Keeping up the New York Times Standard of Journalistic Excellence with the Choice Blog

The education section of the New York Times is impressive both in content, format and the services it provides. And one section that stands out is its “The Choice” blog which sets out to do what it promises – “Demystifying College Admissions and Aid.”   With the wealth of information on this, can it do the job?

A Demystifying Focus

The site is the brainchild of the New York Times Education columnist Jacques Steinberg and a few colleagues in the paper backing him up to meet their
”demystifying” crusade by examining the various facets of the college admission process to bring them down to the understanding of students across all social strata.  Needless to say, the site is consistent with the look and feel of the online broadsheet and is quite a long page, presenting its blog articles on the left column and the content sections on the right.

• The main page is one of the longest for a blog site with the current 10 articles each presented in about 70% of its entirety. The articles are basically news articles written in casual first and second person style, well written and are insightful in their content from authors and contributing editors of the broadsheet.  You have articles like “I Am In, I Am Going to College,”  “Colleges Report 2011 Admission Figures,’ and “Former ‘Idol” Contestant to Sing About College on High School Tour,” just to give you an idea what the blog’s current site carries.
• The left column carries the regular and highlighted articles of past and present that fall into sections such as Welcome to The Choice, Admissions Data, Education Life, Comment of the Moment, Archives, Blogroll and Categories, including the regular by-line from Mr. Steinberg, “By the Blogger,” currently talking about “The Gatekeepers: Inside the Admissions Process of a Premier College.”   
• The Categories section is a wealth of interesting articles that put present and past blog posts into distinct areas from A to Z.  You have specific topics grouped together For Parents, For Seniors, For Juniors, Admissions Buzz and Lore, Paying your Way, Testing and The Envelope Please, to mention the more interesting ones. 

Strengths and Weakness of the Site

There’s no dearth of articles on just about anything about college admissions on the site.  It even has a blog search for the specific topic you have in mind. Do a search for “Harvard admissions” and the site will return with a list of about 20 articles over 3 pages with those or related keywords. Not bad for anyone wanting to learn about college admissions in the country and experiencing them in a number of colleges and universities. 

The downside here is that The Choice is looking quite newsy and could be a real put-off to the younger generation of high school graduated who are supposed to be the target readers of the blog.  The site is a collection of scholarly articles by middle-aged professionals who prefer to talk like a professor before a bunch of ignoramuses. Nothing to complain about in terms of content, but it is dubious if the site is reaching its intended readers who are fresh out of high school in their mid teens.  While the articles are easy to read and understand, The Choice needs to brush up on how it can attract young people to read it.

Conclusion

It’s great to read the education section of a formal and highly respected broadsheet like the New York Times.  You get concise, accurate and easy to read articles in any of its section such as business, science, health, sports, opinion, etc.  And the education section is no less as dignified.  That’s the word.  The articles in The Choice blog under the Education section are no less as scholarly a journalistic product as most other articles and columns you expect from one of the most respected broadsheet in the country.  They carry the same NYT standard for dignified press that is just right for professionals and businesses to read, but not for teeny boppers.  It’s almost like asking your teenager to take the Benz stretched limo everyday to school.  Any takers? 

Things to Do for Your Boyfriend

Whether visiting your parents to introduce himself for the first time, or just spending time with him on a special occasion, there are things you can do to make every moment with your boyfriend something both of you can cherish with fondness.  Here are some of those things.

Be Serious about the relationship and Let Him Know

Have you ever given your boyfriend your first kiss?  If you are serious about your relationship with him, the next time he drops hints about it, be sure not to lose the moment with false modesty.

Make a Video Collage form all Your Video Together

It helps if you have some latent artistic talent at creating a video collage with video snippets culled from the many video takes you have from your cell phone or digital camcorder just stored in your PC.  With many use-friendly video editing software in the market, or downloadable free online, you can do digital splices from different video files and string them together with some text overlays, fade in and out segues between shots and mixed them with photos to come up with a 30-minute or one hour video collage.  Burn it in a DVD and make it a gift on his next birthday.  A gift that was made from your hands is priceless. You might even want to upload it in YouTube linked to your Facebook.

