Facebook acquires the video app MSQRD: So, MSQRD stands for Masquerade; it’s an app that add filters to your videos. Facebook already dominates the world of messaging with Whats App, Messenger, and Instagram. And now with MSQRD they are ready to compete with Snapchat. Read more…
Mar 21 – The Next Apple Event is here: “Let us loop you in” – That’s what Apple’s upcoming event’s invitation is titled. Perhaps the company means a 4-inch iPhone SE, a 9.7″ iPad and few new Apple watch models are in line. Read more…
Intel planning to sell a part of its venture capital unit.Read more…
Square beats revenue expectations; stocks rise: Square reported its Q4 earnings, its first as a public company. While the company reported an adjusted loss of 20 cents per share on revenue of $374m, its transaction revenue increased 47% year-over-year. Read more…
Peepl – A people rating app: So after movies, products, music, you can now rate and review other people with an app called “Peepl”. It’s indeed dangerous, and what’s terrifying is that the company plans to monetize on the negative reviews of a person by selling a “Truth License”. Read more…
So, the big news is we are just 1 mod away from the graduation! But all right, here’s whats been trending in the technology world.
Apple files a motion to dismiss court order to unlock iPhone for FBI: Apple is sure they don’t want to create a GovtOS that will allow the FBI to unlock the iPhone 5C in their possession. The company has been consistently maintaining that such a system would weaken its devices and the security of its customers.Read more…
Snapchat custom On-Demand geofilters: Hosting a party, and want your own geofilter? It’s now possible with a new on-demand geo-filters feature on Snapchat. It ain’t free though; that’s how Snapchat looks to earn more money.Read more…
“I’ll buy that, or wait I need to think again!”. While Sharp went public with the news that Foxconn would acquire it for $6.2B, Foxconn expressed last minute concerns about Sharp’s future and put the deal on hold (some Finance class relation here? Future cash flows estimations?). Read here…
Now, the tablet is dead. This year there weren’t any tablets at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Could it mean the next thing to die are the tablets? Or well, there’ll only be one survivor: Apple. Read more…
14 out of 18300 applicants would get to join NASA’s latest astronaut class. I’ve done the math for you; that’s a .076% chance. While the chances seem low, the qualifications to become an astronaut aren’t as preventative. Read more… (May be you can apply next time).
Dr. Dre to star in Apple’s first original TV series: Content was never a problem for Apple (and perhaps not their cup of tea) but looks like with the launch of Apple TV and high bargaining power of the media houses, its time to come up with original content. Read more…
Mattel unveils $300 3D printer for kids. So, if kids could print their own toys, there wouldn’t be any “led paint” or “Made in China” issues with the company. (Humor intended!). Seriously, this new printer, called “Thing Maker 3D” that works in collaboration with an app designed by Auto Desk is worth a look. Read here…
Twitter changes their timeline algorithm: Twitter has been having a hard time. Its stock is at an all time low, and investors are questioning the company’s growth model. However, Twitter has been trying to regain user engagement, and launching several new features. The latest one is a change in the timeline algorithm. Read more…
Facebook’s offering Free Basics gets banned in India. Facebook had been trying to bring a no frills internet to India with the idea of connecting some of the remotest areas in the country with the world. The company published full page advertisements in all major newspapers and asked millions of people to sign an online petition. But from a net neutrality point of view, Facebook was just trying to gain access of the Indian market. Read more…
YouTube buys BandPage. Ever since we’ve been reading about company valuations in the Finance class, I keep an eye on all merger and acquisition news. Band Page, is a startup that “helps artists show off and sell concert tickets, merchandise, and exclusive fan experiences”. It was acquired by YouTube for just $8m! Read more…
“Do you buy more ketchup when the economy is stronger?” – True, if you are Heinz, who’s selling a staple product, the demand doesn’t really vary with the economic conditions. That’s one of the lessons from last week’s Finance class, but back to tech news. It’s hard to be a tech company when the market is isn’t doing good.
