Online Art School

Searching for things can take on a philosophical base, but most of the time it isn’t that deep. For a lot of people, searching is all about finding a particular thing that will make their life better. While any given thing probably won’t improve your life all that much, finding it sure can make your day. Of course, context-based searching is all the rage these days because every experience a person has needs to be as customized as humanly possible. But why is that? Why do experiences, even down to searching, need to be so custom they’re almost unique to the individual?

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Uniqueness Counts

When you cruise around with Zugo Bing, you can find almost anything you might be looking for. When you hit up a particular website, you can check out their best deals, and even have deals pop up on your screen based on things you looked for weeks or months ago. While in the old days people used to search for deals and have to compare manually, nowadays, one can call a few years ago “old” and act like it’s inconvenient to look at deals in two or three different browser windows. This is a spoiled generation.

The Real Advantage of Finding What You Want

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There are a lot of interpretations for almost anything. For some people, the biggest advantage to having great deals and special offers sent right to them is the convenience of it all. Why would you want to waste the time looking around for a great deal, when it can do everything and literally fall into your lap? Of course, the economy also benefits, since more buying by consumers equals more jobs and a faster flow of money. Of course, the ability to deliver coupons and other types of deal that a person is likely to use is also great for businesses themselves, so this level of customization is great all around.

But Is There a Downside?

For the most part, there aren’t too many downsides to having custom deals delivered to you wherever you happen to go. However, there is the downside that having deals put in your face immediately upon arriving at a site can lead to being lazy. While laziness is a major part of the modern experience, it does lead one to wonder how lazy human beings can get before it becomes critical.

You’re a geek, right? You must be if you’re reading this. So okay, maybe you’ve had a lifetime of feeling just a little bit off-kilter, for all your wordy, thoughty, smarty-pants geekiness. You’ve lived a little outside the box for so long, you don’t really what it’s like inside the box anymore. That’s okay though, because in your heart you know that frankly, geeks rule. If you didn’t know that, perhaps it’s time you fully embraced your geekdom, and started to take a look at all the advantages being a techno-savvy, smarter-than-thou, superbrain type gets you.

Advantages, you say? Little me?? Savvy?

You bet your boots you are. If you haven’t been embracing your geekdom lately, perhaps it’s time you did. Let’s take a look at what true geekdom involves, let’s fully embrace it, and let’s get into some geek true pride, shall we?

The Advantages of Being a Self-Confessed Geek

1. You Can Work Just About Anywhere

People who lack that geek savoir-faire are apt to stay stuck in one place, and on one career path for way too long, even as technology and society changes around us. Not you, my friend! With your curiosity, skills, and technical know-how, you can take your career on the road, if that kind of lifestyle suits your fancy. There are many work options out there today for those with up to the minute technical and computer know-how, and temporary professional staffing sites  now exist to place highly skilled medical and technical workers in locum positions all over the U.S.

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2. You Have the Lowdown on All the Newest Tech Stuff Everyone Wants

Obviously, we are living in a world driven by technology and all the gadgets, computers, iPhones, ebooks and everything else anyone can think of. It gets complicated out there. Luckily, knowing a lot about technology (being a geek) puts you at a distinct advantage, as you know more about the latest developments coming down the pike, and have a greater sense of how the newest smartphones, tablets, software et al will affect us all. Research now shows that tech-savvy students are able to learn faster and adapt better to changes in the world and the workforce, and that is a very valuable quality. In essence, you get it—and these days, getting it is a very worthwhile thing.

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3. Your Tech Knowledge Gives You Independence and Personal Power

You don’t have to call someone to ask how something works, because you already know it all. If you don’t know it, you know how to find out about it. What does that aspect of geekdom give you? It gives you assurance, social power and saves you money.

If you haven’t embraced your inner geek yet, perhaps it’s high time you did. Say it out loud—you’re a geek, and you’re proud and glad for it all.

I have been writing college blog posts recently about teenagers who have arguably been applying to the wrong colleges. (Scroll to the bottom to see my three previous posts.)

All my posts have involved families who required financial aid, but today Im sharing the plight of a father who is too wealthy to receive need-based help.

