Image: Alaskan Dude (Flickr)

Freighter Cruises

If you want to save money on a cruise and be treated like “one of the crew” instead of like a tourist, a freighter cruise may be just for you. Most of the major global freighter lines, CMA-CGM, Canada Maritime and Freighter World Cruise offer adventure seekers the chance to come aboard for a fare. Travel to just about any destination in the world on a containership, general cargo ship or mail & supply ship for a fraction of the cost of a traditional cruise line. Fares range from $90 to $130 per day for trips from 7 days to over 100 days. Freighter travel is not as unaccommodating as it may seem. You get your own cabin, eat meals in a dining hall with the crew, and even get a tour of the bridge. Freighter cruises are generally for people who would prefer a laid-back setting, with a more rugged edge to it rather than the standard, activity centered, commercial cruises.

Cold Destinations

Alaska or Canada may not be the first place that comes to mind when you think of spring break, but for many college students, canoeing in the Arctic, ski trips and dog sledding can be a refreshing adventure –especially if you already live in a warm climate.  For those who love to bond with animals, dog sledding has gained popularity in recent years. Alaskan Racing Huskies love to run and they thrive on human interaction. Guides will share their love for dogs, local history and dog sledding expertise with resort guests in Canada and Minnesota.

Volunteer Trips

Volunteer trips have been a popular alternative spring break option this year for students who seek a “feel good” opportunity in addition to learning about life in different countries or even from different walks of life. You could tutor at-risk children who attend inner-city schools or practice your Spanish while helping to improve shanty towns built to accommodate poor Mexican families. Choosing to spend your spring break helping people and communities in need is altruistically rewarding, but it can also be fun and not to mention looks great on your resume. How much more would you enjoy sharing a few cold beers after a day of conservation work in Ecuador or saving turtles in Costa Rica than if you just sat around in a hotel all day?

Kooky Retreats

For those of you who need more therapy than party, try a specialized retreat to reset your mojo.  Immerse yourself in a retreat of just about any kind. The Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in the Berkshire Mountains of western Massachusetts has a Silent Yoga and Meditation Retreat where participants focus on Yin Yoga and meditation. If you are looking for rejuvenation, there are many new age wellness retreats all over the country. Some people may prefer a retreat that brings them closer to nature. In this case, you can find an eco camp or do a weeklong survival course camping out in the woods. From paranormal retreats such as ghost hunting, to art and creativity retreats, you can spend spring break getting away from all the noise of college life and find some bliss doing what you truly love.

April Lentini writes for Apartment Guide in Detroit.

In any case, the Oscar Award ceremony is about to hit television screens in less than a day and although some may contend that this year may have not been generally an all-around great year for films both big and small, the competition leading up to the Academy Awards is pretty fierce and contentious.  Several big changes to the actual show will also make an interesting impact on perhaps not the winners but the style and presentation of the show, from the increase to ten ‘Best Picture’ nominees and cutting out live performances of the ‘Best Song’ category.  Here’s a quick rundown and analysis of the probable winners and my personal choices for each of the major categories.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Mo’Nique in Precious
Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air
Penélope Cruz in Nine
Anna Kendrick in Up in the Air
Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart

Wie’s Choice: Mo’Nique
Precious is a film that makes its mark because of the characters it portrays.  One of the strongest performances is from Mo’Nique, who plays the mother in Precious.  Some may be critical in that her role can come off as overacted and a bit simplified, yet from a pure acting vantage point, Mo’Nique delivers a terrifying performance that sometimes comes off as villainous, yet in the end, the complexity of her nature is brought forth in a powerful confrontational sequence between her and Precious that changes the overall perspective of the film.

Who Will Probably Win: Mo’Nique
Mo’Nique has won every major acting award for best supporting actress.  Most likely, the closest contenders to her are the terrific performances of Vera Farmiga in Up in the Air and Maggie Gyllenhaal in Crazy Heart yet the power of Mo’Nique’s scenes and the amount of ample room given to her to passionately act gives her the most likely edge for the award along with her numerous other accolades this past year.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christoph Waltz in Inglourious Basterds
Christopher Plummer in The Last Station
Matt Damon in Invictus
Stanley Tucci in The Lovely Bones
Woody Harrelson in The Messenger

Wie’s Choice: Christoph Waltz
What is the number one aspect remembered from Inglourious Basterds?  It could possibly be Brad Pitt’s hilarious role or the odd brutal scenes that Tarantino are known for, yet most likely, many will remember Christoph Waltz as Colonel Hans.  The role comes off initially as bizarre and frightening yet ends up being a compelling and unforgettable character that the audience at one moment may scream at yet in the next start to cautiously giggle with.  It’s a complex role that seems effortlessly played by Waltz and is well-deserved of the praise.

Who Will Probably Win: Christoph Waltz
In what may have started off as a surprise contender, Inglourious Basterds has been pretty prominent this award season.  Although the film’s wins may not be as notable as the number of nominations, Chirstoph Waltz has won every major acting award for Best Supporting Actor.  It would be quite a surprise to see him not take home the Oscar here.

Actress in a Leading Role
Meryl Streep in Julie & Julia
Sandra Bullock in The Blind Side
Helen Mirren in The Last Station
Gabourey Sidibe in Precious
Carey Mulligan in An Education

Wie’s Choice: Gabourey Sidibe
Gabourey Sidibe is the heart and soul of Precious, a film that would not have worked well without her presence.  It’s subdued as she begins the film mumbling her lines yet passionate in the way those words slowly transform into a confident young mother and woman.  The audience is never taken far aback by her attitude as the feelings become mutual and shared whether it is anger, pain, joy, or sorrow.  There is a huge range that was necessary for such a role and Sidibe takes it all in stride.  Her performance is a recognition of a powerful heart and soul necessary from such abuse and mature topics at hand, especially for a young actress as Sidibe.

Who Will Probably Win: Sandra Bullock
The Best Actress category has turned out to be quite an intriguing contention between Sidibe and Bullock.  Sidibe began as the headline and de facto winner of the award until The Blind Side made a late entrance into the award season where once, nearly always-thought-of-as comedian was given notice for a strong dramatic role.  Note, this has not been her first only-dramatic role yet the first where it has been so widely recognized.  Riding an underdog wave, Bullock has become much more of a front-runner for the award than ever.  Sidibe has only won the Golden Globe as her major acting award while Bullock has taken the majority of others from the Screen Actors Guild to the Critics Choice Award.  It will be close but Bullock looks to have the award locked in possibly more so than Sibidie.

Actor in a Leading Role
Morgan Freeman in Invictus
Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
George Clooney in Up in the Air
Colin Firth in A Single Man
Jeremy Renner in The Hurt Locker

Wie’s Choice: Jeff Bridges
Bridges role as Bad Blake really is reminiscent of another contender from the prior year, Rourke in The Wrestler.  Both are shown as beaten down and lost in the earlier parts of the film and then goes on a path of redemption.  It’s a powerful piece of work set to a music-drama backdrop and his role is noteworthy perhaps almost as a character piece set up just for him.  He definitely deserves a win for his work in a sea of such heavy contenders, especially after all these years of being in the acting profession.

Who Will Probably Win: Jeff Bridges
Much like most of the other award predictions on this article, Bridges is poised to win because he has won a majority of major acting awards throughout the past few months from the Golden Globes to the Critics Award.  Perhaps more importantly, the Academy is acknowledging Bridges great performance in Crazy Heart and also his numerous years of nominations and popular work that has a nice range and variety from popular mainstream films like Iron Man to smaller roles as The Contender.  This would be his first Oscar win.

Animated Feature Film
Up (Pete Docter and Bob Peterson)
The Princess and the Frog (Ron Clements and John Musker)
Coraline (Henry Selick)
Fantastic Mr Fox (Wes Anderson)
The Secret of Kells (Tomm Moore)

Wie’s Choice: Up
Up is still one of my top films for 2009, being able to contend with the heavy hitters that most critics have pinned as their own favorites.  The people at Pixar, in general, are such masterful storytellers and being able to create CG animated features lets that characteristic shine bright and true year-after-year.  Some critics contend that Up has a weak second half that is confused in its direction yet the more time that the film has been sitting in my mind, I find the film coming together as one of Pixar’s most mature and memorable titles that can move from familial death to a talking dog without a flutter of an eye.  Their creativity and vision keeps me coming back to their work gleefully each and every year.

What Will Probably Win: Up
Up has won every major animated features award to date and the Academy seems to usually tip their hats to Pixar year-in and year-out without much worry.  The nice additional note is that an animated feature like Up finally have more of a chance be nominated for Best Picture as well.

Directing
Avatar (James Cameron)
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow)
Inglourious Basterds (Quentin Tarantino)
Up in the Air (Jason Reitman)
Precious (Lee Daniels)

Wie’s Choice: Jason Reitman
Much of the discussion of Up in the Air will be discussed below in the Best Picture category.  Jason Reitman, as a director, though is a fascinating person to profile briefly.  This is only his second Oscar nomination for directing, his first being Juno, and he is a relatively young director.  Perhaps some may state he has time in his lifetime, he will have more chances win another Oscar or two and from the look of his films, he most likely will.  However, for a film that has been worked at in his head for years, much like Cameron has been thinking of Avatar in the same way, and his keen eye to wit and intelligent discussion, Up in the Air should be noted by the Academy with more than a nomination.

Who Will Probably Win: Kathyrn Bigelow
Much of the discussion about Avatar versus The Hurt Locker will be discussed below in the Best Picture section.  However, it is interesting to note how significant a win Bigelow would be if she does win.  This is her first major motion picture, and she is only the fourth female director to be nominated in this position.  A win for her would make her the first female director to win for best director.  Perhaps an added point, which some critics have considered to be insult to injury if she does win, is that she is James Cameron’s ex-wife.

Best Picture
Avatar (James Cameron and Jon Landau, producers)
District 9 (Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, producers)
An Education (Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, producers)
The Hurt Locker (Kathryn Bigelow, Mark Boal, Nicolas Chartier and Greg Shapiro, producers)
Inglourious Basterds (Lawrence Bender, producer)
Precious (Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, producers)
A Serious Man (Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, producers)
Up in the Air (Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, producers)
The Blind Side (Gil Netter, Andrew A Kosove and Broderick Johnson, producers)
Up (Jonas Rivera, producer)

Wie’s Choice: Up in the Air
The top ten films have, mostly, quite a competition amongst them if I were to have any say in who gets the Oscar nod this year.  Indeed, picking up even the top three would be difficult as nearly each film has a special trait that carries them to the top.  However, in my personal opinion, the film that most affected and touched me is Up in the Air.  It may have lacked the action and suspense of The Hurt Locker or the visual spectacle of Avatar yet I feel it’s a film about the modern day that encompasses all the little themes of individualism and real human relationships against the bigger themes of modernization and the recession.  Peppered throughout it are fantastic performances, (especially from Clooney, one of his career best) great cinematography, well-intentioned edits, and a smart, witty script that still manages to buoy between excessive and not enough.  I still feel it’s the 2009 film that will define the past decade with characters that many modern adults, young and old, can relate to.

