WANT TO STUDY IN USA?

WHY STUDY IN USA ?

USA, the country which has experimented with democracy for more than 200 years is strong economically as well as culturally today with the base being the immigrants.

Global Edge:
The United States has more institutions of higher education than any other country, but despite the numbers it is the quality of education provided by these academic bodies which is acknowledged worldwide. The teaching forces of these institutions are leading authorities in their respective fields. The quality of the research program along with the resources available and the faculty ensures that the institutions have high standards.



Choice:
More than 4000 institutions offer undergraduates, post graduates, masters and doctorate degrees.One can specialize in any desire areas of focus. The USA education system has variety of academic & social environments which allow the student to build up in all aspects.



Financial Assistance
The education definitely falls in the category of value for your money. USA education is the best investment for the future. A wide spectrum of tuition fees accommodation options & financial help from the institutions in the form of scholarships, fee waivers, aid etc makes USA education affordable.



Technology & Research:
USA is known for its latest technologies and advancement in technical fields which gives the student a very good chance to make his/her future in these fields. USA has always been a hub of inventions. Students therefore have first hand knowledge about cutting edge technologies coupled with excellent research opportunities.



Flexibility:
The USA education system is flexible in terms of choice of courses within a college or university. During the course of study, a student can transfer from one course/stream to another or one institution to another. This aspect of the USA education system makes it distinct from other countries.



Affordable:
International students from all over the world choose to study in the USA because an American education is the best preparation for their future. It becomes all the more within your means with financial aid, scholarships and assistantships on hand. At the same time students are allowed to work 20hr/wk during their course and 40hr/wk during vacation which helps them to earn and learn.



Top Ranking Institution:
Amongst the top ranking colleges world-wide, majority of them are in USA. These colleges and universities rank high in world rakings because of their infrastructure, technological Advancement and top quality of education provided by them.



Professional Approach:
The best approach of the USA education system, is that it allows one to learn and earn. This not only gives one, a thorough knowledge of the subjects, but also teaches one to have a practical & professional approach. It gives better growth prospects worldwide.
STUDY IN TOP UNIVERSITIES IN USA



Education Chart

USA has the world’s most flexible education system, students can study their area of interest as specialization. As the education system of USA is not centralized each institute can determine its program and admission standards. Lateral movement in the education system is possible any time.



Types of Institution


Public Universities in USA:
State-affiliated institutions financially supported by public taxes, usually large in size. All levels of degrees with different fields of study are offered. Public colleges and universities are relatively easy on the pocket for residents of a state where the schools are located. Foreign students pay "out-of-state" tuition, which is higher. There are many notable public universities across the country just a few examples: Pennsylvania State University, Ohio State University, University of California, Kansas State University, University of Texas



Private Universities in USA:
Private Institutions run without the control of the Government entity. Tuition fees of these institutions are on the higher but the international as well the domestic students pay the same amount of fees. The notable private institutions are Long Island University, George Washington University, New York University, Carnegie Mellon University.



Technical Institutes in USA:
These are schools emphasizing principally on engineering and science they are known for their research and graduate programs. Most International students who attend these schools are of graduate level. Undergraduates admitted to these schools usually have incredibly strong backgrounds in math and sciences, as witnessed by grades and standardized test scores (e.g. SAT or GRE). M.I.T. (the Massachusetts Institute of Technology), Cal Poly (California Polytechnic Institute), Georgia Tech (Georgia Institute of Technology), NYIT New York Institute of Technology) and W.P.I. (Worcester Polytechnic Institute) are a few of the noted schools.


The Ivy League:
These schools are the oldest and most famous in the country members of the Ivy League are: Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Brown, Dartmouth, Cornell, Columbia, and the University of Pennsylvania. They are in the Northeastern part of the USA. Ivy League colleges stress undergraduate liberal arts education, but they also have noted graduate and professional schools. Tuitions at these private schools is among the highest in the country, and admission is generally highly competitive.



Small Liberal Arts Colleges:
Generally have the focus on undergraduate study of the traditional arts and science disciplines: humanities, sciences, and social sciences. Strictly liberal arts colleges are often quite old and mostly private schools. They are highly-rated institutions as they stress on small classes, individual attention to the students, and closer relationships between the faculties and students. Many of them also generally have rigid admission standards. Among these schools are: Amherst, Marist, Swarthmore, Manhattan, Smith, Mount Holyoke.


Community Colleges in USA:
More over known as County Colleges or City colleges. Community colleges provide higher education and lower level tertiary education, granting certificates, diplomas and Associates Degree. Some notable community colleges are Ohlone College, De Anza College & Bellevue Community College.




Grading System in USA
The GPA system is followed throughout the United States to judge student's performance. It is graded on the scale of 0 to 4. Following is the evaluation of GPA
Grade Points

Grade Points

Equivalent


>4

>A

High Achievement


>3

>B

Satisfactory


>2

>C

Minimum Passing


>1

>D

Failure




Types of degree


Associate Degree to Study in USA:
It is an academic degree awarded by the community colleges, junior colleges, business colleges and some bachelor's degree upon completion of a course of study Usually for two years (60 Credits). In the USA , an associate degree is equivalent to the first two years of a four year college or university Bachelors degree. It is The lowest in hierarchy of post secondary academic degrees offered in USA.



Bachelors Degree to Study in USA:
Commonly known as Undergraduate degree in India. The duration of the bachelors course is 4 years. Students who have completed a part of their undergraduate degree and want to go to the USA, can apply as a transfer Student. There are two types of bachelors degree: B.A or B.S. Some universities in the USA Offer either of the degrees in all fields and at times both the degrees in some field. Students need to appear for SAT & TOEFL/IELTS exams for admission.



