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March 30, 2005

Graduation App: Filed

It's official: I just filed notice with the UW that I intend to graduate at the end of Spring quarter.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 30, 2005 8:17 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

Looks Like We're Moving

So our landlords have decided to undertake a pretty massive construction project on the house, starting in July. And, after some discussion about it, Mary and I have elected to use this opportunity to go ahead and start looking for a new place when our lease expires June 30.

Moving is hard. Mare's been living in this place for about 5 or 6 years, and I've been here more than two. You get attached to your home in a very emotional way, and our living spaces tend to define a lot about what we can do, and thus, who we become.

It's a little easier in some ways, however, because we went through this drill a few months ago. Truth be told, I think that primed the pump.

So we're thinking about renting a cute, two-bedroom house someplace on Capitol Hill - parking is required; a yard would be nice.

If anyone has a hot lead, let me know.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 30, 2005 12:13 PM.
Posted to Misc. Permalink for this entry.

Climbing The Charts

On Monday, US News And World Report will post their national rankings of business schools for 2004/05. And, on Monday, it will come out that the University of Washington is ranked 18th.

We're officially a Top 20 school.

Holy crap!

All the students found out this morning, during one of our "coffee break" sessions in the lounge. Turns out that the folks at Barnes & Noble goofed and put the new issue on the shelves, which a) hacked off US News & World Report and b) gave us permission to go ahead and talk about it (the cow had left the barn, so to speak.)

We were 27th last year, and 35th the year before that. To climb 17 slots in just two years is astounding, and it's a testament to our stellar faculty, all the folks in the program office, our career center, and the Dean's office.

From what I understand, the big improvements came through placement (we're #1 in the world in student placement) and a dramatic improvement in our reputation among recruiters.

Truly, this is a big deal. My usual pride in this program is swelled-to-bursting right now.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 30, 2005 11:52 AM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

March 29, 2005

Ship Date: June 1, 2005

So I'm getting out of the program a little earlier than expected.

According to the UW, the last day of instruction is June 3, which is then followed by a week for finals. Graduation for the MBA program happens on Saturday, June 11.

In my case, however, none of my classes have final exams. Instead, I've got three different quarter-long projects, each of which requires both a written report and an in-class presentation on the last day of class. That means I'll be done, finished, out the door on Wednesday, June 1.

Which is two months from Friday.

Yikes!

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 29, 2005 2:06 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

Dad Got A 4.0!

My father, after retiring two years ago (and moving out to Spokane), has decided to complete his bachelor's degree. I think this is incredibly cool.

Well, he just wrapped his first set of college classes since the early 1970s at Spokane Falls Community College, taking both Humanities and Sociology. Grades were just posted - and he got straight A's in both. Way to go, Dad!

I'm excited to graduate in June with my MBA, of course, but I'm even more excited to see him get his AA next Fall. Following that, it's off to WSU's Spokane branch campus. This quarter he's got Chemistry. Let's hope he doesn't blow himself up, huh?

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 29, 2005 10:00 AM.
Posted to Cool. Permalink for this entry.

March 28, 2005

Full Text Feeds Now Available

Todd wrote me tonight, asking if I could expand my RSS feeds:

"I've subscribed to your blog via RSS, and I'm reading it via NewsGator. Unfortunately, your feed cuts off posts just as they get interesting and I have to click through to read the rest."

Sorry about that, man. Optimizing my RSS feed was something I've been meaning to do for a while, but never found the time. (I'd also like to include images, so that's on the to-do list).

Anyhow, it's fixed. RSS was truncating my excerpts at 40 words; they'll now truncate at 2500. (My verbosity might be high, but I kinda doubt it's that high.)

Let me know if you experience any weirdness.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 28, 2005 7:27 PM.
Posted to Geek. Permalink for this entry.