Here is the email that I received from the father, who is a financial adviser:

Okay, so how did I know that Johns Hopkins rarely gives scholarships to well-off students? I looked at John Hopkins Common Data Set, which is a valuable document that many schools complete yearly that contains a great deal of information about such things as the institutions need-based aid, merit awards, acceptance figures, academic profile of freshmen and much more.

Section H of any school’s Common Data Set contains the information on the number of students who apply for financial aid, the number who receive aid and what the typical financial aid package is. In the same section, the Common Data Set also shares whether the school gives merit awards to wealthy students.

Only a handful of wealthy students received money from Johns Hopkins, which reserves its financial awards to  students with demonstrated financial need. Here is the pertinent section of Johns Hopkins’ Common Data Set:

In the 2010-11 school year (latest available),  just 10 freshmen received merit scholarships, which were worth an average of $26,318. To give you a frame of reference, there were 1,241 students in the universitys freshmen class and 551 freshmen received need-based grants. The average need-based grant was $30,791. Doing the math, you can see that the majority of students 680 paid full price. Like a lot of highly prestigious East Coast schools, Johns Hopkins is crawling with rich kids, whose parents are footing the entire bill.

Almost all schools in this country award merit scholarships to rich students, but a few highly prestigious ones dont give awards to these teenagers or they dispense just a few token scholarships.  Johns Hopkins belongs in this category. Schools like all the Ivies and the very top liberal arts colleges dont have to hand out merit money to wealthy teenagers because they institutions enjoy such high perches in US News & World Reports college rankings that rich students flock to them without any carrots.

In responding to the dads email I suggested that there could be other schools on his daughters list that do give wealthy students merit money. Unfortunately, the two additional schools that he mentioned MIT and Tufts University are in the same category at Johns Hopkins.

Another way that you can research a schools financial aid practices is to look at the institutions profile on the College Boards website. Click on the schools  Cost and Financial Aid link. Here is the link to MIT. Youll find the pertinent statistic for the dad on the second-to-last line that says average non-need-based aid. In MITs case it says not reported. Whenever you see not reported that simply means no merit awards for rich kids.

When I checked Tufts Universitys financial aid stats on the College Board, I saw that the average non-need based aid was $500. Thats essentially nothing. Unfortunately, I couldnt find Tufts Common Data Set, which is irritating, but some schools dont release it.

Its always important to research the financial aid practices of schools before applying. Dont make any assumptions.

Here are more posts on applying to the wrong schools when money is an issue:

Tags: Common Data Set, Expected family contribution, Johns Hopkins University, MIT, PROFILE, slider, Tufts University

← 8 Things You Need to Know About Private Scholarships

If we hadn’t been here before, having seen Alabama and L.S.U. tussle in Tuscaloosa back in November, you’d think the B.C.S. National Championship Game was following in the footsteps of the 2001 Orange Bowl. High-grade offenses reduced to jelly under a defensive-themed onslaught; one otherwise stalwart, experienced team left flailing in frustration, unwilling to adapt to an opponent’s challenge. Offense? It was here, but with matching caveats. Against F.B.S. opponents not named Alabama, L.S.U. was averaging 36.8 points per game. Against F.B.S. opponents not named L.S.U., Alabama was averaging 34.7 points per game.

But we’d been done this road before, having seen Alabama and L.S.U. tussle two months ago, and the defense-first, last and always approach from both sides lent credence to the idea of “big boy football,” a style of play put forth earlier this week by Les Miles.

“Big boy football,” as an idea, strays away from Chip Kelly’s spread-based offense and back, back, back in time to a simpler age, when offenses went north-south and defenses dictated the tempo. When the biggest deviation from normalcy was the halfback pass; when games were won in the trenches. SEC football, in short – such as it’s been for generations.

Big boys on one side, big boys on the other. The size difference: negligible. The speed difference: negligible. Yet Alabama, with the benefit of 60-plus minutes of tape and 40-plus days of preparation, completely handled the same team that came into Tuscaloosa on Nov. 5 and won, 12-9, in overtime. It was again a game of field goals; however, Alabama could have taken home the national championship with one.

