Slovenia, which are both years away from discovering dentistry. Yet an American politician could not survive if he or she uttered the simple, true statement, "France has a better health-care system than us, and we should steal it." Because here, simply dismissing an idea as French passes for an argument.

John Kerry? Can't vote for him—he looks French. Yeah, as opposed to the other guy, who just looked stupid. I know, if God had wanted us to learn from the Enlightenment, he wouldn't have given us Sean Hannity. And I'm not saying France is better than America. Because I assume you've already figured that out by now. I don't want to be French, I just want to take what's best from the French. Stealing, for your own self-interest.

Republicans should love this idea. Taking what's best from the French: You know who else did that? The Founding Fathers. Hate to sink your toy boat, Fox News, but the Founding Fathers, the ones you say you revere, were children of the French Enlightenment, and fans of it, and they turned it into a musical called the Constitution of the United States. And they did a helluva job, so good it has been said that it was written by geniuses so it could be run by idiots.

But the current administration is putting that to the test. The Founding Fathers were erudite, well-read, European-thinking aristocrats—they would have had nothing in common with, and no use for, an ill-read xenophobic bumpkin like George W. Bush. The American ideas of individuality, religious tolerance and freedom of speech came directly out of the French Enlightenment—but, shhh, don't tell Alabama.

Voltaire wrote "men are born equal" before Jefferson was wise enough to steal it. Countries are like people—they tend to get smarter as they get older. Noted military genius Donald Rumsfeld famously dismissed France as part of Old Europe, but the French are ... what's the word I'm looking for? Oh yeah, "mature." We think they're rude and snobby, but maybe that's because they're talking to us. For example, France just had an election, and people over there approach an election differently. They vote. Eighty-five percent turned out. The only thing 85 percent of Americans ever voted on was Sanjaya.

Maybe the high turnout has something to do with the fact that the French candidates are never asked where they stand on evolution, prayer in school, abortion, stem-cell research or gay marriage. And if the candidate knows about a character in a book other than Jesus, it's not a drawback. There is no Pierre Six-pack who can be fooled by childish wedge issues. And the electorate doesn't vote for the guy they want to have a croissant with. Nor do they care about the candidate's private lives: In the recent race, Ségolène Royal had four kids but never bothered to get married. And she's a socialist.

In America, if a Democrat even thinks you're calling him a liberal he immediately grabs an orange vest and a rifle and heads into the woods to kill something. As for the French conservative candidate, he's married but he and his wife live apart and lead separate lives. They aren't asked about it in the media, and the people are OK with it, for the same reason the people are OK with nude beaches: because they're not a nation of 6-year-olds who scream and giggle if they see pee-pee parts. They have weird ideas about privacy. They think it should be private. In France, everyone has a mistress. Even mistresses have mistresses. To not have a lady on the side says to the voters, "I'm no good at multitasking."

France has its faults—the country has high unemployment, a nasty immigrant problem and all that ridiculous accordion music. But its health care is the best, it's not dependent on Mideast oil, it has the lowest poverty rate and the lowest income-inequality rate among industrialized nations, and it's the greenest, with the lowest carbon dumping and the lowest electricity bill. France has 20,000 miles of railroads that work. We have the trolley at the mall that takes you from Pottery Barn to the Gap. It has bullet trains. We have bullets. France has public intellectuals. We have Dr. Phil. And France invented sex during the day, the ménage à trois, lingerie and the tongue. And the French are not fat. Can't we just admit we could learn something from them?

Maher is the host of HBO's "Real Time With Bill Maher."

© 2007 Newsweek, Inc.

Ce n'est qu'un au revoir...

Our two weeks in Paris are over, and once again, it was really hard to say goodbye to the city I grew up in.

I love Paris, and really enjoyed it this time around. Our trip was memorable for many reasons: spending time with my parents in their new home, seeing old friends, setting foot on familiar ground, and gorging daily on pain au chocolat and baguettes.

An additional reason would have to be the length of our stay. In contrast to my last few visits where I was only able to stay for one week, or say 4-5 days, I was there for 2 whole weeks and it really made a difference.

