Cheats and Walkthroughs Cheats and Walkthroughs Cheats and Walkthroughs Whether it's high school or college that demands your attention, unless you're planning on flunking, you're going to have less time to play video games come September. It might be a good idea to finish up games from earlier this year so that you can spend your precious gaming time on the Fall releases that are about to flood your PC, consoles, and the rest of the your free time. Today, we're focusing on four RPGs and a dungeon crawler. These might seem like obvious choices due to the length of the gameplay, but it isn't only about time to completion. RPGs encourage getting into a rhythm as we learn the combat mechanics. The longer you put the game down in between play sessions, the more likely you are to lose the story thread and not remember what's going on. Here are five games we think you ought to get cracking on and finish before going back to classes, homework and projects. We're thinking about the players who have multiple Commander Shepards they've taken through the first two Mass Effect games, and who want to see the story in Mass Effect 3 from both the Paragon and Renegade angles. The experiences can be different enough to be worth the time, but the Mass Effect 3 campaign can run as long as long as 45 hours if you're doing all the side quests. Even if you're all set with the campaign, the co-op multiplayer is deep and has over two dozen different class/species combinations to rank up, not to mention the Reinforcement Pack system which requires a lot of earned credits to unlock and level up all the different weapons. You'll probably have time during the school year for the DLC packages that BioWare keeps releasing. If you still have big chunks of this game left to finish, now's the time to save Earth. Diablo III is a rinse-and-repeat game. You run through the story on Normal, then you run through again on Nightmare and it starts to get challenging. Hell is really tough and you'll need max level characters to stand a chance on Inferno. You'll get better loot the tougher the game gets, but it's going to come down to skill, not your gear, if you're looking to take down the big man waiting for you at the end of the game. Considering there are five different character classes, if you want to get the most out of Diablo III you're going to need to run each class through four different playthroughs. Add the time you're going to want to spend in the Auction House keeping your gear up to date and selling your excess stuff to make more gold to buy those expensive weapons and armor pieces, we're talking about a substantial commitment here. There's also a PvP release at some point in the future that you'll want to get max level and well-equipped characters ready for. When people talk about the size of this open-world fantasy game, Skyrim comes up pretty often, which should tell you everything you need to know. Dragon's Dogma can take up to 70 hours to beat if you go for all the side quests, so there's plenty of game even before we look at the pawn system. Pawns, or hirelings, are sometimes given to you by the game. Other times, you can pick up the minions created by other players if you happen to be online. This means experimenting with pawns and checking out what other players have done with them is part of the fun. You can take up to three pawns with you, so you can mix and match different classes to see what works best or is most interesting. Respecs are also easy if you want to change up your own style. Dragon's Dogma may ask for a lot of your time. But the creature animations are so good and the epic feel of the battles is conveyed so well that you're going to have every motivation to try different pawns and class styles, and really sink your teeth into those fights. This is one game you'll want to thoroughly enjoy, not burn through just to get to the end. Risen 2 might take you around 30 hours to beat - at the easiest difficulty setting. Some players have referred to the combat as "sadistic." It can take you half that time just to get your character up to a skill level where fighting becomes a little easier to handle, and it also gets interesting with voodoo magic and varied combat techniques. That might not make the game sound very attractive, but the unique pirate theme, the varied environment, the island explorations, and the amusing voice acting have made Risen 2 worth it for a lot of players. If you're going to tackle this game, it's going to require a little dedication and attention. Start on this game before the school bell rings. It might take up to 50 hours to complete a playthrough of The Witcher 2 , and then you're probably going to want to return to Act 1 and make some different choices. Story decisions in this game can be more meaningful than in most RPGs, and the repercussions of those choices can lead to vastly different experiences. The complexity of the story in The Witcher 2 at times can especially make this a game you want to dedicate yourself to versus putting it down for long breaks, and losing track of what's going on. This is also another game with punishing combat that adds to how long your playthroughs take and how much patience you need to marshal. Making different choices on a second playthrough can lead to such a different experience that it's not about an altered nuance to a scene or a new line of dialogue but getting entirely new scenes altogether and a completely different campaign. The replay value of The Witcher 2 is extremely high, so it's worth putting the time in.


I like watching films about ghosts I like saying anything goes I like knowing possibilities don't end I work harder than I want to I don't stop till I know the truth And I love each and every one of my friends I'd like to think that I owe regrets cause every single one of them made me who I am And I make sure that I never forget That my parents taught me that I can I'm learning the ways of the world one step at a time I'm learning the love and the hurt, the wrong and the right And I'm trying to be, the best that I can be For nobody else, nobody else but me I like to focus on the good stuff I like to think that I can be tough I like to hope that hope has it's own sound I have a routine when I wake up I never drink all the tea in my cup And I don't think that I'll ever get rid of the Couple of pounds that I'm carrying around I don't forget who I am when I'm faced with a hard decision I've learned to ask what's in my heart and trust the way that I am feeling HEARTBEAT Ba ba ba da da And my wondering's not going to waste I can tell with just one look at your beautiful face I can feel my heart beat in my chest And I hope that you will be the one to move next You're a little shy but so am I I could spend all night wasting time I can almost taste your lips on mine You're a little shy but so am I I like knowing that you like me too I like feeling like this wonderful and new I can see your heart beat in your chest Close your eyes and then we'll figure out the rest Hardly breathing Just believing That this could be What I'm dreaming of Ba ba ba da da When your dark hair falls into your eyes I can feel my heart beat with a warm delight When you move your hand to rest on mine I can feel my heart beat skip one or two times CHARLIE Charlie will you write me a love song? Like you never wrote a love song before? Charlie make it kind of vague but say my name So that everybody knows who you wrote it for Charlie I have known you for so long Every scar, every mark the way you feel in the dark Charlie we were so young then but we can still pretend This is our first time And I know I know I say I don't know if it's wrong or right But  now I think I might after all of this time And I'm scared to say it because let's face it a lifetime is long But I do not belong without you You make me more than I could be by myself, by myself I am sure now that I want it all now with you, with you So Charlie tell me do you want me too? Charlie it's been four short years With hopes and dreams and fears, with love and trust and tears Charlie I guess I worried that I was young That I was missing out on some but I am missing out on none UNLOVE SONG It's a cold night and I'm alone, I think about where we went wrong Where did we go wrong? It's a long time to be in love, but only time is not enough It's not enough Who's gonna hold me when I just need to be held? Who's gonna know me better than anyone else? Who's gonna love me if I can't even love myself? I always thought it would be you I can't believe it won't be you I think about how it was, I wonder when we got lost When did we get lost? I close my eyes and see your face, but then you start to fade away You fade away This is hard. My poor heart. Let me go. On my own. I KNOW THAT I'LL KNOW Setting out upon my path and not knowing where it goes Leaving everything behind leaving everyone I know It's a widely known fact such ventures can be Hard on the soul But I know that I'll know when I've come I know that I'll know when I'm home Hoping only for the best and then expecting nothing less As misguided as it seems following only my dreams It's a widely known fact that it is we who hold the Key to set us free Choices won't go away Decisions need to be made If I get one wrong I will learn and carry on I will not give up my hope I might falter but I won't I do not believe I can't There is faith within my heart There is faith here in my heart So although some time has passed I am holding strong and fast I am closer now I think to the wildest of my dreams It's a widely known fact that all we Need is to believe JUMP I'm a dreamer of dreams, a believer in things I say what I mean and I mean everything I love when there's love lost, I hope when it's hopeless I'm honest at all costs and I'm someone someone trusts But you make me more than I could hope to be And you take me where I have never been Tonight we are falling into something That's bigger than us Tonight we are falling into something That's bigger than us Don't think too much Don't think just jump You have a busy mind, a watchful eye You never tell lies and you carry your pride You like to stay up late, you never hesitate You love how I taste and you don't believe in fate Who are you lying by my side? It's been seven years and oh the time flies by Where am I in this crazy life? I got lost among the things I am running from But I don't know who I am without you. Maybe there's a way out of this without hurting anyone Tell me how I start to tell him I have fallen out of love I once knew you with the whole of my heart Fingertips on skin in the dark Routine and moving, drifting apart The water is deep and the distance is far WHAT I'M MISSING I thought I was going steady I thought I had it under control I thought that I needed nothing And I knew everything I wanted to know But then you, you came along And I knew I had everything wrong And I know how I'm feeling when you're laying with me I need to say this so listen you are what I'm missing I