LinkedIn stock tumbles 30% after reporting fourth quarter earnings. Job search, networking, influencer articles, and news is all fine, but what’s next? LinkedIn doesn’t seem to be able to convince investors about its future plans. Read more…
Yahoo slashing its 15% workforce. Yahoo certainly wants to cut down on costs, and is exploring all alternative to do so. What will be its next move? A sale of its core business? Read more…
Cisco announces its buying Jasper Technologies. Understandably, Cisco is a nice example for several business school classes. They just acquire so many companies. The recent one being an Internet of Things company, Jasper Technologies for $1.4B. Read more…
Fitbit Alta, a new $130 customizable band. If you feel it’s still not the time to buy an Apple or Android watch, Fitbit has launched a new fitness band – ‘Alta’. Read More…
Another acquisition: Microsoft acquires SwiftKey. Swift Key, which first sounded to me as a “password management” software, is actually a company that makes custom keyboards for Android and iPhone! And, it just got bought for $250m in cash by Microsoft. Read more…
I currently have 5 news apps on my phone (I had 7 until a few months ago), and I have also been following several news networks on Twitter; all in the effort of “keeping up with the times”! But the problem with both apps and tweets is: first, they update too frequently, and secondly, I hate searching through hundreds of articles. I just wish someone could select specific news pieces for me that tell me everything happening around the world that’s worth knowing. Something like Yahoo News Digest does, but just less frequently. Yahoo picks up 7-10 highlights twice a day, and distributes a “morning digest” and an “evening digest”.
Thus, on this day, Jan 26, 2016, I am pleased to introduce to you: MSM Weekly! MSM Weekly will be your weekly news digest categorized by industry such as Tech, World, U.S, Politics, Economy and Markets. Although I’ve struggled with the plethora of news apps, I have somehow managed to stay at top with tech news (for those of you who don’t know me, I have a high affinity for the technology industry). To give you a glimpse of our new weekly feature, here is this week’s Tech News…
#1: Google reportedly paid Apple $1B for iOS Default Search: Search traffic and hence understanding of user preferences are critical to Google’s business. In fact, according to a recent revelation it paid Apple $1B to be the default search in iOS. Read More…
#2: GoPro lays off 7% workforce after disappointing holiday sales; Stock drops 23%. While GoPro had previously experienced an explosion of new staffing, growing at a 50 percent rate over the last two years, the company needs to look at more revenue streams. Read more…
#3: “You can’t ban encryption. It’s math” – Jimmy Wales, Co-Founder, Wikipedia.Watch the video here …
#4: New! Facebook Sports Stadium. A new Facebook feature that focuses on expert commentaries, lives scores and game info. So we’ll now catch the next football season together on Facebook.Read more …
#5: How about an Apple VR headset? Apple recently hired a top augmented/VR researcher, and had also filed a patent for Google like headset about 11 months ago. Is something in works? Read here…
It’s hard to keep it to just 5 news stories, but I’ll stick to that limit as the idea with the MSM weekly is to give you a quick update. All links take you to Tech Crunch this week as they are a quick read, but we’ll have more diversity as we go forward.
Please let me know your thoughts about the idea. And, we’d love to have contributions from you for your favorite industry or news domain.
“I’m from the Philippines. I just moved here 5 months ago.”… “Yea? How do you like it here?”
That is usually how my conversations with new acquaintances go these days. And every single time, I always end up with a go-to answer – “I like it” or “It’s okay” – which doesn’t really give justice to my American experience.
Thinking about the question more deeply, three things immediately come to mind.
THE FOOD: Seriously, I have eaten more cookies in 5 months than in my 20 years of existence prior to coming here! I don’t know what it is with the American comfort food, but they definitely add salt to my rather tasteless days, especially when I get homesick.
TRADITIONS: Football + tailgate, Halloween, thanksgiving, 4th of July, VS Fashion Show (haha)…there’s always something to look forward to every month! (And I thought Americans do not celebrate as often as we do in the Philippines…I was totally wrong!)
PEOPLE: I cannot stress this enough. People have been so warm and so kind to me – my classmates, my professors, and even the strangers I get to talk to in the bus! Notre Dame (and the South Bend) fosters a sense of community among people from different walks of life. This aspect is probably the most I am grateful for in my 5mos of stay in the US.
So to simplify, this equation gives a bit more accurate answer to the simple loaded question.
Food + Traditions + People = Great American Experience
I just thought this would be an appropriate blog post for the season. To all the MSMs, the faculty and staff, and all the people who have been so kind to welcome me here in the US…thank you from the bottom of my literally tiny heart. Happy thanksgiving!
So, it’s 2am and you’re wondering why you’re wide awake. That, my friend, is called jet lag, and if you’ve never experienced jet lag before, let me be the first to tell you that traveling to China is just the worst. China is literally half way around the world meaning that they are 12 hours ahead of us. And while the clock says it’s 2am, your body is telling you it’s 2pm and wondering why you’re trying to sleep right now. This was how my first day in Beijing started off. By the time 6am breakfast rolled around, Karolina (my roomie) and I had our whole morning planned. We were going to visit the Temple of Heaven and get back to the hotel in time to meet the group for lunch.