Traveling to Europe from the US is definitely more tiring than the other way round. It often takes 2 to 3 days to acclimate yourself to the time difference alone. So if you're scheduling a vacation in Europe, don't shortchange yourself. Do it right. With two weeks in my pocket, I was really able to take it all in.

A couple of observations:
# 1: Paris is (even more) beautiful. When you grow up in a fabled city like Paris, you tend to overlook its beauty. Even the little things, like how the names of the architect's are usually etched on the front of buildings, or how the street signs have one or two lines explaining what or who the street is named after. This time around, it felt like Paris emanated even more elegance, its streets and avenues being more picturesque. A diamond to the mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, who decided to make the capital a little more green by delineating more travel lanes for cyclists and pedestrians. Coal to French drivers, who still drive like psychopaths.

# 2: Paris is (even more) expensive. Coming from the US, I felt like I was slumming in the Euro zone this time around. Being unemployed definitely put that extra hurt in the equation but still... it's gotten mad expensive. I remember the days when the Euro felt like play money: all those delightful bills of different sizes and colours... those coins revendicating their national origins on one side, while flexing the European motif on the other... and that highly favourable exchange rate. This time around, I simply yearned for the days when the currency was on parity with the dollar. We got killed out there: 2 coffees? 7 euros ($9!). 4 drinks? 48 euros ($65!). At least when you pay double digits for a drink in the US you get some alcohol. In Paris, we got some watered down ish while the people next to us constantly blew cigarette smoke in our face (thankfully that will all change come February when the smoking ban takes effect... hopefully, they'll ban crappy drinks too!).

# 3: Paris is full of (even more) loaded people. For every Smart Car I saw on the street, there was a Bentley Continental GT or an Aston Martin. I kid you not. One night, we went out to dinner at Le Bistro du 7eme and parked underground in a public garage. On our way back to our car, we must have pressed the B for b@ller button on the elevator because we were let out on this ridiculous level that looked like an airstrip. There, we saw 4 Astons, a Carrera GT, 2 Scagliettis, 2 Maranellos, and a colorful assortment of Modenas. And that was only on the left hand side of the elevator exit... I felt like I was in my virtual garage in Project Gotham 2 (old school xbox... I know) except that this time, everything was in ultra-high-definition salivation-inducing reality. To the uninitiated, the cars listed above roughly totaled a gazillion dollars, or 1,937,000 Kudos points in video game parlance. Needless to say, I pissed myself out of excitement... just a little bit, like Fergie.

#4: Paris is (even more) historic. No revelations or epiphanies here, but one night, we were all invited for drinks by an acquaintance who lives in Voltaire's old house along the river. I shit you not. To think that we were in the actual salon where Voltaire (no relation to Voltron), Thomas Jefferson, and other luminaries stood–including now my father with his glass of scotch in hand–was truly inspiring.


Notwithstanding these casual observations, it also felt overall like there was a different air about Paris and France this time. Perhaps because our visit came right on the heels of a historic presidential election, it felt like change was coming and imminent.

If, under Sarkozy, France starts rewarding hard work and entrepreneurs like the US does, I wouldn't mind returning there post-MBA. Hopefully it won't entail working at Starbucks, but I'll take what I can get.

Une aberration

While getting reacquainted with the streets of Paris yesterday I saw something that made me stop dead in my tracks: Starbucks. In Paris.

I guess it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Starbucks, after all has been in France since early 2004, but this was the first time I actually came face to face with it in Paris. And it was eerie.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a cup of coffee just as much as anybody else, even when it's as overpriced and acrid at times like at Starbucks. Starbucks, above all, is known for selling a delightful consumer experience, and has been extremely successful at that. I can't say I've tried the 18-months-in-the-making Dulce de Leche Latte quite yet, but I'm a sucker for a good Caffè Mocha. Sometimes–I admit–I even go to Starbucks to order a short cappuccino, just to see the reaction on the barrista's face when I utterly blow their mind.

But there was something distinctly peculiar with seeing yet another American commercial monolith ensconce itself in France, moreover, in a niche market that common wisdom would deem quite impenetrable. It was like when I first saw McDonald's in India. Totally counter-intuitive.

