The Real Top Movie of All Time

With the upcoming release of Avatar on DVD it has made me reflect on how everyone is saying that it is the top grossing movie of all time, which is a true statement. When you look at the total amount of money that it has made it is. It has grossed over $2.2 billion worldwide which is much more than any other movie ever. However when you adjust ticket prices for inflation and the overall theaters that are available, it is a completely different story. With those adjustments Gone With the Wind is the top movie of all time. The remaining top 5 movies are: Star Wars, The Sound of Music, E.T, and The Ten commandments. Avatar is number 14 on the top movie list. So when you really look at the big picture and the relative values of the movie prices at the time you get the real view of the top movies of all time.

Eyjafjallajoekull Volcano

This volcano eruption is causing some real problems for all of the airlines in Europe. With all of the ash floating in the air, all of the flights in the region have been canceled. All across Europe flights have been grounded and these problems are costing the airlines a reported $200 million per day. That is a huge loss for the travel industry in Europe, and they don't really know how long this problem is going to last either. They do hope that some flights will be able to fly this week, hopefully as soon as Monday. Many officials are meeting to decide if whether they should seek other means for passengers to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Many are deciding if they should send some passengers on boats to get them back in the quickest way possible. I don't know what would be the best way to go about fixing this problem but it is very interesting to me to see how people cope with natural disasters. Some try to do the best they can while others just worry and fret.

College Degree Worries

Recently I have been doing some research on college degrees and different majors and specifically what the benefit of the different majors is. Specifically I have read some articles online about the overall value of a college degree in today's market and that the value of college degrees has been decreasing. There used to be a larger variance between the salaries of high school graduates and salaries of college graduates. Now the difference isn't very big. It is still better to get a college degree and the numbers do still back that up, but they aren't as valuable as they used to be. My opinion is that degrees are still much more valuable than just a high school diploma. But it does make me worry about what I should do for my own future degree because the statistics do show that there is a very large difference between the different degrees themselves. So my decision of which major I am going to study is actually a pretty big decision. I have always known that but now that I know that each major has a pretty large salary decision, it really just adds to my worry.

Top Skills Employers Look For

I will look at some of the top skills that employers look for while seeking a new employer and I will do so in no specific order.

1. Communication Skills
2. Problem Solving Skills
3. Technical Competency
4. Determination
5. Ethics and Loyalty

In my opinion those are what employers feel are most important in a new employee. First is communication skills. Each prospective employee must be able to communicate, both written and oral. This includes the ability to communicate in writing with no errors and clearly, and verbally such as being able to work with a team and communicate clearly within an organization. Next is the ability to solve problems. Employers want to know that as an employee faced with a problem of any type, that we have the ability to fix it and move forward. Next of course the employer is looking for our competency in the desired field. Obviously this is why we are in school and work hard in school, to prove to employers that we can fulfill the desired responsibilities. Next I think employers look for determination in an employee because they want to know that we will work hard for them and get the job done. They want to know that we care about our work and will produce good results. Finally employers want an employee that wont be a liability and is honest in his or her work. They want an employee that shows ethics and values and shows that they wont cause further legal or ethical problems. Overall those are the top priorities that employers have in mind while looking for an employee and I hope that I can continue to develop them.

Is listening important?

The answer to the question above is invariably yes. Listening is, in my opinion, the most important aspect of the communication cycle. I say that because my own personal experience has shown that to me. I have discovered that in situations where I am required to speak to someone that my biggest concern has always been, what should I say. Often times I find myself thinking of that same question while someone is speaking to me, instead of listening I preoccupy my mind with what I am going to say next. Experience has taught me that I have been going about it in the wrong way. I have learned that while I am in any situation where I am communicating verbally with anyone that by focusing on what the other person is saying, and why they are saying it, that I am capable of responding to their needs. I am able to process what it is that the person is saying and why they are saying it, and I am able to respond with questions or with action.

By putting more effort into the listening aspect of the communication cycle, we get a better understanding of the motives of the person speaking to us, which helps us understand better exactly what is going on. We are able to perform tasks and requests with more accuracy, respond to questions with intelligent well understood responses, and express ourselves more clearly to the understanding of the listener. Often times the listening is overlooked so there is misunderstanding for both parties and a lot of confusion.

Economy is Self Fulfilling Prophesy

Economics is not my most favorite subject. As it turns out I don't like it at all. Some of the aspects and the principles of macro-economics can be intriguing to me but overall I don't much care about the rest of it. To me one of the most annoying aspects of economics is that it governs itself. What I mean by that is that when economists predict that something in the economy is going to happen it happens. Not necessarily that they foresaw that it was going to happen but that it happens because it was predicted and prophesied that it would.

