Here is a Top 20 list by Noivedya Juddery from the Humanities Talks website. Only #6 and #1 would I pose any gripe with. Still a few are quite interesting.
It is said that those who don't know history are condemned to repeat it - and as any history buff can tell you, much of history is something you would NOT want to repeat. However, many well-known historical "facts" are myths, with no basis in fact. Here (and in the next few segments) are 20 of the most common, which have misled and misinformed people for years, decades, or centuries.
If more people knew the facts, a few of the great history-makers would be recognised (anyone heard of Ub Iwerks?), some famous people would stop taking so much credit, and we would stop blaming apples for everything! Let's start with the following misconceptions...
20. Eve ate a bad apple
An apple a day might keep the doctor away, but they have still had bad publicity as the "forbidden fruit" that Eve tasted in the Garden of Eden, thereby making life difficult for all of us. Yet nowhere in the biblical story of Adam and Eve is an apple mentioned. It is simply called "the fruit of the tree that is in the middle of the garden" (Genesis 3:3). OK, it COULD have been an apple, but it might just as well have been an apricot, a mango, or any other sort of fruit.
19. Newton was hit by an apple
Apples continued to get bad press with the famous story that scientist Sir Isaac Newton was under a tree, minding his own
business, when an apple fell on his head. Just as well it provided him the inspiration for the laws of gravity, or the poor
apple would never be forgiven! But while the falling apple is a good story, it probably never happened. The story was first published in an essay by Voltaire, long after Newton's death. Before that, Newton's niece, Catherine Conduitt, was the only person who ever told the story. It was almost certainly an invention.
18. Walt Disney drew Mickey Mouse
One of the world's most famous fictitious characters, Mickey Mouse, is credited to Walt Disney. However, Mickey was the vision of Disney's number one animator, Ub Iwerks. Disney, never a great artist, would always have trouble drawing the character who made him famous. Fortunately for him, Iwerks was known as the fastest animator in the business. He single-handedly animated Mickey's first short film, Plane Crazy (1928), in only two weeks. (That's 700 drawings a day.) But give some credit to Disney - when sound films began later that year, he played Mickey's voice.
17. Marie Antoinette said "Let them each cake"
In 1766, Jean Jacques Rousseau wrote of an incident he recalled from some 25 years earlier, in which "a great princess" (name unknown) was told that the country people had no bread. "Then let them eat cake," she replied. When Rousseau wrote of this, Marie Antoinette was an 11-year-old child in Austria. The French Revolution would not begin for another 23 years. The myth that she spoke these infamous words was probably spread by revolutionary propagandists, to illustrate her cold indifference to the plight of the French people.
In the next chapter of this list, we uncover a tall tale about Napoleon, and find out how witches did NOT die, whatever you might have heard...
16. The Great Train Robbery was the first feature film
When it was released in 1903, "The Great Train Robbery" pioneered several techniques, includes jump cuts, medium close-ups and a complex storyline. But the first feature film? It was only ten minutes long! Even most short films are longer than that. The first feature-length film was a 100-minute Australian film, "The Story of the Kelly Gang", released three years later. Even if you think of a feature film as the "feature" of a cinema program, the title would go to one of a number of French films made during the 1890s (but I won't name one, as that could cause any number of arguments).
15. Van Gogh sliced off his ear
Van Gogh is known as the archetypal starving artist, only selling one painting in his lifetime, and - in a quarrel with Gauguin - slicing off his ear, not long before committing suicide. Though he did face a tragic end, and his own paintings sold poorly, it is worth noting that he spent most of his life teaching and dealing art. He only spent eight years of his life painting, which helps to explain why he didn't starve to death. Also, he didn't slice off his entire ear, just a portion of his left lobe. Painful, but not nearly as bad as you might have thought.
14. Witches were burned at stake in Salem
The Salem (Massachusetts) witch trials of 1692 led to the arrests of 150 people, of whom 31 were tried and 20 were executed. But just as these trials were based on ignorance, there are many misconceptions about them. For starters, the 31 condemned "witches" were not all women. Six of them were men. Also, they were not burned at stake. As any witch-hunter would know, a true witch could never be killed by this method. Hanging was the usual method - though one was crushed to death under heavy stones.
13. Napoleon was a little corporal
Some people believe that Napoleon's domineering ambitions were to compensate for being so physically small. Not so. True, Napoleon was called Le Petit Corporal ("The Little Corporal"), but he was 5 feet, 7 inches tall - taller than the average eighteenth-century Frenchman. So why the nickname? Early in his military career, soldiers used it to mock his relatively low rank. The name stuck, even as he became ruler of France.
12. King John signed the Magna Carta
The Magna Carta (Great Charter) is known as a landmark in history, limiting the power of the King of England and sowing the seeds of democracy. Paintings show King John reluctantly signing the Magna Carta in a meadow at Runnymede in 1215. Fair enough, except for one thing. As well as being a rogue, John was probably illiterate. As anyone could see from looking at one of the four original Magna Cartas in existence, he simply provided the royal seal. No signature required.
11. Walter Raleigh introduced potatoes and tobacco to England
Sir Walter Raleigh - explorer, courtier, privateer - Is one of greatest myth figures ever to come from England. Virtually every reason for his fame is untrue. Was he handsome? According to written accounts, he was no oil painting - though somehow he charmed Queen Elizabeth I, and had a reputation as a ladies' man. Did he lay his cloak across a puddle so that the Queen could step on it? No, that was pure fiction. Most importantly, he didn't return from his visit to the New World (America) with England's first potatoes and tobacco. Though Raleigh is said to have introduced potatoes in 1586, they were first grown in Italy in 1585, and quickly spread throughout Europe (even across the English Channel). Also, though people all over Europe blame Sir Walter for their cigarette addictions, Jean Nicot (for whom nicotine is named) introduced tobacco to France in 1560. Tobacco spread to England from France, not the New World.
