Madden NFL 11 Football Madness Tournament August 20th!!!

On August 20th, CBT West Kendall will be hosting a Madden NFL 11 Football Madness Videogame Tournament! The event is free to register. All you need to do is sign up. The platform used will be X-Box 360, and it will follow the NCAA March Madness format. It's a single elimination style tournament. There will be some amazing prizes for the winner and the event will have free food, music, and other giveaways. Finally, I don't want to make any promises, but we are making arrangements to have some great guests at the event. You will NOT wanna miss it!!!! Best of all.....IT'S ALL FREE!!!!!!

Check out the website

CBT's Madden NFL 11 Football Madness Videogame Tournament

Madden NFL 11 at IGN.com

More Madden NFL 11 Info

More Madden NFL 11 Info

Madden NFL 11 at IGN.com

The Benefits of a Private College

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There are many common myths when it comes to college. For example, the freshman fifteen! While it does happen to some (I have seen some people suffer from the freshman 30), it’s not across the board. Another very common misconception held by most is that private institutions are way too expensive for he regular folk. Let’s just put that one to bed right now, because it’s just not true. What is true is that very often, you get what you pay for.

“Private colleges and universities function independently of any public sources and government funds.” These schools are privately owned and operated, which makes them able to set their own rules and standards (for the most part). Of course, these schools still adhere to their regulations set forth by their accrediting counsel and commissions, but they don’t necessarily have to adhere to state policies for admissions and overall school procedures. It’s actually quite similar to the way private elementary and secondary schools are run. And if you think private colleges and universities are too expensive or “selective” for you, think again…

So what are the big differences between a private college or university and a public university?

Affordable High-Quality Education

As I stated earlier, the common myth is that the cost of attendance at a private college or university is out of reach of most students; “only the rich kids get in because they can pay”. This is completely and utterly false! In fact, most small liberal arts colleges make very attractive financial aid and grant offers to all types of students regardless of financial means. While they may look a little pricey on paper, the truth is small colleges seek well-rounded student bodies, and work hard to include students from all regions, all ethnic backgrounds and all income levels. To hammer this home further, since they are smaller, they have more flexibility with their admissions decisions and are more able to work individually with parents and students to create an affordable college education. They are more inclined to accept a student with learning impairments, lower SAT or ACT scores, and other issues.

Smaller Class Sizes

Since the campuses are typically quite small, private colleges also have small class sizes. This allows for greater student/professor interaction and a more engaging learning experience. The benefit of this is obvious, but I will delve into it a bit. Smaller class sizes mean that the professor has more time to be able to work closer and on a more personal level with students. This benefits students who have more trouble with a subject than others. It also allows students to engage their fellow classmates and professors and feed off their knowledge. It is doubtful that you will encounter this level of help in the gigantic lecture hall on a private campus. When you’re considering type of school, imagine the type of classroom you picture yourself thriving in. What kind of learner are you?

Greater Class Participation

Smaller classrooms and a lower student to professor ratio means much more opportunity for engaged student participation. Timid students are more likely to communicate in a smaller, intimate setting than a lecture hall with 350 students. Also, a small group of students is more able to engage in quality discussions and interact on a more personal level with professors.

Unlike larger universities, private colleges put professors in every class. Large university courses may often be taught by professors’ assistants, or doctoral students instead of professors. In addition, these professors are often times notable members of their field of expertise, and are only employed by that university so that they will publish papers, articles and bring notoriety to the institution. The schools are often given large research grants by major companies because of the expert they have on their staff. The obvious result here is that the professor cares less for the students and the material he/she is teaching, and more for the large pay check that comes from the research they are involved with.

Granted, not all professors in public universities are like this. I, for instance, had great experiences with the professors in my department at FIU (a public university in Miami, FL). More often than not though, students leave fairly dissatisfied with their experience from public universities. Once again, not all public universities are like this. The University of Florida, for example, is full of the best and brightest students and professors. Rarely will you meet someone who has a bad experience at UF. The same can’t be said for Miami Dade College or FIU. Case in point, take a stroll through FIU’s Office of the Registrar, or Financial Aid department the first week of any term. Stand in the 4 hour line and when you reach the end of it, try asking the FA Officer to go through each line of the FAFSA with you. Just wait and see their reaction to that request. Ask the Graduation department why you graduated in December and still haven’t received your diploma in April…..

I speak the truth my friends….

Private colleges offer students a better learning environment and facilitate your education in a way public universities don’t have the ability to.

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A True Resume Booster

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So, everyone knows the importance of a resume, right? There are thousands upon thousands of articles online about resume writing and resume optimization. Don’t do this, include that, don’t use this word….. And while yes, those tips are valid and can get your resume noticed and reviewed, the content and credentials you offer will ultimately get you the job. So, what is it that we need in today’s situation to make sure we get the position we want, and not the first one that takes us: education, experience, and certifications.

