Useful Tips on Self-Improvement | Frederick L. Crouter

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Self-improvement usually comes as a result of taking a sober deliberate step towards becoming a better person and making the best out of whom you are. Self-improvement is not a journey for the cowards and the lazy bones, because there is no promise that you will be all smiles as you walk this path. You need to make a sober decision from the word go, and you should have a clear definition of what it is that you want and why you want it. You should then synchronize every part of your being towards the realization of this goal.

The first step you need to take is to study your life from all angles so that you can pick up any area of your life that needs improvement. These are most probably the weakest areas of your life. If you are able to admit to yourself that you have a weak point and that you are not perfect, then you are ready for change. This is because there are so many people who have a problem even admitting to themselves, let alone to others, that they are wrong or that they have a certain weakness. For such people, self-improvement is just another clich?, and it can never work for them.

Once you have identified the weak points that need improvement, work on your mind. This is the tool where every wrong mentality about things is stored. If you have the wrong belief toward anything, especially anything that relates to your weak points, then self-improvement can be a very fruitless journey for you. You have to do away with every perception that tampers with your esteem and positive attitude.

The most effective way of changing your negative mentality to a positive one is by first changing your company. Birds of a feather flock together, and you will never be beyond what you constantly surround your life with. If you hang around people who have the wrong mentality towards something, you will dance to the same tune sooner than later. Therefore, if you hang around people who are positive and people who believe in you, then it will not take a long time before you rise above your limitation. Also, as you journey on self-improvement, do self-evaluation. This will help you know whether you are progressing or not. As you do this, try as much as possible to avoid putting your main focus on the wrongs you have done, as this will demoralize you.

Source: http://fcrouter.com/uncategorized/useful-tips-on-self-improvement.html

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Anonymous Wants DDoS Recognised as an Official Form of Protest

The Anonymous hacking collective has petitioned the White House, using the US government's open forum to ask for DDoS attacks to be registered as an official form of complaint - and requesting the convictions of previous DDoS attackers be wiped from their records. More »

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/gizmodo/full/~3/_t6kPl9G2L4/anonymous-wants-ddos-recognised-as-an-official-form-of-protest

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Education Blog: Starting Technological and Science Education Earlier

By Sean Scarpiello

Recently, I was listening to a lecture by Neil deGrasse Tyson, a famous astrophysicist, who previously addressed members of the United States Senate regarding spending in the sciences. Within his lecture he mentioned a few ideas that I found interesting. He described that more focus needs to be put on math, sciences, and technology in schools. He also described that the countries that place the most emphasis on these fields in education will one day have the best economies and will become the self-acclaimed leaders of the world. In light of this, I began to think why a government decides to educate its citizens. Of course, it is to have well informed citizens who can advance their own country, improve their economy, and to continue to push the boundaries of science and technology. With this in mind, all countries continue to push forward to keep up with each other in the highly competitive international arena. In particular, I thought about the ways America could improve its education system as our economy struggles and we are slipping from our position as the top superpower of the world.

When I think about my education in science and technology, I find that even within the past decade, it has been far from perfect. The key to advancing in these fields is to start this education early. For example, in regard to technology, my classmates and I were never formally taught about computers in grade school. We did have a formal typing class in fifth grade, but by then I felt as if it was too little and too late, as far as computer science is concerned. Moreover, I found the majority of people fail to use technologies easily available to us on a basic computer. For example, many people do not know the full capabilities of programs like Excel. Therefore many people write off Excel as a program strictly for scientists, everyone from business people and writers to politicians and homeowners could find programs like Excel beneficial to them in their day to day life. As far as other areas in computer science, the majority of people only have enough of knowledge to simply get by with computers. We all know how to use devices such as thumb drives and software such as Word and PowerPoint. However, even within these programs, most do not recognize and utilize the full capabilities of such technologies.

To address this issue, we need start off technology education early in our students? development. Recently, there has been the debate to stop teaching cursive in schools because it is becoming obsolete. Instead of cursive, we could begin teaching first and second graders to type and learn about computer science. Moreover, we should teach a well-rounded and thorough knowledge in computers. For instance, we all use memory devices to store music, documents, pictures, and more, but do you know how these devices go about storing so much information in a piece of plastic the size of your thumb? We should really focus on the science and inner workings of computers at an early age. This will lead to a more adept future of adults who know how to work with computers. This is especially true when you take into account the number of adults who can currently use computers to their full capabilities.

