1. Gather new ideas

Theodore Roosevelt knew how important gathering new ideas was and actually read a book before breakfast. He knew that reading a book before breakfast gives you the edge over the competition.

2. Increase your capacity to take on new projects

In our world of information the amount of reading we need to do can be overwhelming. However, if you read fast you can get to the vital pieces of information that will make your next project soar.You will have the skill to speed read through all the material you have available to you.

3. Maximize your ability to produce

With all the information you need at hand you can create more, write more, stay on top of more.

4. Improve your performance, increase your effectiveness

=Absorb reports, periodicals, trade journals & novels at least 3 times faster

=Quickly screen e-mail, letters, documents & memos

=Review daily tasks

=Master and organize technical documents

5. Concentrate on priorities

Set your priorities and focus on your goals by learning to read critically and with purpose.

6. Develop your comprehension skill

Speed Reading teaches you how to remember the important information you read.

7. Finish Reading Faster

You all have lots to do. So the best reason for speed reading is finishing your work and getting on with all the other things you enjoy doing.

Share This

When we think of Civil War, what immediately comes to mind are the two main confrontations most people remember - depending on which part of the world you come from. I refer, of course, to the American Civil War and the Civil War in England.

Naturally, if you are from a one of these countries, your interest and knowledge would be much more in tune with the one you are most familiar. Of course they both had an enormous significance not in their own countries but also from a worldwide perspective.

Most people outside the United States, understand that the American Civil War was instrumental in ending the abomination of slavery in that country. Now, that from a “foreigner’s” point of view, would be the main issue to have come out of that unfortunate confrontation. You may say why unfortunate, but I maintain that loss of life in wartime is unfortunate.

The Civil War in England between Oliver Cromwell’s parliamentary forces and the Cavaliers of King Charles I, produced the world’s first attempt at Parliamentary democracy and the much-maligned Cromwell has to be credited with being the first man to follow the principle that the power of a nation should be with the people, not with one person. There was enough people around, however, not to agree with his views and the ensuing battles became fierce and bloody.

Both these wars left their mark on us as a world for the reasons I have just mentioned and we can use them as an example of what can come out of these battles. I am sure that none of us would have wished them to have happened if only for the death count, but I am not going to judge here what the balance should be in loss of life against the political outcome of a war.

Let’s move on to the 20th and 21st century. Out of sight and, unfortunately, out of mind, we have probably had civil war taking place in all four corners of the world on a regular basis. The difference is that it is sometimes difficult to see why battles are being waged. I wonder if it is because we are being “fed” information almost daily about these troubled spots and for that very reason, we have become accustomed to the violence and almost come to the point of acceptance because it is “over there” and does not affect us.

I look with interest at the moment at the situation in Iraq. The coalition forces set about their task, completed it to that satisfaction of the powers that be. This left the local folk with the option of setting up government. As I see it, that nation is no better off now that when the occupying forces stopped firing bullets. Divisions are greater in this civil war situation than they have been for a long time.

I personally now look at civil wars in a different light. The two, described first in this article, seemed to have achieved something and developed our society in a certain way. I wonder, if in today’s world, we will see the power brokers in the current civil war conflicts throughout the world, sit down and discuss peace for the benefit or all within a war-torn community.

Share This

The raid on the Christian monastery of Lindisfarne in 793 began a new era in the history of Europe. The attack was a big shock for the rulers of Brittany and the rumors about the fearless Nordic men quickly spread over Europe. No matter what was the course but the North people started moving outside Scandinavia in the end of the 8th century and had a great influence on the history of Europe. Historians call this period “The Viking Age” and often regard it as a dynamic historical drama. One of the main its characteristics is dynamism. The North people were striving for prey by any means. They were seeking for new lands, for gold, for power and influence. Fearless and always ready to give the life in fight, these people didn’t appreciate the lives of others and didn’t see any abstractions for making their aggressive plans true.