10. Magellan circumnavigated the world
Everyone knows two things about Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan. One, he was the first man to circumnavigate the world; and two, during this historic trip, he was killed by natives in the Philippines. Of course, those two things tend to contradict each other. Magellan only made it half-way around the world, leaving it to his second-in-command, Juan Sebastian Elcano, to complete the circumnavigation.
9. Nero fiddled while Rome burned
We all know the story of mad Emperor Nero starting the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD, then fiddling while the city burned. However, this would have been impossible. For one thing, the violin wouldn't be invented for another 1,600 years. OK, some versions of the story suggest that he played a lute or a lyre - but then, scholars place the emperor in his villa at Antium, 30 miles away, when the fire began. Though he was innocent of this disaster, however, there is much evidence to show that he was ruthless and depraved.
8. Captain Cook discovered Australia
Many Australians will agree that this isn't so - but for the wrong reasons. They will point out that, many years before Cook arrived in Sydney in 1770, Australia had already been visited by Dutchmen Abel Tasman and Dirk Hartog, and an English buccaneer, William Dampier. Of course, it had been previously been discovered some 50,000 years earlier by the indigenous Australians.
But in fairness to Cook, he did discover a new part of the country - and more importantly, this led to the first white settlers (an opportunity that Tasman, Hartog and Dampier didn't take). So let's say that Cook DID discover Australia! Fine, but Cook was actually a Lieutenant when he sailed to the Great South Land. The "captain" rank might be a minor point, but it's certainly inaccurate - and as he is called "Captain Cook" so often that it might as well be his name, it's one worth correcting.
7. Shakespeare wrote the story of Hamlet
William Shakespeare is generally known as the greatest playwright who ever lived, even though most of his plays were not original, but adaptations of earlier stories. "The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark" (1603), probably his most famous play, was based on an ancient Scandinavian story. But while it might not have been the original version of the story, we can safely assume it was the best.
6. America became independent on July 4, 1776
Hold the fireworks! As most American school children (and many non-American ones) are aware, America's founding fathers signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776. However, the war raged for another seven years before independence from England was finally granted on September 3, 1783. On that day, Britain's George III and US leaders signed the Definitive Treaty of Peace.
5. Edison invented the electric light
Thomas Edison is known as the world's greatest inventor. His record output - 1,093 patents - still amazes us, over a century later. Astonishing, except for one thing: he didn't invent most of them. Most Edison inventions were the work of his unsung technicians - and his most famous invention, the electric light, didn't even belong to his laboratory. Four decades before Edison was born, English scientist Sir Humphry Davy invented arc lighting (using a carbon filament). For many years, numerous innovators would improve on Davy's model. The only problem: none could glow for more than twelve hours before the filament broke. The achievement of Edison's lab was to find the right filament that would burn for days on end. A major achievement, but not the first.
4. Columbus proved that the Earth was round
It was American author Washington Irving, some 500 years after Columbus sailed to America, who first portrayed the Italian explorer as launching on his voyage to prove that the Earth was round, defying the common, flat-earther belief of the time. In fact, most educated Europeans in Columbus's day knew that the world was round. Since the fourth century BC, almost nobody has believed that the Earth is flat. Even if that wasn't the case, Columbus would never have set out to prove that the Earth was round... simply because he didn't believe it himself! Columbus thought that the Earth was pear-shaped. He set sail to prove something else: that Asia was much closer than anyone thought. Even in this, he was wrong. To further besmirch his memory, it should also be noted that he never set foot on mainland America. The closest he came was the Bahamas. Pear-shaped, indeed!
3. Gandhi liberated India
To westerners, Mahatma Gandhi is easily the most famous leader of India's independence movement. He deserves credit for promoting the ancient ideals of ahimsa (non-violence). However, most historians agree that Indian independence was inevitable. Gandhi was just one of several independence leaders. The Indian National Congress was founded as early as 1885, when he was only 16. Gandhi's much-publicised civil disobedience was only a small part in the movement, and some historians even suggest that India would have achieved independence sooner if they had focused on the more forceful methods that they had used 50 years earlier, and which were still advocated by other independence leaders, such as Gandhi's rival Netaji Chandra Bose (who is also revered in India).
2. Jesus was born on December 25
Christmas is meant to celebrate the birth of Jesus, but there is no evidence whatsoever, biblical or otherwise, that He was actually born on that day. Nor is there anything to suggest that He was born in a manger, or that there were three wise men (although, as any nativity play will remind you, three gifts were mentioned). There are differing views as to why December 25 was chosen as Christmas day, but one of the most interesting is that the day was already celebrated by followers of Mithras, the central god of a Hellenistic cult that developed in the Eastern Mediterranean around 100 BC. The followers of this faith believed that Mithras was born of a virgin on 25 December, and that his birth was attended by shepherds...
Which brings us to the number one historical myth - something that is drilled into the heads of nearly all American schoolchildren...
1. George Washington was America's first President
Everyone "knows" that Washington was the first of the (so far) 43 Presidents of the US. However, this isn't strictly the case. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress (or the 'United States in Congress Assembled') chose Peyton Randolph as the first President. Under Randolph, one of their first moves was to create the Continental Army (in defence against Britain), appointing General Washington as its commander. Randolph was succeeded in 1781 by John Hancock, who presided over independence from Great Britain (see myth #6). After Washington defeated the British at the Battle of Yorktown, Hancock sent him a note of congratulations. Washington's reply was addressed to "The President of the United States". Eight years later, as a revered war hero, Washington himself became America's first popularly elected President - but strictly speaking, the FIFTEENTH President!
