Soal Sejarah UMB PTN 2009

Learning Mandarin in the truly ancient Middle Kingdom is today more popular than it has ever been in China's 4000 years of history. During its many centuries China has often eclipsed other nations in many aspects. During the Tang dynasty China was at its classical pinnacle. Fantastic works of architecture and arts remain to tell the tale of an enlightened, advanced and powerful heritage. But the world then is different from the world today. At the dawn of globalization, when first the English set out to map the earth a fundamental new aspect to humanity was realized. Interconnectedness was for the most part of 300 years a polarized curse and blessing for those that were exploring and those that got explored. China was already in cultural decline when Europe reached is shores and the great nation state became another example of what can happen when people with really good guns meet people without.

Sid Meier quoted a pretty good proverb once that goes "never bring a knife to gunfight". Ian M. Banks named a novel after a sociological / anthropological concept know as excession; when one civilization meets another that has reached a few rungs higher on the technological ladder. The results are never a treat.

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But with the rewards that came from colonial prowess for Europe a new type of light began to grow there. After the horrors of the Second World war Europe started to feel pretty bad about its exploits. The war had also brought a new spirit of cooperation. The war also changed many other things, perhaps the foremost being the beginning of the Cold War. People are slow to learn from mistake and the subsequent 40 years of Cold War was little better for many poor parts of the world than the previous 300 had been (Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia, Most of Africa etc. etc.) and even at the end of that war, lots of people were still getting the short end of most sticks.

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Soal Sejarah Snmptn 2008

The newest payment option available to the public is mobile banking. Now you can even use a cell phone to make financial transactions. Quite a few banks have created programs for smartphones allowing their customers to deposit checks for virtually anywhere.

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All a user has to do is snap a picture of the check's front and back, enter the amount and send it to their bank or credit union.
There may be a final chapter in the story of checks around the world, but for the near future they will remain an option for everyone.

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Soal Sejarah Snmptn 2009

In 2004, lawmakers in Washington D.C. passed the Check Clearing Act for the 21st Century also known as Check 21. Check 21 makes it possible for banks and businesses to use digital images of checks known as a substitute check.
Check 21 made check clearing and processing much faster and more efficient by eliminating the need for so many people to physically handle a check.
The Future of Checks:

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Checks have been a big contributor to the evolution of the financial industry for the past five centuries. Current research reveals that 67% of U.S. citizen claim to write a minimum of 10 personal checks each month.
These days, you can order personal checks online and even choose check designs that fit your personality. Options at Check Advantage include Nature Checks, Wildlife Checks and Fun and Games Checks.

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Soal Sejarah Snmptn 2010

Big changes and some serious competition came about for personal checks in the modern age.
In 1959, the MICR code was developed in the United States. Magnetic ink character recognition allowed financial institutions to read the routing and account numbers with machines. It is similar to the way a tape deck plays back audio from the magnetic tape on a cassette. By the early sixties, MICR codes were used on checks all over the U.S.

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The '50s also brought about the first charge card with the Diner's Club Card, and the first ATM or automated teller machine entered the scene in 1967.
Personal checks were being used so often in the U.S. Concerns arose in the 1960s that the volume of checks in the U.S. would be too much to control. That's when ACH or Automated Clearing House payments were developed bringing about conveniences like direct deposit.
Checks are still a large part of the.S. economy. A study in 1979 revealed that more than 85% of all non-cash retail payments were made by check. However, credit and debit card use increased through the 1980s and 1990s, and electronic payments as a whole outnumbered check payments for the first time in 2001 (according to the Federal Reserve).

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Soal Sejarah Simak UI 2009

You can expect the use of checks to remain a reliable payment option because of the impact they've had on the history of the world.
The Emergence of the Paper Check:
The earliest forms of checks can be traced back to the beginning of the banking system itself. It's believed that the people of the Ancient Roman Empire were the first to use what could be considered a paper check. Other cultures had their own versions of checks.

During the 3rd Century A.D. the Persian Empire used letters of credit known as chak. The word is referred to in a number of Arabic documents. Muslim traders used a version of a check system in the 9th century and the Knights of Templar introduced another version of checks used by Christian pilgrims taking journeys to the Holy Land or across Europe between the years 1118 and 1307.
All of these check systems allowed merchants and travelers the ability to transfer large sums of money without carrying gold and silver coins with them. It is believed the first nation to widely use checks as a form of payment instead of a means of transferring funds was Holland in the late 1500s. The use of checks spread across Europe from there.