Compile a CD of Music of your Moments Together

Music has always accompanied memorable moments and if you haven’t compiled one that has attended many of your moments together, do one now.  It’s so easy to find the music you want with online music sites and search engines. Memorable tunes could be those the two of you danced to in a party, played in your first dinner or lunch, the music you played when you got your first gift from him,  and the theme music in the movie both of you enjoyed.  Compile these into a CD and print a special cover with your own sweet nothings printed on it.

Learn to Like What He Likes

Women are generally not into the NFL games. Few, if at all, are audiophiles who love to invest in expensive stereo or multichannel systems. They are also less likely to play home video console games. Or fiddle with the car. If your fiancé has a hobby you don’t care about, he will love you nonetheless.  But he will definitely appreciate it if you share those moments with him or even indulge in one as he does.

Cook and Serve His Favourite Dish

They say the quickest route to a man’s heart is through the stomach.  No need to follow the advice when you’ve already won the battle for his affection. But once in a while, it doesn’t hurt learn to learn to cook and serve his favourite dish the next time he drops by your place. If he’s a foreigner, a little research about the dishes in his home land can help.

Humour Him

If your boyfriend really loves you, he will love you regardless of how you look.  He will probably say he doesn’t like you in pony tails or jeans, but that’s rarely a subject to get into a squabble. But if you love him that much, you can start by looking good for him and sacrificing the get-up he doesn’t like on you.

Spend Quality Time Together

Watch a movie, attend a concert or sporting event, go to the park, go window shopping or mall hopping, take to the beach, eat in a restaurant, play video games, the list of things you can do together can be endless.  You can even cook together, bike, jog or attend gym class together, play scrabble, tennis, bowling, or monopoly, go to work or church together, attend family reunions, parties, etc. 

Make a Social Contribution

Volunteer together to help street children or orphans in charitable organizations, or the homeless and the aged.  If the two of you love pets, you can also spend volunteer time in animal societies and shelters.

Indulge In What You Like to Do Together

Much has been said about spending quality time together, but for special activities that cost more than usual, it helps to plan for it.  If your boyfriend hasn’t done it yet, plan out a long weekend vacation out of town.  Then discuss the plan with him.  Next step, you can save up and surprise him with the plane ticket for the two of you.

…But Not Always

Being apart for some time can help in the relationship.  The more your boyfriend misses you, the more intense the relationship becomes the next time you see each other.  Just don’t be out too long that your boyfriend starts wandering around.  Even when not together, get in touch via emails or Facebook.  Make every moment you are away a reason for him to wait for you.

Losing Weight with Band Gastric Surgery

Considered a drastic solution to weight loss, band gastric surgery is a restrictive or bariatric surgery performed on obese persons. The objective is to reduce stomach size which is accomplished using an implanted medical device called a gastric band placed around the top section of the stomach in a laparoscopic procedure. The more precise medical term for the procedure is Laparoscopic Adjustable Gastric Banding.

Weight Loss Benefits

Gastric banding has been clinically shown and proven to lose about 40% of unwanted weight.  That’s because the smaller stomach resulting from the surgery makes you feel full faster every meal and thus, decreases your food cravings and consumption. Obese people who are 200 pounds overweight can expect to lose about 80 pounds on average after gastric banding, though results can vary widely. The procedure is considered the safest and least invasive among weight loss surgery options.  Gastric banding can be reversed once the patient achieves the correct BMI if he or she so desires. 

How it Works

The gastric band placed around the stomach is a silicone device that can be inflated with 4 to 12cc of saline solution. Once inflated, it constricts the stomach to create a smaller stomach pouch at the top section, decreases the size of the passage between this pouch and the lower stomach and slows food passage between the two. Once food is digested in the upper stomach pouch, no further digestion takes place in the lower stomach and the digested simply passes to the intestines.

The resulting smaller stomach pouch holds about ½ to 1 cup of food while the entire stomach could hold 6 cups. Once the pouch is full which happens faster, the brain receives a message that the stomach is full, even though only a part of it is. The sensation makes you feel less hungry, eat smaller portions, feel full faster and lose weight over a shorter period of time.

