virtual music studio

Wired has an interesting commentary ("Finally, the On-Demand, Online Garage Band Gets Real") on new apps that let people jam via the Internet.

It's very cool to see practical, innovative tech apps find their way into various industries and aspects of life, and especially cool to see them become accessible to the average person instead of just big corporations.

Money makes the world go round?

What would you do if you had earned $1.7 billion last year? Ask James Simons (former math prof that uses math-models to bet on stocks/bonds/etc. and make a killing at it). Top Hedge Fund Managers Earn Over $240 Million (NYTimes)

If I had $1.7 billion, I'd definitely focus on efforts like these: Billionaires Start $60 Million Schools Effort (NYTimes). The timing of this article is quite coincidental; i just had long discussions this past weekend with two fellow Sloan adMITs about the (terrible) state of education in the U.S. Encouraging to see that some of those who have the power to enact change are attempting to do so, and kind of gratifying to see that some of the ideas they're employing are similar to ones I had theorized.

New Planet Could Be Earthlike, Scientists Say (NYTimes) - this brought on memories of poorly done sci-fi movies about humans fleeing Earth or out to discover life elsewhere. Quite a crazy notion though--that we may soon be closer to having proof that life is sustainable on a planet other than our own. Crazy indeed. How many billions or trillions of dollars will it take us to figure this one out...?

Five for Friday

After slacking off on posting interesting things I've seen, here's a bit of a recap from this week:

1. To Study Wine, Buy and Drink (NYTimes) - the simple yet probably best approach.
2. A Word of Advice During a Housing Slump: Rent (NYTimes) - contrary to what most people say.
3. First Look: Second Avenue Subway Stations (NYMag) - would be cool if it happened. but i wouldn't place any bets...
4. Behind the Hedge (NYMag) - the questions you didn't even know to ask about Hedge Funds and the answers to them
5. Ode to Ping Pong: Ping-Pong: A Brief History (NYMag)

How I'll spend my (!) Summer Vacation

With the last day of work 3 weeks away, and matriculation over 3 months away, thoughts of how to make the most of my time off have been floating in my head. not that i'm complaining, but it's not as easy as i thought it'd be to figure out how to make the most of my first real summer vacation since i graduated from college.

the direction i'm leaning toward, and probably the most obvious choice, is to spend a couple of months traveling... to "see the world!" but with such a rare opportunity—to have the safety net of starting grad school in the fall and having virtually no obligations for the summer—i really should think broadly about the things i may never have the time for or a shot at again.

backpack through Europe? take an intensive language course? audition for a musical? hole myself up and finally finish a demo album? pursue a pop/movie star career in Asia? if there's ever a chance again, this would be the time to dream big, right?

(to be honest, as i write this, i have no end to this post in mind; take it as me blogging aloud...)

much to ponder...

more on this as i figure it out...