Of course, a fresh college graduate may not come in with the apparent new standard of two years experience, which to me is ridiculous. My question to employers everywhere: how is a recent grad, who may in fact be the next innovator in his/her field going to get any experience if not given an opportunity? How do we expect people to have experience if no employer is willing to be the one to give the experience? I understand certain fields may be more justified in this qualification, but in general, not accepting a perfectly qualified candidate with great hands on training, excellent grades and top notch, industry certifications just because they have yet to acquire two years of experience is a bit ridiculous.


In my honest opinion, education and certifications are more telling than experience, and should be seen as such. Education tells an employer than you are most likely up to date on all the latest information, theories, and training in your field, while certifications show a preparedness to step in immediately and be able to perform at a high level with minimal training from the employer. Experience, on the other hand, could be very good but also very bad. For example, if a certain candidate has ten years of experience, yet no formal training and no certifications, that candidate could have been performing the duties you require inefficiently, ineffectively, or incorrectly for the last ten years. Let’s just say the candidate has been performing the duties correctly, but not in a way that you like for the last ten years. I wonder how much time needs to be spent breaking ten years of habits… On the other hand, you have a recent grad from a Networking Administration program, with no formal experience, but a 3.8 GPA, A+, Network+, MCSA, and CCNA (Cisco) certifications. This person is more than qualified to be your help desk analyst. He also has no bad habits acquired from years of doing things “his way”. The employer can then mold this person to do the tasks to their liking.

Where am I going with all this? While experience is great and shows you probably know how to handle the tasks, and education demonstrates your knowledge of the subject matter, certifications offer both of those things rolled into one! My point is simply that if you can add any certifications to your credentials, do so because they truly go a long way. Even if it’s something as simple as MOS (Microsoft Office Specialist), it really says something. Anyone can claim to be proficient in Word, PowerPoint, and Excel, but an MOS has proof. Anyone can say they have a mastery of the Adobe Suite, but an ACE (Adobe Certified Expert) with a great portfolio has proof!


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The Importance of Social Media Marketing: Why You Should Learn and Master it

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Social media marketing is the process of promoting your site or business through social media channels and it is a powerful strategy that will get you links, attention and massive amounts of traffic.

There is no other low-cost promotional method out there that will easily give you large numbers of visitors, some of whom may come back to your website again and again.

If you are selling products/services or just publishing content for ad revenue, social media marketing is a potent method that will make your site profitable over time.

Those who ignore the efficacy of social media usually fall into three categories; the ones who don’t know much or anything about social media, the ones who are interested but don’t know how to use it and those who don’t believe in the value that a social media strategy can bring to any site or business.

The Value of Marketing Through Social News Websites

Image Credit: Poster Web 2.0

For those who don’t understand or see the value of social media websites, let’s take a look at the benefits of creating viral content and effectively promoting them through social media channels.

Developing link baits and successfully getting it popular on various social media websites like Digg and StumbleUpon will lead to multiple benefits for any website:

• Primary and Secondary Traffic. Primary traffic is the large amount of visitors who come directly from social media websites. Secondary traffic is referral traffic from websites which link to and send you visitors, after they come across your content through the social sites.
• High Quality Links. Becoming popular on social news websites like Digg or Reddit will get you a large number of links, some of which may be topically relevant, some not. A good story can realistically acquire a large number of high quality editorial links, most of which cannot be easily bought.

Now let’s translate this into tangible benefits for your website:

1. Links = Better Search Engine Rankings.

When a website receives a large number of natural, permanent links from trusted domains, it develops authority. Search engines trust it. If you optimize your linkbait and website structure properly, you can easily start ranking for competitive keywords, which will in turn bring in search engine visitors.

Do this often enough and your search traffic will undoubtedly increase. In a sense, you are obtaining these quality links through borrowed trust. Many bloggers and webmaster still think that if an article is on the Digg or del.icio.us homepage, then it’s probably worth checking out and referencing through a citation link.

A new website may find it difficult to gain links from a critical mass that is not familiar with it but a trusted social news resource makes it easier for links to come in, because the community and buzz has somewhat ‘certified‘ the value of the site. Note that the actual strength of the article is still of utmost importance for all.

2. Primary + Secondary Traffic = Community/Supporters.

Some people claim that social news websites only send useless traffic, visitors that will often just view a specific webpage and click away. Yes, that’s usually the case. Sites like Digg are notorious for their poor bounce rates: many visitors drop in for the article and then leave after reading it. StumbleUpon is much better in this aspect.

But don’t mistake this with a lack of interest. Your subscriber figures will often take big jump up and then stabilize after a few days. If your entire site is relevant to the general interests of the social media website, there will always be a handful of social users who will start to track your site in order to submit future content.

Detractors also ignore the power of ultra targeted secondary traffic. General sites or blogs in the same niche will link to a story that’s popular on social sites, because it adds value for their readers or users. This is done naturally on a daily basis for many.

While primary traffic usually comes in a larger volume, I would argue that secondary traffic is more valuable. Why? Because links from other websites bring visitors who are very likely to be interested in your content. These citation links demonstrate recognition of your site in the eyes of others. It builds your brand.

