Sex Education Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Sex Education - Essay Example The argument whether sex education should be made mandatory in schools, will be supported along with a short discussion on the kind of the content that should be discussed or taught as part of sex education. Thus, I want to argue that not only should sex education be made mandatory, but it should also be effectively taught keeping in mind, the practical issues and peer pressures teenagers face and thus help students overcome modern personal crisis and ultimately, help in their psychological and social upbringing. The current scenario of sex education in US is not quite encouraging or effective. Either it is taught ineffectively, or it is taught keeping one goal in perspective - to perpetuate abstinence and post-marital sex. Therefore, the first question one has to ask is "What constitutes sex education" Sadly, when one tries to answer this, there arises the conflict between cultural values, how much is enough, and whether sexuality constitute both biological and behavioral science. Does sex education also attempt to explain the relationship between sexuality and media, religion, law, culture, arts and gender I strongly feel that it should. Sexuality constitutes our image of ourselves, determines our orientation and sexual health, and affects our social skills, relationships and sexual behavior. Hence, sex education has a huge responsibility to play, contrary to popular opinion, and this can determine the human development of a child, who is the future citizen of a country. Is the ultimate aim of sex education to stop teenage pregnancy If so, then the role of sex education becomes quite negative and conservative in nature. It then aims to eradicate a social evil and prejudices the child's mind, rather than helping them to take up a stand with the help of their own free will. Any form of force or action is always less effective than something that has been done from the inner self will. This should be the proper aim of sex education. Sometimes sex education becomes a bitter power play and a good instrument in the hands of various political organizations. It is a political tool and US has faced such political tug of war in the field of sex education since the 60's. In Talk about Sex: the Battles over sex education in the United States1, Janice M. Irvine says that, "The efforts of national evangelical organizationsall of which oppose comprehensive sex education, abortion, sexual representation in the media, and gay rights - gained momentum on legislative and policy fronts during Bush's administration" (Irvine, xv). Since the Victorian time the "myth of childhood innocence" has always been upheld and the true picture of childhood and various discourses have been developed to propagate this very form of "truth". The image of the child as sexual being therefore provokes religious, political and social controversies that are rooted in deep moral shame and fear about tarnishing this popular picture of childhood innocenc e by sex talks (Irvine 13, 14). Nevertheless, we are evolving as a society and sex education should provide valuable knowledge keeping in mind the current social crisis that children face - without which a growing child may be exposed to greater exploitations and danger. The physical, emotional and psychological outfall after sex can have

Research writing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Research writing - Essay Example According to Carr the internet alters the way our mind generally works and it has adverse effects on the functioning of our mind by changing the way we think (Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid?). Carr promotes the idea that we should not take internet or any sort of technology at its face value but should be skeptical about it because of the negative consequences it might have on our way of thinking (Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid?). Not only Nicholas Carr but also Christine Rosen expresses her concern for the growing technology and she is dubious of its use. In her article, â€Å"Our cell phones, Ourselves† she argues that people should not rely heavily on the use of cell phones. Rosen starts her argument by pondering over certain statistics over the last years that involve the use of phone and how they have become an inseparable part of our lives. According to her the level of privacy that was enjoyed by the individuals has diminished due to the latest technological advance s. The increasing numbers of cell phone have initiated inconsiderate use of the technology and have forced the society into losing its courtesy. Carr emphasizes on the various problems created by the internet by focusing on how he has problem in reading. According to him Google is creating a society suffering from a problem of paying attention. He proposes that, â€Å"Immersing myself in a book or a lengthy article used to be easy† (Carr, Is Google making us stupid? 603). He loses attention and starts to speculate after reading two or three pages. The close relationship between the text and its reader is lost. Carr says that he has to continuously find his way back to the original piece of writing because of the distractions available on the internet. The world of internet has transformed into a â€Å"universal medium,† (Carr, Is Google making us stupid?) even when one is not working; he/she is likely to be browsing, looking at emails, reading news articles or watching movies or listening to music. I can easily relate to this problem identified by Carr as being a student we have to make projects and have to work on internet but it is so difficult to focus and I usually end up facebooking rather than completing the project that I am supposed to. â€Å"Once I was a scuba diver in the sea of words. Now I zip along the surface like a guy on a jet ski† (Carr) which is quite true as today we switch from one website to the other instantaneously? The users do not read online in the traditional sense instead they are power browsing that is skimming swiftly through content pages and headings. The more one uses the Net, more the effort is required to focus attention. â€Å"The brain has the ability to reprogram itself on the fly† (Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid?) â€Å"Altering the way it functions† (Carr, Is Google Making Us Stupid?) This helps Google in its de-concentration effect. Carr mentions a comment from a mathematician who st ates how any information processing device can be replaced with a computer. This aids in the amplification of the de-concentration effect as the computer today is also a TV, diary, radio, calculator and any other device that one can think of. Rosen in her article divulged the facts about the use of cell phones that were ahead of its time and are more prevalent in today’s society. The excessive use of cell phones has led towards the abuse of the cellular technology (Rosen).

