Monthly Archives: July 2009

This is part of a 2 week series called People Worth Knowing. We will be featuring great people throughout history that have had a great impact and changed the course of history. These are all people worth knowing, and their examples will lead us into a greater future.

Joss Whedon (1964–Present)

Do the creators of television shows wield enormous power in our modern world? If the average American truly watches an average of three hours of television a day, every day… are we really becoming slaves to the “idiot box?” Or is it possible for television show creators to use their power… for good? Continue reading →

Zen College Life has joined forces with Ivy Worldwide, Hewlett Packard, and Microsoft to offer you the best deal possible for all of your college computing needs.  In order to ensure that we are offering you the best, they have decided to send me a package of the computers to review for you.  I’ll save my initial review for another day, but let me just say that the package is AWESOME!

And the best part is that ZCL gets to give away a laptop, netbook, and Timbuk2 backpack (all very awesome stuff!).  24 other sites will also be giving away the same package, so you’ll want to check back and check often for your chance to win.  The first step to enter the contest will be to subscribe to ZCL, so get ahead of the crowd by doing so now: Subscribe. Also follow me on Twitter for faster updates: @ibrahimzcl. Here’s the schedule of the giveaway:

ZenCollegeLife contest starts September 4th and ends September 8th.  Stay tuned for details of the contest and follow me on twitter for fast updates! @ibrahimzcl

Continue reading →

This is part of a 2 week series called People Worth Knowing. We will be featuring great people throughout history that have had a great impact and changed the course of history.  These are all people worth knowing, and their examples will lead us into a greater future.

Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919)

Theodore Roosevelt, one of the four presidents honored on Mt. Rushmore, is well-known for his amazing political acumen. Everyone has heard of Roosevelt the Rough Rider, Roosevelt the President, and Roosevelt the Humorous, but few people have heard of Roosevelt the Family Man, Roosevelt the Diligent Reformer, and Roosevelt the Stalwart Christian. Continue reading →

This is part of a 2 week series called People Worth Knowing. We will be featuring great people throughout history that have had a great impact and changed the course of history.  These are all people worth knowing, and their examples will lead us into a greater future.

Tank Man

On June 5, 1989 the Chinese Communist Party brutally crushed the Tiananmen Square student uprising.  As a row of tanks rolled into the town to crush the riots and uprise, a solitary young man put his body in between the tanks and his town (that’s right, the image above accurately depicts the events of his fateful day).

The lead tank turned to go around, but he moved in front of it.  It turned again, and again he put his body in between the tank and it’s route.  This went on for a few minutes until the tanks finally agreed to turn of their engines.  Then he proceeded to jump onto the lead tank and scold the commander for shedding so much innocent blood (it is believed that about 2600 were killed and over 30,000 injured).  Continue reading →

This is part of a 2 week series called People Worth Knowing. We will be featuring great people throughout history that have had a great impact and changed the course of history.  These are all people worth knowing, and their examples will lead us into a greater future.

Avicenna (ibn Sina) (c. 980-1037)

Ibn Sina, known as Avicenna to westerners, was one of the greatest polymaths of all time.  Like Franklin, Ibn Sina was not just a jack, but a master of all trades.  His mastery included medicine, philosophy, astronomy, chemistry, geology, logic, paleontology, mathematics, physics, poetry, psychology, education, and more.  Ibn Sina is most well known for his works in modern medicine, as he is commonly referred to as the father of modern medicine and clinical pharmacology.

Ibn Sina introduced modern medicine to the world.  He started the process of systematic experimentation and quantification in physiology, discovered the contagious nature of infectious diseases, and fathered the idea of quarantine to limit the spread of contagious disease.  He also introduced experimental medicine, clinical trials, and neuropsychiatry. Continue reading →

This is part of a 2 week series called People Worth Knowing. We will be featuring great people throughout history that have had a great impact and changed the course of history.  These are all people worth knowing, and their examples will lead us into a greater future.

Michael Jackson (1958-2009)

You had Sinatra in the 40s, Elvis in the 50s, The Beatles in the 60s, and in the 80s and 90s you had Michael Jackson.  The King of Pop, Michael Jackson may very well be the greatest entertainer of our lifetime.  Entering the limelight in 1964, at the age of 6, Michael entertained millions from every corner of the globe for half a century.  His contributions to pop culture and society are endless, ranging from changing the world of music and dance to starting the Heal the World Foundation. His album Thriller remains the most popular album in the world, having sold over 750,000,000 copies.  Continue reading →

This is part of a 2 week series called People Worth Knowing. We will be featuring great people throughout history that have had a great impact and changed the course of history.  These are all people worth knowing, and their examples will lead us into a greater future.

Benjamin Franklin (1705-1790)

One of the founding fathers of the United States of America, an author, printer, political theorist, scientist, inventor and so much more, Benjamin Franklin was a true polymath, or Renaissance Man.  He wasn’t just a jack of all trades, but rather a scholar of all trades.  Franklin was a man of strong character, great influence, and a true testament to the fact that we can be not only anything but everything we want to be, and be great at each of them. Continue reading →

Since I work in the pro shop at the golf course, I see many types of people day in and day out. I hate to put labels on people, but there are two types of people that I see everyday. Those two types of people are the not so successful people and the successful people. I’m going to give you a short list of traits that I see from the successful people everyday.

1. Successful people dress up like they’re in the spotlight everyday.

Whenever I see people that have accomplished a lot I noticed that all of them are always dressed looking decent. I’m not saying you should hit up your local department store and buy all the name brands, but what I’m saying is that you should look presentable wherever you go. When I go out, I always wear something like a collared shirt with jeans or shorts. But whatever you do, don’t get out of your house, dorm, or apartment if you are not looking your best (even if you are just going for a quick trip to buy something at the local grocery store). You never who you are going to run into and you’ll be thankful if you took the time to invest in your image. My only exception to this rule is when you are going to the gym. You are going to get sweaty so why wear something nice. In short, ALWAYS LOOK PRESENTABLE. Continue reading →

This is the second in ZCL’s new series of awards: The ZCL College Post of The Month.  This is awarded to other college bloggers who write posts which we at ZCL consider well written and exceptionally useful to college students.  For the month of awards we have some pretty great posts.  It was difficult to choose, because I subscribe to so many great college blogs.  Here’s what we have for June 2009:

10 Tips to boost your self-esteem (The University Blog) – It’s easy to lose track of things like self-esteem, especially when the semester is doing it’s best to beat the stuffing out of you.  The University Blog has some great tips to gain perspective and remember what this struggle is all about.

Networking as a graduate student (ProtoScholar) – This may be titled for grad students, but trust me, it applies to all.  Protoscholar gives students a few great ideas for getting out there and meeting new people. Continue reading →

With gas prices on the rise again, driving can be quite expensive. If bicycling would not work because of distance or safety, you are probably trying to ration your gas use as much as possible. Today I will explain four ways to save on gas by utilizing the full potential of your GPS receiver.

#1 Set Route Preference To “Quickest”

Most GPS receivers can be set to show you the quickest or the shortest routes. To save the most gas, set your device to show the quickest route. Often the shortest route is along neighborhood streets saturated with stop signs. Because this stop-and-go driving will lower your miles per gallon, you will actually burn more gas here than you would on the faster route. Continue reading →