Noivedya Juddery. Noivedya is a writer and journalist based in Australia. A member of the Sri Chinmoy Centre He can be contacted via his website: http://www.markjuddery.com/
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Another good basic bullet points list to personal finance. These seem so basic and that's just it, they are but most people don't even begin to follow these. If you aren't covering the basics folks don't worry about the more advanced moves. Keep it simple till simple isn't enough for you.
25 rules to grow rich by
Money Magazine
NEW YORK (Money) -- Tough financial questions come your way all the time.How much do I need to save? Should I buy or lease? Should I refinance my mortgage? It would sure be nice to have an easy guide on hand for those moments.Now you do.
Home
1. For return on investment, the best home renovation is to upgrade an old bathroom. Kitchens come in second.
2. It's worth refinancing your mortgage when you can cut your interest rate by at least one point.
3. Spend no more than 21/2 times your income on a home. For a down payment, it's best to come up with at least 20%.
4. Your total housing payments should not exceed 28% of your gross income. Total debt payments should come in under 36%.
5. Never hire a roofer, driveway paver or chimney sweep who is going door to door.
Invest
6. All else being equal, the best place to invest is a 401(k). Once you've earned the full company match, max out a Roth IRA. Still have money to invest? Put more in your 401(k) or a traditional IRA.
7. To figure out what percentage of your money should be in stocks, subtract your age from 120.
8. Invest no more than 10% of your portfolio in your company stock - or any single company's stock, for that matter.
9. The most you should pay in annual fees for a mutual fund is 1% for a large-company stock fund, 1.3% for any other type of stock fund and 0.6% for a U.S. bond fund.
10. Aim to build a retirement nest egg that is 25 times the annual investment income you need. So if you want $40,000 a year to supplement Social Security and a pension, you must save $1 million.
11. If you don't understand how an investment works, don't buy it.
Plan
12. If you're not saving 10% of your salary, you aren't saving enough.
13. Keep three months' worth of living expenses in a bank savings account or a money-market fund for emergencies. If you have kids or rely on one income, make it six months'.
14. Aim to accumulate enough money to pay for a third of your kids' college costs. You can borrow the rest or cover it from your income.
15. You need enough life insurance to replace at least five years of your salary - as much as 10 years if you have several young children or significant debts.
16. When you buy insurance, choose the highest deductible you can afford. It's the easiest way to lower your premium.
17. The best credit card is a no-fee rewards card that you pay in full every month. But if you carry a balance, high interest rates will wipe out the benefits.
18. The best way to improve your credit score is to pay bills on time and to borrow no more than 30% of your available credit.
19. Anyone who calls or e-mails you asking for your Social Security number or information about your bank or credit-card account is a scam artist.
Spend
20. The best way to save money on a car is to buy a late-model used car and drive it until it's junk. A car loses 30% of its value in the first year.
21. Lease a new car or truck only if you plan to replace it within two or three years.
22. Resist the urge to buy the latest computer or other gadget as soon as it comes out. Wait three months and the price will be lower.
23. Buy airline tickets early because the cheapest fares are snapped up first. Most seats go on sale 11months in advance.
24. Don't redeem frequent-flier miles unless you can get more than a dollar's worth of air fare or other stuff for every 100 miles you spend.
25. When you shop for electronics, don't pay for an extended warranty. One exception: It's a laptop and the warranty is from the manufacturer. Top of page
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Well Halloween is just around the corner, Happy Birthday Darryl, and what better way to celebrate than watching a good horror movie. But which one? TheGeekZine.com has given us their 13 tops and its a fair list. A couple of additions I would make would be Final Destination and The Blair Witch Project. I'd drop Zombie (sorry, never saw it) and Texas Chainsaw Massacre(not big into the splatter films). I am borderline on Psycho. My #1 would have to be Night of the Living Dead but my judgment is clouded on it because it was the first horror movie I saw and it scared me silly. I was 5 at the time and it really did a number on me.
From thegeekzine.com
1. THE SHINING (1980)
PLOT: Daddy goes crazy and wields an axe while his family is trapped in a haunted hotel in Colorado.
THOUGHTS: They don’t make horror movies like THE SHINING anymore. Hell, they didn’t make horror movies like THE SHINING before. Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, based on the equally frightening Stephen King novel, has a depth and intelligence that is lacking in most fright films. Of course it has its scary moments — some of the scariest in movie history — but it’s much more than a blood-and-guts thriller. At its heart, THE SHINING is about a middle-class family. And as it scares the hell out of you, it reveals that dark and dysfunctional side of the American family. Then there’s Jack Nicholson. His performance as the axe-wielding maniac Jack Torrance is over-the-top yet riveting. Watching ol’ Jack chew up the scenery is most of the fun of watching the movie.
2. PSYCHO (1960)
PLOT: Mild-mannered hotel clerk with an Oedipal complex slashes young lady in the shower.
THOUGHTS: Once Norman Bates flickered onto the silver screen, the horror movie was never the same. This new “screen excitement,” from director Alfred Hitchcock, plucked the fright film from those dark, drafty castles of the Boris Karloff age and flung it down in the middle of America. PSYCHO gave birth to the modern horror movie and the psychological thriller, which was driven, not by monsters, but by the boy next door, albeit a boy with something dark and evil inside. The film’s haunting score and that shower scene are unforgettable.
3. HALLOWEEN (1978)
PLOT: On Halloween, an escaped mental patient pursued by his shrink sports a mask, stalking and killing the teenagers in his old neighborhood.
THOUGHTS: This John Carpenter horror flick is what started the late 70s/early 80s slasher movie craze and gave us one of the most recognizable serial killers in the genre — the Captain Kirk-masked Michael Myers. HALLOWEEN also gave Jamie Lee Curtis her big break, earning her her scream queen status and setting the standard for the strong, brave, heroic leading lady who not only survives in the end, but defeats the killer (albeit temporarily). While Myers stalks his victims in what would typically be viewed as a “safe” setting — a beautiful autumn day in a suburban town — it’s the film’s eerie main theme that foreshadows what’s to come.