Navigation v Conventional Techniques for Orthopaedic Surgery

Navigation v Conventional Techniques for Orthopaedic Surgery Bone Cutting, Soft Tissue Balancing; Cup Implant, Leg Length Discrepancy: Navigation vs. Conventional technique. Introduction In last decade, navigated implantation has become very popular and used in diverse areas of orthopaedic surgeries. This may be in total knee prosthesis, total hip arthroplasty and to restore leg discrepancies. All above surgeries require an accurate alignment of the implant, which is essential for implants long term survival. This is evident from the fact that in total knee replacement (TKR) surgeries proper bone cutting is necessary [1], total knee arthroplasty (TKA) requires correct soft tissue balancing [2], appropriate implantation of cup and stem in total hip arthroplasty (THA) [3], correcting leg discrepancies in total hip replacement (THR) [4]. Navigation system developed improves the reproducibility over conventional methods and assists surgeons with data for optimal position of implant to each individual patient. [2, 3] It was hypothesized that navigation assisted technique would result in achieving bone cut accuracy, better soft tissue balancing, good implant of cup and stem and enhanced joint reconstruction and control in leg length discrepancy as compared to conventionally used methods. Methods To test positioning time and bone cut accuracy in total knee replacement (TKR). Study involved 40 patients (23 females, 17 males) assigned randomly to TKR surgery using either conventional (n=20, mean patient age= 67.3 years) or Pivotal (n=20 mean patient age= 69.1 years) cutting blocks. Primary indication for surgical treatment was osteoarthritis (n=36), rheumatoid arthritis (n=3) and secondary posttraumatic gonarthrosis after tibial plateau fracture (n=1). All cases had posterior stabilized system with standard patellar component. The surgical approach used was medial parapatellar (n=8) or midvastus (n=32) approach. The implants used during the process were Scorpio PS (n=7), Scorpio Flex (n=20), Next Gen LPS (n=10) and LPS Flex Mobile bearing systems (n=4) fixed to bones by pins and screws. Accurate positioning was obtained by using navigation system. Block position was finalized by surgeon using this navigation system. Statistical differences in time and cut angles were measured by Mann-Whitney test (two-tailed; SPSS for Windows, Version 11.5). The significan ce level was set at p ≠¤0.05 for all analyses. [1] To test soft tissue balancing in total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The study included 120 patients [navigation assisted gap-balancing (n=60); conventional resection technique (n=60)], enrolled and randomized using computer-generated numbers. An inclusion criterion was substantial pain and loss of function due to osteoarthritis of knee, with any degree of genu varum deformity. An exclusion criterion was genu valgum deformity, earlier knee surgery that required removal of metallic implant, or revision of TKA. Four patients were lost to follow up and therefore excluded from study. All surgeries were done by single surgeon. Both patient groups showed no significant differences in terms of demographic characteristics, knee functions, preoperative hospital-for-special-surgery (HSS) scores and degree of preoperative deformity. Follow up period was minimum 24 months post-surgery (mean follow up = 28 months). Surgical technique was similar in all patients consisting of midline skin incision and a medial parapatellar approach. Gap measurement was done at full extension and at 90à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ of flexion on medial and lateral sides of knee joint and defined as medial extension gap (MEG), medial flexion gap (MFG), lateral extension gap (LEG), and lateral flexion gap (LFG).Clinical outcome assessment was measured by HSS and ranges of motion (ROM) scores at latest follow up. All patients went through pre and post-operative (3months after surgery) standing radiographic assessment of AP and lateral views of entire lower limb. Student’s t-test or Mann–Whitney U tests was used for comparison of four variables in study, postoperative post-operative mechanical axes, HSS scores, and ROMs, between the two groups. The chi-square test was used for comparison of proportion of outliers (trapezoidal gaps) in symmetric gap and mechanical axis. [2] To Test good implant of cup and stem in Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) The study involved 84 patients in two groups Navigated (42) Nonnavigated (42), with surgeries performed by investigator. Implant position was evaluated in post-operative anteroposterior radiography 2-3months after index surgery. Pelvic radiographs were taken in standing position of patient. Operated hip joints classified