What Will Probably Win: The Hurt Locker
David vs. Goliath is the popular headline for this year’s Oscars.  Although the film nominations may have increased to ten, to be blunt, the move does seem to reek more of a marketing ploy to try and get more viewers to see the Oscars.  If it actually meant more of a competition, the eight other films would stand more of a fighting chance yet, unless by some miraculous intervention, the winner will go to either Avatar or The Hurt Locker.  Avatar has two big elements on its side – the biggest box office revenue in film history to date and the winner of the Golden Globe for Best Picture.  The Oscar chances for The Hurt Locker can be attributed to sweeping the rest of the major Best Picture awards from the BAFTAs to the Spirit Awards.  Most likely, the award will tilt towards David in this case.  However, critics have been lambasting the Academy for not being more keen to how the film audience acts much as in the case of the previous Oscars where the Academy shunned The Dark Knight nearly completely from nominations.  Yet a counterargument to this would be that the Academy widened the nomination count to ten to include films that would not have originally had a chance of being nominated and Avatar was a shoe-in as a nomination in the top five to begin with either way and so in many voters’ minds, this may concede that point.  This points to signs having The Hurt Locker as the winner.

The Academy Awards begins Sunday, March 7th.  Check your local stations for specific times.

What is an MBA?

A Masters Degree in Business Administration (MBA) is essentially a specialization and much deeper course of learning than what you covered at your undergraduate school. It is centered around the sharing of strategy, very fine technical details, and networking with your fellow graduate students. It can be of general nature, or focus narrowly on one discipline of business: Forensic Accounting, Interactive Marketing, or Quantitative Analysis, to name a few. The length of the program depends entirely on what you intend to be studying, and you can complete an MBA as quickly as one year (full-time), or up to three years (part-time) both on-campus and online.

How will an MBA help me?

In a nutshell, an MBA is your way of saying, “I’m an expert in [your field here].” You have taken the enormous amount of time, resources, and (mental) sweat to earn two or more degrees; basically, you have proven your dedication. A current or prospective employer regards an MBA as a badge of tenacity; you invested several years for this knowledge and it makes you that much more of an asset to their business.

An MBA can be your ticket to an accelerated career. There are a lot of jobs out in the market that list an advanced degree as a prerequisite. Earning an MBA can give you the extra edge you need to qualify for that dream job and catapult you to new levels of higher pay grades, authority, and respect.

In addition, the path to earning an MBA can be just as rewarding as the degree itself. When you take Masters-level classes, you are placing yourself in a room with other very intelligent people; people with interesting and unique perspectives you may not have seen or thought of before. Graduate degrees are a much bigger time and financial investment, so there tend to be fewer social loafers than you probably had to deal with during your undergraduate education (though inevitably there will ALWAYS be a few.)

Another important benefit of an MBA is networking. If networking was not stressed in your undergraduate education, then you are hearing it now and need to memorize and believe in this sentence, “Networking is the most important part of business.” When I say networking, I don’t mean online social networks or information technology — I’m talking about face-to-face, interpersonal relationships. Your personal network is the most valuable thing you can ever build for yourself. You would not believe how many jobs, business opportunities, romantic introductions, and so many other wonderful things are passed between connected people all the time. So, why is an MBA so great for networking? You are surrounded by competent businesspeople who all share a common denominator with you: the desire to learn and get ahead. Make some friends, trade some business cards… you never know who you will meet that will hold the connection to your dream job or be your future business partner.

When should I return to school for my MBA?

The catch with a Masters degree in any business field is that full-time experience is a vital prerequisite to ensure that your application is as robust and compelling as possible. The most important reason for this is the fact that many schools won’t even consider you for a graduate program without relevant job experience. They want a candidate who has spent time in the “real world” and can bring something to the program, not just take away knowledge and skills from it.

The trend lately has been to do your MBA degree straight out of undergrad. As a recent graduate, I have seen first hand how tough the market is and actually advise strongly against this. Weird as it may sound, it may actually hurt you when you finish the advanced degree. Without business experience “under your belt,” a potential employer will look at your resume and give you less credit than they would to someone that had a wealth of experience, but no advanced degree. If you are currently working at a company and decide to do a part-time MBA, it can serve as an excellent career accelerator and potentially net you a raise or promotion when an opportunity becomes available. It is all a matter of balancing experience and knowledge.

Where should I go for my MBA?

To put it bluntly, if you can afford a nationally recognized school, find your specialization, and get accepted… go for the gold! An MBA does several things for you: it opens doors to promotions, higher paying jobs, bestows a measure of respect, and broadens and deepens your scope of knowledge in your chosen field. Therefore, go to wherever you think you will get the best possible experience, connections, and value for your hard earned dollars.

Online schools can be an excellent choice for many prospective students as well, due to their flexible nature. If you are working during the day, an online MBA can be the answer to your dilemma of when you will have time to take classes. In addition, the hybrid classroom* concept has been taking off lately, which can be an excellent learning method if you are skeptical of taking a class entirely online. There are a variety of resources on the web for comparing online degrees and searching for schools; one popular site is Edvisors.com, it has received a lot of traffic and praise for its large database of colleges and degree programs. In addition, GraduateCenter.com has a wealth of information about the entire process of getting into grad school, as well as funding resources, and other useful services.

*A hybrid classroom or course means that it is partially online, and partially a physical class at a school. An example of this would be a class that meets one or two times per week online, and once per week in a classroom for a lecture, lab, or for in-person Q&A sessions with the professor.

How will I pay for an MBA?

Scholarships are a great supplement to your funds for education if you qualify for one. They essentially are free money for use toward your school bills. There are lots of different types of scholarships that a student can earn, and many require an essay or some sort of written application to be considered. StudentScholarshipSearch.com and ScholarshipPoints.com are two great free online resources for finding and earning scholarships. ScholarshipPoints is pretty unique in that you earn and accumulate scholarship points through different online activities (reading blogs, taking surveys, etc.) and can redeem them for entries into a variety of monthly scholarship drawings. As an example, ScholarshipPoints runs a $10,000 quarterly and $1,000 monthly scholarship that are open to any user enrolled in school.

Many people think that the government only gives money to undergraduate students. There are just as many loan options and scholarships for graduate students as there are for undergraduates. If you need to take out a loan, go federal before you go private. Just like you did for your undergrad school, you need to file a FAFSA. For every federal loan, (Stafford, Parent PLUS, and Perkins) there is a graduate version for applicants with demonstrated financial need. Even if you do not qualify for the need-based loans, you will still be offered an unsubsidized Stafford loan that has lower fixed interest (6.8%) than you would be paying on a private student loan. However, in order to qualify for federal aid, your school needs to be enrolled in either the FFEL or Direct Loan program — contact your school’s financial aid department for details.

A private student loan is also an excellent tool for helping to finance your advanced degree. They close the gap between what is awarded to you in federal aid and your total cost of attendance. Although they cost more in interest than federal loans, they are more flexible and can be used for essentially any school-related expense — be it rent for your apartment, paying for tuition, buying books, or any of the other unexpected costs that spring up while you are in school.

–

In the long run, earning an MBA will advance your career and help you in your quest for better, more desirable jobs. It can open doors that were previously closed to you, and highlight your success in both academics and business. An MBA signifies that you are educated and have the skill set to excel in your chosen field. Along with the drive to succeed, some street smarts, and a professional demeanor, your MBA can be the yellow brick road to your Emerald City.

** Data sourced from the U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Surveys, March 1998, 1999, 2000

1. Activate your computer’s firewall - Another great reason to use Windows, in case you weren’t aware that Macs suck. Macs ship with their internal firewall turned OFF, so whatever computer you are using, make sure that your network firewall is activated.

2. Encrypt your computer’s files and activity - These are many ways to go about doing this. The best way, by far, is to invest in a monthly VPN plan that allows all of your surfing to be encrypted by a 3rd party program which connects to that 3rd party’s servers around the world. British company HideMyAss has a very affordable and popular monthly VPN plan. Other free options for encryption include the Hotspot Shield or UltraSurf programs (warning: these “free” companies may track your activity or display advertising). You should also consider encrypting your sensitive files and folders.

3. Don’t type in credit card numbers or passwords - Even if you are using some of the above tips, determined hackers can sometimes find a way around them. In general, avoid typing in any sensitive passwords or information when using public WiFi. If you must, make sure the website you are using is accepting such information via an encrypted server, which means the URL should begin with “https” instead of “http.” Take care with viewing any sensitive emails also, especially if your email provider is not behind an “https” server.

4. When you aren’t surfing online, turn OFF your wireless card - Going about doing this depends on your operating system, wireless card, and other factors. The easiest way on most laptops is to simply switch off the physical wireless switch that is often located on the side of your laptop. On Windows and Mac and Linux you can also usually right-click on your wireless signal and choose “disable.” For the record, you should also not engage in any file sharing types of technologies while using public wireless signals.

5. Never, never, never connect to an Ad-Hoc network - Many computer users are not aware that sometimes a wireless signal that shows up under their “Available Wireless Networks” is not actually a wireless signal from an Internet router. Often times there are other laptops nearby that are giving off a signal, whether on purpose or not, which is a called an Ad-Hoc network. This theoretically allows one computer to connect to the Internet via a second computer, but the average user has absolutely no use for this. In fact, by connecting to such computers, you may inadvertently be dumping all kinds of data straight into a non-suspect hacker’s hard drive. These Ad-Hoc networks are disabled by default in the latest versions of Windows, but in Windows XP and some other systems they will show up automatically as “Free Public Wi-Fi” or otherwise.

General

These sites cover a lot of ground when it comes to networking and finding a job, so they’re a great place to start.

1. Jobster: Sign up through this site to create a free career profile, allowing you to search for jobs and for employers to find you.
2. JobFox: JobFox is a bit like a dating site, but for jobs, not singles. Create a profile and it will match you up with the job listings you’re best suited for.
3. Monster: As one of the largest job sites on the web, Monster is a great place to start seeing what kind of work is out there.
4. CareerBuilder: Sign up with this site to create and share your resume, search for jobs, and get help and tips with your search.
5. Ning: With Ning, you can search for social networks that meet your interests or if you don’t find one, create your own.
6. FD Career: With this site you’ll create a profile, learn about companies, find helpful articles and join a lively community of professionals.
7. SimplyHired: This site lets you search for jobs from all over the web, then quickly and easily send your stored information to listings that you find interesting.
8. Beyond.com: Find loads of niche career communities on this site, as well as a powerful job search tool.
9. BrightCircles: Stay in touch with your coworkers and business connections using this social network.
10. Koda: Use this site to contact employers you’re interested in working with, look through listings and meet others looking for work.
11. Jobirn: This insider referral network helps give you a leg up in the job search by hooking you up with someone who can actually put in a good word for you and get you job interviews.
12. indeed: Search for jobs worldwide on this site and use it to share and store your work information.
13. Climber.com: If you’re already doing well at work, check out this website that will put you in touch with recruiters and companies looking to hire.

College Grads

These sites cater to those who have their degrees, connecting them with alumni and setting up helpful recruiting connections.

1. Alumwire: Join this online community for information about jobs and career fairs as well as useful tools for getting in touch with alumni in your field.
2. MyWorkster: Go through your college community to find out about job and networking opportunities in your area using this site.
3. Doostang: Those with an Ivy League education can make a variety of useful alumni and business connections through this grad-focused site.
4. Alumni.net: Connect or reconnect with those you knew in school to turn acquaintances into business opportunities through this social network.
5. Brazen Careerist: Young professionals can create a profile, find jobs, network and meet potential collaborators through this site.
6. Zumeo: Join this online network to get connected with internships and find loads of networking opportunities.
7. iHipo: This site is a great place to search for work near home or even a bit more far flung, with networks connecting you with internships and jobs alike.
8. AfterCollege: Sign up for this site to get access to listings and networks for loads of entry level positions.