Let me pause for a moment here and point out that if you think the idea of jet lag is bad, it’s nothing compared to trying to get somewhere in a city where you don’t know the language and can’t even begin to try to decipher the symbols on the signs. It took us 30 minutes and charades with 3 different people to find the subway station which was literally a block and a half from our hotel. We got on the subway, took it 3 stops, got off and were in the same situation as before getting on the subway…lost. Luckily for us, the Temple of Heaven is a big enough tourist attraction that there was a (emphasis on “a”) sign for it in English. It took us 45 minutes, but we finally found it.
I’ll be honest. I wasn’t so gung-ho about visiting the Temple of Heaven at first, but when we got there, I was so glad I went along with the idea. It was definitely worth all the struggle it took to get there. The Temple of Heaven is a temple (obviously) that was built by the Chinese emperor as a place to hold the ceremonies involved with worshiping heaven. The ceremonies took place in several different buildings each dedicated for a specific purpose in the worship. Now the buildings are preserved as a museum to showcase the history of China worshiping the heavens. The last ceremony was celebrated in 1914.
There is more to the Temple of Heaven than all of the old, museum-ified buildings. The buildings are surrounded by a very large park dedicated to preserving the peacefulness associated with the Temple of Heaven. Though the park is always full of people, it is still very quiet. Most of the park attendees are the elderly who come to the park to practice their exercises like Tai Chi and some Chinese form of Zumba. There are also a ton of people playing cards and dominoes and other games. The game that fascinated us the most was one very similar to hacky-sack, but with an arrow looking shuttlecock instead of a ball. We later found out that the game is called jianzi and originated from soldiers kicking around a broken arrow. The game was meant to increase the soldiers’ speed and agility. After watching a group of old people playing this game, Karolina and I came to the consensus that they were in way better shape than we are.
While the Temple of Heaven was our first experience with Chinese history, it was also our first experience among the people in China. Karolina and I were taking a
break in the shade at the Temple when we were approached by a group of guys who wanted to get a picture with Karolina. I totally missed the memo that Chinese people have a tendency to take pictures with laowai (foreigners), and as we are definitely NOT Chinese it’s pretty difficult to avoid the looks, the approaches, and the pictures. By the end of the trip, I’m sure our group was trending on Renren (China’s version of Facebook).
That morning, I had made the not-so-smart decision to wear flats on our journey to the Temple of Heaven. I took a 30 second break to put a band-aid on my ankle and an elderly gentleman came up to me and started talking to me in Mandarin and pointing at his shoes. At first I was very confused, but I finally realized that he was telling me I should have worn tennis shoes instead of flats. Had I known that our trip to the Temple of Heaven involved a nine and a half mile walk, I definitely would have worn tennis shoes instead. I smiled at the gentleman, gave him a thumbs up and said “tomorrow”. He seemed satisfied and walked away. Later that day, a US ex-pat described China to us as a country where all of the elderly assume the role of your nosy aunt or uncle and tell you what to do. My encounter with the elderly gentleman suddenly made so much more sense.
Karolina and I walked around the Temple of Heaven and the surrounding park for a couple hours until it was time for us to meet back up with the group at the hotel for lunch. Remember that jet lag thing I was talking about? In China, when the clock says noon, your body says “Bed time!” While we still had a full day ahead of us, mostly of trying to stay awake, the Temple of Heaven was a great beginning to our visit of China and we were excited to see what else the ancient city of Beijing had in store for us.
I thought I’d share some pictures and stories from our China trip (I’ll try to keep it short so don’t worry).
Beijing
We started in Beijing and lucked out with awesome smog-free weather (which apparently is really rare there). In Beijing there were a bunch of different opportunities to see the culture there, as it’s the old imperial capital city and has a lot of historical sites in the center.
We got a tour of the ancient residential part of the city called the “Hutong”
Then made our way to the Forbidden City, which was the enormous complex for the Emperor and his court (no peasants were allowed inside the walls). It’s basically a city within a city:
You can’t escape ND–we saw this lady who didn’t speak any English, but apparently bought the ND hat at the Detroit airport.
At the South entrance to the Forbidden City is Tiananmen Square (named after the Tiananmen Gate––with Mao on it)
We went to take a group picture, but ended up getting photobombed by a Chinese tourist who seemed pretty stoked to get a group picture with a bunch of “laowai” (foreigners).
We did a bike tour through the Hutongs and the sights of Beijing at night too:
But Beijing isn’t all old stuff. Here’s the office building for SOHO, one of the big corporations we visited during our time.