know how I'm feeling when you're laying with me I need to say this so listen you are what I'm missing When you put your arms around me I can feel my whole world change Baby when you kiss me slowly Nothing even looks the same If I show you who I really am will you Do 'most everything you possibly can will you Love me with your soul heart and more No second guessing you have got to be sure Cause baby I'm not asking much I just want to know that I can trust you With my love YOUNG LOVE In the start in the dark I didn't know What you felt like on the inside, but the outside view was quite nice Then we spent days in bed and time went slow We started out adventure as we ventured out together Knowing only That our love was growing Young love, young love nothing quite the same Young love, young love it changes in a day Young love, young love doesn't ask too much Young Love, young love I think we're old enough To know that this is much more than just Young Love You would ride your old bike to my house And we'd walk down to the seashore and talk until the nightfall Then one day when you came you announced You would love me till forever so we ventured out together All the time that's gone by since you've been mine Has been nothing but amazing and you still drive me crazy When I catch you staring at my smiling softly I come over for a kiss and I know I could die like this WHEN I WAS YOUNG Miss Mary Mac Mac Mac All dressed in black black black With silver buttons buttons buttons All down her back back back She asked her mother mother mother For fifty cents cents cents But nowadays that don't buy you nothing Mm mm yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah! I'm supposed to be a woman but I still feel like a girl Even though I've grown up tall I feel small in this big world The candles that I'm blowing are adding up as time goes by I used to wish to be a grown up, now I miss the girl inside Oh those days of playdates in my friend's backyard Sand pit spades, dress ups, potions, monkey bars! Now we're paying off our debt Dealing with our daily stress If I could just forget, I'd go straight back to When I was young My boyfriend has just left me for a great job overseas I remember Johnny Abbott in Grade Five- he'd never leave Well my rent is overdue and my laundry's piling up I don't want to go to work today it all feels like too much And when I look at photographs and all that's happened in the past I wish that I could take myself back there And I like Fairybread the best Make believe that I'm a princess And mum and dad will tuck me in And give me a Butterfly Kiss Good night, sleep tight I NEED TO KNOW (I COULD) And I know it's my decision to go On my own, on my own And I think, well am I making the right choice? I hope, oh I hope I am following my dreams Or so it seems, or so it seems But it gets harder as the time draws near For me to leave, for me to leave I am scared, I am full of doubt But I am getting on the plane and I'm leaving like I knew I always would To follow my heart and it will be hard But I am sure that something's calling me and I need to know I could I wish that I could stay at home But I can't, no I can't And I'll keep everyone I know In my heart, in my heart I need to know I tried everything that I ever could have done I need to know for sure, I need to know if there is more Waiting out there for me to come along EVERYTHING I NEED Let's go let's go let's get out of here Not tell a soul let's just disappear What will we take? And where will we go? The best part of all is that I don't know But I have everything I need, if you're with me Let's play let's play Guessing games while we sing along o the sings we know on the radio At the end of each day We'll sleep in the car underneath the stars and make love slow and close But where will we go?  And what will we take? Just bring an empty bag for the memories we make I have everything I need, if you're with me And I wouldn't mind spending everyday until my days are done With you by my side starting from today cause you're the one my love You're the one I need I need To wake up next to you the truth is I cannot exist without it The way you look at me Tells me I'm exactly where I was always meant to be


Altmeier should have been stuffed by Paxo Philip Booth 18 November 2011 Newsnight this week had, for them, a reasonably balanced piece on the proposed EU transactions tax on Wednesday evening. There were some people in favour and some against before an interview between Jeremy Paxman and the German ruling party Chief whip, Peter Altmeier. However, in typical BBC style, the proponents of the tax were put forward as people who wished to tax the rich and help the poor and the opponents as people who were acting in their own self interest and believed that the tax simply could not work. Not only that, it was pitiful in its failure to dig down to the real issues -- something, of course, which is a feature of its eurozone coverage. Let us dissect the broadcast, which you can watch here . (The time of the references to each aspect is given if you wish to watch them again). At 16:52, we are told that the UK has a responsibility to act in the interests of the EU as a whole (by a German politician) and not in the interests of the UK alone. Whether this is true is not something I am concerned with here. However, British self-interest was accepted as the basic premise of the case against a transactions tax. However, the opponents of the transaction tax believe it is a bad thing for any country or groups of countries that impose it. The fact that it hurts Britain most is unfortunate, but not the main issue. It is a bad tax for the EU! This issue was never pressed. At 17:47 we are told that the Pope agrees with the transactions tax. This is simply untrue and is incredibly sloppy journalism. We have no idea what the Pope's views are on the matter (understanding his general political philosophy, my suspicion is that, out of humility and an understanding of those things he knows he does not understand, he has no view on the matter). The idea was put out for discussion in a paper by the Justice and Peace Commission but it is quite possible that the Pope did not even read it before it was published -- and if he did we will probably never know if he approved of it or not. At 18:00 we had Max Lawson from the Robin Hood Tax campaign group tell us that it was great to tax casino banking to give the money to the poor. Good for him, he got his point over well. However, at no point in this long Newsnight piece, was there a discussion of who will bear the burden of this tax. It will be, of course, some combination of bank account holders, bank shareholders (future pensioners), savers who hold shares that are traded, and mortgage account holders whose mortgages are hedged in risk management processes, together with, perhaps, some rich bankers and hedge fund managers. The fact is that we have little idea where the burden of this tax will fall. Surely, this is a point that should be analysed on a programme such as Newsnight. Lawson said (and, again, all credit to him -- he did his job well) that there was a two to one majority in favour of this tax. It all goes to show that the better you disguise a tax the more people favour it -- this is not an especially moral position! We then have the interview with Peter Altmeier (17:50) where Paxo was on very poor form. He started by asking Altmeier whether it had been estimated how much the tax would raise. He said "no" and suggested that discussions were just beginning. Paxo got the same answer to a question about how many jobs would be lost and then queried -- but did not press when Altmeier moved on to a different issue -- whether he was aware that the British government was saying that the European Commission suggested that 500,000 jobs would be lost. A better briefed journalist would not have referred to George Osborne's reference to an EC report, he would have thrown the facts from and implications of the EC report repeatedly at the interviewee: especially as the interviewee was from Europe and justifying an EU measure. For example: There is an estimated fall in GDP 1.8 per cent as a result of the tax. Given this, and after allowing for the fact that other taxes would be replaced (e.g. stamp duty on share sales) the net revenue will be negative! As it happens, the estimate of 500,000 jobs lost comes not from the European Commission but from a separate EU report, but the point should still have been pressed. But this also just goes to show, journalists really should not use secondary sources -- or at least not politician's quotes of secondary sources. This is the second example in a single feature of a mistake being introduced into the discourse as a result of doing so. Indeed, there is much discussion in the public domain about the very issues on which Altmeier majored. Altmeier suggested that the tax would lead to more proper primary trading and less high frequency trading. Unfortunately, because a primary trade is passed through a series of counterparties, a primary trade could end up being taxed at nine times the rate of a single high-frequency trade. There may be an answer to this point -- but why was the point not pressed? The case for a financial transactions tax is alarmingly weak. I feel quite sure that if this had been a free-market measure justified by an economic liberal, an interviewee would not have had the same easy ride. www.robinhoodtax.org has a vote on the tax; I propose voting no although the vote is a foregone conclusion. I'd point out that Robin Hood took money back from tax collectors gave it to those they oppressed. This is a Sheriff of Nottingham tax! Submitted by len shackleton on Fri, 18/11/2011 - 15:28. You are right Philip. It is disappointing to see today that David Cameron has again said he favours such a tax if it could be imposed on a global scale. Even if everyone from the United States to North Korea imposed a FTT it would still be a very bad move. Interesting to look at the history of this proposal, which is now a million miles from the original Tobin idea. That was a Keynesian scheme intended to "throw sand in the wheels" of currency transactions in an environment where exchange rate instability was the perceived problem (just after Nixon had ended Bretton Woods). The money raised was to go the IMF to enable it to mitigate what Tobin expected to be a hugely unstable situation. He was wrong. Nowadays the tax is aimed at a much wider set of transactions, to deal with a completely different perceived problem, with the money paid into some as-yet-unexplained scheme to raise living standards in the Third World - despite fifty years of failure of large-scale international aid programmes. Submitted by Philip on Fri, 18/11/2011 - 18:39. I might add that the Justice and Peace Commission did not even definitely propose the idea, it suggested that it might be reflected on. It is disappointing that Rowan Williams could not even get his facts right about this matter.