Resume Help

Make sure your resume is in top shape and accessible to potential employers with help from these social sites.

1. Razume: Upload your resume to this community site and you’ll get access to help and criticism from others who can help you create a better resume.
2. VisualCV: Join this site to make a better, more technologically savvy resume you can send and share with anyone.
3. Emurse: Use this social site to create, store and share your resume as well as enjoy networking and job search opportunities.
4. ResumeBucket: Need a place to store your resume online? This site does just that and more.
5. ResumeSocial: Post your resume to this community and you’ll be able to get free, and hopefully helpful, feedback on improving how you look on paper.
6. Ziggs: This site lets you take control of your online presence, from how you appear in searches to the state of your resume.
7. YaaZe: Create a resume using this site, publish it, and you’ll get updates when jobs that meet your needs become available.

Job Prep and Research

Learn more about companies, job search sites, pay and more through these helpful sites.

1. InterActive Applicant: Join this site to get access to recruitment that lets you not only show off your resume but who you really are as well.
2. InterviewBest: Use this great site to make sure you’re prepped and ready for your next interview.
3. JibberJobber: This site lets you easily manage your job search, with great online tools and opportunities for networking.
4. Job Board Reviews: Find out if the job board you’re visiting is legit with reviews found on this site.
5. Salary.com: Are you being paid what you deserve? Find out from this site.
6. VirtualJobCoach: Job seekers can join this site and get help organizing and managing their job search.

Networking

Why not use social networking for what it was designed to do–network? These sites make it easy to connect with colleagues, fellow workers and potential employers.

1. LinkedIn: This business networking site is a must for those trying to connect with others in their field or just make it easy for people to find out what they do.
2. Facebook: Facebook can be fun for talking to friends, playing games and posting funny pictures but it can also work for business if you create a serious, professional profile.
3. Twitter: Send out daily updates and follow those in your field or who have job openings using this tool.
4. iMantri: Need a mentor to get you on the path to success? This networking site will hook you up with someone who can show you the ropes.
5. Company of Friends: As one of the oldest business social networks, this site has an extensive network of contacts for you to use.
6. Ecademy: With this site you can make connections, share what you know and build your personal brand as you go.
7. Meetup: Find out about professional events, networking opportunities and more through this great social tool.
8. Plaxo: Create a listing of contacts on this site so you can carry your business connections with you everywhere.
9. Xing: Manage your existing business contacts and make new ones through this site.
10. Networking for Professionals: If you’re a professional looking to expand your immediate circle of contacts, give this great networking site a try.
11. WorkNT: Find jobs and employers, post your information, and talk with others on this great networking site.
12. Cofoundr: If you’re more of the type who wants to start their own business, consider using this site as a way to make a myriad of great, useful connections.

Freelancing

If you feel like freelancing is a direction you’d like to go, then check out these sites to find great opportunities and connections.

1. Elance: Find employers looking to hire freelancers for a variety of different projects through this helpful social site.
2. Guru.com: This site is not only a good place to find a job but a great place to get answers to all your freelancing questions as well.
3. Sologig: If you’ve been working in your field for quite some time, you can use this site to find great job listings that require your level of experience.
4. Go Freelance: Through this site you can find work, read articles and promote your skills as a freelancer.
5. MeetingWave: With this online tool you can find people who are interested in your business and decide whether or not you want to meet them in person.
6. iFreelance: Create a portfolio on this site and use it to find employers who are looking for freelancers with your skills.
7. FreshWebJobs: Those who freelance on the web can find programming, development and design jobs on this site.
8. Freelancer.com: Join this site and browse through the listings to find a job that suits your needs.
9. ContractedWork: There’s all kind of short term work to be found through this site, just register and start searching.
10. PowerLance: This freelancer-focused site allows you to search for projects and bid on ones that you’re interesting in pursuing.

Creative

Those working in a creative field can find art- and writing-focused jobs and communities on these sites.

1. Coroflot: Post your portfolio on this design site to showcase your work and help you find jobs.
2. Media Bistro: Connect with others in the content development and media industries on this site, as well as get updates about jobs.
3. Krop: With blogs, a database, and job listings on this site, it’s a great resource for designers looking for work.
4. PoeWar: The Writing Career Center is a great place to find career advice and also find jobs that will advance your career.
5. DesignCrowd: If you want to gain some recognition and even earn a few cash prizes, use this site to find and enter design contests from around the globe.
6. WriterLance: Writers out there who love what they do but also want to make a living can use this site to hook up with and work with potential buyers.
7. Authentic Jobs: Find both full-time and freelance creative jobs on this site or just read what the blog has to say.
8. AltPick: Promote your creative talents and find those looking to pay for them on this community-based site.
9. FreelanceWriting.com: Find links to contests, events, jobs and more on this writing site.
10. CreativeHeads: From animation to programming, you’ll find a wealth of creative-oriented jobs through this site.

Business

Get your foot in the door to the corporate and entrepreneurship world with these resources.

1. Jigsaw: Find a huge collection of B2B contacts on this site that you can use to find work and promote your business.
2. Ryze: Create your own homepage and start networking with other business professionals on this site.
3. Fast Pitch: Got a great business idea? Pitch it to potential investors on this site.
4. Meet the Boss: Those in upper management can make great business connections that can be useful in working collaboratively or changing jobs.
5. Spoke: Using this site you can share your professional info and get hooked up with people that might be good to know in your line of work.
6. NetParty: Those who are young and want to make valuable business connections should consider using this site. It lets you know where and when networking events are being held.
7. InboundMarketing: Find marketing news, training and an online community on this helpful site.
8. JaseZone: Try out this site to create your own personal profile and share your business expertise with others.

Technology

Put your IT, programming and computer knowledge to good use through the job offers found on these sites.

1. Dice: This site lets you search for all kinds of tech jobs and engage in discussions in an online community to boot.
2. 37Signals: Use this job board to find computer related work that fits your needs.
3. ITLance: If you prefer to freelance, advertise yourself or find existing projects through this site.
4. CoderCaste: Find out about jobs, read articles and join in techie talk in the forums on this site.
5. ScriptLance: This site will help you to connect with companies that are looking for programmers.
6. LimeExchange: Ideal for web developers and programmers, this site is full of great job opportunities.
7. nPost: Find tech-related jobs on this site’s job feed and keep up with the latest news on the blog.

Small Jobs

Whether you need part time work, want to work from home or just need a little extra cash, these social sites will help you find it.

1. Care.com: Find work as a nanny, tutor, housekeeper, special needs caretaker and more through this site.
2. HireaHelper: If you’ve got some skills that can help someone out around the house, you can use this network to find a job in your area.
3. Sitters.com: With availabilities for sitters of all kinds–from pets to houses–this site is a great place to find some part-time work.
4. Book a Lesson: Those who want to share their skills and make a little profit at the same time can use this site to book music, sports and arts lessons.
5. TutorLinker: If you’ve got the skills and expertise to tutor students, why not do it in your spare time? This site offers a wealth of networking opportunities to find you a job.
6. TutorNation: Connect with students in need of a little help in their studies through this site.
7. NannyAvailable: Those looking for a more long-term commitment can find a wide variety of nanny and au pair jobs on this network.
8. OneHourTranslation: If you know more than one language, don’t let your skills go unused. Check back with this site frequently to find quick translation gigs.

Miscellaneous

From niche job sites to helpful job search tools, these sites are well worth a visit.

1. Inovahire: Prefer to interview online? This innovative site gives you the option of meeting with employers right on the web.
2. LayoffSpace.com: Out of work? You’re not alone. This site lets you talk to and network with others who are in the same boat.
3. SkillWho: Show off what you can do with this online community designed to let professionals showcase their years of experience, education or whatever else lets them stand out.
4. TalentSpring: Enter your skills and expertise into this network and it will match you up with employers looking for those qualities and abilities.
5. TwitHire: This site proves that Twitter can be a valuable tool in finding a job, letting you track job listings sent out through the site.
6. WhotoTalkto: Want to work for a particular company but aren’t sure who’s important enough to get you a job? This site will show you the way.
7. FindLaw: Use this site to find law jobs aplenty and learn about lawyers and firms in your area.
8. LatPro: Hispanic job hunters who are bilingual can put their skills to use through the postings found on this site.
9. YourOnRamp: Designed with moms in mind, this social network helps women who want to return to the workforce do it in style.
10. MedHunting: Use this site to connect and search for medical jobs in a wide range of fields.
11. PoliceOne: Not finding police work in your area? Try out this search tool to find where the best law enforcement jobs are and to read more about the field in general.

Contributed by AssociatesDegree

While the name of this television town is completely fictional, there are real towns where cougars live. In case you were wondering, here is a list of the top five cougar towns in the United States.

1. Austin, Texas

About Austin: As a college town, Austin is considered a party town with a hip live music scene. It embraces alternative culture, and while the rest of the state shares conservative political views, Austin is known for offering a more liberal lifestyle. Though mostly artsy and offbeat, upscale designer stores can be found in the 2nd Street District, which is where you will most likely run into the local cougars.

Why Austin is a Cougar Town: Austin also has more single men than single women. Single males in Austin account for more than 22 percent of the population, and the majority of the Austin population is in their 20s. Because cougars often prefer men who are 15 or more years younger than they are, this makes Austin the perfect location for a recent divorcee to get dolled up, go out on the town for some entertainment and hopefully snag the attention of a strapping young lad.

2. Boulder, Colo.

About Boulder: Boulder is the home of the University of Colorado, the state’s largest university. Nestled between the Rocky Mountains and the Great Plains, Boulder is an outdoor lover’s dream with plenty of recreational open space, and ample opportunities for hiking, biking, running, and rock climbing.

Why Boulder is a Cougar Town: Boulder is considered to be a town full of power singles: well-educated, high-income urban singles. The median age in Boulder is 33, and males outnumber females by 6 percent. To keep up with higher-than-average living costs, many cougars are educated corporate executives. Most Boulder cougars are independent and are employed in middle-management professions. Younger professional males who seek out self-sufficient women and don’t waste time playing games will find plenty of eligible cougars in Boulder.

3. Nashville, Tenn.

About Nashville: It may be the Country Music Capital of the World, but downtown Nashville has an increasingly diverse assortment of things to do. Walk down Broadway and 2nd Avenue on a Saturday night, and you’ll find all kinds of entertainment venues, nightclubs and restaurants. Nashville was ranked by Expansion Management magazine as the number one most popular U.S. city for corporate relocations.

Why Nashville is a Cougar Town: Nashville has one of the highest numbers of plastic surgeons in the country. With 48 plastic surgeons in and around Nashville, there are 4.4 surgeons per 100,000 people. Most people in the city of Nashville have college educations and are employed in middle-management professions. There are many corporate professionals, which include high-income, high-spending urban single women. Many of these urban singles include recent divorcees in their 40s who can afford plastic surgery and are on the prowl.

4. Orlando, Fla.

About Orlando: Orlando is best known as one of the most visited cities among vacationers, but it is also a multicultural, urban city with various industries. Considered a major industrial and hi-tech center, metro Orlando is  internationally recognized as an innovation hub for digital media, agricultural technology, aviation, aerospace and software for more than 150 international companies.

Why Orlando is a Cougar Town: The population of Orlando includes many middle- to upper-income singles living in the suburbs. Many earn a comfortable income and own homes. Divorced females account for nearly 15 percent of the population, with the average age being 35. The women in Orlando come from diverse cultural backgrounds, making it an international cougar Mecca for younger single men who are interested in a worldly, well-rounded relationship.