The final score, 21-0, does little to explain the true margin of victory. No team in college football was scoring on Alabama last night, thanks to another jaw-dropping performance from the best defense in recent college football history, and there was no way L.S.U. was putting a single point on the board with its vanilla, pedestrian and miserable offense.

For L.S.U., it was a blooper reel without the laughs, though the pratfalls remained intact. There was Jordan Jefferson firing a shovel pass towards the back of his intended target; not surprisingly, the pass sailed right past an unsuspecting Spencer Ware and to C.J. Moseley, who made the easiest interception in B.C.S. play since Alabama’s Marcel Dareus took a shovel pass to the house against Texas.

There was one drive that passed midfield, a rite of passage that didn’t occur until midway through the fourth quarter. And with the push into Alabama territory came a frightening realization: for L.S.U., it would only get tougher from there.

There was that same drive ending in familiar fashion, with Jefferson sacked, stripped and held at bay while Alabama pounced on the loose ball. That was L.S.U. and Alabama, part two, in a nutshell. L.S.U., the little brother, was held at bay while the big, bad, bullying older brother had his way.

This was “big boy football,” but with a twist. Instead of taking its place on college football’s Mount Rushmore, L.S.U. was assaulted by a tougher, meaner, stronger and more talented team. A better team, from top to bottom.

Les Miles stuck with Jefferson throughout, as suspected, but few could have predicted Jefferson to revert to his prior form. Forget 2010; Jefferson reverted back to his 2008 style of mismanagement, complete with botched reads, poor pocket presence and woeful option play.

The latter is key: when these two teams met in November, L.S.U.’s option caught Alabama off guard. Clearly, L.S.U. does not have a deep bag of tricks. Nick Saban and Alabama were keyed into the option from the start, leaving the Tigers and offensive coordinator Greg Studrawa grasping at straws.

That may be putting it kindly. Studrawa and L.S.U. didn’t grasp at straws as much as throw up their hands, rolling out an offensive game plan as imaginative of your 1040 form for the I.R.S.: C.P.A.’s rejoiced, but running a fullback dive on 3rd-3 — the same play run three plays before — reeks of throwing in the towel. At best, it smells of a lack of offensive imagination and ingenuity.

Those two qualities come in handy against an Alabama, as led by the brain trust of Saban, Smart and company, and a failure to adapt and adjust against these defensive stalwarts leads to this level of offensive ineptitude. Off balance, off kilter and out of sorts, L.S.U., Jefferson and this offense never had a chance.

On the opposite side, Jefferson’s counterpart, A.J. McCarron, was nearly perfect. He wasn’t flashy, instead leaving the fireworks to his receivers, who came through for him on a handful of sideline grabs — one, to Kevin Norwood, will receive heavy focus on Alabama’s year-in-review DVD.

Here’s McCarron: everything Alabama asked him to be. Don’t win the game so much as not lose the game, Saban and his offensive staff asked. McCarron trumped that, playing careful, error-free football to the tune of 23 completions in 34 attempts for 234 yards. Asked to do just enough, McCarron did more.

For much of three quarters, L.S.U. took the game out of Trent Richardson’s hands and forced McCarron to make plays. That he did unveiled a crippling flaw in the Tigers’ defensive system; that McCarron delivered on the biggest stage of his career is a testament to Saban and Alabama, who kept calling on the hot hand throughout his coming-out party.

The Tigers limited Richardson, but only to a degree: you may slow a diesel train, but you’re never going to stop it in its tracks. Richardson finished his evening – and his college career, one suspects – with 96 yards on 20 carries, highlighted by a 34-yard touchdown run with less than five minutes left that put the capper on Alabama’s 21-0 win.

This was “big boy football,” as done in Tuscaloosa. It’s about sticking to scripts, not flying by the seat of your pants. Trusting in your players. Believing that the message has stuck, and that your best trumps your opponent’s best — that the opponent really doesn’t matter, as no team can beat you while at your best.

“Big boy football” is Alabama football, and Miles should regret asking his team to play the Crimson Tide at their own game. Alabama: the best team in college football, 2012. After a 60-minute pummeling, L.S.U. was left pleading its case for the top spot in The Associated Press poll – quite a slide for a team fresh off what many believe to be the most accomplished regular season in college football history.