PI: "Teatro ZinZanni's latest delivers a full menu of music, fun and surprises"

The PI has a quick write-up on the new Teatro ZinZanni show that opened this last week. One of our favorite characters, Ceasar (played by Frank Ferrante), is back:

"Sporting an enormous pompadour and huge sideburns and wearing a garish salad-green costume with embroidered green jacket and cucumber-shaped shoes, Ferrante is brilliantly funny as he pulls audience members to the center stage for impromptu skits. Whether he is tossing out such lines as, "I'm arugula guy" and, "Our lust will always romaine" or ad-libbing about a woman's outfit ("It's sarong, it's so right"), Ferrante is as nutty as a Waldorf salad."

Mary, Richard and I caught it on the 20th - the last night of the last show. It was my third time going to Teatro, and it's awesome. The show's been different, reinvented, every single time we've attended. The concept sounds strange - sort of Cirque du Soleil meets dinner theater - but it's funny and risque and a wonderful, wonderful evening. Easily one of the best things to do in the city.

I can't wait to see the new show. Hmmm ... graduation present ....

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 28, 2005 2:45 PM.
Posted to Entertainment. Permalink for this entry.

Cintra's Latest Is Online

Speaking of Cintra (and her impending rule-worldiness): her latest for BusinessWeek, "Academics, the Placement Process, and More" has hit the stands. Choice quote:

"Now when people ask me what I am up to, I enthusiastically (perhaps not proudly yet, but at least without embarrassment) offer that I am enrolled in the UW Business School, and I graduate in June. Even (and I say this affectionately) the hippie/commie faction of my family has supported my transition to the "dark side.""

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 28, 2005 2:03 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

March 27, 2005

Once More Into The Breach, Dear Friends...

Back to class tomorrow. Database Marketing begins at 8:30 AM, and is the kickoff for a fun-filled Monday, clocking in with 13 hours on campus. My last class, "Business Models For Emerging Technologies" ends at 9:30. In the evening.

(Yes, it's my own damn fault. I designed my schedule.)

I wish I had something truly interesting or insightful to say about the impending arrival of my last quarter in business school. And truthfully, it does feel a little surreal and overwhelming, like something is being lost or changed or ... I don't know. Words fail.

I've been kicking around an essay, "Why An MBA?" that makes the case for (or, in some cases, against) getting the degree. It's not ready to see the light of day (yet), but one of the big points that I stress is that the strength of any MBA program is its people, pure and simple. The credential might attract you, the curriculum might keep you, but the real value of this experience is getting to know a hundred or so truly extraordinary individuals. So, with that in mind, I'm cognizant of the fact that this last quarter is the last time I'm going to see my classmates in one place. Everyone is careening off into their own career arcs (Exhibit A: Casey signed with WaMu over the break - go Casey!), and, as spring arrives, the job search winds down (or, for some, intensifies), we are all in the process of transforming from a class back into our own, ambitious, driven, hard-charging individual selves.

And, while I'm excited to see what all the individuals are going to be up to, I still feel a pang.

(I'll also bet $100 that Cintra is going to be running the world in very short order.)

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 27, 2005 7:44 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

March 24, 2005

Arrested Development

Mary's been under the weather for the last week or so, and now I've got her stuff. Ugh.

The time off from feeling good is giving me time to curl up in front of the TV and just take my brain off the hook. And so it is that today, armed with my NetFlix backlog, a remote control, and a soft blanket, I have finally discovered the joy that is Arrested Development.

Entertainment Weekly has been raving about this show for the last several months, and now I know why. It's sly, funny, very smart and and an absolute miracle that it's stayed on the air as long as it has (hey, as a huge fan of ABC's prematurely-killed Cupid, I know whereof I speak).

Development is hysterically funny, and gets more so as it goes along. Everything is very deadpan, and there's no laugh track. I'm totally addicted.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 24, 2005 4:30 PM.
Posted to Entertainment. Permalink for this entry.

March 21, 2005

Verizon Blows It

I just got off the phone with Derek from Verizon Wireless (slogan: "We Never Stop Working For You").

Looks like I'm getting a new cellular carrier in September.