And security cameras are practically everywhere in the capital city
Here’s the Temple of Heaven in another part of the historical city center
Then we went to the Great Wall, which was just about an hour and a half outside of the city:
And I still don’t know what the bottom sign is trying to say…
And we stopped by the Olympic village on the way back from the hotel (my personal favorite photo from the trip)
/ / Shanghai
We took a 5 hour high speed train from Beijing to Shanghai and the differences were pretty noticeable as soon as we got in. Shanghai is like Manhattan meets Las Vegas–super vertically built and condensed, while Beijing is more like Washington DC meets Houston–super expansive and not very built up.
The first night went to the top of the Pearl Tower and got crazy cool views of Pudong’s skyscrapers (the tall one is actually the second tallest on Earth)
Here a Shanghainese chef makes some noodles by hand
After our game watch at 7:30 AM with the ND club of Shanghai, we went to explore the nearby water village, Zhujiajiao.
Then we had our final farewell lunch on top of a restaurant in the Bund (the riverfront formerly owned by the Western powers) with cool views of the skyline and the ships going up and down the Yangtze.
When I first mentioned about Notre Dame to a family friend in the U.S., the first thing he told me was that the university has a great football team! The only thing I knew about American Football was that it’s unlike football that some other nations play.
Honestly, I’ve never been a sports (minus cricket) enthusiast, but when at Notre Dame, you cannot not be a football fan! Just a week into the program, I heard everyone discussing the “Football Season”, and waiting for the tickets to go on sale. Feeling the hype around football, I thought I’d buy tickets for a couple of matches games (I learnt: it’s not a match, it’s a game).I was told there are over 200,000 people on campus for game days – our stadium holds 85,000! The atmosphere is crazy and it’s super fun.
That’s all good, but I couldn’t imagine myself sitting and watching a football game for 3 hours. I’d been to a baseball game before in the College World Series at Omaha… and, it was boring! Indians are die hard fans of cricket, and nothing is even close to its popularity in India. It’s just very hard to sell us any other sport. Have you seen cricket before? Here is a snapshot of a match in progress (it’s a match in cricket).
Cricket is often called a gentlemen’s sport. At least this picture makes you feel that’s true.
It’s hard to get us Indians hooked to another sport, but the MSM program already has some great marketers in the making. I ended up buying not just a couple, but the entire season’s. I’ve never bought, or seen any of my friends buy tickets for all of the home matches of the Indian Premier League (IPL). But, I guess it makes sense for me now to go home and buy tickets for all the Delhi Daredevil matches in the future. (I’m already missing cricket.)
Anyways, it seems every football game at Notre Dame is like a festival. Just before my first game, I knew what everyone meant about it being crazy. There is a well-organized pep rally before each game, which is very cool! Everyone is in the game mood a day before the game. Some have the ND gear on, and some are in suits coming straight from a business meeting…doing whatever they have to in order to make there.
There is no limit to who is an ND fan… or how furry!Author of this post. Here is me, Mudit,. on the day of the first home game of the season and my first American football game ever.
Although, we don’t have pep rallies in cricket, people may hit the streets for a protest rally when India looses a high stakes match, people may hit the streets for a protest rally. Just different ways of showing love for the game. My favorite part of the pep rally is the band performance. I’m a big fan of the ND band, and can’t praise it enough. I make sure to attend it before every game, and would highly recommend it to everyone else too. Even my friends back home, who have seen it through the video, absolutely love it.
Game day.
Tailgating. It’s fascinating how one word can refer to two completely different things. When I worked at Dell, employees were fined for tailgating (forgetting to check in their ID cards at the entrance). So, I always thought you could gain entry in the stadium even without a ticket, just by trying to tailgate the entire day. But tailgating before a game is actually free drinks, food, and just more drinks before the game. That’s how it is; a rain check is not checking the weather, and tailgating is not free tickets.
Well, back to the game, but it’s not really about the game; at least not for noobs like myself. It’s the enthusiasm in the stadium that makes every Notre Dame game amazing and worth attending. (To me, it feels like walking into a India-Pakistan cricket match). There are over eighty thousand people, and when the teams run into the stadium the atmosphere is electrifying. The celebrations on a ND touchdown, the band, the skillful cheerleaders add to the experience. You don’t need to know the game to enjoy it. That said, I do understand the basics; thanks to Ashleen and Billy who gave me a thorough tutorial. Also, thanks to everyone who recommended that I purchase season tickets. I certainly would have regretted not buying them.
Until next time, Go Irish!
