GSVU

Web and video conferencing is all the rage right now. With families and friends further apart it is a great way for them to stay in touch with each other. I know that I feel extremely lucky to grow up and be in college in a day and age where I am able to talk to my friends over the internet and video conferencing all at once even though they are hundreds and even thousands of miles away. A lot of my good friends from high school are studying abroad all over, from Barcelona to Paris to Australia to London and I am able to keep in touch with them and talk to them online anytime I want.

The connection is great and even though I am not great (and by not great I mean terrible) with technology I was able to figure it all out. I went to best buy to get a camera for my laptop and the man told me about having a secure video and all that entails and also about all of the web conferencing features and how to turn on the microphone and how to hook everything up together.

I got home from best buy so confused and dreading the set up but it really took only minutes and then later that day I was talking to two different friends (one from Barcelona and one from Iowa) and the same time. It is even better than having a phone because we can all talk at once and we can see each other. I can be doing my homework in my room or cleaning or even eating and walk around and talk to them and they can see my room and house (we carried our computers around to give a tour ha).

It is such a great opportunity having this kind of technology. I am even able to talk to my dad face to face (well through the computer) whenever I want and my little sister gets on too. She's ten and she always has so much to tell and show me and now I can see her school projects and still stay involved in her life.

I feel like even though we are miles apart my friends and I have only gotten closer through the distance, which sounds weird, but technology definitely has brought us much closer to each other over the past three years that we have been away from home and each other.

College is such an interesting time in our lives because we are really given everything we need to succeed in one place and then left to decide if we would like to go through with it ourselves. Most of us don't have some kind of an overhanging circumstance or consequence that is there for us to see if we do not finish with our schooling. So essentially all of the incentivizing that we all really do need to do something like this which is the greatest project of our lives needs to come from either our parents or from our own understanding of what the future holds. This of course is slanted more towards our parents because most of us have never had to think about things that far in the future so we wouldn't naturally understand what things will unfold for us and what things obviously from the outset would not. If we are someone though who is internally or externally motivated in a positive way then we have ourselves an advantage over those who simply are pushed to be here by parents. It is in this situation that we can find things about our time here at college that make our future more rich and our time here more useful.

We all know the stereotype of college being the image of Animal House without a care in the world and where all of the students simply party all of the time. This may be the reality for those who wish to live it, but college these days is far too expensive for most and it is a lot harder to make up for even one semester of slacking off in the long run because those grades follow you and stick to you no matter what college you go to. For this and for the simple reason that your future is much more stable if you try to find balance earlier in life between fun and play, it is important to us college not only as a social blossoming but also as a professional tool. It really is so much easier these days to get some type of an education that you don't even need to do all of your schooling within a classroom. E-learning is a form of online training which makes getting your degree more flexible and more independent if you can handle it. You can get any number of certifications or trainings like windows server 2008 training which just makes you look better and makes your future jobs possibilities easier even in a poor economy like this one.

I went to a computer lecture the other day at school (mainly because it was for extra credit, but also because I know nothing about computers). And I actually learned about a few things that I didn't know before. Or maybe I did learn them in the boring computer science class that I took freshman and sophomore year at 8am every Tuesday and Thursday morning but I probably didn't pay attention to a thing ha.

First of all we learned about CBT, which is computer based training. Using CBT you are able to do computer training from your home or office on your own time. There are CD-ROMs that you can use and they bring hundreds of programs to you. And you can be assured that they are curriculum approved and easy to manage.

We also learned about a+ certification which is basically proof that you are competent as a computer technician. It also requires you to pass two tests in order to receive it.

I think the point of the whole lecture was that you can use computer based training or CBT as a way of self study for the a+ certification tests.

The lecture went on to talk about the importance of computers today and being competent. Because let's face it, we are college students what better time is there to learn and expand on our computer skills than right now? We will be entering the work force in the next few years and we need to be prepared on what to expect when we get into the real world and get grown up jobs and have responsibilities and also what our employers will expect from us. The technology world is constantly changing and you really need to be on your game when it comes to things like Microsoft office and also just having the ability to change with the times.

Companies do not want to hire people who are at one level technology wise and plan to stay there. They need people who can adapt and are willing to take that next step in order to help out and contribute to the business. They want employees (or potential employees) to be able to take that next step and want to be on top of their game. So take that next step to be that employee and secure yourself a job for the future.

I had no idea what the enterprise learning library was when I read about it in an article, so being intrigued, I looked it up online to find out more about it.

Apparently it is a form of e-learning. It covers a vast amount of content and is accessible to all kinds of computers and systems. It is often used for companies who need to train their workers and as well as for A+ certification which is something that demonstrates competency as a computer technician. Having your employees certified though is a great way to improve your companies status and appear (and actually be) more professional to clients as well as other companies similar to yours or competing with yours.

