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The Internet is a phenomenon that has changed our world in many ways. We communicate, conduct commerce, and obtain information globally…all good things. However, it also has it’s dark side that we contend with too. 

The use of the Internet has globalized our communication and information gathering by allowing us to email, blog, and message text with people and business partners in almost every country in the world. This has increased our productivity and everyone’s ability to compete in the global economy. Our schools are able to compare teaching techniques and strategy with schools in other countries and help each other increase effectiveness. Our businesses, large and small, have the ability to buy and sell products in countries previously not possible because of logistical restrictions. Consumers have the ability to shop the world for goods and services previously not possible because of geographic boundaries. 

Considering all the good things mentioned above, we tend to ask ourselves what we ever did without the Internet. However, considering the “dark side” of the Internet, we wonder how long we’ll be able to continue to use it. 

When listing the Internets list of warts, the proliferation of pornography comes to mind first. Despite the efforts of law enforcement around the world; you can access any genre of porn in photographs and video very easily.

 Another wart on the list is criminal activity in cyber space. There are organized crime groups in many countries whose sole objective is to use the Internet to steal our money. 

Spam and Junk mail are next on my list of objectionable features on the Internet. We are inundated with a huge volume of malicious email that has doubled in the past year. Most of it a nuisance, some of which is an insult to our sensibilities. 

Finally, the proliferation of destructive viruses that harm our computers and cause us to lose our ability to use them until we remove the offenders. These malicious programs are created by two categories of criminals: the hacker; a programmer who wants recognition among the growing herd of hackers…there are conventions where they meet to brag on their accomplishments and obtain new skills; and the other group is the criminal faction mentioned above. 

All in all, I’d say that in spite of the list of dark side attributes, there is far more positive value we derive from the Internet. However, the lesson we must take from this phenomenon is that we need to educate ourselves on the downside problems of the Internet so that we are able to enjoy the positive attributes safely and securely in the future.

project management

I was hired last week into a position that will challenge me to grow beyond my experience as a photographer and toward a larger career as a teacher and writer. Thanks to everyone at New Horizons I have a better grasp of some of the technological aspects of the world that I am entering and, more importantly, a number of very impressive instructors to emulate. You really are all pretty amazing. I appreciate you and the excellent training at New Horizons.

Randy Armor, 2007 Project Management Student

Project Management Training

project management training at New Horizons of Boston is intended to introduce participants to the methods and tools of project management in order to improve the performance of projects. Our goal is to help enhance the success of projects within an organization, while also preparing students who are working toward successfully becoming industry certified as a PMP – Project Management Professional.

New Horizons offers a strong curriculum, based upon a proven methodology that provides individual certifications. Our unequaled delivery platform consists of curriculum created by industry subject matter experts and delivery by those same experts. Facilitators are recognized for their ability to provide instruction of theory and their ability to ground the theory in real-life application.

New Horizons Project Management Training can help your company:

Reduce project time and improve market responsiveness

Control costs

Achieve greater customer satisfaction

Increase morale and team building

Enhance productivity

Increase organizational effectiveness

To receive FREE information about Boston-area project management training, visit www.projectmanagementboston.com

About New Horizons Learning Centers of Boston

New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Boston provides learning solutions that help organizations achieve business results, such as increasing productivity and efficiencies, driving revenue, and reducing costs. New Horizons provides customer-focused training choices in multiple formats and delivery methods, offering organizations and individuals top-quality training that can be tailored to meet individual learning styles and specific needs.

Whether you are in search of a solution for the complex training needs of a large, multi-location business, or you are an individual seeking the skills to excel in a new or blossoming career path, New Horizons is your integrated learning solution.

New Horizons of Boston offers Desktop Applications Training, Technical Training, Certification Programs, Business Productivity Solutions, Professional Services and Enterprise Learning Solutions.

If you’ve spent much time playing around with Apple’s iPhone or iPod touch apps, you’ve probably come across one of the many drawing applications. These fun to use finger drawing games quickly pass the time away. But now there is a new twist to drawing with your hands called SpinArt by Brian Smith. This fun little application, which only cost $.99, lets you draw using over fifty different colors, including a glider option, with your choice of three different sized brushes. But there’s more! The fun comes when you whirl your canvas around as you splatter paint wherever your heart desires, creating beautiful spinning effects.

SpinArt is a simple program to pick up and use. There are three actions that one can choose from. The first is draw. This button, located on the top left-hand corner of the action palate is indicated by a collage of color. If clicked on, then you are free to choose one of the three different sized brushes by which you can draw. The stroke of the brush ends up looking like a splat of paint on the canvas. The second option is the Spin affect. The button is self explanatory with a picture of a spinning canvas and circular arrows. Chose this option and then using your figure, spin the canvas as fast or slow as you want it to go. The last option is the Settings button indicated by a star icon. When you click on the star a menu pops up giving you the options of a new canvas, saving the photo onto your iPhone or iPod, joining Flickr, or receiving more information about SpinArt.

The fun with SpinArt is that not only can you draw the image you have in your head simply by running your finger across a screen, but you can spin your canvas in circles while splashing paint across the board creating effects that simple point and paint apps haven’t dreamed of before. And there’s more. Your canvas doesn’t have to start out white as a sheet. You can start with a solid color by choosing that color before you erase the current canvas or choose a picture from your own photo library. The beautiful circular effects that paint on a spinning canvas produces will spruce up any one of your photos.