Yet, there they were. Customers happily enjoying their Starbucks coffee... including my brother, sister-in-law and wife. I did what any other Frenchman would do in that situation: I stood outside, pouting in their general direction.

Don't get me wrong. I consider myself an enlightened individual. I believe in, and totally enjoy the fruits of American exceptionalism. But I'm not going to lie. Starbucks in Paris is an aberration. And I say this with a straight face, even after finally finishing my copy of the The World Is Flat on the plane ride to France:

Starbucks' coffee-to-go model in France goes against the cultural grain of an entire nation where coffee is a state-of-being, usually served by moody waiters at a zinc bar or on a street corner. Prendre un café is something you do while seated... and you dutifully go through the motions of it all–even if you have pressing matters to attend to. What's 15 minutes out of 35 hours, anyway??

But here's the thing. Starbucks could very well supplant France's coffee culture in this era of globalization. Why? Because that day, amidst the patrons quietly sipping their Starbucks concoctions, was a group of French teenagers gathered around one of their friends doing his very best rendition of Justin Timberlake's My Love. His French accent naturally broke out after the falsetto (as mine usually does after mine), but the evidence was right there. If JT can make it across the Atlantic, Starbucks has it easy.

Indubitably.

Home

Paris... it's been too long.

Thinkin of a master plan...

This post has been a long time coming, but I'm finally getting around to it. I wish to pay my respects today to one of hip-hop greatest songs: Eric B. & Rakim's "Paid In Full" from the eponymously named 1987 album (don't worry, '87 was a long time ago for me too!).

At the cost of sounding random, let me provide you with some background to put this post into context: One of the few luxuries I've had in my year off has been to work out at my gym during off-peak hours. Seriously people, there's no telling how nice it is not having to deal with the throngs of people sweating and grunting around you , or having to wait in the bread line--U.S.S.R style--for the right equipment or set of weights. In the last couple of months, I've been able to just zone out, listen to my tunes and do my thing at my leisure... and yeah, those abercrombie abs are coming along just fine, why do you ask?

At any rate, almost every time I hit the gym my iPod will shuffle through 12.29 GB of hip-hop and start bumping "Paid in Full", and it just gets me pumped. Whether it's the LP version, or the masterpiece "Mini Madness - The Coldcut Remix" version, the song is off the hook.

I'm pasting the lyrics below, and if part of it sounds familiar, well it should. Know that the song, beats and lyrics have been continuously cribbed by other artists, even to this day. That scene in Old School where Snoop kicks off the houseparty? Paid in Full, baby. That beat Biggie uses during his solo on Get Money? All Paid in Full. Why? Because when this song came out it was a manifesto of rap's ethic, and the album itself went on to be one of hip-hop's greatest.

Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents
I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great!  so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Tightness. As an aside, my Bengali-half particularly relates to that "plate of fish line". Yummy.

Seriously though, why is it that rappers nowadays have to tell you why they're hot more than 8 times in the chorus to make it stick?? As Rakim says: "It ain't where you from, it's where you're at".

Bonus: I found the Coldcut Remix on YouTube. Take 3:46 minutes and take it all in.

Jack: American Badass

I'll forgive you if you thought this post was about Jack Bauer. I just hope Jack Bauer will forgive me for not writing about him this one time. I'd hate to be the one to disappoint Jack because bad things happen when you cross Jack... things far worse than if you cross Chuck Norris.

No, the Jack I'm talking about is none other than Jack Welch, the retired chairman and CEO of General Electric. My brother and I went to see him speak on Thursday in front of a full capacity crowd at the MIT Sloan School of Management.

To say that Jack Welch is a legendary figure in the business world would be like saying that Ron Burgundy is kind of a big deal. During Welch's tenure (1981-2001) at GE, the company's market value grew from $13 billion to $400 billion. His management innovations in those 20 years indisputably made him one of the most influential CEOs of his era.

So what was it like to sit in the presence of such an icon?