The conversation was short (five minutes), pleasant enough, and totally unproductive. Without rehashing the entire effort, let's say that Verizon got my letter, read it, and then phoned me to tell me that there was nothing they could do for me. Citing "liability reasons" ("if we give you this phone for a deep discount, we have to give it to everyone," and "it took losing a few court cases for our lawyers to tell us not to do this any more"), they basically said I can have the new phone - if I just sign a new, two-year contract.

Yeah, that's likely.

Thanks for nothing, guys.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 21, 2005 7:11 PM.
Posted to Misc. Permalink for this entry.

March 19, 2005

Gauging Google; Or, Why Ajax Kicks Ass

The latest in cocktail party conversation among the digerati is guessing what the heck Google is up to.

This is both natural and historical. Google's star is on the rise: their stock is up, the press loves them, consumers "get" what the company does, and the story of how the firm was founded (two smart guys meet in college, work hard, and become billionaires) plays right in to the mythology of the American Dream. It worked for Jobs in the 70s, Gates in the 80s, Andressen in the 90s, and now, well, it's Sergey and Larry.

However, getting such a rush of focus and attention in such a short span of time tends to compress and distort the smallest of signals or moves. Certainly this is true of Microsoft, whose business activities, it is believed, are part of some coordinated master plan to rule the universe (heck, my very first blog entry was about how the tortured reputation of Microsoft effectively prevented me from being able to process and understand Microsoft for the first month after my arrival.)

So it is with Google. As Google Labs throws off interesting and intriguing new projects, the Web picks 'em up and begins strategizing about how each of them fits in to Google's Master Plan For World Domination (tm).

While I don't necessarily believe that Google has a master plan (I mean, Sergey and Larry are clearly smart guys, but they don't strike me as the SPECTRE types), I do think that Google has stumbled on to (or created) something that is pretty damn revolutionary.

It's called Ajax.

At its core, Ajax is an entirely new way to develop for the Web. It allows for the creation of software that is interactive, fast, and lively inside a Web browser window.

Consider. In the "traditional" method of Web development, the Web browser requests a page from the server. The server obliges, sending along the HTML and graphics, which the browser then assembles in the proper way. At this point, the transaction is over, the connection between the server and the browser terminated. From the standpoint of the server, the page is delivered, and it doesn't think anything more of it. The browser, too, has forgotten that the server even exists - until the user clicks on another link, at which point the process starts all over again.

This approach to Web development is certainly usable - heck, it's taken us pretty far in the last decade - but suffers from some issues. One such issue is that it feels pretty clunky, relative to desktop software. Most desktop software feels fluid, seamless - windows, pulldowns, and other visual elements can come and go without the entire screen refreshing. On the Web, however, the whole page needs to reload in order to update one small element.

This is particularly visible in mapping Web sites. Look at this link for Yahoo! Maps (opens in a new window). Now, change your magnification level or click on the arrows at the top or bottom of the screen to "scroll". The entire page will need to refresh. This is because the graphic you're looking at is not, in any way, "live" - the server delivered it, the browser has it, and there's nothing else going on.

Now, look at the same link in Google Maps (opens in a new window).

A few things should pop out. One is that the Google map is a lot prettier (this is a byproduct , not the point, of the Ajax technology, but it's still relevant). The second, and less obvious, is that the map will update in real time. Changing the magnification level will result in immediate, fluid changes to the mapping area.

And finally - this is killer- you can click in the map area and drag it around.

Google Maps is the poster child for the Ajax development approach. Gmail is another. Effectively, Google has developed a core competence in delivering highly interactive Web applications that look and feel extraordinarily like desktop applications.

So the $100,000,000 question is - if you can do this in the browser, will users still care about the desktop? In other words, is the OS still important? Or is it, as Marc Andressesn once famously said, "a partially debugged set of device drivers?"

