Classes are over!

Just delivered the last assignment for the GIM class 30 minutes ago.
That means that, apart from the Global Supply Chain Management assignment due on Monday, I am done with MBA classes.
I wish I could continue to have classes indefinetely. I like classes. I like to learn, to ask, to discuss. And I like the feeling of beeing worry-free, as the only thing you are supposed to do is pay attention.
ButI need to find a job and to write a thesis. So it is good to be finally able to concentrate on that from now on.
Pity that this last module was, in my humble opinion, way below the level of other modules, so it wasn't very enjoyable. And I was (am) sick.
They are having a reception with champagne and snacks in the next room, I should join them. But I think that my health won't allow me to drink or eat much. That also the reason I am missing out on the Hazmat Modine concert in Stuttgart in an hour. But I should be fine tomorrow.

A week in review

Well, actually a bit more than a week, as the picture below was taken two Saturdays ago. I went with 2 other colleagues, one Canadian, one French, to a very small town somewhere in the wine lands around here to a wine and castle festival with some live music. The first band was bad, the second was ok. The festival was much smaller than I expected, but the Weinschorle (whine mixed with - little - sparkling water) was plentyful and cheap. The place was called Wachenheim.

Monday saw us rowing again, as well as Wednesday. I believe that I will be able to post better pictures later during the week, as I cannot take my camera in the boat. On Wednesday I tried to row a single boat for the first time and landed 3 times in the water. Of course. But it was warm, so that wasn't a problem.
Monday was also the day when I discovered that my locked bicycle was stolen from the locked bike garage in the locked apartment building. Really upsetting.

On Tuesday I went to an interesting networking event in Stuttgart organized by the BWcon institution, on the role of business angels in start-up financing.

Thursday was a busy day. Career strategy coaching session at the business school and soccer game watching with barbecue in the same location, in company of the students of the EMAT course. It was also the day I got my push scooter as a replacement for the stolen bike.

Germany won, everybody went to the Wasserturm to commemorate.

Saturday saw me taking the train to Idstein, for a Jazz Festival in a very picturesque town. Was really fun with good company. We even did a small rock climbing stunt which reminded me of Dee's blog: Venture to the top.

Barrelhouse Jazz Band in Idstein.

Sunday saw me for some hours in Mainz, and this is the only view I had from the impressive cathedral.

Today the last MBA course for our class and my sixt in Mannheim started: Global Information Management. It started slow with an analysis of Friedman's "The world is flat" text.
The afternoon was a bit more exciting, with a quick (and I mean quick: 1000 years in 1 hour) review of the world's history based on economic cores and a tentative look on how the world might look like in the next 50 years. I am curious to see how the course progresses and how today's class integrates with the rest of the course's material.

We went to rowing practice again and I spent half an hour in the single boat once more, this time returning safe and dry to land.

And tomorrow I will be the CIO of Volkswagen of America, at least during the case study discussion.

The browser war

Firefox 3 is out now. And I just came accross this comment on Internet Explorer at one of the websites I use:

What can we say, the divide between Explorer 6 and the rest of the world is becoming gargantuan. Sorry Explorer 6 users, Passpack will work for you, but it’s just never going to be fast for you.

Firefox 3 seems nice. But I have Firefox 2 working now more or less stable, even with a ton of add-ons installed, especially for working better with Gmail.
The questionis: am I ready for Firefox 3??

Plans for tomorrow: meeting angels

There is a kind of an institute in Stuttgart aimed towards start-up companies which has a series of interesting events for those who want to learn a bit more about the venture capital industry in Germany.

I am going tomorrow to the following event, if everything works out:

bwcon: Business Roundtable „Was macht ein Business Angel? – Unterstützungsansätze für Technologieunternehmen am Beispiel der FUZZY! Informatik AG“

I have this week free, as I am not taking the EC Law course at Mannheim Business School and the activity tomorrow is part of my job search. I hope to learn some and meet interesting professionals, let's see how it goes. But all this has costs:

• I will not be able to attend to the company presentation of Deutsche Börse AG at MBS and
• I will invest almost €100,00 in the event, which, at the moment, is a considerable sum for a student with a bank loan like me

But it should be worth it. No pain, no gain.

Europameisterschaft

We had yet again another nice get together at the Villa, this time to watch the soccer games.

TED talks on collaboration

I have been twittering that I am listening to some of the TED talks on www.ted.com. I had been doing this for a while, but after having classes on Innovation Management with Lib Gibson, a TED participant, at Queen's School of Business, I started watching more often.
The way it works for me is to let the video roll while I am cleaning the apartment or folding clothes. Multitasking.

I just watched a video I wanted to share, because it condenses a lot of what I have been observing in the past 2 zears on and off line. The topic is collaboration, in a comercial and in an altruistic sense. There are great developments going on and great chances to take advantage of, in the most positive sense.

If you got interested in the talks and the topic, check out a short list of videos the people from Nokia Labs, about whom I wrote in an assignment for Lib's class, have put together:

http://betalabs.nokia.com/blog/2008/06/09/ted-talks-the-rise-of-collaboration/

Now let me go back to search for a job in a company who believes in this kind of philosophy.