Amazingly instructive. At 72, Mr. Welch exuded the authority and charisma one would expect of someone of his stature. But what genuinely surprised me was his candour and passion before the audience, and how he just let loose when broaching several topics. During the Q&A session, for example, he'd focus his laser like eyes on the audience members who asked him a question and give them rapid-fire answers that were blunt, and straight from the gut. There was no grandstanding. Mr. Welch--in his unreservedness--addressed audience members in the auditorium just as he would have been addressing them in his own office or, more appropriately, at a sports bar in front of a couple of beers, watching the Sox.

Mr. Welch was asked to opine on many things during the session. I'll try and do justice to some of his answers by paraphrasing:

On leadership: According to Jack Welch, a good business leader is someone who can excite people, and motivate them while making expectations very clear. Candour rates very high. He rebuked the notion of hands-off approaches when grooming talent, and reiterated that good leadership distinguishes itself by letting people know where they stand, at all times. Famous for instituting a policy at GE of rewarding the top 20% and weeding out the bottom 10% performers--and perhaps more famous for having made more severe cutbacks during his tenure, earning him the name "Neutron Jack" in the process--Mr. Welch claimed that a leader "has no right to leave his people in the dark". So whether you reward someone or can them, it should come as no surprise.

On motivation and organizational change: Mr. Welch famously championed Six Sigma at GE, way before it became an industry standard. In passing such initiatives, or any future ones, he commented that you have to back them up with passion to achieve buy in, saying that if you wanted to "move the needle of your company's [gauge] a certain way, you have to be a raving lunatic on the far end" and constantly fight for it.

On private equity: According to Jack Welch, private equity is the new "brain drain" when it comes to business talent. Much like consulting was a decade or so ago, private equity seems to be offering exceptional rewards for those who are able to pierce the field. Citing an average figure of $289,000 for first year take-home pay (base + bonus) made by recent b-school grads in PE, Welch drew audible gasps from an audience comprised of financially starved students... at which point it seemed like very few would mind getting sucked into PE's Death Star-like tractor beam.

On work/life balance, telecommuting and lifestyle firms: Welch made no concessions as to where he came down on these general trends. To him, work/life "balance" is a misnomer, because it really comes down to work/life "choices". Telecommuting is well accepted in the modern business age, and well effective in terms of results, but you shouldn't kid yourself on the potential costs, he argues. In most organizations, your "promotability" will depend on face time, no matter what. In what was another astute observation, Mr. Welch reminded the audience that so-called lifestyle firms are often so during their monopolistic stage... and that can change with the wind.

On rumours that he is in talks of becoming the new dean of Sloan: Without missing a beat, Mr. Welch said he'd have a "hard time dealing inside an organization that offers tenure".

And there you have it.

After the talk, Jack and Suzy Welch were kind enough to stay back and conduct book signings. Yours truly got his copy of Jack: Straight from the Gut signed in due form. The autographed book now holds a place of choice on my bookshelf, dethroning my previously signed copy of N. Gregory Mankiw's "Macroeconomics".

Sorry N. Gregory, but you're no Jack.

Never Eat Alone and why "networking" is not a bad word

There's an old Italian proverb that says "don't mess with Tony Soprano". There's an even older one that says "he who eats alone, dies alone". A book I recently read that reaffirms the latter is the business bestseller Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. It's all about networking and I couldn't recommend it highly enough. Not just for people in business mind you, but for anybody really. It's a fast read and stands out in my mind as one of the few "business" books I read in recent times that provides you with simple, actionable insights you can start implementing in your personal and professional life right away. In fact, if I had a children, I would make them read this before all the classics... possibly even before Frank Miller's Batman: Year One... possibly...

For the uninitiated, "networking" is basically a catch-all phrase for: let me try and meet the right people so I can find the right x, where x is what you want or need to improve your personal bottom line.

