{balki Blog}
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As some of you know, I always am ready for an opportunity to do my share of community service; when I saw an event on MiPL seeking volunteers to help sort books at School House Supplies (SHS), I signed up in earnest!

I was pleasantly surprised at the big turnout for the event - there were almost 30 volunteers from various organizations!  I was also very impressed by the work SHS does for the Portland public schools.  The organization donated over 170K books to schools so far!

This morning we were helping sort the 5000+ books donated by Powell’s Books.  We had great fun working together and passing silly comments on the book titles and pictures.  Many books were old but I think we got a decent yield of around 40% (you see, not all books donated are consumable by K-12 students and their teachers, hence the need for sorting.  The remaining books are then donated or sold to other organizations).

We also had a fun competition where volunteers got to show off funny book titles they found in the stash and one volunteer got a prize for the best pick (today’s winner was a girl who found a book titled “Guide to Marriage and/or Sex” by Dave Barry)

Volunteers also get to take home a few books of their choice (from the “throw-away pile”) as a token of appreciation.  I picked up a couple books including and TrumpNation and Dealing With Darwin)

I had great fun at SHS and I highly recommend volunteering there if you are looking to contribute through community-service.

Over the years, I have tried various international call providers including BigZoo, Reliance, Vonage and SargamDirect.  The prices decreased dramatically (they went from 60 cents/min to India in 1999 to almost 5 cents/min with my latest favorite RebTel) and the call quality improved significantly.  However, each of these providers had their own share of problems (issues like taxes, billing difficulties, company just folding, dialing a gazillion digits, etc).  I finally resigned to using SargamDirect (on the road) and Vonage (at home) not because they are outstanding or cheap but just because I lost the patience to try a new provider every other week.

When my nephew Kiran suggested RebTel, I was very reluctant at first but was instantly intrigued after visiting their web-site.  I think RebTel is a truly innovative product and that it offers quality at a very reasonable price (5.6 cents/min to India).

Here’s some pros and cons:

Pros	Cons
Easy registration (via credit card, PayPal or Ukash)	Currently cannot auto-recharge when using PayPal
Automatic recharge when the balance falls below a certain threshold (I think it is $1.00)
Only 5.6 cents/min for calls to India	It could have been even cheaper
*Auto-generated local number for each of your contacts in a foreign country	Currently limited to 20 contacts
Can register up to 5 phone numbers for the service (to make calls from)	Maybe limiting for a family of 5+ phones
RebTel customers can make free calls between each other	Not the most convenient way to call!
Current promotion gives you 20$ credit for new users.	I only get 5 free minutes for referrals
Very tightly integrated into SMS, email and phone so you don’t need to manage your account exclusively online.	Takes some time and effort to get used to all these features.

If you want to check out the service, let me know and I will send a referral.  Happy calling!

I appreciate US Airways for all the amenities and entertainment they provide in their flights (see my recent blog posts for details).  But the credit card sharks in all the airport terminals really get to my nerves.  So, this is my tribute to all those who hate the US Airways Credit card pushers with a vengeance…

Credit Card Pusher (CCP): Sir, sir!  Do you have a US Airways boarding pass?
Man: Yes.
CCP: Great!  Can you please step over to the side so we can talk?
CCP: What state are you in, sir?
Man: In a state of confusion
CCP (in a state of confusion himself): Sorry, sir!  What state do you reside in?
Man: Oh! in a state of eternal despair.
CCP: I just need to know where in the 50 states you live…
Man: Ok.  What are the different states?
CCP: Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut….
Man: Ok.  I am from Oregon.
CCP: Great.  then you qualify for 5000 free miles if you sign-up for a credit card now.
Man: I thought it was 500,000 free miles?
CCP: No, sir.  I can go up to 15,00 miles maximum.
Man: Ok.  Give me a call if you can do 450,000 miles or better.
CCP: Whatever!
Man (to himself): YES!!! If only 10 more people annoyed these CCPs like our man everyday, nobody would want to take up such a lousy job.