Think of the social news site as a platform or a soapbox. As something that gives you a chance to be heard or read, even for a brief moment of a few hours. The people who are drawn to your message will visit your site and recommend it to others.

Four Reasons to Practice Social Media Marketing

Image Credit: Poster Web 2.0

Why bother exploring social media as a marketing channel for your website or business? After all, you could stick to link exchanges, search advertising or the purchase of banner and editorial ads on relevant sites.

Here are some reasons why you should consider using social media:

1. It’s natural. Not only do you get natural links without any discernible pattern, your website is exposed to large groups of people in a spontaneous fashion. This differs from paid advertising which has overt commercial overtones.
2. It’s defensible. Once successfully mastered, social communities can be a great source of web traffic on top of any traffic you are already receiving from search engines. While you can’t easily increase your search engine traffic, social media traffic can be very easily controlled through strategic marketing.
3. It’s low-cost/high returns. If done by yourself, costs are limited to only time and perhaps the expenses involved in hiring a freelance programmer/designer. The benefits will often exceed the cost. It would take you thousands of dollars to buy many links; social media has the ability to give you that for free.
4. It complements other efforts. Social media optimization and marketing is usually community-specific. It doesn’t interfere with any other methods of getting traffic to your website. It can and will fit perfectly with an advertising campaign targeting other websites or search engines.

So How Does Social Media Help Me to Make Money?

It doesn’t. At least not directly. Every site or business that wants to expand and become profitable, needs a core group of supporters who will be willing to make purchases or recommend the site to others. Your site needs to perpetuate itself.

The more supporters you have, the faster word spreads about your site. Social media marketing is an excellent way to get people to come into your site to take a look at at what you have to offer. You will grow when there are a group of loyal visitors ready to always act upon what you have to offer.

Because social media websites can be leveraged for links and better search rankings, they can greatly increase your site’s income potential. For example, you will be able to price ads higher or generate revenue from any paid business models.

Why Bloggers Should Learn How to Use Social Media

Image Credit: Climate Change Protest

There are many ways to build a popular blog and many methods to promote your website. For example, you can start leaving comments regularly on many high traffic blogs in your niche or perhaps, consider guest posting on other bigger blogs.

My marketing strategy for blogs is very simple. I don’t comment actively, hold contests or write guest posts. I’ve never done any of that for any blog I’ve ever set up. Some people might enjoy doing it but its just a little too tedious for me.

What I do instead is strategic. I focus on creating just one excellent blog post, which I will then push through social media sites and email pitches to other bloggers. This is straightforward and I don’t have to run around many blogs putting up my URL and thinking of something insightful to say.

Think about it. Why write 50 guest posts for 50 different blogs when you can easily just write one article and get an equal amount of links and greater traffic through the use of social media? Guest posting builds relationships but I reckon there are many more powerful ways to network with others.

It isn’t just about creating articles and then promoting them on social sites as an afterthought. It’s about putting social media in the center of your marketing strategy, optimizing your site or content and making it an attention magnet.

Social Media and It’s Potential for Your Site: An Example

I recently launched a new blog a months ago and took around 20 hours to create a feature article. I subsequently promoted it on various social websites through my own influencer profiles. I also sent out emails to large sites in the same niche.

The article eventually got to the Digg, del.icio.us and Reddit frontpage and received over 140+ reviews on StumbleUpon. It accumulated well over 800 unique links, including some from very heavily trafficked websites. Some of them alone sent more traffic than the frontpage of del.icio.us.

The article is more than a month old and it is still receiving incoming links. Subscribers are up by over 800% and I received around 12K pageviews everyday for the first month. Bear in mind this is only a one month old site.

While not every article in every niche will receive the same amount of attention or success, this illustrates the great potential of social media. I’ve become a firm believer in having a solid social media strategy for every website I develop. It is important for success on every level, even for sites that are already popular.

Fundamentals of Social Media Marketing: An Article Series

Image Credit: johnxlewis

Social media marketing is not difficult at all. It is something every one can do with some effort and knowledge. It isn’t some secret art form that only experts can master. Unlike other skills, social media has a remarkably low barrier of entry. Everyone is invited to the party. No one is excluded.

I know how social media works. I know what type of content/bait works for different websites. I know what type of marketing strategy to adopt for a high possibility of success. This knowledge is something you can acquire yourself too.

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Madden 11 Demo Arrives on July 27

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As I first reported during E3 the Madden 11 demo will feature full five minute quarters, and we’ve known for a long while now that the matchup would be New York Jets vs Indianapolis Colts. Gamespot today revealed more details which includes the news that the demo will arrive for both the 360 and PS3 on Tuesday July 27th.

Also noted is the difficulty level will be selectable, gameplay sliders will be available to tweak, the game will be played at the New Meadowlands Stadium, and the ability is given to create a full GamePlan to use with GameFlow (using only the Jets or Colts playbooks however). Creating a Gameplan will also grant the “Master Strategist” achievement/trophy once the full version of Madden 11 is played.