This has become par for the course for Saban, and we should have expected nothing less. The last team to challenge his reign ended on the trash heap: Florida and Urban Meyer received their comeuppance from Saban a year after the fact, in Tim Tebow’s final SEC game, and the Gators have yet to recover. Revenge tastes good cold, as it was with Florida, but it tastes better warm, such as it was last night.

As in the 2009 SEC Championship Game, Saban and Alabama got their revenge. It was men against boys – “big boy football,” as played by the Crimson Tide. It was Alabama football, 2012.

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If you are interested in the practice of cardiovascular medicine and want to enter the medical field this article can help you start your career as an EKG technician. You need to gain the information about EKG technician training, job description and career opportunities. There are three available specialties: invasive cardiology, echocardiography and vascular technology.

How to enter a training program?

After finishing high school, you must start training to become an EKG technician. If you are new to this area, you must have a certification that normally takes one year to win. An internship lasts from 1 to 2 years. But if you are specialized in another area, then all you need is training that takes about 4-6 weeks.

Although there is no requirement to be certified to work as a technician, it is always advisable to obtain a certification of the Cardiovascular Credentialing International (CCI).

The main duties of an ECG technician

At this position, you will have to perform cardiovascular tests using electrical impulses that are sent to the heart of a patient. Normally, your primary role will be to help doctors diagnose and treat heart problems using non-invasive methods.

EKG technicians observe different heart valves, vessels and chambers with the help of ultrasound. This equipment is necessary to take echocardiograms or images of the heart system while the patient is at rest or active in order to assess the functions of his / her heart.

Another way to test the functions of the heart of your patient is in electrocardiography or ECG. There are different methods such as the technique of Holter monitoring and “stress test”. The test results are considered in planning of cardiac surgery.

If you want to become an EKG technician, then you can definitely expect a great career with decent compensation.

In order to balance the budget last summer, the Palm Beach County School District played musical chairs. It eliminated the positions of nearly 500 employees, then shuffled many of them around to other vacant jobs.

But as the second semester of this school year starts this month, there are still 17 employees without a permanent chair, district officials said.

These employees – labeled excessed, because their position was eliminated but they were not actually laid off – are still working in whatever temporary spots the district can find for them, and they are still being paid.

The 17 employees, who include nine teachers, have proven difficult to place, said Pat Kaupe, director of recruitment and retention.

The teachers in particular are certified in speciality areas like business and vocational education, which makes it difficult to find vacant positions for them, said Tony Hernandez, executive director of the Classroom Teachers Association union.

With the creation of new core classes in math, science and English to meet state class-size limits, some electives such as the ones these teachers are certified to lead have been dramatically reduced, said Frank Barbieri, the school board’s chairman. That’s especially true in middle and high schools, he said.

Kaupe said there are no openings in these teachers’ specialties, and that the district can’t place a teacher certified in one of these specialty or vocational areas in a class such as high-school math if the teacher is not certified to teach that new subject.

The district wants to avoid totally laying off employees, so it has kept them in limbo while officials try to find a new permanent position for them, said Mike Burke, its chief financial officer.

Burke said that under the district’s contract with the Classroom Teachers Association and other employee unions, the district could not just lay off this small group of employees who don’t have a permanent job.

It would have had to follow the rules in the union contract which call for laying off the employees in each job classification with the least seniority first, Burke said.

The employees are being paid their salaries from their previous position and are being used wherever possible on a temporary basis, Kaupe said. The teachers are mainly being used as long-term substitute teachers, she said.

Burke did not know how much it is costing the district to keep the excessed employees on but said they might be defraying some other district costs such as needing fewer substitute teachers.

District officials have predicted a

$52 million budget deficit next year. When the school board discussed the budget in November, several board members, including Barbieri, said cuts to essential services including cuts at schools could be unavoidable next year.

Barbieri said the administration continues to monitor vacancies and hopes to place the excessed teachers and other employees rather than terminating them.

It is not a perfect solution, but the district has remained committed to finding the appropriate position for all of them, Barbieri said.