(NOTE: this inappropriate comment series is based on true events but some of the statements were glorified for dramatic effects)

Have you browsed the SkyMall in-flight magazine lately?  Holy molly!!  The magazine is filled with enough electronic gadgets to bankrupt me overnight.  Each tool claims to automate or entertain you in ways you could not imagine in your wild dreams!automate some activity!

Here’s a short list of geeky gadgets that could activate an instant orgasm even in the most practical non-nerds among you:

Tool	My compelling reason to buy the tool
A virtual (projected) Bluetooth keyboard (HS1101J) : 169.99	I feel a very compelling need to upgrade my foldable wireless keyboard for the smart phone since it is cumbersome to use on my bathroom walls.
The Marshmallow Shooter (71405J): 24.95	I hate marshmallows and I need to shoot them out of my sight??!?
The World’s Largest Crossword Puzzle (66813J): 29.95	I always wanted to do crossword puzzles and this is a good time as any and I am known to aim high!
The Backpack Bicycle (74217): 249.95	I do not have a way to carry my regular bicycle in the car … the 3.5 times I use it per decade.
Home Theater Watch (TA457J): 119.95	It has been more than 2.68 years since I started reading news on my computer watch and it is time to upgrade to color.
Animated Hitch Critters (AUB101J): 24.95	Our SUV needs a hitch to get a more manly look and we need something girly to decorate that hitch.
Trailer Hitch Hammock Chairs (HKA102J): 199.99	We need these hammock chairs for our romantic drive-in theater experience (planned for August 24th, 2025, our 25th anniversary)
Scrolling LED License Plate Frame (12018J): 59.95	I can think of some creative and spontaneous phrases, if you know what I mean
SkyRest Travel Pillow (99010J): 29.95	People don’t make enough fun of me in public places.  I need a prop!!!!
Picture Frame HDTV Antenna (A515-1018J): 49.99	(I might actually buy this; so no comment)
CatGenie - Never touch cat litter box (PTN101): 299.99	When you get pregnant, we cannot afford to hire a cat-sitter everyday.
Upside down Tomato Garden (67403): 74.95	… because growing the tomatoes in a regular fashion (upside up) is just plain lame!

What reasons do you use to buy gadgets?

As some of you might know, I am planning to go to business school full-time starting next fall.  For the last 6-7 months, I have been completely consumed by the preparation (GMAT, school research, essays, recommendations, financing options etc.).

Recommendations play a very critical role in the business school application.  Many schools ask for two professional recommendations and they strongly advocate that both recommendations come from the the workplace rather than from school professors.  Many top schools explicitly want 1 recommendation from the current supervisor.  When I first decided that I would quit work and start business school, I never thought once that I could jeopardize my career prospects at my company!  Within weeks of deciding to pursue my MBA, I prepared recommendation packages (more about that in future posts) for my current boss and my former boss (she is still working for Corillian in a different department).  I did not hesitate a second before approaching them and requesting them for recommendations (remember I approached them more than a year before my school start date).  Both of them gladly obliged (although they later admitted that the process was far more intense than they ever imagined).  My current boss did not panic a bit but simply requested that I train or hire somebody to step into my leadership role before I quit.

Anyway, last week when I was talking to a friend, the topic of recommendations came up and we went into a heated debate on whether or not to give your boss pretty much a year’s notice.  I generally don’t have strong arguments for many things just because I tend to see people’s preferences from both sides.  But in this case, I strongly argued that it is in one’s best interest to tell the boss as early as possible.  I was heavily biased from my own experiences with my great bosses (yes, you can simulate the “sucking up” noises on my behalf) but I would have done the same thing with any boss.  First of all, it just makes sense to get the recommendation from people that can truly represent you in your professional life and a current or former boss is the perfect person to do that.  Secondly, I would have felt really guilty and embarrassed, if my boss came to know about my plans through someone else.  I work really closely with my boss with bi-monthly 1×1s and what not.  My boss assuming that I am hiding something from her would be the worst thing to happen to my career.

