Well, after reading about and even critiquing smartphones for the past few years, I finally got one of my own, the Droid Incredible 2 by HTC on Verizon. I’ve played around with it for a few weeks now so I feel like I can give a fair assessment of the device. I admit the name is a bit pretentious, but bottom line you’re getting great value for the price you’re paying. If only they were a little more modest and called it the Droid Really Really Good.

For various philosophical and financial reasons, I do not own any Apple devices and I wasn’t going to start with an iPhone 4. Android may not be as neat and clean as iOS, but it’s better for people who want to tinker with their phones and customize it for their own needs. It has great integration with Google services like Gmail and Voice and in many ways the Incredible 2 is better than the iPhone 4 both in terms of hardware (better camera) and software (iOS5 just got notifications).

If you’re going with Android on Verizon, you have a lot of choices. The Incredible 2 certainly isn’t the most flashy option. It doesn’t have 4G LTE like the Droid Charge or Thunderbolt. It doesn’t have a dual core processor like the Droid X2. However, what you do get is reliable performance in a lean, mean package. Unlike the 4G phones, the Incredible’s battery life is solid and won’t die after a few hours. I can get through a day of regular use (some phone/texting, 1-2 hours of music/podcasting, some web, social networking, and Youtube) without recharging. Unlike the X2, it won’t look (too) ridiculous in your pocket because the screen is only 4″ but that’s all you really need. If you really want to do heavy duty reading/watching, get a tablet. I wanted a phone that could make calls, browse the web, play music and casual games. The Incredible 2 does it beautifully without breaking the bank ($199.99 with contract right now).

That being said, there are some downsides. The biggest problem is Verizon. They’ve loaded it up with free trials and their crappy VCast apps. It’s like buying a PC back in 2000, except you can’t delete these. There’s also the issue of media management. Whatever criticisms I may have of the iPhone, its media management system via iTunes is the best out there. On Android, I’ve tried several options from the default HTC music player to DoubleTwist to Google Music (Yes I got a Beta invite! Look for a post about it!). All of these have their strengths and weaknesses but none of them work as well as iTunes on iPhone. Maybe as Google Music gets better Android will have something comparable. Lastly, I upgraded from a keyboard phone and the touchscreen typing initially took some getting used to. I’m okay with the onscreen keyboard now and Android does give you other options like voice input if you hate typing, but I still miss blazing across a full QWERTY keyboard sometimes.

Finally, I have to address the 3G v. 4G debate a little more. My choice ultimately came down to the Incredible 2 and the Droid Charge. The two phones have very similar specs. The big difference is one is 4G and one is not. We’re currently in a stage of development where there isn’t a clear cut better choice between the two. Let me be clear: LTE can be very fast and it certainly is the future. Also, Verizon’s 3G and 4G data plans cost the same so if you live in a 4G area it can be a pretty good deal. However, LTE is still a very new technology. A lot of these new phones are very expensive ($300 for the Charge) but have terrible battery life. In 2 years everything will be 4G, but right now it’s a tossup. Many places still do not have 4G coverage and the places that do may suffer outages. It really depends on where you live and how you use your phone.

So to recap, I’m really happy with the Incredible 2. It isn’t state of the art but the technology behind it is proven. You’re getting great bang for your buck. I would argue it’s the best 3G Android phone on Verizon, and perhaps even better than the iPhone 4. Don’t take my word for it though. Go read other reviews and go to your local store to play around with one.

For the past four years, I have been a student at Boston College’s Carroll School of Management, which BusinessWeek recently ranked #9 in the country. The majority of my experience has been overwhelmingly positive and I have nothing but the utmost respect for my professors and fellow classmates. Yes, there were some really easy classes along the way, but I think you will find those in any major. For the most part, my professors have challenged me with the course material but they also made it relevant by tying it to current and real life events. I went from knowing nothing about business to being able to invest my own money and speak intelligently about the markets and the financial crisis. And yes, our coursework involves a lot of in class discussions and group work, but I think the point of all this is to prepare students for life in the workforce. Many of my Arts & Sciences friends tell me they wish they had more opportunities for group work in their classes. The ability to work effectively with others is a valuable and highly underrated skill in almost any career. The students that I have had to work with have been absolutely professional and accountable. I have rarely had issues with inequitable distributions of work.