Clearly this is a huge improvement over how the demo has been handed in previous years. I still liked the idea of using the new overtime period for a demo but having a full game is a great way to allow people to get a feel for the pace and features of the game rather than having a rushed and ultimately unsatisfying experience which has been the case in the past.

Start practicing for CBT's Madden Tournament :)

Will digital medical records save your life?

The push is on to convert by 2014. How you can protect yourself until then..

7/16/2010

As far as medical health records go, we're kind of trapped in a weird state of transition that can be confusing, frustrating, and even dangerous for patients.

Many doctor's officers and hospitals still use traditional paper files, or a mix of paper and electronic files, while fewer than 10 percent have transitioned into the world of electronic health records. But that number is likely to grow sharply over the next three years because of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The stimulus package provides incentives for physician practices and hospitals to convert to electronic health-record systems that fit government criteria by 2014.

Although it will be very difficult for 100 percent of doctor’s offices and hospitals to go electronic by the administration’s 2014 goal, there’s a good chance at least one of your healthcare providers will.

"Electronic health records incentives decrease over time, so the earlier doctors implement them, the more incentive money they earn," says electronic health records expert Paul Tang, MD, an internist and vice president and chief innovation and technology officer for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation in California. "After 2014, there's actually a penalty if you haven't implemented."

Currently, some health systems already use electronic health records to pull up patient history and lab results. However, these records don't contain patient information from other healthcare systems or specialists, and other institutions can't access the information. As doctors sign onto the government plan, though, all of your doctors, no matter what hospital or specialist you're seeing, will be able to pull up all of your health information in order to make the most informed decision on your care.

Many of the electronic health-records systems that meet the government criteria will feature an integrated personal health-record component, making it easier for patients themselves to access their records and lab results, and even to communicate with doctors and nurses online. "The integrated version is like a patient's view of their electronic health record," says Dr. Tang. "That probably, in my opinion, has the greatest value to consumers." However, those systems should not be confused with commercially available electronic personal-care records that allow consumers to enter their own information online. Such records aren't protected by privacy laws, Tang warns.

Nadereh Pourat, PhD, associate professor of health services at the UCLA School of Public Health and the director of research planning at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research, says universal health-record systems could also be a great resource for researchers.

"There's a great potential for studying the data at a population level and understanding what needs to be done," she says. "Greater societal benefits could come from electronic health records."

Life-saving, cost-effective

Electronic health records could save your life in extreme cases, or at the very least help your doctor make smarter choices in treating you. They should make your life easier, too: No more dragging a list of medications and past drug interactions to the physician's office every time you see a new doctor (and hoping you didn't forget something), or relying on one doctor's office staff to send or fax everything to another. And with universal electronic records in place, emergency room physicians will be able to quickly pull up a patient's medical conditions, medication lists, allergy information, previous lab studies, and history of adverse medication side effects, if any, which can help E.R. docs make more pinpointed decisions. Currently, emergency room doctors have to make critical decisions with limited patient information in order to save a person.

Pourat also points out that smaller doctor's offices and patients of primary-care providers will also benefit through cost savings and more face time. "Doctors will be able to immediately enter their notes right there. This saves time because doctors typically spend several hours a day redoing work by re-entering notes from patients' charts," she explains. Until we get through this transitional period, here's what you need to know about electronic health records.

Be very wary of commercial personal-health records. Some health-related websites and other commercial sources offer personal health-record-keeping services, allowing users to sign up and to upload their own health information and medical records. These records are not protected by privacy laws, as healthcare records are, so unless you read the fine print when signing up, you don't know who will see your personal information. Dr. Tang says that while insurance companies may not make decisions on coverage based on individual commercial health plans, they could aggregate information and use the information to deny coverage in the future to patients like you. (Note that this is different from online tools that help you log or track your workouts, weight-loss plan, and other healthy lifestyle efforts.)

Plus, these commercial systems rely on patients' uploading their own information. Forgetting to type in certain medications or lab results could results in dangerous drug interactions or repeated lab work.

For now, says Dr. Tang, it's best for patients to keep private copies of their own lab results, medications, symptoms, diagnoses, and allergy information, whether that means keeping everything in a filing cabinet in your home office or using a stand-alone computer program that stores the details on your home computer. Make sure every doctor you visit sees the most up-to-date information.

Look for an integrated practice. Start asking your doctors if they plan to adopt an integrated electronic health-records system, which would help them manage your health more effectively, and allow you to access your records online, including receiving test results much faster.

Madden 11 Tourny: Coming in August!

http://www.cbt.edu




So, just to keep everyone in the loop as it pertains to CBT events, the video here is from our first LAN Bash. For those who are unfamiliar with what LAN is...
Well it stands for Local Area Network. So imagine, a room with 20 computers all linked together to play a video game, such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, or World of Warcraft. This event was a huge hit and a lot of fun to plan and take part in. I'm not going to lie though, it was hectic and took quite a lot of work to make happen. The end product was amazing though, and I guess that's all that really matters, right?



