Monday, June 6, 2016

Disco Music Inspired by Star Wars

I like disco and Star Wars, so of course I'm familiar with the Meco Star Wars/Cantina Band song that actually hit #1 in the 1970's - super impressive for instrumental music. But there is actually a 15 minute 12" version of the tune that includes lightsaber 'vwhoom' sounds and a bunch of the other themes from the movie:



Spotify knows that I also like "Birdland", so it just recommended that I check out Maynard Ferguson's Main Title from "Star Wars". It's pretty spectacular:



Maynard Ferguson takes the music up a notch with his typical spectacular trumpet playing. It also got me wondering whether there was any more disco music inspired by Star Wars.

So a Spotify search found a tune by Peter Hamilton Orchestra. It starts with a classic disco entrance and jumps right into Leia's theme which is a beautiful melody to get started. It keeps the disco beat going for seven minutes over variations of Leia's theme then closes with the main star wars theme and a countdown. I couldn't find any information about Peter Hamilton or his orchestra, so that's where this quest ends.



Geoff Love & His Orchestra did a disco version of Leia's Theme that I don't really care for. Do you have any more original Star Wars-inspired disco tunes to recommend?

Saturday, April 21, 2012

Visiting Evanston tourbook/guidebook from a Kellogg MBA's perspective

My family is coming to watch me perform in Special K!, so I decided to write up a miniature Evanston guidebook from a Kellogg MBA perspective. It includes my opinions on Sightseeing, Lodging, and Getting Around.


Evanston Orientation
Evanston is the first city north of the Chicago city limits. It’s part of the “Gold Coast” where rich Chicagoans live, and is also home to the temperance movement in the US. Northwestern University makes up the east part of the city, bordering Lake Michigan, and was so named because it would serve people of the “Northwest Territory.” Kellogg School of Management, named after a donation from one of the cereal people’s descendants, is based in the Jacobs Center which is on the N-S equator of the campus. Downtown Evanston lies east of the Davis metro station (part of The ‘L’) and west of Northwestern University. (West of the tracks is not as nice and can get a little scary at night.)


Sightseeing Evanston
Sights at Northwestern University
Things I like to point out at Northwestern: “The Arch” that all incoming undergrads walk under. “The Rock” that is painted by clubs to promote events. There is a nice walk along the lake that offers a view of Chicago’s skyline – sometimes surfers are at the beach. I haven’t visited but I hear the Shakespeare Garden is nice. Of course, I’ll show you around the Jacobs Center where I attend classes.

Sights in Evanston
Far and away, the Baha’i temple is the best sight in Evanston – a must-see. And if you ever stand above the tree canopy, it’s hard to miss. One of only seven Baha'i temples in the world (one per continent), this beautiful building and garden has free admission. The Baha’i religion has about 6 million adherents and they are very open: they accept the validity of many of the world's religions, so check for recognizable religious symbols on the architecture. http://www.bahai.us/bahai-temple/

If you’re involved in the Rotary Club, Evanston is home to the headquarters of Rotary International. To arrange a tour, call 847-866-3110. http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/secretariat/howto/

The Jewish Reconstructionist Congregation synagogue is one of only ten LEED-platinum certified houses of worship in the United States – thus meeting the highest level of environmental sustainability – and has some quite interesting architecture to match. To schedule a docent-led tour of the building, email tour@jrc-evanston.org or call the JRC Office at 847-328-7678. http://www.jrc-evanston.org/content/why-build-green

The Grosse Point Lighthouse was completed in 1873. It is one of only 2,430 National Historic Landmarks in the US (out of more than 80,000 places on the National Register of Historic Places). Season-allowing and weather-allowing tours cost $6. http://www.grossepointlighthouse.net/visit.html

Quirky Sites near Evanston
McDonald’s Store #1 is in Des Planes, along with the McDonald’s Museum. Check the hours it is open. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/11370

The Leaning Tower of Niles is a ½ scale replica of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/story/2092

If you remember the “Radio Flyer” red wagons, there is a Paul Bunyan-sized wagon outside the factory in Elmwood Park where you won’t even stand as high as one of the wheels. http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/12722

Lodging / Hotels
There are a few (somewhat overpriced) hotels in Evanston. The most convenient to where many Kellogg MBAs live is the Hotel Orrington (1710 Orrington Avenue. 847-607-1348). There is also a Hilton Garden Inn (1818 Maple Avenue. 1-800-401-7478) closer to Downtown Evanston. The Homestead (http://www.thehomestead.net/ 1625 Hinman Avenue. 847-475-3300) is pretty convenient but looks expensive. The Best Western University Plaza (1501 Sherman Avenue. 847-491-6400) is a few more blocks’ walk.