With the economy the way that it is, companies have to let go a lot of their workers. This may mean that the people that do stay employed will have to do more. While they may be experts in their line or work, they may also need to brush up or learn more about other areas that they will need to cover now. By using an e-learning method, these employees are able to still do their jobs but also learn in an efficient (both time and energy wise) as well as reasonably prices for the company, way.

When your company is already having to let people go because of a budget issue (which is happening quite a bit now with a lot of different companies in every kind of field out there) you don't want to have to spend a lot of money on a training program for those who are left. So e-learning is a great way to go. You also don't have to find a person to come in and teach or talk to your whole staff and have to coordinate schedules and pay someone to do it. This way you are able to have each employee separately learn on their own time when it is convenient for both them and your company.

If you are someone who owns a business or is in this situation I would definitely consider an e-learning program for your employees. It is for sure the most efficient way to go about learning and advancing your company to the next level and making sure that it survives this economic downfall.

I have been to New York a few times in my life. My aunt and uncle live there so we would go see them every year and stay for a few days. Then when I got older I started going with my friends once in a while to go shopping or see shows or just go out by ourselves. We would get a hotel room and just go out to dinner or to the bars and dress up and bond or spend the day shopping and going to the spa.

When I was in high school after one of our trips my good friend decided that she wanted to go to school in New York. She was so excited and dazzled by all of the commotion there (were from Chicago but she still thought New York City would be amazing or different somehow). But her mom was worried about safety since the crime is high and she had to walk a lot of places in the dark by herself. So her mom made her take this self defense class that we all went to take with her. It was actually a lot of fun and helpful. Even though I am not sure if I could fight off a bigger guy if he was trying to attack me, I do feel more confident that I could control the situation and definitely not just give in, and fight back.

Even after the classes though her mom found the best locksmith New York had to offer and they redid all of the locks in her apartment. And they came in and showed her how to make her apartment safer and put in timed lights and a huge outside light her in the hallway that was motion sensored.

I guess you can never be too safe though and nothing has happened to her so far which is good (probably because she has a tunnel of light and the locksmith nyc association to back her up ha). But she has heard of other people being attacked or mugged and even raped, so I guess her mom was right to worry and do those things. She is having a great time though the last time I talked to her and she just started her internship as a photographer and she is spending a month at home this summer so I'll get to see her and everything that she has done and then I'm going to go visit her and see her apartment there after!

These days many people are focused on weight loss. It is understandable with the obesity rate on the rise. It is really no wonder, with the sales of fast food up and deceiving food packaging that leads you to believe that you are eating less calories than you really are. This type of misleading packaging along with less than nutritious ingredients are leading to the obesity that is plaguing our nation. Even the newest commercials that are seen on Television about corn syrup are misleading. I mean of course you expect to find corn syrup (a form of sugar)in a Popsicle or other sweetened item. And of course, it is okay in moderation. However, did you realize that there is corn syrup in many things that are not sweet. For instance did you know that there is corn syrup in items like crackers, peanut butter, and many other products that you wouldn't think. I really think that in order to be a wise consumer and avoid the traps that you need to read the labels on your food to have a better understanding of how these ingredients like corn syrup can be affecting your diet. Let's face it, we all know that the more natural the food, the better off you are.

The American diet is in such a place now, that in a desperate attempt to lose weight and regain their health, many people are turning to gastric bypass surgery. This only works well if you change your eating habits forever, because if you slip then you can not only regain the weight you lost, but you can actually put on more weight in the long run. Personally, I think that diet and exercise combined with diet pills is truly the best method for most people to lose weight. Gastric bypass is a very expensive and dangerous procedure, and truly is not recommended for most people who are overweight. Only the most obese cases are eligible, and it is really best to address issues with weight before it goes that far. Unfortunately, many American's won't heed this advice and will find themselves in the obese range, before they even know what has happened. More needs to be done to educate people about the truth in advertising, or in this case the lack thereof. Understanding how our thought processes are truly misled by the media, could really open people's eyes as to why obesity is running rampant in our society.

All the talk about a government health plan is getting many American's worked up. There are those who are paying a fortune for health insurance, and to them they see the government plan as an opportunity to get low cost family health plans for themselves and their families. And for others, the thought is that by going to a government influenced health insurance system, we will be giving up on the very core of democracy and become a socialist nation, trading in our freedoms for health care. I think that perhaps the two sides of this coin reflect those who have affordable health care plans vs. those who can't afford to insure their families. I don't think that those who are concerned about becoming a socialistic society, don't really realize how tough things are on families trying to survive in this difficult economy.

