I’m more of a single player type gamer. I love to kick back with my favorite title and plough through missions and enjoy the gameplay. I would love to have friends come over, pick up a controller and share in the experience. For work or personal reasons I find myself shifting residence locations more often than I would like. These shifts and geographic locations render internet connections unreliable and that’s even if I can find them. If I can buy games online and on-demand that would be great. But only if I’m allowed to hang on to them and play with them without restrictions. These are pretty much what I’m looking for in a console.

Xbox Fan to “Xbox No Thanks”

I’ve been a Xbox 360 fan for more than half a decade now. The console was great (I had the ring of death once and even though I was without the console for a month, overall I thought Microsoft handled customer service well). Xbox Live was great (I’ve spent hours upon hours playing Halo online). Netflix and other frills were great too.  Kinect was an interesting add-on but I’m more of a FPS, RPG, racing gamer and so far the kinect does nothing to enhance or alter gaming in those genres. So I’m not interested. Used games from GameStop when needed. There was pretty much nothing to complain about. Microsoft seemed to know what it was doing and so imagine my excitement when news came out of a new console.  And then they drop the bombshell.

Even if you buy a disk you have to connect to the internet once every 24 hours. Otherwise you can’t even play the game. Thanks but it’s not practical for me. Used game restrictions. I don’t buy too many used games but it was good to have that option to try out some games I wouldn’t have paid full price for. Sure there are a couple of free games with the Live Gold. But that’s about all there was for gaming? Rest was about TV controlling and entertainment. Not what I’m looking for in a next generation gaming console.

Playstation is meh to “Holy Crap, have you seen PS4″

Honestly I had never found Playstation interesting. Xbox 360 came out earlier than PS3 so it got my money. Compared to XBOne, the PS4 is designed to, primarily, be a gaming device. Once that is done, the frills can begin. I’ve heard multiplayer used to be free with PSN, but now it requires PS+ which costs about as much as Live Gold. So while I understand some PS fans might be outraged by that, as someone about to move to the PS ecosystem it doesn’t bother me much. From what I can tell there are more perks to the PS+ (more free games to try out). And it’ll take a year or two for them to come up with the same level of servers as Microsoft. But thats ok, at least for now. Oh and there is backward compatibility through the cloud. I’m sure more details will come through but I love the option and I’ll take it.

So, PS4 does’t have the constant internet connection requirement. Great! No known used game restrictions, unless the publisher plays spoil sport. I can live with that. Pretty decent specs (compared to XBOne). Great. And then, there is the gaming catalogue. After all, there’s no point buying a console if you can’t get to play the games you like. So keeping in mind that my favorite games are in the FPS, GTA style, and a little bit of racing genres (more indie purchases to come in the next months) let’s look at the PS4 game catalogue.

Here is a more thorough list of known PS4 games from IGN.

And yes there is Last of Us (cloud based on PS4), Beyond 2 Souls, GTA V and Fallout 4 when it comes out. Great Scott, that’s a beautiful list of games I can experience on the PS4. And here is the kicker. The price? $399. That’s a full $100 less than the Xbox One.

Seriously, Microsoft, thank you so much for making my purchase decision this easy.

Search for “Best Post Apocalyptic Books” and you’ll consistently end up with lists featuring World War Z. When you read the book it’s not the usual experience you are likely to find in this genre. Heck, some don’t even categorize this book as “post apocalyptic”.

From what I could gather, there are 2 camps on WWZ :

1. This book is great
2. What the heck? It’s not even a linear storyline/narrative. Just a collection of stories.

Truth is they are both right. And that’s exactly what makes this book amazing.

World War Z is a collection of “interviews” taken by an agent from the “United Nations Postwar Commission” with survivors of the Zombie War. These interviews with people from all over the planet take you through the events, mindsets, geopolitical atmosphere, military strategy, survival tactics employed during  the Great Panic. And what makes this book so amazing is the sheer depth involved. Each character is so diverse, their emotions so viscerally laid out, the environment so detailed, there are even present-day events are portrayed in the past giving it an all-too-familiar yet eerie feel.

Most works in the post apocalyptic genre follow the formula. You know, the one where there is  a protagonist who finds himself in the middle of unforeseeable and unimaginable events, trying to survive through unsurmountable odds. World War Z doesn’t do that and yet manages to be a “edge of the seat” read.

Granted, this book isn’t for everyone. If you are the type of reader who wants to be hand held through a linear story line, this isn’t the book for you. But if you want the experience of being in the driver seat, piecing together the laid out events into one big motion picture experience in your head, then this is definitely a title you should read.

Before we dive in, let me say that I am a 2011 graduate from Hult International Business School from the Master of Business Administration program and the review here represents my opinion of the school. You should, by all means, look at other reviews and talk to other students who graduated from the institution before making this big commitment. Also, that piece of advice remains true for any institution and program in the world.

Why Hult

During the course of my study in Hult and my time away from work I have had a ton of people ask me why I picked Hult out of all the possible institutions better and worse out there. Here are the reasons why

1. Reputation – I have always wanted to get a higher degree from an institution that was quite well known. By the time I graduated Hult was ranked #27 best business school in the world! (http://www.hult.edu/about-hult/rankings)
2. 1 Year Program – Being out of the workforce, for me, was a big risk. Especially with the economy being the way it was, the longer you were out of the workforce, the worse off your chances were. So I wanted to pick a course that allowed me to get the education I wanted in the least amount of time possible.
3. Costs – Balancing out reputation and time, then came the issue of costs. With a 1 yr program you almost half your expenditure from reduced tuition fees and living expenses.
4. International Exposure – With the work environment becoming progressively global by the day, its an added advantage to have any kind of international exposure. My class of 60 had students from over 30 countries and Hult website says the student body comprises of students from over 80 countries!
5. Global Rotation Program – During the 1 year program, a student is allowed to rotate to up to 3 global campuses (if planned right). This gives an unbelievable wealth of fun and exposure not easily attainable elsewhere

With that out of the way, I am going to review Hult’s Dubai and San Francisco campuses which are the ones that I attended during the duration of my course. For each campus, I’ll review the Campus, Professors, Staff, Student Services and Career Services.

