Just an FYI. Paul Masson, Adjunct Professor at Rotman, was on TVO 2 weeks ago and gave a lecture on the failure of the IMF. The show page and the lecture audio are available from here. I haven’t listened to it yet but I plan to in the next few days.
Not much else going on.
Microsoft Corp (NasdaqGS:MSFT - News) is talking to Facebook about an investment in the company that could value the fast-growing social network at $10 billion or more, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Monday.
I’d guess that it’s another one of those crazy rumors that someone is spreading to make a couple of bucks today (MSFT on Google finance). IMHO there is no way that Facebook is worth that much and Microsoft can’t be that crazy. I did a back of the envelope type valuation of Facebook a few months ago to try to give myself some perspective on some of the crazy valuations that others were throwing around. The range (although large) in my mind was between $2 billion and $4.5 billion…
Howard Lindzon appears to agree but I’m not too sure about the whole buy RIMM thing. MSFT and RIMM don’t seem to be very compatible companies given that: RIMM operates with very few layers of management vs Microsoft’s craziness, RIMM works with a lot of non-microsoft technologies (J2ME, lotus, and Linux) vs Microsoft’s “not built here syndrome,” and from my personal experience the cultures would just clash.
RIMM’s current stock price makes it a pretty expensive proposition with so many risks facing successful integration… then again, crazier things have happened.
My apologies for totally neglecting this blog. Second year so far has been considerably less hectic than first. Half the hour of classes, twice the time to finish a semester/quarter of material. Here are my thoughts on my classes:
I’ll try to post something more substantial in the future but I’m just enjoying the relaxed lifestyle a little too much right now. 
The orientation camp is over and I think it went pretty well. The events I ran went off without a hitch. Today (Monday) I’m still yawning at 10am—oh so tiring.
Glad to have met so many of you first years, please feel free to fire me an e-mail, post a comment, or harass me in person if you need anything. I’ll post photos in the next week or so but my laptop is on the frits right now so I can’t download any pictures off my camera. Also, a huge shout-out to the PSO people at the Casino night. Thanks for coming out. 
I have today off and am trying to use it effectively. The to do list is:
I have decided (again this year) to avoid most info sessions. I’m still not sure if I’m shooting myself in the foot but: there are so many to go to, I don’t like fighting with my classmates for “air time” with the recruiters, and I’m not sure how effective I’ll be at saying “something that catches the recruiters attention” rather than “something that turns them off.” For example, I was told by the recruiter from RIM that asking about the NTP case is a way to get short listed into the “doesn’t get it” or “is asking canned questions” pile. She also says she remembers only “a coupple” of names out of hundreds. It’s hard to stand out in such a talented crowd that I think I’d rather just play video games. Counter arguments?
In other news, I found out that the school used one of my blog postings at the taste of the MBA. This is both wonderful and scary at the same time.
p.s. I’m thinking of giving a first year access to post their experiences on my blog. This will allow you (the reader) to see all the changes that Rotman has made between the last two years. The school is really great at listening to feedback and continuingly improving the program; I think it’s important to show this. Anyone have any thoughts on this? Any first year student interested in using my blog as a platform to share your experiences? Why?