on basis of preoperative radiographs in three subgroups: Group 1: preoperative leg shortening (>5 mm); Group 2: preoperative leg length equality ( ±5 mm); Group 3: preoperative lengthening of the operated leg (>5 mm). Projected values for caput collum diaphysis (CCD) classified in three subgroups: 135 °. If any change in leg length was measured using distal line between teardrop figure and proximal corner of the lesser trochanter as an anatomical landmark. Scaling of pre and post-operative radiographs was distance between two teardrops and the head diameter of the hip replacement. Radiographic cup positions were measured for inclination with respect to teardrop line. All surgeries were done when patient was in 30 ° to 45 ° position. Any complication aroused during intraoperative and post operation was documented. General data (CCD angle, age, BMI) for both groups were compared as per Mann-Whitney U test for nonparametric values and chi-square test for distribution of operated leg, gender and indication. [3] To Test enhanced joint reconstruction and control in leg length discrepancy Retrospective study involved 44 patients divided in two groups A (n=22; navigation/computer assisted THR) B (n=22; conventional free hand THR). Inclusion criteria involved patients with BMI 2 cm), or a major deformity of the femoral head or neck were excluded from study. Each patient in group A was matched in group B. This matching was done on basis of age (max difference +3 years), sex, arthritis level, preoperative diagnosis, and preoperative limb length discrepancy (max difference. + 0.3 cm). The length of involved limbs was less than or equal to that of the contralateral limb in all cases. The two groups were also compared according to hip function and number of postoperative dislocations. The same posterolateral approach was made to the hip joint in both groups, and the same prosthesis was used in all cases. The duration of surgery was documented. Digital radiographs (as per standardised protocol using same magnification) were used for pre and post-operative measurements of li mb length discrepancy and femoral offset. Radiographs were repeated if any mistake detected and these radiographs were assessed by independent radiologist blinded to original procedure. All episodes of hip dislocation were documented. At minimum follow-up of 3 months clinical outcome was evaluated using Harris Hip score. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS for Windows Release 11.0. Differences between two groups were measured using independent Students t-test or Mann-Whitney nonparametric test depending on the data distribution of the continuous variables. [4] Results Pivotal block consumed approximately half the time to adjust saw blade and perform proximal tibial and anterior and femoral resections as compared to conventional block. Statistically significant difference was observed in Pivotal and conventional blocks with respect to angular difference between instrument slots and resultant bone cuts in frontal plane. Also, Pivotal blocks eliminated angular differences >1à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢. [1] The mean intraoperative gap in conventional resection technique group for MFG (medial flexion gap) was significantly greater (24  ± 3 mm) than navigation assisted (NA) gap-balancing (22  ± 3 mm) (p = 0.028), but other three gaps (LFG, MEG, and LEG) did not differ significantly between the two groups (p = 0.167, 0.693, and 0.471, respectively). Statistical significant difference was seen in terms of kind of gaps in both groups: NA group, 88% (53 knees) -rectangular gaps and 12% (7knees)-trapezoidal gaps. Whereas in conventional group 75% (42 knees) -rectangular gaps and 25% (14knees) had trapezoidal gaps. Greater difference in medial gap difference (MGD; MFG-MEG) outliers in conventional group (23%) than NA group (5%) (p = 0.025). No difference was noticed in average postoperative mechanical axis of lower limb between NA and conventional group (1à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢  ± 2à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ vs. 1à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢  ± 3à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢; p=0.558). Greater number of outliers were seen in m echanical axis (>183à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ or Statistical difference was noted in patient’s age at time THA, with p value slightly below 0.05. Significant difference was seen during radiologic analysis of cup position {Non-navigated: 53 °, SD 8.1; Navigated: 44 °, SD 5.6, p135 °. No implant related or navigation technology related complications and no joint dislocations in both groups were noted. [3] There was no statistically significant difference in patient demographics. In both