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The Paper Check Get Personal:
England began replacing handwritten checks (or cheques as they are called in the U.K.) with printed paper forms.
In 1811, the Commercial Bank of Scotland was the first to make personal checks with an account holder's name printed on the forms. Soon after - the Bank of England started binding and stitching checks together in sets of 50, 100 and 200 creating the first checkbooks.

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Soal Sejarah Simak UI 2010

History (from Greek ἱστορία - historia, meaning "inquiry, knowledge acquired by investigation" is the study of the human past. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians. It is a field of research which uses a narrative to examine and analyse the sequence of events, and it sometimes attempts to investigate objectively the patterns of cause and effect that determine events.

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The stories common to a particular culture, but not supported by external sources (such as the legends surrounding King Arthur) are usually classified as cultural heritage rather than the "disinterested investigation" needed by the discipline of history.
Checks have played a crucial role in the development of the financial industry throughout history. They are the oldest form of payment other than cash, and checks continue to be one of the most reliable ways to pay - despite the growth of electronic payments such as credit and debit.

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Drill of History for SPMB Unsoed

In November 1989 I thought was living through one of history's defining moments. I was in Berlin the night the Berlin Wall came down and memories of that night will be with me forever. Like the Berlin Wall coming down when JFK was assassinated, or when Princess Diana died, everyone remembers where they were when they heard the news.
Yesterday history was made again. It came at the end of what must be the most expensive marketing campaign the world has ever seen and resulted in the election of Barack Obama as the US President elect. The campaign lasted eighteen months and if we examine it we can learn a lot about marketing, not only of an election , but also how to market your product or service.

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Leading up to that event over $1500million was spent by those striving for, what is arguably, the most powerful job on the planet.
We ended with two 'products' with substantially different features and benefits... two potential Presidents and two potential Vice Presidents ..... and despite all the money spent we will remember just a few sound bites, photographs and quotes.
For me the photographs of Sarah Palin with a gun delivered a powerful message. If you are part of the gun lobby then the image was positive; but if you are anti-gun this is the image that lost the Republicans your vote.
Photographs are powerful and are a bit like a first impression - they create a powerful emotion that it takes a lot to dispel.
So what's the lesson here? Be very careful of the images you use in your literature, on your website and elsewhere. For part of my career I was attached to the Cabinet Office in London. Guess what; this is what politicians do all the time. They pose for photographs. Wise politicians however avoid certain photo "opportunities". No politician, not even an agricultural minister, wants to be photographed with a pig! Photos like this have a habit of appearing again years later when a scandal brews and headlines like "Snouts in the trough", "And pigs might fly" etc will surely follow.
Look not only at the content in their existing context but how unscrupulous people might twist them in future.
Over the years the Republican Party has built a reputation for clever direct mail tactics. They have used them to raise funds far more efficiently than the Democrats. This time the tables turned. The Democrats worked at building a permission based email list - exactly as I often suggest you do with autoresponders on your website. They tracked who opened their emails, when they did so and, more importantly, who responded with donations. And they milked the list for all it was worth.
Barack Obama had another challenge. He knew that the traditional Democratic voter wouldn't be sufficient to get him elected (it had failed John Kerry). So he too set out to find new voters (i.e. customers) and included not only black voters but also the young, those that had never registered before, war veterans and many more. Finding new customers always a time consuming, expensive and often risky exercise. But he had plenty of money rolling in from his email campaigns.
He also managed to engage Word of Mouth. For example, one local barber in North Carolina, kept telling his customers that the time for change has come and they should vote Obama. Every time they came in he badgered them to vote and he made sure those not registered got registered and voted for the first time in their life. Obama recognised his weakness as being his relative inexperience as a politician compared with McCain. So he called in Joe Biden of Delaware. Biden is one of the longest-serving members of the U.S. Senate and balanced Obama's weakness.
McCain on the other hand chose Sarah Palin. His rationale was to embrace the Bush supporter. He was hoping for a side effect, which was to attract Hillary Clinton's previous supporters and to build his voter base.
If it had worked, it would have been the masterstroke that landed the Presidency. In McCain's case, it failed dismally.
His decision cost him the economically minded middle voter who then went to Obama.
The lesson for the rest of us is that trying to win new customers is risky. It can work but your customers have to be sure of your product and the voters didn't like the McCain/Palin product.
McCain was acclaimed as delivering in the televised head to head meetings with Obama; but to my mind Obama is a great orator and McCain couldn't match him. People follow great orators.
And in Sarah Palin the voters didn't see a President in waiting; ready to step into the Presidents shoes if anything happened to him.
Of course in your business you don't need to be a great orator. But you do need to be a great communicator; able to communicate the benefits of your product or service through your website, adverts, signage, customer service etc. So ask yourself does your business run on autopilot when you are not there? Does your marketing keep working? Yours may not be that sort of business but the lesson is to communicate well and serve your customer seamlessly at all times.
There was one other feature of this election that plagues politicians. When their backs are against the wall they rubbish the opposition. Since political campaigns have been televised voter turnout has dropped across the globe. People have become disenchanted the verbal attacks. In the UK Prime Minister Questions have become an excuse for gutter tactics and the same happened in the US elections. It has to be said that voter turnout was better than previous recent elections but voters didn't like the Republican's attacks on Obama.
The lesson here is not to knock the opposition with your marketing. Show the benefits of your product or service and leave rubbishing your competitors to those with no benefits to sell.
This election was a great lesson in marketing and we can all learn a lot from it.