“What an excellent day for an exorcism.”
4. THE EXORCIST (1973)
PLOT: A pre-teen possessed by a demon projectile-vomits and masturbates with a crucifix.
THOUGHTS: Regan’s possessed face, green and scarred, is enough to scare the bejesus out of anyone, not to mention those demonic voices coming out of the young girl’s mouth. THE EXORCIST was the closest thing to your worst nightmare than anything you’ve ever seen before. It was also one of the most profane movies of all time, full of blasphemous language and activities (most of which we can’t speak about in a family-oriented website), and even with all that, it was still nominated for ten Academy Awards, including Best Picture — a feat not commonly accomplished in the horror genre.
5. NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (1968)
PLOT: The recently deceased arise and terrorize a group of survivors trapped in a farmhouse.
THOUGHTS: Its gritty realism and gore intensified the horror movie. Its depiction of the undead set the standard for years to come. And over night, NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD gave new life to what has become one of the strongest and beloved sub-genres of the field — the zombie movie. Directed by George A. Romero, on a $100,000 budget, the flick also introduced the world to the splatter film and set the stage for bloodfests like THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE. It’s one of the most imitated films in history, but there’s only one original.
6. ALIEN (1979)
PLOT: After ripping through a crew member’s chest, a sick-looking extraterrestrial hunts down those aboard the spaceship Nostromo.
THOUGHTS: Why is this movie so terrifying? Answer: The Alien. A ruthless, heartless, indefatigable, life-destroying, six-foot-tall, insect-like killer. The only goal of this beast is the perpetuation of the breed by the utter annihilation of everything else. The brilliant flow of the film, a cunning and suspenseful mix of gore and shock, is the stuff of legend. From the outset, you are struck by the visual completeness of this movie and how it revolves around the shear terror of the Alien, which was created and built by the nightmare genius of H.R. Giger. Yet, the Alien itself is actually on screen for only something like six minutes!
7. HELLRAISER (1987)
PLOT: A young girl discovers a gateway to hell…and its guardians.
THOUGHTS: The concept of hell is scary all on its own, but add to it a group of sadomasochistic avatars decked out in black leather and gaping wounds, headed by the mother of all pincushions, and you’ve got yourself a real screamer. The Clive Barker-penned HELLRAISER introduced a new dimension to the horror genre by presenting pain as a means of pleasure — pleasure attained through unending pain and suffering, administered courtesy of the instantly classic ‘Pinhead’ and his brood of Cenobite masochists. Unlike mindless slasher films that flooded the box office prior to its release, HELLRAISER changed the way we view hell in the same way that Nightmare on Elm Street changed the way we view dreams.
8. A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET (1984)
PLOT: Freddy Krueger terrorizes and kills the teenagers of Elm Street through their dreams.
THOUGHTS: The residents of Elm Street thought they’d be safe once they killed local child murderer Freddy Krueger. Little did they know that the red and green sweater-clad madman would enact revenge by haunting their children’s nightmares, turning them into reality. To his sleep-deprived victims, who fear to fall asleep even for a brief moment, the burnt-faced, boiler-room-dwelling Krueger is an inescapable demon; to the movie-going audience, the clawed-gloved, wise-cracking tormentor is terrifying, yet charismatic as well. While other popular movie killers like Michael Myers and Jason Voorhies are portrayed as cold, mechanical characters, Krueger has personality, which is what makes A NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET a cut — or should I say slash? — above the rest.
9. THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE (1974)
PLOT: Psycho and his cannibal family slaughter five teens.
THOUGHTS: This is the granddaddy of the splatter film. Blood, meat hooks, severed body parts, brutality, THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE had it all. Not many movies — even in today’s gore-obsessed cinema — have matched its gore and intensity. Presented in a grainy, realistic style, the movie was able to bring home the unreal terrors occurring in the Sawyer house. But more than that, it brought us Leatherface, one of the scariest dudes in horror. And don’t forget the chainsaw, a weapon that would appear in many fright films to come.
10. JAWS (1975)
PLOT: A tenacious great white shark terrorizes a summer resort town.
THOUGHTS: If horror movies are all about scaring the piss out of you, then JAWS reigns supreme. Not many movies had the affect on its audience as the first blockbuster did. As lines grew around theater houses, attendance at beaches worldwide dwindled. The great white, which barely appeared in the film, has terrified the populace for 30 years. John Williams’ score was so effective that to this day you can’t go near the beach without hearing that driving melody in your head. But beyond all that, director Steven Spielberg artfully crafted one of the most thrilling stories ever to appear on a movie screen.
11. SAW (2004)
PLOT: The Jigsaw Killer wants to teach his victims the value of life by forcing them to complete unthinkable tasks in order to escape an ironic death.
THOUGHTS: For the last decade or so, the horror movie genre has been overflowing with remakes and Americanized versions of popular Japanese flicks. With SAW, audiences finally got an original script-driven vehicle with a twist ending that surprised even the wittiest of moviegoers. Unlike other films whose villains are out for revenge, SAW’s masterminded killer Jigsaw has nothing personal against his victims. All he wants to do is show them just how precious life really is. Too bad for them, it’s the hardest lesson they’ll ever learn.
12. THE OMEN (1976)
PLOT: A U.S. ambassador raises the son of the Devil and an unnamed jackal.
THOUGHTS: The Devil is always a good place to start in a horror movie; throw in a jackal for good measure, and get the demon-spawn Damien as the result of this unholy union. And thus is born the antichrist, not to mention one of the earliest — and greatest — evil children in horror. The movie was such a hit that the name “Damien” to this day is synonymous with evil, and the scene in which Damien’s nanny’s joyfully hangs herself at the young boy’s birthday party is one of the most memorable moments in the horror genre. The movie spawned three sequels and a recent remake.