After LAN Bash, we had our Grand Opening! This event was even crazier to get together, since it was an all day event with several different activities. We had program presentations by professors, business to business networking time, an amazing, young politician cutting a ribbon and giving a speech for the ages! Finally, we had one of my favorite musicians, a local legend in the Miami rock scene, James Partridge. For those unlucky few who have never heard James' music, he was the front man for bands such as 16 Gauge, Twice the Sun, Forelle and The Mauxms. He has more recently done solo work through projects called Translucia and Jimmy Whisper. Seriously, do your ears a favor and look for his music! Jimmy Whisper, the Mauxms and Forelle can all be found on iTunes.

One other great thing I forgot to mention about our events was the free food!! Who doesn't like free food? I'll be honest with you all: I love food! I am a food connoisseur, chef and critic. So, whenever I have the opportunity to get great food for free or even share great food with others, I am overjoyed. We have had everything from sushi, to delicious sandwiches, to ChicBerry frozen yogurt. By the way, if you haven't joined in on the new dessert craze that is self serve frozen yogurt shops, you should start now! In this new era of healthy food and living "green", self serve yogurt bars have replaced the Cold Stone and Marble Slabs of the world. ChicBerry is amazing! If you live in Miami, it's right across the street from FIU's Modesto Modique campus, right next to the Wendy's.

Alright, so enough about the past. Let us now focus on the future! We are looking to do big events every month here at CBT West Kendall, and the next one on my planning list is a Madden 11 Tailgate Tournament. This event is tentatively scheduled for mid August and will follow the format of a traditional Madden Tournament. It's going to have the feel of a tailgate, with the main attraction being Madden! So, after tailgating in the parking lot, you don't just get to watch the game, you get to take part in it! Best of all, it's all free!!! There will be prizes and music in addition to the gaming. I will pass along more details as I get them!






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10 Steps to Improving Your Photoshop Skills

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Steven Snell on Dec 27th 2008

Photoshop is an incredible tool for graphic design, but there is certainly a lot to learn for new designers, and there’s always more to master for those who are already experienced. If you’re currently working as a designer and looking to improve your skills, you probably find that time is a major constraint to improving your abilities.

If so, you’ll need to develop a plan to improve your skills step-by-step in the time that you have available. If you’re an aspiring designer, you may have no idea where to start in order to achieve the level of success of some of the Photoshop masters that we see online. In this, article we’ll look at ten steps you can take to progressively build your skills using resources that are readily available.

1. Follow Tutorials

Psdtuts+ is obviously focused on providing excellent quality tutorials for readers. Like Psdtuts+, there are a growing number of other websites and blogs that regularly publish Photoshop tutorials. All of these sites are valuable resources for improving your skills, whether you’re looking to develop specific skills or just looking to improve in general.

In order to take advantage of the tutorial sites that are available, subscribe to a few that you like the most so you don’t miss out on new posts (you may also want to bookmark other tutorial sites in case you want to find them in the future). With the amount of content that is published, you’ll never be able to work through each tutorial, and you’re unlikely to have an interest in all of them anyway.

Try to get in the habit of picking one or two per week to attempt on your own. For most of us, learning is much easier when we’re actually doing something ourselves, so working through the tutorials is essential rather than just browsing through them. If you use Google Reader you can star the tutorials that interest you the most so you’ll be able to easily find them when you have some spare time.

About six months ago Collis published a list of his favorite tutorial sites, which included: Tutorial9, PS Hero, Tutzor, PhotoshopStar, Tutorial Dog, Abduzeedo, PhotoshopGUIDesign, Worth1000, Digital Grin, and Photoshop Support. In addition to Collis’ list, PSD Learning, PSDFAN, PhotoshopTutorials.ws, and Photoshop Essentials are also good resources.

2. Experiment

The best way to learn anything new is to experience it for yourself. While following tutorials can be incredibly helpful, you should also take some time to just experiment on your own to see what you can create. You can try to apply things you have learned from tutorials, or just experiment with things you’re not familiar with. Photoshop has so many different functions, features and settings that you’ll really need to become familiar with them in order to understand their potential.

Free form experimentation can open up your creativity and help you to get more comfortable with Photoshop. In order to ever be able to put the lessons you learn from others into practice in real world scenarios, you’ll need to be able to do some experimentation and adaptation. There may be some tutorials that teach you exactly what you need to do, but more likely they’ll teach you a skill or technique that can be used on your own projects, but you’ll need to adjust it to fit with your particular needs.

When working with experimentation, find something that works best for you in terms of learning new things. I like to work with large images by experimenting with wallpaper design because the large canvas size opens up all kinds of opportunities and you can take it in just about any direction that you want.

