Today was certainly one of those.

Stress is so easy to find, I think it would be a good idea to learn how to lose it just as quickly.  Exercise is usually my way of getting everything out of my system, coupled with writing and reading.

Then a good dash of fun on the weekends with friends.  Occasionally making it back to the lake to see Mom and Dad.  That’s overdue right now.  If I can get my car fixed up  (there’s a laundry list of stuff to take care of) I think that might be on the agenda.

Have to say that this Shout Out Louds album is already improving my disposition right now.

The first round of the Medtronic Case Competition is over.  That’s good news for me as the work load lightens a bit, but also good news for three groups of interdisciplinary students and Medtronic.  I sat in on the majority of the presentations and have to say that the quality of students across the gamut at the University of Minnesota is very impressive.

There will be a final round at Medtronic in a few weeks, but now is a good time for those teams to bask in their glory.  Congrats to all of you, it’s well deserved!

Oh sweet jessup, Spring is springing and it’s nice out.  I know we’ll get hit with another storm before it’s official, but it matters not.  I recently purchased my new road bike and I’m anxious to give it a spin.  It’ll probably be another month, but there will be a lot of miles added to it this summer.  Take a looksee:

Last year, biking kind of took over my life in terms of exercise.  I still got in to the gym for benching and still did other stuff like push ups and some running, but for the most part got addicted to riding.

Minneapolis is a great place for biking as it has a ton of trails and a great loop over 50 miles long!  I plan on making the Grand Rounds loop at some point this summer, if you want to go drop me a line and we’ll set something up.

It is remarkable how few companies really get it and have people that get it too.  But I just had a great experience because of one person and it will likely keep me as a customer for a long time.

My internet connection at home is decent, but kind of poor.  As stated previously, the Starcraft 2 Beta is out and I’ve been playing a bit off and on.  The problem is that in RTS games online, lag causes the game to essentially shut down.  You get about a minute before you’re booted from that game and it has happened a lot.  I like Starcraft 2.  I honestly don’t play many videogames any more but something there is nostalgic and fun about it and it will be my dork escape.

So when my connection lags, it’s a sign that I need a different service provider.  I called in to switch my account, which is built for 6MBps charged annually.  I told them the issue and that for now my billing should be charged monthly.  There was no resentment or hostility for the situation, it was just something that needed change.

The representative looked at my account and said, paraphrased, “You’re right.  You are paying for a service and not getting the connection speed that you were promised and that means we are shortchanging you.  I’m in charge of sales here and I can tell you that as a company we don’t accept this kind of service.   I’m going to alter your account to monthly and give you the first month free.  We are aware there are issues in your neighborhood and a new hub is actually being built.  I actually live close to you and know the issue to, I deal with it myself.  The hub will be up in two weeks.  Wait a few weeks and see if the speed improves.  Thanks for calling in and our apologies for the issue.”

Funny thing is, I was already gone.  I wasn’t coming back.  But the representative (named Sam) at USI Wireless changed my whole mind in a few minutes.  I didn’t know there was an issue with the network, just figured I needed a direct connection in order to play the game.  Now?  I’m waiting a few weeks and if it DOES improve, I’m signing up for the annual contract again.

Humans are incredibly fickle.  We WILL change our minds over and over again.  Companies need to do everything they can to encourage them to stay because a lot of times it will work.  It’s the companies that slowly create an ignorance and disregard of their customer that will lose out in the long run.  And there are way too many of them.

It is ridiculoid busy right now.  I’m not sure what happened, but the firs two months of this semester have had as many, if not more, papers than the previous three semesters combined!  It’s a lot to handle, and finding time to get them done has truly been difficult.  It’s mostly based on the fact that the A term of the semester is severely front loaded.  Luckily the B term has been nerfed a great deal.

Additionally, I’ve been managing a Case Competition for about 50 students which starts on Thursday.  I’m very excited to see the event kick off and watch the presentations.  It’s an unbelievable mix of students!  MD, PhD, MBA, MHA, MPH and more are all represented to work with Medtronic and help them to solve a contemporary issue.  This is the second year and it really is a lot of work to set up, but it’s well worth it.

Luckily, spring break is right around the corner.  Hopefully I’ll find some more “reflection time” around then.

Laughter is incredibly underrated.  This coming from someone who is somewhat reserved.

When I was younger, I had a friend who always openly laughed at anything he found to be funny.  It never mattered.  That laughter always put people at ease around him.  People naturally gravitated toward him as a friend and someone they wanted to know.