Masters Degree to Study in USA:
The duration of master’s courses may range from a year to two depending on the university & your area of specialization. The binding requisite for Masters is the 16 year of education Criteria. Students with Bachelors in engineering are qualified whereas the students with B.Com, B.Sc, and B.A need to complete at least one year of Masters, post graduate diploma is also accepted by some specific institutions for specific programs. Exams required are GMAT for management related subjects / GRE for arts, science or any other subjects and TOEFL/ IELTS exams for admission.



Doctorate to Study in USA:
Commonly known as PhD. Duration of the same may range from 3 years to 5 years. Students can take admission for a PhD only after completion of their master's degree. PhD students need to submit a research proposal as well have to appear for GRE/GMAT & TOEFL/IELTS exams for admissions.


STUDY IN TOP UNIVERSITIES IN USA




Tuition Fees to Study in USA
USA (PUBLIC)
TUITION FEES TUITION FEES IN Rs.
UG 8000 - 15000 US $

Rs. 4,00,000 - Rs. 7,50,000 / Year
PG 10000 - 20000 US $ Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000 / Year
USA (PRIVATE)
TUITION FEES TUITION FEES IN Rs.


UG

10000 - 20000 US $ Rs. 5,00,000 - Rs. 10,00,000/ Year
PG 15000 - 25000 US $ Rs. 7,50,000 - Rs. 12,50,000 / Year




Living Expenses to Study in USA
When calculating the cost of education living expenses play a critical role. On an average, a student spends Approx $10000 – 12000/year. But the expenses also depend on the place where a student stays i.e. if a student stays in metropolitan city like New York, San Francisco, Manhattan, etc the expenses could go up to $15000 in comparison to a student studying in a suburban area where the expenses around $8000 to $10000 / year.


Accomodation
Most of the educational institutions in USA will assist you in finding accommodation while studying in USA. Accommodation are of two types i.e. a student can stay on campus (Halls of Residence/Students hostel) or Off Campus (Home stay, Apartments/Flats). Staying Off Campus is much more cheaper than staying On Campus but it is always advisable that the student should stay on campus for the first six months.


Health Insurance

Insurance Policy for international students is a mandatory, as students have to stay abroad for a long period of time. Insurance costs generally between $500-$1000/year. It is advisable to take insurance from an Indian Insurance Company but make sure that it covers medical expenses, personal accident, dental, treatment ,study interruption, passport loss etc. Insurance is basically cashless so a student does not need to pay money at the time of hospitalization.



Scholarships to Study in Top University in USA

Scholarships & financial aids - fee waivers are awarded to international students on the criteria of merit & need of it. Candidate with strong academics, good performance on standardized exams & extra curricular achievements would be eligible for scholarship awards & financial assistance. To benefit from these opportunities, one has to make sure to send all the required documents by particular deadlines. In addition to this, the presentation of the application package is also important because one is judged by the image one projects.

There are various types of Scholarships:

Fellowship-Scholarship: This is usually offered on the student’s ability, competence & performance.

Graduate Assistantship: Generally it may involve a teaching or research assistantship. Students receive aid, in the form of cash stipend or a tuition fee waiver or reduced tuition fee.

Sports Scholarship: Though seldom offered to international students, athletic or sports scholarships are available in a wide range to outstanding and talented athletes.

The other factor that can enhance the probability of getting the scholarship is the credit evaluation. The evaluation converts the Indian grades in the GPA system.

India is the world’s seventh-largest country stretching from the high mountains of the Himalayas to the tropical greenery of Kerala, and from the sacred Ganges to the sands of the Thar desert. Its more than one billion inhabitants are divided into two thousand ethnic groups and speak over 200 different languages.

Conform its size and population, India has an almost endless variety of cultures, landscapes, monuments and places to explore. From the ancient ruins, fascinating religious structures, exotic cities and diverse landscape there is an endless collection oftourist attractions in India that will never cease to awe and fascinate the visitor.

Kerala backwaters


The Kerala backwaters are a chain of lagoons and lakes lying parallel to the Arabian Sea coast in the Kerala state. The Kerala backwaters are home to many unique species of aquatic life including crabs, frogs and mudskippers, water birds and animals such as otters and turtles. Today, houseboat tourism is the most popular tourist activity in the backwaters, with several large Kettuvallams (traditional rice boats, now converted into floating hotels)ply the waterways.

Lake Palace


The Lake Palace in Lake Pichola in the city of Udaipur was built as a royal summer palace in the 18th century. Today it is a luxury 5 Star hotel, operating under the “Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces”. The Lake Palace hotel operates a boat which transports guests to the hotel from a jetty at the City Palace on the east bank of Lake Pichola. The palace became famous in 1983 when it was featured in the James Bond film Octopussy, as the home of titular character.

Virupaksha Temple


The Virupaksha Temple in the city of Hampi started out as a small shrine and grew into a large complex under the Vijayanagara rulers. It is believed that this temple has been functioning uninterruptedly ever since the small shrine was built in the 7th century AD which makes it one of the oldest functioning Hindu temples in India.

Palolem


Palolem is the most southerly of Goa’s developed beaches and also one of the most beautiful. It is a natural bay surrounded by lofty headlands on either sides, resulting in a calm, idyllic sea with a gently sloping bed. For those who believe a beach cannot be paradise without a decent selection of cheap restaurants and good hotels, a dose of nightlife and plenty of like-minded people Palolem is the place to be.