-Mudit
“Play like a champion today”
P.S.: What did I mean by ‘Sachin – Sachin’? Sachin Tendulkar is an Indian cricketer, and for a further introduction, I’d quote ESPN Cricinfo:
“In a nutshell Perhaps the most complete batsman and the most worshipped cricketer in the world, Tendulkar holds just about every batting record worth owning in the game..”.
ESPN is serious in calling Sachin Tendulkar as the most worshipped cricketer. Cricket fans all over the world (not just Indians) consider him to be the ‘God of Cricket’. Whether Sachin is on the field or not, the crowds just love to chant ‘Sachin – Sachin’, *claps*, ‘Sachin-Sachin’.
Whether you are a recent MSM grad, prospective MSM candidate, or an MSM enthusiast, I’d love to welcome you to our blog!
This blog is the product of the 2016 MSM cohort with the intent to document our experiences, lessons, and good times this year.
What’s an MSM?
I’m glad you asked! For those of you who are a tad unfamiliar with the MSM program, it is a one year business master’s degree offered through the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business. The program was started in 2013 with it’s first graduating class in 2014. MSM stands for Master of Science in Management; the curriculum is similar to that of the first year of an MBA. The program is designed for the recent graduates with very little work experience who have an undergraduate degree in a non-business field. This masters degree highlights the value of liberal arts and sciences applied to the analytics of business.
Right, so who are you exactly?
Our cohort is made up of 50 of the brightest individuals from across the nation and around the world. Our undergraduate majors include electrical engineering, psychology, studio art and all that’s in between. We are your world travelers, innate leaders, and creative thinkers with the ability to use both sides of our brain to solve problems. Most importantly, we are your future leaders of your major corporations, non-profits, or our own self-started businesses.
Cool! So what am I reading/seeing on this blog?
Right now, you’re reading our very first blog post. The leaders of the MSMA decided to create this blog to capture the journey of our 2016 cohort. Our goal is to establish a unified location for our cohort and future MSMs to document their journeys, share their lessons learned, and highlight our accomplishments.
Who and what is the MSMA?
The MSMA is the Master of Science in Management Association; it’s the official form of student leadership for the program. For 2016 our leaders are Mudit, Briana, and myself, Michelle. We work with our advisor, Lisa Heming, and the office of student services to organize events, service projects, order apparel, and form relationships with other departments at ND.
…a little bit about us
Mudit Bhargava, Vice President
Mudit is from New Delhi, India. He’s a wildly talented iOS developer and completed his undergraduate degree in 2013 in Computer Science and Engineering in Delhi. Mudit’s made three iPhone apps with his brother—one of which was top rated in the App store (it’s called Lookup: an elegant dictionary). Mudit is always willing to share his culture with us and learn new things about our culture from trying new foods to cheering on the Fighting Irish on Saturdays!
Briana Tully, Senior Vice President of Academic and Student Affairs
Briana, originally from Tuscan, AZ, is a recent 2015 graduate in Environmental Geoscience from Boston College. Briana’s multitude of leadership experiences and event planning for all of BC’s events is the reason we are going to have such a fun year! Her easy going and kind nature paired with her excitement for life makes her a perfect asset to any institution—we’re happy we snagged her here! Although it’s hard to be in the middle of Holy Wars, Briana’s loving her home under the dome and will have to don maroon, gold, AND blue for this year’s Shamrock Series (ND vs. BC)!
Michelle Drappi, President
I’m originally from Monmouth County, NJ and am currently fulfilling my dream of being a double domer by pursuing this masters. I recently graduate from ND in 2015 with a degree in Studio Art. However, I switched my major from chemistry in the middle of my junior year just as I changed my ultimate career path. I transferred to Notre Dame my sophomore year from Franklin & Marshall College in Lancaster, PA. I absolutely love Notre Dame and am looking forward to this year under the golden dome as a graduate student!
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Thank you for visiting our blog! Come back to see more posts and photos throughout the year. We want you to be able to meet all 50 of us and really understand what it means to be an MSM at ND. If you have any questions or would like to contact the class just shoot us an email at msma@nd.edu. Thanks again!
and an elderly gentleman came up to me and started talking to me in Mandarin and pointing at his shoes. At first I was very confused, but I finally realized that he was telling me I should have worn tennis shoes instead of flats. Had I known that our trip to the Temple of Heaven involved a nine and a half mile walk, I definitely would have worn tennis shoes instead. I smiled at the gentleman, gave him a thumbs up and said “tomorrow”. He seemed satisfied and walked away. Later that day, a US ex-pat described China to us as a country where all of the elderly assume the role of your nosy aunt or uncle and tell you what to do. My encounter with the elderly gentleman suddenly made so much more sense.