It’s more the opposite for many people.  They are unsure if laughing is OK and hold back for fear of being seen.  Laughter is confidence in my opinion and holding back laughter is not a good idea.  It’s also a very healthy thing to do every day.  Don’t be afraid to laugh, regardless of the situation.

Certain competencies and abilities are very visible.  Being able to dunk a basketball is quite demonstrable.  So is solving an advanced math problem or playing a Bach concierto.  They are rulers.  If you can you can, if you can’t you can’t.

There are other skills that are not so easily seen.  These skills are not distinguishable to the naked eye.  If you ask a designer to show you why she is a good designer, she can give you a portfolio, but this isn’t truly representative of her skill.   Her skill is tied up in her brain; there are no easy ways to show how GOOD of a designer she is.  The same goes for writers, poets and musicians.

Wait?!  You just said that playing a Bach concierto was demonstrable?

Yes.  That is demonstrative of technical capability to play the piano.  It is not demonstrative of creating music.    That’s what made Bach a virtuoso, his invisible talent for creating music.  The personality it took to build that skill level is hidden from us though.  There are so many of these talents.  Many of them are tied up in art.  Yet the same reason that Pollock astounding is the same reason that someone can be a great leader.   They have hidden skills and potential that are naked to human eye.  Concepts like integrity and drive are relevant hidden skills.

These unseen traits are the biggest assets we have; we have to embrace and believe in them to thrive.

I have a friend who is a developer at Blizzard-Activision and he just gave me a key for the Starcraft 2 Beta.  Starcraft was the only PC game I ever really got into as a kid, I spent tons of hours playing and it was one of the most popular video games of all time.  I’m excited to try out the beta.  Unfortunately it will have to be on my PC, which means I have to buy a mouse too.

Whatever.  It’s going to be awesome!  The demos look so sick.  I’ll write a review once I’ve put in some time.

It’s not too far away.  Technically it’s already here, but soon the integration of televisions with computers will be a built in feature.

I’ve been toying with getting a Mac Mini for my 42″ LCD TV at home for a while now.  Today, I simply plug in my parallel port on my laptop to the television when I want to stream something like Netflix or NBA TV.  The truth of the matter is that it’s a hassle; not a big hassle, but a hassle none the less.  Entertainment is not a huge part of my life right now; I’m simply too busy with school and other things.  But after graduation, trying to configure a nicer entertainment set up will be important to me.

My current situation at home consists of three computing machines:  a 24″ iMac, a 15″ Lenovo (school email and Office) and a 10″ Asus EEE for travel and random stuff.  Getting another low power (2GB) low memory machine just to put on my television is pretty dumb, but putting a good laptop for stationary use is too.

Things are changing quickly though.  This article has a quote saying that 65% of televisions will be interactive compatible by 2013.  After all, televisions today are really just big, dumb computer monitors with a few other features tied in.  And monitors offer nothing other than a palette for the real horsepower of the cloud.  I’m thinking that I’ll just run my ramshackle rig for another few years before buying a television with a built in computing structure.  It won’t be long until PC gaming, local news and streamed movies are all available on demand in your living room.

The last few weeks I’ve spent a lot of time over the last few weeks learning about Wall Street and Investment Banking. I’m in the midst of an ethnography book on Wall Street (which I’ll review whenever I finish) and have an ethics class that has had a few discussions turned to capital investment.  What’s interesting about these kinds of banks is the incredible amount of capital that runs through them, in some form or another, and their impact on society juxtaposed with their inclusive nature.

Joe Sixpack has no idea what these people are doing.  I don’t think it’s secretive, but it’s an industry that very few people ever really get a handle on and that’s somewhat mind boggling when you consider their impact.

Kind of out of no where, I remembered a social studies class in my young years (I can’t recall if it was high school or undergrad) that had a detail of a fictional corporation being the target of a hostile takeover.  Thanks to the wonder of the interwebs, you can watch  it online for free, just click on the VoD button next to episode five.

It was a PBS special and had other episodes oriented around many ethical dilemmas.  I haven’t watched the others but can say this particular piece was very well done and harbors very prominent public figures such as Warren Buffet and Rudy Giuliani with his toupe!  Great comedy, but also great discourse between raiders who actually did this in the 80’s heyday as well as those opposed to such practices.  Nothing is tied up with a bow, but it really is interesting stuff and if you have some free time, it’s well worth the hour to watch.