Blog transition! D-Day beaches at Normandy / Allied Invasion

As part of my transition process, it's time for me to welcome the D'08 blogs. I hope you will find ongoing information there!

• http://phathu-t.blogspot.com/
• http://www.worldlywhys.blogspot.com/

D'08 - if anyone of you reads my blog - I'd be happy to link your blog (you do not need to reciprocate) if it is active. I will add the blog list to my lists in a couple of days. It is also time to phase out inactive or previous blogs.

In other news, As part of my travel I recently visited all the D-Day beaches in Normandy (Utah, Omaha, Juno, Sword, Gold). If you have an appreciation for WW II and an interest in history, this tour is a must. A few photos.. the commentary for each photo is below it.


A view of the Omaha Dog Green sector which is the same sector depicted in Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan opening scene. What surprised me was how touristy the beach had become.



Barbed wires on a German bunker/ German bunker and staircase in Point-Du-Hoc which is an astonishingly preserved battle zone with German bunkers, bomb craters, and long range artillery.



Tetrahedrons on the Utah beach, meant to damage water craft incoming on the beaches. Now at display near the solemn Utah beach memorial.

Prospective INSEAD applicants/profile evaluation - how to

This post is a brief guideline on how to ask me for a profile evaluation - you will save your time and mine, and hopefully actually get something useful instead of a generic "you have a chance" response. In particular, please avoid "hey dude, I got 690 in GMAT will I get INSEAD?".

Content desired

1. Tell a little about yourself. I'd like to read a personal email, and am more likely to respond. Remember I'm not an admissions consultant!
2. Put your latest GMAT score, years of full time experience, nationality.
3. Mention international experiences if you have.
4. Mention your most significant" extra-curricular or community achievement. being a member of a foosball club when you were 12 years old doesn't count.
5. Mention perhaps the best leadership example at work if possible.
6. Your motivation for INSEAD specifically

Presentation

1. The best way to ask a question is to make it answerable in a sentence.
2. Avoid asking me very specific % breakdowns (e.g. # of British who were bankers who are going to PE in UK or US) - I wouldn't know!
3. Don't ask me to make choices for you! I cannot tell you "where to apply" - do your research.

Research

I've written quite a bit on preparations and research. Many of your questions are probably answered in my blog - here are a fewposts that I think are useful to potential applicants.

1. This post specifically gives many pointers as part of the application. useful
2. You can read this to understand GMAT relevance, especially for post INSEAD consulting choices
3. My stand on choosing business schools is here, and it hasn't changed.

The post on US B-schools contrasted with INSEAD is coming soon - be patient :) I already see queries hitting my analytics - "INSEAD vs. Chicago GSB", "INSEAD vs. MIT Sloan" - the post is not really a "vs." so don't expect a shooting war!

And here are couple of pics from a recent trip..

Some more INSEAD Fontainebleau photos

Just for your curiosity. A few more are here. And for those of you who are more interested in the Singapore campus - some photos here.

This is not the end of the INSEAD Fontainebleau photographs series - more to come later. It's a bigger campus and these photos capture only one side of it. And that too not very well...anyway..! What I can tell you is its beautiful when the weather's good.

Interesting session/Some Fonty pics/Weather obsession

Today a class mate of ours held a very interesting multi-hour session on marketing and branding of one of the most recognized brands in the world (he works there...). It put a practical face to some of the things we've been learning.

The post presentation session was a fun outdoor "drink mixing session" - that turned out to be both informative (!) and fun. The weather was gorgeous, and I lay down on the grass and shot some random pics around me.






P5 has not been that stressful - I'm more relaxed now. There is work to do but it can be managed - I will be going here and there for some "sponsored free trips" ;) and I've chosen a couple of hard skill classes that I think will be valuable to me going forward. I have a few posts that I need to write on this whole recruitment business. I guess I am one of those who managed a change of function-sector-geography, and many are interested in such switches. It takes effort.