They Saved Lisa's Brain was directed by Pete Michels and written by Matt Selman , although the idea for the episode was pitched by former staff writer George Meyer . It featured the first official appearance of Lindsey Naegle and was the first episode in which theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking guest-starred as himself. The Simpsons staff wanted Hawking to guest-star because they needed someone who would be smarter than all of Springfield's Mensa members, and because they had heard that he was a fan of the show. The episode features references to Star Trek , painter Vincent van Gogh and architect Frank Lloyd Wright , and mentions the theory of the universe being toroidal , the same shape as a doughnut . In its original broadcast, "They Saved Lisa's Brain" was seen by approximately 6.8 million viewers, a very low amount for the series. Following the episode's broadcast, Selman made a controversial statement about East St. Louis , which was pronounced the least livable city in the United States in the episode. While the episode received mixed reviews from critics, Hawking's appearance garnered critical acclaim, and has since appeared in several lists of best guest appearances on The Simpsons . Hawking has since appeared in three episodes, and an action figure based on his cameos in the series has been produced. Although Hawking has stated that he enjoyed guest-starring on The Simpsons , he has also mentioned that his cameos have made many people mistake him for a fictional character. Contents A low-fat pudding, Grandma Plopwell's, is the sponsor of a Springfield contest that promises a luxurious trip to the most disgusting and dimwitted contest participant in town. Many Springfield residents enter the contest, but things do not go well when Rainier Wolfcastle (one of the judges) declares himself the winner for "being seen with you freaks." The contest ends in a riot and Lisa ends up hit in the face twice with pudding. Lisa denounces Springfield for its anti-intellectualism in an open letter that ends up in the newspaper (which no one reads). This impresses Springfield's Mensa chapter, which accepts her for membership after Principal Skinner shared her placement tests and she brought them a pie for their latest meeting. She joins Mensa alongside Comic Book Guy , Dr. Hibbert , Principal Skinner , Professor Frink , and Lindsay Naegle . After the pleasantries, Lisa finds herself at home alongside Mensa members, whose sense of humor is so brainy that it is said to be enjoyed by the " Dennis Miller ratio" of Americans. After being bullied out of their reserved gazebo at a park by some drunks and Chief Wiggum, they fear that Springfield's quality is down because of the city's stupidest residents having power over their civic institutions. The Mensa group goes to confront Mayor Quimby about the gazebo incident, until he escapes from the city by plane when he mistakenly thinks the group has evidence about his corruption. The town's constitution states that in the absence of the mayor, the town is to be governed by the smartest people in it. Now in control of Springfield, the group hopes that things will become better in town. Once in control, however, the group allows power to go to their heads. At first they efficiently implement their ideas for Springfield, which include banning green traffic lights and playing only classical music at the dog races, which elevates Springfield past East St. Louis on the list of America's 300 Most Livable Cities. However, they begin to internally fight over other ideas such as having theaters for shadow puppets and a broccoli juice program, and their wildly unpopular plans at a public meeting (including the banning of all contact sports and Comic Book Guy's plan to limit breeding to every 7 years ) further expose the rifts inside the group. The angry Springfield townspeople, furious at the new laws, surround the intellectuals in an angry mob and bring an end to Mensa's rule, and would have seriously injured Lisa if not for the intervention of Dr. Stephen Hawking . The brilliant professor has shown up to see what the Mensa group is up to and makes it clear he is unimpressed. In the end, Stephen Hawking and Homer meet at Moe's for a drink. Homer imitates Hawking in an attempt to make him pay the tab and gets punched by a boxing glove on a spring, which is concealed in Hawking's wheelchair. In the episode's other storyline, Homer steals a gift certificate during the post-contest chaos and has erotic photos taken of himself to give to Marge as a gift. She enjoys them a lot, but gets distracted by the interior design Homer did in their basement. "They Saved Lisa's Brain" was written by Matt Selman and directed by Pete Michels . It originally aired on the Fox network in the United States on May 9, 1999. Although the episode's first draft was written by Selman, the idea for the episode was pitched by former staff writer George Meyer . In the episode's setpiece , Homer and Bart participate in a gross out contest, while Marge and Lisa are in the audience. According to Selman, the writers took inspiration from real gross out contests, which were "sweeping the nation" at the time. Before the contest in the episode, the spectators are given free samples of a pudding called Grandma Plopwell's. The name of the pudding was inspired by a brand of pies called Aunt Freshly, which the Simpsons writers usually ate at the time. [ 1 ] English theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking (pictured) guest-starred as himself in the episode. The episode features the first official appearance of Lindsey Naegle , a sleazy businesswoman who has since become a recurring character in the series. While different versions of the character had appeared in the series before, namely in the season 9 episode " Girly Edition " and the season 10 episode " Make Room for Lisa ", the character's final design was first seen in "They Saved Lisa's Brain". [ 2 ] The episode also mentions the character's name for the first time. Naegle's name was partly based on Selman's agent Sue Neagle, and Lindsey was chosen as the first name because Selman thought it sounded "annoying" and "pretentious." [ 1 ] Naegle is voiced by Tress MacNeille , who Selman described as a "huge asset" to the series, and stated that she "breathes life" into the character. [ 1 ] "They Saved Lisa's Brain" features English theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking as himself. According to executive producer and current showrunner Al Jean , Hawking was asked to guest-star because "we [they] were looking for someone much smarter than all the Mensa members [in Springfield]," and so they "naturally thought of him." [ 3 ] Selman added that the Simpsons staff had heard that Hawking was a fan of the show, and that Hawking's family members wanted him to guest-star. [ 1 ] Bill Mann of The Press Democrat argued that Hawking was chosen to guest star in order to boost the series' ratings during the May " sweeps ". Mann wrote that "sweeps" are "used to set local TV ad rates for the months ahead." [ 4 ] In her book Stephen Hawking: a biography , Kristen Larsen wrote that Hawking almost missed his recording session, as his wheelchair broke down two days before his flight to Los Angeles, where the recording took place. In order to make the necessary repairs, Hawking's graduate assistant Chris Burgoyne, aided by a technician, worked a 36 hour shift. [ 5 ] Hawking was 40 minutes late when he arrived in Los Angeles. When he met the Simpsons staff, he apologized, saying "Sorry for being late." [ 6 ] According to Selman, Hawking was very humble regarding the episode's jokes about him, and stated that he "took a lot of shots" at himself. The only note that Hawking gave regarding the script was that he did not want to be portrayed as drunk in the episode's last scene, in which he is discussing astronomy with Homer in Moe's tavern. [ 1 ] Because of his motor neurone disease , Hawking is unable to speak, and he communicates using a custom-made computer. With small movements of his body, Hawking writes a text onto the computer, which is then spoken by a voice syntheziser . Because of this, Hawking had to write all his lines on his computer, while the staff recorded them by placing a microphone in front of the computer's speaker. "It's easy to do a fake Stephen Hawking in your comedy TV show," Selman said in the DVD commentary for the episode. "Any computer can sound just like his computer, but every line that we wrote for him, he typed in himself and we recorded with our microphones as if had come out of a regular mouth." [ 1 ] Some of Hawking's lines were difficult to record. In particular, the word "Fruitopia" was difficult for Hawking's computer to "put together" correctly, and it "took forever" to make the word sound right from the voice synthesizer. [ 6 ] In their book The Simpsons and philosophy: the d'oh! of Homer , William Irwin, Mark T. Conard and Aeon J. Skoble wrote that "They Saved Lisa's Brain" in detail explores "the possibility of a utopian alternative to politics as usual in Springfield." They described "They Saved Lisa's Brain" as an "epitome" of The Simpsons diverse comedic humor, and wrote that it can be "enjoyed in two levels," as both "broad farce" and "intellectual satire." As an example of the episode's farcical humor, they referred to the episode's subplot, which, they wrote, "contains some of the grossest humor in the long history of The Simpsons ." At the same time, the episode is "filled" with what they described as "subtle cultural allusions," such as the design of Mensa group's locale, which is based on American architect Frank Lloyd Wright 's house. Likewise, Lisa's challenge to Springfield calls attention to the "cultural limitations of small-town America," while the episode also argues that intellectual disdain for the common man can be carried too far and that theory can "all to easily lose touch with common sense." They also argued that the episode, as well as the series as a whole, offers a kind of intellectual defense of the common man against intellectuals, which they opined "helps explain its popularity and broad appeal [...] ["They Saved Lisa's Brain"] defends the common man against the intellectual, in a way that both the common man and the intellectual can understand and enjoy." [ 7 ] One of Hawking's lines in the episode references the theory that the universe is shaped like a toroid. Shown here is a torus, a type of toroid. In