In 1888, Asa Candler, a selfmade businessman, used paper tickets for free glasses of Coke to help sell his new product. These tickets were distributed through magazines and direct mailing. He offered pharmacists who were reluctant to sell the drink the first barrel of syrup free. When customers came into the pharmacies with coupons, pharmacists were quick to restock the product.
In 1909, C.W. Post distributed 1-cent coupons to help market his Grape Nuts cereal and other products. During the Great Depression, the use of coupons became widespread, and in 1940, big chain grocery stores attracted new customers with coupons.
Here are 10 steps to get you started couponing and saving money: 1. Gather the necessary items to begin the project. Find a basket or plastic file box to store and carry your supplies. You can also use a coupon organizer, a 5-by-8 index card file box with dividers, or a three-ring binder with insert sheets. Locate a comfortable table and chair for your workspace. Other things you need include sharp scissors and pencils or pens.
Purchase the Sunday newspaper. If you have family or friends who get the newspaper regularly, you might want to ask them for their coupon inserts if they don’t use them.
High-ranking officials from the Gulf countries’ ministries of health began their three-day conference earlier this week in Kuwait. The conference is the first in the region to discuss linking screening programs for expatriates electronically and establishing an appropriate mechanism for the application of smart cards and integrated electronic links between GCC countries.
Ameer Sibai, member of the executive board of GCC health ministers, told Arab News by the phone that the conference is focused on linking health-related data electronically among the member states of the GCC.
The e-linkage aims to protect GCC citizens from disease and the spread of infections, as well as to ensure that expatriates are medically fit for the work they are recruited for and do not suffer unnecessary psychological, physical or financial burden due to medical condition. In addition, the new system aims to guarantee that the recruited foreigners are free from contagious diseases.
During the meeting, officials discussed means of developing an automated system for health information and applying the latest systems and capabilities in the field of e-health. The conference agenda also included deliberations regarding electronically linking health facilities in the region, which would entail storing data and medical records and archiving X-rays.
Qais Al-Duwairi, assistant undersecretary of public health affairs at the Ministry of Health in Kuwait, was quoted by the Kuwait state news agency (KUNA) as saying that the percentage of unhealthy expats who entered the GCC countries has decreased to 5 percent as a result of activating the e-linking system in manpower exporting countries. He noted that iris scanning and fingerprints are to be added to the screening system to prevent expats from conning officials and changing their personal data and information.
Al-Duwairi indicated that health officials worked out the details of implementing a smart card system for GCC citizens and residents, which would contain their personal health information and would simultaneously function as an e-medical file that physicians in any member state can refer to in order to understand the history of the patient’s health condition.
Ever hear of Anki? It’s an open-source flash card program brilliantly designed to automate the Ebbinghaus method of memory retention. Via a free online service called AnkiWeb, users can download any number of digital card decks from a vast database to memorize whatever their heart desires.
Languages, guitar chords, the periodic table of elements, there’s over 5000 decks available with hundreds of cards in each. I, for one, started taking up world geography. To show off my progress: Podgorica is the capital of Montenegro, Tbilisi the capital of Georgia, Nicosia of Cyprus (knew this before reading about the banking crisis), Yerevan of Armenia, Astana of Kazakhstan, and so on; didn’t Google anything at all here, and I’m admittedly a clueless American. All it took was ~25 minutes a day with Anki for two weeks.
The program works by introducing 20 new cards per session, and reviews cards from previous sessions with a frequency based on how confident you feel with your learning when tested. So for example, say I draw Cardiff and instantly remember it’s the capital of Wales: after clicking “show” to reveal the correct answer, I choose “Easy (4 Days)” from the available options. The card is done for the day, and since I was so confident with it, I won’t have to see the card again for a full four days. If I, perchance, on the next draw mistake Mozambique for Madagascar, I can choose “Again (1 min)” to force a steady repetition and facilitate memorization, until I get it right.
All I can say is install this program on your smartphone right now if you’re a student, especially one taking college-level science. The savings on flashcards alone are well worth the five minutes it takes to download and set up the software. If you’re not in school, Anki is still extremely useful and enriching. Expand your vocabulary, fix your French pronunciation, learn the major themes of famous classical compositions… most importantly, use your brain!
For reasons that aren’t entirely clear to me, AnkiMobile for iOS costs a whopping $25 while AnkiDroid is completely free to download. You can sync up your account on AnkiWeb between all your devices, so no matter where you are Anki knows what cards you’re using. The program also makes a slew of graphs and charts to mark your progress, so you can show off your mastery of those 500 new Arabic phrases or whatever with fancy data.
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