3. Start with the Fundamentals

There’s so much to learn with Photoshop and so many possibilities that it is essential to get a firm grasp of the basics and fundamentals before attempting to move too far along. Like anything else, the foundation of your Photoshop knowledge is critical to the end result. If you’re new, rather than trying to follow along with advanced tutorials, take some time to get familiar with the basics before anything else.

Elite by Design published an excellent three-part series a few months ago on How to Master Photoshop in Just One Week. Part one of that series starts with some tutorials on all of the basics of Photoshop, including the interface, the tools, shortcuts and more. Having a solid working knowledge of these items will make it much easier when you want to work on something more complex later. Part two of the series covers such topics as typography, web components and photo manipulation. Part three covers more advanced tutorials.

On the subject of fundamentals, Psdtuts+ has some resources including: A Comprehensive Introduction to Photoshop Selection Techniques, Tools & Tips: Photoshop Actions, Tools & Tips, Smart Objects and Smart Filters, Tools & Tips, Photoshop Brushes, and 30+ Useful Resources for Improving Your Photoshop Efficiency.

4. Participate in Groups and Get Feedback

After you’ve learned by following tutorials and you’ve done some experimentation on your own, it can be helpful to get feedback and constructive criticism from other designers. There are groups of graphic designers all over the place that can be excellent sources of feedback. Psdtuts+ has its own Flickr group for this purpose and a number of other design blogs have their own groups as well. Additionally, there are hundreds of Flickr groups for designers that are not associated with a specific blog or website.

The Psdtuts+ Flickr group is very active with over 11,000 items and 4,000 members. Groups like this are great places to share your work with other designers who are also interested in improving their own skills. You can get involved by providing feedback to others on their work, and you’ll likely get more of a response on your own work. If you’re interested in a place where you can comfortably share your experimental work to continue the learning process, try some Flickr groups.

Other Flickr groups worth checking out include Abduzeedo, Go Media, Fuel Your Creativity, My Ink Blog, and Design Shard.

5. Blog about Photoshop or Design

If you’re attempting to improve your abilities with Photoshop, blogging on the subject will help you to stay active in your pursuits and it will force you to keep learning. Working on the content for your blog will be an excellent educational experience. Not all blogs are run by experts on the subject, in fact most probably are not. Many blog readers enjoy following a blogger who is truly developing along the way, and many of your readers will be going through similar situations in their own learning.

Once your skills have developed to a certain point you may also want to look into the opportunities available to write for other design blogs. Many of the larger blogs pay writers for their work, and blogs of all sizes are open to free guest posts in exchange for a link back to your own blog. While writing for your own blog will allow you the freedom to work on developing any skills that you like, writing for others will push you in other ways. In most cases, if you’re being paid for your posts, it is going to have to be quality work in order to get published. This means that you’ll need to keep stretching yourself and learning new things in order to develop the content. It can be difficult to write for other blogs, but it’s a tremendous growth opportunity if you’re willing to put in the work.

Psdtuts+ accepts unsolicited article/tutorial submissions, and a number of other sites are also actively looking for writers. Other websites and blogs that are looking for graphic design content include GoMediaZine, CreativePro, and SitePoint.

6. Subscribe to Online Galleries

Online galleries that display exceptional work by various artists are an excellent source of design inspiration. This inspiration will come in handy when you’re looking to experiment on your own and create impressive results. Galleries are great because you can quickly browse through a large amount of items, plus you can subscribe to get constant updates and you’ll never lack inspiration.

There are galleries for all different kinds of purposes. If your work in Photoshop is primarily related to web design, you may want to subscribe to a few web design or CSS galleries. Some of the top web design galleries include Best Web Gallery, CSS Mania, CSS Drive, and CSS Elite. If you’re focused on other types of design you may want to look for galleries that specialize in that particular aspect. Some good examples are Design Flavr, UCreative, FAVEUP, Logo Pond and Design Snips.

In addition to online galleries, social networking sites that allow members to post a portfolio can also be outstanding sources of inspiration. They can be a resource for posting your own work in addition to viewing the work of others. Top sites in this category include Behance, Carbonmade, and deviantART.

7. Find an Expert to Follow

Regardless of what field you’re in, following and learning from an expert can be incredibly beneficial, and graphic design is no different. If you hope to become a standout designer, why not find someone that you admire and pay close attention to their career and their work? Fortunately, being in a field that is often closely related to technology, it’s easy to find experts online and get exposure to their work, read their blog, and read interviews with them.

Psdtuts+ frequently publishes informative interviews with accomplished designers. These interviews provide insight into their lives and their careers that may help you some way in your own work. If you already have someone in particular that you admire, subscribe to their blog if they have one, find them on social networking sites, keep and eye on their portfolio, and just generally keep tabs on their career.

If you don’t have anyone in mind at this point, pay attention to work that you like in Flickr groups that you visit, see what stands out to you at design galleries, or find a particular tutorial writer that has a style which you appreciate. In some cases you may be able to get in touch with this person through their site or through profiles on networking sites, or you may choose to just quietly watch and learn from a distance.