the last scene in the episode, Hawking and Homer are seen discussing the universe in Moe's tavern. Scully stated that the scene was included because it "was a chance to get the world's smartest man and the world's stupidest man in the same place." [ 8 ] In the scene, Hawking tells Homer "Your theory of a donut-shaped universe is intriguing... I may have to steal it." In his book What's science ever done for us?: what The Simpsons can teach us about physics, robots, life and the universe , Paul Halpern wrote that in mathematics, a "donut-shape," the three-dimensional generalization of a ring, is referred to as a torus . The generalization of a torus, any closed curve spun in a circle around an axis, is called a toroid . According to Halpern, Hawking's line references the fact that there are "genuine" scientific theories that the universe is toroidal. [ 9 ] One of the judges for the gross out contest in the episode's is Madeleine Albright , who was the current US Secretary of State at the time. [ 10 ] During the riot that follows the contest, a travelling exhibition of Van Gogh 's paintings is burned to flames. [ 7 ] In the episode's subplot, Homer hires a photographer to take erotic pictures of him. The design of the photographer was based on American portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz . [ 11 ] The song that plays during the photographing scenes is " I'm Too Sexy " by English pop trio Right Said Fred . [ 10 ] During the rules and regulations announcement, Comic Book Guy declares that sexual intercourse will only be permitted once every seven years in Springfield. This is a reference to pon farr , a term used in the Star Trek franchise to describe the psychophysical effect of the estrous cycle that affects the fictional race Vulcans every seven years. [ 3 ] The episode also mentions actress Geena Davis and cartoonist Mell Lazarus , both of whom are members of Mensa. [ 11 ] In its original American broadcast on May 9, 1999, "They Saved Lisa's Brain" received a 6.8 rating, according to Nielsen Media Research , translating to approximately 6.8 million viewers. It finished in 54th place in the ratings for the week of May 3–9, 1999. [ 12 ] The episode's viewership was considered very low by the Boston Herald , who noted that it reached "historic lows" in the ratings. [ 13 ] In a scene in the episode, Comic Book Guy announces that Springfield is in 299th place on a list of the United States' 300 most livable cities. East St. Louis is in last place. A journalist for a "local East St Louis [news]paper" noticed this, and called Selman to ask him why they were "taking a shot at East St Louis." [ 1 ] Selman jokingly replied: "because it's a crack-ridden slum." [ 1 ] After the interview, he went on vacation in Greece for two weeks. [ 1 ] While Selman was on vacation, executive producer and the episode's showrunner Mike Scully received a phone call from The Simpsons publicist Antonia Coffman, who reported that Selman's comment on East St Louis had been taken "very seriously" by the newspaper. The Simpsons staff received several angry letters from East St Louis' residents, demanding an apology. Because Selman was out of reach, the other staff members had to take care of the controversy. [ 14 ] When Selman returned, Scully scolded him and told him that he had to apologize to the mayor of East St Louis, who, unbeknownst to Selman, was portrayed by Marc Wilmore . Wilmore, a former writer on the television comedy The PJ's , had been asked by Scully to participate in a practical joke, in which he would play the mayor of East St Louis and confront Selman about his controversial statement. According to Selman, Wilmore gave an "Oscar-worthy performance." [ 1 ] "I was terrified," he stated in the DVD commentary for the episode, "[we had] a twenty-minute discussion in which [Wilmore] said that [his] children were teased at school [because of Selman's comments], and that the Fox affiliate were gonna be thrown off the air..." [ 1 ] According to Wilmore, Selman immediately blamed the other writers. Said Selman, "Well, everyone participates, you know[...] Have you never heard of the word 'collaboration'?" [ 15 ] Selman realized the joke when he turned around and saw "all the other writers laughing." "I was so relieved," he said, "I was soaked with sweat[...] I had betrayed my fellow writers, tried to get them in trouble, and they all knew me for the turn-coat that I was." As compensation for his involvement with the joke, Wilmore was given a role in the season 11 episode " It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Marge ", in which he played a psychologist. [ 16 ] In 2002, Wilmore became a writer on The Simpsons . [ 14 ] On August 7, 2007, "They Saved Lisa's Brain" was released as part of The Simpsons - The Complete Tenth Season DVD box set. Mike Scully, Matt Selman, Ron Hauge, Rich Appel, Marc Wilmore and Pete Michels participated in the DVD's audio commentary of the episode. [ 17 ] Following its home video release, the episode received mixed reviews from critics. Giving the episode a positive review, DVD Town's James Plath described it as one of the season's better episodes. [ 18 ] Ian Jane of DVD Talk wrote that, while episodes that revolve around Lisa tend to be "less popular" than others, he considered "They Saved Lisa's Brain" to be "well done." [ 19 ] Colin Jacobson of DVD Movie Guide gave the episode a mixed review, writing "I like the fact that 'Brain' pokes some fun at Mensa, one of the more smug, self-congratulatory groups to be found. The show manages a few good laughs as it goes after various pretensions." However, he added that "the show peters out after a while," and that it "never becomes particularly memorable." [ 20 ] A reviewer for Currentfilm.com wrote that, while the episode "isn't without its charms," it "just don't hold up very well." [ 21 ] Jake MacNeill of Digital Entertainment News wrote that the episode is "great if you think palindromes are funny," and added that it was one of the season's worst episodes. [ 22 ] Warren Martyn and Adrian Wood of I Can't Believe It's a Bigger and Better Updated Unofficial Simpsons Guide described it as a "retread" of the season 9 episode " Lisa the Simpson ". They wrote "Once we're past the How Low Will You Go show, the episode takes a nose-dive until the last few minutes." They concluded their review by calling the episode "Very, very tedious." [ 10 ] Hawking's appearance in the episode was lauded by critics. Although they generally disliked the episode, Martyn and Wood wrote that Hawking's cameo "saves [the episode] from being very boring." [ 10 ] Plath called the performance "very funny," [ 18 ] while Jane described it as "great." [ 19 ] Hawking reached seventh place in UGO 's list of The Simpsons 's "Top 11 Guest Stars," [ 23 ] and finished in fourteenth place in "The Simpsons 20 best guest voices of all time" by Ryan Stewart of The Boston Phoenix . Stewart wrote that Hawking's line ""Your theory of a doughnut-shaped universe intrigues me, Homer. I may have to steal it" was a "memorable" quote from the episode. [ 24 ] Ethan Alter of The Morning Call described Hawking's cameo as one of the series' ten best, and wrote that Hawking's best line in the episode was "I wanted to see your Utopia, but now I see it is more of a Fruitopia." [ 25 ] Writing for IGN , Eric Goldman, Dan Iverson and Brian Zoromski placed Hawking at number sixteen on their list "Top 25 Simpsons Guest Appearances." They wrote that he had a "fairly major" role in the episode, and that he had "several great lines." [ 26 ] After the episode aired, Hawking told the Simpsons staff that he "loved" all the jokes and in an interview with The Guardian in 2005, he stated that his guest appearances on The Simpsons were "great fun." [ 27 ] An action figure based on Hawking's appearance in The Simpsons has been produced, with the figurine's computer screen reading "If you're looking for trouble, you've found it," a line from "They Saved Lisa's Brain". [ 1 ] Since "They Saved Lisa's Brain", Hawking has guest-starred three times on The Simpsons . In 2005, he appeared in the season 16 episode " Don't Fear the Roofer "; in 2007, he starred in the season 18 episode " Stop or My Dog Will Shoot "; and in 2010, he appeared in the Season 22 premiere " Elementary School Musical ." [ 26 ] However, Hawking has also expressed dissatisfaction regarding the impact of his appearance in the episode. In a debate with physicist Brian Cox in The Guardian , Hawking was asked what the most common misconception about his work was. He replied, "People think I'm a Simpsons character." [ 28 ] Writing for The Daily Telegraph , Peter Hutchison argued that Hawking "feels he is sometimes not properly recognised for his contribution to our understanding of the universe." [ 29 ] In his book The book is dead: long live the book , Sherman Young wrote that most people know Hawking from his appearance on The Simpsons , rather than from anything he has written. [ 30 ]