This is not academic. Today, tens of millions of people use Hotmail or Gmail or Yahoo Mail to do e-mail. They don't use a desktop e-mail program, like Apple Mail or Eudora or Outlook Express. My girlfriend is Exhibit A in this scenario; she uses Hotmail (both at home and away), and prefers to "keep it simple" by only having one interface to her e-mail. The interface is consistent whether or not she's on her 12" PowerBook, borrowing a PC while she's at a job, or in some Internet Cafe in Italy. Because it resides in the browser, Hotmail is Hotmail is Hotmail.

Webmail is one thing. Desktop applications, like word processors and spreadsheets, are another. Or photo sharing applications (iPhoto, anyone?). Or entirely new classes of applications that blend the best of the network with the best of the desktop. Stuff we haven't even thought of yet. Stuff we'll all wonder how we could possibly live without once we see it. (I call that the "Netscape Moment", and and it came for me in September 1994).

I'm not saying that Google is getting in to the Office business. I am saying that, with Ajax, Google probably can if it wants to.

While there's an essay over at DaltonLP.com thinks that Google is not pursuing any kind of grand, unifying strategy, there are some really, really, really interesting articles ("The Secret Source Of Google's Power") that seem to confirm that Google's big interest is in getting as much as possible off the PC and on to the Web. So while not a "grand plan" in the Now-Witness-The-Power-Of-This-Fully-Armed-And-Operational-Battle-Station kind of way, it's certainly a strategic direction, a point of view. And that's notable.

So. If Google can successfully deliver a satisfactory, Web-based word processor or spreadsheet, will it be good enough to get users to try it? Before Ajax, I'd have said no way. But now? Well, the game seems to have changed.

Many would point out that one major drawback of Web applications is that you have to be connected to the Internet to use them. No connectivity = no productivity. A corollary of this is that your connection speed has a direct impact on the usability of the app. (Modems suck.) Therefore, Web applications seem to be "for" those with reliable broadband. However, this is not a small market. Anecdotal information from some of my consulting clients show that about 70% of the market has broadband right now. This is far, far higher than I would have believed two years ago.

And on the upside, a Web application gives you centralized data storage. And worldwide accessibility to your stuff from any PC, anywhere, anytime. This is not a trivial benefit. When my PowerBook died, my data very nearly went with it. I was forced to do the USB Keychain Shuffle, schlepping data from my old machine to whatever computers I could get access to (such as my Vaio, or machines on campus). This then meant that those computers had to have compatible software (e.g., Office) ... which they don't always do. Putting the data on a remote server and making the Web the primary interface removes all of these challenges.

Kind of like Webmail.

Of course, if I'm Google, I'd be worried about what might happen to the Web browser if I'm doing all this bodacious JavaScript-and-XML programming work. So, if I were prudent, I might make sure some smart Firefox programmers were on the payroll. And I might even think about putting out my own, Google-branded Web browser as a hedge against my stuff not working with another, dominant browser.

But that's just me.

Thoughts?

UPDATE, September 10, 2005: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 19, 2005 3:22 PM.
Posted to Geek. Permalink for this entry.

AppleCare Comes Through

My PowerBook G4/667 came back from Apple's customer care department earlier this week. I finally had some time this afternoon to open the box and see what was done to the the 'ol boy.

I just have one word: WOW!!!!

In addition to replacing the various, relevant innards of the 'book, the good folks at AppleCare took it upon themselves to give the exterior of the machine a cosmetic overhaul. My PowerBook had been through a lot over the last two years; the case was scuffed, paint was peeling, and the palm contact points (you know, where your palms rest while you're typing) were shiny and bright from the thousands of hours of use.

It's all fixed. All of it. Cosmetically, the machine looks like it rolled off the factory floor yesterday.

And the best part? It's all covered under the AppleCare contract. I'm not out a cent. I say again: WOW!!!!

Apple: thanks a million!

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 19, 2005 2:43 PM.
Posted to Apple. Permalink for this entry.

March 16, 2005

GoogleX Pulled?

WTF?

