New To Blogging? Watch This Video!

If you are not sure what a blog is or how it works, the video called Blogs in Plain English will help. This video explains why blogs are such a "big deal." To view the video, just click on the large arrow in the middle of the video window below.

Whole-House Surge Protection

It's important to protect all your electronic devices, not just computers, from surges. Printers, televisions, appliances and computer peripherals all require protection. However, it can be inconvenient to use individual surge protectors on all devices that need protection. One solution is to install a whole-house surge protector as shown in this photo. The device is installed by an electrician and is attached to your circuit breaker panel. Whole-house surge protectors function like other surge protection devices, but they protect all electrical devices in the house at once. The typical cost of $200 to $300 (installed) is generally less than buying individual surge protectors for every electrical device in your home.

Anonymity on the Internet

The Internet is a place where you can find information and opinions regarding any and every topic you can think of. It is also a place where you can find scams and erroneous information. The following will discuss whether or not anonymity on the Internet is positive, negative or both.

The positive elements of anonymity include honesty. If you can be assured of remaining anonymous, you would feel free to be completely honest with your thoughts and feelings. People would probably feel more comfortable posting anonymously much like an anonymous tip to catch a criminal. No fear of repercussion. With anonymity there is the ability to maintain some privacy. No matter what is said, no one would know who the writer was. This also brings up safety issues. Predators wouldn't be able to use personal information to harm you or your family.

The negative aspects of anonymity would be dishonesty for one. If you don't have to be responsible for what you say, you could say whatever you wanted to. This opens the door to become whoever you want to be on-line. This could provide a forum to say hurtful and untrue things about others. I think posts would be far respectful if you knew who the writer was. I realize there are people who wouldn't care either way. Prospective employers can use what you have written to determine whether to hire you or not. Obviously this can be positive or negative depending upon what you write.

I can actually agree with some aspects of both sides. I appreciate the personal responsibility and supposed respectfulness that should occur if the writer is known. However, I can also appreciate the increased safety that is afforded if the writer is anonymous. If I had to choose, I would be anti-anonymity. I think the important thing would be to maintain the attitude of always being respectful in your opinions both on the Internet and elsewhere and be cautious regarding what personal information you reveal.

Teaching Kids Organization

I found a very interesting article on a blog, suite101.com, called Teaching Organization to Children by Christine Alcott. It made me realize that becoming organized should start as a child being taught by parents and teachers. In this article, Ms. Alcott's opinions were well thought out and organized. I am a naturally organized person so it was easy to teach my children organization. Ms. Alcott's writing in this article was simple and straight forward giving parents and teachers specific ideas on how to teach organization to children. I also appreciated that the article was fairly short making it easy to read.

Organization

Being organized is very important for success in most areas. How to organize may be different for different people. Making sure to have your assignments done on time and recorded in a way that makes them easily accessible to study from is important. I find keeping track of deadlines in a day planner helpful as well as keeping everything organized in a 3-ring binder. I take lots of notes and it is easy to pull them out to study from. I study in different places so keeping everything in a backpack is also helpful. "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit." Aristotle

Attend Every Class

According to Linda O'Brien (the author of How To Get Good Grades in College), the importance of regular class attendance cannot be overemphasized. You cannot make up what you miss, and you cannot get it from someone else. My personal point of view would include that you have paid for the class and should want to get as much out of it as possible.

Microsoft Office 2007 for Students - Cheap!

Microsoft is running an offer especially for college students called The Ultimate Steal. For a limited time, students can obtain a copy of Microsoft 2007 Ultimate Edition for only $59.95. To qualify for this offer, you must be enrolled at a US education institution and have a valid e-mail address that ends in the edu domain. Considering this package is available at retail for around $500, this is a fantastic deal for students. So check it out and save some $$$ today.

Even though you can download the software from the Web site, you should also consider purchasing (for an additional fee) the software on DVD. This will make reinstalling the software much easier in the future in case you have a problem (such as your hard drive fails).