Ways To Cut Living Costs

May 6th, 2008

My last post was about my decision of going back to school and the changes I had to make in order for that to happen. One of those things was cutting costs so I could lay off the full time employment. Below, I have shone a light on some of the costs I have already cut and some I am in the process of cutting. It turns out that when you sit and think about it, you conclude that you can give a good trim to those utilities you once thought you had to have or could not live without. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m going Back to School

May 1st, 2008

When I graduated high school in 2005 my plan was to head straight to college, which I did, for a while. It was going fine and I was adjusting, but then the money ran out. I would always get a decent Financial Aid package but the amount the government determined me and my family had to pay, was just much more than we could afford. So I started registering to however many classes I could pay with the government aid. Given my luck, it was a matter of time before the next pitfall came along. The follow up was the inevitable financial problems in the home that led to my having to put my education on hold and focus on bringing in money. I have been doing that for sometime now and throughout all that time, I have analyzed my situation and concluded that, even though times are hard, I could go back to school and be able to keep my head above water at home. With strategic rearrangements, sacrifices and reductions of the monthly expenses, we can manage to survive, or at least get things paid without my needing to fully focus on employment. Also, there is a lot of untapped money out there, in the form of scholarships and grants that are extremely helpful.

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Xenogenesis: A James Cameron Film

April 29th, 2008

Xenogenesis is an independent film by genius director, producer and screenwriter, James Cameron. It was his first film, made in 1978 and it proves how good a storyteller he is. It is a science fiction piece that mirrors humanity and what its future may hold and in many ways and it really makes you stop and think.

This film is seen as a simple plot less startup film by many, but in reality this film is very important because it depicts a very powerful theme. It shows how truly vulnerable humanity is and the dangers that our own intelligence may bring upon us. This is reminiscent of the Terminator Argument, one of the possible dangers of the transhumanist movement. The argument suggests that the continuing emergence of advanced technologies, can pose an existential risk for humanity. How do you see it? What does it mean to you?

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Protect Yourself Against ID Theft

April 25th, 2008

Have you ever had anyone achieve something by using you or your name? This might sound like a rarity, but I happens more than you think, it happens in the form of Identity Theft. I ran across a brochure from the Federal Trade Commission about this, and it provides very helpful tips that help someone’s identity remain untouched by unlawful hands.

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DTV: February 17, 2009

April 24th, 2008

I’m appalled by how many people still don’t understand that the February 17, 2009 digital television transition, will not affect those who receive their channels through a cable or satellite provider. I have heard some people say that they’ll have to buy a digital TV because theirs will soon be useless; others say that they keep forgetting to act in order to get their coupon to buy a converter box, which sounds fine until they mention they have pay cable. Before these people make an unnecessary investment in this weak economy, they need to become informed. I saw a television commercial today about a government website that provides information on everything one needs to know about the DTV transition. Read the rest of this entry »

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Fan Film: Born Laughing

April 23rd, 2008

I have always been a huge fan of films, films of all genres. Specially fantasy and science fiction. I love hearing that live action film adaptations of animated shows are on the way and I sit anxiously waiting for the works of James Cameron and Steven Spielberg. Of course, I hate when a series is callously mangled (Transformers disaster). My favorite superhero is Batman and I love all the movies, even the bad ones. But aside from Hollywood theatrical pictures, I like to watch movies that seem to go overlooked. Fan films; these are great pieces of art because they offer the public’s view of things and what they would like to see as opposed to watching what Hollywood executives are comfortable with or what they think is profitable. This following film is called Born Laughing and it is an extension of the revamped series of Batman films. It was produced by Be More Films and it offers a view into the early crimes committed by Heath Ledger and Christopher Nolan’s version of The Joker. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Personal Assistant For A Fraction Of The Price

April 15th, 2008

At one time or another, we all wished we had someone to help us with those small tasks that while small and simple manage to be enormous obstacles. This person is known as a personal assistant, unfortunately with a salary averaging US$ 36,000.00 per year and skyrocketing cost of living, this is a treat that most cannot afford.

I read an article once that talked about getting the benefits of a personal assistant without actually having to hire one. Among other things Read the rest of this entry »

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Young Entrepreneurs, Really Young

April 11th, 2008

I have read countless posts about young entrepreneurs running blogs and businesses and making more money per month, than a lot of people make in a year. These guys are usually in their mid to late teens; and as far as I knew, that was as young as they could get. But I recently ran across an article about kids in their early teens who have established businesses. That means that they began at a very early age.

Leanna Archer is a twelve year-old from New York who at the age of 8 started Read the rest of this entry »

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Success, Fame, Fortune. Work Ethic

February 29th, 2008

A lot of people have told me that they hate school or they hate their jobs and that they wish they could be a musician or a stand-up comic, because they are extraordinary jobs with extraordinary pay. Of course these are people that at school, do the bare minimum just to get by. Or at work, do mind numbing repetitiveness because it is easy. I tell them that I know how they feel, that being rich and being in the spotlight and being known would be amazing. In my mind however, I think that these people will never get there because by the way they say things they think it is an effortless walk in the park. This always reminds me of my High School history teacher; he would always say that the problem with people today is that they like to complain but never move a finger to change things. Read the rest of this entry »

Top Notch Education for Us All

February 27th, 2008

I read about this new technology, as I like to call it, called “open courseware.” It allows anyone and everyone with an internet connection to access course material from over 150 universities around the world. Basically, major colleges and universities post their curricular material on the net and at no cost, anyone who’d like to, can access this information and learn from it. Some courses are in the form of video or audio and some are in transcripts. Originally, this was planned for educators to share material. But it did not take long before this quality material was discovered by far more people than anticipated. The great thing, in my opinion, is that about half of the readers, visit these sites for the sake of learning; which goes to show and proves me wrong in that there still are people out there who appreciate the truly meaningful and important things in this world. The resources are vast and are expanding at a rapid rate. MIT has all of its 1,800 courses available and Yale University has 7 out of a scheduled 30. Read the rest of this entry »

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