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Drill of History for UMB PTN

Early in June this year, the Nigerian government reassumed control of the once divested state-run telecom giant NITEL, blaming unpaid debts and investment shortfalls. Abuja had sold off a 51% stake in this national asset during former president OJ Obsanjo's tenure in 2006 as part of a massive reforms and disinvestment process. Transcorp, the local firm that bought majority control for a fee of $500 million was accused of failing to meet payment obligations to the tune of $60 million, besides accumulating debts totalling 17 billion naira1. NITEL suffered huge subscriber losses for both fixed line and mobile phone services since 2001. The development came as yet another shocking national debacle, not just in terms of monetary loss, but also official economic policy and administrative foresight. The current government has since signalled the appointment of a technical board to manage NITEL until new investment is forthcoming.

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The 35 year old flagship national carrier with a history of failed mergers and service safety concerns saw numerous resuscitation attempts before finally ceasing operations in 2003. Parrying allegations of massive corruption and mismanagement leading to the airline's ruin, the government managed secure Virgin Atlantic Airways as a partner for a strategic re-launch. However, Virgin's recently announced intention to withdraw its share holding from Nigeria Airways perhaps sounds the death knell to another miserably-failed public undertaking.
For Nigeria, the failure is two-fold. More importantly, it questions the design and impact of the much vaunted Nigerian reforms process, ironically initiated to undo precisely the same economic reversals it appears to be engendering.
The fate of the economy in general and of large enterprises in particular has been remarkably disappointing in this petrodollar rich sub-Saharan nation of prodigious natural resources. While decades of political tumult and civil strife are partly to blame, rampant corruption and non-inclusive policies have added up to leave Nigeria at the nether rungs of economic indicators and human development indices. In such a climate, and despite recent redirections in government policy, Nigeria's Millennium Development Goals and its 2020 target of making it to the top 20 world economies present monumental challenges.
With the long-term repercussions and viability of recent disinvestments in oil, steel and port entities still in question, large enterprises are obviously not the way to these goals. Of critical importance here is the fact that MSMEs offer a distinct macroeconomic profile and potential, and are not merely scaled-down versions of larger enterprises. The financial flexibility, employment potential and innovative capacity of MSMEs have contributed substantially to both developed and developing economies around the world. According to the European Network for Social and Economic Research (ENSR), MSMEs with up to 250 employees created 68 million jobs in the European Union2. Comparable data for South Africa indicates that small enterprises accounted for 55% of its total employment and 22% of GDP in 2003.
Allowing for local and circumstantial variables, MSMEs have shown greater profitability across national barriers owing to higher human capital efficiency and product transformation capacity. Although there is no determinable link between financial structure and profitability, the calculation of gross profits over capital employed has always worked to the advantage of MSMEs over large enterprises.
On the flip side, small enterprises suffer two basic disadvantages that large enterprises by definition are without: elevated rates of employee costs as well as working capital requirements. Large enterprises have lower costs per unit turnover and substantially larger cash flow capacities. Moreover, MSMEs represent a high risk factor in terms of debt repayment capacity, often because of inadequate financial know-how and limited access to guidance and consultation. Long term success of MSMEs is additionally contingent upon a heightened degree of financial flexibility that enables rapid adaptation to changing market needs.
The disappointment with large scale, capital intensive and often import-dependent businesses had been growing long before the current global economic downturn set in. While Nigeria has a lot to blame on itself for its experience with large enterprises, reports of their diminishing impact on inclusive economic growth is emerging unmistakably from across the globe. In the European Union for instance, 99% of its 20 million enterprises are small and medium scale operations that currently account for two-thirds of total employment in the private sector3. As new economic realities begin to hold sway, slowly but surely the practicality of mammoth ventures running on gigantic employee and capital turnovers is slipping away.
MSMEs, contrarily, hold out a multitude of short and long term benefits that are of especial relevance to Nigeria - wider utilization of natural and human resources, entrepreneurship and rural development, increased savings and greater regional balance. In the context of both immediate and long term goals, a policy shift in favor of rapid promotion of smaller enterprises is perhaps the only policy priority standing between Nigeria and a rapidly prospering economy.
Further practical problems are in the form of skilled manpower shortage, a disturbing enterprise mortality rate4 and devastating infrastructural deficiencies, especially in terms of security, power and roads. Improving availability and access to finance and equity remains the most critical challenge by far, in response to which Abuja initiated a bank consolidation program in 2004 to fortify financial institutions and enhance credit access to the private sector.
In order to ensure rapid entrepreneurship development, the Nigerian government must effect swift fiscal, monetary and industrial policy changes in order to capitalize on its huge MSME potential. A lot depends on the effective management of its human resource capital - its sizeable population that has been traditionally dependent on extremely small, subsistence-level enterprises. It is a matter of fact that the fate of Nigeria's ambitious economic goals rests largely on its ability to convert this talent into tangible economic growth.

