Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Three Tips for Simple Scholarships for High School Seniors

College is a near-necessity in today's job market, and tuition is rising at an alarming rate; there is no reason to pass up free money from simple scholarships for high school seniors. Sure, everyone has heard of the big-name scholarships that require a near-perfect GPA and high SAT scores, but what about for the average high school senior?

Where are their scholarships? Well, there are plenty out there if you look hard enough.

Tip #1: Do things other students don't like to do. For example, do the report or essay-type scholarships. These include the Ayn Rand "Atlas Shrugged" scholarship, the Big Dip scholarship, and the Share Your Story scholarship.If you're decent at putting your thoughts into words these will be a no-brainer to do for you. There are hundreds of them that receive less than 100 applicants a year just because students don't like doing work outside of what's required, so try your luck and you may be rewarded for half an hour spent typing on a computer. If nothing else, remember this tip to get simple scholarships for high school seniors.

Tip #2: Major-specific scholarships don't actually follow up on what major you do. 90% of all college students switch majors during their undergrad coursework, so no one will track you down and demand money back from you if you do too.

Friday, December 16, 2011

How to Compete With a Computer in the Design World of How to Compete With a Computer in the Design World of Future Concepts

Steve Jobs is reported as saying that "if you want to predict the future, the best way is to create it." Now he probably isn't the first person to say that, as it is a quote that goes back many decades. However, I can tell you as a futurist, and as the founder of a think tank, I've uttered those similar words, not because I heard them, because it's the reality in the world we live in today. Steve Jobs was right. Now then, I'd like to talk to you about something very serious along these lines.

In the future it will be artificially intelligent computers which are designing our future cars, aircraft, buildings, computer networking systems, social networks, personal technologies, and even our education system, and the way we live our lives. You think it won't happen, or perhaps you do, but I would submit to you that; this is our future. The question is; what about the creative geniuses of our time, will they be needed? Will we need great artists, designers, engineers, and prototype makers - perhaps not.

Consider someone designing a car, or even an aircraft. If the computer knows everything there is about wind tunnels, coefficient of drag, lift, and airflow, it will design the most efficient transportation device. It will just know how to do it. It won't matter that you're the greatest designer in the world, the computer software will build something more efficient than you can. Therefore, how do you beat an artificially intelligent computer which is busy designing new and future concepts? Now you might think that because you are human and you have certain types of creative thought that and understand people, that you can create something that other humans will like, and the computer will not be able to do that.