Millionaire Kids

source: http://pigjockey.com/2010/03/16/top-5-internet-millionaire-kids

#1 – Catherine and David Cook

Age at startup: 15 & 17
Company: My Year Book
Net Worth: $10 million

Bio: Catherine Cook, 15, and her brother David, 17, were looking through their high school year book when they came up with the idea to create a free interactive version online.

Catherine persuaded their older brother, Geoff, who was a budding internet entrepreneur at the time, to invest $250,000 in their idea. The site was launched in April 2005 and 950,000 members joined in the first year.

Fast forward 5 years, and the site has a net worth of around $10 million.

#2 – Ashley Qualls

Age at startup: 14
Company: Whatever Life
Net Worth: $4 million

Bio: In 2004, when Ashley was just 14 years old, borrowed $8 from her mom and started a website called whateverlife.com which provided Myspace layouts and HTML tutorials for people in her age demographic.

(Youtube Link)

Ashley dropped out of high school and in less than two years the site was raking in $70,000 a month purely from advertising revenue. As a result of it’s success, offers started flooding in for the Myspace-help website. Qualls was flattered by an offer of $1.5 million plus a car of her choice, but she turned the offer down. In total, she has earned over $1 million from the site.

#3 – Juliette Brindak

Age at startup: 10
Company: Miss O and Friends
Net Worth: $15 million

Bio: Juliette Brindak came up with the idea for Miss O and Friends when she was just 10 years old. She later put put her idea online.

Miss O is a website by girls, for girls to build self-esteem, positivity and good sense of self. It’s visited by millions of girls each month in the age range 8-12, which Juliette like to call ‘tweens’.

When Juliette was 16 she released her first book in the summer of 2006 which sold over 120,000 copies. Now, her business at 20 years old is worth $15 million.

#4 – Paul Bourque

Age at startup: 18
Company: Affiliate Marketer
Net Worth: $300,000/month

Bio: Paul Bourque was 18 when he started browsing ways to make money on the internet. He stumbled across affiliate marketing, and after profiting in the first month he couldn’t turn away.

His first month’s revenue was around $600, and in less than a year Paul’s earning over $300,000 a month from AzoogleAds.

He currently works full time as an affiliate marketer, but also runs an affiliate marketing blog where he shares tips and tricks.

#5 – Ben Kaufman

Age at startup: 18
Company: Mophie, Kluster and Quirky
Net Worth: $5-10 million/year

Bio: Ben Kaufman founded Mophie, an iPod accessories website, when he was 18 years old. The site sells iPod batteries, cases, cables and more.

He later went on to launch Kluster, ‘a collaborative decision making platform’. At 22, his latest venture is a website called ‘Quirky‘. The site enables anyone with a good idea to get it manufactured – if successful they will earn a royalty percentage.

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1) What do you think about these teenagers' determination? What motivated them to choose the 'path less travelled'?

2) What is your aim/goal in life?

YOG and YOU

source from: http://www.singapore2010.sg/public/sg2010/en/en_news/en_stories/en_20100812_juggling_studies_with_wrestling.html

KESTER Leung, 16, said that one of his proudest moments in wrestling was when he was picked to represent Singapore.

But when Kester’s father heard that he was picked, he gave him a lecture instead. It wasn’t that he was not proud of Kester, but rather he knew the reality facing the Singaporean sportsmen.

Kester said that his father, previously a sportsman himself, knew that in Singapore, studies came before everything else.

That hasn’t stopped Kester from giving up wrestling.

The Montfort Secondary School student said: “We have difficulties with studies, but it doesn’t stop us from getting what we want.”

He trains five times a week, with each training session lasting up to one and a half hour.

Kester was introduced to wrestling through a wrestling clinic in Montfort Secondary in Nov 2008.

He said: “I enjoy everything about wrestling, including the techniques like learning how to throw. I find all the moves fun. It really is a very energetic sport.”

Kester also grapples with time management.

He said: “It’s definitely hard and challenging to juggle studies and sports. I just have enough time to study and train. There is no time to socialise with friends.”

He also understands the importance of education. After the YOG, he aims to pass his N-levels.

Kester, an animal lover, aspires to be a veterinarian when he grows up. Among the long list of animals he used to keep, he had a rabbit, a dog, three hamsters, and fishes. But, he had to give up his pet hamsters due to wrestling.

He said: “My father thought there wasn’t enough time for me to wrestle, study, and take care of my hamsters. Now, I only have fishes.”

Despite all these sacrifices, Kester said: “I’m honoured and excited, but at the same time nervous.”

The lanky athlete has only been learning wrestling for two years, and it hasn’t been easy.

Kester said: “The techniques look easy but they’re very complicated. When I first started, I didn’t execute the techniques properly. I found the drills very confusing. ”

He said his coach, Sergei Beloglazov, a two-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion, is his idol.

“My coach is very patient with me. He makes me practice the drills many times” he added.

Kester also said that wrestling had really benefited him.

“Physically, I used to be very skinny, but now, after wrestling, I am more muscular. Its also helped me with discipline, especially my confidence and self-esteem.”

“I used to look down on myself, but now it’s not so bad,” Kester said. “During the Commonwealth Youth Wrestling Championships in January this year, which was my first competition that I participated in, I was so nervous.”

But now, for the YOG, Kester has “high hopes.”

He said: “I will definitely try my best to get a medal and I will not give up trying.”

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Instructions:

1) How do you manage your time between your social life(house work, family commitments, hobbies, friends) and your school work?

2) What does YOG mean to you? How has it affected you?