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Drill of History for Simak UI

The great period of Ancient Roman prosperity lasted only two centuries, until the death of Marcus Aurelius in 180 C.E. Nevertheless, the physical and intellectual assets accumulated during those years have allowed Roman civilization to exert its influence until our day. The teachings of the past should never be forgotten, since the principles of how to achieve happiness and success are immutable. We don't need to waste resources making mistakes that can easily be avoided if we pay attention to History.

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From the best times of Ancient Rome, we can learn important lessons about how to lead a rational life. Although technology and social context have evolved, we should still pay attention to recommendations of wise individuals who have learned from their errors, frequently after paying a heavy price. The following principles summarize essential elements of how to lead a rational life and enhance our chances of attaining happiness.
[1] You should aim at becoming an entrepreneur, irrespective of your social origin, since individual initiative has repeatedly proven to be the ideal tool to create wealth, independence, and psychological well-being. During the golden age of Ancient Rome, the number of self-employed people grew faster than in any previous time in History, as large parcels of uncultivated land were put to agricultural use for the first time. In the 21st century, the same phenomenon is taking place on the internet, which has become the great liberator of entrepreneurial energies without distinction of sex, race, age, or personal history.
[2] Devote your efforts only to feasible projects. Although the economy of Ancient Rome experienced sustained growth in the second century C.E., writings from that period show that it was not easy to obtain a loan. Contemporary financial institutions are thousands of times more efficient than the modest mortgage markets of Ancient Rome, but the number of individuals looking to borrow money has also grown exponentially. At any given time, there are always many more people in the world willing to borrow money than there are funds available. Do not waste your energy on projects that have no real chance of obtaining financial backing. Focus only on workable ventures.
[3] Look for alternative ways to achieve your goals. In Ancient Rome, individuals with vision faced similar obstacles as nowadays. How do you fund trade expeditions? Which goods should you import and export? Entrepreneurial men in ancient times quickly realized that the traditional Roman approach to business finance, a mortgage on a piece of land, was inadequate to conduct commercial enterprises. Through trial and error, they created different types of partnership contracts that have evolved through the centuries into our modern venture capital funds. Do not give up when traditional methods prove unsuitable to carry out your ideas. Seek further until you find a practicable solution.
[4] Salesmanship opens the door to tolerance and friendship. Ancient Romans learned the hard way that a commercial attitude was the only way to maintain a high standard of living. Conflicts, although frequent, were limited in range. In the present context, when millions of individuals across the world are devoting their creativity to international commercial ventures, rationality is respected as the cardinal virtue of those who achieve business success. Effective salesmanship is nothing but logic applied to commerce.
Living in accordance to Nature marks the path to happiness today as it did it in Ancient Rome. Logic and consistency remain the pillars of personal growth. If you doubt that rationality is the best way to conduct your life, read History and study the dire consequences of prejudice and abuse. Instead of imitating others, let us learn the lessons of ancient wisdom and keep away deceitful theories that contradict the facts of History. We need to develop enough resiliency to avoid being overwhelmed by other people's opinion or lack of it. Studying Ancient Rome is a very effective method of reinforcing the idea that we should not waste our time trying to establish paradise on earth.
Discarding new proposals that do not work and favouring proven systems is a sign of wisdom. The same logic applies to walking away from situations where people tell us that rationality doesn't count.

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Drill of History for SNMPTN Pack 4

Sixty-Five years ago, Allied armies under the command of General Dwight D. Eisenhower stormed the beaches at Normandy to liberate Europe and end World War II. This was and still remains one of the most complex military operations ever undertaken. It was planned and executed without the help of modern communications and computers that we now take for granted. Leadership.