How it is Done

Band gastric surgery is not an open abdominal surgery and generally undergoes the following procedure:

• Through a ½ inch incision near the belly button, a small laparoscopic camera is inserted to show the stomach cavity in a monitor screen as a visual guide in the process.
• Using laparoscopic tools, another incision is made through which the surgeon makes a small tunnel behind the stomach to allow an adjustable silicone band to wrap and lock around the upper stomach section.
• The band divides the stomach where the upper part becomes a pouch serving as the “new” stomach with about an inch-wide gullet constricted by the band leading to the lower stomach.
• A plastic tube from the silicone gastric band runs through the skin so that saline can be injected to tighten, or removed to loosen the band.

Several visits are made to the doctor to adjust the band with the injection or suction of saline solution to achieve optimal constriction. The band is tightened or loosened so that hunger is best controlled but not too tight for digested food not to flow freely.

Minor Complications

The procedure has a low complication rate with the most common involving nausea and vomiting which can be dealt with by adjusting the band tightness. As with any surgery, band gastric surgery carries a 10% risk of wound infections and minor bleeding which can be treated with antibiotics.

Conclusion

If you are obese with a body mass index (BMI) of 40 or higher, undergoing the procedure is considered the fastest and most effective weight loss solution.  In February 2011, the FDA lowered the BMI threshold to 30, opening the option even to those with moderate obesity. If you have been going through diet and exercise regimens for years with little or no success, a band gastric surgery can be your last resort.

What Makes Pay Day Advance Loans Useful

Just when you thought you’re making ends meets with a tight budget that has been settling your obligations for so long, you suddenly come face to face with an emergency that essentially throws your budget out the window.  In times like these, the stress of finding a solution and the anxiety of failing to find one can bring anyone to their knees with sleepless nights and agonizing waking hours. Many are simple cases of sudden unbudgeted expenses like an increase in rent, an overlooked utility bill that suddenly threatens disconnection or an entirely new obligation like a hospital or medical bill that rarely ever gets budgeted.  When pushed to a corner, get yourself a break with an option every middle class American knows never fails to provide the much need financial relief.  It’s your pay day advance loans. 

When Cash Advance on your Credit Card Fails

The easiest and fastest source for a short-term financial fix is to gat a cash advance against your credit limit. You’re lucky if on the day you need instant cash, your credit card still have the right balance to afford you a cash advance.  Most credit card owners often find their credit balance inadequate for a cash advance. If that is your predicament, there’s nothing to worry about.  Surf online and check out the best lender that can give the lowest financing charges and the most flexible terms on a pay day advance loans.

When Friends Can’t Help You

You may have encountered similar cash flow problems in the past and there were people, friends or relatives that bailed you out of your financial mess.  That’s great since these financial crises can really put to the test friendships and blood relations and can provide you with the least costly cash advances.  You’re lucky of you have rich people who can help you out in times of financial need, but for the average American, their friends and relatives can be as cash-strapped as they are.  While it may work once or twice, you can’t always bet on it.  It can be quite humiliating to turn on them every time. 

When you just need Cash

If you know your next paycheck can cover it, and you need instant cash for whatever reason, whether to pay off a maturing obligation, pay off an unexpected car repair, dental or hospital bill, beef up you travel pocket money, or there’s a good 50% sales you can’t pass of, it’s good to know you can trust a payday lender to advance your payday money.

With pay day advance loans you can get in every corner store, you don’t have to suffer sleepless nights worrying where to get the money.  Payday cash loan centers have more stores than McDonald's and you can get the money you need within a few hours of applying.  And it’s getting easier and more convenient with online lending centers.  If you have a favorites lending store you patronize regularly, it’s almost certain they have an online presence that can make borrowing a lot faster and more private.  

SEO Articles

The explosion of internet marketing occasioned by the demand for a high profile presence in search engines have prompted an entire industry called SEO or Search Engine Optimization.  The promise is to increase your Google page rank and put your website on the first page of a search result about keywords related to the content of your site.  One of the things SEO does in create backlinks to your site made possible by SEO articles in blogs, article directories, press release site, product review sites and online classified add, among other, which have also created an entire industry of writers doing nothing but churning out hundreds of SEO articles everyday.  Here are some that I did for several customers