On Oct 5, 2007 6:12 PM, Alan Galiwango wrote:
> Hi *****,
>
> Today when I was heading to my car, I found those words in the picture
> scribbled on it.





>
> The last time I drove it was last weekend so I have no idea who or what time
> this could have happened.
> Needless to say I was very upset.
>
> I called NUPD to report the incident and they informed me that since it
> happened on Hemenway Street, I would have to call Boston Police. I have not yet
> called Boston Police.
>
> I just wanted to let you know in case anything else happened.
> I don't really want to make a big deal out of it because it could have been
> a drunk person thinking it's funny, however, I'm worried that my particular
> car was singled out and those particular words of Hate were used.
>
> --

Apparently there was another hate crime in my dormitory Stetson West.
This time not on my floor but in the bathroom of the floor of the only other black RA, Jordan in the building.

Someone drew a swastika in his bathroom and wrote WP under it (White Power).



Since its adoption by the Nazi Party of Adolf Hitler, the swastika has been associated with fascism, racism (white supremacy), World War II, and the Holocaust in much of the West. The swastika remains a core symbol of Neo-Nazi groups, and is used regularly by activist groups to signify the supposed Nazi-like behavior of organizations and individuals they oppose.

I have just come from a floor meeting with the entire building whereby the Campus Police was also present and they addressed the issue. From the Police report, there have been similar and even worse incidents in other dormitories (White Hall) and some people have even been arrested.

At this point, I could not be happier to be graduating and leaving all this hate behind.

News
http://radiokatwe.com/news.htm
www.monitor.co.ug
www.newvision.co.ug

Fun stuff
http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1633488_1633608_1633638,00.html
http://rossoscarknight.blogspot.com
www.going.com
www.hopstop.com
www.simpleweather.com
www.campusrec.neu.edu/hours.htm
Wiki - www.wetpaint.com
Edit pics - www.picnik.com
Books - http://www.blurb.com/book/pricing


Music
www.pandora.com
www.last.fm
www.imeem.com
http://songza.com/


Business
www.mymoneyblog.com
Business Plan - www.hbs.edu/entrepreneurship/bplan/findteam.html
TingaTing - http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/2002/10/21/community.html?page=2
www.moneygram.com
www.bankofamerica.com
www.citizensbank.com
www.us-immigration-attorney.com/skilledworker.htm


Education
Javascript book online -
http://proquest.safaribooksonline.com/0596101996/jscript5-PREFACE-2#X2ludGVybmFsX1RvYz94bWxpZD0wNTk2MTAxOTk2L2pzY3JpcHQ1LUNIUC0x
backup files - https://mozy.com/
http://samples.gotdotnet.com/quickstart/aspplus/

I'm liking the new gmail colored labels...even though I had already installed a firefox extension that did the same thing, it's good that google has officially incorporated it into gmail. Good move.

Still haven't heard back from Microsoft...should I be worried? naah

Baja made is safe into town and we're painting Boston red. I have finals next week but f it, I'm taking this one week off. It's funny how someone grows on you. I've known this cat for 20yrs. That's a long time to have a friend that's not related to you. I mean I've known this guy longer than I've known many of my relatives..longer than I've known any of my siblings, isn't that crazy.
In kindergaten, we used to have sleep overs at each other's house. And ride the shower train. So when were sitting down discussing our current lives now, it was amazing to me. He's making a life for himself in Australia and here I am starting out life in the US.
Before he came to visit, I was worried abt what I would do to entertain him for a week.. but then chilling with him yesterday, the conversation just flowed easily like old times... you see when you've known someone that long, you don't even have to think about what to say cos it's just natural to be chill.
I'm glad Baja came to visit..now I gotta start scraping some change to make the return visti to Aussie!!

Company profile
Has-been search company trying to make a comeback
New management after it was bought out by Korean firm.

Interview process: They are currently testing a new recruiting strategy on college hires in order to try and get back in the game by hiring some young blood. The main college recruiter was Dan Simpson.