5. San Diego, Calif.

About San Diego: San Diego is the second-largest city in California after Los Angeles. Rated the fifth best place to live in 2006 by “Money Magazine,” San Diego is the perfect town for sun worshipers, sports fans and bicycle-riders. Home to 70 miles of picturesque beaches, San Diego allows residents to experience mountains, the coast and the desert all in one day.

Why San Diego is a Cougar Town: According to members of Yelp.com, several bars in San Diego are cougar hangouts. Some of these bars have code names such as “The Cougar Den” or less affectionately, “The Wrinkle Room.” From mature military wives who like to let loose when their husbands are at sea to the restless widowed or divorced middle-aged women that still like to party, San Diego has acquired a reputation for attracting women who consider themselves cougars.

April Lentini writes for Apartment Guide in Detroit
Image: Irina Slutsky (flickr)

Just like the “free love” generation before us, millennials figured this out long before the men in white coats arrived. For some, hooking up is a way to explore their sexuality without a relationship commitment. For others it’s a form of dating — a good relationship requires a good sexual relationship, so why not cut to the chase?

But — there’s a catch. The study only covers emotional health. It just so happens the hook-up generation is also a primary victim of failed abstinence-only marriage programs and their sexual health knowledge is… terrifying. Another new study , this one by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy, found that less than half of young adults use contraception when they have sex. In interviewing 18-29 year olds, they netted what is officially one of the scariest quotes of the year: “it doesn’t matter whether you use birth control or not; when it is your time to get pregnant it will happen.”

Yikes! These are the brainiacs you could be hooking up with over Spring Break?!? With that in mind, it’s time for another round of “Smart Girl Tips” to keep you safe, healthy, and sexy this Spring Break:

• If there’s even the remotest possibility you’ll be having sex on the beach — or anywhere else, for that matter — buy your condoms of choice before you leave and stash a few in your purse, the rest in your carry-on. Condoms are the only way to prevent sexually transmitted infections, including HIV, so use one every single time you have sex. (A condom can also be cut in half to be used as a dental dam for safer oral fun!) If you’re on birth control, make sure to pack enough pills for your trip and remember to take it at the same time you usually do — the beer pong can wait a few minutes, we promise!

• Safe sex is the goal — no one wants to get a diaper bag for graduation! — but it’s not always the reality. If the condom slips off (or never makes it on in the first place), there’s Plan B® One Step, the only one-pill emergency contraception that can be taken up to 72 hours after unprotected sex to prevent unintended pregnancy. If you’re 17 or older, you can get it without a prescription at the pharmacy — pick it up before you leave (Plan B® One-Step is only available in the US) so a slip-up doesn’t ruin your vacation.

• If it’s mom you’d want the hospital to call when you’ve got heat exhaustion, program her numbers into your phone under ICE (“In Case of Emergency”) before you set off. When you’re on the ground, put the hotel’s phone number and address into your contacts and ask the front desk for the digits of a local cab company. If the hotel has a shuttle service, get a paper copy of the schedule and take a picture of it on your phone for later reference.

• Hop from place to place in a pack and designate a ’sober sister’ to make sure no one is slinking out the door with that gelled up, spray-tanned creeper or undressing for an ill-advised turn on the bar. As a rule, no one should leave alone with a new-found “friend” — but if you absolutely must head out for a hook-up, have a friend program your prize’s phone number in her phone and take a picture of you together. Set a time to check-in by text — and make sure to follow through.

• The same ‘drink rules’ you follow at frat parties apply tenfold on Spring Break — never accept a drink from someone you don’t know and don’t leave it unattended while you dance or go to the bathroom. Same goes for those glowing vials of alcohol — take it directly from the server before it gets passed down the line.

• More than 60% of employers take social networking profiles into consideration when making hiring decisions. Don’t let a week of debauchery ruin your job prospects by remembering that everything is a camera, including phones, iPods, and computers. Don’t do anything at a club you’d be mortified to see on CNN tomorrow. Be selective when posting your own pics — booze bottles, red eyes, and lots of skin are probably best kept under the ‘private’ setting for you and your fellow revelers to enjoy.

Follow Shelby Knox on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ShelbyKnox

Educational Video Collections

These sites are full of videos on a wealth of topics that can help grab your students’ attention.

1. Teacher Tube: On this site, teachers can post their own educational videos and find videos made by others on virtually every topic out there.
2. Edublogs.tv: Visit this site to search through a great collection of educational content.
3. Edutopia: Sponsored by George Lucas, this site contains some great lesson plans as well as an assortment of lectures and inspiring videos.
4. You Tube Edu: Check out this site to get access to the great content offered by YouTube, but narrowed down to all but educational videos.
5. EduTube: Here you’ll find educational videos on just about every topic you could imagine.
6. Classroom Clips: If you’re looking for teacher submitted and approved video and audio content for your courses, give this site a try.
7. neoK12: This site believes that kids learn better by seeing and doing, and offers a wide range of educational videos and games to help them do it.
8. Scholar Spot: Designed with both students and teachers in mind, this site has lots of educational content including lectures, animated videos and inspiring news stories.
9. OV Guide: If you still haven’t found the video you’re looking for, consider paying a visit to this site. It will help you search through hundreds of sites for the best educational content on the web.
10. Cosmo Learning: This educational site offers videos that can work well for students from grade school as well as those geared towards high school or college students.
11. Google Educational Videos: Here you’ll find instructions on how to search through Google Videos and bring up only those that relate to education.
12. Lectr: On this site teachers and students alike can find free lectures from learning institutions around the world.

General Video Collections

These sites do offer some great educational content, but contain other types of videos as well.

1. Hulu: Hulu carries a lot of everyday, pure entertainment TV shows, but it also streams programs from PBS and National Geographic that can be great for classroom use.
2. Internet Archive: This site compiles videos from all over the web, giving you access to archives, public domain movies and a whole lot more.
3. TED: Get your students or even yourself inspired with the amazing lectures posted on this site.
4. MIT World: Hear from some of the world’s foremost scholars in lectures provided by MIT.
5. TVO Big Ideas: On this site you’ll be able to hear from some big names in business, politics and activism and get a look at how they feel about some of the bigger issues facing our world.
6. Big Think: Check out this site from video programming that asks you to truly think about a topic. Not all videos may be appropriate for the classroom, but there are definitely a few that could spark some interesting conversation.
7. The Open Video Project: If you want access to loads of public domain digital video, go through the archives collected on this high-tech library site.
8. @Google Talks: Hear from experts in fields like history, technology and business in this impressive collection of lectures from Google.
9. Forum Network: This PBS site is absolutely full of video lectures from authors, academics and thinkers, but you’ll also find some great free PBS programs on topics that are especially relevant to history, science and technological education.
10. UChannel: On this site you’ll find video lectures from some of the most prestigious institutions around the world.

Teacher Education

Check out these sites to find some videos that will help you learn more about the subjects you teach and the technology you use.

1. Academic Earth: Visit this site to see a wide range of lectures and courses from schools like Yale, Princeton and MIT, giving you the opportunity to learn more about your subject matter without spending a dime.
2. Teacher Training Videos: If you need a little extra instruction on working with technology or students with ESL needs, check out the free content on this site.
3. iMovie in Teacher Education: This site will show you how you can use iMovie, and by extension videos and interactive experiences, more effectively in your classroom.
4. Classroom 2.0 Video: Those who struggle with implementing technology in the classroom should check out the videos on this site. You’ll learn how to do a wide range of technological tasks and there are lesson-worthy videos on the site as well.
5. Atomic Learning: Use the videos on this site to find out how to harness the power for 21st century technological tools for more effective teaching. Most of the content comes at a cost, so you may want to try to talk your school district into sponsoring it.
6. iTunesU: Take some of the free courses and lectures on this site to brush up on your knowledge of your specialty subject matter or just about anything else.
7. Videos for Personal Development: Check out this site for a listing of some truly great personal development videos that will help your general teaching skills as well as your technological knowledge.
8. Learner.org: While you will find a great deal of video content that can be of use in the classroom, the real wealth of this site lies in the great personal development materials for teachers.

Lesson Planning

These video sites offer some great content to add to your lesson plans, and many are geared towards students so they can use them at home as well.

1. Teachers Domain: Create a free profile on this site and you will get access to hundreds of lessons with accompanying videos, photos and other media.
2. Meet Me at the Corner: This site offers students educational programming, book clubs, podcasting lessons and even virtual field trips–all great additions to lessons.
3. WatchKnow: Designed for younger students, this site is home to some great educational videos on everything from inspirational biographies to ESL help.
4. BrainPOP: While not all the content on this site is free, teachers can still find some great animated videos on a wide range of topics on this site for use in the classroom.
5. Kids Know It Network: This site contains videos on topics like dinosaurs, biology, geography, history and math that are free to use and share.
6. Khan Academy: This not-for-profit organization wants people everywhere to have access to educational content, and on their site, you can find instructional videos on numerous topics.
7. Awesome Stories Video: Use the videos on this site in all kinds of lessons. You’ll find content that ranges from discussing the lives of penguins in Antarctica to the role of African Americans in WWII.
8. Nobel Prize Lectures: Why not augment a lecture about a famous face in history with a real clip of them giving a Nobel Prize lecture or a documentary about their life? You’ll find both here.
9. John Locker: Choose a subject like history, science or even sports on this site and you’ll get access to some amazing educational content.
10. Teachers’ TV: This site is a goldmine for teachers, with videos posted by subject, grade level, popularity and with the added bonus of a special section for professional development as well.

Science, Math and Technology

On these sites, the videos focus on the fields of science, math and technology.

1. Green Energy TV: Teach your students about the latest innovations in green technologies with free videos from this site.
2. Research Channel: The programming on this Internet TV site highlights some of the latest research being done in science, technology, medicine and even the humanities so you can educate yourself and your students on the next big things.
3. BioInteractive: Explore biology with a little help from this site, offering videos and animations that can be a big help in teaching complex topics.
4. ARKive: For lessons about the natural world, this site is perfect. It contains a wide range of videos on the animal and plant life of Earth.
5. Math TV: If your students are struggling to understand a mathematical concept, augment their lessons with some of the material found on this site.
6. The Vega Science Trust Videos: Let your students see potential science careers, discuss important issues and see inspirational figures in the field with videos found on this site.
7. The Science Network: See interviews with big names in science that touch on important topics like stem cell research, evolution, neuroscience, genetics, learning and more on this site.
8. Pop Tech: Inspire your students with the videos found on this site, showing individuals who are using science, technology and plain old hard work to change the world.
9. Channel N: This site is full of lectures and videos on the human brain and psychology.
10. How Stuff Works Videos: Show your students amazing and instructional videos through the content on this site.
11. ScienceStage: You’ll find everything from videos of the Hubble Telescope to problems with human nutrition on this research-focused site.
12. Exploratorium: Check out the webcasts on this site to let your students hear from biologists, cosmologists, physicists and more.
13. SciVee: Give your students a view into the real working world of science, with this site that allows scientists to post videos of their real-life research for students and other scientists to use.
14. The Futures Channel: This online channel is full of lessons and video clips on all types of math and science topics, from how to predict the weather to how to build stronger snowboards.

History, Arts and Social Sciences

Here you’ll find a great collection of videos to illustrate the past and help your students see the beauty of the arts.