When considering hotels in Chicago proper: Without a car, you’d want a place that can get you onto the Red Line ‘L’, Purple Line ‘L’, or Metra UP-N (Union Pacific/North) easily. If you are planning on car transportation, then being on the north side of the city with easy access to Lake Shore Drive is convenient since that is the best route to Evanston.

Getting Around
Public Transportation to/from Chicago and Evanston Overview
There are two kinds of trains running between Evanston and Chicago: The ‘L’ (metro/subway) and the confusingly-named Metra, which is actually commuter/light rail. The ‘L’ runs at least four times per hour, and the Metra runs hourly or every two hours. If you want to come to my apartment, the nearest train stations in Evanston are one ‘L’ station and a Metra station confusingly adjacent and both named “Davis” (the ‘L’ station is more east and requires a farecard to enter). If you want to go directly to/from the show, then you could also go to the “Foster” ‘L’ station, which is closer to the University. Note that there is no Foster Metra station – you’d still need to get off at Davis Metra if you plan on taking the Metra directly to/from the show.

Taking The ‘L’
On weekends and non-rush-hours The ‘L’ requires a transfer to get to/from Chicago at Howard. The Red Line runs between Chicago and Howard and the Purple Line runs between Howard and Evanston. You need a farecard to ride the ‘L’. A single ride costs $2.25.

On weekdays between 6-10AM and 3-7PM the Purple ‘L’ line runs some trains all the way between Evanston and Chicago without a transfer. During those times, you can follow the below instructions without needing to transfer at Howard, just make sure that the train’s final destination is either “Loop” (to Chicago) or “Linden” (to Evanston).

From Chicago to Evanston on the ‘L’: take Red line to Howard, and get off at Howard (end of the line), get on Purple line towards Linden, get off at Davis (my apartment) or Foster (Northwestern U).

From Evanston to Chicago on the ‘L’: go to Davis ‘L’ station (not Metra) or Foster (closer to Northwestern U), take the Purple line to Howard, and get off at Howard (end of the line), get on Red line towards Loop, get off at your stop.

Taking Metra
Evanston is on the Metra’s Union Pacific / North Line that goes between Chicago and Kenosha. At Metra stations, you’ll sometimes see “Kenosha” or “UP-N” to identify this line. The terminus in Chicago is Ogilvie Transportation Center, usually called OTC. A one-way ticket between OLC and Evanston Davis Street station is $4.25. If you want, there is a $7 weekend pass for unlimited rides on Saturday and Sunday, saving you $1.50 per round-trip ticket. If the station is open you should buy the Metra tickets before getting on board, or they might try to charge you an extra $3 fee per ticket to buy from the train conductor (you can try to argue that there is no machine at Davis).

Chicago and Evanston on Metra on Saturday to get to Special K: The show starts around 8 PM on Saturday, but cast call is 6 PMt.
Time departs OTC
Time arrives Davis Street
8:35 AM
8:58 AM
10:35 AM
10:58 AM
12:35 PM
12:58 PM
2:35 PM
2:59 PM
3:35 PM
3:55 PM
4:35 PM
4:57 PM
5:35 PM
6:01 PM
5:45 PM
6:08 PM
7:35 PM
7:58 PM

The show ends around 10:30 PM and I’ll be going to the cast party very soon afterwards. There is only one return Metra train after the show:
Time departs Davis Street
Time arrives OTC
11:30 PM
11:58 PM

Public Transportation resources

Walking to/from the Park Evanston and train stations
The streets in Evanston approximate a N-S and E-W grid.