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The successful Allied invasion was the result of superior leadership starting with General Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander, and continued all the way down to the sergeants and junior officers that led the troops into battle. While the Germans also had some good individual leaders like Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, as a group, the did not share the same vision on how they would defend the beaches. Thus, what started as a foothold on the continent by the Allies grew into a major assault that could not be contained. The leadership provided by General Eisenhower and his subordinates became a major factor as the Allies fought together as a team. The Allies were able to eventually land enough troops and supplies while the Germans could not replace their losses. After some very difficult fighting, the American Third Army under the leadership of General Patton broke through the German lines. Once the breakout occurred the Germans were about to be surrounded. Those that could escape to fight another day retreated while the vast majority were either casualties or became prisoners of war.
The same principles of leadership used by the Allied commanders are universal leadership principles that can applied even today. Given the complex challenges facing the country, it will be excellent leadership that carries us forward to a better day, just as it did sixty-five years ago.
Today more than ever, strong leadership is required to solve the major challenges facing our country and the world. Business leaders need to provide strong leadership to their organizations in a weak economy. Others need to solve major problems on energy, health care, and global warming. Although these historic leadership lessons were forged in the heat of a desperate battle on D-Day, the common element that still remains is human nature. Leadership is the skill that gets things done, solves problems and moves us to a better day. We need effective leaders at all levels and in a cross section of business, non-profit, as well as government enterprises. A good example of a leadership principle in action is the concept of "vision." General Eisenhower provided a vision of his plan for a successful invasion. The plan was known as Operation Overlord. All leaders must have a compelling vision of the future. This defines where they want to go and provides their followers an element of hope of success for the future. Crafting a compelling vision requires a leader to have a deep understanding of his or her operating environment, the capabilities and limitations of their organization, and a clear understanding of their strategy for moving ahead. Good leaders involve their people to help them develop their vision. This creates organizational buy-in and builds support within the organization. Thus, vision is a fundamental component of good leadership. If you plan to be a successful leader, learn from history and make sure that you have a compelling vision to inspire your followers.

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Drill of History for SNMPTN Pack 3

Few capital cities in all of Europe can boast the number of historic landmarks that Prague offers. Visitors to this capital city of the Czech Republic can stop by dozens of Prague landmarks that date back centuries. Maybe it's the sheer number of intriguing Prague landmarks, but this capital city, known to many as the Golden City, is seeing its tourism numbers explode. More than 4.5 million tourists visited Prague - undoubtedly attracted by the city's rich history, thriving nightlife and amazing restaurants - in 2008.

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If you plan on becoming one of the millions, take time to research the many Prague landmarks before you head to the city. This advance research will guarantee that you won't miss out on any of Prague's must-see historical sights.
There's the Narodni Divadlo, for instance. The ceremonial foundation stone for this national theater was laid way back on May 16, 1868. The theater then opened in June of 1881. Unfortunately, just two months later, a raging fire destroyed its magnificent copper dome, stager and auditorium.
The Czech people, though, were resilient. They took just 47 days to raise 1 million florins to pay for the theater's repairs. The Narodni Divadlo reopened to the public on Nov. 18, 1883. It hosted a performance of famed composer Smetana's opera Libuse. Today, visitors can tour this neo-Renaissance gem three times a month. The Zofin Palace is another of the many Prague landmarks with impressive histories. Located on Slovansky Island, the palace was built from 1885 to 1887 to honor the Archduchess Sophie, mother of Emperor Franz Josef I. During its long history, this stunning palace has hosted some of the world's top composers, including Smetana, Liszt and Wagner.
The Cathedral of Sts. Cyril and Methodius is another of the Prague landmarks that tourists must see. Built in the 1730s by King Ignaz Dientzenhofer, this Baroque church saw history in 1942. That's when seven Czech nationalists had their last stand after their successful assassination of Reinhard Heydrich, the general of police of the Nazi SS.
The nationalists hid in the cathedral's crypt before emerging on June 18 to find themselves surrounded by hundreds of Nazi soldiers. The Czechs had been betrayed, but they weren't defeated. Three were shot and killed during the ensuing firefight. Many Prague landmarks are equally somber. Part of the charm of Prague is its people. To better understand them, tourists must first learn the way they have preserved through the ages.

