home office/ employee freakouts/ business lessons

Jan. 22 Home office: Jay Smith sent me this article "8 Pieces of technology you need in your Home Office." 1. Computer 2. Printer 3. Phone 4. Scanner 5. External hard drive 6. Photo printer 7. Warming mouse 8. Television I did clear out the bottom computer desk drawer.  I wiped it clean and threw out a old piece of mail.  I also found 3 more 3.5 floppy disks I could use.  I threw out 3 other disks like a Microsoft Windows 95 setup boot disk, a Microsoft IntelliPoint for the mouse, and a Financial Post "Decision maker mutual funds."  It says it's from Jan. 1996. I had to ask my sister for permission to throw it out.  I don't know, there maybe something important with them. http://www.onlinebusinessdegree.org/2012/07/31/8-pieces-of-technology-you-need-in-your-home-office/ Background checks: Jay Smith sent me this article "8 things Employers Should Know about Background checks." 1. You've got options. 2. Instant checks= lower quality. 3. You may miss something. 4. Criminal record? Convictions only? 5. You must have prior consent. 6. Consider leaving out credit reports. 7. Employees get a copy. 8. A background check may be unnecessary. This may be for employers, but employees should know these things too.  When I applied at a hospital to be a food worker, I needed to get a background check because I was around vulnerable people. http://www.onlinebusinessdegree.org/2012/06/06/8-things-employers-should-know-about-background-checks/ Languages: Jay Smith sent me this article called "7 Foreign Languages Today's Business Students should learn.  Here's a good line that I will put in my collection of quotes: "The limits of your world are the limits of your language, and it’s long past time to make your world as large as it actually is." It also goes onto tell you why it's important, like Mandarin is spoken in China and China is the 2nd largest economy in the world. 1. Mandarin 2. Arabic 3. French 4. Spanish 5. Computer programming languages 6. German 7. Japanese This brought a flashback of gr. 6 where my teacher Mrs. Barrett said that being a translator is going to be paid very well.  It also lead me to a flash back of gr. 10 when I was applying for classes next year.  I wanted to quit taking Mandarin because my my marks were decreasing in that class each report card.  My mom said I needed a 2nd language to get into university.  My sister said that I wasn't going to get into university with a 2nd language because overall my grades weren't good enough.  So I didn't have to take it. I also remember Desperate Housewives where Lynette's husband Tom wanted to take Mandarin to help his business career. http://www.onlinebusinessdegree.org/2012/05/06/7-foreign-languages-todays-business-students-should-learn/ Employee freakouts: Jay Smith sent me this "The 9 Worst Employee Freak-Outs."  The first thing that came to my mind was "#5 Flight attendant takes emergency exit."  You know Steven Slater who works at Jet Blue?  He got so mad, he opened the emergency exit and slid down the inflatable slide.  He was: "charged with criminal mischief, reckless endangerment, and criminal trespass." However, a lot of things listed were about murders in the workplace.  "#4 McDonald's cashier beats customers."  Rayon McIntosh was arguing with these two women, and one of them slapped him.  Then one of the women climbed over the counter, and he got a metal rod and hit the two women so they won't get up.  "...he was eventually cleared of felony assault charges because he was defending himself."  If you click on the link to it, there is a video of it.  In the video, it looked like 2 black women and McIntosh is a black guy.  I Google him and he's black.  By the video, I would side with McIntosh. http://www.onlinebusinessdegree.org/2012/05/15/the-9-worst-employee-freak-outs-in-history/ Jan. 24 9 business lessons: Anna Miller sent me this article "9 Business Lessons from College Dropouts." 1. "Be Good and be First."  It talks about Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Bill Gates who dropped out of college.  If you into being a technology mogul, you have to follow this motto. 2. "People will listen to you anyway." Rush Limbaugh wanted to do radio, and "If you talk loud enough and long enough, the people will listen." 3. "Real world experience can win the day." It's about how Frank Lloyd Wright got an apprenticeship to Louis Sullivan, "the father of modernism" (architecture.) 4. "Defy all odds."  "Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, created a database for the CIA after dropping out of two different colleges."  He made false starts and legal battles. 5. "Stand on the shoulder of giants."  James Cameron saw Star Wars and was so inspired by it, he went and studied special effects.  6. "Start early, really early."  It's about Michael Dell (Dell computers) and "applied for a vendor license and was able to win bids for computing contracts for the State of Texas. At the age of 27, Dell became the youngest CEO of a Fortune 500 company." 7. "Be better at the basics."  Ralph Lauren was selling neckties to students in high school.  He focused on basic products. 8. "Be careful who you work for."  It turns out entrepreneurial commodities trader Marc Richhe "worked with Ayatollah Khomeini, and struck other deals with Middle Eastern dictators."  He was pardoned by Bill Clinton though. 9. "Diversify,"  Oprah has her TV show, her OWN network, magazine, etc. College student infographic: Daisy Barton sent me this infographic called "A Day in the Life of a College Student."  It's a bright and colorful infographic.  Did you know that 2, 350,000 people apply for college each year?  1, 125,000 drop out each year.  1, 175,000 graduate each year. 57% of first-time college students graduate with a bachelor's degree within 6 years.  30-40% of college students drop out before earning a degree. http://www.bachelorsdegreeonline.com/blog/2012/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-college-student/ China's business schools: Alissa Alvarez sent me "10 Big Ways B- schools is different in China." 1. Attendance is much cheaper. 2. They're located in a booming market. 3. Students aren't comfortable with group discussion. 4. They are trying to attract more international students. 5. They don't have much history. 6. The teaching of ethics lags behind. 7. Much lower internship opportunity. 8. Greater focus on state-owned enterprises. 9. Huge importance placed on "name" schools. 10. Internet research is trickier. http://www.onlinemba.com/blog/10-big-ways-b-school-is-different-in-china/ Credit cards: I have signed up for a cash-back guarantee on a credit card.  I remember watching a Scotiabank commercial about it, though I'm not with that bank.  I did get some money back, and it's a rebate.  I have heard of the finance tip to use your credit card once a month to build good credit history. I buy a bus pass once a month. I will use that money back, to go buy a bus pass.  You're thinking: "That is so boring.  Use that money to treat yourself and have fun."  I don't spend money to have fun.  I watch TV, go on the internet, and read the newspaper.  That's kind of like spending money because it's rent to my parents.  The rent pays for TV, internet, and newspaper subscriptions.