When you get off a train at Davis, just north of the station you will find Church Street which runs E-W. Go east on Church Street through Downtown Evanston past a Five Guys, Barnes & Noble, and Radio Shack, until you hit Chicago Avenue. (If you get into an area that looks like suburban homes you probably went too far.) Turn right onto Chicago Avenue and walk past the Whole Foods entrance. The Park Evanston is on your right. If you go past Peet’s Coffee or AT&T Store you went too far. Give me a call, use the keypad near the door, or get the doorman to let you in.

To get to Davis train stations, take a left out of the Park Evanston walking North. Make a left going west onto Church Street. You can make a left at the 3rd stoplight (Benson Ave) to go to the Davis ‘L’. Or keep walking straight and just past the intersection with Maple Ave you can go up a staircase on the left side of the street to go to the Evanston Davis Street Metra station.

Walking to/from Norris Center and Foster ‘L’ station
From the Foster ‘L’ station, walk east on Foster Street. Foster Street ends where campus begins (at the Jacobs Center building, where I attend class). Keep walking straight onto campus past the Jacobs Center. The sidewalks get a little complex, but if you keep walking straight ahead in the same direction you’ll end up in the right place. When the sidewalk gets most confusing, towards the right you’ll see four concrete planters in front of a gray brick courtyard – walk into that courtyard and then turn to the left to continue walking in your original orientation. At the end of the courtyard you’ll go down stairs and in front of you is the Norris Center up some stairs on a hill. (If you get lost, all students know where Norris is, so just ask somebody)

To get to the Foster ‘L’ station from Norris Center, exit out the main entrance of Norris. Go down the stairs and then up the stairs in front of you. Keep walking in that same direction, following the sidewalks until you get back to Foster Street.


Walking to the Norris Center from Davis train stations
Follow the instructions to get to the Park Evanston, but don’t turn right on Chicago Avenue. Keep walking four more blocks until you hit Judson Avenue. Turn left and walk north on Judson. Judson merges with Sheridan – keep walking north. After walking one block, Sheridan will take a sharp turn – don’t follow that turn and instead turn right there to go onto Campus drive. (Don’t go onto the sidewalk/pathway which leads to the shoreline – stay on the road.) Keep walking north past parking lots and buildings. When you get to a rising arm barrier on the road, you’re very close. The next building on your right will be the Norris Center (up on a hill).

Parking
Parking in Evanston is not-so-good, but not terrible. On Friday and Saturday nights, you can park at the Public Library for free overnight from 6PM to 9AM, until noon on Sunday, and 9PM to 9AM on weekdays. During the day, you can attempt to sneak some time onto the rooftop Whole Foods parking lot, but I’d avoid staying overnight. There is a reasonably priced pay public parking lot on the northeast corner of Church Street & Chicago Avenue. During the weekend, you can do free street parking on Foster Street. I can get a parking pass for an exorbitant fee for my apartment building’s garage. Parking in University lots during the weekend is typically okay (check the signs), but definitely not allowed during work hours during the week.


Taxicabs
There are two major taxi companies that provide cheaper transportation between Evanston and Chicago/airports (city cabs charge more to/from Evanston) – but you need to call them to get a pickup and sometimes the wait can be pretty long or the taxis just don’t show up. American Taxi (1-800-244-1177 or 847-673-1000) and Norshore Cab (847-864-7500).

If you desperately need a cab from Evanston, you can find a line waiting outside the Hotel Orrington. Between the airport and Evanston, the American Taxi and Norshor cabs have a flat rate posted inside the cab windows but they can pass on any tolls and airport fees onto you. Regular city cabs will go metered to/from the airport and the city and charge 1.5x when you enter Evanston city limits.

Airports
The cheapest way between O’Hare airport and Evanston is Pace Bus #250. It runs every 30 minutes between 5:30/6:30 AM and midnight/1AM and takes about an hour. It stops at O’Hare Kiss-and-fly and Evanston’s Davis Street ‘L’ station (so you can follow the above directions from there). It costs $1.25 vs. the above cabs that take about 25-30 minutes but cost around $40 including tip. There is no direct train from Evanston to O’Hare without going far out of the way.
·        Pace Bus #250 schedule: http://www.pacebus.com/pdf/schedules/250sched.pdf
·        Pace Bus #250 route map: http://www.pacebus.com/pdf/maps/250map.pdf

The cheapest way between Midway airport and Evanston is taking The ‘L’. From Midway, take the Orange Line towards the Loop, then transfer to Red towards Howard or Purple (during rush hour only) towards Linden, then at Howard transfer from Red to Purple and get off at Davis or Foster. From Evanston, take the Purple line towards Howard to the Red line towards Loop and transfer to the Orange line towards Midway ($2.25). It takes about 90-110 minutes. The above mentioned cabs cost around $62 including tip and take about 45 minutes.