In addition to the education of technology, we also need to focus on an improved education of sciences. Again, an effective solution would be to start early. Looking back on my early education in the sciences, I found that much of what I was learning up until my senior year in high school was material that simply needed to be memorized and regurgitated. Then, once I took AP and college level courses, we began to apply and evaluate scientific knowledge. This type of learning through application, evaluation, and generally challenging current thinking needs to be introduced much earlier. If students were forced to apply knowledge and think critically in all types of classes, we could definitely see and improvement. Science and math are both difficult subjects to teach and learn, but once students can begin to question everything around them and critically think about all subjects, we will see an improvement in other areas at school. In fact, I feel as if there is a barrier in our brains that we all must get past in order to make critical thinking second nature. The best way to get over this barrier is forcing ourselves to think about the different ways science, and other subject matter, can be applied to our world and thinking deeply about the different sides of an argument.

Overall, by starting education in the fields of technology and science earlier in a student?s educational career, we can see a vast increase of breakthroughs being made in these fields. Also, students will also be able to apply their application and critical thinking skills in other fields such as writing, business, and politics, as well as real world situations. Ultimately, this would make us better citizens, as we will be able to make informed decisions, and as a result the country we live in will only benefit.

Source: http://straube.blogspot.com/2013/01/starting-technological-and-science.html

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Refer to Your Annual Review Throughout the Year to Make the Next One Easier

We just finished our annual review process here at Lifehacker. While the questions were pretty painless, I found myself almost banging my head on the desk trying to remember my "bests" and "worsts" from the beginning of the year. Next time, I'll use a copy of the review form and fill it out throughout next year.

This is similar to keeping a work accomplishments file (useful when interviewing for a new job or negotiating a raise), but more specifically to make the inevitable annual review process easier. Instead of trying to think back twelve months, you'll have a record of your performance and issues as they happened.

Looking at the questions often throughout the year could also be motivating?a reminder of your professional goals.

Photo by alexskopje (Shutterstock)

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/JnhJNvFltXE/refer-to-your-annual-review-throughout-the-year-to-make-the-next-one-easier

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lern2play Resources and Information. This website is for sale!

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Retailers' price war can save you big bucks

4 hrs.

Joseph Pisani , AP

This holiday season, the hottest trend among retailers isn't found on a store shelf. It's taking place at the cash register.

Major retailers, from Best Buy to Toys R Us, are promising to match their competitors' prices. Generally customers just need to bring in an advertisement or printout to prove that the same item is available elsewhere at a lower price. In some cases, shoppers can come back with a receipt and get a refund for the difference if the price of an item they bought fell.

Best Buy, Target, Walmart and Sears offer price matching to customers all year round. But what's different now is that Best Buy and Target are matching online retailers such as Amazon.com for the first time. That's a big deal, since online prices tend to be lower than those at stores.

Shoppers will be able to save some extra money, but they're going to have to read a lot of fine print to do so.

"Price matching sounds good, but there are so many exclusions, it sometimes isn't as good as it sounds," says Edgar Dworsky, the founder of ConsumerWorld.org, which tracks deals for shoppers.

For instance, Target limits the number of online retailers that it will price match against to just five. Best Buy has selected 20, but only matched online prices from Nov. 1 to Nov. 17 and will start again from Nov. 27 to Dec. 24.

Toys R Us is offering price matching for the first time and will only match prices that customers find in other brick-and-mortar stores. Walmart also matches against in-store prices. However, both retailers will match prices found on their own websites if the prices are lower than what you find in their stores. It's not uncommon for retailers to offer steeper discounts online than in their actual stores. (But Toys R Us says it won't match prices on its own website if the item is marked as an "online-only price.")

Even the most experienced bargain hunters can get tripped up by all the rules. But shoppers can save some money if they're diligent.

"It really is a way to save money and shop at the store you want instead of one that's inconvenient," says Dworsky.

Here are five ways to get the most out of price matching offers:

1. Know the policy
If you want to take advantage of a price match offer, read the store's policy closely. You can find the guidelines on the store's website.

Print out the policy and bring it with you. Having a hard copy will be helpful if you need to argue your case.

"Know their policy backwards or you may be bluffed into thinking something doesn't qualify," says Dworsky.

2. Bring proof
Always bring the advertisement or the printed web page for the item you want to price match. Walmart doesn't require bringing the ad because it says cashiers have access to all local advertisements. But Dworsky recommends bringing ads in anyway. If there's any confusion, you'll be better prepared to make your case no matter where you shop.

