Can’t attend the class? Then check out the free video series, Free Video Series: Become a Project Management Minimalist.

If you’re tired of wading through the rants of biased bloggers and media talkers, ProCon.org is ready to help you get the facts about the March 2010 US federal health care reform laws. So educate yourself and obtain some solid, unbiased, self-study material about this important landmark legislation.

This incredible website provides statements from experts and leaders such as Barack Obama, Ron Paul, The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), The Wall Street Journal, Sarah Palin, The New York Times, AARP, the IRS, The US Chamber of Commerce, AMA, and many, many others.  The statements are presented as responses to the following questions organized into several broad categories:

• “Bankruptcy … Will people no longer be at risk of medical bankruptcy?
• Congress … Does the new law limit health care coverage for Congress?
• Constitutionality … Are the new laws constitutional?
• Costs …
  • Will I pay less for health insurance?
  • Will the government help me if I cannot afford mandatory health insurance?
• Deficit… Will the health care reform laws decrease the federal deficit?
• Emergency Care … Will fewer people rely on emergency rooms for health care?
• Employers
  • Are all employers required to provide health insurance?
  • Are the new laws financially burdensome for businesses?
• Health Insurance Mandate
  • Are there penalties for not having health insurance?
  • Are there any exemptions to the mandatory health insurance requirement?
• Illegal Immigrants Are illegal immigrants covered in the new health care laws?
• Insurance Coverage
  • Can I keep my current coverage?
  • Can I get coverage for my child with a pre-existing condition?
  • Can my current insurance cancel my coverage if I get sick?
  • Can I get coverage despite having a pre-existing condition?
  • Can children up to age 26 remain on their parent’s health insurance?
  • Will lifetime or annual limits on coverage be eliminated?
• Insurance Industry
  • Does the new law encourage health insurance competition?
  • Do the new laws restrict insurance companies’ profits?
  • Are insurance companies still exempt from federal antitrust laws?
• Medicaid/Medicare
  • Will Medicare Part A, Part B, and Part D benefits increase?
  • Will more people be eligible for Medicaid?
  • Will the quality of care from public health programs such as Medicare and Medicaid improve?
  • Will Medicare Part C (Medicare Advantage) benefits increase?
• Medical Malpractice/Tort Reform … Should the health care bill have overhauled medical malpractice?
• Physicians
  • Will there be enough primary care physicians to meet the increased demand?
  • Will physicians’ reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid increase?
• Prevention/Wellness …  Is preventive care covered?
• Socialism … Are the 2010 health care reform laws socialist?
• Taxes … Will the new law lower taxes?”

Whew! This is a HUGE list of questions, and an incredibly comprehensive list of opinions presented in response to each! So go the the website, educate yourself and then take action to nudge your congressperson or senator to work for America’s best interests, as you see them.

URL:  http://healthcarereform.procon.org/

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• Learn How to Have a Civil Political Discussion: Use The Coffee Party’s SPHERE — http://www.bestfreetraining.net/?p=1767
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• ProCon.org: Learn the Facts About Controversial Issues– http://www.bestfreetraining.net/?p=1229

Pictured above: One of many great free resources for students reviewed on this website last year. Check out the list below!

• Study PDFs & eBooks, then Highlight & Add Notes with PDF-XChange Viewer
• Khan Academy: Over 1600 Videos on Math, Science & More!
• Best of LearnOutLoud’s Free Resources
• How to Upload PDFs (eBooks) to Your iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader & NOOK
  
• LinkExtend Toolbar: Learn More While You Search & Stay Safe!
• 2010 Collection: Boredom Breakers for Kids on Summer Vacation
• click! photography changes everything
• Simple Studies Online Accounting Training
• Get Ready for Your SAT Exams (College Boards)!
• Web MD Health Video A-Z: Videos & Much More!
• From AARP: “How to Learn Just About Anything Online … For Free”
• Guide to Online Schools’ Listing of Free Online Classes
• 2009 Update: The Kid Stuff Collection
• Stocking stuffers? Why not stuff an iPod or MP3 player with free learning challenges?
• Free Kindle Software + 1000s of Free Downloads = Free Kindle Books on Your PC!
• eduFire Business Channel: Attend or Teach Free Online Business & Career Classes
• Over 6000 Free Math Worksheets!
• Study Skills Guide from Education Atlas

Below are links to Back to School Guides that I published in previous years at this time. Most of the sites reviewed are still going strong, so I hereby encourage you to revisit these posts. Happy back-to-school days!