1. EASE History: Watch videos about historical events, campaign ads, and cultural values on this historical site.
2. Kennedy Center Archives: Through this site you can show students performances from some of the most amazing musicians in the world.
3. The Archaeology Channel: Help your students to explore the history of mankind through the great free content offered here.
4. Peoples Archive: This site collects the biographies of well-known people around the world told by the people who know it best–themselves.
5. Steven Spielberg Film and Video Archive: On this site you’ll find an amazing collection of WWII-era footage of the horrors of the Holocaust.
6. Culture Catch: This site will let you see some of the work being done by up-and-coming artists.
7. Folk Streams: Use this site to show students documentaries about traditional and folk culture in America.
8. Digital History: With lesson plans and interactive online experiences for students, the videos found here are just the icing on the cake.
9. History Matters: This site explores the primary historical documents central to understanding American history.
10. Social Studies Video Dictionary: Your students can look up vocabulary words in style with this video dictionary.

Video Tools

If you want to share, upload or store your own videos, consider using one of these great online tools.

1. Drop.io: You can work with colleagues, parents or on your own in real time using this free online video and collaboration tool.
2. DropShots: Keep your educational video collection private using this hosting site.
3. Shwup: Store and share all your educational media using this site.
4. Tonido: If you’ve got your videos stored on your computer, this site will let you upload them to the web and play them in the classroom free of charge.
5. StashSpace: Create an account on this site and you’ll be able to store all kinds of video content.
6. Troovi: With this site you can create an account to store all of your educational photos, videos and documents so you’re always prepared to teach.
7. VidQue Edu: Search through this site for other educational videos even if you’re not quite ready to post your own.
8. SchoolTube.com: This site is a great social networking forum for students and teachers to share videos.

Network and Program Videos

These video sites are maintained by TV networks, offering videos of their programming for teachers to use for free.

1. PBS Video: With this site you’ll be able to bring the great content from PBS right into your classroom for free.
2. National Geographic Video: From nature to ancient cultures, you’ll find videos aplenty on this site.
3. Nova Teachers Watch Video Online: Using this site you can show clips or whole programs from the television series Nova.
4. Discovery Education: The Discovery Channel has compiled the videos on this site just for teachers and students.
5. C-SPAN Video Library: Students learning about government can see it in action through the videos here.
6. iCue: NBC News sponsors this site that offers great clips of important world events.
7. History Channel Video Guide: Bring history to life through biographies and historical documentaries found here.
8. Biography.com: Let your students learn more about famous figures in history using the short clips from the Biography Channel found here.
9. Educational Internet TV: Check out this site to find out about free educational channels from around the world that you can watch online for free.
10. BBC Learning: BBC Learning offers thousands of clips that have been pre-edited and selected to work well in the classroom.

Free Movies and Clips

Visit these sites to get access to free documentaries, public domain films and short clips.

1. Film Clips Online: Here you’ll find short, and legal to use film clips that are perfect for the classroom.
2. Free Documentaries.org: Use this site to find some free documentary films for the classroom.
3. SnagFilms: This site is home to a wide range of both free and pay film content.
4. Top Documentary Films: Search through the documentaries on this site to find something perfect for the lessons you’re creating.
5. Movies Found Online: Check out the search tool on this site to find whole public domain films online.
6. ABC Documentaries: This site offers free documentaries from an Australian television station, including many shorter TV programs that can work well in school.

How-Tos

If you’ve got no clue how to use a technology or want to see how things work in video form, these tutorial-filled sites should be your first stop.

1. 5 Min: Got five minutes? Then you have enough time to watch one of these great instructional videos.
2. Wonder How To: No matter what you’re trying to accomplish around the classroom, this site likely has a video to help you do it.
3. Instructables: Learn how to make some great crafts that can accompany your lessons, play new games, or just figure out how to do something you’ve always wanted to do through this site.
4. Howcast: If you want to know how to do something, this site is a great place to start looking for instruction.
5. MindBites: You can not only find great videos on this site, but you may even be able to earn a little extra when others use videos you post.
6. W3 Schools: Want to create a class website but don’t even know where to begin? This site offers some excellent tutorials on all the programming languages and tech expertise you’ll need.

Government and Organizations

Go through these sites to get great videos and footage from the past and present of American history.

1. The National Archives: Through this site you’ll get access to multimedia records that are held in the U.S. National Archives — a perfect addition to any history lesson.
2. National Science Foundation Multimedia: Here, the NSF provides educators and interested learners with videos of nature, interviews, animations and a whole lot more.
3. NASA e-Clips: Use these short clips as a way of showing students about our world and the universe that lies beyond.
4. NASA TV: From live footage of space shuttles and space stations to programming geared towards use in the classroom, this NASA site is an invaluable resource for teachers looking to add to lessons about space travel.
5. Library of Congress Teacher Resources: This site helps bring together some of the best material offered by the Library of Congress for use in a range of lesson plans on American History.
6. American Memory Motion Pictures: If you prefer to look through the material on your own, this site will let you search through the multimedia material held by the Library of Congress.

Contributed by AccreditedOnlineColleges

Organization

Keep your studies, ideas and research in ship-shape with these helpful online tools.

1. Google Reader: Instead of visiting every blog you read, why not organize them all on this easy-to-use RSS reader?
2. Backpack: Keep your notes, contacts, information and just about everything else for class or business organized with this tool.
3. Stickies: This application makes it simple to make notes to yourself right on the web.
4. Bla-Bla List: Try out this to-do list application for no frills tracking of all the things you need to get done.
5. Mindomo: This web tool is great for laying out your thoughts for anything from business endeavors to class projects.
6. FreeMind: Use this free mind-mapping software to figure out where you want to go with an idea.
7. bubbl.us: This web application is perfect for brainstorming your next big project.
8. iOrganize: Mac users can try out this application, designed to keep notes and important information centrally located and easy to find.
9. Zoho Planner: Give this free planner a try. It’ll let you create and share to-dos, notes, contacts, images and more.
10. Clipmarks: Those who do a lot of web research or just like to browse can save interesting links for future reference using this tool.

Scheduling

Make sure you never miss a meeting, test or networking opportunity by using these scheduling apps.

1. Google Calendar: Google’s calendar is easy-to-use and will let you organize all your important work, school and social events.
2. Cozi: This calendar tracks everything from sports meets to shopping lists.
3. Keep and Share: If you often work with others on projects or extracurriculars, this calendar-sharing app could be right up your alley.
4. Spongecell: With this application you can create and customize your calendar and share it with others when you choose.
5. Doodle: This personalized scheduling app will help you arrive on time and prepared for the events in your life.
6. StudyRails: Plan out your study time and know when important due dates are coming up with this application.
7. 30 Boxes: Use this tool to keep track of all the things, both big and small, going on in your life.
8. SlimTimer: Track how long you’re working on a project, create to-dos and generally manage your time more wisely with this application.
9. WhichTime: This calendar makes it incredibly simple to keep track of where you’re supposed to be and when.
10. Jotlet: Quickly jot down appointments and important due dates using this calendar app.

Networking and Marketing

Use these web tools to get your name out there, make connections and make the most of the millions of potential customers and employers using the web.

1. Facebook: You can do a whole lot more with Facebook than just keep track of your old friends. Create a networking profile and get your name known.
2. Twitter: Creating a Twitter account can be a great way to share updates about your business, school or your ideas.
3. LinkedIn: Take advantage of this networking tool to get in touch with the thousands of other businesspeople online in your field.
4. Elance: Using this tool you can make connections and even find some freelance work.
5. iMantri: If you’re in search of a mentor in your industry, don’t pass up this excellent site for pairing young professionals with mentors.
6. Company of Friends: One of the earliest business social networks, this site still offers a great number of professional contacts for those who are willing to search for them.
7. Ecademy: Meet people, blog and join professional groups on this business networking site.
8. Media Bistro: This site makes it easier to meet and talk with people in the content generation business, great for promoting your business or for making contacts.
9. Jigsaw: Link your budding business up with others through this large B2B network.
10. Meetup: Through this site you’ll be able to find business meetups, events and more in your area.

Staying Connected

Talk to business partners, clients, friends and even parents using these great online tools.

1. Gmail: Of the free email services out there, most would agree that Gmail is far and away the best choice. Better yet, you can link it up with a calendar, RSS reader and more.
2. Google Voice: This online service allows you to get your voice messages no matter where you are and to consolidate your phone numbers.
3. Campfire: Collaborate with others on school and work projects using this site.
4. FaxZERO: Fax machines may be outdated, but in your business you’ll likely encounter someone who wants something faxed to them. That’s where this service comes in handy.
5. K7: On the flipside, this service allows you to receive fax messages even if you don’t have a fax machine.
6. LogMeIn: If you can’t always take your computer with you where ever you go, it’s not a problem with this service that lets you log onto your desktop from anywhere.
7. Highrise: This web tool makes it simple to keep track of your professional contacts, perfect for helping you find work or drum up business.
8. Wufoo: One way to generate a better product is by asking customers what they think. This site helps you do that simply and easily.
9. Wordpress: What better way to get your business out there and stay connected with the world than by creating a blog? Get a free site here.
10. Meebo: Chat with people on all chat platforms using this one easy tool.

Research

Whether you’re doing research for class or for your own ventures, these tools can help.

1. BNET: Get access to this site’s business library and news to stay on top of what is going on in the business world.
2. Seeking Alpha: Research stocks and investing ideas through this site.
3. U.S. Business Reporter: On this site you’ll find information about businesses, including their sales, statistics and more.
4. BizShark: Whether you’re looking for a job or just want to know more about a particular business, this search engine makes it simple.
5. Motley Fool: Find all the market advice and information you need through this site.
6. Masterseek: This company search engine lets you search by brand, product or business.
7. Zibb: Find just about any business and accompanying news, stats and information on this site.
8. Google Scholar: The web is full of information, but not all of it’s reliable. This search engine pares down results to just scholarly and professional sources.
9. Zotero: If you use Firefox as a browser, then try out this great plug-in that makes it simple to save, share and cite references you’ve culled from the web.
10. CiteULike: Make sure your bibliography isn’t a total mess by using this easy citation generator.

Mobile Apps

Don’t let a little thing like being away from the computer slow down your business savvy. Try out these mobile web apps to take your projects on the road.

1. Business Reference Library: Make every time you don’t know something an opportunity to learn more with this amazing dictionary.
2. Oxford Dictionary of Finance and Banking: Look up any words or terms that seem strange to you with this handy tool.
3. mbPointer: Transform your phone into a fully featured presentation pointer using this application.
4. Analytics App: See just how well your business or personal website is doing with this analytics tool.
5. QuickOffice Mobile Office Suite: Whether you’re writing a business plan, tracking your finances or just preparing for class, this app lets you do it from anywhere.
6. Pocket MBA Test: If you’re studying to get your MBA, practice the information you’ll need to know for the test while on the go.
7. Glossary of Business Acronyms: Never wonder what an acronym means again with this helpful reference app.
8. Leadership Quotes: Get inspired with this application full of great business leadership quotes.
9. Bump: With this application you can share your business card simply by touching your phone to another.
10. Wall Street Words: Not sure what the heck the Wall Street Journal is talking about? Don’t stay ignorant, look the word up in this financial dictionary app.

Multitasking and Productivity

Learn how to get more done with less by using these apps.

