When personalisation technology fails to deliver...

Got an email from amazon.com this morning reminding me to update my wish list in preparation for my birthday (August 23rd). They suggested I might want to include the latest Backstreet Boys album.

Trillian

Trillian is one of the first products I've seen that acts as the universal instant messaging client. From the one docked application I can now conduct my IM on AOL, ICQ, MSN, and Yahoo. It also has plenty of skins available. My choice - LCARS. Bit geeky, I know - but very neat.

New name. Same attitude.

Com Tech Communications, the company I've been with for almost four years, has today renamed to Dimension Data Australia. We've taken on the name of our parent company, in order to better leverage the global brand. Does this mean there'll be more international travel for yours truly ... probably not - my role is targeted just at the Australian operation for the moment. But I will be able to now say things like "I'll have to check that with our London office" and "Our research associates in New York have come up with a new methodology for engaging a customer for a loyalty-centric integrated solution."

A stressful but rewarding experience

Well the GMAT is complete, and I'm back on the road again. I'm sworn to secrecy about the content of the GMAT exam, but I can tell you that it was a stressful experience, the clock was ticking, and that I achieved my target score exactly (700). I was very pleased with the two essays that I wrote, although I have not yet received the scores for those. I found the Quantitive section very challenging. The questions were much harder than any of the practice exercises that I'd done. The Verbal section was pretty much as I expected. All up, I'm happy with this score. 700 is just above the average score for those applicants that are admitted to the b-schools I want to go to. Time for a break, then I'll start considering the application essays and referees.

Malaysia disallows divorces via SMS

"KUALA LUMPUR--The Islamic religious authorities here will not allow Malaysian Muslims to divorce using short message service (SMS) although this mode of seeking a divorce has been reported to have been accepted in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore.

The religious adviser to the Prime Minister described requesting a divorce via a mobile phone message as an "irresponsible and dangerous act". [via ZDNet]

T minus 4 days...

Four days until the GMAT. I am officially on study leave now. The kitchen bench in my Melbourne apartment is my study domain. I do actually have a separate "study" room in my apartment, but it's filled with PC equipment, and the desk is invariably crowded with random junk that I've accumulated over the past few weeks.

I've amassed a collection of nearly 400 words on flash cards that I'd like committed to memory by Monday. Recent inclusions are "desiccate," "implacable", and "equivocate." Interestingly, my recent attention to expanding my appreciation and application of the English language has also sparked an interest in considering other language studies. I caught myself surfing the CAE website the other day for French and Japanese courses.

I have quite a bit of travel coming up over the next couple of weeks (woo hoo! the drought is about to come to an end!), so attending a night class isn't really suitable for me right now. I'll see how things are going later in the year.

anthonyjhicks.com presents a Wireless Market Update

Anthony Hicks, a software consultant in my Sydney office, has put together a brief summary of the today's AsiaPac wireless products market.

"I think the wireless war will be won by both players working together to support Bluetooth (well in my ideal world anyway). The mobile phone becoming the modem and the PDA the access device. It also ensures that manufacturers stay within their core areas of expertise, avoiding horrible product mutations such as Motorola's Accompli which should never have been released to the market. As a consumer I still prefer to carry two separate highly functional top-notch devices rather than compromising for one, however over the next four years one of the manufacturers (maybe Nokia?) is sure to crack the ultimate single device."

I'm not sure if I'm willing to wait four years for the single device. Personally, I'm hoping for the combined phone/music/data device by 2003.

Swordfish

Don't try to read too deeply into this film. Swordfish is essentially your everyday action blockbuster. John Travolta and Hugh Jackman are average in their roles as the cosmopolitan terrorist and the reluctant computer hacker. The action is brilliant, the sound impressive, and the body count high. Overall - definitely a worthwhile break from my GMAT study.


Rating: 6.5 out of 10

To all my friends and family that I've been ignoring for the past few weeks ... rest easy, I'll be out in less than seven days.

740 on the practice exam!!

GMAC Practice Exam number 1 this morning: 740 (98th percentile). Woo hoo!!


However, I was pushed for time in the Quantitative section, and I was not at all impressed with my performance in the Analytical Writing section. Definitely more practice needed in that department.


Practice Exam number 2 scheduled for Thursday afternoon. Only 7 days 'til the real thing!

At least there's consistency

For the past three Sundays, I've played 9 holes of golf at Albert Park. I've only taken up golf this year, so my scores aren't that impressive. 76, 74, 75 on a par 37 course - at least there's consistency. My current target is 70, and I'd like to break 60 by the end of the year.

Putting words into action

Disclaimer: this blog entry took 36 hours to convert from paper to electronic form ;-)

Ok, it's time for a pragmatic approach to learning new words. For the past three weeks, I've been using the good old flash cards system to help me expand my vocabulary, the theory being that by creating twenty new flash cards a day and continually reviewing those already created, these new words would slowly but surely permeate into my everyday speech and writing. Trouble is, I'm not a creative writer. Most of my writing (and indeed most of my talking) is related to my mercenary day job as an Applications Architect.

The writing section of the GMAT is undoubtedly the primary reason for my trepidation to date. Although it does not count towards the overall score, the results of the Analytical Writing section are released to the schools, so it's important that I do well.

So, let the writing begin!

Ten days until the exam (including four days of work).

Ten random words that I've learnt so far:

aberration, extol, sedulous, rapacious, gainsay, functionary, univocal, pragmatism, stold, moribund (hmmm ... not a good one to finish on)

We all know what pedestrian the noun means, but what about pedestrian the adjective?

Enough for now. Back later...

Double figures!

Our weblog host has now been in Melbourne for ten (10) days straight - a new record. Strange feeling - it's almost like I'm actually a local. The scary part of this is that it's only 14 days until the GMAT now. I've been doing a great deal of work on the vocabulary, started teaching myself to speed-read, and have brushed up on the basic rules and formulae of mathematics. It's all about practice, practice, practice now. I'll try to fit in at least 2 - 3 practice exams prior to the big one. I also need to get back into essay writing mode - the GMAT includes two 30-minute essay writing exercises.


I also need to start thinking about which schools to release my results to. The standard US$190 fee for the GMAT includes the release of your score to 5 different b-schools. At this stage I'm thinking those five schools will be Haas, Stanford, MIT, Melbourne, and AGSM.