Sounds unnatural or self-serving? That's what I thought too. But as someone headed to business school, I felt like had little choice but to educate myself on the matter. B-school is all about networking. You either do it or you die (yes, that is an exaggeration). Before picking up this book, it was not without a certain measure of apprehension that I was counting the days to when, I too, would have to "network"... simply because I didn't think I was any good at it. The act of networking or being an actual "networker" always carried pejorative associations in my mind. The whole thing felt phony. At career fairs, recruiting events, or even the simple dinner party I would spot "networkers" with mild revulsion from a mile away. You probably would recognize them too: the smarmy, eye-darting, loud, fake Stradlater types who work their way around the crowd, making it their business to meet people, size them up and move on–if they figure they're not worth knowing (you included).

In Never Eat Alone, Mr. Ferrazzi reassuringly makes a point to single those type of people out as the "networking jerks" --i.e. the precise example of those who suck at networking because they're doing precisely what they shouldn't be doing: sucking... or to be more serious, wearing their phoniness on their sleeve.

Phoniness does not work. What does work, the author argues, is being yourself, transparent and passionate when you first meet someone because networking is an everyday process. Much like all speaking is public speaking, the book does a great job convincing you that networking is not a chore but a vital life skill you ought to master. If you are a shy individual or are afraid of public speaking, the book offers useful tips on how to overcome those areas.

At the most granular level (money, job, and success talk aside), the book posits the following: if you think your life is enriched by having and cultivating great people around you (and why wouldn't you?) then networking should be a conscious activity. And if you already have great circle of friends and acquaintances, then guess what: you're already a networker. But you could still benefit from enlarging your network.

Check Never Eat Alone for yourself. It obviously does not have all the answers, and often engages in too much gratuitous name-dropping for my taste, but you gotta give it to the guy. He does really know a lot of people. The book is a great start for someone who may not have much experience in the field, and definitely a must-read for anybody going into b-school.

Below, are a few ideas from the book that personally stuck with me:

• Networking is about building relationships and certainly not just about your bottom line. You have to proceed with a generous mindset: helping friends meet other friends and not keeping score or hoarding your own resources. By helping others, you will in turn make the sort of connections that will help you.
  
  
• Invisibility is a fate far worse than failure. If you don't put yourself out there, you will not succeed. At my old job, I was surrounded by people with stellar academic credentials. They were smart smart but stereotypically a little reclusive. As a result they missed out on the kind of bonds that are developed when people get to know each other outside of their work, the bonds that sometimes lead to more meaningful responsibilities. So don't be an imbecile, get to know the people you work with... but stay away from politics, don't be a gossip and don't be a phony.
  
  
• Don't be a phony. People will see right through you, so don't be that guy/girl. The one who everyone hates and that people throw a goodbye party for the day she leaves–ice cream cake, champagne and all–without actually inviting her. True story.
  
  
• Ping constantly. In this marvelous age of constant connectivity, you have no excuse not to "ping" the people in your network on a regular basis. For professionals, Ferrazzi claims this to be a must. The worst thing you could do is contact somebody only when you need a favour from them. That's the "networking" kiss of death. So ping away. Build it before you need it. On the personal level, pinging is important too. You *know* your grandma loves it when you call her. So why don't you just take a minute, and do it right now.

Let's Roll! (updated)

I must be in heaven... I see Blue, and he's glorious.

Full credit goes to Ain't It Cool News for these pics... but for those of you who aren't geeky enough to check that website on a regular basis (or just have jobs) meet:

Optimus

and Megatron

One shall stand, one shall fall. I can't believe this is finally happening... Giant. Robots. Blowing. S**t. Up.

In theatres. This July.

***UPDATE***

I could not, not post this new still. Double dipping again on the Robots In Disguise™ goodness, but what can I say: it was my childhood. Pictured here: Optimus about to open a can of whup-a$$ on a Decepticon.

Credits: AICN.

Think Better

So I was on Google Reader earlier this morning checking the RSS feed for the NYT's Most Emailed Articles. There, down at #10 on the list was an article titled "What’s Online: Apple Cult Becoming a Religion", by Leander Kahney. As the author of Wired's "The Cult of Mac" blog, Mr. Kahney may not be the most objective arbiter of the computing scene--nor perhaps (as a Mac fan) the most apt person to make the distinction between a cult or a legit religion--but it seems like EVERYBODY is drinking the Apple Kool-Aid these days.