Let me give an example and see if i can make this any clearer. Let's say that a famous economist predicts that there is going to be a large recession, that stocks may plummet ant that consumer trust in the market is going to fall. He says these things because of some small predictors that show a specific trend that may or may not lead to any specific destination. Because of this genius prediction people start to be a little more careful with their money, they spend less, invest less, sell the stock that they do currently have. So what happens? This recession that was predicted would happen actually ends up happening. People change their behaviors because of the economist and the prophesy of the recession is fulfilled. The sad thing is that people collectively aren't clever enough to figure this out so they listen to and follow every word of these famous economists.

NBC's Bad Decisions Have Cost Them

If you have watched T.V. at all within the last two months I am sure that you have heard about the whole late-night scheduling problems. These problems are the result of bad decisions that were made a few years ago to force Jay Leno out of his time slot and put Conan O'Brien in as his replacement on the Tonight Show. But this bad decision has led to even more bad decisions with their scheduling. NBC put Jay Leno on at nine o clock with his own show that has suffered very low ratings during the life of the show. In fact the rating were so bad that the local affiliates that show the news directly after the Jay Leno Show demanded that NBC replaces the show because their ratings were so low going into the news. So NBC decided to put Jay Leno back onto his old time slot and kick Conan O'Brien out of the network completely which has led to a backlash of criticism against NBC and Leno. All of these problems in accordance with other weak scheduling problems on the network has resulted in a 30% decrease in profits over the same quarter last year. Even with the Olympics on now they are losing in ratings to other networks such as Fox and ABC. I hope that NBC can clean up their act so that they can continue to provide quality programming for all to enjoy.

Toyota's Problems

I am sure that recently everyone has heard at least a little bit about what is going on with Toyota and the recent recalls that they have issued. I would like to talk a little bit about those. Recently Toyota issued 2 recalls that effected over 8.5 million cars. The first recall was because of the sticky accelerator problem, or in other words, the accelerator pedal would stick and the car would accelerate out of control. The second recall was for problems with the floor mat blocking the brake pedal. These two recalls have drastically hurt Toyota's image recently which many believe will result in a huge loss for the company.

Many believe that these recalls would also effect all of the many Toyota dealerships, but dealerships will only suffer small losses. All of the repairs that are being performed will be paid for by Toyota. So far overall sales haven't been effected as of late, but dealerships believe that Toyota will have a plan in place so that the dealerships will not be hurt too badly by these recent quality issues.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61A5GN20100211

Professionalism in the Classroom

Professionalism in the classroom is really acting the way you would act in a business situation. Basically you would just imagine how you would act while you were around your bosses and colleagues in your future career. How would you speak to them or act while they were speaking? That's how you should act in the classroom.

Specifically there are certain things that are very important. Most important to the classroom is that your behavior doesn't interrupt the teacher or distract others. Some good examples would be texting on your cell phone, talking to your neighbor, sleeping, and other distracting behaviors. The other side of the coin is that to be professional you must actively participate in what is going on in the classroom. If there is a discussion going on you must take part in it, or if the teacher asks a question you try to answer it or step aside while someone else does. To me the most important thing to remember is that to be professional in the classroom you are helping the learning in the classroom and not hurting it.

Health Care Alternative

In my Econ 1500 class I was required to read a book called The Undercover Economist. It is a very good book that basically teaches and gives examples of fundamental economics principles. One of those examples that I found most interesting was its description of an ideal health care system. It is a very appropriate topic especially for today with all of the changes that are being proposed for our current system. Our system has many problems including extremely high prices and lack of care for everyone. From an economical standpoint the example used in The Undercover Economist offers solutions to those problems.
The example used in the book is from Singapore where each person is required to put about $1500 in a high interest savings account that is specifically used for health care only. If there are individuals that cannot afford the full $1500 per year that is when the government can step in and help people afford health care that is effective and affordable. This type of system brings down the overall prices on health care since it will be something that all can pay for unlike the system we have now is set up so that the high prices pay for those who can't afford health care. Also one important aspect of this type of system is that the consumers still have the power to choose who provides their health care therefore maintaining competition and offering freedom to all in these types of decisions. Although now this kind of plan would be hared to implement in our country it is an interesting alternative that isn't ever discussed.

How Professional Blogs Help Businesses

Professional blogging is something that almost every business who wishes to have much widespread success has to participate in. In this technological every opinion counts society that we live in, it is a must. Blogging is the newest way to research companies and products. Each company has their own blog showcasing their own research, products, and plans. Its an opportunity to communicate with the investors and potential investors and let them know how business is going and what their future plans may be. As the business if you aren't letting your investors know what is going on, others who blog will.

Not only that but it is another way to increase revenue. With blogging there are basically three ways to get revenue; advertising, paid research, and sometimes conferences. Information on the goings on of the company and other research about the market in which you operate is valuable information to some people. There are many ways that blogging can help businesses and those are just a few examples of how it can.

(contentmatters.info)