8. Read Design Magazines

One of the downfalls of being in a field that has so many resources available online is that it’s easy to forget about all of the great offline resources at your disposal. While browsing through designer portfolios and subscribing to online galleries are great sources of inspiration, you may be missing out by not reading any traditional print magazines.

In addition to the inspirational aspect, articles in design magazines will often be a little bit different than the type of content you’ll typically find on blogs. If you want a well-rounded educational experience, find a few design magazines and see what appeals to you. Of course, each magazine will have a slightly different focus or approach, so look around a little bit to find a good match for your interests.

Just a few months ago You the Designer published a list 10 Amazing Graphic Design Magazines over a two-part series (see parts one and two) of magazines that are worth a look.

9. Try to Replicate the Work of Others

One proven way to learn is to attempt to replicate the work of other designers. I’m not suggesting that you rip off other designers by selling this work or taking credit for it as your own (which unfortunately is all too common, especially online). What I am suggesting is that in your own experimental work that is meant just for learning purposes, take an exemplary piece from another designer and do your best to duplicate it. If it’s just used for your own educational purposes and not sold or re-distributed it is perfectly acceptable. Also, unless you change and personalize this design dramatically, do avoid placing it in your portfolio.

In my own effort to learn web design I used to start with a finished product from another designer and attempt to achieve the same layout or some other aspect of the design. This was a valuable learning experience that helped to see how I could accomplish things that worked in real world scenarios. The same thing can be done regardless of what kind of design you’re working on. For example, find a few album cover designs that you like and attempt to re-create them.

By doing this you’re working towards the goal of creating a design that already has proven to be successful as a finished product. In addition to hopefully learning some new techniques in Photoshop, you’ll also pick up some general principles of good design that can be carried over to any work that you do.

10. Participate in Design Competitions

Once you’ve become pretty comfortable with your own progress in learning Photoshop, you may want to challenge yourself and have some fun at the same time by entering a design competition. In most cases there will be some potential prizes and you’ll be motivated to push yourself towards your true potential. Plus, you’ll often be able to see the work of other designers in the competition, which can provide you with some inspiration, and can give you a way to gauge your own skills and progress.

While the goal of entering a contest may be to win something, you’ll still benefit just by participating. It will give you the opportunity to create something specific for the purpose of being judged by others. In some cases you may receive some valuable feedback and you may get to see where you stand in comparison with some other designers.

Psdtuts+ has run several contests in the past, including the solving poverty button design contest, the AudioJungle wallpaper contest, and the Flickr group contest. Other blogs such as You the Designer have had design contests as well.

What’s Your Learning Strategy?

What do you do in effort to learn more about Photoshop and graphic design in general? If you’re an experienced designer, what approach helped you to get to where you are today, and what do you do to keep learning new things?

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Digital medical records get 5-year deadline: Next year, docs' offices, hospitals can get federal money to help with cost

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updated 7/13/2010 3:29:24 PM ET

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration on Tuesday rolled out an ambitious five-year plan for moving doctors and hospitals to computerized medical records, promising greater safety for patients and lower costs.

Starting next year, doctors' offices and hospitals can get federal money to help defray the costs of the systems, which can run to millions of dollars for hospitals. Providers who don't comply by 2015 will face cuts in Medicare payments.

Federal incentive payments for doctors and hospitals to buy computerized systems could reach $27 billion over 10 years, and that's only a fraction of what technology vendors stand to take in. It's hoped the investment will streamline the delivery of medical care, yielding long-run savings.

CBT offers HIMT degrees. Get in on this lucrative career before everyone else does. I promise you, just like Medical Coding and Billing has become saturated due to the insane influx of Americans jumping into that field, HIMT will soon see that happen. Jump into it now!! Message me for details!

Patients get the benefit of systems that can warn doctors before they make a mistake — prescribing a drug that could cause a severe reaction, for example. And there's also the convenience of being able to access records online.

The move by the Health and Human Services Department came with the release of two regulations hundreds of pages long. The main one described how doctors and hospitals can qualify for federal money by acquiring systems that meet certain "meaningful use" standards. A companion rule outlined how the systems will be certified.

Initial reaction from key interest groups was guarded. As lawyers pored over the text of the regulations, the American Medical Association said it was withholding judgment.

Federal officials said they tried to address doctors' concerns that the initial draft of the rule asked them to do too much, too quickly. More than half of family doctors practice in groups of four or fewer. A majority of small and medium offices have opted not to adopt electronic records because of costs and unresolved questions, according to the American Academy of Family Physicians.

David Kibbe, an adviser to the group, said that may start to change. "This is pretty good news," he said. "It will almost certainly translate into more physicians becoming participants in the electronic health records incentive program."

Money for electronic records was included in the 2009 economic stimulus bill.

Administration officials said they lowered the number of initial, "core" capabilities that the systems have to demonstrate in order for providers to get federal money, and allowed a longer period of time to achieve others.

They also lowered several additional requirements. Only 40 percent of medications will have to be electronically prescribed, as opposed to 75 percent as the government initially proposed.