The raids of the North - aspects that give much food to our imagination and thing that the North and often even the Vikings are mostly known for. The European historians called the raiders the most impudent people. But the raiders themselves didn’t find anything terrible in their way they earned their living. The most notable thing for the raid is their success and extent. There are several reasons that explain so vivid success of the raiders. Good strategy of the flash fights, fearlessness and good war counting were the parts of theirs success. There were also technical circumstances which determined the victories. The Viking raiders depended on legendary superiority in shipbuilding technology and their supreme navigation skills in a great deal. Their ships could land almost any place thanks to their shallow drafts. And also a successful combination of the sail and ores made the ships speedy and maneuver that let them to escape the chase easily and to move quickly in the parts of the seas unreachable for the contemporary ships. The North were definitely good and unbending fighters and almost always reached their goal and very seldom by peaceful means. But still the bloody and cruel picture of those raids was often exaggerated by contemporary and modern historians and scientists. With the flow of time the raids became cluttered with new picturesque details of their cruelty and unscrupulousness sometimes imaginary that it’s not easy sometimes to detach the truth from the falsehood.

The raids consisted only one aspect of the Norse expansion. In their expansion the North were looking for three things - for victims to raid, for new lands to settle down and for new trading partners. And we often exclude two later aspects stressing out only their raids. Weather as traders of raiders but the Vikings reached almost every part of Europe. From the Nordic kingdom they reached the west European coast, through the Strait of Gibraltar they reached the Mediterranean Sea and from there Italy, Spain, Morocco and the Holy land. They penetrated the continent and traveled the Russian rivers using the Baltic Sea. In the West, trading was carried on throughout France, Scotland, England, Ireland.
They traveled to Asia to meet Chinese caravans. High navigate technologies gave a great power to the expansion of the Vikings. Thanks to their ships they could move faster and further and the contemporaries which gave them one of the vivid advantages.

Skillful warriors, the Vikings were also the people of trade. The trading routs were built throughout Europe from Sweden and Norway. The main towns of the Viking Era such as Dublin, York and Birka grew and became contemporary trade centers and most of the trading routs flowed there. The Gotland Island very luckily strategically positioned became a common ground for trade uniting both the East and the West Baltic areas.
Among the main items of their export furs, walrus ivory, and slaves can be named. A lot of rarities which posses a great historical and cultural value were brought to Europe by the Viking traders. Their influence on the life of the world was much more constructive than it’s commonly considered. For a long period the Vikings dominated an essential part of Northern Europe. They founded and developed new towns, trading system of Europe and not only Europe in general. They brought new forms of forms of administration and justice which have affected even our modern life. Some forms of art were brought to Britain by the Vikings. And not only the trade and raid were the sources of income for the Scandinavians. The remains of craft industry were found by scientists. The blacksmith, woodworker, bead-maker, specialist jeweler, leather-worker and stone carver carried out their businesses in workshops spread throughout the town. The shipbuilding industry was highly developed producing so necessary for the Vikings ships. Over nine hundred of the most common English words come from the Vikings and are commonly used at our times.
The raiding and piracy were an occasional source of income and they also were attended by the great risks. It was only trade that could provide the regular and stable income and the achievements of the Scandinavian traders proved to be the most vigorous and profitable.

In fact the West was greater influenced by the peaceful Scandinavian traders of the Viking age than by the severe Northern raiders. Talented and ambitious merchants, the Viking traders have brought a new life to the economy of Europe and have established new trading links and economical connections. The word “Viking” was used in the meaning of “raider” or “pirate”; and this is the image which has fastened itself to the Northern folk. But the Vikings who eared their living by raiding and piracy constitute only a part of the Norsemen most of which lived peacefully.

The Vikings, mostly known as violent and merciless raiders were in fact more successful in trading, farming and settling down. A lot of towns were established for the trade purposes in the carved by the Vikings lands of Scotland, England, Ireland, Wales, France, Italy. The great achievement of the Vikings was a finding and colonizing Iceland and Greenland. It’s also proved now that six centuries before Columbus, the Vikings landed in North America continent.

The modern archeologists dare to declare that not only the raid was flash and bone of the Viking Empire. The whole picture includes trade, craft, art, farming in addition to commonly known piracy and raiding. Their activity left traces for entirety and there are good and bad things to remember them for. If we emphasize more on the trading, on the great mythology and poetry, more on the technological achievements than on the raiding, pillage and piracy we will be able to understand more these strong people from the northlands of Denmark, Norway and Sweden and to see the positive impact they’ve brought to the history along with the stories of cruel fights and unscrupulous raids.