groups preoperative limb length discrepancy, no significant differences were noted. (0.9 cm navigation/computer assisted THR vs. 1.1cm free hand/conventional THR). Mean surgical time was 102.6 min, comparatively longer in navigation/computer assisted THR than free hand/conventional THR (87.7 min) Statistically significant difference was seen in mean postoperative leg length discrepancy of 0.4 cm in navigation/computer assisted THR to that of 0.8 cm (free hand/conventional THR). There were no cases of postoperative cases with leg length discrepancy > 1.0 cm >2.0 cm for navigation/computer assisted THR. However, in 9% cases (2patients) postoperative cases with leg length discrepancy > 1.0 cm was noted and 3patients (13.6%) had postoperative over lengthening mean of 0.4 cm in Free hand/conventional THR group. Recreation of femoral offset better in navigation/computer assisted THR than free hand/conventio nal THR group. Preoperative and postoperative femoral offset difference less in navigation/computer assisted THR than free hand/conventional THR, which was statistically significant. No statistically significant differences in Harris Hip Score in both groups. [4] Discussion The comparison of patient groups in navigated and non-navigated techniques may be a possible method for obtaining useful information regarding various orthopaedic surgeries. In our studies long term survival of prosthesis can be improved by accurate positioning of implant. This can save time and improve accuracy of the procedure. Klima, 2008 showed pivotal blocks used during surgery improved bone cuts and reduced time for positioning and adjustment by nearly 50%. In addition, navigation technique used allowed initial positioning to be achieved in 5-10 seconds. Also, navigation system indicated that all patients were within 3à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ in frontal plane angular bone cut deviations of ideal mechanical axis. Conventional blocks used were found to be associated with some degree of motion during insertion of pins, but this was not the case with pivotal blocks. [1] Lee. et al, 2010 showed, soft tissue balance can be achieved by having equal extension and flexion gaps after bone cutting and no inclination between medial and lateral bony surfaces. Any error in bone cutting can affect overall postoperative mechanical alignment and quickening of wear process. In study it was found that use of navigation guided gap balancing technique improved in creating accuracy of rectangular space between bones as compared to conventional measured resection technique. Only 12% (7 of 60 patients) in navigation TKAs had outliers of >3mm either medially or laterally in extension gap or 90à ¡Ã‚ µÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ flexion were seen as compared to conventional TKAs (25%) [14 of 56 patients]. As compared to earlier studies, this study had outliers of the medial and lateral compartments together. There was no significant gap differences (FGD, EGD, and LGD) in both navigation assisted and conventional groups, in spite of that navigation guided technique proved to be more reliabl e in attaining equal joint gaps as there were small proportion of outliers in that group. Significant difference was seen in medial gap difference (MGD) in two groups. There were limited outliers in MGD observed and moreover navigation technique can be easily reproduced as compared to conventional technique, so this prevents unnecessary any over release of medial soft tissue during TKA. In addition, navigation system helped surgeon in correcting any kind of deformed alignment. Clinical outcomes were similar to both groups even though navigation group showed more accurate gap balancing than conventional group. This can be attributed to the fact that relatively small amount of asymmetry in soft tissue balancing in conventional group. Also, both groups had relatively short term follow up and inaccurate scoring system. The study had several limitations: during gap measurement patella was in laterally everted position, which is not anatomically correct. Ligament balancing was not taken i n consideration. Gap measurements was done by surgeon who performed operation in the study, this may have led to bias. [2] In a study by Mainard, 2008 showed that comparing navigated and non-navigated techniques can lead to information about benefits and any improvement required for position of implant. In this study, there was a clear and significant improvement of acetabular cup positioning by use of THA navigation. In both methods average total limb lengthening of operated joint was below 10mm (9.2 mm Non-navigated, 8.5 mm Navigated ), i.e. below clinical relevance value and comparable to other studies (mean lengthening 7mm). Mean post-operative limb discrepancy is close to 5 