So there - beautiful weather outside. When I lived in India, I never really thought about weather - especially sunny weather. I always wonder what the big deal was with this whole "let's check weather" obsession in US - and Europe takes it to a whole new level. It wasn't that bad in the US either - California is much like Bangalore in terms of weather, and East Coast may be cold, but there was sunlight. After spending time here, I really realized why sunlight is such a prized possession! You have a sunny weekend and the whole population cannot stop talking about it (and that includes me). Back home we had about 9 months of bright sun and 3 months of rain and sun...

I wish we could export sunlight.

The Louvre | Musée du Louvre - A review and top 10 exhibits and artifacts

I've always wanted to visit the Louvre museum (or Musée du Louvre) in Paris - the largest single museum in the world. As a history buff, this visit was on a mandatory list. This is a review of the Louvre museum visit and its exhibits.

So, the verdict? Must for a history buff! The collection is vast and amazing.

This review is split to three parts

1. Top 10 Tips while visiting Louvre (Louvre visit top 10)
   
2. Exhibits to visit - my favorite top 10
   
3. Some photos
   

Top 10 tips while visiting Louvre

(what use is a review without one of those confounding top 10 lists?!)

1. Take the metro to get there -- real easy and comfortable. The metro M 1 line takes you to "Palais Royal - Musee du Louvre" and the underground passage will take you straight into the Louvre.
2. Preferably give yourself 6-7 hours if you are quick paced and alone. More if you're with friends who slow you down ;) I went alone, and in hindsight this was wise - I could go where I most wanted and spent time in areas of my interest. My legs hurt by the end of the day but it was worth it. One could potentially spend 2 days but it's unlikely everything will interest you in the museum. You prioritize :)
   
3. Visiting on Wednesdays has an advantage - Museum's open till 10 PM (6 PM otherwise)
   
4. Get the combined tickets (Museum + exhibitions), it's worth the money. You can see that the museum is using a nice "bundling strategy" combined with customer segmentation to extract customer surplus! I visited the "Babylon" section with the exhibition ticket, it was great.
5. Do some prior reading of some of the more popular artifacts (my links below will help), you will appreciate and enjoy what you're seeing.
6. Get one of the Audio-Visual guides - seriously. What frustrated me was that a lot of artifacts have only French descriptions! For a world famous museum one would think they'd make an effort to make it a little more friendly with English by the side. Only some places have English. The audio-guides do not have explanations for all artifacts, but only some famous ones. There were times I was really upset for not being able to read descriptions of artifacts that seemed interesting. However, the audio guides are still worth it and have many valuable commentaries.
   
7. Take a little backpack and some packed food. There are areas where you can sit and eat - the food stalls in the museum are pretty expensive.
8. Don't forget to pick up the Louvre map - a very useful guide to the layout and major attractions - available at the information booth near the ticketing area.
9. Don't ignore the great paintings on the way to Mona Lisa - yes, we all know Mona is a superstar - but there are some great galleries on the way to the Mona Lisa (La Jolla) room. Take your time, enjoy them, before you get your chance to fight the hustle and crowd near Mona Lisa.
10. Read rest of this review. I had to make this one up because I ran out of tips.
    

My favorite top 10 Louvre exhibit visits

1. Winged victory of Samothrace - almost 2,200 years old, to me this was the most beautiful sculpture. It's powerful, beautiful and mysterious. It's also pretty big - you realize when you stand in front of it.
2. Code of Hammurabi - the first codified laws! The Babylonian section was fantastic - photography was not allowed. Here is a Google maps link to the Babylon excavations.
   
3. Madonna on the Rocks - this is the version made famous in Da Vinci Code. The painting itself is beautiful and all the mystery and stories that surround it make it all the more alluring.
4. Akhenaten's statue - you should read the history of this "renegade" pharaoh whose name was systematically destroyed by later Pharaohs. This statue piece is over 3,300 years old. The Sphinx at Louvre is another great piece - again over 4,000 years old.
   