1. OmniFocus: Try out this application to finally “get serious” about productivity with functions that let you take notes, turn them into to-dos and stay on task.
2. Netvibes: Keep all your favorite websites organized in one place so you can see what’s going on with each at the same time using this site.
3. Evernote: Create notes for yourself on the go and share, email and access them later with this tool.
4. Remember the Milk: Get to-do lists on your computer that you can check on the web or on your phone with this tool.
5. Ta-Da List: This simple tool lets you create to-do lists to ensure you get all your work done.
6. Joe’s Goals: Set goals for yourself for this year, five years from now or this week using this site.
7. Time Tracker: This tool lets you keep track of what sites you’re visiting so you can pare down your procrastination time.
8. Rescue Time: If you’re easily distracted, this tool is designed to help you focus and limit the temptation to browse other websites.
9. TreePad Lite: Organize your personal information, data, contacts, notes and more in one place using this application.
10. Todoist: Use this application to track all of the things you need to get done in a day or week.

Starting a Business

If you’re feeling ambitious and want to start your own business while in school, these free tools can be a big help in making sure you start off on the right foot.

1. Highrise: Use the website to track business leads, clients and contacts so you’ll never lose out on potential business.
2. Freshbooks: Manage all of your business finances using this online tool.
3. Basecamp: This project management site will let you dole out tasks, see where a project stands and keep it all organized.
4. Wesabe: Whether you use it for your personal finances or to track a business’ worth, this free financial tool is a great online resource.
5. ConceptShare: Get feedback on your designs, concepts and projects easily through this collaborative tool.
6. PayPal: You’ve got to get paid somehow, and this site makes it pretty darn simple to get it done.
7. MyNewCompany: Use this site as a great source of information to make sure you’re not making any big blunders when it comes to running your new business.
8. Nolo: Find legal advice for your new business on this site.
9. BigCartel: If you need a shopping cart app for your site, this one is reasonably priced and easy to use.
10. Google AdWords: Google Ads are a great way to promote your business or to make a few extra bucks by placing them on your site.

Markets and Investment

Follow the economic trends around the world, find investors for your businesses, and try your own hand at investing using these tools.

1. Covestor: Follow what more experienced investors are doing on Covestor to see how things work and gain confidence.
2. Tip’d: Stay current with the latest business and financial news on this site.
3. Market Watch Community: This site will help you to learn more about the market in an online investment community.
4. Zopa: If you need a loan for your business, get one from everyday people and not the bank through this site.
5. Market Watch: Keep up with the ups and downs of the market on this site.
6. Quote.com: Find out where any stock stands by looking it up on this site.
7. Investor Guide: Get stock quotes, investing advice and the latest financial news on this site.
8. Go4Funding: Go through this site to find an angel investor for your business venture.
9. Venture Worthy: Find out if your business has what it takes to draw in investors from this great website.
10. Investing Minds: Share advice and ideas on investing on this online community.

Business Toolkits

These toolkits combine a wide variety of resources from business plan templates to financial calculators to make sure you know the ins and outs of being an entrepreneur.

1. Inc.com: From finding a job to managing a workplace, this site is full of tools and articles to help you do it right.
2. BizToolkit: Learn how to plan, market and grow a business with this toolkit.
3. Entrepreneur.com: Find vendors, learn how to franchise, discover PR tools and more through this site.
4. SCORE: Here you’ll get access to business-related quizzes, podcasts and links.
5. U.S. Small Business Administration: There are numerous free resources available to small business owners on this government site.
6. Bplans.com: Find sample business plans and learn how to build your own on this site.
7. Green Business Guide: Try out the resources found on this site to launch your own green business.
8. Small Business Toolkit: The U.S. Chamber of Commerce has created this set of tools to help you start, manage and expand your business.
9. Goliath Business Tools: With business plans, a business encyclopedia, and a company profile database, this site is chock-full of business goodness.
10. Business Owner’s Toolkit: Find everything you’ll need to get your business up and running on this site.

Contributed by AccreditedOnlineColleges.com

“A Family Affair: Intergenerational social mobility across OECD countries” says climbing the social ladder depends on a range of factors such as individual ability, family and social environments, networks and attitudes. But public action – particularly education and to some extent tax policies – can play a key role in helping people achieve a higher income and social status than their parents.

Across all countries family and socio-economic background are a major influence on a person’s level of education and earnings. But the impact of parental education, or lack of it, on a child’s future prospects is particularly marked in southern European countries and the UK.

The report says in these countries people whose fathers have a university degree earn on average at least 20% more than children of men whose education ended at upper- secondary level, and well over a third more than children of men who had not reached upper-secondary education.

Well-educated parents tend to have well-educated children for whom it is easier to obtain well-paid jobs. But the odds are stacked against children who do not benefit from this virtuous cycle.

Encouraging greater social mix in the classroom is one of the ways government policy can help children from disadvantaged backgrounds improve their prospects, the report says. Also important is providing quality education to the very young which improves the chances of academic success as the child moves up through the school system.

Segregating pupils too early on the basis of academic ability is found to undermine social mobility. By delaying selection until the age of 16 instead of 10 as is currently the case in some countries, the influence of the school socio-economic environment on pupils’ academic performance could be reduced by as much as two-thirds.

The report says social mobility between generations tends to be lower in more unequal societies. But redistributive tax and benefit policies aimed at providing income support or access to education for disadvantaged families may reduce the handicaps of a poorer or less well-educated background.

Any growth-enhancing impact of redistributive policies via increased social mobility, however, would need to be weighed against other, well-established negative effects on growth via reduced labour utilisation.

The report will be published as a chapter in the OECD’s Going for Growth report on 10 March. Going for Growth is an annual publication which looks at the progress countries are making towards structural reforms aimed at enhancing long-term economic dynamism.

Another OECD report notes that good secondary schooling is the key to ongoing education and job success. The report says Canada’s top-performing high school students are 20 times more likely to access a university than those at the bottom and they are also more likely to choose pure science topics.

The report, Pathways to Success, draws on the results of the PISA tests of 15-year-olds’ educational attainment and the Canadian Youth in Transition Survey. It says that while pathways taken by students from high school to university or a successful job entry may vary, they closely depend on learning outcomes in school.

Pathways to Success also shows that students who score lowest in PISA are often those who take longest to complete secondary education and who move directly from school to work. Improving the performance of these students would lead to higher rates of completion of secondary education and post-secondary education pursuits.

Yet another OECD study, The High Costs of Low Educational Performance, shows it is the quality of learning outcomes as measured in comparative tests such as PISA, rather than the length of schooling, that shapes the success of nations.

Using economic growth projections and a number of possible scenarios over the projected life-span of the generation of children born in 2010, the study shows that all countries could benefit significantly from even modest improvements in overall PISA rankings.

In the case of Canada, raising average PISA scores by 25 points over the next 20 years – an increase smaller than that achieved by Poland between 2000 and 2006 – would lead to increases in GDP by 2090 of more than C$3 trillion (US$2.87 trillion) in today’s dollars, or the equivalent of twice Canada’s current annual GDP. For all OECD countries taken together, the increase would be even bigger, equivalent to around three times their combined current GDP.

“These numbers highlight the enormous impact that improved schooling outcomes have on our long-term economic and social well-being,” OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría said. “They also show that these improvements can be achieved and that the cost of inaction far outstrips any conceivable cost of improvement.”

Contributed by University World News

Personality

These tests take a look at your personality to see what you’re really like and what kind of work you’d be best at doing.

1. Myers-Briggs: This classic test will measure how outgoing, intuitive, perceptive, feeling and thinking you are.
2. Free IQ Test: See where your IQ falls on the spectrum by taking this simple online test.
3. Personality Test: Find out what your personality says about you with this online quiz.
4. Keirsey Temperament Sorter: Learn which of the four temperaments you belong to and what that means for your career with this site.
5. Career Key: This site is full of tests you can take to match your personality to the jobs best suited to you.
6. Path 101: Try out the personality test on this site to see what other people with personalities like you are doing for a living.
7. Common Careers for Personality Type: Find out what careers will match who you really are with help from this test.
8. The Insight Game: Here you’ll be able to find out your personality type.
9. Career Personality Test: Go through the test on this site to discover careers suited to your personality.
10. What Half.com: This site analyzes which part of the brain you use more dominantly–telling you what kind of careers that could predispose you to take on.

General

Get a general idea of the careers best suited to you with these tests.

1. Career Assessment Test: Use the 15 questions on this quiz to get an idea of what jobs you be best at doing.
2. Technical Schools Guide Aptitude Test: This test will help you discover your career path.
3. What’s Your Perfect Career?: Do you know what career you’d be best at doing? This test aims to help you figure that out.
4. Discover Your Perfect Career Quiz: This Quiz from Monster is designed to help you match your answers to a career that suits what you love.
5. Princeton Review Career Quiz: Whether you’re in college now or are heading there this fall, this quiz will help you make the most of your investment by pointing you in the direction of the careers you might excel in.
6. Job Discovery Wizard: Match your skills and knowledge to available jobs out there with this simple online tool.
7. Colorwize Career Test: This test uses colors to match you up with ideal jobs.
8. Job Test: If you’re already in the workplace, then this quiz will help you determine if you’re in the right field.
9. Live Career Career Test: Sign up at this site to take a free test to assess your career path.
10. Dream Career Quiz: Use this quiz to discover the job of your dreams.

Choosing the Right Career

Take these quizzes for a little help in making sure you choose the correct career path.

1. Career Values Test: This test will help you figure out what you really value in a career.
2. Career Satisfaction Test: Are you happy with the career path you’re on now? This quiz can show you if it’s time for a change.
3. Stress Test: Determining how much stress you can handle can be a big part of figuring out what kinds of jobs you’ll be best suited to doing.
4. Fear of Success Test: Are you holding yourself back? This quiz will help you get out of your own way.
5. The Integrity Test: Take this test to find out your level of integrity. Be honest with your answers!
6. Extroversion Test: Being extroverted is a major factor in your success in some jobs, so make sure you have what it takes beforehand.
7. Career Decision Test: No matter what kind of career-related decision you’re trying to make, this site can help.
8. Job Security Test: This quiz will help you determine the level of job security in a current or potential position.
9. Second Career Test: For those considering a career change, this test can be a big help in making all the right decisions.
10. Work Preference Inventory: Find out what kind of work you prefer doing using this assessment tool.

Talents and Abilities

Find out some of your talents that will help you on the job with these tests.

1. MAPP: The Motivational Appraisal of Personal Potential test will help you to match your motivations to the career that best matches those goals.
2. Strong Interest Inventory: This test will help you make sense of your interests when it comes to finding a job.
3. Are You Mentally Tough?: Many jobs put a hefty amount of stress on employees. Find out if you’re cut out for this kind of work with help from this quiz.
4. Creativity Self-Assessment: Find out just how creative a person you are by taking this assessment.
5. Skills Center Test: Reveal the skills you have through this test.
6. What’s Your Skillset?: This test will help you discover what skills you have that can be invaluable on the job.
7. Manifest Your Potential: Find out how to make the most of your abilities through the tests on this site.

Career Specific

If you’ve got a specific career in mind, take these quizzes to see how well you might perform in that job.

1. Are You Management Material?: Take this test to find out if you have what it takes to be a manager or executive.
2. Ultimate Sales Challenge: Those planning on a career in sales should try out this test first to see where they need to improve.
3. Firefighter Aptitude Test: This test gives you a sample of the kinds of things firefighters need to know to get the job.
4. Circus Aptitude Test: Would you fit in with Ringling Brothers Circus? This test can help you to find out.
5. Can you be an entrepreneur?: If starting a business is in your future this test will help you determine if that’s the right choice.
6. Work from Home Quiz: Many people dream of a job that lets them work from home, but this quiz will help you determine if it’s really something you could do.