I guess I feel that the essential difference is the haves vs. have nots. Those who have the money and the stuff in this society don't want to give up the upper hand, while those who are on the bottom, see anything that they can get as an opportunity to advance their lives and the lives of their family. I don't think that it is unreasonable for a person to expect that in a country this wealthy that there should be low cost family health plans available to all. I really think that if we live in a country where a person can make $10,000,000 for their role in a movie, for entertainment, then we can probably afford to make sure that all of our citizens can have food, clothing, shelter and medical care.

If we can fight the good fight for other countries, then I know that we can do at least the same for those in our own country. Health care rates are rising out of control, and one must truly wonder if there is a good reason for this. It is my understanding that is what the government is going to look into, and at this point I do think that some cap does need to be put on the medical and insurance industry. We can't just allow people to die, while others are getting rich.

This past weekend was so much fun, my mother came for a visit by herself, which usually never happens, because dad usually comes with, but this past weekend was just a girls weekend and we had a really nice time. We stayed up talking and watching girly movies until really late at night, then the next morning we went to brunch and then out for a marathon shopping spree. We started out at the local mall, where we picked up some clothing items and a really nice pair of sunglasses for mom, and then by mid afternoon we had found a great outlet shopping area just outside of town. It was in the middle of nowhere, but they had some incredible deals on all kinds of stuff. We found this great home furnishing store, which had some Pendant Lamps that my mother just completely had to have, so she bought them. It is a good thing that she was driving back after this weekend shopping spree because there is absolutely no way that they would have let her bring all that stuff on the plane, not without charging her a fortune. She also bought some stuff for my apartment, including some really cute designer lamps for my bedroom, which were just absolutely perfect, and dirt cheap, which I love! We went to dinner with my boyfriend, my roommate and her guy that night, and they had a live band which was just great. For the first time in my life, I realized how lucky I am to have such a great mom. I never really thought of her as a friend until this visit, but so many of the people I talk to here have such strained relationships with their parents, that it was nice to have her here hanging out like one of the gang. Don't get me wrong I get along well with my father too, but women just have more in common with each other, and I am so happy that we had this little bonding weekend. I really hope that she comes down again soon, it was just too much fun!

For my health psychology class we had to read a lot of articles that the teacher picked out. He would send them to us through email or blackboard and then we would have to read them and write a summary paper and then a reaction paper. They usually had to do with the topics we were talking about in the book at the time so it was nice to see that he was taking what we were learning and applying it to real life (I like when teachers do that, it makes me feel like I'm not wasting all of my time) and they were actually really interesting. And then at the end of the semester we had to pick an article of our own that had to do with health or exercising or sleep and basically do the same thing but longer and on a bigger scale.

Thankfully the several articles and papers we did throughout the semester helped us and got us ready for the final project and we knew what he was expecting from us. I chose weight loss pills and a topic and found a weight loss pill review in a magazine about health to use as a source. I talked about what they were and named each weight loss pill that I had researched and studied and the results that they had gotten and also side effects if any that people experienced. My paper was really good and I ended up learning a lot about health and the right way to take weight loss pills. You need to balance them with a healthy diet and also maintain a workout routine that fits your lifestyle and the one that you want to have as well.

I didn't just learn about weight loss though and health, I also learned a lot about writing papers and what to expect from assignments from teachers in my major. This helped me to refresh my paper writing skills and also work on the works cited page (everyone always has a hard time with that). I realize now that things we do in school aren't always busy work. There are a lot of things, like these research papers and articles that we read, that will help us out in the future. Both the content of the paper and the structure and routine of writing it will be carried with me.

Halloween is one of my favorite holidays, and always has been. Actually, I was born on Halloween, so from that stand point, it has always been an exceptional day. One of may favorite Halloween Costumes is a clown costume. Growing up, I would be a clown every year, but it was always a different type of clown. I have bought some very elaborate clown costumes and yet, I have always been able to throw together a clown costume pretty simply. As a matter of fact, one year, I purchased some face paint, and had a pair of big funky looking pants and suspenders. I put on some big socks one striped and the other one polka dotted and I wanted some crazy hair, but I didn't have a wig, so I decided to use a pom-pom from when I was a cheerleader. It was Redskins colors, yellow and purple. Well, I didn't have anyway to keep it on my head, so I used a baseball cap and stuck the handle of the pom pom up under the cap to help hold it in place. This was by far better than any wig I had ever purchased.

To this day, out of all the clowns that I have been, I really love that one the best. It was just thrown together and was so much a hodge podge of everything, yet, I think that I was truly impressed that I was able to piece a bunch of things together and come up with a costume. Whether you choose to buy a costume for Halloween or just piece one together, make sure to make the most out of the holiday. Since coming to school, we now have big Halloween parties, after all we have gotten just a bit too old to trick or treat, but for as long as live, I will dress up for Halloween, after all, it is one of the best holidays. A day for ghosts and goblins, clowns and princesses, and I know that inside every adult is still that little child wanting to play dress up.