Kanha National Park


Kanha National Park is among the most beautiful wildlife reserves in Asia and one of best places to catch a glimpse of a tiger in India. The lush sal and bamboo forests, grassy meadows and ravines of Kanha provided inspiration to Rudyard Kipling for his famous novel “Jungle Book” and make this one of the top attractions in India.

Harmandir Sahib
flickr/Gurumustuk Singh

The Harmandir Sahib, better known as the Golden Temple is the main tourist attraction in Amritsar, and the most important religious place to the Sikhs. Construction of the temple was begun by Guru Ram Dast in the 16th century. In the 19th century, Maharaja Ranjit Singh the upper floors of the temple were covered with gold. It’s a stunning temple, and always full of thousands of pilgrims from all over India, excited to be at a place that they usually only see on television.

Jaisalmer


Located in Rajasthan’s remote westernmost corner close to the border with Pakistan, Jaisalmer is the quintessential desert town. The yellow sandstone walls of the “Golden City” rise from the Thar desert like a scene from the Arabian Nights while the Jaisalmer Fort crowns the city. Uncontrolled commercialism has dampened the romantic vision of Jaisalmer, but even with all the touts and tour buses, it remains one of the most popular tourist attractions in India.

Ajanta Caves


The Ajanta Caves are rock-cut cave monuments dating from the 2th century BC. The magnificent Ajanta caves were abandoned around 650 AD and forgotten until 1819, when a British hunting party stumbled upon them. Their isolation contributed to the fine state of preservation in which some of their paintings remain to this day. The well preserved murals depict everything from battlefields to sailing ships, city streets and teeming animal-filled forests to snow-capped mountains. The city of Aurangabad is the gateway to the Ajanta Caves as well as the equally spectacular Ellora Caves.

Varanasi
flickr/dirk huijssoon

Situated on the banks of the River Ganges, Varanasi is sacred to Hindus, Buddhists and Jains and also one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world. In many ways Varanasi epitomizes the very best and worst aspects of India, and it can be a little overwhelming. The scene of pilgrims doing their devotions in the River Ganges at sunrise set against the backdrop of the centuries old temples is probably one of the most impressive sights in the world.

Taj Mahal

The Taj Mahal in Agra is an immense mausoleum of white marble, built between 1632 and 1653 by order of the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife. Called “a teardrop on the cheek of eternity” it is one of the masterpieces of Mughal architecture, and one of the great tourist attractions in India. Besides the white domed marble mausoleum the Taj Mahal includes several other beautiful buildings, reflecting pools, and extensive ornamental gardens with flowering trees and bushes.

Top 10 facts about Sachin Tendulkar

1. Sachin Tendulkar started off with centuries in his debut matches in the Ranji, Duleep and Irani Trophy. No other domestic cricketer has been able to break this record till now.

2. Sachin Tendulkar was done in by a sharp bouncer from Zimbabwe’s Henry Olonga in a league match at Sharjah in 1998. In the final match against the same opposition, Tendulkar had his revenge as he smashed the bowler all around the ground and belted an unbeaten 118 runs.

3. Sachin Tendulkar is a big fan of tennis legend John McEnroe. In his formative years, McEnroe was Tendulkar’s idol. The young Sachin pleaded his parents to get a similar headband and wristbands like McEnroe. Also take one look at his childhood snaps and the McEnroe styled shock of hair on his head tells everything.

4. Sachin Tendulkar was named after the great musician SD Burman. Sachin’s father’s, Ramesh Tendulkar was a big fan of SD’s music.

5. Sachin Tendulkar was led onto the field on his Ranji debut by his then captain, Ravi Shastri.

6. Sachin Tendulkar was gifted a Ferrari 360 Modena by F1 champion Michael Schumacher in 2002. Ferrari presented the car to Sachin in honour of him equalling Don Bradman’s record of 29 Test centuries.

7. Sachin Tendulkar spoke to his favourite music star, Mark Knopfler, the lead guitarist of the rock band, Dire Straits for the very first time during a programme he was doing for the ESPN network. It was Sachin’s birthday and it turned out to be a happy surprise for him.

8. Sachin Tendulkar went to watch the movie Roja in 1995 with a beard and disguise. And it all went wrong when his glasses fell off and the crowd in the cinema hall recognised him.

9. Sachin Tendulkar returned from a four-month tour of Australia after the 1992 World Cup and immediately turned up to represent Kirti College in April 1992. That’s some commitment from a cricketer who was already a superstar by then.

10. Sachin Tendulkar uses a very heavy bat at the crease, weighing 3.2lbs. Only South Africa's Lance Klusener used a heavier bat in world cricket.

Top 10 Facts about President BARACK OBAMA

is the 44^th President of the United States. For better or worse, he is by far the most talked about person around the world. Republicans and Democrats alike talk about what he says and does 24/7. During the 2004 Democratic National Convention, Obama said, "There's not a liberal America and a conservative America; there's the United States of America."
This quote is another reminder that Obama's speeches have always been poignant, touching each person who heard his speeches. Whether the viewer was Democratic, Republican, or Independent, it was quickly apparent that this man would soon do big things. In this case, he became President of the United States.
If you are a history buff, or just enjoy learning new facts about presidents, you will enjoy learning about the President of the United States. Let's take a look at some facts about Barak Obama.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #1 
Barack Obama predicted UNC to win in the Final Four. Each year, since becoming president, he makes his predictions for the world to see.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #2 
Barack Obama married Michelle LaVaughn Robinson on October 3, 1992 at the Trinity United Church. They now have two children: Natasha and Malia Ann Obama.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #3 
Before his inauguration as the 44^th President of the United States, Barack Obama wrote a letter to his daughters for Parade Magazine. This letter was intended for his daughters and every other child in America.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #4 
Obama's favorite sport is basketball. With his 6'1 ½ height; it adds to his advantage on the basketball court.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #5 
On his first date with Michelle, he took her to see the movie, "Do The Right Thing".
10 Facts about Barack Obama #6 
Barack Obama owns a pair of boxing gloves owned by Muhammad Ali.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #7 
Barack Obama is the first president to have a Blackberry.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #8 
Barack Obama can also speak Spanish.
10 Facts about Barack Obama #9 
Obama's Secret Service handlers gave him the nickname "Renegade"
10 Facts about Barack Obama #10 
In 2006, Obama was honored with a Grammy award for the Best Spoken Word Recording of his audio book Dreams From My Father.