I do think there are two broader issues that both the Times and Poets and Quants articles failed to address. First, it ignored the economics of higher education. College is really expensive. For all majors. Unfortunately, not all majors are created equal in terms of employability. Therefore it is not unreasonable for a student and his family to choose a major at least partly because it is perceived to have a better chance of maximizing his future income. I wonder sometimes how a teacher or social worker (both of whom I admire greatly) will ever pay off his or her student loans from a 4 year private institution on their modest salaries. This is a problem that has potentially serious economic and social consequences. I am starting to agree with Peter Thiel that there is a higher education bubble. (Note that I say the decision is based on perceived future income. As the article noted, the average starting salary of business majors is higher, but the gap narrows as time goes on. However, perception is just as important as reality when you’re a college freshmen and all you’re going to see is the six figure Wall Street salaries and bonuses, even though few students will actually get those jobs).

The second issue has to do with MBAs. I do not have an MBA so I cannot claim to be an expert on the subject. I have spoken with older folks both with and without MBAs about the issue. As a Business Analyst at Deloitte, I am also obligated to get an MBA at some point if I want to stay with the company after a few years. From what I understand, the MBA is as much about the degree itself as it is about having it on your resume. A plain Bachelor’s degree is no longer special; you need an advanced degree to differentiate yourself. For better or worse, having an MBA will help you get a raise, earn a promotion, and in general open up more career opportunities. Therefore some students may be motivated to pursue an MBA not for the learning but simply for the degree. With that kind of attitude, it’s no wonder the academic environment at even the top MBA programs has broken down. The devaluation of the Bachelor’s degree and the sustainability of getting more advanced degrees is another serious question that merits more discussion.

I will concede a few points to the writer of the Times article. Business majors are notoriously bad at writing; even we know it. I have been fortunate enough to be an above average writer since elementary school and I have consciously tried to hone that skill in college by writing for the campus newspaper and my blog. BC also has a significant liberal arts core requirement which forces all students to take at least a few classes that require written papers. Still, the writing skills of many business students are woefully underdeveloped. I wouldn’t blame business schools entirely for this failure though; some of the fault has to be placed on the K-12 education system. In my opinion, a high school graduate should be able to construct a coherent essay. Yet despite all the standardized testing from No Child Left Behind, students are coming out of high school without this and other basic skills.

The article also made a point to distinguish between the top undergraduate business programs and lower tier ones. I am grateful to be attending a top notch institution such as BC and perhaps my experience has been more similar to that of the University of Virginia than some of the other schools criticized in the article. Many of my peers are heading to Wall Street, Big Four accounting firms, consultancies, or big name corporations. As the article pointed out, students from lower tier business schools are going into regional banks, insurance companies, or governments. These two groups have different needs and these differences should be reflected in their respective curricula. While I think all students should get the best education possible, the contrast does allude to the need for the right type of education.

Finally, rhetoric tradition requires me to make one completely self deprecating statement to feign modesty and exonerate myself from any shortcomings in my arguments. I have thus far defended the value of an undergraduate business education, in particular my own at BC. In fact I think non-business students should be encouraged to take a few business classes in their four years of college because a lot of concepts are important not just as a job seeker, but as a citizen. At the same time, if I had one academic regret in college, it’s that I never got a chance to double major in a field that either improved my quantitative skills, computer programming ability, or scientific knowledge. I think these skills are complementary and, to borrow one of business school’s favorite words, synergistic with any business education. It is especially for important for aspiring entrepreneurs who want to be on the cutting edge of technology and understand what’s going on. Thus I do think it is important to encourage business students to take plenty of non-business courses.

I’ve ranted on long enough. What do you think? Are undergraduate business and MBA degrees becoming a joke? Or is it part of a larger problem with education? Please comment!