Creative Commons License

I just added a Creative Commons License to this blog.
I believe in free content (and this is free content) and I believe in copyright. What I don't believe in is the way copyright, patents and trademarks are often being used.
The aim of all three mechanisms is to foster innovation, to incentivise people to put their creativity into use. Unfortunately, these mechanisms are often being used to do exactly the opposite: suffocate creativity and innovation.
It is there that creative commons enters the picture and hopefully changes the way people think about copyright.

The symbols above tell you that it is ok to use the content found here and even change it. Provided you follow some conditions:

• Attribution.
  You must attribute the work in the manner specified by the author or licensor (but not in any way that suggests that they endorse you or your use of the work).
  
  
• Noncommercial.
  You may not use this work for commercial purposes.
  
  
• Share Alike.
  If you alter, transform, or build upon this work, you may distribute the resulting work only under the same or similar license to this one

• For any reuse or distribution, you must make clear to others the license terms of this work. The best way to do this is with a link to this web page.
• Any of the above conditions can be waived if you get permission from the copyright holder. Nothing in this license impairs or restricts the author's moral rights.

The definitions above I have taken from this page:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/de/deed.en

I wish I could be in Montreal on the 26th

And see this concert:

Pat Bergeson

26 Jun 2008, 20:00
Montreal Jazz Festival

With Annie sellick and the Hot Club of nashville featuring Richard smith, Aron Till and Charlie Chadwick and Pat bergeson Opening for Leonard cohen

I just found out about Pat through the Seydel newsletter. Besides being an extraordinary harmonica player, he is also a great guitar player, guitar being his main instrument. And he is opening for Leonard Cohen, which also should be quite interesting.

But I went to Canada during the wrong season for music festivals, definetely.

First Place for the Seventh Time in a Row for the Business School of the University of Mannheim

From Mannheim Business School News:

The Handelsblatt magazine “Junge Karriere” attested the Business School of the University of Mannheim a “remarkable distance” to the university in second place. In the estimation of 57.8% of the German HR managers, the best business students are educated in Mannheim. The authors describe the school and the whole university as a “trendsetter in internationality”. They mention the international semester times and the increasing number of exchange programs. “Of course, such distinguished conditions do not remain hidden from HR managers in business.” As a further plus point, the magazine points to the practical orientation of the business courses at Mannheim.

The Handelsblatt ranking is already the second piece of proof in 2008 of the exceptional status enjoyed by the University of Mannheim in the field of Business Administration. A few weeks ago, it had already received the best rating in the ranking of the prestigious German CHE (Centre for Higher Education Development) and was the only institution in the German speaking countries to receive top places in all five categories.

GSC article I wrote published on the BearingPoint blog

Some of you know that I use to twitter (that is, when its servers are up). And I do comment on the MBA course. And it was exactly one twit on the global supply chain course that got the attention of BearingPoint's Interactive Marketing team in the US. They twittered me back and asked if I was interested in writing an article on GSC. And so I did and you can see the result at the New Thinking BearingPoint blog:

http://newthinking.bearingpoint.com/2008/06/04/global-supply-chain-the-next-frontier/

I guess you will recognize the picture there.

BearingPoint is a company I want to apply for, so I am happy for the contact that I have had with them so far. During the GSC course we had a one day workshop with Sven Martin, a manager working in Switzerland, I have had the chance to talk to other consultants during career fairs and now this online collaboration. Way to go.

Summer ball at the Warwick Business School

This would be something I would like to be able to take part in. But I am not. So all of you who can go, enjoy!

Join us for the annual SUMMER BALL!!

Saturday 19 July, 7.30pm - late
For tickets please visit www.wbs.ac.uk/go/summerball

The luxurious Lakeside Marquee here at Warwick Business School will provide the perfect backdrop for this Summer Ball, including an evening of cocktails, fine dining, charming company, dancing & more. Following an indulgent culinary experience you can dance the night away until the early hours. The Ball is a black tie event and is open to all members of the WBS community, their friends, colleagues and family.

Comparisson of gross and net salaries in Germany

I have been checking the site lohnspiegel.de. It has, besides a very complete database of salaries, a tool to calculate the net salary dependent on some variables.
Being single and independent, I am classified as Steuerklasse I, that is, tax category I.
Take a look at the chart below. It shows the monthly net income according to gross yearly salaries. Below the yearly salary you will see the percentage of taxes and other duties in relation to gross salary. Figures in Euro.

Another shipbuilding flashback

I was taking a look at the pictures I took in 2004 in China, and decided to share this one with you. It was taken on the second day of the sea trials of the Messidor, the ship I helped build. The sea trials are an important event in shipbuilding. It means that the ship is mostly ready and all important systems are tested in real work conditions. It was a fascinating event, lasting more than three days at sea.

New album online: BBQ at the Villa

Check it out here:
http://picasaweb.google.de/ferbress/080530BBQVilla

Below some preview pics for you.

From 080530 BBQ Villa

080530 BBQ Villa

Fox in the park

This is the first time I have ever seen a real fox (we don't have them in Brazil, you know? Just lobos guarás...) from this close, so I had to document it, even if the pictures got blurry.
I guess that it must like the park, with the dozens of bunnies living there...