And you know what? They're right. Apple is experiencing a well-deserved resurgence. Because, right now, Macs *are* better than PCs. And OS X *is* better than Windows. And it's not even close.

Call me a heretic: because I am. I've always been all about PCs. I used to hate Macs with a passion. Back in the day, when I worked the computer help desk at my college, I was always confounded as to why somebody would own a Mac, yet alone use one. Although the networking options were nice, the staid monochromatic/2-D look of OS 9 was archaic, troubleshooting a nightmare (paper clips anybody?), and compatibility a huge pain. A few years later, we were subjected to the "Think Different" and "Switch" marketing campaigns which ranged respectively from being overly fanciful, to making me want to stink a pencil in my eye... for lack of being able to hurt the actual tools giving those idiotic testimonials. Even today's "Hello I'm a Mac, and I'm a PC" ads can come across as a *little* condescending. As effective as the ads are, that PC guy is endearing as a loveable dweeb whereas the hipster Mac guy almost always comes across as a jackhole. No disrespect to either of the actors, but if push comes to shove, we all know who's back we'd have in a bar fight.

But ever since the introduction of OS X (the "WOW" started six years ago on the Mac. Watch this video, if you don't believe me), the ubiquitous adoption of wireless, and the shift of workflows away from the desk to--dare I say it--the internets, the momentum of the OS wars has changed. The shift is palpable--much like in Rocky IV when, around round 13 or so, the entire Russian nation actually starts rooting for Rocky and against Drago.

Macs offer by far the most reliable and rewarding personal computing experience there is. Why? Because having a stable OS matters. Because being able to boot up from suspend mode in 2 seconds, and connect to the first available wireless network without any user input, matters. Because being able to open a PDF file natively, in a fraction of the 25-30 seconds it takes Adobe Acrobat to launch on the average PC, matters. Because being able to create a PDF natively matters (business users, are you listening??). Because not having to worry about viruses and spyware matters. Because being able to share a printer or hard drive across a network with ease matters. And finally, because even though it is grammatically incorrect to start a sentence with the word "because" without an ensuing clause, design matters.

The d-word. I know... it's totally played out but I would be remiss if I didn't bring it up here. To borrow from O.D.B, design and Apple go back like babies and pacifiers. It's not that Macs necessarily look better. Sony and HP have come out with some gorgeous looking hardware of late, but Apple has long cemented its reputation as a company that allies form with function. The iPod may not be the most feature-laden portable music player out there, but it does what it says it will do, all exceptionally well. As for the iPhone--well I can't claim to have seen it--but it's something straight out of Minority Report!

And I hate to admit this: but when you think about it, for the price, you can't beat all that immediate out-of-the-box functionality you get with an Apple. Built-in video conferencing with the iSight, and media center like capabilities through Front Row now all come standard. Again, notice I said functionality as opposed to features. Sure, you could probably build something with similar or better specs yourself for cheaper, if you knew what you were doing. Or you could install third-party apps and hardware and hope to get the same results on your Dell, if you knew what you were doing... but the operating words here are: if you knew what you were doing.

Philosophically, I think there is another ingredient that underpins Apple's resurgence. Simplicity. Why, after 6 years of development, Windows Vista ships in 5 differently priced versions, all with a separate set of features is beyond me. And it should be beyond you. It's confusing as hell. What is this, Medicare Part D?? There is such a thing as too many choices being a bad thing. If you have time, check out the work of Swarthmore Professor Barry Schwartz. If you have 20 minutes, watch this video from one of his talks at TED, it's truly edifying.

With OS X, you get all the bells and whistles in one SKU, probably because the accounting people at Apple were able to calculate a weighted average price whereas their counterparts at Microsoft weren't. Okay fine, that's probably not the reason. Still, you gotta admit, why it is that Vista ships in so many different configurations? For certain, Apple may not give you full latitude in spec'ing out your machine. They're often accused of a little too much hand-holding, and forcing certain parameters/features down your throat in their products. But that sure beats you f***ing up your Windows registry all by your own little "look-at-me-I-have-so-many-options" self.