I would start off by saying to go into your search with a plan. You don’t need to know exactly what you want to do for the rest of your life or have a dream employer per se, but have a general idea of what industries and positions you’re interested in, and what criteria (geography, pay, hours, work-life balance) are important to you. Given the state of the job market right now, I would cast a wide net but also be careful not to overwhelm yourself with too many prospective employers. You still want to be able to do a good job on each resume and interview so that you’re not applying to places just for the sake of applying. In my case I probably applied to too many as I ended up having to pass up interviews because they conflicted with other ones. I recommend approaching it like applying to college where you have a couple of dream jobs, a couple of good jobs that you have a reasonable chance of getting, and a few jobs that you may not be crazy about but have a pretty good chance of landing.

In terms of the actual interview, the best advice is also the most clichéd advice: relax and be yourself. It’s hard with all the pressure and high stakes, but you really think and do better when you’re relaxed and employers will notice. Ironically some of my best interviews were probably ones where I didn’t particularly care for the job or when I was more stressed about a different interview. That being said, you still need to practice and do your due diligence on the employer. Try to talk to past or current employees about the interview process and corporate culture. Read the job description and the company’s corporate website carefully. Be aware of any headlines involving the company or industry. You want to show you did your homework.

As for yourself, know your resume cold. You should be able to summarize the highlights in about a minute without any trouble. In general, practice behavioral questions about your skills, weaknesses, leadership abilities, and past experiences. There’s no guarantee which questions you’ll get so I would have several broad stories about jobs, activities, and accomplishments prepared and then spin those according to the question you get asked, focusing on different aspects depending on the situation. One question you will always be asked is why you want the job. Have a good but honest response ready. Interviewers can see through a completely BS answer.

One of the most dreaded parts of the interview is when the interviewer asks you if you have any questions for them. This is really tricky because you want to show interest and knowledge about the company but you don’t want to ask questions for the sake of asking questions. I typically start off with something easy like asking the interviewer why they chose their current career or how they got to their position. If there was something during our conversation that I wanted the interviewer to clarify or that I genuinely had an interest in, I would ask about that. Same holds true for any headlines or upcoming developments in the firm’s industry. Finally, I make sure I ask about the corporate culture to show that I’m serious about the company and the job. Also be sure to remember to ask for a business card or email address at the end. Follow-ups are pretty important. At worst, it gives you some closure about the interview. At best, you might see your interviewer again and he or she can give you some tips on next steps.

I will conclude by saying that looking for a job sucks. It’s like taking an extra class, except the class has a test every day and your grade has more real life implications that any other class. Regardless of preparation, you will have bad interviews where you’re having a bad day or you just don’t have any chemistry with your interviewer. Don’t let this get you down and whatever you do don’t let the job search take over your life and overwhelm you. You still want to leave some time for friends, family, relaxation, and doing things you like.

Best of luck to everyone out there who’s still in the hunt!

My main beef with these moves is they don’t make us better. We haven’t played well since that stomach virus took out half of our rotation, but we’re still one of the top teams in the East and there’s no need to panic when we’ve been successful with the same core for several years now. In fact, the only trade I would’ve made is for another top 10 player like Chris Paul or Carmelo Anthony. A massive shakeup like this mid-season  is risky for chemistry and team unity. It also makes no sense financially because VC’s contract is not guaranteed next year and we’re getting the awful contracts of Turkoglu and Arenas in return.

If it was just the Suns trade, I still wouldn’t be thrilled but at least I’d be okay with it. Straight up Richardson is an upgrade over VC and they do a lot of the same things. There’s some reason to believe that Turkoglu can play like he did two years ago with Stan Van Gundy and Dwight Howard again so it’s a risk I’m willing to take. Aside from the financial implications, my only concern is throwing Gortat in the deal. We’re really thin at center right now behind Howard and completely screwed if he gets hurt or into foul trouble.

My bigger problem is with the Wizards trade. Gun incident aside, I’m not a fan of Arenas as a basketball player. To me, he’s never been more than a poor man’s Allen Iverson. He scores a lot, but doesn’t make his teammates better and takes too many bad shots. Position-wise he’s a poor fit for this team. Jameer is definitely our starting PG and Arenas isn’t good enough of a shooter to be our starting SG. I guess I can see him as a sixth man, but we’re still paying him too much. Plus he had that injury a few years ago that’s hurt his athleticism. I just can’t see him being a contributor when he couldn’t be effective next to John Wall in Washington. While Lewis has been playing horribly this year and I always thought he was overplayed, at least he can be a mismatch on offense and stretch the floor.