Another reason is that if my boss were to put my career progression on hold just because of this reason, I would say it would be his/her own loss (at the risk of sounding cocky)!  Any true leader would want to leverage the strengths of his/her best employees until the last day and getting a year’s notice will serve as a blessing in disguise and bring many things into perspective.  I will give you a perfect example.  When an opportunity came up at Corillian last year to work in our offshore office in Bangalore, India, I immediately told my manager I wanted to pursue it.  Eventually, I backed out of that plan because of immigration concerns.  However, just a few months later, I was offered a key leadership role in the same group.  I like to believe that my management team realized that I was outgrowing my role and hence the offer for a more challenging leadership position.

On the flip side, if someone were in a very narrow industry or technology, it might make more sense not to burn bridges.  But I think very few people in this world work in such narrow fields and it is not a major risk to keep your boss in business school admissions loop.

I have not repented any of my open decisions at work so far and I am not going to shy away from doing so in the future even if have 1 or 2 bad experiences.  Feel free to share your own personal experiences about truth at workplace in the comments section.

A few friends asked me about how I leveraged the myriad practice tests available out there.  I used a variety of sources in the beginning but in hindsight, I would have stayed with these 3 resources:

1. 6 computer-adaptive tests and 3 non-adaptive tests from Manhattan GMAT: This is one of the best bargains out there!  The most cost-effective way to get access to these tests is by buying one of the Manhattan Strategy guides online or in a bookstore.  The retail price is 26$ but you can find one for cheaper at amazon (make sure you ask the seller about the online code that you need to enter when you create a profile on Manhattan’s online student center!).  These tests (at least in July 2007) were the closest to the official test in terms of look and feel, adaptive-ness and the question range.  However, there is a general opinion in the forums that the quantitative questions start off really hard and then become really easy as you take more tests.  Either way, these tests were a huge help during my preparation.
2. 2 Official practice tests from GMAC/Pearson Vue: When you register on MBA.com and create a profile, you will get to download 2 full-length sample tests for free (you actually download and install the software on your local machine).  The sample tests look exactly like the real one and I recommend taking one test after finishing your preparation and the other one right before your official exam date.  In general though, I thought the questions were a little easier than the real deal.  Also, this software provides answers but not detailed explanations (like Manhattan GMAT tests)
3. 2 (Dated but) Official practice tests from ETS: Until the end of 2005, ETS used to deliver the official tests worldwide.  So, the sample tests they used to provide are not available officially anywhere.  Some kind soul cached that version and made it available here.  As you can tell, the interface is different and it took a computer restart for me to be able to install it.  You may even have to reduce your resolution to 800×600 to see the questions clearly!  I thought the questions were way too easy in both the tests.  I guess you could use them as “feel good” tests when you are down with your preparation

Like I said before, I would have not used any other resources if I had known about these three as I started my preparation.  Even if you feel like doing more than 10 full-length tests, you can always reset your profile on Manhattan and you will likely be presented with a new set of questions!  So, good luck with your tests and feel free to add a comment, if you have any other specific questions about practice tests.

I recently wrote the GMAT (Graduate Management Aptitude Test) and scored a respectable 720 (95-percentile among the 100K or annual test takers).  A few other friends also want to take the exam to get into some of the prestigious business schools in the country.  There is an abundance of online, offline, printed, free, non-free material available to help prepare for the exam. 

A common discussion topic is what are the top 3 resources/books that one should leverage to get a decent score on the exam? (especially important for us old blokes because we pride ourselves in multi-tasking and prioritizing!).  I prepared from 6-8 books and probably did not do a lot of advance research to pick the optimal resources.  Here’s my research and experience results posthumously!

In chronological order, culminating to the exam date:
1.