mm (6.2mm Non-Navigated; 4.4mm Navigated) comparable to 3.9 mm in other study with patient pool of 420. This study however had several limitations: retrospective in nature; Measurements of implant position are less accurate than CT based measurements; Radiologic and ante-version taken in standing positions with anteroposterior radiographs (not to exceed deviation of 5 mm compared with CT); Limb length data of un-operated hip join t is small (+ 1.3 mm- navigated ; -1.3mm – nonnavigated); Cup position measurements unimproved as patients radiograph is not in standing position; No change in leg lengthening data using navigated or non-navigated technique. [3] In a study by Confalonieri, et al, 2008 showed that to resurface hip arthroplasty short stem prostheses is an attractive alternative option with same selected indications. In this study 22 patients in each group were match paired using same modular short stemmed femoral component. Strict criteria were adhered to achieve the match. At minimum follow up of 3 months after surgical intervention results showed computer navigation provided better results in correction of limb length discrepancy and restoring original offset. However, there were few limitations associated with the study: Retrospective; patients were not randomized; short follow up; small number of cases in each group (hence, no clinical difference detected and findings for improvement in dislocation risk). [4] Conclusion From above studies it can be concluded that given correct indications navigation guided technique is a minimally invasive surgical option and is significantly better than conventionally used technique in orthopaedic surgeries which proves our original hypothesis. Though it might take a little longer time but can give better and improved results in bone cutting, soft tissue balancing, acetabular implant and correction of limb length discrepancy and restoring original offset depending on patient anatomy. Further research in this area is still directed. References Klima S, Zeh A, Josten C; Comparison of operative time and accuracy using conventional fixed navigation cutting blocks and adjustable Pivotal TM cutting blocks; Computer Aided Surgery, July 2008; 13(4): 225–232. Lee DH; Park JH; Song DI; Padhy D; Jeong WK; Han SB; Accuracy of soft tissue balancing in TKA: comparison between navigation-assisted gap balancing and conventional measured resection; Knee Surg Sports Traumatol Arthrosc (2010) 18:381–387. Mainard D, Navigated and Nonnavigated Total Hip Arthroplasty: Results of Two Consecutive Series Using a Cementless Straight Hip Stem; Orthopedics; Oct 2008; 31 (10); 22-26. Confalonieri N; Manzotti A; Montironi F; Pullen C; Leg Length Discrepancy, Dislocation Rate, and Offset in Total Hip Replacement Using a Short Modular Stem: Navigation vs Conventional Free-hand; Orthopedics; Oct 2008; 31 (10); 35-39. 1

Television and Media - Effect of TV In The Age of Missing Information :: Exploratory Essays Research Papers

The Effect of Television In The Age of Missing Information Bill McKibben, in his book The Age of Missing Information, explores the impact of television on modern cultures both in America and around the world. In the book McKibben carries out an experiment; he watches the entire television broadcast of 93 separate cable channels for one entire day. In all McKibben viewed 24 hours of programming from 93 separate cable stations, that is more than 2,200 hours of television. His purpose in this formidable undertaking was to determine how much actual information that was relevant to real life he could glean from a day of television broadcasting. McKibben also spent a day camping alone on a mountain near his home. Throughout the book, McKibben compares the two experiences, contrasting the amount of useful information he received from nature, as opposed to the amount of useless, hollow information the television provided. He goes on in the book to make several very important observations about how the television has fundamentally changed our culture and lifestyle, from the local to the global level. Locally, McKibben argues, television has a detrimental effect on communities. The average American television is turned on for eight hours every day. For a third of the day, every American household is literally brainwashed; bombarded with high-impact, low content images which mold the mind of the viewer into whatever the broadcaster wishes. The problem with television at a local level is that it replaces the innate human desire for contact with other humans in a community. Instead of relying on friends, families and community for the day-to-day stability needed to carry on a normal life, American's switch on the television. CNN, the Discovery Channel, Oprah, and Friends, all replace an actual community with a virtual one which in some ways is better than an actual community. In the seductive world of television, someone is always there at 6:00 relating the news. When people begin to rely on the television for the news, weather, entertainment, and companionship, they begin to become less interested in what is going on around them in their community. Take and example which McKibben cites in his book. In the early 1900's people were extremely interested in politics. The American democracy was in full swing and as literacy and education climbed, so did the turnouts at the poles. But ever since the induction of the television into

