Harvard University is the oldest and, arguably, the most prestigious university in the United States. In 2005, the Times Higher Education Supplement and the Academic Ranking of World Universities both ranked Harvard University first among the universities of the world. In addition, the US News and World Report rankings placed Harvard at the top of the list in a tie with Princeton. Moreover, with a financial endowment of $25.5 billion in 2005, Harvard is considered the wealthiest university in the United States and in the world.

Located at Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard was founded in 1663, incorporated as “The President and Fellows of Harvard College.” It was named Harvard College in 1639 after John Harvard, a young clergyman and the institution’s first principal donor. John Harvard, a product of Emmanuel College in Cambridge, left in his will several hundred pounds and a few hundred books to the college, which formed the foundation of its college library collection. On record, the first known official reference to Harvard as a “university” rather than a college was in 1780 in the Massachusetts Constitution.

During his tenure as Harvard president from 1869 to 1909, Charles Park instituted a number of radical changes that made the university into what was then known as the modern research university. Among his reforms were elective courses, small classes and entrance examinations. Owing to its successful implementation of these reforms, Harvard served as the model that influenced the American educational system greatly, both at the college and secondary levels.

In 1999, Radcliffe College, which was originally founded as the “Harvard Annex” for women, was formally merged with Harvard University to form the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study.

Today, Harvard has the fourth largest library collection in the world and the largest financial endowment of any academic institution. It lists over 6,000 undergraduate and 13,000 postgraduate students as well as a staff of 2,300. Its well-known motto is “veritas” or truth. Since 1875, the official school color is crimson and that’s also the name given to Harvard sports teams as well as the daily school newspaper, The Harvard Crimson Tide.

Do you remember the first Disney movie you ever saw in a theatre? How many Disney movies have you been seen after that? How many Disney DVDs are in your den are currently in your home? If you have children, the answer to the final question could actually be “dozens.” Disney has been making movies for more than eight decades! There are hundreds of movies in the Disney vault after that long.

One of the most fascinating things about Disney movies is the sort of timeless appeal they hold for the children of multiple generations. While the Disney movies made for today’s preschoolers, young children, and preteens are timely and most often have great for the whole family, there seems to be a timelessness to the earlier classics which continue to appeal to generation after generation.

How many other movies continue to appeal to youngsters decade after decade in the same style Disney classics do? Little girls of today cherish the Disney heroines of all eras, for instance. They do not differentiate between the title character of Cinderella, released in 1950, or Aurora from the 1959 classic Sleeping Beauty and Princess Jasmine, made 1992. A Disney princess is a Disney princess!

Open the front door on Halloween and you will see just as many Cinderellas as you will see Belles from Beauty and the Beast. You will still see little boys dressed as Peter Pan or the much more recent Buzz Lightyear. While some movies do not age well, the wonderful Disney classics are not among that number!

It is hard to find an exhaustive list of Disney movies, but there are hundreds of titles obtainable through their movie club. Working much like a normal book club, members are offered the chance to buy a specific selection roughly once a month. Elite members-only choices appear in the catalogue. If you are a true Disney fan (or have some little fans in your home) then the Disney Movie Club is a super way to grow your DVD collection

In 1995, Walt Disney Pictures released the first Disney movie where, as the tagline states, “an American legend comes to life.” Pocahontas, the first Disney film based on an actual historic figure, was the 33rd animated film ever released by Disney Studios and marked the climax for the Disney Renaissance which had begun in 1989 with The Little Mermaid. This film was one of the few Disney films to ever portray an interracial romance (between Pocahontas and John Smith).

The hopes for the production were very high. Jeffery Katzenberg, the then-studio head, considered it a prestige project capable of vying for a Best Picture nomination in the same vein as Beauty and the Beast. Indeed, Katzenberg felt Pocahontas would out-gross the tremendous returns The Lion King enjoyed. Unfortunately, the adult themes of the film undermined its appeal to children and though it failed to meet expectations, Pocahontas did earn approximately $142 million domestically and $348 million worldwide.

Pocahontas enjoyed the largest premiere in film history, premiering at Central Park in New York City. Though the publicity certainly did drive revenues, the film was criticized for variety of historic and ethnic inaccuracies. Some critics felt the characterization of Pocahontas was too “fashionably exotic,” while other critics condemned the historical accuracy. In reality, Pocahontas was prepubescent when John Smith encountered the Powhatan tribe. She was kidnapped by the English, converted to Christianity, married to both a Powhatan warrior, Kocoum, and then to the English tobacconist John Rolfe. Furthermore, most historians refute the notion of a romantic relationship between Pocahontas and Smith.

By contrast, the film was celebrated for its distinct animation style. The sparse color palette and, by Disney standards, unconventional use of a mother spirit motif set Pocahontas apart from typical Disney fare. The score of the film, composed by Alan Menken, was likewise well-received - so much so that it earned the Academy Award for Best Original Score. The theme song, “Colors of the Wind,” also written by Menken, with Vanessa Williams on vocals, won the Academy Award and the Golden Globe for Best Song.

Though Pocahontas was a commercial disappointment, it would prove to be more successful than its successor The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Indeed Hunchback would mark the end of the Disney Renaissance, during which the studio raked in nearly $1 billion. The studio would release a sequel, Pocahontas II: Journey to a New World, in 1998, direct-to-video.

