Destination B School 2006

Reminder: TokBox Invitation from Ash

2007-08-06T22:01:00.001+02:00

Hello!

I have been using TokBox for live video chat, and I would still like to talk with you. I noticed you haven't signed up for TokBox yet -- maybe you missed my invitation.

I won't send you any more reminders after this, but please join me on TokBox! It's free and no downloads are required -- and you can see me even if you do not have a webcam.

To sign up, go to:
http://www.TokBox.com/view/register.php

When I am online, you can video chat with me by visiting my TokBox:
http://www.TokBox.com/ashwini

See you soon,
Ash Upadhyaya

http://www.tokbox.com
Free video chat with no downloads on any website.

And we are back

2006-10-08T07:43:00.000+02:00

Ok folks, so from now on, I am going to blog atleast once a week about my Stanford GSB experiences. The last few months have been crazy, totally nuts. I was on four continents, 7 countries, and then moved over to the bay area, found a house, got used to sitting in class again…too many emotions…and hence an equal number of blog entries to come…

So over the next few days, please expect the following blog entires

1) Preparation before going to stanford GSB

2) Pre-term (1^st week) at stanford GSB

3) Start of classes and how it is to be back at school after 5 years

4) What makes Stanford the most AWESOME B SCHOOL EVER !!! and the interesting people I have met so far

Cheers

Ash

This is the end

2006-08-07T11:32:00.000+02:00

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end
-Mr Mojo !

The last few months have been amazingly hectic. Between finishing things at work, studying for Bschool (did not happen), getting personal stuff sorted out (move, visa, etc), I have not had enough time to blog about anything useful. There is alot to say about
1) stuff to do before going to school
2) logistical stuff to be sorted out
3) initial interactions with folks there...

however, this blog is now officially closed! All new posts on the above topics and my b school experience will be on my new blog (http://gsb2008.blogspot.com)

best of luck with your admissions....I can always be reached at ashblog()gmail(). It has been great blogging with fellow applicants like MBAJackASS, FG, Marina, IWillMakeIt, SoreBrek and others. Time to move on to the new chapter, and hopefully still be connected with the others.

Blog ON!
ash

chat with me?

2006-08-04T11:43:00.000+02:00

so there is this new widget called meebo me....meebo..a company founded by a Stanford GSB student (dropped out to make this company) is cool...nehow...if you see me online (look at the chat box on the right)...meebo me!

ciao ciao
ash

what's ur footprint on the earth?

2006-08-01T17:44:00.000+02:00

So I did this interesting quiz today, to understand the impact of my footprint on this planet.
and I was shocked (also that my lifestyle is much worse than the average lifestyle of someone in NL)
how bad are you?
:)
-aSh

We're Germans: Football play we better than you

2006-07-12T17:27:00.000+02:00

this cracked me up BIG TIME! its better than ask Dr.Z! (http://www.askdrz.com)
gosh..i will miss Europe big time..
ash
****************************************************************
http://www.mundstuhl.de/filme/germans.html

Ref.
We're Germans
Football play we better than you
We're Germans
Hope you like Germans too

1.
Welcome here in Germany
From the Alpen to the sea
In unsern Kneipen you can smoke (in our pubs...)
Lederhos, Oktoberfest (Leather trousers,...)
Unsre Biere are the best (our beers...)
Gebraut nach German Reinheitsgebot (brewed after German purity-ordered)
2.
And we build the better cars
German Wertarbeit nach Maß (value work after measure)
For Example BMV (off : das heißt double U !) (...that means...)
Have the Autobahn gebaut (have built the highways)
And we love the Sauerkraut
Made in West Germany
Bridge
Wir haben die Zugspitze (we have the Zugspitze (highest mountain in germany))
Do you know the Loreley?
Fahr mal auf dem schönen Rhein (have a trip on the beautiful river rhine)
Have a look to Norderney

3.
Germany is total cool
In Köln every boy is schwul (in cologne every boy is gay)
Every German has a Bauch (...belly)
My Oma is German too (...grandma...)
Our cows make also muh
Hämorriden haben wir auch (we also have hemorrhoids)

Zeidan (try this)

2006-07-11T14:23:00.000+02:00

Use the mouse and the left hand side button
<http://widelec.org/zidane.html>

Design your own music station

2006-07-06T10:21:00.000+02:00

I found this awesome site while going through Marina's blog. PANDORA.com (http://www.pandora.com). Simple to use website, just go there, enter the names of artists that you like, and viola it customises a "radio station" for you and plays songs of the group you selected or from groups similar to the one that you selected. And while listening to songs, if you dont like something, just click on the guide button and delte the song....easy...