Most importantly, the trades do nothing to address the main reason for the Magic’s recent slide: poor defense. None of these guys are good defenders whereas we gave up Mickael Pietrus who did a solid job against Lebron and Kobe in the playoffs. In fact I’m worried that we’ve traded or let go of defenders like Courtney Lee and Matt Barnes these last few years and replaced them with mediocre shooters. I don’t know who’s going to guard Lebron, Wade, Pierce or Allen in the playoffs. I also want to see us get a backup center preferably by trading Quentin Richardson or Chris Duhon if we want any chance against the Celtics or Lakers.

Overall I’m not a fan of the new look Magic. They might be a fun team in NBA Live, but there’s not enough size and defense for a real playoff run. I completely agree with Bill Simmons’ assessment of what Orlando should’ve done. But hey maybe Arenas will turn his game around. I wasn’t a fan of the Vick signing either but it’s worked out (for the most part) since then.

Christmas Light, Coldplay- Coldplay’s one of my favorite bands and they released an excellent Christmas track this year. It’s a different take on Christmas, but they stuck to their style and made a great sweet and sentimental song. Plus the music video has some gratuitous shots of London and the Thames!

12 Days of Christmas, Straight No Chaser- This song’s been out for a few years now, but I still appreciate its clever arrangement and how it incorporates everything from Deck the Halls to Dreidel, Dreidel, Dreidel, to Africa. Always fun to listen to.

Feliz Navidad, Jose Feliciano- Helped me learn Spanish, lol!

Jingle Bell Rock, Bobby Helms- One of my favorite nontraditional Christmas classics.

A New York City Christmas, Rob Thomas- Rob Thomas is one of my favorite contemporary singers and he did an excellent Christmas song a few years ago. It makes me want to go to NYC every year.

A Mad Russian’s Christmas, Trans-Siberian Orchestra- What’s better than the Nutcracker, remixed with electric guitars?

Somewhere In My Memory, Home Alone- One of my favorite movies as a kid and this song just makes me want to be home for Christmas.

All I Want For Christmas Is You, NOTA- When it’s not overplayed, I like Mariah Carey’s All I Want For Christmas Is You, but I think this a capella version is even better. I love the horns and just the overall jazzy feel.

Christmas Time Is Here, Vince Guaraldi Trio- Classic song from a classic holiday film.

Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24, Trans-Siberian Orchestra- The song that introduced me to Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

White Christmas, Bing Crosby- Classic. Who doesn’t dream of a white Christmas?

Sleigh Ride, Boston Pops- To me, nothing says Christmas like this song. Perfection.

I didn’t get that kind of publicity, but what followed for the next 24+ hours was an explosion of activity. In one day, I got nearly 2,000 hits- about a quarter of all the hits I’d gotten in the past 2 years total. I was also flooded with comments on the post and I read every one of them because I manually moderate everything that gets posted. It was incredible that people valued my opinions and somewhat of a validation of the time I’ve spent as a blogger and amateur tech enthusiast.

So what happens from here on out? The Freshly Pressed bump is still going strong four days later with over 100 views. I don’t have any plans to monetize this right now although if I keep getting this level of traffic it may not hurt lol. What I do know is that this blog will remain a mishmash of my travels and activities, rants about my favorite sports teams and TV shows, and occasional insightful analysis into the world of technology and business.

I hope you guys continue to enjoy it and check back for updates!

Well things have unraveled since then. Digg had trouble with mainstream adoption and lost its core users to Reddit. More importantly, Facebook’s “Like” and Twitter’s “Retweet” buttons have replaced Digg on most websites. This latest round of layoffs is the largest but certainly not the first as they’ve cut 10% of staff twice since 2009. Jay Adelson left the company earlier this year. Even the company’s major revamp, Digg 4 (which I reviewed favorably in beta), was poorly received. Digg appears to be a dead man walking now eclipsed by its rivals and its core fan base is in revolt. With such a dramatic fall from grace, one has to wonder: Was Digg’s fall inevitable, and if so should we be concerned about many of today’s social and mobile startups?

