Joshua van Aalst’s blog

Well it’s been a long time. Too long in fact. I’ve been very busy with my move to Boston and haven’t had a lot of spare time to write. That being said here goes…

Windows Vista, Dell XPS m1330 and Microsoft Office 2007

My new Dell XPS m1330  laptop arrived late last week with Windows Vista service pack 1. I have heard mixed reviews. 2 senior software developers I know said they have it and love it. Others say they hate it. After using Vista for 1 week, I have formed my own opinion… I like it.

The new search in the windows (start) menu is my favorite feature. You can type in almost anything and Windows will intelligently find it on your machine. A directory, a program, a document you used last. Very handy. I also found that file copying and other actions are a bit faster. Another thing i like is the centralization of user data into one directory. This makes backing up or synchronizing with multiple machines a lot easier.

Other than that, I must add at this point, the smaller form size and light weight 13inch screen XPS m1330 notebook is a blessing. It is easier to carry around and I can open and use it in many places that I couldn’t previously use a laptop, such as on buses and planes, where seat room is cramped. I am also loving the SD card reader. It is more convenient and faster for transfering photos too and from my laptop.

Onto Microsoft Office 2007. I am loving the new Outlook. It is great that on every screen you can see information from other parts of Outlook. For example, when reading mail you can see upcoming tasks and calendar appointments without having to switch to the tasks or calendar section. I have also been making use of the new task categorization and the functionality to easily convert an email into a task.

MyEclipse

MyEclipse is a *supposed* full featured Eclipse IDE which pre-packages and tests many of the popular plugins for various common software development tasks. Let me say that it is RUBBISH. Do not use it. It is slow as all hell. It crashes all the time, and I mean all the time. About 3 or 4 times a day for me. I am not alone either, everyone on my floor who is using it (about 8 people) are having the same issues.Use Netbeans instead.

Jumper

Last night I watched a movie Jumper. Jumper was in the cinemas in 2007 and received some of the worst reviews from critics of any big budget Hollywood film that year. It isn’t so bad, in fact I enjoyed many parts of it. If you are a Sci-Fi or Vampire fan then watch this movie.

I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Melbourne. Originally I booked Melbourne as a getaway to forget about not being admitted to MIT, but only a couple of days after I booked the flights and accommodation … I got accepted!

Donna and I headed down there on Friday morning and booked into a nice little apartment called St James on Darling St (Note: make sure you stay in their apartment building and not the hotel). We then proceeded to indulge in shopping on Chapel St and the surrounding areas.  In the evening we met up with a very good friend of Donna’s and went to numerous clubs and bars, which was a lot of fun. The only downside of the evening was being door listed with free drinks to a hot new venue, called Boutique, and arriving to be told our door list and drinks were only valid till 10:30. Hmm….

On Saturday we got up fairly late and did a little wandering in the city and also on Brunswick St. I think the store of the day still has to go to Ministry Of Style. If you haven’t been there then make the effort. They design plenty of their own clothes and they are very raver/punk chic.

Saturday evening we met up with a good friend of mine and his girlfriend at the Casino. After having a very nice dinner and a couple of drinks at the bar, Donna went to the bathroom. Next minute we see her run out and security jump from all angles. Apparently she had been in the toilet cubicle and hung her hand bag on the back of the door. Whilst in there a young blonde girl leaned over the toilet door and grabbed her bag! Donna rushed out, after her and screamed “Their’s no money in there you moron. I’ve already lost it on the pokies!”. The girl seemed startled by this and started rummaging through Donna’s handbag. She grabbed my new camera. At this point Donna caught up with her and crashed tackled her in the hallway outside the bathrooms. The girl screamed back “Stop taking my stuff!”. Un-phased Donna grabbed her handbag, my camera and ran to security. What an ordeal. Luckily we got everything back. The only odd part was even though security caught the girl and noted her details, when we reported the incident to the police they said they couldn’t do anything. It was her word against Donna’s. Even though they noted that the girl had numerous prior reports and charges against her. So much for reasonable doubt.

All in all though it was a very enjoyable weekend away and a nice break prior to my MIT preperation and move to Boston.

Results are in. I got wait listed to MIT. Obviously I am delighted to have reached this stage of the application process, but at the same time disappointed that I have not been accepted. I felt I fitted extremely well with MIT. The alignment of their specialties (e.g. Entrepreneurship, Technology and Leadership) and my interests and experiences. In particular the ability to study an MBA focused on becoming a successful Entrepreneur. Their social scene, their location, their community, their everything. Yes I am a bit upset. That being said. You never know dreams can still come true with intelligence, hard work, effort and dedication. Heck, you never know, I could be called up off the waiting list.

…. so in the meantime where am I at?

“Dreams can come true”.

It’s time to stop waiting for results to be announced and start doing. It’s time to press the play button and swing into proactive action and chase those dreams. I will go to MIT. I will achieve a B*school education, experience. If it’s not this time round then I have learnt an incredible amount and will try again next year. I feel I have more to offer than what I displayed in my current application. For one, I believe, that I am capable of a much higher GMAT score.

… but thats not all. It’s time to press play on my own personal achievements. I want to build up the website to achieve a whopping 100,000 unique visitors per month. I want to donate a Josh and Friends annual scholarship to the Australian Institute of Music. I want to join a swimming squad. I want to build my team at the Investment Bank to become the leading Java development team in the group.

I want, I want, I want.

Well, what am I waiting for? nothing.

It’s time to achieve.