On Thursday October 18th, at about 6pm, I walked by the career services building to see a poster advertising an on Campus recruiting presentation by Lycos. Hmm, the name sounded familiar so I figured, why not check it out, after all there may be free food and drinks.

The first presentation was by a manager called Scott Money and it was exciting to hear about the new web technologies they were using at Lycos like LAMP and flash to make things MIX and GamesVille. Being a web guy, I figured, hey, this might be a fun company to work for. In addition, they had the obligatory schpill by the Northeastern Intern/Coop Student talking about how great the atmosphere is--> lax dress code and interesting projects that he's not even allowed to talk about.
For the record: I really get irritated when recruiters/employees of tech companies try to sell their companies by use of the line "I'm not even allowed to talk about this project.."
So what?? Then why in the world do you bring it up in the first place. I finally concluded that it's just a line to try make their job seem important.

But anyway Scott looked like a nice guy so I approached him and discussed the web work I had done with Tingating.com and various websites. I handed him my resume.

A week later I was invited for on campus interviews. There wasn't much technical detail in my particular interview with Scott. All we did was talk about the websites I'd created and technologies I used.
He asked me how I implemented the AJAX and I showed him.
For some reason, he seemed sleepy during my interview.I walked away from that interview with no opinion of how I did. However, I got the feeling that Lycos was not very selective with their candidates since they were expanding. I was banking on them as my fall back company.

On Site Interview
Needless to say I got invited to the on site interview together with my friends like Monisha etc. They are headquartered in Waltham.



Dan Simpson, the recruiting coordinator walked us through the arrangement for the afternoon. He also informed us that we would get to know the decision in a few days and that we were the first people to go through this recruiting drive.

A few notes from the in-house tour:
They had a kitchen with free soda and snacks.
They were planning on moving up to the 6th floor of the building.
They were also planning to get a LYcos dog at the company.
Two floors with cubicle style sitting. Very high walls separating people.
Very old Computers!!!! No flat screen monitors!!! Big Giant Old Monitors!! RED FLAG.. a technical company with old computers is definitely a red flag....it's like a dentist with outdated equipment..I wouldn't trust that kinda dentist to pull my teeth.
I could now see why Lycos fell off the market, they were slow to adapt to change, literally.

But anyhow, I kept an open mind and went for the interviews. The interviews went fine. They were an older looking bunch of engineers that had been there for a couple of years and laughed at a lot of their inside jokes.
No real technical questions. They seemed more interested in knowing what I thought about their new technologies. The hardest question I got was from a smart looking Sikh guy about analyzing the running time of Quick Search.

Diversity: I figured it must be a diverse and welcoming place since the Sikh was allowed to wear his turban and grow his beard so that was cool points for them.

Up to this point, I was seriously considering Lycos until what happened afterwards.

Post Interview
At the end of interview, Dan Simpson told us to drop him an email to tell him how we felt about the whole process and if we're still interested. He would get in touch with us within the week and let us know of the decision. He also noted candidates with other job offers on the table and promised to expedite the process.

One week later:
Still haven't heard from Dan so I drop him an email asking him of any word since I have some offers already on hand. He seemed not to like being pressured so he sent an email "Sorry, we are going to go with other candidates at this time."
My story is okay since I figured, maybe they just didn't see a fit. MY problem with them is with my friend MOnisha.

Monisha was heavily relying on Lycos for an offer. She thought she did well and was waiting anxiously for a call back. 3-4weeks later, nothing still. Mid November, Dan calls her back in for another interview with the Chief Technology Officer so I figured hey, at least she's going to get an offer soon.
A week later, still no word.
Monisha gets an offer from another company and she calls Dan to inform him of the pending offer. This was Dan's response;
"We are really glad to hear from you. At this point, we have not yet made a decision. However, if you need to, please go ahead and take up that other offer from XX company..."