Job Skills

Discover what job skills you possess through these helpful quizzes.

1. Are you on the path to success?: Find out if your career and educational choices have put you on the path to being where you want to be with this test.
2. Are you a skilled negotiator?: Will you be able to get the salaries and benefits you want or need? This test analyzes your negotiation skills.
3. Can you take criticism?: Take this test to find out just how well you deal with criticism on the job.
4. Do you have leadership potential?: Through this test you’ll be able to pinpoint some of the things that might make you a good leader.
5. Do you have time management skills?: Make sure you’re not working late every day by taking this test all about time management.
6. Work Commitment Index Test: Find out how much time you’re willing to put into your job through this test.
7. Promotion Quiz: If a promotion is on the horizon for you, you’ll know about it after taking this test.

Contributed by AccreditedOnlineColleges

1. Women comprise 46% of the total U.S. labor force. With almost half of the workforce being women, female employees aren’t exactly a rarity. For most women today, getting a job is an expected part of life. This is a big change from past decades. In 1900, fewer than 20% of women participated in the labor market while today the number is around 75% and growing.
2. Women make only 77.5 cents for every dollar that men earn. This figure comes from data on the 2003 census. Despite this gap, many economists feel that the gap between pay for men and women is due to different personal choices men and women make about personal fulfillment, child rearing and hours at work. Whichever you choose to believe, the reality is that the gap is slowly but surely closing as women become increasingly educated and dual income families become the norm, but this isn’t much consolation to those who feel discriminated against today.
3. The more education a woman has, the greater the disparity in her wages. This certainly doesn’t mean women should shy away from professional positions, but they should be aware that they may have to battle harder for equal pay. Women in professional specialty occupations were found to earn just 72.7% of what men in the same position earned, and women in upper level executive, administrative and managerial occupations earned even less at 72.3%. If you compare this against the average of 77.5%, the numbers speak for themselves, and this graphic from the New York Times makes it even easier to see.
4. Women may work longer to receive the promotions that provide access to higher pay. One example provided by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that women often have to work three years longer in a teaching position to be promoted to a principal than their male counterparts. Some studies suggest that this is because women and men adapt different strategies when it comes to management and pursuing promotions, yet other studies connect it less to work and more to gender-based biases.
5. Women business owners employ 35% more people than all the Fortune 500 companies combined. If you’re like most people, you don’t picture a woman when you think about a business owner. Yet there are about 9.1 million women-owned businesses in the U.S., a number that comprises nearly 40% of all businesses. The idea that women don’t make good managers just doesn’t hold up when you look at these kinds of numbers, with women managing a large number of employees and making healthy profits while doing so.
6. Women account for 46% of the labor force, but 59% of workers making less than $8 an hour. What does it mean? It means that many women are taking on jobs that pay well under a living wage. With nearly 16% of U.S. households having women who are divorced, widowed or never married as the sole providers, this leaves many women at a distinct disadvantage and struggling to make ends meet as they dominate jobs in low paying fields.
7. Only 53% of employers provide at least some replacement pay during periods of maternity leave. Despite the fact that the arrival of a child means extra bills and expenses, many employers don’t provide women with any benefits if they to leave work temporarily to have a child. While there is no law requiring companies to offer paid maternity leave, considering it is an issue that primarily affects women, it’s certainly a blow to their income potential and ability to care for their families and themselves.
8. Four in ten businesses worldwide have no women in senior management. This shouldn’t be a surprise given the way many countries feel about women in the workplace. Here in the United States, however, women still feel the stress of trying to break into upper management, with 93% of the 439 senior women executives surveyed by Korn/Ferry International in 1992 feeling that a glass ceiling for women still existed. Yet new studies report that women outnumber men as managers in fields like human resources, health administration and education–perhaps stemming from reports that many businesses have seen a direct financial impact from hiring women.
9. Women earned less than men in 99% of all occupations. In virtually every field that women choose to enter, they can expect to earn less over their lifetime than their male counterparts. This means that over 47 years of full-time work, this gap amounts to an estimated loss in wages for women of $700,000 for high school graduates, $1.2 million for college grads, and $2 million for professional school grads–a staggering amount.
10. Minority women fare the worst when it comes to equal pay. African-American women earn 64 cents to every dollar earned by white men and Hispanic women just 52 cents per dollar. Whether it’s attitudes about race or gender that are at play, it’s clear that something needs to be done to level the playing field.

Contributed by JobProfiles.org

“And we fight today because terrorists want to attack our country and kill our citizens, and Iraq is where they are making their stand. So we’ll fight them there, we’ll fight them across the world, and we will stay in the fight until the fight is won.” (Applause.) — President George W. Bush

Despite plenty of muscular rhetoric, President Bush’s strategy in the War on Terrorism demonstrates a dangerous ignorance of the unique military, tactical, and political aspects of the terrorist threat, and breeds a dangerous and chaotic foreign policy which has only served to put our nation in greater danger.

Back in the 6th century BC, in his classic, The Art of War, Sun Tsu observed, “Know your enemy, and in a thousand battles you will not be defeated.” Sadly, our current Commander-in-Chief ignores the Chinese grand master’s lesson, and actively eschews the acquisition of useful knowledge about our terrorist enemy. After the 9/11 Commission found that the CIA and FBI could have prevented the attacks of September 11th, had they only more effectively shared and communicated their intelligence to the White House, the Bush Administration could have ensured a dynamic and efficient system of American intelligence simply by reforming and/or streamlining the two agencies. Instead, the Administration did nothing to improve either agency, instead creating an entirely new government agency, the Department of Homeland Security, whose most obvious contribution to homeland security to date is a puerile, and now universally-ignored, color-coded Alert Level system.

Not surprisingly, the enhanced state of perpetual ignorance within America’s intelligence community quickly took its toll, proceeding to deliver terribly flawed pre-war intelligence to the White House, which then spawned an utterly disastrous occupation of Iraq. All of this, of course, was in addition to our continued inability to capture, or even locate, America’s Public Enemy 1, Osama bin Laden. Sun Tsu is rolling in his grave.

The atrocious ignorance continues with the Administration’s inability to grasp the fundamental distinction between fighting terrorists and fighting enemy nation-states. In the wars of yesteryear, an enemy nation had a standing army, a native population, static boundaries, and permanent institutions, all of which helped to create an enemy who could be effectively destroyed with a sustained military campaign. But the problem with terrorists, unlike nationals of a belligerent foreign nation, is that they are not a permanent, distinct class. Terrorists are recruited, shaped, molded and trained by underground organizations, usually working without state sanction, and thus there is no fixed stock of “enemy combatants” capable of comprehensive military liquidation. As William F. Buckley, Jr. brilliantly observed, “Individual terrorists were, only yesterday, engaged in ordinary occupations, shocking friends and family when they struck as terrorists.” Victory, then, will be achieved not with a specific death toll or geographic occupation, but by ensuring that Islamofascism remains a detested minority in every country in which it hopes to gain support. Victory is depriving the Islamofascists the ideological fuel with which they recruit the ordinary citizens to join the ranks of the jihad.

Terrorism itself is only a tactic of violence; it finds its roots in an ideology and thus cannot be defeated by military might alone. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelan, founded in 1975 in Sri Lanka as the first terrorist organization to make widespread use of suicide bombing, are amazingly still blowing themselves up as part of their independence movement there (talk about dedication!), simply because they are still not independent from Sri Lanka, and thus can still recruit their martyrs with an effective narrative of foreign oppression and victimization. The near-infinite willingness of a people to willingly slaughter themselves in an ideological protest against foreign occupation has been confirmed over and over, from the Algerian resistance to French occupation, to America’s own experience in Vietnam.

Unfortunately, most of the fuel for the global jihad is supplied by current American foreign policy in the Middle East. It is true, as some allege, that Islamists hate nearly every feature of Western society, from our politics to our culture, and as a result, it is easy to say that Islamic terrorism against America is a fait accompli stemming from a fanatical worldview that hates everything we stand for. But while Islamists indeed harbor grand visions of world empire under Allah, their delusions of global theocracy have been swirling around the Middle East ever since Muhammad began claiming his divinity; only recently did Islamic terrorism emerge as a dangerous threat to America. As late as the 1950s, Arab nations still sought out American mediation in their international disputes, respecting our independence and fairness, despite presumably still harboring atavistic religious hatred toward Our American Freedoms. Seven decades later, Uncle Sam is reviled like no one else in the world.

Libertarians, like Ron Paul, rightly point out that the difference between the good ol’ days of respect for America and the current days of Death to America is a U.S. foreign policy of interference in the Middle East. Rudy Giuliani and his supporters would like to believe otherwise. But nothing is more devastating in the obliteration of Rudy G’s arguments than the facts.

Back in 1998, Cato Institute scholar Ivan Eland had already been looking at the facts, and as a result, he had already begun to note the growing trend of America’s terrorist threat, corresponding directly and invariably with American intervention into the Middle East. Unlike both Bush and Clinton, Eland was already keenly aware of al-Qaida, Hezbollah, and their growing threat to American interests. (If only Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney read the Cato Institute.) Here are some partial excerpts of his prescient work, from his 1998 paper Does U.S. Intervention Overseas Breed Terrorism? The Historical Record:

July 2, 1915: The Senate reception room in the U.S. Capitol was damaged by a homemade bomb built by Erich Muenter, a former Harvard professor who was upset by sales of U.S. munitions to the Allies in World War I.

June 5, 1968: Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, former attorney general and senior policy adviser to President John F. Kennedy, was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan, who had grown up on the West Bank and regarded Kennedy as a collaborator with Israel.

March 1971: A bomb exploded in a U.S. Senate restroom, causing extensive damage. The bombing came at a time of rising opposition to U.S. policies in Vietnam.

November 4, 1979: Supporters of the Ayatollah Khomeini seized the U.S. embassy in Tehran, Iran, capturing hostages that were not freed until January 1981. The embassy was captured as a protest against long-time U.S. support for the unpopular shah of Iran.

July 22, 1980: Ali Akbar Tabatabai, a former press counselor at the Iranian embassy in the United States during the shah’s reign, was assassinated by the Islamic Guerrillas of America (IGA) after he had supplied U.S. officials with a manifesto of the IGA that advocated strategically planned terrorism on U.S. soil and assassinations of U.S. officials, stating, Any American can be targeted… no American is innocent… as long as U.S. foreign policies are to the detriment of the Islamic community.

April 8 and October 23, 1983: Islamic militants, funded by Iran and supported by Syria, suicide bombed the U.S. embassy and U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, killing 290 people and wounding 200 more. The attack remains the deadliest post-World War II attack on Americans overseas. The Americans were supporting the Christian government in Lebanon against the Muslim militias by training and arming the Lebanese National Army. The U.S. Marines were later withdrawn from Beirut, prompting a Hezbollah spokesman to brag that the $martyrs! had finally forced the Marines out of Lebanon.