The answer to the first part of the question is a resounding no. Just look at Reddit, which has thrived during the same period of time. Reddit is a favorite of the hip, quirky, tech-savvy community. In other words the same group that made Digg cool. However, as a mainstream consumer, I would never use Reddit because its UI is unpolished and most of the top stories are kind of odd. Again, I said the same things about the original Digg. Digg knew it had to become more mainstream in order to compete with the rising popularity of Facebook and Twitter. Yet when Digg tried to change, its fanboys revolted. This brings me to my first conclusion about many startups these days:

The business interests of a social startup and the community’s interests are sometimes at odds. Niche fan bases have limited value and in the long run may actually be a constraint.

Few companies have successfully made the leap to mass adoption. Most companies have fallen to their deaths or are too timid to try. The last outcome is fine if you sell out. Reddit is part of the massive Conde Nast publishing empire so it has no pressure to grow and give its investors a payday all on its own. Digg turned down acquisition offers and tried to build its own empire. Its competition was Twitter and Facebook. The problem is news sharing is a feature on Facebook and Twitter while on Digg it is the entire product. This brings me to my second and more important conclusion:

A feature is NOT a product and definitely NOT a sustainable company.

This is what really worries me. A lot of startups I hear about these days are very narrowly focused. They have a novel way of doing something but they compete against one feature of someone else’s product. The current environment makes it possible for these companies to get funded and move their ideas to market, and there’s nothing wrong with that. There is some real innovation going on here. However, it’s foolish to think there are any fortunes to be made with most of these startups, and founders and investors alike would be wise to sell sooner than later.

I don’t think there’s going to be another bubble like 2000 because this boom is not driven by the stock market. Even if a lot of these companies fail, there will be a much smaller impact on the overall economy. However, you do have to wonder how many of these companies have a future. For example, I’m worried about Foursquare and Gowalla. Although they’re slightly differentiated and have strong communities, they are merely features on Facebook. With Facebook Places and the inevitable check-in fatigue setting in, they could risk becoming the next Digg.

• Training Camp (Career fairs, information sessions): Get you back into shape. Also gives you a chance to make some evaluations and finalize your roster.
• Pre-Season (Mock interviews, preliminary interviews, phone interviews): Final tuneup before the real thing begins.
• Regular Season (1st round interviews): First chance to make a lasting impression. Performance in this round will determine whether or not you advance.
• Post Season (2nd round interviews): Stakes are higher this time as we get closer to the big prize.
• Championship (Getting an offer): Obviously this is everyone’s ultimate goal. Let’s hope I can win a championship.

As you can probably guess I’ll pretty much be on social media blackout until November or whenever I get a job. I apologize if I’m anti-social and unresponsive until then. Don’t worry, I’ll catch up in the off-season!

First of all, it’s important to note why people use Twitter. People call it a social network but I really think this is misleading, because people think Facebook when you say “social networks,” and Twitter is very different from Facebook. I would argue Twitter is a mass communication tool for individuals. Unless your name is Shaquille O’Neal (who I follow) or Ashton Kutcher (who I don’t follow), you’re not going to be using this as a tool to carry on a sustained conversation with your followers because, let’s be frank, you don’t have that many followers who are actually your friends. Except for niche groups like the tech community, the majority of your friends and colleagues are on Facebook or Linkedin and even if they are on Twitter, there are much better ways to carry out an extensive dialog.

For ordinary people, Twitter is basically a way to build a customized news feed. You can follow the accounts of your favorite media outlets as well as brands and people to get up to the minute information that is relevant to you. For example, I used to check CNN several times a day to find out what was going on in the world, but now I can get up to the minute updates not only from CNN and the New York Times about current events, but also the Wall Street Journal and CNBC for business news, ESPN for sports news, TechCrunch and Mashable for tech news, plus updates for specific news about Boston College, Wimbledon, or The Office. I can even discover interesting articles or videos by following celebrities and other influential individuals (such as journalists or business leaders).