5. Mona Lisa - all the hype...just makes you want to like it! :) The portrait is set in a large room which gets pretty crowded. This is one exhibit that really gets the star treatment.
6. Napoleon's apartments - whew. They're really grand!
7. The seated scribe - nearly 4,500 years old and in great condition.
8. Alexander's bust and Michelangelo's dying slave
   
9. Paul Ruben's gallery - for some fantastic large canvases
10. Venus de Milo
    

These are just my preferential items - there are many, many more great exhibits - ancient sculptures, papyrus, paintings.

And now, photo time! Louvre Photos

Description is below the photo.


Louvre under clouds. It's a palace converted to a Museum.


Napoleon's apartments. Gorgeous.


Napoleon's apartments Grand Salon.

The winged victory of samothrace - I converted the pic to B&W because it somehow gives a better feel.

Venus De Milo

Akhenaten




Madonna on the rocks

Mona Lisa.


Conclusion

I hope you enjoyed this mini-review. When you get a chance, take the time to visit Louvre and see first hand some of the most famous exhibits in the world.

And here's a random post on some popular queries on my blog.

INSEAD Singapore Photos / Photographs!

This one was a long awaited post. A few more photos of INSEAD Singapore campus. The description is below the photo.



INSEAD while entering.


A side view into the library when seen from outside. The INSEAD Singapore Library is a compact, nice library.


The behemoth building behind INSEAD (and dwarfs it completely, making INSEAD look like a matchbox!). This is called Fusionpolis - which is expected to be ready I guess in a few months or an year. It's huge, and supposed to have many food courts, malls, cineplex, office space - everything rolled into one futuristic building. The Singapore MRT (metro rail) is opening a new station right next to INSEAD - and this means I expect the Singapore campus to become really convenient and super connected in another 2 years. It's going to get hard to find a seat for this campus.



Lockers - very convenient to hang your suits and leave your coursework.


The main entry corridor that looks out to reception and library at the other end.

Main corridor when seen from the reception.

A view from the cafeteria.


An open "break out room" for study, meetings, group work, napping.


A view of the open eating space outside the cafe.

A closed break-out room. These rooms are in great demand, and hard to find. You feel very accomplished if you find a free one and then you hog it for half a day..

INSEAD Fontainebleau ("Fonty") photos will come in spring. Right now weather is rather sucky here in France and I'm in no mood for photography.

PS - a couple more photos and some campus FAQ is available in this post. And you might want to read this INSEAD Singapore FAQ post that tells you a lot more about the Singapore campus, facts, myths.

coming soon...INSEAD singapore photos

Long awaited post - a few more photographs of INSEAD Singapore coming soon to a .. I mean to my blog near you, once I'm sort of done with this madness.

update: The photos are here -- take a look!

Digital SLR Photography Basics / Photos

I've owned a Canon Digital Rebel Xti For nearly an year. It's a pretty good digital SLR and I purchased a 28-135mm lens separately from the lens kit. However, all these days, I've only used the auto mode - as if I were using a regular digital camera (I also own a SONY DSC 3.2MP which is several years old and works great).

The point of using a SLR is to be able to take advantage of the lens and photography techniques..I never had the time and never bothered. Recently, the photo bug bit me and today, for the first time, I sat and tried a few techniques. Part of the thanks goes to a friend at INSEAD who took a small class teaching us the basics.

A few lessons -

1. Use the RAW mode to save images - it preserves all image characteristics and you can use your PC to save it as JPG if you want, or spice it up using a photo imaging software.
2. Learn to use the AV and TV modes (in Canon. In Nikon I heard they're called A and T) - effectively controlling aperture or shutter speed. Aperture (F on the LCD) is your friend.
3. Use something like Adobe photoshop to make your photos look like what you want. In the examples below, I wanted to get a grainy dark look, and I accomplished that using Adobe photoshop CS3.
4. More blur => lower F and vice versa. More aperture value => more light without flash but greater chances of shake.

Click the images to see in larger size.



I will be traveling soon and next time, I hope to get some cool photos. Don't forget to go with at least 2-4 GB cards or you'll run out of memory.