Share This

Many people ask us what to expect from online tutoring or if they can have an example of online tutoring. A specific example of online tutoring is hard to describe, but suffice to say, it is basically what you would expect. During an online tutoring session, a real educator, such as a substitute teacher looking to make some more money or a teacher in training, will sit on his computer at home while you are at your home. You will both have your computers on and using a workable webspace, where you can write out examples. Some web services provide voice over IP, which is basically a telephone capability over your computer.

In this example of online tutoring, the student and tutor are able to communicate with speech as well as visually. This makes it much easier for the student to understand what is going on and for the teacher to understand the child’s problems. Of course, you don’t need to pay for long distance when talking over the internet, so that is a big advantage of this format.

To get an idea of what happens during the session, let’s say “Joe” needs help with an essay for English class. In the example of online tutoring, Joe would be able to show his entire essay to the tutor, and the tutor would in turn be able to verbally tell Joe some of the problem areas of the essay, as well, as correct the errors so that Joe can understand what he is doing wrong. If Joe needed help with math, he could type the math problem to his tutor or talk to the tutor if typing doesn’t make sense. Really, online tutoring is no different than a real life tutor, except that you have access to great tutors across the country, rather than who is available in your area.

So, as you can probably see, it is hard to give an example of online tutoring since so much is done verbally, even though the student and tutor are working on their computers. However, it is a great way for a child to get help in many, many subjects.

Share This

Researching your family tree can be time consuming or costly. A way to
short-cut the process is to examine your surname (or your father’s surname if you have taken your spouse’s name). The surname is like a time-machine that can transport you back thousands of years.

The Chinese have had surnames for nearly three thousand years (their surname
comes first, before the personal name). In Europe however, surnames only began to catch on around the time
of the middle ages. Surnames have been handed down through generations to the
present day. In the U.S., early settlers already had surnames.

In general, there are four categories of names:

Local or topographic: Deriving from where they live or where they
come from:
e.g.
Churchill
Bush
Blair (Scottish/Northern Irish field)
Graham (from Grantham, UK)

Occupational:
e.g.
Miller
Baker
Smith
Schumacher (Shoe-maker)

Nickname: Perhaps based on a personal characteristic
e.g.
Long
Armstrong
Wiseman
Freud (Cheerful)

Patronymic: Named after a family member or an iconic or religious
person or God

e.g.
Johnson (son of John)
Muhammad
Lopez
Williams

If you haven’t already guessed (or found out through research) the origin of
your own surname, it may be worthwhile trying to work it out. If your name is
anything like a first name, such as Roberts, Stevens, Wilson (Will’s son) their origins are obvious. The Mac prefix means “son of” and the O
prefix means “grandson of”. So a law practice called Simpson,
MacDonald and O’Reilly would be made up of descendants of Sim’s son, Donald’s
son and Reilly’s grandson. Similarly, the suffix “cock” also means
son. It was another word for “lad”. Thus, Wilcock is “Will’s
lad”.

Perhaps your last name denotes a place. Names such as Essex or Washington
speak for themselves. Names such
as Woods or Fields are equally obvious. Others are less obvious. Ashcroft, for
example, is an enclosure of ash trees.

Your name may be related to an occupation. Names like Tailor and Potter don’t
take much working out. Others are a little obscure: Bailey, for instance,
derives from a court bailiff and Thatcher from a person who constructed thatched
roofs.

You could try a personal characteristic. Longfellow and Short speak for
themselves. Lang is less obvious - it is a corruption of Long. Brown or Browne
may apply to hair colour or skin pigment as would Schwartz.

Many of us - well many of the males in our society - can trace their surnames
back a very long way. Females, of course, would need to use their father’s name.
Not all of us have surnames going back centuries. The majority of slaves that
were brought to the U.K. and to the U.S. and other western states were
eventually given the surnames of their owners or were adopted into families who
gave them their surname. Some have managed to trace their ancestry back to their
roots and have decided to change to the names from their ancestral lands.

The meanings and origins of names - and words in general - can be a
fascinating subject. Some words can carry a multitude of meanings such as bat or
party. Take the word bat: it is an implement for hitting things with - from the
French word “Batte” and possibly from Celtic origins. It is also a
flying animal, from Scandinavian “Bakke”. It is also a verb and has
other meanings. For instance, what does the bat mean in the phrase “to bat
one’s eyelids”??

Another multiple-meaning word is “choke”. It is a verb and a noun.
It is also short for artichoke. It also happens to be a spare part in a fly
killer machine - it regulates the uv bulb power consumption.

Share This