Great Article : Genius Idea of the week

This article states that Chavez wants to cut off oil deliveries to the US because he is pissed that that some capitalists (Exxon Mobil) had his assets frozen in a dispute over his freezing the assets of capitalists. The funny part is, that if Chavez succeeds in cutting off enough oil to actually cause a disruption in supply (not likely thanks to commodities markets), oil prices will sky rocket. This price increase, will then likely significantly increase Exxon Mobil's profits. That 'll Show em.

Opinion : Smartphones

While I am complaining about companies, I need to take on Ma Bell for a minute, although I admit that this is really not there fault. I have a new-phone credit on my AT&T wireless (or what ever they call themselves this month) account, so I have been shopping for a new cell phone. I love getting new electronic gadgets, and I was hopeful and excited, but I have to report that after studying the options, I am a little disappointed.

The iphone is certainly cool, but I don't like apple and would never pay over $300 for a phone so that is out of the question (the only thing special about it is the software anyways). I was hoping that the iphone would push traditional makers to come out with lots of new features and some cheap knockoffs as we progress toward the ultimate convergence (all in one) device. I have a Sony MP3/camera/video (I also use it as a key, light, alarm clock,radio, and calculator) phone that I got over 2 years ago and while it still works, I was hoping that the past 2 years has brought some advances. Unfortunately, I was not particularly impressed with any of the new phones offered by AT&T. The new version of my current phone is a little lighter and has a pedometer feature (cool but unnecessary) but has not addressed the main problems (lack of memory, SD slots) and costs more. Other mp3 phones also have surprisingly little memory (less than the 1 gig i get in the $20 jogging player I got for xmas). GPS phones are a nice touch, but they want you to pay a fee for the service which is ridiculous. (GPS is a free service of the US gov!) .

The Treo (palm) and even the windows mobile devices are cool but other than the telephone thing they don't really have any features that weren't in my 4yr. old palm pilot. especially noteworthy is how little internal memory they have. Even worse, the Wifi in my old palm was faster and much cheaper (ie free) than the internet on the new phones. After looking at all the phones, I decided the Samsung blackjack 2 was the best value, but I just couldn't bring myself to buy it. Looking at Verizon and Sprint yielded little in the way of better results, although I am interested in the Iphone knockoff being sold by Sprint (the Touch by HTC) Still, It is too expensive to be worth changing carriers. guess I will be waiting to get a new phone.

Opinion : 2008 Presidential primaries

Now that my personal favorite candidate is out (Mitt Romney) as well as my least favorite(Edwards) it is time to reassess the Presidential race. McCain is sure to get the GOP bid, which is very surprising. The man is running on a war hawk platform in the face of an unpopular war, so I can't believe he is winning. On one hand, I like his straight-talk style ands his reform and deficit cutting policies, but I do not like that he is ignoring health care and the economy. I cant help thinking that he is very old and a little out of touch.
On the other side, is Hillary and Obama. Obama is definitely the most well spoken and articulate politician to run for president in many decades and is definitely the person to fix our international reputation. He also has the best health care plan (thats not to say that it is a great one though) and is mildly inspiring (although I am not sure what he is inspiring me to do). I really hope that he at least beats Hillary, who stands for everything that is wrong with American politics. She is a hypocrite (she represents the middle class? as a board member for walmart?), panders to uneducated, old people (young people , and people with a college education support Obama 3:1), and runs a polarizing and misleading campaign (apparently she was also for the war in Iraq before she was against it). The only good thing about her is that her nomination would likely hand the presidency to the republicans for 4 more years.

Opinion : Auto Show 2008

I just went to the Philadelphia Auto show and I have some thoughts.

1. The most impressive thing was the new convention center, which I had never been in before. I was particularly impressed with the area above the market and the grand ballroom. That place is going to be really amazing when they finish all the new construction.

