Posts Tagged ‘Ideas’

Free College

Justin Gilbert from work forwarded this great list to me:

So if you’ve ever wanted to go to college (or a friend or family member wanted to) or even just learn more about one subject, but didn’t have the time to go to class or don’t want to pay for it, below are tons of free courses on the internet that colleges offer. You won’t get college credit for them, but you’ll learn the same stuff that some of us smucks (me) are paying for.

Here is the list I’ve put together of the courses. They cover everything from medical degrees, to mathematics degrees, to web development, humanities, and graphic design. ENJOY!

http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/web/home/home/index.htm (MIT, 1800 free courses)

http://mit.ocw.universia.net/ (MIT courses all in Spanish)

http://www.cmu.edu/oli/ (only 11 college courses, but one of them is learning French)

http://ocw.tufts.edu/ (Tufts College, wide range of subjects)

http://webcast.berkeley.edu/ (Berkley Lecture Videos)

www.bbc.co.uk/languages (learn french, german, spanish, Italian, portugese, greek, chineese, and other languages)

http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/browser.htm (tons of sign language stuff)

http://www.drawspace.com/ (complete online lessons to learn how to draw)

http://uocwa.org/courses (University of Utah, plus other Utah colleges, 145 courses)

http://ocw.usu.edu/ (Utah State University, multiple courses)

http://www.collegedegree.com/library/college-life/collegedegree-60-killer-open-courseware-collections-for-web-designers (links to free college courses 60+ links, for web design and graphic design)

http://www.ocwconsortium.org (Colleges all over the world in many languages)

http://ocw.jhsph.edu/ (Johns Hopkins University, Lots of medical stuff)

http://ocw.umb.edu (UMASS Boston College, lots of courses)

http://ocw.uci.edu/ (University of California, multiple courses some even in Spanish and Portuguese.)

http://ocw.nd.edu/ (University of Notre Dame, lots of courses in multiple departments)

100 Sabatical Ideas

100 Things to Do on Your Business Sabbatical

  1. Circuit Iceland by car
  2. Shadow 25 successful men and women for 48 hours each
  3. Work backstage for the Blue Man Group
  4. Experience a slave immersion at a living history farm
  5. Tackle Kili (Kilimanjaro)
  6. Research cutting-edge business ethics issues in your industry
  7. Work at one of Colorado’s top ski resorts for a season
  8. Visit all of the Revolutionary War battlefields
  9. Enroll in a creative writing course
  10. Spend time with US citizens imprisoned in other countries Continue reading »

George Orwell’s 5 Rules for Effective Writing

John Wesley wrote

Language is the primary conductor between your brain and the minds of your audience. Ineffective language weakens and distorts ideas. If you want to be understood, if you want your ideas to spread, using effective language must be your top priority.

In the modern world of business and politics this is hardly ever the case. In many instances, imprecise language is used intentionally to avoid taking a position and offending various demographics. No wonder it’s hard to make sense of anything!

This is hardly a recent problem, and as George Orwell wrote in his 1946 essay, Politics and the English Language, the condition is curable. By following Orwell’s 5 rules for effective writing, you’ll distinguish yourself from competitors and clearly communicate your ideas.

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Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully – in Ten Minutes, by Stephen King

I’ve toyed with the idea of writing, but it’s not high on my list. This is a nice summary by one of the world’s best selling authors.

“Everything You Need to Know About Writing Successfully – in Ten Minutes”
by Stephen King
(reprinted in Sylvia K. Burack, ed. The Writer’s Handbook. Boston, MA: Writer, Inc., 1988: 3-9)
Continue reading »