Saturday, March 5, 2011

Most Influential B-schools on Twitter

After my Google B-school Ranking, I realized there are other quantitative ways of looking at business school rankings using the Internet. I joined Twitter recently, so I naturally wanted to see how popular I am. The results of doing the same ranking for b-school influence surprised me.

Klout is the gold standard Twitter ranking system that looks at 25 variables in three categories (size of the engaged audience, audience influence level, whether content spurs action) and boils them down into a single Klout score. It also provides a classification for the style of influence that is similar to a personality test, but also like a Gartner Magic Quadrant (upper left means casually sharing a lot, lower right means creating a lot to a focused audience, upper right is Celebrity: both creating and sharing to a broad audience).

Without further ado, the results: (rankings/classifications as of March 5, scores change daily)

Rank School Score Classification
1 Wharton Thought Leader
2 Kellogg Specialist
3 HBS Specialist
3 IESE Specialist
5 Stanford GSB Specialist
5 Berkeley/Haas Specialist
7 Columbia GSB Thought Leader
8 MIT/Sloan Explorer
9 Fuqua Specialist
9 LBS Explorer
11 Darden Specialist
12 Tuck Feeder
13 Chicago Booth Explorer
14 INSEAD Explorer
15 Stern Not on Klout
One special mention...
Harvard Business Review Taste Maker


Wharton is on top and stands out as one of two "Thought Leaders" on the b-school list. The "Thought Leader" classification is in the upper-right quadrant of the Classification, meaning that it has a broad audience, it participates, it is consistent, and gives opinion on content. If Wharton's influence is broad rather than specialized, it's interesting that it doesn't fall into "Taste Marker" (more thought leadership) or "Pundit" (more opinionated) categories.

Kellogg beats out Harvard Business School for the #2 spot, bringing a smile to my purple-painted face. Kellogg, along with the other schools with Klout >50, is classified as a Specialist. Specialists have a more focused audience than the "Thought Leader", and it is more consistent of a tweeter. At the same time, Specialists are more "listeners" than "participators", which puts them in the lower-right quadrant, but their opinions are "second to none." This makes sense for business schools to be focused on the specific topic of business.

It's also interesting to see IESE (#3-t) beat its European rivals LBS (#9) and INSEAD (#14) so handily. While IESE's audience is smaller than LBS', Klout scores show that its tweets are acted upon more frequently and by a more influential network than both. If you've got many interesting things to say, on the Internet it doesn't matter who says it.

Klout's lower-left classification of "Explorer" is a nice way of saying "try harder" to Sloan, LBS, Darden, and INSEAD. It's also surprising to see Chicago Booth down in that quadrant. (My twitter falls into this category too.) Is it just my imagination, or do these schools seem to have a less sociable reputation that is reflected in their influence?

Tuck stands out as the only "Feeder" (upper left quadrant), meaning that they aren't creating new content but instead passing along interesting content to an interested (but not diverse) audience. My suggestion to Tuck marketing folks: post more groundbreaking research on business topics.

Stern, your marketing team should really be using the freely available tools to set quantitative goals.

Probably the most shameful ranking is that of INSEAD. It has a large number of followers and it is influenced by HarvardBiz, but it is still just an "Explorer" at the bottom of the ranking. Apparently, its tweets are not that interesting, nor is its audience highly influential online.