Final words to LYCOS: Lycos, please pull up your socks via recruiting otherwise you may fall victim to the old saying "Let sleeping dogs lie" and lose out on the best talent.

Labels: Interview

Year in Review:
Highlights:
- Final year of CS Masters Program: Got all A's in all classes this year
- Successful job interview sessions: I had Employers to pick from for a change
- Successfully completed first major web site project: www.batizjewelry.com
- Enjoyable summer - Cape Cod + NH with Hussey family, lots of water sports
- Great year filled with adventures with girlfriend Sandra: a lot of salsa
- Family visit to Orlando Florida: exciting time with my family
- Landed Microsoft Interview plus on site interview and will hopefully get offer!
- Visited DC, Florida for first time
- Survived for an entire semester living in a dormitory with 18 yr olds: RA position
- Bonded with family esp. time with Arnold Celtics game, thxgiving, basketball


Still need working on:
- Spirituality: not yet there, I have many doubts. Would love to have some thing greater than me to turn to at weak moments
- Emotional status: Still considered unstable and confused with relationships
- Physically: not bad, work out regularly but need to step it up
- Personality: not as chill as I could be. I feel like this year was an uptight year, I could have enjoyed all the great moments even more. I did not soak in the moments as much as I could have. Still kinda take things too serious, relax a bit more.
Need to develop stronger character, need to be more decisive on issues.

It's Saturday and I've not yet heard back from Microsoft.
Did I mess up somewhere?
I thought I'd done well but maybe not after all.
I did get the puzzle questions right that were posed to me. Special thanks to the book-How to move Mt. Fuji
Maybe they did not like my personality. Maybe I did not ask enough questions. Maybe there was a more qualified candidate. But why didn't the recruiter at least call to let me know the results.
This really puts my apartment hunting plans on hold because I don't know where I'll be come January.
I haven't really pondered the thought of moving to Seattle. I really have grown to love Boston despite its cold weather and bad drivers. My family is here, aunt Justine, Jakob, Fred, Arnold, Uncle Ste etc. My friends, Girlfriend. I know all the hot spots. Right now it's great to be in Boston what with the big three in Celtics, the Pats, RedSox. What does Seattle have to offer? Rain?
But wait, I don't even have the job offer yet so let's not get ahead of ourselves.
Anyway, in the meantime, I'll stay content with the fact that at least I finally went to visit the Microsoft campus..something I only read about on blogs until this week. I got a taste of computer programmer paradise!

Labels: Interview, Microsoft, Redmond, Silverlight

Cab Ride
I have to give special detail to the shuttle ride because it was a unique experience. Microsoft has a whole bunch of white numbered eco-friendly Hybrid Toyota Priuses that act as shuttles. What’s cool about them is that on the dashboard you can actually see how much energy you are consuming as you drive and your mpg. Okay..I’m sure veteran hybrid owners are rolling their eyes at me right now but hey, it was my first hybrid experience.

Building 10
As I waited for Mike in the lobby, I tried to find out what development group this was from the receptionists but unfortunately, even they didn’t know. I felt like a little baby being thrown into the pool for the first time.
Mike finally arrived. He was a blonde dude who looked no more than late 20’s dressed pretty casual. He initially had assumed I was from Northwestern rather than Northeastern. I was like hey, no problem being mixed up with that. He noted that I had my knapsack said Remix on it (Boston Remix was a Microsoft Silverlight conference I attended in September thanks to Prof. Rasala). Those were some free brownie points for me as it turned out that this was the Silverlight team. We wasted no time jumping straight into the interview. He asked me to describe how I would deal with bugs with a fast approaching deadline. I jumped on the whiteboard and rattled my ideas away. I didn’t feel like I hit the crux of the issue at hand. Luckily, some colleagues came to pick up Mike for a meeting and I was off to my next interview. Mike ran to the next office to debrief with my next interviewer while I waited in his office. Btw, this was the usual after interview format after every interview. MS Interviewers share information with each other so that if ur messing up, they can drill down on ur weaknesses etc.

