junior year » Uncategorized

Big Screwup for Southwest

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:14:42 +0000

Southwest actually flew customers around in a plane that federal investigators had deemed unsafe:

WASHINGTON (CNN) – — Discount air carrier Southwest Airlines flew thousands of passengers on aircraft that federal inspectors said were “unsafe” as recently as last March, according to detailed congressional documents obtained by CNN.

Documents submitted by FAA inspectors to congressional investigators allege the airline flew at least 117 of its planes in violation of mandatory safety checks. In some cases, the documents say, the planes flew for 30 months after government inspection deadlines had passed and should have been grounded until the inspections could be completed.

The planes were “not airworthy,” according to congressional air safety investigators.

Calling it “one of the worst safety violations” he has ever seen, Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minnesota, is expected to call a hearing as soon as possible to ask why the airline put its passengers in danger.

Southwest Airlines, which carried more passengers in the United States than any other airline last year, declined comment.

“We are not doing interviews. We are only preparing for the hearings at this time,” said Southwest Airlines spokeswoman Brandy King.

The documents obtained by CNN also allege that some management officials at the Federal Aviation Administration, the agency responsible for commercial air safety, knew the planes were flying “unsafely” and did nothing about it. CNN’s Drew Griffin uncovers ‘troubling information’ »

“The result of inspection failures, and enforcement failure, has meant that aircraft have flown unsafe, unairworthy, and at risk of lives,” Oberstar told CNN.

What a press nightmare for them. Controlling this sort of information flow through the web is going to become even more important over time, I suspect.

Promos from recruiting season

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:13:04 +0000

As I was going through the college recruitment on-campus program this year for summer internships, there was one commonality amongst all the companies that recruited on campus and took kids away to 2^nd round interviews in New York or Boston offices: they all gave away seemingly nice, branded gifts that were meant to help build the company’s brand. These promotional products, including everything from stress balls to t-shirts to toothbrushes all had the same goal: bribe us into thinking their company was better than the one sitting at the next booth over at the career fair. Basically, the further you got in the recruitment cycle for each company, the more promotional bags you were given as prizes. When I stayed in a hotel for an overnight trip for which I had an interview the next day, I arrived and was given food, a duffel bag, mouse pad, water battle, blanket and more, all with the company’s name prominently displayed over all the items. It seems like a huge expense for companies to pay for promotional products like these, but in the end, the greatest risk for these companies is failing to recruit the absolutely best, top-quality talent. With this mindset, they are willing to spend millions a year on self promotion in order to ensure they don’t fall behind in the precious war for talent—we benefit!

Wish I’d learned web design a long time ago

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:11:39 +0000

One of my biggest regrets is that in 8^th grade, when I was interested in the Internet at the very peak of its boom, reading Wired magazine and searching for information using Northern Light, I never actually took the plunge into learning web design, despite my interest. I would be so much better off today if I’d just forced myself to learn website design at a young age instead of getting Interested in the Internet again only years later. Can you imagine if you’d designed a simple website, even just a content based site, about a passion, say, soccer, in 2000? You would probably have been bought by now but even if you still owned your site, you’d have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in online advertising and your site would be a total authority. If you’d started a website design business in 2000, you’d be at the head of the field now. However, at this point in time, web design is a pretty saturated industry. Still, there’s a huge demand for successful and powerful web design and since many of the world’s people are still not online, the need for website design is very unlikely to diminish at any point in the future.

Did you learn Powerpoint?

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 19:10:18 +0000

Do you remember when you first learned how to use Powerpoint? Ironically, I think I learned at too young an age to make good of my sweet new skills and now that I’m at an age where those same skills would be useful, I’m afraid I’m going to have to re-learn how to design in Powerpoint. Can you believe, though, that there are people who are so good at Powerpoint that they offer Powerpoint designer services? I know from looking into the kinds of jobs that recruit at Harvard that pretty much no matter which business industry you go into, whether finance, consulting or consumer products, by the end of your first year, you’ll be so good at Powerpoint and Excel that you’ll wish to never see these programs ever again. However, at least in terms of design and making things look good, you can find some great free stuff online so that you’re not just poking around in the dark. I’m a great writer but I’m not a designer, so finding free Powerpoint templates online is a huge plus for me because it allows me to focus on my best skills- getting the information out there in the best way possible without a concern for the aesthetic.

Bush Endorses McCain– obvious, much?

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:30:10 +0000

I find this hilarious– Bush decided today to endorse McCain… is this really relevant?

WASHINGTON (CNN) — President Bush endorsed Sen. John McCain for president on Wednesday, saying the presumptive Republican nominee has the “character, courage and perseverance” to lead the country.

McCain thanked the president for his support and the work he has done in the Oval Office.

“I appreciate his endorsement, and I appreciate his service to our country,” said McCain, adding that he wanted Bush at his side as much as possible on the campaign trail.

“Whatever he wants me to do, I want him to win,” Bush said, who was challenged by McCain for the GOP nomination in 2000. But he said the 2008 run for the Oval Office was not his battle.

“It’s not about me. I’ve done my bit,” Bush said.

Addressing the calls for change in the presidential campaign, Bush said McCain would be steadfast to one of his administration’s policies.

“He’s not gonna change when it comes to taking on the enemy,” Bush said of the senator from Arizona.

Protecting the American people was the No. 1 job of a president and McCain understood that, Bush said.

“He’s gonna be a president who will bring determination to defeat an enemy,” Bush said.

McCain clinched the GOP presidential nomination with victories Tuesday in Ohio, Texas, Vermont and Rhode Island. Watch McCain say how he will prevail in the fall

Notice the ever-present, us versus the world rhetoric from Bush. “The enemy” is coming for us!