The result "strikes the balance that was needed," said Steven Findlay, a policy expert with Consumers Union. "They give doctors the financial support to promote electronic records adoption without undue burdens. But they also hold doctors accountable for actually improving care and the health status of their patients."

The top government official overseeing the transition program says that reflects what happened to him in a previous stage of his career, when as a middle-age primary care doctor he was forced to learn to use electronic medical records.

David Blumenthal, now national coordinator for electronic health records, said the computer once saved him from prescribing a drug to a patient who was allergic to the medication. On many other occasions, he was able to avoid ordering duplicative tests, because earlier results stored in the system told him what he needed to know.

"I watched it make my care better before my eyes," said Blumenthal, formerly a prominent Boston area physician and Harvard professor.

Doctors' offices can receive as much as $44,000 through Medicare and $63,750 through Medicaid for installing computer systems that meet federal standards. Hospitals can receive millions.

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A New and Revolutionary field in American Medicine.

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There is a new wave taking over the medical field. It concerns our medical records. Right now, the medical records system we have in the USA is not very good. The system still utilizes paper records as the main source for medical documentation, patient history and the like. This puts us all at risk. Over 200,000 people die each year in the United States due to clerical medical errors. Issues such as not knowing a person's allergy history, medical history, etc. If you live in Miami, FL and take a trip to New York City and something happens while you're there, it will be very difficult for the medical personnel in NYC to get a hold of your medical history! That could lead to unnecessary procedures, allergic reactions, or even death.

Imagine with me: Your lifelong medical records are like a credit report. Everything that you have ever had done, any surgeries, allergies, X-Rays, Ultrasounds or procedures and ailments are all pooled together in one electronic file that can only be accessed via your personal information and permission by a Registered Health Information Administrator. This system can eliminate silly medical errors due to faulty clerical work, or lack of information!

Registered Health Information Technicians (RHITs) ensure the quality of medical records by verifying their completeness, accuracy, and proper entry into computer systems. They may also use computer applications to assemble and analyze patient data for the purpose of improving patient care or controlling costs. RHITs often specialize in coding diagnoses and procedures in patient records for reimbursement and research. RHITs may serve as cancer registrars, compiling and maintaining data on cancer patients. With experience, the RHIT credential holds solid potential for advancement to management positions and increase in salary, especially if it is combined with a bachelor's degree.

RHIT Career Outlook and Salary
Career outlook and salary potential for RHITs are excellent. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment in health information is expected to grow by 20% between 2008 and 2018, which is much faster than the average of all occupations. RHITs have excellent earning potential which only improves with further experience, education, and certification. New graduates with an associate's degree can expect to earn $25k to $35K, while graduates with a bachelor's degree can expect to earn $30k to $50k. Depending on the employment setting, many health information professionals with 5 or more years of experience can expect to earn from $50k to $70k.

RHIT Career Opportunties
RHITs have many employment options. Although most RHITs work in hospitals, you will also find them in a variety of other healthcare settings including office-based physician practices, nursing homes, home health agencies, mental health facilities, and public health agencies. In fact employment opportunities exist for RHITs in any organization that uses patient data or health information such as pharmaceutical companies, law and insurance firms, and health product vendors

Job Titles for HIT Professionals with RHIT Credential

Clinical Coder/Auditor	Data Integrity Specialist	Clinical Data Collection & Reporting Specialist
HIM Director	Quality Improvement Specialist	Document Imaging Coordinator
Consultant	Charge Master Auditor	Documentation Specialist
Instructor/Trainer	Cancer or Other Disease Registrar	HIM Department Manager/Supervisor
		Information Access/Disclosure Specialist

Preparing for a RHIT Career
First, RHIT candidates must hold a CAHIIM accredited Associate's degree in Health Information Technology. Although the associate degree curriculum offers some general education, the primary focus is more on the technical component of providing a variety of health information services. The curriculum is designed to prepare entry-level graduates with the knowledge and skills necessary to use, analyze, present, abstract, code, store and/or retrieve health care data for the support of departmental operations, and clinical and business decision making in healthcare, or related organizations. Second, RHIT candidates must pass the national RHIT certification exam. The 3 1/2 hour exam consists of 150 multiple choice questions. The pass rate of first time test takers for the 2009 RHIT Certification Exam was 82.7%.

The Health Information Management Technology (HIMT) program* is designed to prepare graduates who can identify and use a variety of health information technology resources and management technologies to accomplish the objectives of diverse health environments. In general, these professionals will have technical skills and knowledge that demands processing and maintaining health information data for tasks related to the use, analysis, validation, presentation, abstracting, coding, reimbursement, storage, security, retrieval, quality measurement and control of health care data.

Their responsibilities may also include supervision of personnel and research. The goal of the Health Information Management Program is to provide an educational experience within the framework of professional standards. Graduates of the program may be eligible to take the national certification examination to become a Registered Health Information Technician (RHIT).

Program Details

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