Mark
Initial impressions: looks like a nice guy, pleasant smile, decently dressed, likes star wars, lego and pinball.
Mark informed me that he would be taking me to lunch and we’ll discuss casually about my goals etc. I was great, I’ve made it to lunch... that was one of my initial goals.
On the way to lunch, we made note of the art on the walls. Mark told me of a running joke. Since MS buildings are all designed exactly the same, it’s easy to get lost and one has to memorize the art on the walls for directions.
The café was amazing. I ordered for Phad Thai. Mike told me that we were in one of the original Microsoft buildings, I was impressed. It truly felt like my college campus, but for older people. We sat down and chatted about Silverlight, flash, Microsoft and a whole lot of nerdy stuff that only ppl that love technology would enjoy. I found out that the Nike website is entirely flash. I got a chance to share my true opinions about what I thought of Silverlight good or bad. I felt at ease with Mark.
After lunch we went to Mark’s office where I showed him the website I had designed in the summer with flash for a client – www.batizjewelry.com We also talked about the difficulties I faced as a project leader. He then gave me a few situational puzzles like designing the APIs for an elevator. I blundered and jumped into the solution without asking enough questions. After confidently stating my solution, Mark showed me the many places I had made silly mistakes. I felt like a fool for making obvious errors.
We must have been deeply involved in conversation because it turned out that Mark had kept me overtime and gone into my next interview. I anxiously awaited in his office as he debriefed the next person. In my mind, I was merely excited that I had made it past lunch.
Anyway, more interview stories later… I gotta go and celebrate my 26th Birthday that’s coming up in a few hours.

Labels: Interview

Monday Nov 26th 2007:
Plan for day:
-Don't forget anything home, especially documents
-Leave on time, don't miss flight
-Maps, maps, maps
-Rent car on arrival
-Drive to Inn/Check in
-Test Drive to Google
-Final run through Interview Qns
-Early Dinner
-Iron Clothes for Interview / Set Alarm clock
-Get enough sleep


I'm feeling good this morning. Had a quick breakfast and my gal Sandra dropped me off at the airport.
Unfortunately, the flight from DC to Seattle was delayed. No problem, I'll the news.

Breaking news CNN-->Football player Taylor shot in his Miami Home
Other news: Most depressed States: Utah, Kentucky, etc Happiest States: NJ, Maryland blah blah blah

I turned my attention to ppl watching..it has always been a hobby of mine. I try to imagine what lives different ppl have esp. at the airports where you see ppl from all walks of life.

Oh my flight is here...it's boarding time.

I don't know if it's the subway lunch that I had at the airport that caused my stomach to turn, but my entire flight to Seattle was terrible. My ears hurt due to the pressure change. My stomach was tied in a knot, I felt like puking. Thankfully a cute chef movie was showing starring the beautiful Catherine Zeta Jones (http://movies.nytimes.com/2007/07/27/movies/27rese.html)

We finally land in Seattle at 5pm west coast time. My watch+phone are wrong ..so is my brain. I have a splitting headache, need to shower, need to take a dump, my stomach is growling..but I gotta keep moving, a lot still needs to be done tonight.
I confidently walk up to Hertz car rental like I was Bill Gates himself (it is a good feeling to rent a car when someone else is picking up the tab). Unfortunately, Hertz only had minivans left. Too bad. Moved on to Enterprise: they too were out of cars. Damn..there must be a lot of interview candidates like me!
I was finally lucky to find a car with Dollar car rental. The attendant's droopy eyes clearly explained why he didn't get too many customers. With a clearly disinterested tone, he gave me instructions to where I could pick up my rental. This no-name Dollar car rental was so ghetto that they did not even have parking in the airport so I had to take their shuttle to their garage about a mile from the airport. I finalized paperwork and drove off to my hotel in my new blue Mazda.