Of course, there are still some rough edges to sort out. For example, because I follow several mainstream news sources, I often get redundant tweets when news breaks. It would be nice if these news flashes could be collapsed into one single tweet. I only need to hear that the bailout passed once. It doesn’t matter if I get the headline from CNN, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, CNBC, Boston Globe, or Morning Call. It only matters if I want to read a more in depth analysis. Still, I think news is the greatest value of Twitter for ordinary people.

So why do I tweet? I have around 130 followers, which is solid for a random college student, but by no means influential. Of all those people, the small portion who are my friends can be more effectively reached through Facebook. The rest are typically companies or marketers hoping to gather feedback or data from me. So aside from complaining about customer service, why should I, or any ordinary person tweet?

My answer is brand building. It might sound self absorbed or hyper-commercialized, but I think in this day and age, it’s something everyone should think about doing. It’s very common for friends, colleagues, employers, colleges, and anyone else to Google you and learn more about you based on your web and social media presence. Just like multinational corporations, you can be passive and let others say whatever they want about you (see BPGlobalPR) or you can be proactive and write your own story by crafting your own public image. This is why I take care of my Facebook, Linkedin, and Twitter accounts as well as write this blog.

With this in mind, the differences in my tweets over time make sense. At first, it took some time to figure out how to actually use this service. Early on, my followers were a few early adopter friends and a bunch of random, mostly spam accounts. As a result, my tweets were fairly uninspiring, usually commenting on mundane things like the weather, waking up early, and dining hall food. I first became conscious of my Twitter habits when I started using Selective Tweets. This allowed  me differentiate my tweets and Facebook status updates. Twitter remained the more frivolous, spontaneous updates while Facebook statuses were more important and thought out.

This setup basically stayed the same until I went abroad. All of a sudden, I was relying much more on social media to communicate with friends and family back home. In a way, this meant a return to the more frivolous postings of my early days on Twitter, but because I was in a different country, it carried more value for my followers. Getting lunch, taking a walk, or even talking about the weather was interesting because I was in doing it all in London. In addition, I began to blog more actively when I went abroad and Twitter was a great way to publicize new posts. While WordPress analytics indicate that Facebook is still my top referrer, it’s always a good idea to push through as many channels as possible to reach more potential readers.

The most recent change has come in the last few months. I’m starting to build up a meaningful follower base (I broke 100 last summer but most of those were spam bots that Twitter later deleted). I have two significant active peer groups from TechTrek and TEC, in addition to various (real and active) marketer and enthusiasts. I’m being followed by organizations like Boston College and True Ventures, as well as a few members of the VC community and controversial personality Jason Calacanis. I doubt they scrutinize my tweets too much, but just knowing my 140 characters could pop up on their Tweetdecks makes me think before I tweet. I do a lot more retweeting now of interesting news stories or websites that I find to project a more mature and professional image. I use more hashtags to make my tweets stand out, join larger conversations, and hopefully get retweeted. Like successful corporate brands out there, I’m building up the value of my personal brand by producing interesting, thoughtful, and curated content.

In the 90s and early 2000s, there seemed to be a trend to rebrand everything with abbreviations. Kentucky Fried Chicken became KFC. General Motors is GM. Electronic Arts, EA. It seemed like shortening your brand into an acronym somehow made it modern, relevant, and cool. There’s only one slight problem. When you rebrand something by simply abbreviating it, it’s going to be hard for people not to associate your new abbreviation with the old name it was derived from, especially if the old name was already established. The name BP came from abbreviating British Petroleum. Most people who are in government and the media right now grew up and lived knowing the company as “British Petroleum.”  More importantly, while abbreviations are widely used in popular culture, formal speech and writing conventions still encourage you to spell out the full name. So don’t be surprised if consumers mistakenly refer to your new abbreviated brand by the long form brand which it was derived from because…that’s how you came up with it in the first place right? I mean, people can be stupid, but not that stupid.

So all you branding experts and marketers out there, if you really want to break from your past, how about doing something a little less obvious than abbreviating your name? This is your job, at least put some effort into it.