The cashiers and customer representatives are always looking for a reason not to approve the transaction, says Dworsky.

3. Save receipts
Some retailers will give you money back if you see a lower price after you buy an item. Keep a hold of your receipts and, particularly for big-ticket items, continue to look for lower prices.

Best Buy will issue refunds until the end of January. Toys R Us lets you seek a refund up to seven days after buying an item. Sears customers can get a refund after 14 days. Target is letting customer's price match against brick-and-mortar retailers until Dec. 24 for any item bought after Nov. 1. You can only ask Target to match the price of an online retailer until Dec. 16.

4. Go straight to the customer service desk
Many retailers have hired cashiers specifically for the holiday rush, so the new employees may not be up-to-speed on the store's price-matching policy. Heather Wheeler, who runs savings website TheKrazyCouponLady.com, recommends handling the transaction at the customer service desk instead on the cashier.

"(Those staffers are) trained a little more and are more knowledgeable," says Wheeler.

5. Look beyond retailers
You can also price match depending on how you pay. PayPal, the payment processer, promises to match a lower price if you've already made a purchase using the service. That includes airline tickets. PayPal will match the prices of retailers that don't let customers use PayPal, however. Just fill out a form and upload a receipt when you find a lower price. PayPal will give you back up to $1,000 for all purchases made until Dec. 31.

You should also ask your credit card company to see if it offers price matching. It's rare, but there are a few cards that do.

Citi just launched a program for its credit card holders. Called the Citi Price Rewind program, it promises to do the work for you. Register your purchases made on the Citi credit card online and it will send you a check for the difference if it finds a lower price from an online retailer.

The program is aimed at pricier purchases: It will only issue a discount if the price difference is $25 or more. Citi will give you the amount up to $250 for each item, and up to $1,000 a year. Of course, you're going to need pay your credit card bill in full and not incur interest charges to truly make this a deal.

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/retailers-price-war-can-save-shoppers-big-bucks-1C7308451

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Male chimpanzees choose their allies carefully

ScienceDaily (Dec. 3, 2012) ? The ability of male chimpanzees to form coalitions with one another in order to direct aggression at other male chimpanzees has certain benefits. A new study by Ian Gilby at Duke University in North Carolina and his colleagues has further revealed that it may not just be the coalition that is important, but who the coalition is with that determines future success.

Their study finds that male chimpanzees with central positions in the coalitionary network were most likely to father offspring and increase in rank. Specifically, those who formed coalitions with males who did not form coalitions with each other were the most successful. Their work is published in the Springer journal Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology.

Coalitionary aggression is when at least two individuals jointly direct aggression at one or more targets. Aggression and coalition formation between males is important for attaining a higher dominance in many animal species. The most dominant males are more likely to mate and therefore, sire offspring. Males with high coalition rates are more likely to mate more often than expected for their rank.

Gilby and his colleagues studied data from wild chimpanzees gathered over 14 years from the Kasekela community in Gombe National Park in Tanzania. They wanted to test the hypothesis that male coalitionary aggression leads to positive benefits via increased dominance rank and improved reproductive success. Of the four measures they used to characterize a male's coalitionary behavior, the only one that was related to both of these factors was 'betweenness' -- a measure of social network centrality -- which reflects the tendency to make coalitions with other males who did not form coalitions with each other. The only non-alpha males to sire offspring were males that had the highest 'betweenness' scores. These males were also more likely to increase in rank, which is associated with higher reproductive success.

The researchers postulate that this shows that male chimpanzees may recognize the value of making the 'right' social connections. By choosing their coalition partners carefully, they are demonstrating an ability to recognize the relationships of others.

The authors conclude that "?our data suggest that there are consequences to the recognition of third party relationships. As such, it represents an important step toward a more complete understanding of the adaptive value of social intelligence and the evolution of co-operation." They add that further observation is required to fully explain the study's findings.

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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Springer.

Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.

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Journal Reference:

1. Ian C. Gilby, Lauren J. N. Brent, Emily E. Wroblewski, Rebecca S. Rudicell, Beatrice H. Hahn, Jane Goodall, Anne E. Pusey. Fitness benefits of coalitionary aggression in male chimpanzees. Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology, 2012; DOI: 10.1007/s00265-012-1457-6

Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead.

Disclaimer: Views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff.

Source: http://feeds.sciencedaily.com/~r/sciencedaily/top_news/~3/Q_597e_zWHk/121203112810.htm

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