If you are not familiar with the term ‘knowledge economy’, please become so. We are not suffering from Obama or Bush economic policies, but from shifting economic eras. It is convenient and tempting – but WRONG – to attribute current economic woes to one political party or another, to outsourcing or to off-shoring.

The predictable and stable careers of our senior citizen parents are gone. Today’s middle-age workers have suffered a steady erosion of economic stability, and our children can expect to change jobs many times across entire sectors (many of which do not even exist yet) untold times before their working days end.

Humanity has experienced only a few major economic upheavals, and this is one. We previously transitioned from an agricultural economy to an industrial production economy which gave way to a service economy that is now becoming a KNOWLEDGE ECONOMY. Many people simply don’t understand this shift, or it’s impact.

[Great summary [article here] explaining the current economic situation.]

If you or your business, your children or their children, do not embrace self-directed LIFE-LONG learning – in advance of need – you risk becoming irrelevant, no matter how well-trained or educated or successful you may (or may not) presently be.

Please, do not rest complacently in today’s comfort – if you have it – which can be gone in an instant. I teach adults every semester who are suffering this reality – and it is sad, but understandable. Many had not actively learned for many decades.

Continue to learn and reinvent yourself for the future which is now.

Who among us enjoys standing in line at the DMV every year to renew vehicle license plates?  All that time to get a sticker and registration, oh, and write a check—the most important part.

Speaking for my own state, Ohio, it is now so easy to renew plates online that I cannot imagine anyone with a computer NOT doing so.  I renewed four vehicles recently, authorized an ACH, and recorded the debit in my accounting software–all in the span of five minutes.  No gas, no waiting, no lines, no frustration.

This is another example of compuFiciency—chronic awareness of all the ways to save time by using technology. 

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/004149.php Read the original article at the link!

I’ve been an audio engineer for more than 35 years, and I’m always on the lookout for useful new tools. Microphones are a particular obsession; I probably own a dozen high-quality models. For a long time I’d wanted a nice USB mic that delivers high-quality audio recordings, yet has a very small footprint. The Samson Go Mic fits the bill for me. There are several other mics that do the same job, but they’re more expensive and larger/heavier.

This mic is pretty small, and it clamps to the top of the screen of your laptop with its integral clamp. It also comes with a USB cable and stores neatly away in the included zippered pouch. It’s plug and play for both Mac and Windows. The best features? It has a 1/8-inch headphone output on the side for zero-latency (no delay) monitoring and both cardioid and omnidirectional patterns. The cardioid pattern rejects sound from the back and sides. The omnidirectional pattern picks up equally well from all sides. The cardioid pattern would be best for a person doing a podcast. This mic records in mono, so the omnidirectional pattern would work well when you need to record an interview across a table (one person on each side) or multiple sources from different directions and have them all heard well in the resulting recording.

I bought two: one for our daughter, who’s been using it for Skype, and one for myself. I’ve been using mine with a netbook to record music rehearsals. While it isn’t a U87, it gets the job done well. I’m also looking forward to using it to record a podcast series I’ve been planning.

– Jeff Bragg 

Samson Go Mic – Portable USB Condenser Microphone
$45

Available from Amazon

Manufactured by Samson

 

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Training videos – Excel 2007

June 27th, 2009 by Brian Mickley

The outline below corresponds to a 5 week introductory Excel 2007 course Walsh University. 

The training videos track with the textbook used in the course which I do not name to ensure no copyright violations occur. 

Nevertheless, a tremendous amount of FREE training is here for the taking–for whole the world to enjoy! 

 

Excel 2007 – Electronic Spreadsheets	Links Links connect to web training content
Ch1 – Intro to Excel– What can I do with a spreadsheet? Excel basics & spreadsheet design. Introductory lecture and basic concepts of electronic spreadsheets. Ch2 – Formula, functions, & cell referencing – Math basics for spreadsheet use. Through creation of a personal budget, Ch1 and Ch2 will be summarized in class.	Video – demonstration of creating a home budget (31 min) Video – Hands-On Exercises (30 min) Video – HELP me! I don’t GET functions! (35 min)
Ch2 – Formula & functions continued; absolute and relative cell references continued. Logical, statistical, and financial functions. NOTE – No student may be excused from this session.	Video – IF and VLOOKUP functions (16 min) Video – PMT function (16 min) Quiz Ch2
Ch3 – Charts – Delivering a message Ch4 - Databases– Large worksheets and tables	Video – pie and column charts (13 min) Video – tables, databases, protection, etc. (12 min) Video – lists, tables, databases, protection, etc. (21 min) Quiz Ch3 & Ch4
Ch5 – ‘What-If Analysis’– using spreadsheets for decision-making Ch6 – Templates, Styles, Web, Macros– Automating worksheets	Video – One & two variable “What-if” data tables (18 min) Video – TBD Video – TBD Quiz Ch5 & Ch6
Exam	Practical exam part 1 sample Practical exam part 2 sample

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