Online Universities: Are They All They're Suppossed up to Be?

By Dr. Thomas Slater


If you're an older adult who's always wanted to continue your education and you just haven't had time to, or if you want to go back to class for that advanced associates degree but a full-time job keeps you from signing up for classes, you're in luck. Today, online institutions afford nontraditional students, parents, those with full-time jobs, and others not able to go back to college full time in a traditional university setting the opportunity to continue their educations on their own schedules.

It used to be that if you wanted to go back to class, you had to go to college part-time, at night, or otherwise arrange your schedule inconveniently, so that you could be at classes on campus. Alternatively, of course, you could quit your job if you had the means to do so and go back to school full time. However, today, you can keep your full-time career and your regular schedule intact and still get that education you want. Got kids you need to be home for? No problem. online universities lets you attend classes on your own schedule, be home for your kids and anything else you need to be there for -- and oftentimes, you won't have to step foot outside your door to do so until the latter part of your training, at least. It's likely that you'll need some hands-on fieldwork study eventually outside your home, but you can get the early parts of your associates degree done completely at home and on your own schedule.

One of the first things you need to do is to look for a two-year college that is fully accredited. For this, check the school and make sure it has accreditation from the Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education; the Distance Education and Training Council is the accrediting organization for these types of schools, also called "distance learning" institutions. You can also ask the class itself for references and find other students who have attended a particular distance-learning program, to make sure that it provides the quality schooling you want. Of course, you'll also want to check your field of study and find a distance-learning university that specializes in that.

Another consideration for many students is financial assistance. Previously, students attending distance-learning programs were not offered financial aid unless at least 50% of their education was completed on a physical campus. This is no longer true, which is perhaps as a result of both the improvement of distance learning schooling training and the recognition that this type of schooling is, some say, the wave of the future. Today, it is often considered a luxury to be able to go to school full time as a student, and these types of training recognize that no longer can many people simply drop their lives and go to school full time. Many students these days are nontraditional students with other responsibilities beyond their own lives, so that they do not have the luxury to devote three or four years' time exclusively to an education.

Perhaps the choice place to help you determine your potential school's accreditation is to look at the regional accreditation board in your school's area. If your school is accredited by this board, it will be fully accepted by employers and other professional organizations as a allowable school. This, in turn, makes it much easier to get a postition and recognition. In fact, many organizations and employers will not recognize a education unless it is from an accredited two-year college. However, if you take the time to make sure your certificate program is accredited, your online education is every bit as valid as one you would obtain on campus.

Online Poker Cheating On The Rise

By Robert Eagle

The most important factor for the success of online poker and gaming is security. People must feel that the gaming site is fair, has good fraud measures, pays out deposit requests, and most importantly detects and prevents cheating.

Take NO limit hold'em for example. One form of cheating is what is called collusion. This is when two or more players at the same table share information about their hands. This can be very powerful for a number of reasons. They can gang up on players by raising and re-raising. With the proper circumstances, they can push players out of pots and bluff, and taunt, and more. It is definitely easier said than done to pull this off profitably.

Some of the online poker sites report several cases of this every day. Most of these colluders use the phone with each other, or just use an instant messaging type of service. This is where it becomes hard to pull off. There is a lot more information to gather, communicate, and act on. Online poker moves very fast and there is little time to react. If the table moves to slow, the other players could eventually become suspicious.

Now, let's talk about a realistic form of collusion that everyone needs to be aware of and watch out for. If done correctly, this form of cheating is very hard to detect from most online poker rooms. Poker Stars for instance, could block this form of cheating by taking a few extra steps in their security measures, but they haven't to date.

Most poker room security measures consist of tracking the players i.p. addresses. If the same i.p. addresses show up at the same poker tables often enough, the online poker room will know that something is going on. They track this sort of information and definitely take action. They spend more time tracking this though at the higher limit tables.

But, if you have the ability to change your i.p. address, here's what could be done. As a matter of fact, this is what is being done. People get an i.p. changer software and open up four or five accounts at an online poker room. Each time they login and or signup they always have a different i.p. address. Once that is done, they slowly shift all four or five players into a 6 player table game. Can you imagine what you could do to somebody if you were five of the six players at the table? This can be done by one person, not four or five. This means there is no communication lag, because there is only one colluder, not multiple colluders.

With a little bit of practice, it shouldn't be hard to realize what's possible. You could have information on ten hole cards, not two. You would know how to adjust the odds for straight and flush draws. You would know if the other two cards for your pocket pair are possibly already dead. You would know a lot. This is outright cheating, but it doesn't stop everyone.

When playing online poker on any poker room, look out for these poker cheats. I would personally never play at a six player table game online knowing this happens. Look out for the poker stars cheats, because with millions of players, there's bound to be some out there.