13. ZOMBIE (1979)
PLOT: A young woman sets out to a tropical island to solve the mystery of her father’s disappearance and encounters the undead.
THOUGHTS: NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD may have been the spark that kicked off the zombie party, but as far as creepy, gory, nightmare-inducing cinema goes, Lucio Fulci’s ZOMBIE is the film that finishes off the tequila, screws the dog, and vomits in your grandmother’s urn. Ask anyone who’s seen it and without fail they’ll relay two things: A fat zombie fights a shark underwater; and one of the female leads gets her eye impaled on a huge splinter…very slowly — a scene which caused the movie to be banned in several European countries, including England (Wankers!). The movie was so wildly popular that it is considered the film which ignited the hyper-realistic gore genre in Europe, spawning dozens of celluloid expositions of the undead.
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A long list on how to do college right. Some are pretty basic time management tips but others are really good. Like # 16,"Use a loose leaf notebook instead of a spiral bound notebook. Loose leaf notebooks are easier to organize, as they allow you to move your notes around or add handouts where necessary." Most students I see use the spiral bound which are very easy at note taking time but very inefficient when it comes to organizing and preparing for a test.
88 Surefire Tips for Succeeding in College
From oedb.org
Congratulations to those of you who are attending college. A world of opportunities lies before you. But it won't last forever. Chances are you'll only be in college for four or five short years.
So do yourself a favor and take advantage of every moment you have in the next few years. At most colleges you have a plethora of resources there to help you grow into a successful person, if you simply know where to look and are willing to take advantage of them. We've left no stone unturned in collecting the following 88 tips to help you make the most this time.
Seize the Day
1. College Road Take responsibility for your own learning. You're not in high school anymore. Everyone in college is there to learn because they want to, not just to pass because they have to. There are a lot of opportunities for learning in college, often times outside the classroom. Take advantage of every opportunity you can.
2. Appreciate your time in college. You'll never again have so many opportunities with so few responsibilities.
3. Take risks. College isn't just about getting good grades. It is a time to learn more about the world and yourself. Branch out and take risks. Try something new. Meet new friends.
4. Expand your horizons. Classes do not have to only focus on your major or what is best for your future career. Try taking some elective classes in other subjects.
5. Set goals. Every term, reset your goals to keep you motivated and give you something to work toward.
6. Consider your personal interests when choosing your major. Don't just choose a major because of what the current job market is like or because it's what your friends or family members are doing. Choose a program that interests you and that you will enjoy studying.
7. Take some major courses as early as you can. If you can take a course within your major your freshman year, do so. You may learn that you want to switch majors. It's best to learn this as soon as you can.
8. Go abroad. Most colleges offer some type of study abroad program. You may be able to attend classes for a semester or year in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, or South America. Get to know the requirements for these programs early on so you can plan accordingly. Check out studyabroad.com.
Class and Note Taking
9. Prepare for each class as though there would be a pop quiz. The benefit of this is two-fold: firstly, you'll be more able to participate in class; secondly, you'll be prepared if there actually is a pop quiz.
10. Read the syllabus for each of your courses. Understand how many exams and homework assignments there will be. Know how much each assignment is worth. Know what the professor expects of you.
11. Be on time for each class. Better yet, come early. Sit down and get relaxed before class begins. Professors like students who are always present and never late. Moreover, you'll be doing yourself a favor by knowing exactly what material was covered each day. If you have trouble actually getting up early and going to class, consider taking an online class. More universities are beginning to make this an option.
12. Be attentive and stay focused. Avoid distractions such as instant messaging or crossword puzzles. Treat class as though it were an important business meeting. Your professor will appreciate it and you will learn more.
13. Ask questions. If the professor ever says something that you do not understand, never be afraid to ask for clarification. Chances are there are other students in class that also didn't understand.
14. Class Do not write down everything. Write in outline form so your notes will be easy to skim and review. Be sure to take clear, concise notes every class.
15. Use separate notebooks for each class. Or use subject dividers to separate your notes. Try to avoid taking notes for your psychology class in your math notebook. Doing so will make exam preparation much more difficult than it has to be.
16. Use a loose leaf notebook instead of a spiral bound notebook. Loose leaf notebooks are easier to organize, as they allow you to move your notes around or add handouts where necessary.
17. Try to make a friend in each class. If you have to miss a class, you can call your classmate and get the lowdown on what you may have missed. Also, often times partner projects are assigned and it is awkward to have to work with a stranger. If you already know someone in the class, it relieves any tension there may otherwise be.
Studying
18. Find a good place to study. Dorm rooms are often littered with distractions — television, video games, loud music, your roommate's girlfriend, etc. Find a quiet place that will work for you, whether it be a study lounge down the hall from your room or the library across campus. Treat studying like you're going to work each day.
19. Establish a routine study time. Getting into a rhythm at the beginning of every term will help you stay focused and disciplined. Lacking a routine may lead to bad habits or apathy.
20. Take breaks while studying. If you have several hours of studying to do the day before a big exam, break up your studying routine into 50-minute sessions, followed by five- or 10-minute breaks. Studying for several hours nonstop will not be very helpful.
21. Stay on top of your reading. Almost every college class will require reading. A lot of reading. Don't fall behind or it will cost you.
22. Prepare a list of questions to ask. As you're reading, you may come across some things that you don't fully understand. Write down these questions to ask your professor when you're in class the next day.
23. Use a highlighter. Highlight passages that are particularly important and that you should review further. Avoid highlighting entire pages.
24. Use a pencil. Write in the margins any notes you may want to make while you're reading. Then when you re-read the material a few weeks later for the final exam, you should just be able to go over these margin notes.
