Searching the web…

Lyd asked me to write a post about that and I hope it will help you with your assignments and not only.

A nice trick is to use dogpile.com. However, if you want to go through bunches of useful and auseful (cool, huh) links like every self-respecting googliac, keep reading

Google tricks…
The greatest trick here is to use the “Advanced search” option. However, you will get better flexibility by using the keywords. Here is a short list:

1. ” “ These are pretty useful if you want to find a pattern of words in websites. For example, if you write “Johnny Bravo” , you get only the sites that contain information about that specific guy, not about all Johnny’s and all Bravos.
2. + The plus sign is useful if you want the results of the query to contain a specific combination of words. For example, if you search for college education, you will get the sites that contain the word college only, the word education only, and those which contain both of the words. But by entering college+education, you will see only the web pages containing both of the two words.
3. - The minus sign is the opposite of the plus sign – it excludes the word after it in the results. For example, if you search for design -web, you will get the sites concerning any kind of designing, but web one.
4. site: There are some web pages, that contain monstrous bunches of information – media archives, bulletin boards (forums), Nevena’s blog and so on. By using the site: keyword you look for something in the website you specify. For example, write site:dir.bg clubs and you will get information about the clubs in dir.bg only. You know that most college websites end with .edu. So, you can look for something like site:edu scholarship+undergraduate or whatever.
5. Did I mention that you can combine stuff? Well, you can surely ask google for site:food.com pizza+coke -price -broccoli +”Shipping for free!”, but do not expect to get many hits
6. intilte: something like the site: but looks in the titles of pages.
7. intext: can you guess? try it yourself.

to be continued…

The latest lesson-November 3rd.

I liked what we talked about last time. However, we never elaborated on the fresh piece of info- the way that college should or should not affect students’ lives.

Colleges – Behind the scenes!

I did a lot of research for the latest assignment. I had many ideas that proved to be true about the establishing and nurturing of colleges. It helped me understand the fundamental reasons for people’s going to college. I know everyone has his own reasons, but I understood that there are some that are fundamental – the need for knowledge and the need for money. So, everyone must absorb as much as possible at college instead of sleeping and partying for four years.

Our latest lesson….

I remember that I was so tired, that I could not hear my thoughts… Me and Lyd were talking about colleges, and I knew I had something in mind, but I just could not express it… I was not functioning well.

What I recollect is the story about some people’s time in college in Bulgaria. I was thinking about how one must pick the subjects he wants to study carefully in order to benefit from them. I think that even if you don’t find something as much interesting as you have previously expected, you must try to pay attention to it, not to merely take the shortcuts and “flush” it. Studying a subject only for the grade is  futile and pretty time-wasting…

The unexpected latest class…

Our latest class… we elaborated on the skills list and read those texts about college, but I thing we should have discussed the homework more. For example, we have a nice list of employee requirements. I got the idea of what they mean, but I wish we talked about how to obtain, master or maintain these skills right now.

The homework on Confucius… I guess we will discuss it in our next class, but I like the idea it presented. It really made me think, and it helped me clarify some ideas I have.

And finally, that stuff about college. I felt offended (I exaggerate a little here:) at what it said about those who strive for an IT education… I think that lady should take some more computer courses. People are just not aware of what happens in the digital world. And I am really amazed how some young people overlook computers… Architecture, Economy, Arts, Journalism… almost anything is computerized now, and I think lyd should try to talk about that issue in some of her classes.

Our latest class…

From our latest class I learned, that being the first one to give an opinion on a question is not a disadvantage, but a privillege.

The topic was usefull… well at least it made me think, and after all the talking we did, I felt inspired and emergized.

I would like us to discuss similar topics, but I wish less of them concerned the matter of money.

Confucius and his method…

I am sure Confucius had a good reason to do that, since this was the easiest way for him to find out what his students’ approach and attitude towards the subject were.

A student who is not fond of a philosophy, will think of is as of a burden and do no more, and learn no more than he has been told to. Confucius definitely did not want to tutor students who considered his science a ponderous task. He knew that in this case, both the teacher and the student would be negatively affected.

Confucius, as any other great teacher, wanted to teach people, who appreciated and craved knowledge. It is actually these people who study purposefully and will gladly apply what they have learned. Actually, is there a rational reason to study something you do not like? For me, a science is like a plug, and if you do not have the right socket for it, you will just be hurting your entity. And you will actually start hating the damn thing, won’t you?

The important thing is to know, what you are designed for. And Confucius used to find that out easily by his smart and simple method. Ping a socket with one bit of information, and if it responds correctly, you will have no troubles loading terabytes on it.

About learning and mastering the employability skills…

What I know from my personal experience is that most of the employability skills can be mastered at high school. You can learn how to manage your time, develop learning methods… simply be a plastic and dynamic person. At school there are many opportunities that may serve you at your personal improvement plan. You must merely try to find them. Thus, you will be able to master at least 80% of your soft skills.

School is the place to master time management. You learn to arrange your tasks by their priority. You practice creating dayplans and week schedules. As a high school student, you will probably establish and improve your own learning methods, that will enable you to understand what you are studying faster and more effectively. Unless you are happy with the outdated and inadequate information you are given in the classroom, you will grow into the habit of using additional data sources, like the Internet for example.

In school you can clarify your goals for the near and not so near future. You will learn what is needed to achieve them. Besides, taking part in extra activities is an excellent opportunity for you to cement your sense of responsibility.

I think that it would be a good idea to pay attention to such things as communicaion, teamwork and problem solving in cooledge class. I believe that my classmates and I have them founded, and it would be nice if we could improve and practice them.

Living in the world of white-collar employees…

Living in a world where the employers exact so much would certainly be challenging. I feel I possess most of the skills listed, and I would gladly accustom myself to those I have not mastered yet.

If I live in a world that demanding, I will get to know myself better. I will find whether I can survive that jungle. That is what I actually expect – to see what my maximum performance is like , and to check how long I will be able to endure this dynamic lifetyle.

Beside self-evaluation, I believe this world will give me self-improvement. And I feel positive about that too. Since all skills required by modern employers are actually worth possessing and upgrading, I am optimistic about my personal development. As I think of it now, somebody having and applying all these skills is more a machine than a human. Is that not cool?

Finally, I feel that living in a world like that will be pleasant. I will be sure that most of the people there know what they are talking about, and they will try to spare my time.