From 2009…

• 2009 Back to School Guide: Useful Free Resources for Students

From 2008…

• Back to School Guide: Useful Free Resources for Students

Since most computers come with the free Adobe Reader software, almost everyone is able to view PDFs as soon as they turn on their device.  However, if you use Adobe’s free Reader software to view these documents, you won’t be able to make changes or annotations.

“]

(Above: A Sample eBook Page Annotated by PDF XChange Viewer)

Enter Tracker Software’s amazing free software, PDF-XChange Viewer.

With this powerful software you can open any PDF file, view it, and make all sorts of annotations. You then can “save a copy” with your annotations in place and retrieve it later for further study.

The screen shot above was taken when I opened a page from my eBook, The Project Management Minimalist, and entered annotations. As you can see, I was able to add arrows, call-out boxes, plain text boxes and yellow highlighting to the document while I was viewing it. What’s more, using PDF-Exchange’s “typewriter” feature, I was able to enter text on the document, as though I was filling in blanks! Very cool, indeed!

This powerful free software is loaded with great features that are too numerous to mention here. Anyway, don’t take my word for it… download it yourself and start playing with it!

• Read CNET Review & Download PDF XChange:
  http://download.cnet.com/PDF-XChange-Viewer/3000-10743_4-10598377.html
• PDF XChange website:  http://www.tracker-software.com/
• My eBook, The Project Management Minimalist (source of example/sample page above):   http://michaelgreer.biz/?page_id=636

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• How to Upload PDFs (eBooks) to Your iPad, Kindle, Sony Reader & NOOK
  
• LinkExtend Toolbar: Learn More While You Search & Stay Safe!

• How to Use the iPad Video Series
• Free Kindle Software + 1000s of Free Downloads = Free Kindle Books on Your PC!
• E-Books Directory

• Firefox + Add-ons = Power Tools for Learning! Part 1: Faster Research
• Firefox + Add-ons = Power Tools for Learning! Part 2: Save & Share Research Results Online
• Firefox + Add-ons = Power Tools for Learning! Part 3: A Personal ScrapBook for Your Training Stuff

• Study Skills Guide from Education Atlas
• How to Study
• Graphic Organizers: Tools for Instructors & Students [& Parents!
• GED for Free (Online GED Prep Course)
• 2009 Back to School Guide: Useful Free Resources for Students

This site is amazing!! Hundreds and hundreds of videos take you from the simplest math basics through the most complicated calculus and trigonometry. Broad science topics include many videos on biology, organic chemistry, physics and more.

Finally, there’s an idiosyncratic collection of other videos on topics as far-ranging as brain teasers, history, and the Geitner plan to solve the banking crisis!

From the website (my bold added):

The Khan Academy is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) with the mission of providing a world-class education to anyone, anywhere. Despite being the work of one man, Salman Khan, this 1600+ video library is the most-used educational video resource as measured by YouTube video views per day and unique users per month. We are complementing this ever-growing library with user-paced exercises–developed as an open source project--allowing the Khan Academy to become the free classroom for the World.

Key Features:

• The videos provide informal, but powerful, explanations that take you step-by-step through each topic. Because you can stop or rewind them as needed, you can create your own self-paced instruction.
• Practice exercises allow you to immediately test your knowledge of the topics. (A Google [eg. Gmail] account is needed to use the exercises… but this is available to anyone for free.
• An enthusiastic group of contributors are participating in this open source project, so the list of exercises and videos is continually growing.