NRL plays a tactical game with radio rights 2GB are keen to keep their rights exclusive for all but the Monday night game which belonged to Triple M. Triple M are keen for more games than just Monday night and 2UE are keen to get back into the game and wrest the rights from arch rival 2GB. The NRL, of course, is keen to wring every last dollar and every last concession out of the deal. To them, coverage is almost as important as cash. With all three networks plus the ABC determined to land the best deal for themselves, no wonder negotiations (as of yesterday afternoon) are still going on. Sources say that while MRN and 2GB has put up the most cash so far in its bid to retain exclusivity, a consortium between Fairfax's 2UE, 4BC and Bill Caralis' Super Network offers the best coverage of NSW regional markets. Triple M, though, could be the dark horse in this three (commercial) horse race. It too could do a deal with Caralis and then add a slew of its own SCA stations to the coverage map in both NSW and Queensland led by Triple M, Brisbane. SCA Head of Content Craig Bruce was hesitant to divulge details of the SCA bid, "I can't go into the specifics, obviously, that will be sorted over time." But it's clear that Triple M sees football as pivotal to their blokey image, "We have enjoyed our involvement with the NRL up to this point. And we target men. They love the NRL in both in Brisbane and Sydney and if we can be a part of  that, it would be a great thing for both Two and 4Triple M," says Bruce. When asked how many games he was looking to broadcast he would only say, "More than one." but then he adds, "We have a model that obviously works really well with the AFL in Melbourne and we think we can do a version of that in Sydney and Brisbane and I guess time will tell what we end up with." The obvious question then is, how many AFL games does Triple M, Melbourne broadcast? The answer is four. It shares rights with 3AW, SEN and the ABC. Logic suggests, then, if AFL works for Triple M in Melbourne with four games a week then that would be a good number of NRL games to call in Sydney, Brisbane and the regions. If Triple M get their four, it will be interesting to see who gets the other four. 3 Comments For too long, 2GB and Macquarie have masqueraded a weekend less than humorous six hour drivel as a rugby league program, onselling it to regional markets. The review of NRL radio rights presents the ideal opportunity for that exclusivity deal to be shut down for all time. Why not allow multiple commercial radio stations to cover the NRL, in much the same way as the AFL is handled? That way, decent rugby league coverage can be achieved without the garbage that the "continuous call team" presents all season disguised as rugby league. 2UE/4BC, 2MMM/4MMM and the so-called Super Radio Network between them will multiply the reach and steer us back to serious coverage of this great game. chadsterboi 02 Nov 2012 1:20 pm We need coverage in rural and regional area. In Newcastle the second biggest city in NSW we get ABC for all games, but no games on commercial radio on Sundays. Its a joke - we need to get 2SM and 2UE to team up and allow the game into these areas. Plus, it will give other callers an opportnity to have a go.


Preparing the next generation Key to the successful evolution of any family business is the development of the younger generation of the family members for the leadership, commercial and general business skills demanded of the family by the business. In addition, younger generations should understand the responsibilities that success can bring, and how best to ensure their positions of commercial influence and the benefits given to them by personal affluence, are deployed in ways which will give them the best chance of fulfilled, productive and happy lives. Key challenges include: Development of family members involved in the business and preparing them for future leadership if appropriate Educating the next generation to be responsible owners of the business Encouraging them to be responsible with wealth Developing a cohesive team in the next generation which can work together to arrive at consensus, allowing continued business success and family harmony. Challenges facing the next generation The next generation often have a tough act to follow. This, coupled with the normal challenges of family life, presents a particularly demanding set of challenges, including: Increased choices - not all will want to join the business straight from study, if at all The pressure of living up to expectations Sibling rivalry Knowing how to connect with the business if they are not directly involved Changing lifestyles - children in family Businesses are often raised in a culture of wealth and entitlement Loneliness and/or a lack of peers within the business. Negotiating such challenges successfully and supporting and preparing the next generation is key to enabling them to unlock their full potential and allow smooth transition of the family Business from one generation to the next. Trans-generational entrepreneurship The key to long-term business success lies in the ability to build and sustain an entrepreneurial family. Family businesses are the engine that drives socioeconomic development and wealth creation around the world, and entrepreneurship is a key driver of family business. Entrepreneurial thinking and leadership are fundamental factors in the creation of new enterprises and the sustained competitive advantages of corporations both large and small. The ability to create and foster an entrepreneurial mindset across generations is a major element of family business continuity and longevity and is instrumental in effective strategic execution, innovation and growth. In market economies (where resources are allocated by supply and demand), entrepreneurial family businesses are a primary source of job creation. In transition economies (in countries moving from a state-planned to a market-based system), the family unit is often the only intact socioeconomic institution capable of supporting entrepreneurial activities. The family also plays a leading role in new venture formation, often serving as the primary source of start-up capital, not to mention cheap labour and know-how. Another benefit of entrepreneurial family enterprises is that they tend to be community-minded and support philanthropic causes. What is entrepreneurship? The concept of entrepreneurship derives from Richard Cantillon, an Irish economist working in France whose theory was published posthumously in 1755. Cantillon recognised the entrepreneur as an individual who accepts an element of uncertainty in the course of profit-seeking business activity. A wide variety of organisations have adapted entrepreneurial concepts as a means to compete in a changing and challenging environment. Three types of entrepreneurship are noteworthy today: New venture formation : Creative human action that builds something of value from almost nothing through the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources one actually controls Corporate entrepreneurship (?intrapraneurship?) : Activities inside a corporation where individuals champion new ideas ? from development to profitable reality. Social entrepreneurship : Generation, development and implementation of new ideas and behaviours that build dynamic capabilities and differentiate and organisation from its competitors. Regardless of what form it takes, entrepreneurship links people?s vision, commitment and passion to a common cause. A must for family business Over the next decade, as the Australian population ages, many family businesses are expected to change hands. Since the average life span of an Australian family firm is only 2X years, and a mere one-third of these businesses survive into the next generation, it?s imperative for business to foster entrepreneurship across generations to increase the chances that their businesses will be amongst the survivors Several key principals of entrepreneurship ? such as the focus on high achievement, wealth creation and community spirit ? can be useful in addressing the challenges that occur when several different family branches or generations are involved in the business. A family that is committed to these principles is well positioned to create and sustain individual and family growth and learning. This is especially important in today?s fast paced global environment, with entrepreneurship increasing and new family firms emerging around the globe. Entrepreneurship across generations Trans-generational entrepreneurial behaviour in family business goes beyond simply increasing sales, head count or profits. Family business entrepreneurs create and support a growth and learning orientated culture in both the family and the business, and they reinforce entrepreneurial behaviour in their relatives of all ages. They encourage successors to be alert to their environment so as to spot and take advantage of profit opportunities. At the foundation is a loving and learning family that fosters cooperative family dynamics between generations over time. Trans-generational entrepreneurship is built around two central principles: Entrepreneurial vision and mission : There must be a drive to create trans-generational wealth for the business and its owners. This is rooted in a growth orientation that motivates the family, the ownership group and their non-family managers to be forward thinking and to communicate and pursue specific strategic expansion plans for the business. Dynamic and adaptive family values : While there is a commitment to family traditions, the family must be able to adapt to changes over time. The family must be committed to open communication, the use of formal protocols and policies and conflict resolution. The entrepreneurial mindset Enterprising families work together to define the role and context of entrepreneurship in their family and business. They are committed to the long term and enlist champions among ownership groups, key family members and non-family managers. These families explore the history of entrepreneurship in the family business, including actual examples from the past and present, and discuss ideas for the future within this context. This process helps entrepreneurs understand the role the family has played and what it can do to advance and perpetuate success in the future. Enterprising families are ?people centric? ? they focus on teamwork and on the internal and external relationship building. In addition, the family business leadership identifies, agrees upon and pursues a clearly outlined strategic direction. This strategy emphasises entrepreneurial behaviours such as market expansion, technological advancement, and refinement of operational activities and processes. Research has shown that entrepreneurial families embrace five fundamental principles of entrepreneurship across successive generations Entrepreneurial leadership : The ability to anticipate future circumstances, maintain flexibility, think strategically and work with others to initiate change that will create a viable future for the business. Opportunity recognition : The capacity to imagine dramatically new ideas or to find new ways to differentiate existing products or services to create and sustain cost effective and profitable competitive advantage and customer satisfaction. Internal continuum of entrepreneurial activity : A people-centred strategy emphasising organisational systems, structures and practices that encourage innovation and creativity and do not present insurmountable road blocks to flexibility and fast action. Balanced strategic positioning : A strategic vision that is defined, translated, communicated and aligned operationally across the entire organisation through the balancing of performance metrics and compensation programs as envisioned from multiple financial and non-financial perspectives. Future-based orientation : People are encouraged to perceive opportunities