Managing Networks

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如图是今天Tom老师给我们上课Managing Networks时分享的一张slide. 其中是好莱坞Top25位顶级明星之间的网络图. 每条线之间表示他们之间有的联系,或是曾经合作过,或是夫妻(Pitt & Jolie),或是朋友等. 每条线的粗细表示了两人之间的关系亲密程度,或许是因为互相合作过多部电影,或许是因为夫妻,或许是因为各种场合认识相熟等. 而每个人各自点的粗细表现了他们各自在这张社交网络中的向心心. 这或许是今天课堂最活跃和最好玩的事情。因为人人都有一颗八卦的心,看到明星之间的社交网络图,而我们正身处于好莱坞边上。

比较有趣的是Brad Pitt和Matt Damon的社交向心性最强,其次是Ben Stiller,和Meryl Streep( Damn, 只看电影图开心的后果就是人家很开心的在讨论这些明星,你妹的我很多都没听懂,我估计只认识几个最普遍的….). 而Nicolas Cage,Will Smith 和Johnny Depp几乎在这张社交网络的边缘地带,也就是他们其实是游离在喧嚣的社交网络之中(至少在这些top25个人里面)。而相信大多数人对这三位的大名都非常熟悉,似乎与他们游离在社交网络外有些意外.

不过这Top25的super star里谁最有影响力呢? 是不是就像这张图显示的这样,越走在社交中心越与各种人都很熟的越有影响力呢?同学们纷纷开始猜测。不过答案似乎有些出乎人的意料(至少与图示有很大的差别),看似游离与社交图谱外围的Will Smith与Johnny Depp分别位居影响力排行榜的第一第二位. ( P.S. 以上抓取的数据与分析的基数设定等都是Tom老师基于的一些参数设定,所得出的结果)。

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Trust@US

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@UCLA Campus, took on the way to class this morning

Several days ago, I received my BOA credit card and check book from BOA after I opened the bank account there. I was very excited to receive my personal check book from the bank as this is maybe the first time in my whole life to receive my check book, which means I could write a check to someone else or to pay for shopping, is that sound cool for most people who may never see a check in their own country as they may be not a financial guy.

Well…that’s exactly just what I felt when I received the check book. So I just took a photo of my check book and posted on the Wechat ( a Chinese application similar to whatsapp or line). Just for a while, my friend on wechat sent me message to told me that it is dangerous to do that as people could use the information on the check book to pay their own bill……..only at that moment, I found that on the check book there are lots of personal information and also the bank information on it, just like, your name, address,rooting number, checking account number. But I still wondered if people could use the rooting number and checking account number to pay their own bill…..do that sound not logical..as whenever you write a check to other people, they will know the information, how could you make sure the information wouldn’t spread or you would never lose your check. If such dangerous, why in US, the bank still keep the check and people in U.S. still love to use checks.

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Marketing mini course

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今儿的marketing课程也挺有趣的,老师给了一个纸盒,给了写饼干,就要求我们每组做一个presentation如何在学校内销售饼干。然后就随便我们热火朝天的讨论开了,我觉得这样还挺好玩的,虽然每次都感觉开始乱糟糟,不过总都会在最后大家达成一致,然后分工开始准备各自部分,然后时间到了便上台去讲。一到讲卖东西,大家似乎都很开心的介绍各自的产品如何的好,大家比昨天而言似乎状态更好了一些,在课堂更加的放得开了,也更加的能够主动的去表现。我觉得自己也有所进步,虽然我的语言表达能力还需要有提高。不过我也主动的会回答老师的问题,主动提供自己的想法。我觉得每天又一点进步就是已经不错了.

下课回到房间,左弄又弄的有些迷糊了,就又出门跑步了。哎,洛杉矶这么好的天气,不跑步真是太浪费了呀,现在这里八点太阳才完全落下。沿着学校老兵路一直跑到落日打到,然后再沿着落日打到跑到westwood 南下,大概跑了半个学校的距离吧,改天有空可以围绕整个学校跑一圈,估计得一个半小时样子了. 不过沿路风景不错,路上跑步的人也不少。关键这儿跑步不用担心吸入啥东东.

晚上回来再学校边上买了韩国餐馆的豆腐汤和米饭,花了我9.5 刀,真心有点小贵,不过味道还不错哦,热乎乎的豆腐汤,米饭超大量,都没吃完,留着明儿继续吃. 我估计以后买个电饭锅弄弄米饭还是挺不错的。随便买点蔬菜炒炒便好,否则还真心吃的不健康又贵呢~~~~(>_<)~~~~ .

今天晚上似乎又要挑灯夜读了。有个关于星巴克的case需要熟悉,明天上午大家要讨论并初步定出方案,周日的时候就要提交;有个personal presentation需要准备,下周一就要讲,要小准备一下; 还有Resume需要更改,maybe tomorrow; 还有下周的group presentation资料也要看,以及正式开学的professor已经让我们看材料了… lots of thing to do on the list…..

