Final Project: Prezi

What I learnt from COM 212 class..

Thanks, Prof. Lockman!


What is Your Online Identity? On Prezi

What is your online Identity? on Prezi

Top 20 college investments

The Wall Street Journal published an article on college as an investment for the future, with top 20 rankings.

They compared the cost of college — tuition and fees, room and board, and books and supplies — and the estimated average payment for that graduate plus four-to-six years to compensate for time spent in school.

Top 15 schools ranked in this article were all private school, which costs almost $200,000 to attend for the four years.

There is only one public school, ranked as top 16, which is University of California Berkeley.

This gets me thinking that only those who are able to afford the private colleges have the chance to invest on their future. (Exaggeration, yes. But still holds somewhat truth.)

Let me know what you think!


Top 20: Colleges That Offer Best Return on Investment

Tokyo, The Most Expensive City

Yahoo Finance posted an article last Saturday, saying that Tokyo reclaims to be the world's most expensive city.

This rank is based on a combination of 128 goods, including food, daily goods, clothing and entertainment. However, rent, utilities and school fees are not included in this list.

I was personally surprised at this result, for that my expectation would have been NYC or Paris.

And more surprisingly, 4 out of top 10 most expensive cities are in Japan. Tokyo, Nagoya, Yokohama and Kobe.

I happen to be from one of these cities, Kobe, and I currently live in Tokyo.


If you are curious about this result, take a look at the article or a blog that writes .


The World's Most Expensive Cities 2010 by Yahoo Finance

EasyExpart.com blog post on the World's Most Expensive Cities

VoiceThread Review

VoiceThread is a multimedia slide show that holds pictures, documents including excels and powerpoint, on which people can comment and exchange their ideas. And not just the comments, but you can also record your voice to express your thoughts.

I find VoiceThread exciting and useful way to exchange ideas, for the personal use or the educational use.

I found myself more focused on the VoiceThread presentation than on the regular powerpoints. It worked better to see the image as I read the texts, rather just only reading the informative essays.


For my own project, I decided to make a VoiceThread on "Engrish," using the image of English with the intention to have people giggle watching the slides, and also think about English and FLA classes again.

Hope it did. And I would love to hear your thoughts on my VoiceThread
Thanks!


Engrish Voice Thread

Are You an Early Adopter??

Ipad came out in Japan finally on May 28th, a few weeks after its first sale in the states.


Did you wait in line for hours and hours to buy an Ipad, knowing that Apple would probably produce something better and cheaper in the next few months?

If you did, you are one of the early adopters.

These early adopters are considered irrational buyers in economics. However, for business managers, they are essential consumer targets.

The study of consumer behavior says that early adopters are not affected by cost-benefits reasoning. It is more of their identity associations with new products and attention getting behaviors.

Jay Pil Choi, a professor at Michigan State University, describes early adopters as pioneers, with the comment, "If all consumers are striving for value and take the approach of 'wait and see,' the new products will never be able to take off much longer to succeed in the marketplace."

So without these people who wait in a line for hours and hours, IPad would have never made it in the market.

So marketing managers better appreciate these people, and maybe consider giving them a cup of coffee while they wait in line.

Applause, Please, for Early Adopters

Another Prime Minister....

First, I apologize for not blogging for the past week with mid terms and all.

However, this morning's news that Hatoyama Prime Minister resigned came as a shock. And I've decided to blog about it.

It came as a shock since after the conference with DPJ Secretary-General Ozawa, Mr. Hatoyama came out with a smile and a thumb up last night, giving us an impression that he is not going to resign.

However, looking back, Mr. Hatoyama was a pro at changing his mind every second.

There was a big reaction last month when he suddenly decided to push back the due date for Futenma battle to June, when his claim was to settle down this issue in May.

After Mr. Hatoyama, Mr. Kan is most likely to be elected as DPJ head, which should be decided at the meeting on June 4th.

Now what is remarkable is how Japanese prime ministers cannot seem to hold onto their position long enough.

Mori Prime Minsiter 387 days

Koizumi Prime Minsiter 1980 days

Abe Prime Minister 366 days

Fukuda Prime Minister 365 days

Aso Prime Minister 358 days

And now Hatoyama Prime Minister made a record of 259 days.

This fact that Japan has had 100 different Prime Ministers in the past few years is upsetting and this fact screams to the world how Japanese government is going through a corruption.

My hope for whoever becomes next Prime Minister, is to hold on to his/her seat for at least 2 years no matter what happens.

Taking responsibilities does not mean quitting and leaving all the mess to someone else.

WSJ Hatoyama resigns

Equity Analysts Have Been Overoptimistic for a Generation

According to McKinsey research, equity analysts have been estimating the growth rate almost too 100% high for the past quarter century.

This result only includes American stock markets, however, I found this article interesting for that I will be working as a junior Japanese equity analyst after graduation.

If anyone knows the deal about Japanese market, let me know.

Equity Analysts Have Been Overoptimistic for a Generation