I recommend you check back frequently for new topics!

Khan Academy URL: http://www.khanacademy.org/

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LearnOutLoud is a GREAT place to find all kinds of free audio & video resources (MP3 files, podcasts, and more) to support your self-guided learning.  Their latest free emagazine featured a collection of links to summary lists of freebies they’ve published in the past. I’ll let them explain, below:

From the LearnOutLoud emagazine July 29, 2010:

“In the past few years we’ve put together a lot of lists of the best free resources that we offer through our site in different categories that we feature. In case you missed any of those we wanted to offer you this list of those lists. We’ll start off with our top free resources from the past 4 years:

• Top 25 Free Resources from 2006
• Top 50 Free Resources from 2007
• Top 25 Free Resources from 2008
• Top 50 Free Resources from 2009

And here our some free resource lists that focus on specific topics. For many of these lists we have added new free resources and we’ve noted that below:

• Top 40 Free Audio Books Online
• Ten Famous Speeches in American History
• Ten Top Audio & Video Debates
• Top 25 Free Philosophy Books & Podcasts on Audio
• Top Ten Free Meditations
• Top 15 Free Online Psychology Audio & Video Resources (5 New Resources Added)
• Top 25 Free History Audio Titles (5 New Resources Added)
• Top 20 Free Self Help Titles (10 New Resources Added)
• Top 20 Wealth Building & Economics Free Audio & Video Resources (5 New Resources Added)
• Top 20 Best Contemporary Literature Author Interviews and Talks (5 New Resources Added)
• Top 20 Free Christian Audio Resources
• Top Ten Podcasts Featuring 100s of Thought Leaders
• Top 25 World Religions Free Audio & Video Resources (5 New Resources Added)
• Top 15 Free Liberal Speeches & Lectures
• Top 20 Free Conservative Speeches & Lectures
• Top 50 Free Motivational Resources

And our last group of lists is the best of resources from various spots on the web:

• Best of Free Audio Downloads on TeachOutLoud
• Best of LibriVox
• Best of FORA.tv

That’s enough lists for now. Enjoy all of these free resources.”

Disclaimer: The Best Free Training is proudly affiliated with LearnOutLoud. (Yep, we run their ads, get a few cents when you buy something there. But more importantly, I really believe in these guys and what they are doing!! They are changing the world for the better!) – MG

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Have you been wondering if its time to switch to Windows 7? This tight little mini-course from the HP Learning Center can help you decide. According to the website: “This quick lesson is designed for small business owners and their employees all around the world.”

This concise lesson provides a no-nonsense introduction to Windows 7 Professional that can help you can decide if it’s right for you or your business.  Plenty of screen shots are provided.

Topics include:

• Usability features, including the new Aero interface, Windows Explorer, etc.
• What distinguishes Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate versions
• New performance & power management features
• Compatibility with older Windows programs
• Networking & device managment features
• Security & reliability
• Why some experts consider Windows 7 the most reliable & secure version of Windows to date

As of this writing, 28 users rated this course 4 out of possible 5 stars.

Course URL: http://h30187.www3.hp.com/articles/viewArticle/p/courseId/39577?dimid=1132766974&dicid=&jumpid=em_edm/us/jun10/smb/across-bg/newsletter/mrm/mcc/loc/atworktop/model_desc

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• Alison ABC IT (1-2-3) [Basic Computing & IT Skills] – http://www.bestfreetraining.net/?p=277

• Microsoft’s Office Online Training – http://www.bestfreetraining.net/?p=996

If you’re like most of us, you wish your vacations would last much longer. In fact, I confess that I used to start feeling the dread of “vacation’s over” several days before my precious vacation was actually over.  I’ve since discovered, however, that my meditation practice provides me with brief, refreshing “daily vacations” every day.  So this year, why not use your official vacation time to learn to meditate? Unlike that sunburn and your empty wallet, your new meditation practice will continue providing daily benefits long after your official vacation’s just a memory.