I blogged about GoogleX this morning, and now Slashdot is reporting that the thing has been pulled. Clicking the link in my earlier post gets "The requested URL was not found on this server."

News.com has a screen-shot and a blurb.

I wonder who got in trouble over there, and why?

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 16, 2005 9:10 PM.
Posted to Cool. Permalink for this entry.

GoogleX

OK, this is just cool. GoogleX is a MacOS-X-inspired version of Google, from the folks in Google Labs. (Personally, I love the mouse-overs for the icons.)

MacWorld has coverage.

UPDATE, June 3, 2005: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 16, 2005 8:33 AM.
Posted to Cool. Permalink for this entry.

March 15, 2005

Viaduct Tunnel Fly-Through

Following on my post about running on the Viaduct during the St. Patrick's Day Run, Allie sent me this cool-ass link to the Mayor's "Viaduct" page. It has a computer-simulated fly-through of the proposed tunnel (scroll down until you see "See the Tunnel Simulation!"). RealVideo required.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 15, 2005 9:18 AM.
Posted to Transit. Permalink for this entry.

eWeek: Tiger On April 15th

eWeek is reporting that Mac OS X 10.4 (aka "Tiger") will be shipping on Friday, April 15. This provides confirmation of a rumor ThinkSecret ran last week.

This is very cool news. Apple has been promising Tiger "in the first half of 2005" since last summer, and has been notoriously tight-lipped beyond that. If we really are getting Tiger in a few more weeks, that handily beats the "Thursday, June 30, 2005" ship date that some (sour) pundits were predicting.

Looks like my tax weekend is officially spoken for...

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 15, 2005 7:18 AM.
Posted to Apple. Permalink for this entry.

March 13, 2005

Top O' The Morning To Ya

Richard, and I got up this morning (along with about 15,000 of our closest friends) to do the St. Patrick's Day Dash - a 5k run from Seattle Center to Safeco Field, down along the northbound lanes of the Battery Street Tunnel and the Alaskan Way Viaduct.

It was glorious.

The run itself felt great - 3.5 miles, no worries - but the killer part was the spectacular view off the viaduct and the sheer diversity of people doing the run. There were all manner of people - young, old, men, women, runners and non. People were laughing, smiling, wearing all kinds of green and cheering for one another. We finished in about 30 minutes (not a stellar speed, but fine with me), feeling energized and pumped up.

My next formal run: Capital City Half Marathon in May!

(And big, big, big thanks to Mary, who handled our support and logistics!)

UPDATE, March 3, 2007: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 13, 2005 10:47 AM.
Posted to Fitness. Permalink for this entry.

March 11, 2005

That's All She Wrote

The "integration" assignment is done, and I'm off to deliver it to Dr. Reynolds' mailbox. Of the 2,000 words we were allotted, my bit clocked in at 1,994.

The quarter is over!

Of the six quarters in my MBA, there's just one left. (Showtime starts on March 28, but that's a good two weeks from now.) In the meantime, there's some beer to be consumed with good friends. Tonight.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 11, 2005 4:37 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

Gone In 60 Seconds

The Ethics final is done! Karpoff gave us two hours; I was in and out in 45 minutes.

Classes are over. Finals are over. It's a sunny, beautiful day in Seattle - and yet one paper remains (dammit!)

Off to work on it...

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 11, 2005 1:43 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

Space Mountain: Relaunching July 15, 2005

Disneyland's Space Mountain has been in rehab (or, more properly, rebuild - the shell has been gutted and an entirely new track, loading area, and so on are being put in place) for the last year or so. Since Disneyland turns 50 this year, Mary and I have been planning to head on down around the winter holidays to visit the park, ride California Screamin', and so on.

Problem is, Space Mountain was originally slated to re-open in mid-November. Being a coaster guy, this was a real bummer- it seemed like there was good chance that it would open late, or in early 2006, which means we'd be out of luck.