BBM HACKED

Hacked version of BBM for Android allows multiple account logins simultaneously

With 10 million (and counting) BBM downloads across Android and iOS it would seem like BlackBerry still has something that can draw a crowd. While it’s been a rough start getting to this point (and there’s still plenty of hill left to climb), it’s at least good news for BlackBerry. That said, there are some things with the BBM app that we’ve seen tossed around in “things to fix” type posts including the persistent notification on Android, UI, lack of features and single accounts. Well, the last thing might be a thing of the past as a hacked version of BBM has been created that allows multiple BBM accounts to be logged in simultaneously on the same device.

There’s a handy little write-up detailing a video of the shenanigans here, and an .apk that aspiring technophobes can even install on their own device should they choose. In the meantime, Berry Review has a tad more info should your heart desire.

How GOOGLE Search works ?

Mom This is how twitter works.

Mom This is How Twitter Works


Twitter is an online social networking tool in which users post 140 character updates of what is going on in their lives along with links to things they think are interesting, funny, or useful to their followers (“following” being essentially what “friending” is on other sites). People use twitter in many ways, some as a newsfeed by following prominent people or networks, some as a pseudo-chatroom by limiting their followers and whom they follow to close friends and family, and some as a microblog for updating people about the work they are doing and their personal lives.
“TWITTER USERS”




@me
follows @mymom, @mybrother, and @mycat




@mymom
follows @me and @mybrother




@mybrother
follows @me and @mymom




@mycat
follows @me




@fanperson
follows @me, but I do not follow him




@totalstranger
doesn’t follow any of us and we do not follow her
Twitter users choose who they do and do not follow. They have total control of what news they receive on their homepage. When I refer to your “homepage”, I’m referring to the feed that you see when signed into twitter containing your and your followers tweets. This is different from your personal twitter page (twitter.com/yourusername) which contains all of your tweets including your replies to other users. You can have an unlimited amount of followers, but only follow a select few people if you want, making it easy to stay in touch with the people you care to stay in touch with. (FYI these are fake twitter names, my (the author’s) actual twitter username is @jessicahische.)
WHO SEES WHAT
THE PERSON TWEETING IS PICTURED • THEIR TWEET IS THE LARGE TEXT
VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION IS IN RED

me Jessica Hische
I am a compulsive oversharer!


• anyone that follows @me will see this on their homepage

fanperson John McGraphicdesign
@me OMG ME TOO! It’s like a disease!


• because I do not follow @fanperson, this does not show up on my homepage, instead this shows up in my @mentions feed

• because @fanperson put my username at the beginning, it does not show up on @fanperson’s followers’ homepages

me Jessica Hische
@mybrother hey bro, que pasa?


• by putting another person’s username at the start of a statement, it limits who sees it

• @me, @mymom, and @mybrother see this on our homepages because we all follow each other

• people that follow both @me and @mybrother will see this on their homepages

• people that only follow one of us will not see this on their homepage

• @mybrother will see this in his @mentions feed as well as his homepage because we follow each other

mybrother Jessica’s Brother
Not much, @me. What’s good?


• anyone that follows @mybrother will see this on their homepage, whether they follow @me or do not follow @me

• If a username is not at the start of a statement, everyone that follows @mybrother can see it

• I will see this in my @mentions feed because my username is used within the tweet

• This is generally the incorrect way to reply. There are times when you want to share a reply with your followers (e.g. if your reply contains something useful for your followers) but not in this circumstance or similar circumstances

mymom Jessica’s Mom
.@mybrother only ate pizza from age 5 to 25. #turtlepower


• if you DO want to share a reply with your followers, you can put any character before their username (typically a period) and this allows all of your followers to see it. It takes the person’s username and puts it “in the middle” of the tweet.

me Jessica Hische
@mymom @mybrother so. full. of. pizza.


• @me, @mymom, and @mybrother see this on our homepages because we all follow each other

• people that follow @me and @mymom (both of us) will see this on their homepages

• only the first user mentioned at the beginning and my username control who sees this tweet, any users mentioned after, even directly after, does not affect this

totalstranger Mary O’Internet
Have you seen @me‘s new zany website thingy??


• because I do not follow @totalstranger, this does not show up on my homepage

• instead this shows up in my @mentions feed—as long as your username is somewhere in their post, it will be in your @mentions feed

• because my username is in the middle of the statement, this does show up on @totalstranger’s followers’ homepages

• @totalstranger does not follow me, but can still @mention me in a tweet and I will see it in my @mentions feed

me Jessica Hische
@mycat you puked on my bed this morning, not cool.
favorite • retweet • reply

mycat Billy Kibbles Hische
@me I iz sorries!
favorite • retweet • reply

me Jessica Hische
@mycat It’s ok, you are still my everything <3
favorite • retweet • reply


• @mymom @mybrother and @fanperson do not see this conversation on their homepages because they do not follow both of us

• @mycat and @me will see each others tweets in our @mentions feed as well as our homepages because we follow each other

• twitter.com added a “reply” feature recently which allows you to see a conversation string. There is a difference between “replying to” a tweet and simply beginning a tweet with a person’s username. The former will keep the conversation in tact, and the latter will not. The tweets look identical except that one shows that a tweet is “in reply to” another and one does not. On twitter.com, the signifier that a tweet is part of a conversation is the little speech bubble in the upper right corner.