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Drill of History for SNMPTN Pack 2

One of my first jobs after graduate school was as an instructor at a community college. My course load included teaching American History 102 (1865-present) on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 8:00-8:50 A.M. It was a required course for most of the 35 students and history was not their major. So my challenge was how to communicate to the students while keeping them awake and interested.
That experience taught me many lessons about effective presentation skills - lessons I still use today in my own presentations and when I teach public speaking. And these same lessons can help you become a more effective presenter:

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SLIDES & VISUAL AIDS ARE OPTIONAL
Those were low-tech days - just me and the chalkboard, and occasionally a few pull-down maps hooked onto the chalkboard. I learned that I was the presentation and that any visual aids were only there to help, but not required. And no visual aid could make up for a lack of preparation on my part. Where is it written that presentations must include slides? If the slides have compelling, memorable visuals, then they can help the audience understand and remember the information. Unfortunately, most slides are endless lists of bullet points in small font; those kinds of slides actually hinder the audience's understanding and even distract their attention away from you.
STORIES CAPTURE ATTENTION
I learned that it is possible to capture the attention of a potentially bored or distracted audience - yes, even 35 teenagers and young adults in a required class at 8 AM on a Friday morning. In order to make class interesting, I told stories that made the "boring names and dates" come alive and helped them see the historical figures as real people instead of presenting a tedious list of facts to be memorized. Stories work even in a business setting. Try sharing a quick story of how a customer uses your product or how your new software helped a specific department get work done faster.
ENERGY & ENTHUSIASM ARE CONTAGIOUS
I had to be more energetic than the students and I didn't drink coffee! It helped that I loved my subject and loved teaching - and most students responded positively. Even if they didn't come to love the subject like I did, they could at least appreciate and respect my enthusiasm for it. Are you excited about your topic? Are you energetic? While it's not always possible to love the topic you are presenting, your energy and enthusiasm will help engage your audience.
GET THE AUDIENCE INVOLVED
In order to keep the students engaged and interested, I asked questions, walked up and down the aisles, had them work together in pairs and small groups and encouraged their questions. Try using some of these techniques with your audience. You can also ask them for examples, give them an exercise to work on individually or ask for a volunteer to come forward and help you with a demonstration.
RESPECT THE AUDIENCE
I realized on the first day that I had to earn the respect of the students. They didn't care about my credentials. I learned not to talk down to my audience or to insult them. I learned not to lie if I didn't know the answer - but to admit it and find the answer for them before the next class. I met them at their level, showed interest in their lives and didn't pretend to know a lot about their world or their music.
You can show your respect for your audience by taking the time to prepare and by not speaking for longer than expected. I transferred those early lessons to my current career, where I work with corporate professionals, entrepreneurs and business owners and enable them to realize that they're not "stupid" at presentation skills - and with practice, they can learn to be more effective presenters. The next time you have to present, whatever your topic or environment, try these lessons to keep your audience engaged and involved.

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Drill of History for SNMPTN Pack 1

A few months before Katrina, I caught one of the early Mardi Gras parades in a rural town outside New Orleans. Race relations there seemed different from those here in Northern California. Blacks were more outgoing and friendly to whites, and yet there also seemed to be more racial segregation. At the parade, the floats and teams were strictly segregated. The only integration I saw was a few clusters of black and white teens. I watched a policeman go out of his way to harass a black youth who was hanging out with some white girls.