2. I was disappointed at the lack of historic and concept cars. the few that were there clearly attracted the biggest crowds. The only company that actually had a full historic display was Subaru. Maybe I am the only one, but I would have been more interested in American muscle cars, race cars or historic cars (like Packards, formerly made on the site that the convention center now stands) than compact, economic Japanese cars.

3. If GM's green movement isn't a joke, then the marketing of it certainly is. GM's green "concept" vehicles were standard GM vehicles with new paint jobs that you could not actually inspect up close. The hybrids they had were nothing special (no targeted vehicles like prius, nothing special in terms of specs or price). Lexus, on the other hand, had the hood open on their next-gen hybrid systems, as did Mercedes on an alternative fuel (biodiesel) car. More importantly, they had dealerships in Jersey taking orders on these vehicles. Note to GM: to make any money on these ideas, you actually need to sell the cars.

4. Speaking of American cars and marketing, Ford is going to pay me $75 to take a test drive of a truck and give them market research feedback. As part of this promo, they bragged about how regular people like us could give them better feedback than the market research types in NY. Note to Ford: Philadelphia is not a quaint slice of idealist rural America (where I assume the only people who still drive Fords live) and maybe if you hired those NY consultants, you wouldn't be getting crushed by the competition in every market segment. I will be happy to take your money though...

5. The best display went goes to VW. Not sure what is so special about "German Engineering" but the thing that made the toys out of plastic fascinated me, and the future booth thing fascinated my girlfriend.

6. If I were buying a car, I would probably buy an Infinity. They look really cool, and they are a good value. The Lexus Hybrid SUV comes in a close second and I liked the new Honda Civics and Accords. My girlfriend thought the best car was the new Pontiac G6, and I must say, Pontiac is probably my favorite American car brand.

Medical Admissions Purgatory

I have had some reservations about writing on this topic, but I have decided that the risks that the ADCOM will read and be offended by the following are outweighed by the benefits that getting this off my chest will have on my mental health.

In august, I did reams of paperwork and paid out almost $2000 to complete all of my medical school applications. And then I played the waiting game. It wasn't until November that many schools even confirmed that they had received my application. Drexel in particular never actually confirmed that they had received my application but did offer me an interview out of the blue. It turns out that they had not completed my application. At the interview, they told me they were waiting for a graduate recommendation letter, but that they would not hold this against me because 1. they forgot to put on their website that they need this and 2. I attend graduate school at Drexel. As it happens, the Drexel med professor who was assigned to write the letter never bothered for whatever reason (after I disclosed lots of personal info to him and gave him postage and printed labels. he does not respond to my emails or have a valid office number). Anyway after I told the story to the Dean in charge of my graduate division, he wrote the letter himself which officially completed the application and made me eligible for committee review.
According to Drexel's website, this committee review will take 6-8 weeks before a decision is made. 13 weeks later(Jan 31st) they changed my status online to "a decision has been made". Relieved, I checked my mail compulsively for the last week but no indication arrived. Concerned, I called the admissions office to ask if there was any way they could shed some light on the decision that holds my future in the balance. They told however, that they could not tell what the decision was (!?!) and had not even generated the mailing because of unknown administrative issues. Also they refused to speculate as to when those issues my be resolved (the office hopes it is within the next week).

Several other medical schools have rejected me or not informed me of my status, but I am particularly disappointed with Drexel Med. A quick survey of Student Doctor Net leads me to believe that my situation is in no way unique. In my opinion, Drexel Med has the most innovative programs (see PIL, IMS) the best use of technology, nicest facilities (at least at Queen Lane) and some of the best clinical practitioners in the country. It is too bad that these great assets are squandered by an admissions office that creates a bad first impression with many of its students. It particularly upsets me because I am employed as admissions counselor in another division of the Drexel Medical school and I understand what problems they are facing, as well as the simple solutions to these problems that they fail to implement.

As of now, I am left to wait as my fate rests in the hands of administrators who are barely competent to mail a letter. I have worked countless hours for the university, paid 1000's of dollars, and bested most of the actual students that they accepted last year in academics; Even if the decision is no, the least they owe me is an answer.