25. Use a dictionary. Improve your vocabulary by looking up any unfamiliar words you may come across as you're reading.
26. Find a study partner or two. Study partners can help you stay focused and can point out some things that you may have overlooked.
27. Get notes for any classes you may have missed. Never assume that you know what was covered in classes that you may have missed. Get notes from a classmate for that day. Or consider using a note sharing service like stu.dicio.us or mynoteIT.
Test Taking
28. Begin studying at least three days before an exam. Study for about two or three hours per day if you have to. But don't wait until the day before your exam to cram for eight hours. You won't remember much and you'll be worn out come test time.
29. Go to bed early the night before an exam. Getting plenty of rest the day before the exam will keep your mind sharp. You don't want to be feeling sleepy during an exam.
30. Arrive early on exam day. Take a seat five or 10 minutes before the exam starts to allow you time to relax and get your mind prepared for the challenge ahead.
31. Read the instructions of the test very carefully. You may know the material inside and out but that won't make one bit of difference if you can't obey simple instructions.
32. Review the entire test before you answer any questions. Plan ahead. If your exam period is 90 minutes long, don't spend an hour on the first part only to find out that there are still two equally challenging parts to go. Spend the first minute of the exam planning how much time you think you will need to spend on each question or section. Answer what you know first and then come back to more difficult questions.
33. Check the back of every page. Nothing feels worse than getting a test back and realizing you only answered half of the questions.
34. Be sure to answer the question in full. Read each essay question carefully, then read it again and again until you have a firm grasp on exactly how to answer it. You may have a terrific answer to give, but if you only answer half the question, that won't make for a very good grade.
Writing Papers
35. Start early on those long term papers. Especially when a lot of research is involved, beginning the planning and outlining stages of a term paper weeks ahead of the due date will benefit you greatly. Be certain you can get all of the research materials you need before you begin writing.
36. Prepare an outline before you start writing. Never write a long paper from start to finish without taking a look at the big picture first. Outlining the entire paper before you begin will help you develop and convey your ideas better.
37. Use the writing center. Most colleges offer a writing center with assistants that will teach you how to become a better writer. Turn in your first drafts here and they will point out your writing flaws so you can improve. Often times, just one visit to the writing center could improve your paper a full letter grade.
38. Beware plagiarism. Taking credit for another person's thoughts or words by plagiarizing or cheating is grounds for expulsion at most colleges. Know how to cite your sources within your papers and do so consistently.
39. Don't believe everything you read on the Internet. The Internet is a powerful learning and research tool. While there are a lot of credible sources available online, be aware that anyone nowadays can set up a Web page. Just because it's online doesn't make it fact.
College Resources
40. Seek counseling if you're lonely or depressed. Most college campuses offer a counseling center to offer aid to troubled students. Don't be afraid to take advantage of this resource if you need to.
41. Find a tutor if you need help. Your student peers or teaching assistants often serve as tutors in subjects that are giving you struggles. Seek them out and let them help you understand what the professor cannot. Often times, it's easier to learn from someone similar in age to you.
42. Take advantage of the library. It may not be as easy as doing a Google search, but the quality of the sources in a university library is second to none. You'll be able to research centuries-old articles from newspapers or read an entry from a scientific journal. Those are just two examples of things a university library can offer you that the World Wide Web cannot.
43. Find out who your advisor is and visit regularly, at least once per term. This will help keep you on track for graduation. Your advisor can also help you choose a major or give you recommendations on which classes you should take.
44. Get to know your professors. It is pretty easy to coast through college without ever getting to know your professors. It will take a bit of effort to get many of them to even learn your name. But doing so could really pay off when you need a letter of recommendation or if you plan on doing an independent study.
45. Know when your professors' office hours are. Try to visit each professor at least once per term. And never be afraid to go into office hours needing extra help or ask a question or two. Remember your professors are there to help you learn. Take advantage of that.
Career Planning
46. Get a suit. Wear it to any job interviews. Employers will expect you to dress your best when they first meet you.
47. Work on your resume. A resume isn't just another homework assignment that takes you 10 minutes to write up really quickly before class. This is a major document that will help you land a job after you graduate. Spend hours on it if you have to. Seek help from a career counselor so you know what you should include and how it should be formatted. Seek additional tips from JobStar.
48. Visit the career center. The guidance counselors are there to help you work on your resume and job interviewing skills. They want to help you. So let them. Schedule appointments and try to attend their sessions at least once each term. Don't be afraid to see a career counselor even if you're just a freshman. It's never too early to start planning your future.
49. Go to career fairs. Most college campuses will have at least one career fair per year. Attend it. You'll get a chance to mingle with potential employers and find out what careers are available to you after college.
50. Find a summer internship. Don't blow your summer sitting on the couch in your parents' house. Do something for your future by securing an internship. You may not get paid much, if anything, but you are very likely to help land yourself a job after graduation.
51. Be on time for job interviews. In your junior and senior years, you may have the opportunity to interview with potential employers. This is your first impression on them. Make it a good one. Click here for more job finding tips.
Money Management
52. College savings Consider every possible source of financial aid. Check with your school's financial aid and admissions offices, your academic college, your church, clubs or special interest groups to which you or your parents belong, professionals working in your major field, scholarship resource books, and honor societies and fraternities. There is a lot of free scholarship money available out there if you know where to look. Use FinAid! to find scholarships and loans.
53. Don't give up on your financial aid search. You may not find a lot of education money right away. But stick with it because you could save thousands of dollars.
54. Know the guidelines and due dates of paperwork for your financial aid awards. And be sure to stay on top of this. Nothing could be worse than losing a scholarship or financial aid award because you lost some paperwork or missed a due date. A mistake like this could cost you thousands of dollars.
55. Never buy new textbooks... unless you enjoy improving your college bookstore's bottom line. Buying new textbooks is for suckers and can put a huge hole in your budget. Always try to buy a used textbook or even check out a copy from your library before you buy a new textbook. You could save a couple hundred bucks each term.