Klout analyses the "Influencer of" and "Influenced by" elements and there are some interesting data points there:
  • Stanford shows a strong news relationship because it is influenced by The Huffington Post and Breaking News, and it influences AP and The Economist Business Education.
  • Haas is influenced by relatively low Kout scorers (<40), whereas most schools have influencers of Klout >80. This could be an indicator of a less Klout-y network, but also of different thinking.
  • Sloan's influencers are, frankly, boring: Barack Obama, TechCrunch, Mashable, NY Times, and Twitter -- twitter users that have huge, broad followings. But it is reassuring to see the technology streak of MIT reflected there.
  • Darden and Columbia are influencers of each other, which I can't explain. Perhaps the east-coast connection? Perhaps due to Columbia's "Thought Leader" category?
And to wrap it up, Harvard Business Review stands head-and-shoulders above any of the individual business schools. Not surprising, considering that publications are much more audience-oriented and are all about content. However, I would have expected HBR to be a "Pundit" (more opinionated) rather than a "Taste Maker" (more thought-leadership)

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Apple shoots their other foot

I argued with a few b-schoolers earlier this year that Apple's "closed" strategy is just as folly now as it was decades ago when the "open" IBM/PC compatible approach beat the Apple closed approach. Apple iOS faces the same challenge now with Android's "open" approach, and they are shooting themselves in the foot again.

Today, Apple announced its draconian subscription model for publications on the iPhone/iPad. It requires publishers to give an outrageous 30% of revenue to Apple. What is Google's cut for similar publications on Android? Zero. Android OS is already beating iOS on mobile phones with no signs of slowing down, and plenty of competitive Android tablets exist or are on the way. If you were a publisher, what platform would you focus on?

The answer is clear: Apple hasn't learned from their mistakes.

Update: Google introduced their OnePass service shortly after Apple, in which Google charges 10%. (A high rate if you ask me, but still not 30%)

Sunday, February 13, 2011

The Google B-school/MBA Ranking

The web is the best collection of human understanding/knowledge. And since Google can find related websites, I decided to see how Google and thus, everybody, thought business schools related to each other. The findings revealed a mix of rankings, geography, and other insights. So let's get to it...

Methodology
On Feb 13, 2011, I Googled [related:<b-school website>] for the world's top b-schools, and noted the order in which other b-school websites showed up in the top 20 Google results. Only b-school homepages were noted; I did not include University homepages, duplicates, Wikipedia articles, or other pages. The results may have been personalized according to Google's algorithms.

Relatedness Results
Index hbs.edu gsb.stanford.edu wharton.upenn.edu kellogg.northwestern.edu chicagobooth.edu mitsloan.mit.edu stern.nyu.edu www0.gsb.columbia.edu london.edu insead.edu haas.berkeley.edu mba.yale.edu fuqua.duke.edu iese.edu tuck.dartmouth.edu
1 Stanford GSB HBS HBS Chicago Booth Kellogg Stanford GSB Columbia GSB NYU/Stern Cass (C.U. of London) HEC Paris UCLA/Anderson Duke/Fuqua UNC/Kenan-Flagler IE Duke/Fuqua
2 Wharton MIT/Sloan Kellogg Wharton Wharton HBS Wharton Stanford GSB Manchester LBS USC/Marshall NYU/Stern Kellogg ESADE NYU/Stern
3 MIT/Sloan Chicago Booth Stanford GSB HBS Stanford GSB Kellogg CUNY Baruch HBS INSEAD IESE UC Davis GSM Wharton Virginia/Darden EAE Yale SoM
4 Kellogg Columbia GSB MIT/Sloan Stanford GSB HBS NYU/Stern HBS Duke/Fuqua Warwick HBS Stanford GSB Stanford GSB Haas EADA Kellogg
5 Chicago Booth Haas Chicago Booth MIT/Sloan Haas Wharton Kellogg Wharton HBS ESSEC HBS MIT/Sloan Columbia GSB INSEAD Columbia GSB
6 Columbia GSB Wharton NYU/Stern NYU/Stern Duke/Fuqua Chicago Booth Columbia GSB MIT/Sloan Wharton IE Duke/Fuqua Columbia GSB Chicago Booth Rotterdam SoM (Erasmus) Virginia/Darden
7 LBS Kellogg Columbia GSB Duke/Fuqua NYU/Stern Haas Chicago Booth Chicago Booth IESE Wharton MIT/Sloan Tuck NYU/Stern LBS Stanford GSB
8 INSEAD NYU/Stern LBS Columbia GSB MIT/Sloan Columbia GSB Haas Kellogg IE ESCP Chicago Booth HBS HBS HEC Chicago Booth
9 Boston U Yale SoM Haas Haas Columbia GSB Purdue/Krannert LBS Yale SoM Stanford GSB SMU (Singapore) Kellogg Chicago Booth Wharton Oxford/Said Wharton
10 NYU/Stern LBS INSEAD LBS Tuck Duke/Fuqua TRIUM (executive mba) Haas LSBF Stanford GSB Columbia GSB Kellogg Goethe (Frankfurt) UIBS (Barcelona) MIT/Sloan
11 Yale SoM UCLA/Anderson Tuck Yale SoM Yale SoM Yale SoM LBS EBSL Kellogg NYU/Stern Oxford/Said NYU Stern Haas
12 INSEAD Duke/Fuqua LBS LBS Fordam GSB IE MIT/Sloan Virginia/Darden LBS Chicago Booth HBS
13 Yale SoM INSEAD Chicago Booth Wharton Uconn SoB HBS
14 Virginia/Darden Oxford/Said Rotterdam SoM (Erasmus) Tuck Thunderbird
15 Cambridge/Judge Oxford/Said Yale SoM
16 Boston University NYU/Stern
17 Columbia GSB
18 ESADE