• if someone went to our personal twitter pages they could see everything we are writing back and forth, but very few people are likely to do this. In this way, any tweets that you write are not 100% private even if directed at another user. The only way to make sure a conversation is 100% private is to exchange direct messages
DIRECT MESSAGING
Direct Messages are private tweets (to other twitter users / the general public) that are exchanged between two users that follow each other. You cannot direct message someone that does not follow you and vice versa. Direct messages are the only private way to converse on twitter. “DM’s” are basically like emails that are limited to 140 characters per exchange. They are unsearchable on twitter.
RETWEETING

me Jessica Hische
Check out this cat vid! tinyurl.com/2funnycats

me Jessica Hische
RT @me Check out this cat vid! tinyurl.com/2funnycats

mymom Jessica’s Mom
Check out this cat vid! tinyurl.com/2funnycats (via @me)

me Jessica Hische retweeted by mybrother
Check out this cat vid! tinyurl.com/2funnycats
favorite • unretweet • reply
Retweeting or “RT”ing is used when you want to forward along a tweet that someone else said to your followers. There are a few ways to do this. It is very easy on twitter.com as they built in a native retweet feature. Native retweet is a feature in many mobile and desktop apps as well and is generally the best way to go. The bottom tweet shows a native retweet, which has a little symbol in the upper left corner and states whom it was retweeted by at the top. One of the most common other ways to RT is to copy the full tweet including the person’s username and put “RT” before it. Your followers then know that whatever comes next was said by that user. Another way to retweet is to quote the user by writing “via @username” at the end of the copied tweet. Just be sure not to replace the original author of the tweet with the newest person to retweet it.
HASHTAGS

fanperson John McGraphicdesign
Having tons of fun at the #imaginaryconference!
Hashtags are a way to label tweets so that other users can see tweets on the same topic. Hashtags contain no spaces or punctuation and begin with a “#” symbol. Many times at events like conferences or concerts, the organizers will tell attendees to add a particular hash tag to their tweets to gather opinions about the event and unite people at the same event.

me Jessica Hische
Paula Abdul & Color Me Badd was #myfirstconcert! You?
Twitter users create trending topics by using hash tags. For instance, a user might create a hashtag as a fun way to start a conversation.

mybrother Jessica’s Brother
When will this cough stop?? #imeanreally. #srsly. #cough.
Lastly, hashtags are used to punctuate statements or jokes on twitter. Some twitter users make sentence-long hashtags for comic effect.
TWITTER VS. FACEBOOK
Twitter is different from Facebook because it has an opt-in take on friending vs. an opt-out like Facebook. If you accept a friend request on Facebook, you automatically “follow” each other (Facebook does not use “following” but has a newsfeed that is quite similar to twitter). This means that if you have 200 Facebook friends, you can potentially see 200 people’s news in your feed (they have algorithms which narrow it down to who you most likely want to see, but still. If there is someone annoying in your feed you have to opt-out of following them or “hide” them). On twitter, you can be followed by 2,000 people but only see 50 people in your feed—50 people you CHOSE to follow. The main difference between the two is that Twitter is much more simplified. There is a character limit to posts, there are no picture or video libraries, and no complicated profiles, relationship statuses, etc. Because of this, Twitter has become the top choice for professionals that want a social / semi-work-related network through which they can share work news (and not feel smarmy) alongside personal news. Many people (myself included) link their twitter account to their facebook account so that they can post to facebook from twitter.
IN CONCLUSION
Twitter is awesome, but while it seems like a relatively simple service, it is quite nuanced. I hope this site helped you or someone you know get acquainted with twitter so that you can stop writing your tweets incorrectly, accidentally airing your dirty laundry to the internet at large. I am not an employee of twitter, just an avid (understatement) user of the service that wanted to lend a hand to twitter n00bs. This site is not a comprehensive guide as twitter is always adding new subtle features to make their service more useful and user-friendly, but this should demystify most of the basics. You can always visit support.twitter.com to find out more.

ABOUT:Jessica Hische is, for the most part, a letterer and illustrator living in Brooklyn, New York. “mom, this is how twitter works” is one of many silly internet projects she has created in recent history, the largest of which being Daily Drop Cap and the stupidest of which being The Internet Sends Me Cake. Please visit Jessica’s portfolio site to view what she ACTUALLY does for a living and to read about the latest zany internet projects she has created.