and empowered to embrace change, control costs, enhance product/service quality, and improve offerings and services through innovation and learning. Creating and maintaining an entrepreneurial mindset is vital for socioeconomic growth and sustained competitive advantage in today?s dynamic marketplace. Entrepreneurs speculate, anticipate and direct resources in pursuit of profitable business activities under uncertain conditions. Trans-generational entrepreneurship promotes a common vision and mission among key family business stakeholders across generations. This inclusive, forward-looking strategy creates a set of adaptive values and protocols that promotes family unity and business acumen. Generation barriers For many family businesses, the ability to communicate through generational barriers is crucial for the ultimate success and longevity of the business. BDO has worked with family business across generations for many years and the company has repeatedly stressed the importance of fostering the powerful and synergistic release of cross-generational sharing, learning and performance. New Perspectives Businesses generally recruit along two distinct lines. Hiring youth allows companies to remain competitive and cutting edge whilst maturity provides access to knowledge and experience. With each new generation, the view of what is ?normal? changes. This separation of ideas coupled with the emotional ties found within family businesses and the gap between generations begins to widen. The most successful organisations in today?s markets understand the importance of generational integration and the value that each individual?s skill set and knowledge brings to the business. Similarly, a family business needs to recognise that each generation brings something new, different and valuable to a family firm. If you are a parent, you are probably the founder of your business and now have the opportunity to position your children as your business successors. Your role is not an easy one. Mastering and mentoring or teaching is somewhat like mastering the rhythm and beat associated with playing a musical instrument. Understanding the behavioural and motivational differences between generational sub cultures will help you read the music and enable you to play the instrument with confidence and finesse. If you are the children of a silent or baby boomer generation member you are more likely to be from either generation X or Y and have a more challenging role to fill than you imagined. How you handle the responsibility is crucial to the succession process and the future success of your family?s business. By understanding generational characteristics, a family business is more likely to develop an insight into specific generational ?trigger points? ? the things that motivate a member of a specific generation. By developing this understanding, families can begin to remove any conflict and hostility that exists between generations which ultimately benefits the individual, the family and most importantly, the business. The Way Forward Research has indicated that baby boomers enjoy collaborative learning and working in teams so utilising them in a mentoring capacity could be very beneficial. Family businesses need to recognise that mentoring forms a significant piece of a strategic plan to ramp up staff retention and increase the knowledge and skills of talented employees. Younger family members often talk about their disenchantment with the family business, describing the onerous demands or expectations placed on them by parents who have confidence in their abilities, but lack the time or skills to help them succeed. The result is frustration and a fear of failing, with many members of the X and Y generation planning to move on and look for a ?normal? business environment. This means many family businesses fail to successfully explore the potential of cross-generational sharing, learning and performance. By using the more experienced baby boomers with their extensive knowledge, impressive networks and broad-based business experience, you have the ability to buffer the next generation against frustration and create a focus for their career paths. Ultimately, baby boomers can assist successors in acquiring the skills-based knowledge necessary for transferring the management and ownership of the family business into the next generation. Whilst statistics show that many businesses do not survive the hand over to second and subsequent generations, understanding generational differences is the key to surviving the potentially life-threatening stage of business succession. Take the time to mentor the next generation because the only way to shorten the transfer of knowledge from one generation to the next is to have someone with more experience to accelerate the succession process. Remember, each individual brings different skills and knowledge to the business and each generation brings something new, different and valuable to the family firm ? use the information available in your business to build solid intergenerational teamwork.


Canada has among the highest rates of breast cancer in the world. The breast cancer risk to women workers, especially those in blue collar jobs, has been largely overlooked by scientists. In addition, workers and their organizations have not received much support in understanding the risks associated with working with chemicals and in taking steps to prevent harm. Addressing this gap, a team of researchers has been examining the occupational breast cancer risk for women working in the automotive sector in the Windsor area, a highly industrial region of Southwestern Ontario. Animal studies have demonstrated that rates of breast cancer are higher in those exposed to certain chemicals, particularly those that can disrupt the endocrine system. There is a growing body of epidemiological evidence showing that humans are likewise affected. Endocrine disruptors, thought to play a role in breast cancer, and carcinogens are present in many occupational environments. Exposure to hormone disrupting chemicals can be particularly significant for women during certain key windows of vulnerability. Such chemicals can be released during various plastics processing procedures, such as heating, pouring, grinding, assembly and decorating. The invited researchers, working with colleagues at the National Network on Environments and Women's Health, will speak about their research, and for the critical need for more attention to this area of study. The Canadian Women's Health Network and the Centres of Excellence for Women's Health program are financially supported by Health Canada through the Women's Health Contribution Program . The views herein do not necessarily represent the official policy of Health Canada.


Bailouts for banks. Subsidies for chosen industries. Tax breaks for the rich. These are some of the remedies that our government has used in its attempt to fix the economy and reduce unemployment. As we've seen, they don't work. The President's Council on Jobs and Competitiveness is now proposing that we increase the number of engineers that we graduate -- a strategy driven by fear of a mythical engineer shortage . Vivek Wadhwa is Vice President of Innovation and Research at Singularity University and Arthur & Toni Rembe Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University. His other academic appointments include Harvard, Duke and Emory Universities as well as the University of California Berkeley. It's clear that we're just grasping at straws. Meanwhile, globalization continues to wreak havoc on employment. Eventually, it is going to cause entire industries to disappear and force American workers to compete with their counterparts all over the world. The only way we can keep Americans fully employed and maintain our global lead is by constantly improving their productivity and skills. In a bygone era, the skills you learned in school could carry you through your career. But today, lifelong learning is a necessity. Americans have to understand that education doesn't end when they graduate from college. That is when it begins. American companies must be provided with the incentives to invest in their workers as they used to. As recently as the 1970s, America's most respected companies would make significant investments in workforce training. IBM, for example, took non-technical workers and taught them technical skills. They then trained these technicians to be computer programmers, sales reps, or product managers. New recruits received a year or more of training before they were expected to become productive. Today, nearly all American companies, including IBM, expect new hires to be productive on day one. These employees are given a day or two of "orientation" at best. Companies routinely fire people whose skills are obsolete and hire replacements with the right skills to maximize quarterly revenue and profits. Employers often fear that if they spend too much on skill development, employees will become more marketable and leave. This logic is based on false assumptions. Industry learned this lesson in one of the most unlikely places: India. In the late '90s, India's IT industry began to grow rapidly. The growth was in response to demand from Western companies to help them fix the Y2K software bug. But Indian industry faced a severe problem: It needed to hire hundreds of thousands of engineers -- a far greater number than its engineering colleges could produce. In 1999, India graduated only 76,000 engineers, and most had received a low-quality education. Indian industry was forced to rethink the way it recruited, trained, and developed its workforce. It started by adapting the best practices of Western companies that were outsourcing to India. Then it started improving on these techniques and methods. India's top firms -- in industries as diverse as IT, banking, and pharmaceuticals -- built their own surrogate education system to train new recruits and retrain older workers. Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments , as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers. To pause and restart automatic updates, click "Live" or "Paused". If paused, you'll be notified of the number of additional comments that have come in. Comments our editors find particularly useful or relevant are displayed in Top Comments , as are comments by users with these badges: . Replies to those posts appear here, as well as posts by staff writers.


