Some of my latest Twitter friends March 29, 2009
Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : Twitter friends , add a commentLately it appears as though Twitter has become my new home, rather it seems that I am spending so much time on Twitter that it is starting to feel like home.
If you want to follow us on Twitter I invite you to do so, my Twitter handle is @wecomparebooks
I want to take this time to tell you about a few of the new friends that I’ve made on Twitter in the past week. All of these sites have much quality information and I hope that you find them as useful as I did.
I recently ran across a site, Gradversity/ this is a very neat site run by Trevor Wilson, that is dedicated to helping college students enter the workforce after graduation. This site is a great resource for any student who is graduating and looking for a job.
Recently I also met Jessica Kunkel on Twitter. She is the owner of the Truth About College blog. This is a really cool blog that has some reaslly cool tips on college. I am sure that every college student will find this blog to be useful.
One thing that is very important for college students is getting a job. There are a ton of career websites around that help students get jobs, here is a cool career site that I’ve recently ran accross through Twitter
If you like cakes, and you like to bake cakes, than check out one of my latest friends on Twitter Little Lady Cakes. This site is really cool and has some creative cake recipes!
You can also Tweet this site @littleladycakes.
Recently I met a very nice guy on Twitter, @buyerdude. He runs a website, dedicated to listing deals on a variety of productsclick here for deals.
Great resource: Online professional Development courses March 29, 2009
Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : Interns, Kyle Schiller, Twitter friends, e-learning, online courses , add a commentIntegration and innovation with the help of the internet and new communications technology is changing the way we do everything nowadays. The realm of education is no exception. From online training courses to e-conferencing to complete degrees done online, education and career training are becoming more convenient and crafted to fit the individual.
WeCompareBooks.com recently came into contact with Knowledge Delivery Systems, a site which offers online development training courses for teachers and educators. In their own words:
“Knowledge Delivery Systems provides K-12 educators with award-winning, convenient online professional development. Educators can take KDS courses to earn the credits they need to meet state Department of Education licensing requirements, to increase their salary through district-approved in-service, or to earn the graduate credits they need to advance their careers.”
The cool thing about KDS is that many of the courses offered are interactive, with ideos and are taught by very interesting professors.
The courses available are broken up depending on which state you live and work in, as each state has different requirements and acceptance of KDS courses. Certain courses are available through partnerships with colleges, universities and school districts to help education students and teachers develop the skills necessary to become the quality educators we need and to help them realize their own professional goals.
KDS’s newest course delves into teaching English language learners and the principles of language acquisition. The course goes into extreme detail, from basic communication skills to fundamentals that apply specifically to second language learners.
If you are an educator or an education student, you can request information on their website to find out if your district or school offers KDS courses.
A book review of, Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment March 22, 2009
Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : Interns, Kyle Schiller, book reviews, books, economy, new books, used books , add a comment
Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment by Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne is a book written, to shed light on the ongoing debate about the relationship between environmental issues and political economy. Too many times, say authors Jennifer Clapp and Peter Dauvergne, is the big picture completely bypassed in order to delve into the details surrounding and permeating environmentalism. By putting things into perspective using political and economic theories, one can illuminate the socioeconomic causes and consequences of environmental change. This also helps to avoid any emotional or moral entanglements which many times accompany analyses of environmental issues.
In order to look at the socioeconomic factors behind environmental policy, Clapp and Dauvergne address four main camps involved in environmental change: market liberals, institutionalists, bioenvironmentalists and social greens. These categories are intentionally multi-disciplinary so as to not be too focused on one portion of the issue. By taking a wide swath of the areas which environmental issues touch, one can see the big picture instead of getting caught up in the details of one discipline. It also lets one focus on the international and government levels, especially how globalization and the type of political economic system employed in a state affect environmental issues, challenges and outcomes.
Using these four groups, the authors take a critical look at various elements within today’s political economy, including globalization, trade, international and domestic markets, distribution of wealth, poverty, health issues, and so forth. Each view takes a different stance on the issues. For example, market liberals view globalization, trade agreements and free markets as good things which will eventually work to stabilize economies and give incentive to businesses and consumers to switch to sustainable practices and products. Bioenvironmentalists, on the other hand, have a negative view of today’s free market economies, globalization and trade agreements which lead to over-consumption and over-population beyond the capacity of the planet.