Mattress envy

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:29:46 +0000

There are lots of aspects of being at college that can be uncomfortable, even at Harvard. Most specifically, the food and the beds suck. Desks, too. The problem is that everyone is provided the exact same iron bed with flimsy mattress and bad pillows, the exact same wooden desk, the exact same, uncomfortable rocking chair and of course, the exact same, boring food. A lot of people get over this problem by buying some really nice stuff and having it delivered to their dorm rooms. It’s really not a bad option at all, especially when you consider that most parents have a huge vested interest in making sure their children are comfortable (even at college age) and will most likely pay for special commodities like a memory foam mattress. This makes sense, even as an investment, especially given the fact that sleep is so important at Harvard because no one gets close to enough of it. Most kids probably don’t ask for this sort of help from their parents, but I’ve seen the beds of those who have, and I definitely recommend doing it if you’re not yet—your aching back and sore limbs probably deserve the slight comfort you can attain from upgrading your bad mattress to the best memory foam mattress. To your better sleep!

Your opinion matters

bobby — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 06:29:02 +0000

If you’re a student or otherwise my age, I’ve found one really easy way to get money online. Since thousands of online businesses need feedback on their product offerings and ideas, they pay survey companies to take surveys of people in various demographics in order to decide if consumers like their products best as a particular color or best offered as a certain design. All you need to do is take a paid survey and you can make lots of easy money. They often come in a large variety of industries and you can probably even take some that relate to the kinds of subject matters that you’re really interested in, say politics or shopping. Free paid surveys are pretty good, especially compared to the low, minimum-wage style money you earn in college jobs otherwise. Fortunately, the Internet is absolutely crawling with these things and I think you’ll find that if you do a basic search for them you’ll encounter more free paid surveys than you could hope to take in your lifetime. Just remember that the information you give in these surveys is actually used and considered valuable—be honest!

A little knowledge

bobby — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:06:44 +0000

As I discussed in the last post which was more theoretically focused, I don’t know anything about backgammon. But after searching for a bit of information on the net, I’ve learned that I REALLY don’t know anything about backgammon and I decided to educate myself, just a tiny bit. Maybe you don’t know anything about it either, so you can learn a little bit from my research. Starting at the beginning, two people play backgammon at the same time, and the game operates dependent on the rolling of dice. OK, nothing too new there. What is unusual, though, and what sets backgammon apart from a variety of other board games and entertainments, is that backgammon actually comes from a rather ancient background—it’s loosely based on an ancient Egyptian game called “Senet” and another game called the “Royal Game of Ur.” I never would have known this if not for the help of Wikipedia, the ultimate knowledge source. What’s the point of backgammon? Your goal is to get all your pieces past those of your opponent and then get them taken off the board. What’s fascinating to me, though, is that what was once an intimately physical game involving the rolling of physical device has moved online in a huge fashion. Playing online backgammon has become a pastime all over the world, which makes a lot of sense, because it’s totally free (or at least has the potential to be supported by an advertising type of business model). Thus, it costs nothing to learn because you don’t even need to buy a board, let alone connect with players in your local area—if you want, you can take on someone from Egypt. Be careful though, because their influence over the origins of the game may transfer into present skill!

What was your favorite board game?

bobby — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:05:54 +0000

What was your favorite board game growing up? I liked playing games like chess, checkers, Chinese checkers, Life, Chutes and Ladders so on and so forth. But the thing I’m realizing from looking at what people tend to play online is that the games people play tend to reflect not only their age but also their culture and what games were popular when they were younger. For example, I’ve really never focused much on the phenomenon of online backgammon. Why? I think it’s because when I was growing up I played other kinds of games and so my mind has been blind to advertisements for backgammon for my whole life. Same with bridge and other games of cards—I’ve just never been interested so I’ve always assumed that nobody played them. However, this is a ridiculously ethnocentric viewpoint—in other places of the world, in other age brackets, in other societies, backgammon must be just as popular as Texas Hold’em or Monopoly. I think one thing that the Internet does a great job of making us realize is that the world is truly global. You can see anything and everything online because if there’s a market for it, even if that market is spread over geographical locations from all over the world, it makes sense to put it online. This goes for everything from gifts to games to literature and you can imagine how much innovation this creates, because now, no idea is too crazy—there are people from across the world who may identify with your unique hobby , even if it’s online backgammon.

Catching up Online– Not easy

bobby — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:04:42 +0000

There’s really one online field that still separates established, large online retail players from mom and pop offline stores that decide to move online and give it a shot. The thing that small players on the Internet don’t understand, at least at first, is once they put up a website, how do they get people to come to it and buy products? Some of these businesses think that offline advertising is the way to get people to their website. Maybe they try dropping online coupons into their customers’ checkouts at their physical store. However, what they don’t understand is that they’re passing up the best aspect of the Internet—the ability of marketing products to people at the exact moment that the people are searching to buy the product. For this reason, mom and pop stores lack behind major ecommerce retailers until they realize or hear about a certain industry: search engine optimization and search engine marketing. These parallel services are ways of increasing the ROI of online investments by helping potential customers arrive at an online retailer’s website, ready to be sold on a product. SEO management has become a popular service industry, because people who are good at it have a very specific competitive advantage over other retailers. Hence, while it may be expensive to pay for such help from a consultancy, it often makes sense over the long term as an investment in your own business. Similarly, PPC management looks after pay per click marketing in search engines and improves the ROI of online advertising campaigns. Again, these are expenses that most offline companies have never had to deal with and may not understand at first, but they won’t make too much money without having these services performed, whether in house or through consultants.