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How to Stay Focused When All You Want to Do is Give Up So you feel like giving do you? You're not alone. Everyone goes through this in life. For some, it is a daily occurrence, which ultimately leads to giving up. For others, the feeling of giving up strikes just as often, but when it does strike they push through it. Take a guess at which group of people are successful and are able to achieve anything they put their minds to. This is why learning how to stay focused is paramount, especially in the face of adversity when nothing seems to be going to plan or going you way. Staying focused is not hard, it is simple. You just have to remember a few things. How to Stay Focused -- 3 Steps 1.Ask Yourself Why Am I Doing This? For every task you undertake there must be some sort of end goal in mind. There may be some things that you actually want to do, such as losing weight. While others you would rather not be doing, such as working against the clock to meet a deadline for work. In either case, there is an end goal in mind. You clearly want to lose weight in order to have a body you can be proud of; something like that is easy to push through. On the other hand, working to meet a deadline can be hard to push through. But again, an end goal exists, although it may not be obvious at first, which is to earn money to support yourself and your family. So remember, when you feel like giving up and are unable to stay focused, ask yourself, "Why am I doing this?" This should easily get you back on track. 2.Eliminate Any Distractions Now more than ever, we live in an age where technology dominates our lives. On a daily basis, we are bombarded with phone calls, emails, Facebook updates, Twitter updates and so on. With all these distractions, it is no surprise that you find it difficult to stay focused. However, the solution is simple. All you have to do is exercise some self discipline. Close your inbox, log out of Facebook, switch off your phone etc. Only you can do these things so there is no excuse to get distracted. 3.Work in Bursts However dedicated a person may be, it is impossible to stay focused for hours at a time. In fact, the majority of people are unable to stay intently focused for more than 30-45 minutes. Therefore, it is a good idea to work in short bursts, making sure that you take 5 minute breaks in between. This only works on one condition though, which is that you must have the self discipline to stay completely focused on the task at hand. The temptation to visit your favourite website or check the news might creep in, but you must avoid giving into this temptation. After all, that is what the 5 minute break is there for. Working in short bursts brings an element of structure to your life. This undoubtedly makes it easier for you to concentrate. Yes, even on those days when you are tired and uninspired. By following the aforementioned tips, you will find that you are able to stay focused more easily than before. However, keep in mind that like anything else in life, the more you practice, the easier it gets. Note: The Power of Focus: What the World's Greatest Achievers Know about The Secret to Financial Freedom & Success is an excellent read. Click here to find out more.


The following Q&A is conducted with journalist Margaret Wente, a columnist who has been writing in the Globe and Mail since 1992. Wente, a two-time winner of the Canadian National Newspaper Award for column-writing, has written at length about issues facing higher education today. Sitting down with The EvoLLLution, she discusses the medieval model that higher education follows today, how it is providing a disservice to non-traditional students and explains how competency-based and online models are the wave of the future. In your opinion, what value does higher education -- and do higher education institutions -- provide to society? Higher education has typically been a training ground for the -- let's call them -- ruling elites of society and also for the scholars, the academics, the historians and the keepers of society's values. Typically, higher education has been confined to a very small number of people until quite recently. ... Even as late as post-World War II, only about well under 10 percent of the population in North America has access to higher education so the whole concept of mass higher education is an extremely recent phenomenon. ... Now we've changed our sense of access to higher education and now we accept that higher education should be available to anyone who is qualified and that money shouldn't be a barrier -- people should have help with tuition if they need it in the form of loans and grants and so on. We've also recognized that higher education provides access to a broad range of careers and professions -- that's the way in! Increasingly, that's the way into a whole number of professions including teaching, law, medicine, business and a whole range of other things that typically you didn't need a higher degree for but you do now. You mentioned in your February column, "We're ripe for a great disruption in higher education" , that higher education is still reliant on a medieval model. How does this impact its value proposition that it pushes people into careers? The value of proposition of higher education is changing very quickly. Let me give you one really, really graphic example. In the United States today, of current university graduates... only one out of two of them is finding a job that's utilizing his or her skills or education level. The other 50% either can't find work or are taking work that doesn't need their qualifications. ... It used to be that if you got that piece of paper -- that certificate, that degree, whatever it was -- you were pretty certain that your lifelong earnings would be considerably higher than somebody without that degree, and that's still true. But it's less true, it's less true than ever before. Not only that, the differences in what you will be able to earn with your degree are quite sharp. ... The differentiation between the hard sciences and the hard skills and the people who can offer hard skills, and the old line liberal arts degrees, is growing pretty fast. Especially in an age where employers increasingly demand hard skills before they're going to hire you. ... Universities and colleges, generally, have not been very good at all in coming clean with their students -- who are after all their customers, they have to attract students in order to get their grants, they have to put bums in seats -- they've been pretty bad at telling the truth about job prospects and job expectations. We also, of course, have an idea... that university education should not be geared toward any job outcome, it shouldn't be practical, it should just prepare you to think critically, whatever that means. But in the name of thinking critically, an awful lot of people... wind up with a piece of paper that's really not very useful. ... There have been devastating, devastating studies recently about what value university does or doesn't add, and the findings are pretty rough. They show, for example, that universities in fact don't teach students, on the whole, to think more critically. Don't teach them to become better writers and thinkers. And that value everybody assumes gets added really doesn't get added at all. So there's, again, another instance where the value proposition is breaking down. How do you think the competency-based model can improve the desirability of higher education for adult students who may be looking to return, or complete the degrees they started? Competency-based education makes complete sense for later learners and adult learners. The reason why is that it's not based on inputs -- and by inputs I'm talking about things like the number of hours you glue your bottom to a seat in the classroom, the number of credits that you get, the number of years or semesters that you spend in university. Basically, time input. ... That really doesn't do very much to qualify you for many practical things. ... In a competency-based model, you get your degree, your certificate -- you get your ticket stamped -- based on what you know and what you do, rather than the amount of time you spent studying it. ... Some people have the very radical notion that "Why should we make people go to university at all? Maybe we should just say, 'okay, show up and write the test and do the qualifying exams -- and you can teach yourself if you want -- and we'll certify you! We don't care how you get there.'" Which is of course a completely different model than the model that we have now, which is completely input-based. ... You focus on outcomes rather than process. Now this really makes sense for... the purposes for which adult learners go back to school. They have a very specific goal in mind, they're practical and they want to get there in the most efficient way possible. They also are not pursuing higher education for many of the reasons that younger people are pursuing it. They don't need the social environment. They don't need the extra-curricular life which is such a big part of university life for so many people. They don't need the sports teams, they don't need to go to the pub on Saturday night. They're really not interested in that kind of stuff. What they want is the learning part. Building on that idea of getting away from the brick-and-mortar, pep-rally-on-Friday approach to higher education, you've discussed online learning in the past and how eLearning will affect the traditional approach to higher education. How do you think online education will improve the desirability of higher education for adult students? Online education and eLearning are going to sweep through higher education and revolutionize it in ways that we cannot even begin to foresee. There are a lot of reasons why. One reason why is the brick-and-mortar model, as it exists now, is increasingly costly. ...The costs of university, just operating the place, are growing faster than the economy is. Especially in a world where public dollars are in scarcer and scarcer supply -- universities have to compete increasingly with healthcare -- anything that will help make university education, higher education more efficient, more effective and cheaper to deliver is going to be in very, very high demand. And the world of online education is, of course, beginning to make that possible. The possibilities are absolutely stupendous. For example, Stanford University, last fall, decided to offer a very high level course in artificial intelligence, taught by the two professors who are the leading minds in AI in the whole world. ... What they said was, "we're going to open this up to anybody who wants to register for this course, in the world. You don't have to have any pre-requisites for this course, you don't have to write an exam to get into the course. We don't care what your math level is. You can just sign up and if you can pass