Well, it looks like Disney management has managed to get some budget for overtime. Space Mountain is now slated for a July 15, 2005 opening - two days before the park's 50th birthday!

UPDATE, June 3, 2005: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

UPDATE, September 10, 2005: One or more of the original hyperlinks on this page expired, and has been dereferenced. The hyperlinked text is now underlined.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 11, 2005 7:44 AM.
Posted to Disney. Permalink for this entry.

March 9, 2005

Two Down, One To Go

Finance is done! And I just finished my QMETH final. Which means I'm "all Ethics, all the time" between now and Friday. If I can finish this crazy "Integration" assignment by the time of the final on Friday, I can turn both in at once and be done with it.

Word processor, ho!

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 9, 2005 10:18 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

Status Report

It's Wednesday morning ... how's it all coming together?

Pretty well, actually:

That due-Monday QMETH? Turned in.

The due-Tuesday Brand Audit paper/presentation? Turned in, and the presentation went off well. Check.

The crazy, due-today Ethics paper? Turned in yesterday (thanks, Cintra!). Check check.

My due-tomorrow Finance homework? Finishing it now (actually, finishing once I finish blogging, but that's a fine technical point).

The Friday Ethics final is what it is. I've got time set aside on Thursday and Friday to bake that puppy. In the meantime, I've been working on the QMETH take-home final (some down, more to go). I'll crack the Ethics "Integration" assignment later tonight.

Back to it.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 9, 2005 9:10 AM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

March 6, 2005

Sprinting Over The Finish Line

Sorry for the dry spell in posting. It's been nutty around here.

The Quarter That Would Not End is finally coming to a close. And, in keeping with the character I've come to associate with Winter '05, I have something due each and every day. Consider:

Monday: My last QMETH problem set is due. The take-home final will be distributed in class.

Tuesday: Our Brand Management team delivers both a 20-page paper and 20-minute presentation about our Brand Audit of Patagonia - what we did, what we found, what we recommend and why. (This is consuming most of my today and tomorrow).

Wednesday: Team paper due for Ethics.

Thursday: Final deliverable for Entrepreneurial Finance - like most of the work for this class, it's an analysis of one of the cases, expressed in a memo format.

Friday: Final exam in Ethics.

The last two "dangling" commitments are an Integration assignment for Ethics and the QMETH take-home final. Both are formally due on Monday, the 14, but I'm going to do my best to get them front-loaded into this week and off my radar.

Nothing would make me happier than to be free, clear, and finished on Saturday.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 6, 2005 9:06 AM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.

March 1, 2005

Transfer Of Power

techConnect met to elect its new officers for the 2005/6 school year last week.

Elections for MBAA were held in mid-February. Last night was my last-ever MBAA meeting.

Today, Marketing Club met to elect its new officers. This leaves Student Support Network as my last 'official' MBA club gig, and we'll be transferring those roles early next quarter.

I say, again - it's all ending.

Spring quarter is shaping up to be completely, totally, and utterly surreal. In the span of a few short weeks, we second-years are being transformed from the program's movers and shakers - the folks that get things done - to being spectators. Onlookers. Tourists.

So we'll be around for a final 12 weeks, but our roles are vastly reduced, our attention increasingly focused on the job search (admittedly, not in my case) or on reconnecting with our families and friends outside the program.

Compounding this sense of impending disconnection is my spring quarter academic schedule. This quarter, I had five classes and 18 credits, and was on campus a minimum of four days a week. Next quarter, I have just three classes (12 credits), and will be on campus just two days a week (Monday and Wednesday). My normal, every-other-Friday gig putting on TGs has been handed off to the lovely, talented and capable Rebecca Lovell.

Why do I feel less like I'm graduating, and more like I'm retiring?

Ah, well. This quarter still has a lot of life and spark in it. I've got something due every single day next week, from presentations to problem sets. Can't drop out of hyperdrive just yet.

Posted by Gavin Shearer. Last updated March 1, 2005 9:35 PM.
Posted to UW MBA. Permalink for this entry.