I agree with many of the sentiments contained within the above reviews. It is a very balanced book; it does not give priority to one viewpoint over another, giving each equal representation on all topics discussed. The four viewpoints in themselves were also very helpful in making sense of the environmental debate. The book did exactly what it promised to do: it took a “big-picture” look at the debate and issues without getting impeded by details or moral sentiment. By taking an objective view on the different stances I was able to more fully understand the various groups involved in the debate, what they actually believe and why they believe it. It is also very thorough, discussing the multitude of issues involved, including everything from the WTO and NAFTA to different industries (mining, oil, timber, etc.) to environmental NGOs such as Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund as they relate to the issues at hand and the four viewpoints at work.
The lessons taken from the book can be applied to the huge number of different issues, problems and cases in the environmental world, and in that it is an invaluable resource for anyone studying environmentalism, sustainable development or political economy. It is also helpful in bringing light to different arguments concerning sustainable development and creating a dialogue which will hopefully aid in developing actual policy prescriptions to the various problems we face.
Get the best deal on, “Paths to a Green World: The Political Economy of the Global Environment” and save money by clicking Here
Faster searches March 17, 2009
Posted by Olivier Hubert in : We Compare Books, fixes, upgrades , add a commentWe are proud to announce that We Compare Books is now much faster than before. Most searches now take less than one second, and comparison speeds have also been boosted. If you haven’t used WCB in a while, give it a try, we guarantee you will notice the difference.
You choose. To save money on textbooks, or not to save money on textbooks : a study of textbook prices, University bookstore vs. We Compare Books March 17, 2009
Posted by Eugene Aronsky in : Interns, Kyle Schiller, books, bookstores, college bookstores, financial aid, new books, textbooks, used books , add a comment(From the editor)
Choice, we live in a world in which we all have many choices, starting from the 100’s of varieties of bottled water we can choose from, (all of which are basically the same) to the choice of which electronics store where we choose to purchase the latest gadget at (and of course the choice of the gadget itself). We often make dozens of choices a day, and typically, given competition, and the marketplace, these choices do not end up costing us more money (most bottled water, regardless of the brand costs the same, as for gadgets, they tend to fall in a price range, where we pay more to get more). The point I am trying to make is that our daily choices do not end up costing us money; additionally, if we had to choose from 2 items, both identical, but with a price difference of $50, most of us would obviously choose the cheaper item (this is commonsense!). When dealing with textbooks this is the exact scenario that you are faced with: you can choose to go to the bookstore and pay the full price for the book, or you can choose to go to your favorite online bookstore and pay a slightly lower price, but if you want to get the true lowest price on the book your best bet is to use a service that is designed to compare prices, and is guaranteed to save you money, a service like, We Compare Books
I recently asked our intern to do a study, I told him to pick a semester of courses he had, and to pretend that he was going to buy books for said courses now, and to compare the difference in price between the university bookstore, and We Compare Books, below is what he found.
Here’s a little experiment I did. I went on to my alma mater’s website and did a course search of a typical 15-credit semester course load in my major, International Relations. After compiling the listed prices for the books from the school bookstore, I then did a search for the books on WeCompareBooks to find the lowest price. I even included the estimated shipping costs. You can do the search yourself to verify.
Essentials of International Relations by Karen A. Mingst
ISBN: 0393928977
- Bookstore price: $61.50
- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $33.99
Understanding International Conflicts by Joseph Nye
ISBN: 0321472012
- Bookstore price: $61.75
- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $47.23
¡Dímelo Tú! by Francisco Rodriguez
ISBN: 1413031609
- Bookstore price: $211.00
- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $39.00
Western Civilizations by Judith G. Coffin
ISBN: 9780393926996
- Bookstore price: $90.25
- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $4.24
A Pocket Guide to Writing in History by Mary Lynn Rampolla
ISBN: 9780312247669
- Bookstore price: $20.50
- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $4.24
World Religions: A Historical Approach by Solomon A. Nigosian
ISBN: 9780312442378
- Bookstore price: $48.00
- WCB lowest price (plus shipping): $24.00
Total bookstore price: $493.00
Total WCB price: $152.70
In this instance, you would save $340.30 or 69%! This proves that if you really want to save money on your next textbook purchase, use We Compare Books. Please take note, though, that prices change on a daily basis and that the prices you get may vary slightly.