it, then we'll give you a certificate that says you passed it." ... There's an example of the democratization of learning that I think we're going to see increasingly as a model that can work. Think of the possibilities of having the best professors in the world lecturing on a subject like AI, supported by lots of teachers and helpers and tutors who can supply hands-on help -- that changes the whole model of university completely, just sets it on its ear. And of course it's very threatening to the current model so it's going to be very, very interesting to see how it's introduced. ... Western Governor's University; here's another model of how to democratize education and make it really, really good for adult learners. These are online courses, in a very narrow range of practical subjects. You sign up for the university, which is offered now in four states... the model is non-profit, here's the way it works. There's no classrooms, no bricks and mortar. All the courses are offered online, and you proceed at your own pace. So if you want to cram and get through the material in a big hurry and load yourself up with courses, and get a degree in three years, you can do that. And in fact, most people who do the online learning at this university get their degree not in four years, but in three or even less. ... They're taking these courses to get to where they want in life efficiently. The degrees are cheap, the quality of instruction is really, really good and the model so far seems to be working really well and is a whole lot more effective than the for-profit institutions like Phoenix, for example, who are packing them in as well. That's just another example of how online instruction is going to be revolutionizing the bricks-and-mortar model. What is holding back change in higher education, and when do you think disruptive models are going to become more prevalent? The disruptive models will become more prevalent because the universities will be driven by having to find lower cost methods of delivery. ... They don't have the money to sustain what they're doing now. The universities are also based on... a kind of medieval model where the wise man stands up in front of the class and delivers. ... We have a caste system in universities with the full professors at the top, who do a whole lot of research and maybe not very much teaching at all -- their teaching loads are very light. The teaching function is filled by very low-paid TAs who may not have had any background in teaching at all. ... In this model, promotion up to a full professor is based on the research that you do, not on the teaching that you do. And the research model, for a whole lot of what's churned out... is really, really broken. Especially in the humanities -- sociology and psychology -- where scholars churn out more and more research, which nobody reads, about less and less stuff. This is obviously not true, or not so true, in the sciences and other so-called hard disciplines. But the system is very, very broken in the humanities and so-called soft areas because society simply is not getting value for money. And we need good teachers, and instead we get people turning out research papers that are published in journals that people can no longer afford and certainly no one reads. So that model needs to change too. It's rapidly -- I hope! -- coming to an end, but there are huge protectionist forces at work. Universities are essentially run by the professors, and do they want to change this model? Of course not, no. Because in a more efficient and effective model, you'd have a whole lot fewer full professors, and a whole lot more teaching professors who mainly teach and interact with people. That essentially blows up the current model, and you can imagine that the current university establishment is deeply, deeply opposed to that kind of change and people who run universities, have in many cases very limited ability to change the current structure. Is there anything you'd like to add on where disruptive education is taking higher education and how adults could find their way back to the academy with a new model? We have a big advantage in this country, in Canada, because we do have the college model which I think serves adult learners very well. The colleges offer focused instruction and they tend to be pretty close to the job market, pretty in tune with the job market, pretty in touch with the job market and what the job market needs in the way of skills. ... Over time, though, I'd like to see people get through the system faster. It shouldn't take four to five or six years to get you where you want to go. And if you're an adult, going back, I think the next few decades are going to offer increasing flexibility and much better value for money. Because the new technologies will unleash a host of possibilities that we cannot even begin to imagine now. And not everything will work, ... but on the whole it's going to be a much easier environment for adult learners and it can't come soon enough! Subscribe to The EvoLLLution, Get Premium Content And Stay Up To Date 5 Responses to AUDIO | Disruption On The Horizon I can't say I agree with your idea that professors are the ones running the universities... I think the entire system is structured in such a way that everyone is very well-cushioned and no one wants to break with status quo. As you say though, these new models are going to sweep through higher education and change it in ways we can't even imagine. Tomorrow can't come soon enough. There are some pointed issues raised in this interview, some of which have are deeply entrenched in the ethos of the higher educational institutions and has been difficult to altered. There is a kind of stubbornness that pervades every aspect of higher education, whether it is on the legislative end, the internal governance, the oversight entities, faculty, staff and sometimes students who are seldom heard. This creates all kind of resistance to change in an era when the decider of the change is the environment and its inner working. The thing to note is that higher educational leaders are not the ones deciding whether to change -- they are commanded to change -- whether they like it or not. We are operating in a different era where globalization drives everything and if higher educational leaders don't get a handle on this reality, some of them might be driven out of existence. The thing is that education realities as we knew them must change so that they are inclusive, fresh, agile, aligned with workplace KSA needs, have built-in quality checks, include systems for continuous improvement and have a clear regard for people, place, process and practice alignment with the global realities. Institution must redefine themselves, know who they and operate with a clear sense of their unique mission. This requires leadership because it includes risk-taking and invasive change to this sitting elephant to move forward. This is a time to leaders to stop asking who will do it. It is time to move forward and do some that give the institution a sustainable future; it is only way forward. With regard to how distance education will improve the desirability of higher education for adult students, Margaret is spot-on that it will "revolutionize it in ways that we cannot even begin to foresee." The recent announce of a $60 million Harvard, MIT partnership to offer free online classes, is a great example of how the higher education business model can be disrupted. Here's another: MOOCs are probably the most obvious way that online learning has revolutionized education, but the potential for online goes well beyond simple ease of teaching and learning. We can take our student services online. We can hold face-to-face advising meetings with students from thousands of miles away. I think one of the more salient points from this is the but on competency based education. A little while ago, there was an article published here called "Those Who Can, Do -- Those Who Can't, Teach" (obviously, we've all heard the expression). This might sound a little harsh... but if this is true (and let's be honest, these expressions don't come from nothing), would professors have any interest in shifting to competency-based models? Because I think that would lead to a reduction in the imagined expertise we think our educators hold Comptency-based learning needs to be rolled out at every single college and university across North America, regardless of whether it caters to adults, 18 year olds or mechanics-to-be. It makes absolutely no difference to anyone how long you spent in school. In fact, I'd reiterate Ms. Wente's assertion that four years is too long to begin with. How can we assume that "you spent X amount of time in class" is equivalent to "you can functionally complete X task"? We can't, and higher education institutions can no longer hang their hat on this promise. As Wente says, HEI's are lying, but not just to students. They're lying to students, employers and society in general. It's time we made the system fit the promise.


Pages Friday, October 31, 2008 This is not to say that I would not accept a popcorn tin from you. I will. But maybe do BOTH. What did you give for Christmas last year? A sweater? A CD, or DVD? Perhaps a decorative bowl? Maybe this year, you should give something that has some real meaning, like, say, LIFE. You can give the gift of life, and health, and cures for diseases, to any person you know who's expecting a newborn baby. You can do that by giving a Cryo-Cell Gift Certificate . Cryo-Cell is an innovative company that offers parents of newborns a chance to collect and store cord blood stem cells - -stem cells that could be useful in treating 70 different diseases ranging from leukemia to diabetes to cerebral palsy; their company can educate expectant parents about how this works and the benefits to their child from storing that cord blood. And you can help those parents learn by giving them a gift certificate in any amount ($50 increments) to help them store cord blood stem cells that may someday benefit their unborn child-- even saving his or her life. Doesn't that beat a sweater, or one of those popcorn tins? It sure does. To view all of the Cryo-Cell information you can go to their website, and you may want to click right over to the Current Offers they've got available. But what you really need to know is what I've already told you; they'll help parents collect (easily and conveniently and cleanly, in a non-intrusive way) the cord blood. They'll cryogenically store it for future use. And you'll have done something really nice, really meaningful, and really helpful for those parents. Disclosure This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation. The compensation received may influence the advertising content, topics or posts made in this blog. That content, advertising space or post may not always be identified as paid or sponsored content.This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.