Foreign Talent

Mr Lee said: "Other countries are not only much larger than us, but have far deeper pools of talent than we have. We must make up for the shortage of Singaporean workers in our economy and the shortfall of babies in our population.

"Without an inflow, over time, our economy and society will lose vibrancy, our citizens will enjoy fewer opportunities and our shining red dot will grow dimmer."

Mr Lee acknowledged that Singaporeans' concerns about new immigrants - such as whether they change the ethos of society - are valid and need to be addressed. He made clear that the inflow will be controlled, and that only those who can contribute to Singapore will be brought in.

Mr Lee said: "I understand Singaporeans' concerns about taking in so many foreign workers and immigrants. Some of us wonder will it change the ethos of our society? Will it mean more competition for us at work or for our children in schools? Will the new arrivals strike roots here? Can they adjust to us, and we to them?"

He stressed: "We will make clear that citizens come first. After all, we are doing this for the sake of Singaporeans."

He encouraged Singaporeans to welcome foreigners here with an open heart.

(source: extracted from PM Lee's National Day message 2010)
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Instructions:
1) What is the impact of foreign talent in singapore? Is it a positive or negative one?

2) Share your experiences of working/interacting with foreigners in singapore.

ONLY CHILD

Resource: Internet Article

As a child, Jason Crisp remembers visiting his friends' homes and experiencing a different type of household - living with siblings.

Crisp, now 26, was an only child but doesn't think he missed out.

"I feel like I have a more rounded picture of it all because I grew up as an only child," says Crisp, who lives in Brandon.

Life as an only child meant that Crisp had his parents' undivided attention and support, both emotionally and financially, he says.

Crisp has one child, Jackson, and wouldn't mind if Jackson, who turns 3 this month, also grows up without any siblings.

Those without siblings hear these stereotypes all the time: That they are spoiled, bratty and can't function because their parents did everything for them. Wonder what onlies Steve Jobs, Betty White and Shaquille O'Neal would say about that?

Today, 20 percent of children younger than 18 are onlies, according to the U.S. Census. And, because of varied reasons including delays in marriage and having children, families with one child now outnumber those with two children, says social psychologist Susan Newman.

So if this is the new traditional family (not just in America but also in Japan, Italy, China and Britain, according to Newman), we should take a closer look and see what makes only children tick.

For starters, the notion that onlies are maladjusted is a myth, says Newman, a New Jersey parenting expert and author of "Parenting an Only Child." Newman, who covers onlies on Singletons, her Psychology Today blog, says the bias dates back to the late-1890s child psychologist G. Stanley Hall, who called being an only child "a disease unto itself." But that was a different era. Families were isolated, and a lot has changed.

Today, children are socialized very early," Newman says. "They learn all they need to know about empathy and sharing from friends. But, no matter how much parenting changes, social attitudes toward only children are stuck in the past. It's a long, slow climb to change those views."

Chuck Edwards, 58, of Sioux Falls grew up as an only child on a farm in Letcher, northwest of Mitchell. "I always say you can't miss what you don't have," he says about growing up. "... You always had friends - you had more at school. I don't think I gave being an only child a second thought."

Instructions:

Some people crtique that an only child in the family does not learn family values and other moral values. The only child is being critcised for being a spoil brat. What do you think are the disadvantages and advantages of living as an only child in the family?

Film Industry

"Aftershock," a movie about the devastating Tangshan earthquake in 1976, grossed over 34 million yuan (5 million U.S. dollars) at the Chinese box office on its debut Thursday. "Aftershock" is about a mother's three-decade journey to an emotional reunion with the daughter she thought she had lost in the earthquake.

Instructions:

1) Just like the Chinese movie industry in China, do you think Singapore's movie industry has a bright future? How well do you know about our local film productions? what are your favourites?

2) What else can our local movie industry do in order to reach out to international audience?

Techology 'rewires' our brain

please click on the link below to watch a video

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/world_news_america/8829335.stm

The video discusses about the impact of technology on people. Critics are worried that teenagers are greatly affected by the various modes of technology giving less importance to family time and friends. On the other hand, some think that using various technologies actually makes us efficient, creative and help us to develop the skill of multitasking.

So which side do you support? Is technology a boon or a bane?

Paul the Octopus Vs Mani the parrot

Singapore - Paul the octopus has become a media phenomenon after his perfect predictions on the ongoing FIFA World Cup 2010 in South Africa. However he has strong competition from another physic animal: Mani the Parakeet, from Singapore.

Paul, from Oberhausen, is facing a serious challenge from Mani the Parakeet, from Singapore, who is also in the sport’s guessing business. His owner claims that Mani has correctly predicted all the teams going into quarter-final games of the World Cup and agreed with Paul on Spain's semi-final victory over Germany.

The competition is becoming hotter now that Paul the Octopus is picking Spain as the winner and Mani the Parakeet has chosen Holland as the new World Cup Champion. Although Paul is known worldwide for his accurate predictions, Mani the Parakeet may have some advantage for clairvoyance powers since he belongs to a roadside astrologer Muniyappa, of Indian origin. The Parakeet’s predictions have already helped Muniyappa to increase traffic to his small business in Singapore's Little India.

The astrologer confesses that he used to see about 10 customers on an average day, but now, aided by Mani's psychic skills he is reading the future to the same number of customers in just one hour. There is no doubt that the definite outcome of the game will be decided by the efforts and skills of the soccer players from Spain and Holland on the pitch of Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday. However, it will be very interesting to find out which of the two animal competitors, Paul or Mani, is the one possessing the better psychic competence.

Source from:

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/294434

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Instructions: Comment on the following
Do you believe in astrology? Why do you think people are obsessed in knowing about world cup winner? Is there a motive behind this?

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