Junior Deputy

Derick Krones Junior Deputy During Junior Deputy this year, I learned that smoking is bad for your health. And, alcohol is bad for you, too. Smoking causes tar to build up in your lungs and can lead to cancer. I know cancer is a bad disease because I have lost my grandpa and grandma to cancer. Alcohol kills brain cells. It is important to learn and if you do not have all your brain cells, you will not be as smart which means you will not do as well in life.I liked getting to wear the drunk goggles in Junior Deputy. It was fun to see how it makes you feel to try to walk with the goggles on. It was a nice break in the day to get to learn about other things in Junior Deputy at school rather than math, science, communication arts, and social studies. The part of Junior Deputy I liked the least was how long the pre/post tests were to take. There were hard questions on the test and it took time to think about the answers.I know you have to take tests to see what you do and do not know, but it was my least favorite part of Junior Deputy. Actually getting to wear the drunk goggles made you feel what it was like to be drunk so you know you do not want to drink. Junior Deputy taught me to make the right choices and not do drugs,alcohol or smoke. It is important to stay healthy and do your best in life. Junior Deputy helps explain how to make good choices and to stay healthy.

English Descriptive Writing

The intimidating building brought terror the rough the walls. Moist beds from the children's room from the endless nights of unnerving thoughts. The house represented nothing else but desperateness and loneliness. Happiness. The children will never achieve happiness. The house was distracting to all parents. The dull, dark walls took away the light from the depressed kids. It was like the light gave hope like a endless tunnel of loneliness with a spark of light at the end of the tunnel.The obnoxious kids was never going to get love from a parent, they weren't good enough, smart enough for love. But the only way to leave the place of loneliness was to have a person you loves you for who you are, the career never gave that to them. The children were stuck in a draught of thoughts of happiness. Night time in the orphanage time is the worst. The sun went down and the shadows scrawled in through the windows like a lion crawling for its prey. The house and the bushes outside were overgrown by the leafs.The branches were wrapping round the trees like a gig hug from a loving parent which was ironic to the children inside. Night time was also the time when most dreamt about their real parents. They were regretting there life, like it was their fault they're in a cave of loneliness. As soon as the sun went up the children's hopes went up and their dreams became possible, until the career came in and blocked the sun with his body. Reality came in like a wrecking ball to hit the kids with loneliness. The house suffered in pain, the loneliness never left.No wonder the children were never happy, the career never gave them the leaning of a true home. They never received the warmth of a mother being their or their father's companionship within them. It was like a minute they had something nice in their life then reality came them a big wakeup call like when chilly wave crashes over your face and build goose bumps on your skin. The children's cry echoed through the empty house and soul. The child's face started to cry as it did not receive what it needs. The child was as lonely as a cloud going through the sky in it's own pathway never attaching itself to anything.The house was as big as the children's dreams. ND hopes that could never be reached. The loud footsteps made the children's teeth on the edge. If they didn't obey there career, there soon was a shriek coming from the children's rooms. The walls told a story of how many times the children were denied. The dull color of the walls brought, loneliness and negative thoughts like a pessimistic who will always be there. The dirty, wrecked clothes stood out in the room, the vibrant colors brought happiness which rapidly went down to loneliness like a reallocates of rejection, hate and solution.

