One of the perks I have always enjoyed in going to school and teaching is free or heavily discounted software. In tech news today CNET is reporting about Microsoft’s DreamSpark program and giving away software to college students.
The software being offered for free includes:
Visual Studio 2005 Professional Edition
Visual Studio 2008 Professional Edition
Expression Studio (including Web, Blend, Design and Media)
SQL Server 2005 Developer Edition
Windows Server, Standard Edition
Students will also have access to Microsoft’s Xbox development tools, the XNA Game Studio 2.0, as well as a 12-month free membership to the XNA Creators Club.
While nearly all software manufactures discount software, Microsoft heavily discounts their products. In fact I have found they actually make their products more affordable than any other software producer. Is Microsoft just being kind to financially strapped students? Or it is more about hooking them now and hoping they stay to make purchasing decisions later in their careers?
Most people do not like to leave their comfort zone or make changes which may include a learning curve. It is easier to stay with what you are familiar with. Bill Gates and his team in Redmond know this, thus by offering their product to students now they automatically have a paying customer base later. It is a good marketing model where students win now and Microsoft and Bill Gates continue to earn billions later on.
Don’t get me wrong, I am not a big Microsoft fan by any means. But I think other software manufactures could take a lesson from Bill Gates and offer bigger discounts and software giveaways to students. I see students financially struggling to pay for tuition and purchasing books for classes, only to come up short on getting the software they need to truly learn and succeed. This leaves students needing to spend more time in computer labs which translates into travel time, more demanding schedules, needing to make the decisions to do assignments or go to work, and less time to achieve academic excellence. If you have the software at home to work on assignments it gives the student an ability to manage their time and affords them an overall better learning and life experience.
I applaud Microsoft in their efforts. Now if Adobe, Apple and a few others would follow along with real discounts and giveaways.
I just finished reading articles on Boston.com and Chicagotribune.com about the increase in heart attacks during big games.
What does this say about sports fans? What is the fitness level of a sports fan? If you look at the fans in the stands and sports bars, most do not look like they live a healthy lifestyle. They appear to be spectators instead of participants in life.
Experts said the lesson for Super Bowl Sunday is clear. Spectators with a known heart condition, they warned, should make an extra effort to relax during games and not overindulge in the usual offerings of alcohol and fatty foods, which can quickly increase the risk of heart attack.
Men suffered more game-day events than women, and people with a known history of heart disease were hit especially hard. Those high-risk patients sustained heart attacks on game days at a rate four times higher than usual.
Men suffered more game-day events than women? Could it be more men watch these events than women? And why do they? Maybe it is because the “little” woman is left taking care of the business of running the family while daddy plays with his little friends.
And tell me…. who do you think taught this little guy how to do that? Is he going to be the next heart attack statistic?
It amazes me how many people live their lives vicariously through sports and other forms of entertainment. Look at some of these reality shows. What makes them so popular? Do people need to see another persons misery or dysfunction to feel better about themselves? And what is the impact on society and your children?
As you can tell I am not a fan of television and prefer to live life as a participant and not a spectator. All of this leaves me with more questions than answers.
Today I was doing some online reading and came across Push Polling in South Carolina — Who’s It Really Helping? on Wired News. It was interesting to read about some of some of the dirty tricks the Republican party is engage in to corrupt the election process, such as hiring an actor with the voice of an angry black man to intimidate white people. Talk about playing the race card and bigotry.
In “How to Rig an Election,” Raymond recounts how Dick Zimmer, a former Republican congressman from New Jersey, hired political consultants to help him with a bid to unseat incumbent Democrat Rush Holt. One tactic was to “get a Green Party candidate named Carl Mayer on the ballot to suck single-issue voters away from Holt.” The other was to hire an actor with the voice of “an angry black man,” record a pro-Holt message and target those calls to Eastern European white voters living in New Jersey. Raymond wrote: “The message was, ‘I’m a ghetto black guy calling you, racist Ukrainian guy, and scaring the crap out of you because you probably think that if you don’t vote for the Democrat I’m going to come to your house and take care of some business.’”