I have to commend Seattle drivers for their disciplined driving compared to Boston. That was about the only good thing about Seattle that evening. Otherwise, there was a heavy downpour! Seattle is #1 rain city. On top of that, due to my headache, I drove 10 miles in the wrong direction before getting back on track. The rush Hour traffic was terrible. Generally, trying to find my way to the Inn in an unfamiliar city with a splitting headache is never good.
After 1 1/2 hrs driving, I finally made it to Marriott Residence Inn.

I approached the front desk and informed them of my reservation.
- Last name?
-Galiwango G A L I W ....(In America, I always have to spell out my last name )
-Welcome Mr. Galiwango, here is your card. Your room is 430. Dinner will be served until 10pm. You can order for room service at any time. We also have a complimentary market place open 24/7 where you can pick up snacks and drinks if you wish. We will serve hot breakfast from 6:30 to 9am right there in the restaurant.
In addition to that, you have cable TV, free local calls and free wireless internet access .
All of this is taken care of by Microsoft.
-(Sweet) Oh thank you.
-Is there anything else?
-Nope that's all. Oh, Where's the elevator?
-Just around the corner. Have a nice stay.

I went up to my room. It was really nice and spacious, (will send pics).I immediately took a nice long shower and regrouped. Still have to drive to Microsoft to see where I'll be going tomorrow.

An hour later I was back to my room, ready to pass out. I had painfully managed to find my way to Microsoft headquarters and back. I just wanted to eat and sleep. I ordered for salmon to be brought up to my room...boy was it tasty..is it just me or do free things just taste that much better????
I check my email to see if my Microsoft recruiter emailed me info about which group I'm to interview with the next day. Nothing.
I wound down with some TV (Discovery Channel - lions hunting..my favorite).
I set my alarm clock and passed out.

It's 4am in Seattle and I can't sleep. My brain is still running on Boston time (it's 7am in Boston). On top of that, my headache is still persistent and my stomach is rumbling. Maybe I shouldn't have had that fish.
My phone rings and its mommy. She wishes me luck and as usual encourages me to put everything in God's hands.
I force myself back to sleep.


Tuesday 27 November 2007 : D-Day
Plan for day:
-Make it past lunch time
-Kick ass!

Alarm goes off at 7am.
Jump out of bed and do my get-pumped-before-a-big-day chant. I'm extremely excited. Here I am, interviewing with Microsoft. Who'd have guessed?
I Jump in the shower again. Review some linked lists and program code. Read over job description. Do I have everything ready??
I dress up. Do I have enough time??
I start to get nervous..Shit this is it...!! now or never! Say my prayers as mother said..I wonder why we humans become suddenly religious in times of need.
Snap out of it Gali, let's get moving.
Run down to get some breakfast. I don't eat too much though, don't want any stomach problems during interview.
Plan to get there an hour ahead of time, which was good cos traffic was terrible..again. Luckily it's not raining today.

I arrived at the dreaded Building 19 - Recruiting Building at 9:30am. The place was buzzing with anxious recruiters and nervous candidates. I sized up the fellow candidates....very diverse...kind of.
Candidates were mainly Indian, Asian and then me. One guy was wearing jeans and sandals..I figured he must be really confident in his other skills to wear that. Most people were business casual. NO SUITS!
The recruiters were welcoming and friendly and they encouraged us to play Xbox with them as we waited. They offered us coffee, snacks, water etc. (they had their own barrista for u coffee lovers).
The process: all of us are assigned to a recruiter who instructs you on which team/department you will be interviewing with that day and debriefs you before ur interviews.
My recruiter was Rose, a tall, blonde lady with a great smile. We discussed our backgrounds and cultures. She even told me abt her Indian bf who she couldn't marry cos he was betrothed to someone else....(just like you, I wonder how we even started talking abt this stuff on an interview day)
At about 10:45, I was sent off to Building 10 to meet Mike ...my first interviewer.....Interview Part II

Labels: Interview, Microsoft, Redmond, Silverlight