From the Mouth of LinkedIn 6 Things You Need to Know

From the Mouth of LinkedIn 6 Things You Need to Know I used to complain about the way LinkedIn would make changes to its platform without advising anyone about them. But I had no real right to do this, since I was not subscribed to LinkedIn’s Official Blog. Now that I am subscribed to the blog, I feel justified in my complaint. Many changes in the last month or so have blindsided members. I was rather shocked yesterday when I was told I had reached the â€Å"commercial limit† in my search and can only see three search results per search until the end of the month, when my search kitty will be replenished. Wow, LinkedIn really wants me to subscribe to Sales Navigator! But I digress. Since LinkedIn has gone through the trouble to announce a few of its changes, I thought for those of you (which means most of you) who are not subscribed to the LinkedIn Official Blog, it would be useful to give you some of the information I’ve been getting in my inbox for the last few months. Here are some useful articles from LinkedIn on the big changes that have happened. Note they talk a lot more about the things they’ve given than about the things they’ve taken away: LinkedIn Profile Photo Tips: Introducing Photo Filters and Editing  (for Mobile App Only) LinkedIn claims that â€Å"simply having a profile photo results in up to 21x more profile views and 9x more connection requests.† And now there are new tools to filter, crop and edit your photo via your LinkedIn  mobile app. You want to look your best on LinkedIn, so experiment with these features and use the tips LinkedIn provides. And if you are a speaker/author or higher level professional, do splurge on a professional photographer. Simple Tips to Improve your LinkedIn Feed  (for Mobile App Only) LinkedIn now gives you the power to customize the content in your LinkedIn feed from your mobile app. From your phone, after you click on an item in your feed, you can click on the â€Å"control icon† in the upper right corner of the update (3 dots next to each other) and go to â€Å"Improve my feed: Get recommended sources to follow.† Or you can hide posts, unfollow people, and report inappropriate activity. (On my iPhone, I discovered I could also get to this screen by clicking on my image to go to my profile, then clicking on the gear icon in the upper right, where I got a choice â€Å"Feed Preferences: Make your feed your own.†) Clicking on â€Å"Improve my feed† will bring you here: â€Å"Clean up you feed† gives you a long list of people you can unfollow. LinkedIn won’t notify them, don’t worry. And if you’d like suggestions on new companies and people to follow, tell LinkedIn you want to â€Å"Follow fresh perspectives† and you’ll be given some suggestions: How to Use the LinkedIn Notifications Tab to Stay Connected LinkedIn seems to want to help members keep on top of important events and network activity. The new Notifications tab notifies you of potential job opportunities, important milestones (birthdays, anniversaries and new positions) of your connections, â€Å"likes† or comments on your posts, who’s viewed your profile or followed you. How to Make the Most of the New LinkedIn Search This article is fairly technical in nature. You’ll get detailed instructions on how to use the search box to find people or companies, narrow your results with filters, create alerts for job openings, and use Boolean search with a set of five search operators (I told you it was technical). Good news: You can now search for posts using the search box! And you can save searches – a feature LinkedIn tried to eliminate but was persuaded by the community to reinstate. I encourage you to keep this article on hand and experiment with not only finding exactly what you want on LinkedIn, but also creating alerts for things you care about. There’s a Lot LinkedIn Didn’t Tell You About In my article last week, The Incredible Disappearing LinkedIn Profile, I covered many of the changes LinkedIn failed to write about. Please check it out if you missed it. Since then, I discovered the commercial use limit, mentioned above, as well as a change in how to receive an archive of your profile. Here are some LinkedIn Help pages that will be useful if you want to request an archive, or export your contacts. Both of these functions have moved from their previous positions! Accessing Your Account Data (Requesting your data archive) I recommend requesting an archive on a monthly or quarterly basis, depending on how active you are, and also requesting one every time you make updates to your profile. Exporting Connections (Your Contacts List) from LinkedIn If you want to email your LinkedIn connections, the best way to do it is to export a list from LinkedIn. Start from your My Network tab and then click on your number of connections, which will bring you to a screen with Manage synced and imported contacts in the upper right-hand corner.   Do NOT spam people! I recommend sending ONE email, written in a friendly manner, inviting people to your list. If they don’t join, they don’t join. Don’t risk a high spam rating by automatically adding your contacts to a marketing list. Exporting your connections is also the best way to tag and keep notes on your LinkedIn contacts, now that tagging and notes are no longer available to members with free accounts. Are you subscribed to the LinkedIn Official Blog? While it’s not perfect, the LinkedIn Blog will advise you about at least some of the things you need to know. Sign up here. If you get stuck trying to get something done on LinkedIn, try LinkedIn Help. Please share with me what you learn, and if LinkedIn Help doesn’t, well, help, I’d like to know about that too. Rest assured, a new edition of How to Write a KILLER LinkedIn Profile is in the works. Stay tuned!