Below are some great free resources and links from The Best Free Training that can help you get started:

• Beginner’s Guide to Meditation: Part 1, Jon Kabat Zinn & Mindfulness
• Beginner’s Guide to Meditation: Part 2, Free Tools from Jet City Orange

And here are a couple of related blog posts (also available as podcasts) from my Inspired Project Teams website. While these were written with project managers and project teams in mind, they are suitable for use with you and your family.

• Practice Mindfulness
  Focus:  the power of mindfulness — the practice of bringing your full awareness into the present moment – and how you can expand upon your inherent ability to practice mindfulness
• Tend Your Gardens of Thought
  “A man’s mind may be likened to a garden, which may be intelligently cultivated or allowed to run wild… whether cultivated or neglected, it must and will bring forth…”
• Consciously Choose Your Attitude
  A project team’s attitude can make or break the project. In this post learn how you can consciously choose your attitude instead of simply allowing it to overtake you as a collection of random feelings.
• 10 Specific Actions That Can Help You Become Happier
  When individual team members are happy, the entire team will likely be happy! But how can you become happier? In this podcast I share 10 specific actions that I’ve taken to create more happiness in my life.

Namaste!

From the website: “This free online course for project managers, retail managers, and other business managers [is] about overcoming teamwork challenges… it discusses topics such as team roles, team organization, conflict, team politics, and non-participation of team members…”

From the website: ” [This course is] …divided into short lessons with [audio-narrated] slide examples to illustrate issues clearly and in real-world settings. Plenty of practice situations, drag-and-drop interactive choices, and feedback allow you to engage the concepts and remain fairly active throughout.”

Topic Outline: Teamwork Challenges

• Clarifying your purpose on the team
• Organizing team meetings
• Dealing with team conflict
• Dealing with deadlines
• Dealing with team politics
• Dealing with overly aggressive team members
• Dealing with nonparticipating team members
• Dealing with difficult decisions
• Dealing with breaks in confidentiality

Instructional Design

• Slide images with narrations and complex audio case-study scenarios
• Analysis questions with opportunities to respond
• Feedback based on your response
• “Roll over” items that provide pop-up explanations
• Reference resources in the form of MS Word files which can be downloaded

Discussion

This 2 1/2 hour (approx.) self-study course is based around narrated slides that include audio case study scenarios. As each topic is presented, a brief overview of key team management concepts is provided, followed by a few slide/audio scenarios. These allow us to listen as teams interact, argue, and generally try to figure out how to deal with the team issues presented in the scenario while they try to move their complex project forward.

As each brief scenario was completed and I was challenged to figure out the situation, I found myself looking forward to the next installment and to finding out what happens next! These scenarios are complex, rich, and help illustrate the subtle behaviors that make managing teams so tricky.  Tools, in the form of Word worksheets and guidelines, are included for reference. Appropriate team behaviors are modeled and situations are presented for the student to analyze and figure out how to respond to.  Practice matching exercises, complete with feedback on wrong choices, help the student learn how to select appropriate strategy for handling situations from a set of choices.

Technical Note: A couple of times the navigation got a bit strange as I seemed to hit a deadend. However, this inconvenience was easily overcome by using my browser’s “back” button. This minor issue is offset by the large amount of valuable content presented.

URL:  https://www.latitudeu.com/onlinetrainingcourse/detail.aspx?iResource_ResourceID=88&CourseID=66

Related Website:

My Inspired Project Teams website (so far) has 30 podcasts & blog posts loaded with “enduring wisdom and guided challenges to help your project teams achieve their best.”  Each includes:

• Quotations, war stories, examples, and a little philosophy
• Reflections to think about… as project manager or project leader.
• Team Challenges – Questions and suggestions to challenge your teams to stretch and grow.
• Project Manager Challenges – Specific actions for project managers or team leaders.

URL:  http://www.inspiredprojectteams.com/

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• Introduction to Operations Management
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