Now this is not to say everything is hunky dory on a Mac. If you are in the market for a new computer and are thinking about an Apple, like the millions who have fallen under Steve Job's reality distortion field (this blogger included), you should know that Macs, at least in their current incarnation, do suffer from some curious lapses.

• The lack of keyboard shortcuts when using Microsoft Office for example is HUGE. In fact, it's maddening. There's no reason why I shouldn't be able to access all menu items by simply pressing a combination of the Alt key + the highlighted letter corresponding to the item I wish to use... like on any Windows PC. I spent my first years in consulting mastering Excel's keyboard shortcuts to a point where it became an intangible competitive advantage. I became The One. Seriously, I could take any investment banker out with my Excel skillz. King Kong ain't got s**t on me! This lapse is a HUGE impediment to power users. Sure, there are documented ways to map your own shortcuts, and you can even set up Parallels to run the Windows version of Office on your Mac... but I would take the time and money to do that why?

• While on the subject of MS Office, you will be pleased to know that file compatibility with Windows is no longer an issue. What is, on the other hand, is that the current version of Office available for OS X is not Universal. That is to say it was coded for the PowerPC chips, before Apple switched to Intel. This causes Office to run quite slowly, because it does so through a built-in emulator running in the background called Rosetta. There's a quick fix to this problem. Load up on RAM. Don't settle for the 512 Mb, upgrade to at least a 1 Gb. 2Gb if you can afford it. The long-term fix for this will be Office 2008, which will be universal... and glorious.
  

• Safari, Mac OS's own web browser, is useless... if you use the new Yahoo! Mail Beta version... or if you use the web-version of Outlook that many corporations now roll out. For some odd reason, the technologies underlying those web applications are not supported by Safari. The answer: Mozilla Firefox.
  

Many of these nuisances/inconveniences can be classified as business related... which is why I *did* say at the beginning of this post (*cough* copout *cough*) that Macs provide the most rewarding and reliable personal computing experience. It may be a while before you see businesses adopting Macs, and by that time we may all be using Linux. But you can't ignore the trend. More and more, people around me are using them at their workplace without any major issues.

Hey, they got Macs at CTU too. If they're good enough for Jack or Chloe, they're good enough for me.

R.I.P Captain America

It's all over the news. America's first and foremost emblem of justice is on his way out, maybe gone for good.

No, I'm not talking about Attorney General Gonzales. Although you probably should be worrying about him... as early as yesterday he still had George Bush's "full support". You know what that means. It was nice knowing you, Al. Arrivederci...

Folks, I'm talking about Captain America. The ignoble rumours are true: Captain America aka Steve Rogers is no more. As a casual comic book fan (my wife will immediately dispute this self-characterisation), I was shocked when I first heard rumors that Marvel would kill off one of its signature characters. I was in denial. I had to wait to see it for myself.

Having now caught a glimpse of the fateful Captain America # 25 issue, I gotta say... HE DEAD.

How did this cold and calculated event transpire, you ask? Well, after the cataclysmic events of the Civil War story arc, a disillusioned Cap ummasked himself and surrendered to the authorities. While appearing for his arraignment at a Federal Courthouse, he was shot in the neck by a sniper. Not only that--but once down, he was shot three more times in the chest! Point blank!!! It doesn't get much more definitive than that. You really went and did it, Marvel.

We'll all miss you Cap. We really will... until you are miraculously resurrected 9 months from now.

What do you think Marvel? We all suckers?? You already "killed" Spider-Man once last year, and then brought him back to life the following month. You're just as bad as DC. I remember falling for Superman's *death* in 1993. And I gotta say they nearly induced a mental breakdown in me when they broke Batman's back during Knightfall. They got me good. Really. My mouth was open, and all that.

But let's call a cat a cat.... that's French, for "let's call a spade a spade", by the way. [I gotta say, the 'spade' thing does sound more manly. Lesson learned. Moving on...]