“We wanted the message heard only by those people whose reaction would be ‘I’m not voting for Holt because he uses scary black men to call my house,” the passage concluded. And that was just one version of the race-baiting tactic they used, in one demographic.
I know these are examples of Republican dirty deeds and I am sure the Democrats do their share too. It makes my stomach turn when I hear the politicians say voter turn out is important, when it appears they should be saying only come out to vote if you are voting for me or for someone who will divide the votes of my opponent so I can win.
I know it sounds naive, but it would be nice when I meet a politician I don’t feel like I am meeting a used car salesman. Because I can always tell when both are lying, their lips are moving.
Have you ever went to see a concert, movie, or other form of entertainment where the audience added to the fun? Yesterday I went to see the Bucket List, which stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It passed my good movie criteria by leaving me feeling entertained and the time went by quickly during show.
What was really fun about going to see this movie was the other audience members. When I arrived at the theater I was surprised to see a line waiting to get in. Who would expect to see a line at 1 pm on a Tuesday? Apparently Tuesday is free popcorn day if you have a special card. I did not have the card, but the rest of the audience, which were senior citizens had the free popcorn cards. After I paid for my ticket I entered the theater and located a seat. This was the most people I had ever seen in an afternoon showing, nearly everyone in the audience were seniors and most were sitting there munching on the free popcorn waiting for the show to begin. I found seeing them all sitting there munching and not saying much rather amusing.
Once the show began was when I realized this was going to be a fun experience. Every funny part in the movie received lots of laughs from the audience, but what made this unique was the amount of laughter and how loud it was. The old folks were definitely enjoying the movie.
Most of the time I choose to see movies on weekdays and in the early afternoon because there are few people which means less distractions from rude people. Yesterday I almost decided to do something different when I saw the line to enter the theater and I am now glad I chose to stay. I think I need to get more information about when the senior citizens go to movies, because their participatory laugher turned going to see a good movie into a most fun afternoon.
If you watch television I am sure you heard about the Writer’s Guild strike. But do you really know what the strike is about? Below is an informative video. After watching it I wondered why the media giants do not want to settle the strike and get on with business? But the answer is simple… GREED! Thank you for visiting ExpressingOpinions.com.
New Year resolution and weight loss. During the past year we heard about how obese American adults and children are becoming. Now we are hearing about weight loss being the most popular and most failed resolution of the New Year. DUH!!! If people have allowed themselves to become so fat, why would it be of any surprise they fail too keep their resolution to lose weight? The weight loss and fast food companies are making a fortune on the lack of will power Americans have when it comes to dietary choices.
I know how you can lose weight and save money. Don’t eat out at fast food restaurants, don’t purchase the food you can not keep from eating, and save gas by walking or riding a bike. Try getting to the grocery store by walking or riding a bike and you will be forced to limit your food purchases to essential items. You won’t want to carry home those two extra bags of junk food you would normally purchase. You will save money buy using less gas and lose weight by getting more exercise.
Losing weight is easy with wise food choices, portion control, and more exercise. By doing so you will help the environment by using less gas to haul you fat butt around town in that gas guzzling SUV. Hey just think, you may be able to fit in and buy a smaller car if you lost weight. And lets not forget you will also be beautifying the environment.
If this sounds sarcastic it is. I am so tired of hearing all the excuses people use for all of their short comings. Be accountable. You became fat a mouthful at a time and it is time to own up to it. Face your issues and make changes. Go exercise and screw what people think when they see you sweating your fat butt off. At least you are taking control and working towards a positive goal without crying in your cookies and milk or making excuses.
Experts said the lesson for Super Bowl Sunday is clear. Spectators with a known heart condition, they warned, should make an extra effort to relax during games and not overindulge in the usual offerings of alcohol and fatty foods, which can quickly increase the risk of heart attack.
And why do they? Maybe it is because the “little” woman is left taking care of the business of running the family while daddy plays with his little friends.
Yesterday I went to see the Bucket List, which stars Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. It passed my good movie criteria by leaving me feeling entertained and the time went by quickly during show.
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