Analysis
The rankings relationship comes through. For the "top six" schools, the first three results are a closed set: HBS, Stanford, Wharton, Kellogg, Booth, and Sloan all have a "top six" as their top three results without exception. We can even expand that trend to the top five results, and only four of 30 results are not "top six," with appearances by Haas (2), Columbia (1), and Stern (1).


The geographic relationships also stand out: Kellogg/Booth and Stern/Columbia pairings are the top results for each other. Fuqua has two other Southern schools (Kenan-Flagler and Darden) in the top three. Three of LBS' top four are from the UK and eight of all eleven are non-U.S.


Interestingly, for the excellent U.S. schools of Stern, Columbia, Haas, Yale, Fuqua, and Tuck, the relationship with "top six" schools is almost nonexistent in the top three results. Instead, the geography dominates, which explains the appearance of UC Davis and CUNY Baruch.

The European schools of LBS, INSEAD and IESE have rankings that are a mix of location and reputation. The geographic distance between the U.S. and Europe is clearly reflected in the fact that no U.S. schools are in their top three results. The relevance results for Asian b-schools (not shown) are nearly exclusively Asian b-schools, with no appearances by U.S. or European schools. It makes me wonder how much of the relevance disparity is a reflection of applicant location vs. quality vs. language vs. value of MBAs.

In the 192 relevance results, there are appearances by Darden, Fuqua, and Anderson but not a single mention of Ross! It's quite surprising, considering the ranking similar to those three schools, and the physical distance from Kellogg/Booth should also help. Anecdotally I know many people here at Kellogg who were deciding between Kellogg and Ross. Could this mean bad things for Ross?

"Google Rankings" Ideas
If we take HBS as the gold standard, we could simply rank schools by relevance to HBS. But we would still encounter location bias. Putting Boston U as #9 doesn't seem right.

  1. HBS
  2. Stanford GSB
  3. Wharton
  4. MIT/Sloan
  5. Kellogg
  6. Chicago Booth

If we go by the idea that school are defined by the company they keep, we greatly reduce the location bias and we can calculate the average relevance-distance that a school has from the "top six" schools. I only show it here for the top 6 schools, but there are few major surprises for the other schools that I looked at:

Distance Rank hbs.edu gsb.stanford.edu wharton.upenn.edu kellogg.northwestern.edu chicagobooth.edu mitsloan.mit.edu
Harvard Rank N/A 1 1 3 4 2
Stanford Rank 1 N/A 3 4 3 1
Wharton Rank 2 6 N/A 2 2 5
Kellogg Rank 4 7 2 N/A 1 3
Chicago Booth Rank 5 3 5 1 N/A 6
Sloan Rank 3 2 4 5 8 N/A
Average 3 3.8 3 3 3.6 3.4

These average ranks give us the following "Google B-School Ranking":

1. Harvard, Kellogg, Wharton [3]
4. Sloan [3.4]
5. Booth [3.6]
6. Stanford [3.8]

Non top-6 U.S. schools that I looked at have scores from 4 through 8.

There's a way to control for the distance in the Google Relevance rankings: you could add a distance column(s) and regress the data according to that. Then you might be able to get something similar to a true school quality/reputation ranking.