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Busy days begin

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Daily class for IPO begins, I feel there are lots of reading material to read before class, even the IPO professor told us that it is only 1/3 or eve 1/5 of the whole study load we will have to face after September, when the fall quarter begins.

For the second day of IPO, there is a Ice breaker session in the morning. We play a game named Paper Launcher Machine. Every team received a bag of materials and an instruction to build a Paper Launcher Machine that could automatically throw the paper away, the farther, the better. It is an interesting competition, after all, I have not do such kind of handcrafted game for years and it really need some creativity. At first, our team even don’t know how to set up a machine and what’s the modle of the machine. Well, brainstorm together with teammembers under pressure always works. We finally chose an simple model that’s easy to build and launch paper. It works and we win the game. Sometimes you can not find a perfect solution for a problem, there is no enough time or no enough environment, find a solution that works best. Simple maybe is the best.

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Yesterday afternoon, we just got a quick start about marketing and the professor gave us a brief introduction about what marketing is, 3C/4P and some concept like that. Well…there is also some reading task assigned to us, and we are required to finish the reading before tomorrow’s class. Maybe in the future, not far away, I will spend lots time reading all those English materials, it really consume time with my Chinese thinking style brain and my poor English.

Back to today, there is no class this morning, so I went to the Finacial Aid office to sign the Eli Lilly Loan.

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This afternoon, the class is Speaking, Listening and Writing skill in English. I have to say that it’s more interesting and interactive than the marketing class, given that Professor Eleanor have more than 40 years teaching experience. It’s nature I think. The young professor just need time to improve. There is a five minutes group presentation after 15 minutes disussion about a topic on the give newpaper. I found myself still ve very nevers speaking while facing many people. I watched my speaking video back at home and I know there are lot’s place I can improve, and I think that’s why I am here. I am here to find the gap there I still have time and chance to improve and better prepare for my next several decades of my life and career.

Don’t be afraid, try your best and go Monster!

P.S. Sometimes, I wil feel that I am such a kind of backing to my middle school: A totally new environment and costly tution. The most important is A Chance to Change My life. And I think it will as my middle school change my life too.

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UCLA Anderson IPO First Day

IPO means International students Pre-Orientation

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下午四点终于在Anderson D301 开始了本次IPO的 Opening. 见到参加本次IPO的二十多位来自不同国家的同学. 其实对于不同国家的实际情况是除了一位来自Brazil的同学外,其他所有的26位同学都是来自亚洲:China(11 including 2 from TW),Japan ( 4),South Korea(8), Thailand(3). 听说已经比以往几年的情况已经相对均衡了,去年中国学生只来了两位,主要都是日本的学生。不过亚洲学生参加IPO作为绝对主流也不足为奇,或许亚洲学生本来就更积极进取参加这类提前的培训活动,另一方面,亚洲学生在英语口语方面总体来说确实比欧美学生要有些距离,真的要完全应付新环境的挑战,并不是每个人都是信心满满,能够提前来参加学习和适应,也能够提前与不同的同学先认识建立革命友谊,也不失为一种不错的方式.

第一天就是简单的自我介绍,然后就是reception 吃东西聊天了。在吃饭闲聊的时候初步认识了不同的同学,虽然名字估计一时难以记住,有个别记住了。不过发现这样的break,边吃小吃边饮料or啤酒,站着轮换着和不同的同学瞎扯,互相介绍介绍,然后开开玩笑还挺不错的。毕竟都是亚洲的面孔,尤其日韩的和中国的文化根基的相似性更强,所以很容易大家便直接扯上了说说笑笑。第一天感觉下来还不错,挺开心的。不过已经有人知道我nickname Monster了,已经直接叫我Monster了,估计我的Monster又要开始在Anderson慢慢播开了. 不过今天查了下寿姓的仿西方姓氏原来和我之前猜的一样:Show.  Monster Show 酷毙了(^o^)/~. 不过俺滴口语真心需要提高了,俺自我介绍的时候有些紧张,说完坐下脸热汤热汤的…你妹的…我滴口语啊…不过在瞎扯的时候倒不是很有影响,我滴Monster Body language可以协助我沟通Winking smileOpen-mouthed smile

P.S. 今天晚上终于收到BOA的正式银行卡了,另外还有一份信说明BOA信用卡也已经approved。虽然额度只有900USD,不过应该也已经够我用用的啦!

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美帝第一次骑自行车

前几日与二年级的学长学学姐聚餐照如下!学长学姐都非常热心,貌似上一届几乎所有Anderson的中国学生实习都找了留美的,这样看来似乎想要留美实习还是可能性非常高的。不过感觉聊下来,UCLA貌似在Stanford与Haas重压之下在加州Tech方面的就业确实不是太理想,如果要继续走Tech路线,确实需要自己在努力想办法了. 来聚餐的几乎没有做Tech相关行业的.