50 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT FACEBOOK

50 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT FACEBOOK

Facebook has over 350 million active users. More than 35 million users update their status each day, with more than 55 million status updates each day.f
More than 2.5 billion pictures are uploaded to Facebook each month.f
The average Facebook user has 130 friends and sends eight friend requests per month.f
Among children under 18, Facebook was ranked third in the top 100 searches of 2009, behind YouTube and Google. Sex and porn rounded out the top five searches.ae
A recent survey of 500 top colleges found that 10% of admissions officers acknowledged looking at social networking sites such as Facebook to evaluate applicants. Thirty-eight percent of admissions officers said that what they saw negatively affected the applicant.i
Facebook is not only beating MySpace traffic, but it is also the second-ranked site overall in the U.S. behind Google.x
Americans spend 13.9 billion minutes a year on Facebook and five billion minutes on MySpace.x
In 2003, Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg created Facemash, where he placed photos of undergraduates side by side so viewers could rank which one was “hotter.” Zuckerberg would later turn Facemash into the now ubiquitous Facebook.m



A woman slept with 50 men she met on her Facebook page titled “I Need Sex”
In 2008, a 23-year-old woman named Lauren Michaels created a group titled “I Need Sex” on Facebook. Within 10 minutes, she had 35 members and soon attracted 100—50 of whom she eventually slept with. Facebook has since removed her page.e
An 18-year-old Wisconsin man posed as several different girls on Facebook to blackmail underage male teens into performing sexual favors by coaxing them to send nude photos of themselves. He could be facing up to 300 years in prison.ac
Beacon, part of Facebook’s controversial advertisement system that broadcasted information about a user’s shopping activity on other sites, was the target of a class action lawsuit in 2009. The resulting settlement required Facebook to pay $9.5 million into a settlement fund.l
If Facebook were a country, it would be the fifth-largest country in the world, afterChina, India, the U.S., and Indonesia.ag
In 2009, an EMT at the crime scene took a cell phone picture of the body of a New York woman who had been strangled and beaten and then posted it on his Facebook profile. He was later arrested on charges of official misconduct and was fired from his job.t
The head of the Catholic Church in England and Wales warned that Facebook and MySpace can lead children to commit suicide because such sites encourage teens to build transient relationships and dehumanize community life.af
Facebook includes eating disorder groups such as “Get Thin or Die Trying,” and “Quod me nutrit me destruit” (“What nourishes me destroys me”). While such eating disorder sites were typically anonymous on the Web, their growing presence on Facebook makes them more public and accessible to more people.h
The New Oxford Dictionary announced that the 2009 Word of the Year was “unfriend,” as in “to remove someone as a friend on a social networking site” such as Facebook. However, there is some debate whether the word should be “defriend” rather than “unfriend.”l
A 39-year-old Pennsylvania father was arrested for openly asking his 13-year-old daughter for sex over Facebook.o
While stressing that correlation does not equal causation, a recent poll suggested that Facebook users have lower overall grades than non-users.m
While initially created for college students, Facebook users over the age 26 now represent 60% of the total U.S. Facebook population.a



The average user spends more than 55 minutes a day on Facebook
The average Facebook users spend more than 55 minutes a day on the site. They use the Like button nine times a month and write 25 comments each month.f
Approximately 70% of Facebook users are outside the United States.ab
Forbes dubbed 25-year-old Mark Zuckerberg, the creator/owner of Facebook, as the world’s youngest billionaire, worth 1.5 billion.l
Syria, China, Vietnam, and Iran have banned Facebook.l
In December 2009, there were over 250 million active users on Facebook, up from 1 million active users in December 2004.j
Tim Sparapani, director of public policy at Facebook, stated that hundreds of millions of people had never stopped and thought about the consequences of sharing information online.u
Information deemed public—such as profile pictures, names, cities, and networks—are available to developers of any applications that Facebook users or their Facebook friends use on the site.u
The first person to invest in Facebook was the cofounder of PayPal, Peter Thiel, who invested $500,000 in June 2004.k
In 2005, East Asia’s richest man, Li Hu Shing, invested $120 million dollars in Facebook.l
In September 2009, Zuckerberg announced for the first time that Facebook was cash flow positive, meaning Facebook made more money that it spent.c
Lamebook.com is a regularly updated site that reposts “lame” and funny Facebook user posts.q
In Florida, the Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee ruled that Florida judges and lawyers should no longer “friend” each other on Facebook.p



Women age 55 and older are Facebook’s fastest growing demographic
Facebook’s fastest growing segment in the United States is women 55 years and older.z
In May 2009, a Russian investment firm, Digital Sky Technologies, invested $200 million in Facebook in return for a 1.96% stake in the Web site.l
Twins Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss claim Zuckerberg stole their idea after they hired him to do programming for their own site, Harvard Connect (ConnectU). The case was settled for an undisclosed sum. Others, such as fellow student, Aaron Greenspan, also claim they invented Facebook.k
Named after a Harvard student directory that included student photos and profiles, Facebook was originally called “thefacebook” and was limited to only Harvard students. In 2005, the site was renamed “Facebook.”k
When Facebook changed its privacy setting in December 2009, Zuckerberg’s previously private photos—in which he was seen shirtless, holding a teddy bear, and looking “plastered”—became public.u
Both citizens and police departments are increasingly using Facebook to catch suspected criminals.m
A “gaydar” software program developed at MIT can reportedly identify gay men on Facebook, private profile or not.v
In January 2009, an advertising campaign from Burger King titled “WHOPPER Sacrifice” rewarded Facebook users a free “Angry Whopper” for publicly deleting 10 friends, who would then receive a blunt message informing they were deleted for a free hamburger.k