The book has great elaborate test strategies for all verbal and quantitative sections of the exam and that should smooth out any fears the unprepared might have.  The book has nearly 600 pages but you can breeze through most of the strategies and exercises relatively quickly.  I made high-level strategy notes in MS OneNote as I came across in the book so I didn’t have to keep referring back.  Send an email to bkodarapu at hotmail.com if you need those OneNote strategies.
Suggested % of time to allocate: 40

2.

The one-and-only, official, globally-respected book for GMAT preparation, period!  The Official Guide has several advantages:

• only resource with actual questions from past exams
• questions ordered in the increasing order of difficulty
• fairly good solution strategies

If you have time to review one book only, this should be it!
Suggested % of time to allocate: 40

3.

Not for the faint-hearted; use at your own risk!  I like the book because it focuses on the toughest possible questions at the risk of making you look dumb.  I probably answered only half the exercise questions right no matter how hard I prepared.  If you are consistently getting 75% or more questions right during practice, you’ll probably score 750+ (99 percentile).

So, use your judgment, decide for yourself if you need to use the book based on your results from the first two.
Suggested % of time to allocate: 20

Happy preparing… next time, “Online resources”.

Yes, I admit it.  I have been addicted to web browsing and have been in denial for years.  It is very subjective what I browse for.  For example, I just browse technical, professional and social networking related topics.  But that is not an excuse for being an Internet Addict.  So, I resolved to come out of the closet and look for cures and support groups on… yes, you guessed it right, on the Internet

I went straight to LifeHacker.com and found PageAddict, a free extension for Firefox.  PageAddict does one job and and boy does it to do that well! 

PageAddict essentially keeps track of your Internet activity and over time you can set time limitations (per day) for categories of pages a.k.a tags that you define.  If you cross that limit, you will be flicked on your head with a warning that you are no longer eligible for additional browsing in that category or sometimes no browsing at all!

If you cross the addiction-level threshold in any of the categories, you cannot browse in that particular category/site anymore.  To limit browsing at the highest level, you can always restrict yourself in the default “undefined” category as well.

So, all you internet addicts, please resolve this labor day weekend to come out of your denial and win over internet addiction using tools found on the internet!

Minor limitations (bugs?):

• Limited to browsers only and that too specifically for Firefox.  For example, PageAddict cannot control how many blogs you are reading in your favorite weblog reader.  This is blessing in disguise for me because I do most of my “pleasure browsing” on Firefox.  If I am using IE, I am more than likely working.
• Leaving a browser open keeps the clock ticking so if you forget to swap applications before you take a stroll, your addiction activity will be artificially inflated and can result in rapid withdrawal symptoms.

I just came back from a Bank of America ATM and believe me when I claim “depositing checks (and cash) was as easy as it could get!”

The process was pretty seamless (and flawless).  These were the four steps as specified in the flyer and I did not have problem following those instructions:

1. Insert card (as usual)
2. Choose “check”, “cash” or “both” and insert your cash or check (THE BEST PART: NO ENVELOPE REQUIRED!!!)
3. You get to see the image of the check on the screen (again the kicker is the check amount is automatically scanned… even for HANDWRITTEN CHECKS!!!)
4. And print your receipt (which includes the deposited check image)

I think I am falling in love with Bank of America (and smart ATMs) again :) 

“You can now receive coupons for Hollywood Video on your cell phone now“. If that piece of news does not give an orgasm then there is definitely something wrong with you!

When I received an unsolicited email from Handango a couple weeks ago about CellFire, I was more annoyed than excited. However, I added the link to my TODO list and over that weekend had a few minutes to explore new and noteworthy stuff. I started looking at the CellFire website and I really started digging the idea. Especially after I realized I could get online from my smartphone only using my laptop’s internet connection. I installed the special smart phone version of the software on my Cingular 2125 and have not looked back since.

Here’s a quick screencast on CellFire works:

Money saved per month because of CellFire Hollywood Video coupons: $15.16
The amazed look on the clerk’s face when validating my CellFire coupon: approx. $220.00
The embarrassment in my wife’s tone when she blurted out, “My husband is a freak!”: Priceless

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