Hult International Business School – Dubai 

Campus

Now don’t get me wrong here – the Hult Dubai campus is by no means inadequate. In terms of location, its really in no-man’s land but it’s not exactly Hult’s fault. In Dubai, academic institutions have been asked to move to Dubai’s International Academic City and well that place quite hasn’t developed as anyone had hoped it would. Location aside, Hult occupies one half of the 7th floor in Block 10 and while relatively small has everything you need – breakout rooms, 2 huge classrooms, staff rooms, offices, lockers, mailboxes, video -conferencing room and there is even room for a Foosball table. I have read people complaining about the lack of Hult’s own library and other facilities and those complains are completely unwarranted. There is a well stocked common library available for those who wish to avail those services. Hult also provides access to online library resources so the physical one is redundant. The reason why Dubai get a B+ then is solely because of relative comparison with San Francisco.

Update: Hult has moved to a new campus. I’ve been to it personally and it is probably the best campus that Hult has all over the world. An update to this review is warranted and I’ll be working on getting it up soon.

Professors

Hult Dubai had some of the best professors – hands down! I thoroughly enjoyed almost every class that was taught and the professors had a big part to play in every one of them. Of course as in every institution there are one or two of those you wish never taught but at the end of the day you can only evaluate the overall academic experience and that was, in my opinion, worth every savings I poured into this investment.

Staff

The Staff at Hult Dubai – everyone from the Assistant Dean to the security guard were really friendly and were always there if you ever needed any help. Complaints, if any, were handled with the greatest level of professionalism and personal ones were treated with utmost discretion and at the end of the day you cannot ask for anything more.

Student Services

During the time I was in the Dubai Campus, student services was in a constant change of flux and people were coming in and out. But that isn’t the reason why Dubai Student Services gets this grading. Lack of communication with the students was the biggest drawback during the year. However, when they did organize student events, they were amazing!

Career Services

Currently, this is by far the biggest weakness of Hult. Student Services in Dubai was really ineffective and pointless. They did offer countless resume review sessions and a few good speaker series but while those are good student need to see career fairs and companies coming in to visit you and maybe at some point even hire a person or two and that makes things credible. Running resume sessions and mock interviews are essential but more focus should be given to other areas. Having said this, if you are one of those students who think Career Services should land you a job then the joke is on you! The role of Career Services in any institution is to get you in a position where you can then put your foot in the door. Everything else is/should/will be up to you.

Hult International Business School – San Francisco

Campus

Hult’s San Francisco campus opened in 2010 and just completed 1 year of operation but the standards here are nothing short of world class. The campus is located in the area of Fisherman’s Wharf, Pier 39 and other touristy places and there is always something to do in a 5 min walk radius. The campus was in the process of expansion while I was there (they already had 2 floors but were getting a 3rd). The campus is ridiculously good looking and there are tons of classrooms, breakout rooms, huge relaxation/study areas – the works!

Professors

While in San Francisco I only took elective courses, but the professors that taught them were awesome. They knew what they were talking about and brought a wealth of real world experiences as well. And talking to the students who did their core curriculum in San Francisco for the year, the professors were really good.

Staff

Granted I was there only for 3 months doing my electives, the staff there was nothing but brilliant! Everyone was friendly and always helped out whenever I had a question or an issue. One can ask of nothing more.

Student Services

Student Services in San Francisco deserve a standing ovation and applause. They were always so helpful and friendly. There was always a constant stream of communication coming from them. There was some event or the other that they were either organizing or that they wanted students to know about. The couple of events that I went to were unbelievably fun. They just seemed to know how to constantly keep doing things and keep the buzz surrounding Student Services and making sure that the students were always doing fun things when they could. Kudos to you!

Career Services

Sadly, still one of the weakest links in the Hult armor. I must admit that you shouldn’t read into this one particular grading that much because I personally didn’t make use of their services. But from what I know and heard while better than Dubai it wasn’t all that breathtaking. Career Services in all campuses seem to be not helping Hult as much as their other departments and hopefully this will change in the coming years.

Alumni Association

Hult’s Alumni Association is a quite strong and active and can be found on LinkedIn and Facebook. Efforts are underway to revamp the whole Alumni network and this is bound to bring in some added life to the community. I can’t speak much for the Alumni network just yet (since I only started and maybe that’s cause for another review post somewhere down the line)

Bonus

If you are an Alumni you get to undertake any elective, at any campus for a nominal fee for LIFE. I don’t know about you but that’s sweet and I am certainly going to take them up on that offer somewhere down the line.

Conclusion

Hult International Business School has a deep pedigree that can be seen in its quick rise back to the top of the world standings. Hult does have a few kinks to iron out here and there but for the most part you are going there to get an education and in this department Hult doesn’t disappoint. While choosing an MBA program or any masters program for that matter, you have to always see if what they offer is the best fit for you. If not, no matter how good it sounds don’t take it coz you will come out the other end disappointed. I picked Hult based on the criteria I outlined earlier in the post and having had some time to reflect on the past year and the sacrifices that I had to make to get into the program and come out the other end I have no regrets and would certainly recommend Hult to anyone considering a no-nonsense international masters program.