Wikipedia and Wikihow

Wikipedia has been around for a while now. But I have started appreciating it very recently. Although I have witnessed the internet do astonishing things that impact our day to day life I have always felt that there is so much more of untapped potential. One thing that I always wanted the internet to help me with was to satiate my appetite for information. While there are billions of websites I donno where to go for information. I want to know everything in the world that I ever need to know at one place and it should be easy to assimilate. Whether it be current affairs or historical information, sports or science, psychology or pharmacology, everything under the sun should be available.

Wikipedia does this job brilliantly. The free encyclopedia as it calls itself is an astonishingly simple website. It has an excellent screen layout and very friendly navigation. The articles come from authors around the world and it can be anybody including you and me. Making the gazzillion internet users as authors, wiki stands the best chance of becoming the ultimate repository of information in the electronic world. The clear categorization and the international multi-lingual outlook shows the futurstic direction of this website. I'm gaga about this website and it ranks at the top of my list. The fact that this website runs on donations is another surprising thing for me. It may not be too late before some corporate giant devours this company. But I only hope that its essence remains the same.

Another wonderful offshoot from the wiki stable is the wikihow website. How many times have you wondered how to do fishing or how to bake a cake. If you have any "How to" questions you just need to go wikihow and I'm almost certain you will have your answer. I had a tough time removing the shell of an egg and thought lemme see what wikihow has to say. And lo behold it came back with a dozen articles and guess what, now I'm an expert at peeling hard boiled eggs. So what are you waiting for. Log on to wikipedia and wikihow and know the world around you.

Thanksgiving

As I sit back at the fag end of the Thanksgiving weekend, I see that I have had quite a week. I submitted my INSEAD application on Wednesday. Soon I heard results of some of the R1 applicants. Some really good profiles have not received calls. Some believe it is due to perceived lack of diversity and some blame their own essays. Why on earth do I have to read these right after I submitted my app :( ... I have started getting some self-doubts about my application. Even though nothing can be done after submitting your applications I started thinking about the $250 application fees !!! I could have done a hell lot of things with that much money !

Aside of this I had a good trip to Grand lake, Tulsa, Oklahoma. It is a serene lake about an hour east of Tulsa, OK. We were a party of eight and we had good fun grilling, cooking, schmoozing and not to mention boozing. My favorite white wines(Chardonnay/Zinfedal are my favs) were not available for the first two days and so I had to remain sober, but on the last day got some and went into my orbit ;-) ! Came back on saturday night. Today I did some shopping for my return back home. Got a Girgio Armani code perfume for myself a nice watch for mom.

Three more weeks before I head back home. I have lots of things to do by then. Must complete the company mandated certification, must get my Singapore visa for the stoppage enroute home, must do some more shopping and ensure that my transition of responsibilities is as smooth as possible. When to the world it looks like I'm all done I'm just boiling inside :-). I plan to blog soon on my total experience in the US. It also occurs to me that I can prepare a lot of travel blogs too.

Anyhow Happy Thanksgiving to y'all !

MBA blues

Again I took a break from blogging. Been busy with so many things. I have been so much occupied with my MBA thoughts the last 4 months. With a lot of self doubts about my aptitude level 5 years after college I prepared for my GMAT. I did quite well and surprised myself with my ability to compete gamely. My apping process is on full swing and a week ago I posted my ISB app. In hindsight I have a feeling that I have not submitted my strongest of apps. But I have to let bygones be bygones.

My INSEAD app is coming along well now. I hit some fairly good ideas for the culture shock essay and my describe myself essay has also come along well. I'm really liking the B-school admission process. After this I plan to app to RSM and MBS. If things don't work I'll look at US B-schools next year. Irrespective of what the outcome is, I think the whole process has made me think deeply about myself and what i want to do in life.