-Ash

look right (under google ads)

2006-07-05T17:52:00.000+02:00

syndicated feeds of blogs of folks that i read...with their blog entries displayed (sort of stuff you see on admit websites and other pages!)

-Ash
PS: this blog is gonna die pretty soon...September 17th to be axact
from that date on ill be posting my mba experiences on a new site....http://gsb2008.blogspot.com

how to use google reader !

2006-07-05T17:42:00.000+02:00

Screencast on how to use google reader
http://www.sfu.ca/%7Ejtoal/presentations/g_reader/googlereader.html

Hup holland HUP!

2006-06-21T18:14:00.000+02:00

okies..so this is getting intense....last game of round 1....vs. argentina...we gotta make it...just to get some serious confidence going!

came across these cool ESPN ads from a friend's blog site...MUST SEE !

Anthem

Ivory Coast

Sick Days

the human spirit kicks ass !

hup holland hup!

-A
PS: this blog will soon be terminated....new blog for b school being worked on...

Mudwalking in Holland - a must do activity when you visit this country!

2006-06-13T21:16:00.000+02:00

for those who visit holland. Here is the encounter of our experience, mud walking as the north sea receded .

so whats hot on campus?

2006-06-08T09:45:00.000+02:00

According to this article that I read on CNN, undergrads rate apple products (ipod etc) as more "in" compared to beer.
Now when your choices on campus are bud or even better "bud light", honestly, does this come as a surprise? (yes, you guessed it, Im not a bud fan!) Im petrified of going back to college and having to pay huge amounts to drink decent beer (the good news is that carona is cheaper than the netherlands)

among other things, Im beta testing the next Microsoft OS (vista) to be realeased early next year and also have access to outlook2007 and msoffice 2007. A lot of improvements I might add.

But the point which I note is that the company has forgotten everything about innovation. Its all about adaptation now. It has a lot of neat features in it, but none of them are revolutionary or new. they are just amalgamations of great products already out there, cast into the windows OS. Personally, Im glad I sold my MSFT shares earlier last year. Im still a die hard X-box fan though :)

-Ash

how good are the vault guides?

2006-06-04T11:17:00.000+02:00

one thing that i have heard from almost everyone who goes into business school is that one should have enough focus on what they want to do there. You should go in with an open mind, but with some choices in focus, as opposed to hmm..lemme try real estate, naah perhaps FMCG!

to understand more about the choices which intrigue me, namely: Biotech, I-banking, Consulting and venture capital, besides the energy industry (which I am in), I am considering buying and reading some of the vault guides. I have used these guides in the past to get into management consulting firms, but have not looked at industry specific guides.

I went through the vault guide to the energy industry, and found it rather disappointing on the basis of the content. Hence before buying other guides to such as the ones to the I-banking, venture capital and the biotech industry, I was wondering if you folks had any opinions?

cheers
ash

how quaint

2006-05-31T22:03:00.000+02:00

now the first thing I want to say is that is post is not about HBS bashing.
I was reading the clearadmit blog and noticed a statement that HBS was the first school to require a degree for entry.
"Harvard, consistent with its avowed purposes of establishing business as a profession, was a pioneer in requiring a college degree for entrance."

And then I read about this a few days ago, College dropout enrolled at HBS. Now I really dont understand this.
1) How does one get a master's degree without having a bachelor's degree. (and NO, Im not one of those people who is hung up on degrees, but this sounds fundamentally wrong).
2) How can HBS make this claim of firsts?

hmmmm...food for thought!