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As I was heading back to my car I saw one group by a 7-11 and thought to ask them directly about the state of race relations. A white girl spoke for them all, "Oh, it's getting better. I thanked her and walked toward my car feeling pleased and hopeful; it was good to hear from a like-minded youth who was transcending past bigotries.
The girl called me back. Cause I think that's so disgusting."
Me, I've seen enough instances of destructive bigotry to extrapolate to a universal pattern. Bigotry against blacks, Jews, the Irish, the Italians, the Chinese, gays-I get it-no bigotry is acceptable. Too much focus on Bush and Cheney's bad character distracts us from questions about what makes them bad. If we conclude that they're just bad apples, then what's to stop equally counterproductive people with different names and faces from taking their places?
Everyone says, "People who don't learn the lessons of history are forced to repeat it," but if that statement doesn't miss the point completely, it just barely grazes it. Sure, we should try to learn lessons-but the real question is which lessons, what generalizations? From Stalin and Hitler should we generalize to no more leaders with mustaches? No more short people?
What we want, of course, is to generalize lessons from history that end up paying off in the future. Unfortunately, although that's a great goal, it's useless as a rule of thumb. "Son, my advice to you is buy low, sell high, and always learn today what worked tomorrow."
Still, our society's accelerated progress over the past few centuries is largely a product of culture realizing that right generalization is the name of the game. Science and engineering are largely attempts to systematize the process of effective generalization. In the hope of promoting that process, however slightly, here are a few generalizations about generalization applied to the coming election.
Undergeneralizing: Sometimes we fail to learn because we fail to generalize at all. Bush voters who now criticize the president tend to defend their votes. Yes, Bush turned out to be a lemon, an exception to the otherwise fine products of the conservative movement. Gore, Kerry, and the whole liberal agenda would have been much worse. McCain will fix things. Abu Ghraib? A few bad low-level soldiers. There's nothing to learn, no generalization to be drawn.
When McCain said the economic problem was caused by greedy people on Wall Street and that the answer was to fire the head of the SEC, he sounded like unsophisticated leftists I knew in the '70s. The problem is a few greedy people leading big corporations. Replace them with un-greedy people like me and it will all be groovy.
Overgeneralizing: Litmus-test radicals think they've found the one or two factors from which you can generalize to everything you need to know about a candidate. A Christian? Anti-abortion? For gay marriage? Divorced? A loyal spouse? For change? A traditionalist? The Sufis say, "He who's burnt by hot milk blows on ice cream." Not all dairy products will burn you. And not all Christians are great leaders. To litmus-test radicals on the left or the right, expert status isn't earned through careful analysis but through passionate self-certainty. They've found the one cause that matters. It's a priority not because they've compared it to other issues but because they can make an impassioned argument for its intrinsic and isolated merit. Motivated generalization: An alcoholic ponders what's causing those daily hangovers. Monday: gin and tonic; Tuesday: vodka and tonic; Wednesday: whiskey and tonic; Thursday: rum and tonic. Generalization serves two masters. One is, of course, our future selves. We hope to learn history's real lessons so we don't have to repeat them. The other is our present gut instinct, which definitely prefers some lessons to others. The alcoholic's future self wants to avoid future hangovers, but the alcoholic's gut doesn't want to discover that those hangovers are caused by alcohol rather than tonic.
Most Republicans don't seem to want to consider the possibility that they've had a substantial chance to try their ideas out in the real world and that in general those ideas don't work as well as they had hoped. Just this week, days after the $700 billion bailout was announced, I was probing a right-wing friend about the core values and principles that drive his beliefs. Liberal efforts to regulate the free market have failed over and over and should never be tried again. No mention of the possibility that conservatives have anything to learn here.
This same friend tells me that he relishes arguing with liberals like me because our arguments are so weak and implausible. We're either slow learners or we're driven to our generalizations by our gut instincts, not our rational minds as they are.
Psychological research* indicates that we all generalize through two parallel systems, the rational mind and the gut, and that the gut predominates. The gut is faster acting than the rational mind. It's often right or we wouldn't survive. But there's plenty of evidence that the gut gets it wrong consistently on crucial matters.
Ideally, therefore, we'd be rational about when to use our gut instincts and when to be rational. Among the more troubling findings therefore is strong evidence that most of us assume we're more rational than we in fact are. We interpret gut instincts as rational instincts. Guts have the upper hand. Our guts tell us our rational minds are telling us that our rational minds are generalizing from the evidence and not our guts. We generalize incorrectly about our generalizing performance and skill.
Me and all my Obama-supporting friends included. We assume we're the rational ones. Given the psychological evidence regarding everyone's ability to interpret their interpretive prowess, we're disqualified as authorities on the subject of our own rationality. So are our equally gut-motivated Republican detractors. Indeed, posterity gets the final word on whose generalizing skills were best. It alone knows how skillful we were at generalizing to the right lessons of history to learn and not the wrong ones. Unfortunately it was unavailable for comment at the time of this writing.For a great new survey of the findings, check out Nudge: Improving decisions about health wealth and happiness.

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Multi Level Marketing

Multilevel Marketing (MLM) has become a dirty word in America. When someone says "MLM," people instantly think of illegal pyramid schemes and shy away from you. The new politically correct term is "Network Marketing."
However you want to say it, it is all the same thing: You make money by recruiting a network of team members to sell your company's product. The real incentive is in attracting more members to your team because you not only make money from selling the product yourself; you make money off your team members' sales. The more people you have selling for YOU, the more YOU make.