56. Shop early for books. You'll find the best selection of used materials. If you don't get to the bookstore until a week or two into the new term, chances are they'll be out of used materials by then and you might be stuck having to purchase a new textbook at an outrageous price.
57. A credit card is not free money... no matter how often you are bombarded with advertisements that may lead you to believe otherwise. If you do get a credit card, just be sure to pay off the amount in full each month, or you will start to get into deep credit card debt. Deep debt can prevent you from getting a car or a house mortgage later in life. On the positive side, paying your credit card bills in full on time will help establish your personal credit.
58. Set a budget. And stick to it. Figure out how much money you make each month and estimate how much you will spend each month. Never spend more than you earn. Read Bankrate's 12 money-management tips for college students.
59. Don't blow all your money. Most college students are on a tight budget. Don't blow all of your money on alcohol or junk food. Put a little into a savings account each month, even if it's not that much.
60. Get a part-time job to make some extra cash. If you live on campus, an on-campus job in food services, with a professor, or in one of the college offices might be worth looking into. At some schools, tutoring or working for the school newspaper will pay you, too.
61. Use your meal plan. It'll save you a lot of money to eat what you've already paid for. Also, your dining hall will usually be much healthier than eating from the dollar menu at a fast food restaurant.
62. Watch those cell phone minutes. Running up your cell phone bill is very easy to do, as cell phone service providers charge huge premiums for each minute of overuse. Most plans allow for free nights and weekend minutes. So if you have a call to make that can wait until then, it could save you big bucks.
63. Know off-campus costs. If you want to move off campus, be aware of the additional costs of living.
Time Management
64. Don't procrastinate. Whatever the assignment may be, if you have some free time, just do it now. Otherwise, you'll be stuck doing it later. If an assignment takes longer than you had expected, you'll have wished that you had begun it sooner instead of waiting until the last minute. Read more about procrastination from the University of North Carolina.
65. Use a planner or calendar to keep track of due dates. Missing a paper deadline or forgetting exam dates is inexcusable. Avoid this by shelling out a few bucks for a planner. And use it regularly.
66. Set priorities and don't be afraid to cut back on a few things. Being captain of the lacrosse team, student government president, and editor of the yearbook all while getting a degree in chemical engineering might look great on a resume, but for most people, taking on so many activities is impractical. Take a serious look at what is important to you. If you feel overloaded, don't be afraid to drop an activity or two. Click here to learn how to balance your job and your classwork.
67. Time is on your side. There are 168 hours in each week. If you set aside 56 hours for sleep and 40 hours for academics, that leaves you with 72 hours for everything else. Click here for more time management tips.
68. Leave reminders for yourself. Have a meeting tomorrow at noon? Leave a post-it note on your door so you don't forget.
69. Avoid time wasters. As fun as it may be to stay up all night watching television or playing Tecmo Bowl, perhaps you shouldn't do so with a big paper due the next day.
Campus Life
70. When living in the dorm, take it all in stride. You may be required to live in a dorm your freshman year. Don't expect much in terms of privacy, personal space, quiet time, or even cleanliness. But enjoy some of its perks, namely the camaraderie with your dorm mates and the proximity to your classes.
71. Avoid athlete's foot. Invest in a pair of shower shoes, especially if you live in a dorm with a communal shower.
72. Lock your doors. You may have a lot of valuables in your room — computer, jewelry, clothes, stereo, television. Don't make it easy for someone to come in and take something.
73. Party. Mingle and meet people. Don't stay locked up in your room or your library all the time. Go out and enjoy yourself every once in a while. Just don't party too hard too frequently.
74. Join a student organization. Whether it be student government or ballroom dancing, join a club of other people with similar interests to your own. You'll make close friends and do activities that you enjoy.
75. Join an intramural team. Not only will this help you stay in shape, but you'll make new friends with your teammates.
76. Join a club in your major. Most majors will have some sort of honors society or extracurricular club on campus. Joining such a club will get you involved with other students in your classes and will likely put you in personal contact with one or two of the professors, as they are often the moderators of these clubs.
Survival
77. Eat healthy. Your mom's home cooked meals are no longer an option. Try to eat at your dining hall as often as you can and be sure to eat your fruits and vegetables. A diet of greasy pizza and beers every night isn't exactly first-rate eating.
78. Exercise. P.E. classes usually are not required in college as they were in high school. Account for this by going on runs, using the student gym, or simply throwing the football around.
79. Find out what health services has to offer. Many university health service centers offer free flu shots, STD testing, and birth control.
80. Take care of yourself when you're sick. You mom is no longer around to make sure you get plenty of fluids and chicken noodle soup. You'll have to do this on your own. Check out WebMD's Cold and Flu Survival Guide. If you're sick for more than a day or two, consider seeing a doctor or nurse at the university health center.
81. Get plenty of rest. Seldom do college students get enough sleep. Try to get as much sleep as you can each night. Doctors recommend at least eight hours per night for college aged students.
82. Be safe. Get the scoop on underage drinking, drugs, and sex. If you're ever uncomfortable, just say no.
83. Designate a driver or have enough cash for a cab. Never take a ride home from a drunk friend. It's a good way to get killed. Take a cab if you need to. A few extra bucks spent could save your life.
84. Be lawful. Getting into trouble with the law could cause your scholarships to be revoked or could even get you expelled from school. Also be sure to read the campus rule book for any special university rules you may be expected to follow.
85. Pack lots of underwear and socks. You don't really need to do laundry until you run out of these two essentials.
86. Homesickness is natural. Almost every freshman experiences it. Just know that you're not alone and that you will get over it.
87. Become familiar with your college town. Know where the local grocery store, gas station, pharmacy, and hospital are. You may need them all at some point during your college career.
