Sunday, September 5, 2010

Summer Checklist - The Results

So I'd never made a checklist before this summer, or if I did, I never really paid much attention to it. Anyways, as you can see below, I was able to accomplish most of my summer checklist, and have decided to create one for the fall. The full article includes a little blurb about the tasks I put on my to-do list for the summer.

summer

Summer checklist:
x = done

get a motorcycle
work 70 hours a week
go skydiving
learn how to cook
learn how to front-flip
travel to a different city every weekend
get my six pack back
revitalize blog

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

Confirmation Bias

There are a lot of debates that take place in the world: in politics, in science, and in our personal lives. While all of these discussions are composed of many different components that merit examination to come to a resolution, I believe that the first step to success is to remove any personal biases one might have. I make this statement realizing that you may now call me captain obvious, but you should also realize that while sound in principal, it is rarely followed through in practice. Think espoused vs. enacted values. This can be attributed to a tendency called confirmation bias. It was summarized very well by Leo Tolstoy in 1897:
"The most difficult subjects can be explained to the most slow-witted man if

he has not formed any idea of them already; but the simplest thing cannot

be made clear to the most intelligent man if he is firmly persuaded that he

knows already, without a shadow of doubt, what is laid before him."

Monday, July 26, 2010

The Economist: July 10th-16th, 2010 Issue

"Can anything perk up Europe?" Re-phrased, can the European Union make the short-term changes necessary to survive in the long-run, let alone take back preeminence as a world entity? With the largest economy in the world, the EU has been put in a place to make tough political decision by the global recession of 2008-2009 if it wants to avoid collapse. In contrast, China has created an extremely successful banking system and under its current model, only one thing can "guarantee its demise: success". In both cases, government will need to make significant changes if they are to achieve long-term prosperity.


Can anything perk up Europe? Econmist cover.



Thursday, July 15, 2010

The Economist: Weekly Perspective - July 3rd, 2010

I've had a subscription to The Economist ever since the beginning of my freshman year. In addition to my other sources of worldly information, The Economist offers a much higher-level perspective and insight than I have been able to find anywhere else. Maybe it's because I'm enthralled with real world economics that I regard it so highly; I loved Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely, Freakonomics by Steven D. Levitt, and can't wait to read their follow-ups. But while it delves deeply into some of the most important economic issues facing us today, your average high school graduate should be able to comprehend many of the articles that it addresses without any additional study of economics.


The Economist: Cyberwar Cover



Sunday, July 11, 2010

LADY GAGA at the Boston Garden: July 2nd

It all began on a drive out to UMASS Lowell for a Student Alumni conference in early February of this year. Aaron Horvitz, our current SAA president, was driving six of us out to UMASS when he saw a billboard for the Lady Gaga concert coming to Boston in July. In a way that only he can proclaim in his forever-exuberant personality, he said, “We’re going to that.” Now If anyone knows Aaron, he’s not one to back down from a challenge. So when someone doubted that he could get tickets to the show, we heard his all too familiar retort, “Say I won’t.” What can I say; Aaron is a man of his word.
Lady Gaga Tour Promotion

 

Friday, July 2, 2010

WIRED: Monthly Perspectives - July 2010

WIRED Magazine: the quirky, tech geek periodical that often takes a superficial subjective perspective of cool and innovative technology and gives us a drill down into the underlying mechanics of how it works. WIRED manages to teach us something we never would have thought we could understand without the textbook drone and bore that is usually associated with learning something new. Let's just say, it's only July 1st, well July 2nd by the time this will be posted, and I've already ripped through the entire July article of WIRED.
WIRED July Cover



Thursday, June 24, 2010

Kawasaki Ninja 650R: It's Only the Beginning

Ever since I was in high school, I have fantasized about owning a motorcycle. The wind in your hair, the power at your fingertips, and all the 'cool points' that come with almost every thrill seeking endeavor. But most of all, the reason I wanted a motorcycle was the unrestricted freedom it gives you to go where you want, when you want, because you are the master of your own domain. Or so I thought as a young adolescent male.

The Dream


Dream bike

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Smart Phone Review: The Droid

Two months ago, before I renewed my contract with Verizon, I started to look at different smart phones on-line and in the store. I knew I wanted to upgrade from my Samsung i760 which was a great windows mobile phone two years ago, but is not pretty and completely outdated by now. In starting my quest, I looked at some of the typical benchmarks, like camera quality, touchscreen capability, and keyboard comfortability.
Droid Picture



Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Spring Break 2010: Cali, AZ, UCB, and other adventures

Man, this spring break was a trip. It all started on Friday night in Boston on March 5th and by the time it was said and done when I returned on the 14th, I had spent significant time in all three U.S. times zones, been to five different airports, delayed a total of 4 hours on separate occasions, unlocked three foursquare badges, eaten out in 10 different restaurants, played racquetball in three different gyms, and randomly met up with two friends at MDW on the connecting flight from OAK to BOS. Overall, a great success.

Friday, February 26, 2010

The Original Premise of This Blog

As a rising senior at Boston University traveling the world and working in Australia, India, and Hong Kong, this blog served several purposes for me. It helped me reflect on short term successes. It helps me plan out my long term goals. It got started as a challenge to build a website. It has grown into much more. It motivated me to start a video blog. Among these things, it serves a place where I can go and publish my thoughts for whoever may be interested in reading them.

Source: http://ethanjdelano.com/blog