Having just blogged about my journey of discovery into what drives me, I thought I’d share 5 phrases that I believe sums me up:

1) Only the best is good enough.

If you are going to do something then do it well. Their is no point watching someone else doing something really well and thinking “I would like to do that”. If you are already investing your time and money into something you may as well strive!

2) You only live once.

As the point says; You only live once. Make the most of every minute and don’t let life slip you by without attempting your goals!

3) I see great beauty in great achievement.

Their is something about achievement that drives me. I admire achievement in others even if I do not understand the medium itself e.g. photography (looks in Annie’s direction).

4) Nothing is unattainable.

If someone else can achieve something then more often than not their is no reason why you can’t also achieve that same something. Don’t throw a goal away because you perceive it to be too hard or unattainable.

5) I live to produce and not to consume.

An extension of; If you only live once make the most of it. I feel that by producing and watching others enjoy and consume my productions I am able to get added satisfaction from my life. This can be through hosting a free website community to foster the underground dance music scene or creating exciting events for people to enjoy.

So what am I going to do now that I have discovered the above? Ensure I follow my dreams

As I am simply no good at keeping secrets, the cat is out of the bag and I have applied to 3 fantastic US MBA schools.

Having recently completed my 3rd application something struck me as a little odd. A prominent component of the application is to showcase key achievements. Being someone who is driven by achievement I started to feel a little lost. Where had the year 2007 gone. Why had I achieved so many wonderful things leading up to 2007 but very little in that year itself. I’ll tell you where it went. I spent 4 to 5 months studying for the GMAT (General Management Aptitude Test entrance exam) and then 2 months focusing on my 3 applications. Other than my work in the Equity Markets group of Macquarie Bank and my swimming I had very little time left.

After initially feeling a little lost and in limbo, I realised something important. I did achieve in 2007, something very important indeed. I spent 6 months focusing on my personal aspirations. Delving in to find out what I really want and enjoy, and discovering where I need to focus my energies to get there. I now feel ready to move forward with my achievements in the knowledge that I will apply my self more efficiently.

Morale of the story: Never feel negative about donating a chunk of time to follow your dream. You never know what positives will arise.

For those of you who haven’t heard of an RTS game it refers to the genre of computer games known as Real Time Strategy gaming. Games such as Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Command and Conquer and Dawn of War.

Originally when network play was launched, over a decade ago, it was for players to increase their enjoyment of the games. That seems to have all but dissappeared. In today’s heavily competitive online computer gaming world. If you dare play online without being properly prepared, with hours of practice game time invested, you will find yourself loosing comprehensively. When you combine this with the way online gaming ladders work, which ensure that when you win you play someone harder, it compounds the amount of times you loose, and no one finds loosing enjoyable.

Surry Hills is now in dire need of cafe’s. If you don’t know Surry Hills then let me describe it… Surry Hills is Sydney’s super chic funky cafe loving suburb populated with upper to upper middle class yuppies. I think an understated generalization would be to state that a vast majority of residents would even work out of their local cafe’s.

… but on Sunday it is a war zone. A number of coffee shops are closed. This coupled with the fact that a larger number of people stay in the area than during the working week. The few coffee shops that are open are packed, as supply totally overwhelms demand. If you take a stroll down to any of the remaining open coffee stores you will find hour long queues with more people waiting outside the store than seats that are within.

We need more coffee stores! If you are a budding entrepreneur then take a look at opening a coffee store in Surry Hills. Their certainly is the demand to warrant it!

I don’t know if St George Bank customers read some of the material that arrive with their monthly bank statements but this month’s included quite a few fee hikes!!

1) St George Bank Freedom/Savings accounts monthly account service fee moves up to $7!
2) Overseas cash withdrawal fee moves up to $5 per transaction.
3) Their are now no free withdrawals for non St George Bank ATM’s in all Australian states other than NSW and Victoria.

Moral of the story. Don’t throw away all of the St George Bank material you receive as their may be some nasty surprises in store.

Just a quick note that I have also been blogging here:

http://www.joshandfriends.com.au/forums/blogs/joshua-van-aalst/

I tend to put small thoughts in that blog and larger thoughts in this one.

Cheers,
Josh

Sorry it’s been forever since I blogged last so here is an update.

I have been working ridiculously hard of late. Primarily applying for top American B*schools in particular their MBA programs. It has been an interesting time preparing the applications as they have provided an opportunity to spend time looking at what I have accomplished in my life and reflecting and focusing on my life thus far. What I have enjoyed, what I haven’t enjoyed e.t.c. e.t.c.

Anyway I am almost out of the application zone. I only have one more school to apply for and then I am done and will move into that very nervous phase of waiting to see if I get an interview/excepted.

In addition to the applications I have also been working ridiculously hard at launching the new website www.joshandfriends.com.au which I have done in conjunction with Maximillian Bartel of Indiquo. It is a fantastic new site and shifts the site from being an event managers website to being a 100% social networking dance music website. I believe the first of a kind. You can litterally do anything! Add news items to the front of the site. Add polls, competitions. Post a classified, sell tickets, list a want to buy. Host your download with us. Create photo albums and upload pics. Write a blog and of course list your events. It’s all there.

On the website note, the current site is only the 1st phase of the new site and we have a very exciting completion to the new site being implemented late January.

Other than that I have been approached by several nightclub venues and I feel it is now the right time to head back into the arena of dance music events. I will be having serious discussions with them early in 2008 and should have some news to post shortly after.

Enjoy,
Josh