Cheers
Ash

And now you can LISTEN to my blog or add it to your podcast even!

2006-05-30T10:45:00.000+02:00

I have added a talking functionality to my blog, using talkR. I think its a rather neat utility, it renders the text in the blog in a voice (of a female, I dont think they have more choices as yet). You can also click on the red "talkr" button on the right and add it as a feed to your talkr account, which will allow you to download the feeds from your subscribed blogs as podcasts, which ofcourse you can listen to while driving or riding in the train.

Neat huh? If you are inspired by this and want to start using talkR, click on the other talkR box on the right and subscribe to it. Any money made from referrals will be paid out to charity (that also goes for the adsense money). The sad part is that 6 months later, I have generated only 14$ from adsense, not enough to get the cheque, and hence not enough to give to a charity.

cheers
Ash
PS: it takes some time for the feed to get activated :D

banks and music bands!

2006-05-22T14:24:00.000+02:00

If Banks Were Musicians, Citigroup Would Be Ozzy: Mark Gilbert
funny one i got from a mate today!
cheers
ash

sundowner location with Animals!

2006-05-22T14:06:00.000+02:00

Still hungry?

2006-05-21T19:07:00.000+02:00

The Cheetah run

2006-05-21T18:42:00.000+02:00

As Im sorting some pictures these days from our safari in Aug 2005, Im putting some of the nice ones up on my various blog sites!
this is one of a cheetah off after the lil Thompson gazelle baby (pic below-surrounded by elders). While the elders run, the lil ones hide in the grass to avoid the predator. The cheetah can sustain this run for only 60 seconds MAX! Too bad I did not have a digital, and got only one frame of the cheetah chase !
:(
-ash

The Cheetah from BBC "BIG CATS" documentary

2006-05-21T18:35:00.000+02:00

now that I have finally started to sort out our travel pics (these ones from Aug 2005), there should be some interesting posts. Ofcourse all the travel blogs are going to land up on (http://pooshtravels.blogspot.com), but before i get that blog sorted here are some random smatterings of our travel pics as i sort them out!
this is the famous cheetah "amber", one of the cubs of kike
she is known to sit on the cars for
1) heat
2) better vantage point for a look out
and when she gets pissed, she is also known to climb to the roof of the jeep and piss inside it!
:) fortunately she was on the other jeep and we got some great pics...
cheers
Poosh

Other reasons why B school can be fun !

2006-05-19T11:31:00.000+02:00

So, ofcourse we all rant and rave as to how we will improve our careers and future growth prospects in our essays by writing about the clubs we will join and initiatives in which we will be involved in. We speak about how we will learn from our fellow mates and enrich our lives with the diversity that the college has to offer.

But the one thing that I look forward to the most is an aspect of enriching the experiences of my life, which have absolutely nothing to do with work. Here is a classical example of an event being organised at the Stanford GSB.

I think the opportunity to be involved in events such as this and others (I seen things ranging from "10 days in Gaza" to "diving off Tanzania" to "my arctic journey"), is that I learn new things. things that will may not impact my career, or my plans for global domination (I intend to recreate sun oil and make rockerfeller look like a good hearted man); but these things impact my development as a person and as an individual.

Even though I dont participate in all the clubs, I have seen such interesting posts of events being organised on campus by the various societies/clubs, that its going to be really hard to make choices of what to go to and what not to go to !

the summary...not all choices are made for career and money alone...some of them are made so that we can be more aware human beings (the benefit might be a more humane approach when I become lord and emperor of the world).....but I feel it might make me a more aware person!

-Ash

Jogging down the memory lane

2006-05-17T10:02:00.000+02:00

Breakfast in the bush

Strange tourist with Elephant bone!

Since Im going nuts with Picasa, I thought of posting some random pics from our vacation in Africa last year.
cheers
Ash

www.ilove11.nl - Bar and Restaurant!

2006-05-17T09:54:00.000+02:00

Define modernism

2006-05-17T09:47:00.000+02:00

Random graffiti on a wall in Amsterdam. What does modernism mean to you?
-Ash