Why has network marketing become the evil empire of the business world in the minds of many Americans? Because of pyramid schemes, which are now illegal. - First, because you are going to face this barrier in trying to recruit your own sales team, and if you can not alleviate their fears, you have lost a potential recruit.
- Second, you need to establish your credibility. It is just as important as establishing the product you are selling, if not more important.
- Third, it is critical to your own success to NOT get caught up in a pyramid scheme - you have a greater chance of losing money than actually making any.
Susan Ward, a partner in Cypress Technologies, an IT Consulting business, providing services such as software and database development, in her article "Is It MLM or a Pyramid Scheme?" offer the following advice:
"The big difference between MLM and a pyramid scheme is in the business' operations. The entire purpose of a pyramid scheme is to get your money and then use you to recruit other distributors. The entire purpose of MLM is to move product. The theory behind MLM is that the larger the network of distributors, the more product the business will be able to sell"

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History Courses

History is one subject in the galaxy of subjects that teaches its readers not only the subject, but also a lot of wisdom. Most people hold the view that history is just a list of events that have occurred and put only in a chronological order. True history is a chronological list of events. But, if we study it only as that we are missing on it and we are not giving the subject its correct status.
This subject has such a large perspective of things that, no other subject that is studied ever can be without its history. Science has a history, technological development has a history, religion has a history. No subject of any significance is without a history, then how can we say that history is trash. If man had not discovered that fire can be produced by rubbing two stones, how would the theory of creating of fire come into being? If the ancient man would not have produced the wheel, how could we know to the present uses of the wheel? If the Hindu religion did not have the division of castes, how would the present situation f castes come into being? So we can say that the very essence of man's progress is based on history and its study.
The evolution of man itself is based on history, his progress and most of his scientific and technological developments are all the results of man's history, of the History of evolution had not been confined into history books, and if we had not read these books, how would we know about our past, and how would we maintain the tempo of development and progress. Man learnt from his mistakes, his experiences, the shortcomings of his ancestors, and continued to progress. Is this not a contribution of history? Does this not make the study of history important for us? The one single subject that had contributed so immensely to the constant and continuous growth of civilization is the history.
Another plea for not studying this drab subject is when people say history is just what passed away people have done. It has often been said that, history repeats itself. This means that if we repeat the same mistakes we will reach the same disasters. Is this very little an advantage of study of the subject that, as people, as a community, as a country, we realize the mistakes of our ancestors, and we do not commit the same mistakes and get the same results? So, here comes the wisdom imparted by this lone subject. It is only after the study of history that we can assess the mistakes of the preceding generations. It is from history the Britishers have learned the imperialism cannot continue for ever. It is from history that Indians have learned that we have to remain united to keep the country one single unit, to keep it safe and strong. It is the study of history that makes the modern world shudder to think of another nuclear holocaust.
The memory of Nagasaki and Hiroshima is still fresh in the minds of the world and so the fear of repetition of this keeps us aware and cautious. If we had not studied all these facts written in our history books, our reservoir of knowledge would have been much less, and we would not have been so well aware of the results of certain actions. Is this not enough of a gift to the world, of just one single subject?
Again, all this because of our study of history.
The differences of culture in different parts of the world are also brought to our knowledge by the history of the world. It is only through the study of history that we come to know about the social, political and educational systems of the world, and we can adapt them to our country, if we feel the need. History! Besides gaining knowledge, this subject teaches us wisdom of life and teaches causes and effects of different actions. If we continue to learn from our history we shall never make the same mistakes again - and that would be quite a step forward. Like science, history also gives us formula. Science gives formula for progress of elements and history gives us formula of success. If we learn from History, we humans will certainly continue to forge ahead, and become a more and more disciplined and cultured force.
Besides the big lessons that we learn from History, it also teaches us how to behave in our day-to-day lives. We learn how discipline helped the forces of Alexander the Great to overcome Indians, and how at the same time and venue, the undisciplined forces of India surrendered to them. We learn how with their service to India through missionaries, the British could steadily spread their wings through the length and breadth of India. We learn from history how love for mankind made saints of Vivekanand, Gautam Buddha and Mahavira. We learn from history how, man's desire to dominate others result in the ultimate break up of the British Empire in India. The greatest lesson that history has taught us Indians is the lesson we learned from our struggle for independence, i.e. we learned how much we can achieve if we stand united and have flare for nationalism.
Thus, this single subject which often faces the - ridicule of students and elders provides us with a sea of knowledge, insight and wisdom. It also teaches what the finer feelings of love and service can do for man. This one subject teaches us to become human and of course, it is the alma mater of all other subjects, as the history of any subject is taught before starting the study of the subject itself. It is this subject that gives us the understanding of all countries that we can assess our position and then continue on our path of progress.
When we study the biographies of great men, we learn how to follow their footsteps and try to achieve at least a semblance of their greatness. These biographies teach us the qualities of great men which we can emulate and try to be achievers. This single subject makes such an enormous contribution that it will not behave any of us to talk of it in a jocular tone, on slight it. It teaches us what actions are likely to have what reactions. It brings to light our rich heritage and also teaches us how the other countries are progressing. So we can say that history is a great teacher.

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