This fun little application is geared towards an audience who just want to have fun. Creating art has never been easier than it is with technology and now we can create modern art with just a touch of the finger. From young children old enough to hold an iPhone or iPod to the young at heart, this app is perfect for them all.

What’s unique about this application is the variety of images that you’re able to create with simply a few colors and brushes. The spinning affect on the canvas is a spectacular idea and one that is worth every one of the 99 cents it costs to play with. While there is currently no “light” version of this application and one must commit to the full version upfront, it comes highly recommended for it’s unique qualities and potential. It’s simply a whirl of fun.

Losing weight and staying fit is a goal for many. New technologies are always coming along to help us with our goals. With so many fitness gadgets on the market, the big question becomes which are good (because they can actually help you build muscle and lose weight), which are bad, and which are just plain crazy. Let’s have a look at a few fitness gadgets these from each category.

The Good

The good can help you build muscle or lose weight. Some can even do both, depending on the gadget.

Nintendo Wii – If you though the Nintendo Wii gaming console was just another game machine you’d be wrong. This revolutionary game console offers some terrific fitness programs, including Cardio Boxing, Wii Fit, and Jillian Michaels Fitness Ultimatum to name just a few. Yoga, Pilates, cardio, strength training, and sports are all just a disc away in your home. Many a couch potato has become a fitness buff since the Nintendo Wii.

Walk Vest – If you haven’t heard of the walk vest, it’s a heavy black vest that comes with eight pounds of weight up to sixteen pounds in the biggest vest. You increase the weight of the vest by placing weights in the pockets. It also includes a workout CD. It may not be pretty but it definitely makes your walk more effective.

IPod Shuffle – If you don’t consider the iPod shuffle a fitness gadget you’d be wrong. It’s a great way to take your mind off your taxing workout and keep you pushing on. After all listening to your favorite music can be energizing in itself.

The Ab Wheel – The ab wheel has you grab the handles located on each side and then you roll it along the floor as you stretch out. It’s a simple idea. Whether there’s any real value is debatable since the same benefit could be enjoyed from a crunch, but it may get a beginner going who might otherwise not get a great ab workout.

The Bad

While they may work, they just seem like a bad idea all around.

The Fitness Cube – The sales pitch is around how it will transform your body and take up little space in your home. It can be used as a chair, and hides a variety of accessories. Whether it’s got any real value appears to be a negative, although the infomercial is pretty funny.

The Perfect Pushup – If you thought the pushup was above being improved, you’d be wrong. The perfect pushup is a device with rubber bottoms and swivel handled mounts. The grip rotation lets you take your pushup to a new level. The question is whether there’s any real fitness value and the answer is no.

The Crazy

What fun would it be if we didn’t mention a couple of the crazy fitness ideas that have come to be.

iGallop – The iGallop is designed to simulate a horseback ride, working the thighs, lower back, and abdomen. That said Pilates are a much better workout.

Shake Weight – The object to Shake Weight is to have inertia tighten and tone your arms using vibration. Whether it works or not is really unknown but logic would say no. It is however one of the craziest devices we’ve seen.

There you have it. The good, the bad, and the crazy. It would seem that while fitness gadgets can certainly help build muscle and lose weight, they can also do nothing. Before wasting your money on something you won’t use–or that will break the first time you try it–it’s important to do some research. Read reviews online and follow your favorite health and fitness blogs. If you choose your fitness gadgets carefully, you might have a tool that can help you reach your goals; if you don’t choose carefully, you’ll just end up with more clutter that will end up in the garage.

The training and career services assistance at New Horizons was outstanding! As a result, I received two job offers in one week. Thank you very much for all of the job leads and I want you to know that I would recommend New Horizons as my number one choice for a training center. You have an excellent staff and trainers, and I loved the hands-on learning style that many schools do not offer.

~Paul J. Baur, 2007 Cisco student

 

New Horizons of Boston Becomes Cisco Sponsored Organization

New Horizons of Boston is proud to announce that it has become a Cisco Sponsored Organization, joining an elite group of Cisco authorized training providers under the sponsorship of New Horizons Computer Learning Centers, Inc.

Cisco Learning Solutions Partners (CLSP) and Sponsored Organizations are the only companies that are authorized to provide Cisco training. As a Sponsored Organization, Cisco’s first level of learning partnership, New Horizons of Boston trains on all of Cisco’s newest technologies and can customize training to support any client’s specific requirements.

As a Cisco Sponsored Organization, New Horizons of Boston offers:

Content authorized by Cisco and created by Cisco product teams

Certified Cisco instructors

The latest Cisco learning content

Virtual practice labs and simulations using up-to-date Cisco

 equipment to help you prepare for Cisco exams

To receive FREE information about Boston-area authorized Cisco training, visit www.ciscotrainingboston.com.

About New Horizons Learning Centers of Boston

New Horizons Computer Learning Centers of Boston provides learning solutions that help organizations achieve business results, such as increasing productivity and efficiencies, driving revenue, and reducing costs. New Horizons provides customer-focused training choices in multiple formats and delivery methods, offering organizations and individuals top-quality training that can be tailored to meet individual learning styles and specific needs.

Whether you are in search of a solution for the complex training needs of a large, multi-location business, or you are an individual seeking the skills to excel in a new or blossoming career path, New Horizons is your integrated learning solution.

New Horizons of Boston offers Desktop Applications Training, Technical Training, Certification Programs, Business Productivity Solutions, Professional Services and Enterprise Learning Solutions.