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言归正传,暂时还不想买车,一来预算有限,而来车技也不太行,三来笔试路考都还没有搞呢。不过Weyburn到Anderson的路程还真是有些鸡肋,如果步行,二三十分钟;如果公交需要等待,下车也还需要步行,还得掐点;如果开车也是非常近的,取车停车也够烦的。综合下来暂时骑自行车是个不错的选择,也可以趁还没太忙之前骑车在周围晃晃,了解下环境和看看周边的风景.

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在CSSA UCLA 联系了一辆破旧的二手自行车,在University Village,乘坐公交12路车去取车。车主夫妇都是浙江老乡,来没很多年了,都已经拿到医学院的博士后学位,要准备去芝加哥工作了,临行前卖点杂物。车子看去还不错,不过骑出小区便开始担心了。或许是他们很久很久没有骑行的缘故,链条已经非常生锈,车胎橡胶已经有些发酥裂开。原本期待能够坚持一两个月也就OK,到时估计也很难用得上. 岂料在骑回来的半路上前路就在马路上当着众多汽车的面给爆胎了, 引得路人纷纷将头转向了我. 默默的一路推着自行车回宿舍。

所幸告知车主后,人家愿意将15美元退换给我,并将车让我留着。有空去看看Target的轮胎多少米一个,如果不是太贵,就自己买了自己组装换个台继续可以用。

P.S. 明天下午便开始IPO的Opening了,估计开始不会像这些天一样闲的蛋疼了吧,每天都不知道干了些神码事情。

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随性的老美

之前便有所耳闻老美有些随性, 最近打交道下来,确实并没有言过其实. 就拿与AT&T,美国最大的通信运营商之一来说,最近几天与他们打交道便有所感触.

或许由于AT&T与UCLA之间有些合作协议,UCLA的国际学生如果没有SSN卡号可以办理签署AT&T两年的协议,而可以免除每人500美元的押金。在学校给的官方邮件里也说明了不需要交纳500美元的押金。而一般的外籍人士,如果没有SSN号,办理号码或者签署协议需要交一定的押金。在过去的几天中,由于每天有不同的同学到学校,今天family plan已经增加到七个人,然后再打交道的几天当中却深刻感觉到老美的随性.

由于我们办理的是AT&T share plan/ family plan, 可以选择不同的套餐,理论上增加到10人,平摊费用。而在过去的几天中,其实每次我们言明的信息都是一致的,但是从AT&T工作人员对于政策的反馈都是不一样的.

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洛村落脚

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到洛杉矶第三天,终于安顿好,落脚在研究生宿舍,Weyburn Terrace。明天就去参加F1 Check In session了。还是有点小时差的反应,这两天每天早上都是当地时间八点中准时醒了,尽管我设的闹钟都是九点钟.

第一天下了飞机,感觉洛杉矶有点小破嘛. 机场也有点小破,机场边还是黄泥路,还可以有小车自由行驶。基础设施果然不及我大天朝的,一路从机场开到Westwood 也基本一般,感觉确实有点大农村的样子,而且房子也都是小低层的为主。

第一天下午就去搞定了银行开户,选择了BOA,把汇票和cash基本都存在了账户里. 然后去AT&T搞定了Iphone5,弄了family plan. 米国这儿电话可真心不便宜哇. 然后就在学校附近晃点。

第二天中午去学校办了学生卡BruinCard,理了光头小挫样,UCLA的学生证就光头照了,你妹的. 然后乘坐BOA门口的BigBlue Bus 去了Santa Monica海边小晃了下。在公交车上表示时差感剧烈,竟然睡着了,还把拿手里的眼镜都掉地上了. 海边风很大,挺冷的。洛杉矶这边似乎只有中午和下午阳光明媚时比较暖和,早晚的时候都是凉飕飕的,穿件T-shirt是无法御寒的。

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今天早上终于算是Housing Check in,住进了未来一年的房间. 还和大家去附近的超市晃了晃,不过俺是木买东西。感觉这边的东西都好贵,一算成RMB简直就是无法直视。木有工作的孩纸还要花美元表示伤不起,从此要精打细算过日子了。而且附近中餐巨少,前几天基本都是汉堡,披萨之类的。今天中午才看到一家中餐店,吃了个套餐盒饭,10刀。不过量很足,肉也多,很容易吃饱. 哎….我的阶段就是停留在温饱阶段么?

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Weyburn Terrace边上就是个为国捐躯的老兵墓地,一排一排的墓碑覆盖了整个小小坡。今儿傍晚和同学两人绕着墓地去小跑了一圈。这儿天很蓝,空气超好,跑步不伤肺,以后有空可以多去跑跑了。

暂时算是在学校安定下来了。市场还木有完全到过来,只能先记点流水账。等俺正式安定了,再可以写写详细的流水账哈哈.

有图有真相!

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