U.S. Facebook users mirror the country’s ethnic population
Eleven percent of Facebook’s 100 million U.S. users are African-American, 9% are Latino, and 6% are Asian, which is a fairly accurate reflection of the U.S. general population.r
A 20-year-old IBM employee in Canada lost sick leave benefits from her insurer because her Facebook page showed “cheerful” photos while she was on paid sick leave for depression.s
Girls can be prone to anxiety and depression by talking too much to their friends on Facebook. Called “co-rumination,” frequently discussing the same problem can lead to an unhealthy obsession.n
On July 1, 2009, shortly after Michael Jackson passed away, his page became the most popular page on Facebook. Previously, the most popular person on Facebook was U.S. President Obama with just over 6 million fans.w
In Australia it is valid protocol to serve court notices to defendants on Facebook. A summons posted on Facebook is legally binding.ad
A site called Usocial offered to sell Facebook friends and fans to customers. Even after receiving a Cease and Desist from Facebook, Usocial said it will not shut down the service completely.d
A Facebook post in December 2009 led to a kidney donation.b
The ACLU and the Electronic Frontier Foundation contend that Facebook’s new “recommended” privacy settings serve Facebook more than they serve the user.u
Farmville boasts more than 60 million players on Facebook. Zynga—the maker of Farmville, Mafia Wars, and other Facebook games—boasts an annual revenue of more than $200 million.g
In the United States, 54.7% of people ages 13 to 17 have a Facebook account.y
There are more than 800,000 developers building applications for Facebook.u

Cricinfo Facts

CricInfo was launched on 15 March 1993 by Dr Simon King, a British researcher at the University of Minnesota with help from students and researchers at universities around the world.^[4][5]

Badri Seshadri was the Co-founder and Managing Director of CricInfo who after a long time with CricInfo from 1993, moved to his own regional language-publishing venture.

While a company, CricInfo Ltd, was formed in 1996, CricInfo remained a volunteer-run operation until late 1999 and was not fully staffed until late 2000. The site was reliant on contributions from fans around the world who spent hours compiling electronic scorecards and contributing them to CricInfo's comprehensive archive, as well as keying in live scores from games around the world using CricInfo's scoring software, "dougie".^[6][7] In 2006, Cricinfo's estimated worth was $150 million.^[8]

Cricinfo's significant growth in the 1990s made it an attractive site for investors during the peak of the dotcom boom, and in 2000 it received $37 million worth of Satyam Infoway Ltd. shares in exchange for a 25% stake in the company (a valuation of around £100 million). It used around $22m worth of the paper to pay off initial investors but only raised about £6 million by selling the remaining stock. While the site continued to attract more and more users and operated on a very low cost base, its income was not enough to support a peak staff of 130 in nine countries, forcing redundancies.

By late 2002 the company was making a monthly operating profit and was one of very few independent sports sites to avoid collapse (such asSports.com and Sportal). However, the business was still servicing a large loan. Cricinfo was eventually acquired by the Paul Getty's Wisden Group, the publisher of the Wisden Cricketers' Almanack and The Wisden Cricketer, and renamed Wisden Cricinfo. The Wisden brand (and its own wisden.com site) were eventually phased out in favor of Cricinfo for Wisden's online operations. In December 2005, Wisden re-launched its recently discontinued Wisden Asia Cricket magazine as Cricinfo Magazine, a magazine dedicated to coverage of Indian cricket. The magazine published its last issue in July 2007.

In 2007, the Wisden Group began to be broken up and sold to other companies; BSkyB acquired The Wisden Cricketer, while Sony Corporation acquired the Hawk-Eye ball tracking system.^[9] In June 2007, ESPN Inc. announced that it had acquired Cricinfo from the Wisden Group.^[10] The acquisition was intended to help further expand Cricinfo by combining the site with ESPN's other web properties, includingESPN.com and ESPN Soccernet. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.^[11]

ESPNcricinfo's popularity was further demonstrated on 24 February 2010, when the site could not handle the heavy traffic experienced after notable Indian player Sachin Tendulkar broke the record for the highest individual score in a One Day International match with 200*.^[12]

How Car Insurace works?

how car insurance works

what covers what?

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Share on printMore Sharing ServiceLike a healthy body, a healthy car insurance policy consists of a number of moving parts working in harmony. We'll examine a car accident scenario to explain how the individual parts of a policy, from coverages to deductibles to limits, work together to settle a claim and protect your financesThe car insurance cCar accidents happen — that's what insurance is for. To give you an idea of how your coverage operates when you need it most, let's say you give your insurer the following info when filing a claim.

"A deer jumped in front of me during a yellow light. I swerved to avoid hitting him, but I ended up hitting the blue sedan in the opposite lane. Then I slid into the median, where my car struck a lamppost.

Once the dust settled, I checked on everyone: The family in the car — a man, woman, and their 2 kids — seemed OK but I couldn't be sure. They decided to play it safe and headed to the hospital. For my part, my neck was throbbing something fierce."

How car insurance steps in

Once you've filed your claim, your car insurance coverages and policy selections kick in. Let's take a look at how a sample policy could work.

The family in the blue sedan:

• Your bodily injury (BI) liability coverage or the other driver's personal injury protection (PIP) coverage

Since you (and not the deer, unfortunately) were found at-fault in the accident's police report, you may be held liable for third-party medical-related expenses after the crash. In most states, BI is a required coverage. Your insurer would likely pay up to the chosen per-incident limit in this case.

In no-fault states, personal injury protection could cover the other driver's medical care up to a certain limit that varies by state.

Your pain in the neck:

• Medical payments coverage or PIP coverage

Medical payments coverage can work in conjunction with or in place of your health insurance to help cover the costs of your post-accident medical care.

In no-fault states, your personal injury protection could kick in to cover your post-accident medical expenses. And in Pennsylvania, your pain in the neck could be covered by first-party benefits coverage.

The lamppost:

• Property damage (PD) liability coverage

As the other half of the liability coverage package, property damage helps cover repairs to other cars and property up to your policy's limit when you're at fault.

Your own car:

• Collision coverage

While liability coverage aids others, collision can help pay to repair your own car in a scenario like this one. It'll pay for the cost of repairs, minus your deductible, up to the actual cash value of your car.