Let's tell it like it is. We all know this was a craven attempt to cash in on one of your hottest properties. Shame on you MVL (NYSE). What other sordid tricks will you pull out of your hat? It's as if you all of a sudden brought back Spider-Man's black costume in the comics for no explicable reason other than it just so happens he will be donning it in this summer's Spider-Man 3. Or even more pathetic, if you suddenly started highlighting Iron Man more and more across all of your books, giving him an unprecedented and absurd amount of prominence and responsibility in the Marvel-verse just because an Iron Man movie is in development.*

But I'm on to you. We all are. You'll bring Cap back to us just in time for his own movie. To quote el Presidente:




*Robert Downey Jr, as Tony Stark? RDJ? Really??? That's pretty dead on, man :)

I wonder if Stan Lee will teach marketing at my business school.

The Namesake and why Boston got robbed

So we trudged through the snow last night to go watch Mira Nair's The Namesake (and no, it's not pronounced the na-mé-sa-ké nor does it have anything to do with Japan). I liked it. I wouldn't say I loved it because I loved the book, and the book would just get jealous... but, overall, I'm happy that such a beautiful story has been translated to the silver screen and brought to a mass audience.

Things I loved:

1. The portrayal of the parents by Irrfan Khan and Tabu. I don't know what it was, but they both completely inhabited their characters. They made the movie feel close to home just as much as the book did. I almost cried at one point of the book (okay fine, I did cry -happy??). Predictably, the equivalent scene on film had the same effect. I sniveled like a child. This is huge, people. The last time I cried at the movies was during Armageddon. When Bruce Willis stays back on the asteroid to trigger the detonator to the explosives that save the entire human race.
   
   Yeah right, like you didn't choke up during that scene either... poser.
   
   
2. Summers in India... this was captured to perfection. Yes. They. Really. Were. That. Boring. My brother and I would count the days to our flight back. My brother once made me cry when I was 8 because, the day before our flight, he told me my family was flying back home, but agreed at the last minute to leave me behind with my grandparents. All I could think of at the time was I wasn't going to have McDonald's for a whole year. I cried my eyes out. Don't get me wrong. I love India, and I LOVE my family. But this was before The World Is Flat. No internet, no cable, no cell phones, no hot water between the hours of noon and six pm, no "showers", no "toilet paper", and no Coke. AND it was too damn hot to go outside and play.
   
   
3. Kal Penn. Kumar. Call me biased, but as an Indian male, I love it when an indo makes the big time (outside of India of course). Whether it's a billionaire steel tycoon who lays the smack down on chauvinistic regulators, or a hard-working restaurateur who has his portrait immortalized in the middle of Boston's hippest restaurant slash lounge, I have to say I love it when a person gets his due. Kal Penn is every ABCD's hero, and this movie is yet another example of his rising star. Honestly, perfomance-wise, I would say he was upstaged by his fellow veterans on the cast. But not to worry, he'll more than make up for it once Harold & Kumar 2 hits the screens. 08, you bastard, you couldn't come any sooner.

Things I hated:

1. Okay everyone. Here we are: rant time. The Namesake is supposed to take place for the most part in Massachusetts. That's right, Massachusetts, I had to say it. It had to be said. Why is it that filmmakers always feel the need to transplant stories to New York City to give them mass appeal? Sure New York is sexy, but you know what? It really sucks too. Bad things happen to good people, just like anywhere else. Plus, this only felt like, what, the 500th naive-immigrant-coming-of-age-story set in New York City ever been made???
   
   Once upon a time in America... been there, done that. The Godfather II... been there done that. In America... been there, done that. King Kong... been there, done that.
   
   What's wrong with keeping the story in Cambridge? Not authentic enough? Central Square, Cambridge, gets just as much snow and sketchy people roaming around your shopping cart as Scarsdale, New York, or wherever the hell they filmed those first scenes of the movie. Our apartments are a lot shittier too. As for the actual story, the father got his big teaching break at MIT. Don't tell me that's not good enough for a movie. Boston was robbed! Period.
   
   
2. The film premiered in New York, and LA but not in Boston. WTF. Anyway, you know where I'm going with this... Let's go Red Sox!
   

Great Expectations

He will become the greatest blogger/MBA student the world has ever known...

It won't be easy.