April 5, 1986: Libyan leader Moammar Qaddafi sponsored the bombing of the La Belle nightclub in West Berlin, which was frequented by U.S. servicemen. The United States retaliated for the La Belle bombing with air strikes against Tripoli and Benghazi, Libya. In retaliation for the U.S. air strikes on Libya, an American hostage in Lebanon was sold to Libya and executed; Libyans attempted to blow up the U.S. embassy in Lomé, Togo; a Libyan agent, Abu Nidal, hijacked Pan Am Flight 73 in Karachi, Pakistan, killing several Americans; The Japanese Red Army, under contract from Abu Nidal, planted a bomb at the USO military club in Naples, Italy, on the two-year anniversary of the air strikes, killing five; and two Libyan agents bombed Pan Am Flight 103, killing 270 people, 200 of whom were Americans.

March 10, 1989: A pipe bomb exploded beneath a van owned by the commander of the U.S.S. Vincennes, who had shot down an Iranian airliner over the Persian Gulf (killing 290 civilians) during U.S. participation in the $tanker war! against Iran. March 12, 1991: During the Gulf War, a U.S. Air Force sergeant was blown up by a remotecontrolled bomb placed at the entrance of his residence in Athens, Greece. $November 17!, the deadliest terrorist group in Greece, November 17, which attacks U.S. targets because of American imperialism-nationalism!, claimed responsibility for the attack.

February 26, 1993: A group of Islamic terrorists detonated a massive van bomb in the garage of the World Trade Center in New York City. The Egyptian perpetrators were trying to kill 250,000 people by collapsing the towers. Ramzi Yousef, the leader of the terrorists, said the intent was to inflict Hiroshima-like casualties to punish the United States for its foreign policy toward the Middle East. The perpetrators considered augmenting the explosion with radiological or chemical agents that would have increased the casualties.

April 15, 1993: Seventeen Iraqis were arrested as part of government plot to assassinate former president George Bush on a visit to Kuwait, in retaliation for the Gulf War against Iraq.

June 1993: Sheik Omar Abdul Rahman–a militant Egyptian cleric–and other radical Muslims conspired to destroy several New York landmarks on the same day. Funding for the operation apparently came from Iran and was funneled through Sudan, attempting to punish the United States for its policies toward the Middle East.

October 3, 1993: Osama bin Laden’s operatives trained Somali tribesmen who conducted ambushes of U.S. peacekeeping forces in Somalia in support of clan leader Mohamed Farah Aideed, causing the death of 18 American Army Rangers, and the dragging of dead American soldiers through the streets of Mogadishu. An indictment of his followers alleged the United States–an $infidel nation!–had a nefarious plot to occupy Islamic countries, as demonstrated by its involvement in the peacekeeping operation in Somalia and the Persian Gulf War. The incident led to the withdrawal of U.S. forces from Somalia, which bin Laden called his group’s greatest triumph.

November 13, 1995: A car bombing of a military complex in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia–which housed a U.S. military advisory group–killed 7 people (including 5 Americans) and wounded 42 others. Muslim militants seeking to topple the Saudi monarchy and push the infidel United States out of Saudi Arabia carried out the bombings. Three groups, including the Islamic Movement for Change, claimed responsibility. U.S. officials suspect that Osama bin Laden was involved….

We can fill in the rest. Years later, 9/11 ushered in the modern War on Terrorism, and Mr. Bush, with characteristic ignorance of the documented connection between American aggression in the Middle East and Islamic terrorism against America, only further augmented interventionist U.S. foreign policy. That the Bush Doctrine’s geopolitical social engineering, especially in Iraq, has been such an unqualified failure is not a surprise to anyone who has read this article thus far.

Another obvious problem with the Bush Doctrine and its exportation of Democracy is that nearly every Arab Muslim lives in a Non- Democracy, and thus America’s grand experiment looks, from the perspective of the common man, to simply be imperialist meddling with his local government. The Bush Doctrine, even if it somehow succeeded (i.e. when the “fight is won,” perhaps), would only guarantee a Pyrrhic victory at best. With every terrorist mastermind captured in Iraq, dozens of martyrs sign up to avenge his death and battle the American Empire. Iraq itself wasn’t even a haven for al-Qaida operatives until after America invaded it. While bin Laden, confirmed murderer of American civilians, roams the globe free, Mr. Bush is pleased that we’ve killed terrorist al- Zarqawi, whose horrific and disgusting attacks were all against America’s presence in Iraq, never threatening continental America itself. The Bush Administration, it seems, is really only successful at capturing terrorists of its own creation. Sadly, U.S. interventionism Iraq itself wasn’t even a haven for al-Qaida operatives until after America invaded it. The Bush Administration, it seems, is really only successful at capturing terrorists of its own creation.

Sadly, U.S. interventionism (Operation Terrorist Creation) is not limited to the occupation of Iraq. The CIA and NSA continue to interfere in the political affairs of various nations the world over, funding, training and assisting various anti-Islamic movements and governments, from the Caspian Sea to the Horn of Africa.

While such action may excite the intellectual tribalists in the neoconservative movement, the problem with such meddling is that the CIA-backed alternatives to Islamism, just like the CIAbacked alternatives to Communism, tend to usually be brutal nationalist dictators or military juntas, and are just as bad, or worse, than Islamism for the people we are supposedly “liberating.” As a result, our intervention only enhances political oppression, civil unrest and poverty, which, studies show, then only serves as a breeding ground for Islamic extremism. The whole nasty process only further convinces the Islamic diaspora that America is waging a war on Islam. This is not how to win the hearts and minds of the world’s people.

Our current policy, in its blind aggression and geopolitical ignorance, purports to fight terrorists “where they are making their stand,” but it only serves to make them more effective and numerous. Thanks to the Bush Doctrine, radical clerics, government bankrollers, and their potential recruits can now all observe a visible military and political occupation to justify their ongoing resistance against the Great Satan. In these backward societies deprived of freedom of information and thought, radical Islamofascist rhetoric, combined with clear evidence of American global occupation, is sadly enough for terrorists to gain alarming popular traction, financial support, and willing martyrs. This mobilization of terrorists, potentially creating hundreds of thousands of jihadists, if America’s belligerent foreign policy continues apace, is becoming the greatest threat the United States of America faces.

In intelligent recognition of this reality, America should immediately repudiate the Bush Doctrine and pursue a policy of intelligent disengagement. First, those terrorists and organizations which have committed or planned acts of aggression against the United States, such as al-Qaida, should be pursued with vigor; this is our most important mission and should be treated as such. Second, America must cease all nation-building, internal interference, and general military interventionism in the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, in order to deprive terrorists of their fuel for jihad. Regimes, organizations and groups who do not threaten direct harm to the United States should not be the target of any U.S. military campaign. As we’ve repeatedly argued, the occupation of Iraq should immediately end.

As Americans, we all desire to win the war and to enjoy permanent security. But like Vietnam, Quebec, and Somalia, not all battles our government chooses to fight are winning ones; and like My Lai, Manzanar, and the Bay of Pigs, not all tactics our military prefers are desirable. An extension of that nugget of common sense dictates that as long as U.S. foreign policy glorifies the imperialist fallacies of neoconservatism, we libertarians will continue to rightly inveigh against it.

The Bush Administration’s blind allegiance to aggression over knowledge perverts not only the lessons of Sun Tsu, but also the American Founders’ original vision of a nation seeking only peaceful trading ties, the avoidance of entangling political alliances, and a national defense to respond powerfully only when directly provoked. The authentic patriot believes in these true American principles of intelligent self-defense, and knows that they alone can safely guide our nation through these troubled and dangerous times.

The author of The American Evolution, Matt Harrison is the founder and executive director of The Prometheus Institute, Los Angeles, CA, a nonprofit public policy institute. He has authored more than 200 articles and has been a guest on several talk radio shows and a guest blogger for CNN.

So why try?? That is the question that every one else asks…. But what’s a real relationship without a chase…. There is no such thing. So we all throw ourselves at the person of interest in hope to see just a glimpse of attraction back to us. Whether it is the 3-second stare down or just a flirtatious smile it gets our heart thumping in our chest. When you can get that “high” from just a look you realize you actually are attracted to that person beyond a sex related attraction. But, when do you have to recognize that you are wasting your time and all he/she is doing is torturing you for their own sick pleasure? We all might just as well have had our fingernails ripped out, then to face the ever-so-slow painful trembling in your chest. The anxiety that strangles our entire body, yet it is a feeling we all long for shortly after it is over. The constant agony soon wears on the body and mind, making the person feel as if there whole life is in a cyclone. This is the moment where the person should come to grip with reality and see they are  no where closer then when they began.

But if the attraction is felt mutually you will see signs. Those 3-seconds  stares in twine with the flirtatious smiles. The awkward laughs become more natural, and every topic you bring up sparks a decent conversation. You start to notice things about the other person that are left unnoticed. For instance. when they smile, the side side of their mouth is a little higher then the left…..and don’t think the other person doesn’t notice your abnormalities. But in all likelihood they will think as you do, that those quirks are part of the masterpiece that is who they are. Soon those conversations about the plans both of you have will become one, and the rest of the story is yet to be written.

Why does it feel like there isn’t enough time in the day to complete everything? Does it feel like no matter how hard you try, time seems to elude you?

Mastering time management can be a difficult task for some people, especially when balancing school, work and fun. College is a great time to learn these skills because of the wide variety of activities and events that college life provides. By following these 4 steps, you will be able make time work with you, not against you.

How many hours per week do you have as “free time”? Well, let’s break it down.

There are 24 hours per day x 7 days per week = 168 hours total per week.

Total Time for Fixed Activities = 97 hours.
168 available hours – 97 fixed hours = 71 FREE HOURS
That’s only 10 hours per day of free time!

1. Be Proactive

Seeing as your only have 10 hours of FREE TIME available each day, you must be proactive in your decisions to use this time. Being proactive means taking initiative, rather than waiting for others to act first or to make decisions for you. The opposite of proactive is reactive.

Accepting a reactive approach is not going to allow you to utilize your time efficiently. For example, instead of studying when your classmates start studying, decide when to start based on your own schedule. Simply being reactive and “following the crowd” is a waste of time.

2. Organization

An essential part of being proactive — as opposed to reactive — is looking ahead. If you don’t own a planner, get one. If you own a Mac, you might be interested in using iCal to organize your life. Many educators recommend using a pen and paper approach to this step but personally, I think we need to utilize all this new technology that we have. In your planner include everything:

• Test dates from your syllabus
• Project deadlines
• Last day to drop a class
• School holidays
• Professor office hours
• Club and Organization Meetings and Events
• Doctor’s Appointments
• Football/Basketball Home Games (not required but it helps me)
• Final Exam/Midterm dates and times
• Any other event or task that you need to be aware of

Doing this will drastically reduce your stress level. It allows you to know when your “busy” weeks will be, and to plan accordingly.

3. Plan Out Each Day

Plan your days from start to finish. A great way to do this is to spend a few minutes the night before going through the day in your head. If something jumps out as important, write it down in your planner. If you write down things like “Pick up paycheck from work” you will remember it much easier.

4. Prioritize

Make sure to distinguish the goals that are truly important — such as completing a research project — from those that may seem urgent but are really not important — like organizing a softball game with your friends. Don’t spend too much time doing busy work, or work that appears productive but in reality only keeps you occupied.

The best way to do this is to rank your tasks by importance. Choose a task and compare it to the rest of the required tasks for the day and rank it. Complete the highest ranked tasks first then continue down the list until all the tasks have been completed.

What other time management techniques do you use? I would love to hear your additions in the comments!

Jay Willingham writes a college advice blog at CampusByte. His site’s main aim is to help people develop Study Skills by incorporating new technology. Photo Credit.