88. Make travel plans well in advance. Are you planning to fly home for Thanksgiving or Christmas? Want to take a trip to Aruba for spring break? Make sure to start planning well in advance. You'll get the best rates on flights if you start looking at least two months ahead of time.
Considering all of the learning experiences in front of you, college should be the best years of your life. Appreciate the time you have as a college student. There are a lot of opportunities for you in a time when you will have relatively few responsibilities. Of course, everyone will undergo struggles in this period, but that is part of what makes college so unique and challenging. Don't be afraid to take advantage of the resources at your fingertips while you have them there. Seize the day, and remember, as Tom Petty once said, "The work never ends, but the college does."
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Here is a good, very basic financial plan. It's a great starting point and really only needs to be changed if you have specific goals. The only thing that it lacks is some international mix which you can set up in your 401(k), IRA, or stock portfolio. I would have the portfolio's stock and bond mix change based upon how far away from retirement you are but that starts to take away from the goal of being a simple financial plan.
What Holds You Back?
Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, wrote a book called “The Way of the Weasel.”In it, he lays out a one-page list for how to manage your money. While I recognize that a book consisting largely of cartoon is an unorthodox place to find sound financial advice, I think he is spot on – if you do these things you will be fine:
1. Make a will.
2. Pay off your credit cards.
3. Get term life insurance if you have a family to support.
4. Fund your 401(k) to the maximum.
5. Fund your IRA to the maximum.
6. Buy a house if you want to live in a house and can afford it.
7. Put six months expenses in a money market account.
8. Take whatever money is left over and invest 70% in a stock index fund and 30% in a bond fund through any discount broker and never touch it until retirement.
9. If any of this confuses you, or you have something special going on (retirement, college planning, a tax issue), hire a fee-based financial planner, not one who charges a percentage of your portfolio.
Done. I get it, and if you are here reading this blog you get it also. OK, so how many items on the list have you actually completed? We’ve done four of the first eight, but I believe we can hit all eight by the end of the year – I’m showing the list to my wife and am going to hold us to it.
If you had shown me this list seven years ago I’d have still been working on getting my credit cards paid off – the rest of the list would have seemed a distant dream.
There are really three challenges facing people:
* Knowing what to do (easy, see above)
* Being able to do it, i.e. having money to save, invest or buy a home (hard, a lot of good decision need to be made to get you to this point)
* Making the decision and taking action to fund retirement. You know what to do, you saved the money, and now you just have to do it (should be easy, but it’s not)
Putting money into 401(k)s and funding IRAs is hard. There are always reasons to not do it, but they really boil down to an unwillingness to take action with money. I’ve spoken to friends about why this might be and the reasons vary, but they usually come down to this one thing: we don’t want to make a bad decision, so we don’t make any decisions at all…which is of course a bad decision.
My new goal with money isn’t to get things perfect, and instead get it mostly right, i.e. Get the nine things on the list done. I believe if we do this, over the next 35 years, we’ll be fine when it comes time to retire.
Fear of making a mistake held us back, but I’d be curious to hear from people where they are being held up in their financial goals?
Written by Jason Knight
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Here is a post from Tony Morgan's website. It's an old post but he recently resurfaced it in his best of post. It's a great bullet point article on what not to do on a church website but could be applied to about any site. If you haven't read any of Tony's posts, head over to his site. It's full of useful tidbits.
Brian
10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website
I spent quite a bit of time tonight visiting church websites throughout the country to find a cool church to tell you about this week. Don't worry. I found one, and I'll tell you about it in a separate post. In the process, though, I found lots of uncool sites. With that in mind, I thought this list might be helpful. Now, at least, you'll know what it might take to become my cool church of the week. Here are the...
10 Easy Ways to Keep Me from Visiting Your Church Because I Visited Your Website
1. Avoid telling me what's going to happen at your church this weekend. I found churches that had weather reports but nothing about their upcoming weekend service. I found two churches that had prominent information about upcoming golf scrambles (which I appreciated as a golfer), but nothing about this weekend's service. Why would I come if I don't know what I'm going to experience?
2. Put a picture of your building on the main page. After all, ministry is all about the buildings.
3. Use lots of purple and pink and add pictures of flowers. Really. Are you expecting any men to show up? And, for my benefit, please don't put any doves on your website. Doves scare me.
4. Make me click a "skip intro" or "enter site" link. I don't have time for that and it's very annoying. If I have to wait for something to load or have to click around intro pages to get to the real information, I'm probably going to skip your church service.
5. Add as many pictures and graphics as you can to the main page. My life is already complicated. I don't have time to figure out what's important at your church. If you dump everything on the main page, I'm assuming you don't know what's important either.
6. Use amateur photography. And, for the record, it would be helpful to have at least one normal looking person on your site. Do us all a favor and hire a graphic designer, a professional photographer or purchase some stock photography.
7. List every single ministry you have at your church. Frankly, I don't care what ministries you have. I just want to know whether or not I should visit your church this weekend. My first step isn't the men's Bible study or joining your church's prayer partners ministry.
8. Make it as difficult as possible for me to get directions, services times, or find information about what will happen with my kids. It's important that my kids have a great experience. If you can't convince me that that will happen, I'm probably not going to risk visiting your service.
9. Put a picture of your pastor with his wife on the main page. That tells me it's all about a personality, and I see enough of those people on television. I actually found one church that had not one but two pictures of the senior pastor on the main page. He was looking mighty dapper, though, in his fancy suit.
10. Try to sell your church rather than telling me how I will benefit from the experience. I don't care how great your church is. I just want to know if visiting your church will help me and my unchurched friends take our next steps toward Christ.
OK. I have to go check our new web design (coming in just a few weeks!) to make sure we haven't made any of these mistakes. I'd hate it if I couldn't visit my own church.
Now go and be cool.
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