Getting your car to the shop:

• Emergency road service (ERS)

When you have this optional coverage on your policy, all you need to do is call the number on the back of your ERS card. We can help you get a tow to a nearby repair shop.

What you drive while your car's in the shop:

• Rental car coverage

Adding rental car coverage or CarMatch Rental Coverage™ to your policy can help you pay for a rental car while your car's in the shop.

Your insurance through the post-accident process

This should give you a general idea of how coverages can help pay for certain aspects of the post-accident process. If you're an Esurance customer in a real-life accident, a dedicated claims rep will sort out which coverages apply and walk you through the entire process from initial report to final settlement.

It's always worth clarifying that the above scenario is just an example, and your specific circumstances (the crash, fault, your policy's coverages, etc.) can affect how your car insurance works after an accident. Policies, like customers, are unique.

To get more in-depth detail about all of your coverage options, including your limits and deductibles, visit our Coverage Counselor® or browse through our coverage pages.

Education in America

11 Foreign Education Policies That Could Transform American Schools

We learned the results of the latest PISA (Program for International Student Assessment) last week, and American students performed the same on the well-regarded international exam as they have for the past ten years -- completely stagnant, smack dab in the middle of the spectrum. They scored slightly above average in reading, average in science and below average in math. Meanwhile, students in the Chinese province, Shanghai, dominated the exam, earning the top spot in all three categories.

It could be time for our country to look at some of the specific protocols and methods that top-performing countries are using to educate their children. Here, we have highlighted 11 education policies from highly-ranked countries that seem to be working for them. Read up America, it's time to take some notes.

1. Effectively teaching students how to conceptualize

According to CNN's OECD special advisor on education policy, Andreas Schleicher,only two percent of American students can generalize and use advanced math in creative ways. The highest math performance on the PISA requires not only that students know how to do math, but also that they know when to apply certain mathematical principles. However, in Shanghai the percentage of students who can conceptualize math skills is over 30 percent. Educators in the Chinese province of Shanghai seem to understand that it's not exactly about what a person knows, but what that person can do with their knowledge.

2. Making schooldays shorter

Students in Finland, which tops the Pearson assessment of education quality, are onlytaught for 600 hours a year. Compared to the usual 1,080 hours of teaching in other countries, Finland uses the extra hours to give teachers enough time to carefully prepare their lesson plans.

3. Diverting more government spending toward education

Singapore, which scored second highest in math on the international exam, makes sure that 20 percent of its national budget is spent on education. That's compared to the two percent that the United States devotes from its national budget to schooling, which is dwarfed by defense spending. The higher amount of money that Singapore devotes allows teachers to be paid better salaries than lawyers and even engineers. Talk about placing extreme value on education.

4. Keeping students with one teacher and class every year

In Finland, a consistent top-performing country on the PISA, students often stay together in one class for several years with the same teacher, unlike how most U.S. elementary schools are run. They believe this allows the teacher to follow development over several grade levels, and it provides a "family-like environment" for the students to learn in. The U.S. implements a different education philosophy and decides to train teachers to instruct specific grade levels under the belief thatinstructors in separate grade levels require different skill sets and training.

5. Paying teachers more

Singapore, Finland and South Korea all pay teachers much more than the general average American starting salary of $39,000. This allows for more rigorous training and requirements in order to become a successful teacher. Higher pay allows for more selectivity, ensuring that teachers are serious about the profession. These countries also offer competitive compensation in order to keep and attract people who are highly skilled and passionate about teaching the country's youth.

6. Directing better schools to help out failing schools

The educators in Shanghai know the value of teamwork: One of their educational initiatives asks better-performing schools to pair up with lower-performing schools to help improve quality. It's called "empowered administration," in which a stronger school takes over a weaker one and sends a team of experienced administrators to create better management.

7. Instilling a strong sense of belief and determination in students

In a survey, 84 percent of Japanese students said they not only believe they have the ability to succeed, but that they are willing and able to do whatever it takes to achieve success. Only half of American students said they feel that way. The reason for Japan's different mentality could be due to the fact that students in Asian countries tend to believe achievement is a product of hard work, whereas Americans are taught to believe that intelligence is inherited.

8. Capping class sizes

The fewer students in a classroom, the more individual and specialized attention they receive. That's why the government of Nova Scotia in Canada made the decision that, starting in September 2014, most elementary school class sizes will be capped at 25 students. This is a stark comparison to many American public elementary schools that do not have class size limits. In 2010, budget cuts forced the school board in Georgia to expand class sizes to 40 kids in a classroom.

9. Making sure parents take a more constructive role in children's education

Studies have found that parents in China care more about their children's education than American parents. More importantly, Chinese parents place more emphasis on their child's effort, whereas American parents focus more of their child's ability. When their child fails, Chinese parents focus on improving their effort, while American parents are quick to blame the child's intelligence, or the teacher or school.

10. Giving the kids a break

With only two major breaks each year (winter and summer), American students are bound to get worn out. School years in New Zealand are divided into four terms that have two-week breaks in between. They also have a six-week summer break. By divvying up the breaks instead of having two large ones, New Zealand allows students to retain more information, because they have balanced opportunities to relax and regroup their thoughts.

11. Stressing engagement and positive relationships between students and staff

According to a study by Northwest Regional Educational Library, students will attend school more if they feel that they are fully engaged and have positive relationships with teachers and fellow classmates. Perhaps Americans should study Japan's educational model, which calls for educational institutions to take a more active role in their students' lives: Their attendance rate is extremely high, at 99.98 percent. Theaverage attendance rate in the U.S. is at 92 percent.

Tejas Thakker