A BusinessWeek article Why the US is Loosing Foreign Graduates, indicated that increasing number of foreign students graduated from U.S. universities are going back to their home countries to pursue careers.Some says it is due to tightened restrictions of the H-1B visa (temporary work permit); Others argue that is caused by the current economy with lesser jobs to offer. I think it is a combination of both. The H-1 visa restriction has certainly hindered a pool of talented international students to pursue careers in the US. On the other hand, with the globalization of the economy, US is no longer the gold mine of opportunities it once was.
Another article The Argument Left Unsaid About Foreign Studentswritten in 2008 still holds true today. I hope the new Obama administration takes this into consideration and rethink ways retain talents in our own country. America is established based on diversity an innovation.
“As we trend towards a knowledge-based economy, it is imperative that we remain competitive in the global marketplace.
If American universities and American politicians want to help higher education and the economy, it’s time to move beyond just lobbying to get foreign students into the country for a few years – but to talk about why it makes sense to welcome many for their careers.” Gautham Pandiyan
I just bought a Vado, a pocket video camcorder by Creative , released May 2008. Reason for wanting a video gizmo? To be able to capture videos spontaneously. After one week of using Vado, I am really liking it. It is small, inexpensive ($99), light (less than 3 oz), and because of its very ‘plastic’ texture, I feel comfortable letting my 6 year old daughter handling it.
I did a comparison video from a Vado and Flip:
Vado vs. Flip
Shot with Vado
Shot with Flip
When comparing 1:1, I can see the difference in video and sound quality. Flip has higher quality. Will I return my Vado for a Flip? No. For my intention of using a pocket camcorder, the ease of use (I like the easy upload to youtube), light weight and rechargeable bettery outweighs the slight difference in quality. One thing of note. The Flip camcorder was accidentally dropped once, and from that, the keys are more difficult to respond (to play and stop when recording). While I am not going to drop my Vado to test out the result, I seem to think Vado will have a better resistance because of it’s plastic frame as compared to the Flip which has a metal frame.
Have you seen the tan guy with long thick blond dreadlocks, red shorts walking on Connecticut Avenue?
Another reason I want a pocket camcorder is to interview the Connecticut Walker. If you live in the DC, Rockville area, there is this blond guy, tan, muscular, early 30s with thick dreadlocks down pass his shoulders, and always wearing red shorts without a shirt (in the winter, he would wear a pair of red sweat pants with a t-shirt). My description of him may make him sound hotter than he is. I would imagine he has lots of wrinkles on his face from walking in the sun day-in and day-out. I would see him walking very fast paced up and down Connecticut Avenue at different times, rain or shine. I don’t think he has a car. Sometimes I spotted him by Chevy Chase DC, and other times by Olney, Maryland, which is a good 17 miles away, a long way to walk. I have always wanted to ask him who he is and why he is always walking. So hopefully one day soon I’ll report back with a video of the Connecticut Walker.
Want more info on Vado?
Short video of exactly what to expect from Vado in the box to using Vado
Click here for comparison of the latest pocket camcorders
Interesting trend around the international blog and user-generated video participation. I got be chart below from Grundswell, it is based on from a Forrester research data.
As seen from chart below, Japan and Korea are leading the blog readership, with U.S. as a close third. Clearly this is the direction we are heading with increasing blog posts. The U.S. is leading the user generated video space, which is mainly due to U-Tube providing mostly English content. No doubt web based videos is and will continue to be a hot trend.
Seems like the last 2 days I’ve been getting info to blog info about life other than social media. But I hate to neglect Kadidid. That’s when I saw the latest stats from socialmediatrader.com and I thought I’d share the love.
AT&T Plans to offer iphone with $200 rebate, bringing the price down to $199. The new 3G AT&T iphones are schedule to be available the end of June. In order to get the iphone with AT&T, you do have to subscribe to a 2 year contract.
I am in the market for either an iPhone or Blackberry, I think I may wait until June for the iPhone.
“..When the 3G iPhone is introduced this summer, AT&T, the exclusive U.S. iPhone sales partner with Apple, will cut the price by as much as $200, according to a person familiar with the strategy.
AT&T is preparing to subsidize $200 of the cost of a new iPhone, bringing the price down to $199 for customers who sign two-year contracts, the source says. Apple is expected to have two versions of the new iPhone, an 8-gigabyte-memory and a 16-gigabyte-memory model with price tags widely expected to be $399 and $499.” Read more from Fortune.com
Investment in start-up companies fell across the US last quarter as venture capitalists stepped back…
The decrease sent total VC investment to its lowest point since 2005, coincidentally was the year that marked the beginning of the “web 2.0” craze which led to a revival of excitement around internet companies in Silicon Valley, the world’s leading venture capital hub. Since then, we are starting to see other internet companies sprouting up across the U.S.
According to Dow Jones VentureSource, in spite of the economic slowdown we still have a healthy amount of investment, especially in the areas ofIT, energy, and business, consumer and retail. The last time start-up Investment plunged was in 2001 when the US economy entered a recession. That was when the bursting of the dotcom bubble wiped out overvalued tech stocks and left investors hesitant to fund new internet start-ups. However, situation is different this time. Most of the economic slowdown is related to the housing market and financial services sector. Therefore, some may conclude that the VC industry could be insulated from US economic weakness. Let’s hope so. Only time will tell.
Silicone Valley got its fame from the infamous dot com era.It was a time when everyone is curious and wants to know about the dot com bubble. So the bubble grew and grew and POP, it went. Those who watched the speedy rise and sickening fall remember the predictable way the collapse began: in denial. Fast forward to 2008. Where are we today? Could this be the web 2.0 era? What impact does the economic slowdown has on the tech world? The fact is that the economic slowdown is directly impacting the tech industry. Personally, I am seeing increasing trends of people I know in Tech jobs having no jobs.Even Google is being impacted by the slow economy. Their stock decreased 41% compared to Nov 2007. That, to me is a warning sign: If Google’s profitability is in jeopardy, then no company in tech is safe.
A tail of 2 Bubbles.. (April 7th Fortune magazine)
I’ve been seriously considering leaving the company that I’ve worked for the last 12 years. It’s a tough decision especially having to balance between your gut feeling and your analytical side.
Below are great tips for career success. I hope you will find it helpful as I have.
10 Tips for Career Success
By Alvah Parker
Find ways to learn continuously.
Find ways to improve whatever you do. Be willing to incorporate the new ideas that you learn in #1.
Do your work completely and with pride.
Be true to your own values.
Clear up those irritations (energy drains) so that you can devote your energy to your work.
Practice self-care so that you feel good about yourself.
Keep work in perspective so that you have time for other parts of your life (family, friends, hobbies, volunteer work).
Listen carefully to everyone. Managers need to walk around and talk to employees and customers.
Network within your company and outside.
Delegate tasks when appropriate and empwer those doing the work to do it their own way.
Another Giant wants a piece of the web building biz.
Looks like Google is aiming to become the go-to place for creating Web sites too. Last year, Google acquired a Silicon Valley startup, JotSpot, which has many web site tools. The goal is to make Google a place for one stop shopping. Google wants people to think Google when it comes to the web.I think competition is good.
This is perhaps why Microsoft is trying to buy Yahoo for $40B but the deal did not go through, at least not yet. The difference between Microsoft’s program and Google’s, is that Microsoft applications are installed in personal computers while Google applications are accessible via the web. Sounds like Google may have a more convenient edge here.
It’s interesting to see where we will be 6 months from now. What ever happened to Netscape?