Because of the internet, the world is a radically altered place, and changes happen overnight. It has metamorphosed the way we make friends with one another, the way we learn, and the way we entertain ourselves. About a year ago, for instance, the Xbox Live Marketplace was introduced to let users to download movie rentals on demand.

This new service was embraced immediately. Within seven months, more than 10 million movies had been rented via Xbox’s online downloading service. Currently, it is the only company offering on demand movies in high definition.

Their initial successes emboldened Microsoft Game Studios to form an agreement with the entertainment industry giant, Walt Disney Studios. The partnership was revealed in July 2007 and included thirty-five films. New and old Disney classics are among the offerings, as well as movies from Miramax, Touchstone, and other Disney owned companies. Therefore, there are titles to entice viewers in every age group from little ones to golden agers (assuming they have Xboxes!) The number of movies will increase in the future, as the agreement calls for on demand rentals for new releases as they come out on video.

Currently, movie downloading via Xbox Live is only offered to US residents, but the numbers are astounding for something so recent. Microsoft Game Studios has 7 million subscribers, and they project that number will jump to over 12 million within a year. The listing of Disney movies in the Xbox Live Marketplace is a boon for the company. When Xbox meets Disney, the potential for success is incredible.

Clearly, the public has welcomed this modern way to enjoy movies in the home. No one has to go out to the rental store; no one has to wait in line for that hot new release everyone else in the country has also been drooling over! On demand rentals give you to get the titles you want when you want them

The Adventures of Shark Boy and Lava Girl takes viewers on a wild ride in the grand tradition of fantastical films such as Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which is set in a bizarre world, and films such as The Never-ending Story, in which mistreatment by bullies sends the victim into a dream world where he can be a hero. The merger of fantasy and reality in the film is intriguing.

The action centers around ten year old Max. A dreamer who is often picked on at school, he creates his own friends from his infinite imagination. Shark Boy and Lava Girl are super heroes from Planet Drool who come exploding into Max’s school room one day in search of his help in saving their planet from increasing darkness. As their world was born in Max’s active imagination, the super heroes inform him that he is the only one who can save it.

Their adventures together are truly wild by any stretch of the imagination. The lines between fantasy and reality blur as the villains on Planet Drool are often real life foes of Max transformed into strange antagonists. For instance, his actual Earth teacher, Mr. Electricidad, becomes the evil Mr. Electric, whose fierce animated power cords attack the heroes. By the pinnacle of the movie, the action has returned to Earth.

The otherworldly quality of Planet Drool sounds like the game Candy Land marries Willie Wonka’s chocolate factory. The characters ride in a banana-split boat on the “Stream of Consciousness”, take the out of control Train of Thought to the Land of Milk and Cookies, and get a Crystal Heart from an Ice Princess in the Land of Ice. Perhaps not surprisingly, the screenwriter, Robert Rodriguez, got some help with the plot from his children. One, seven-year-old Racer, was actually given screen credit!

While the film may not have as much of an attraction for grown-ups as it does for children, it is still an engaging story. The story of a victim triumphing over a bully is always a favorite plot with children.

Welcome to a world where animals rule and the only human around isn’t human anymore. Welcome to the world of Brother Bear. Marking the 43rd film in Disney’s line of animated features, the film, originally entitled Bears, marked a short-lived return to traditionally hand-drawn animation. It was the third feature completed at the Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida, and subsequently the last. The studio shut down the Orlando facility in an effort to produce computer animated features.

Released in 2003, Brother Bear is the story of Kenai, an Inuit lad who tracks down and kills the bear that killed his older brother. The murder angers the Great Spirits, who transform him into a bear as punishment. Kenai’s living brother, Denahi, thinking he was killed by the newly transformed bear, hunts him down for revenge. As brother unknowingly hunts brother, Kenai’s only hope is to befriend his own worst enemy, a grizzly cub named Koda. Only Koda can show him the way to reverse the transformation.

It should be said that the comedy supplied by the moose characters of Tuke and Rutt is compliments of Rick Moranis and Dave Thomas. The duo essentially reprized their roles of Bob and Doug McKenzie of SCTV fame. The skit, and subsequently the relationship between Tuke and Rutt, involves two dim brothers who can never agree on anything, but manage to reconcile because of their lack of short-term memory. It’s their relationship that inspires Koda to reconcile with Kenai after their falling out.

Critical reception was mixed, with some reviewers dismissing the film as a thematic retreading of territories covered by movies like The Fox and the Hound, The Lion King, and even Ice Age. On the other hand, critics like Roger Ebert gave the film a thumbs up, applauding its moving story and convincing characterizations. Other critics especially liked the surreptitious change of the film’s aspect ratio. The film, while Kenai is a human, is projected in standard 1.75:1 ratio. When Kenai is transformed into a bear, the aspect ratio changes to an anamorphic 2.35:1. Likewise, the art direction changes in color and in tone, from realistic and dark to colorful and otherworldly.

The film was a box office triumph, earning $85,000,000 domestically and $165,000,000 worldwide. The DVD release, distributed in 2004, raked in an additional $167 million. This makes Brother Bear one of Disney’s most successful films to date. This success prompted a direct-to-video sequel, Brother Bear 2, that was released in 2006. When all is said and done, the majority opinion is that Brother Bear is a truly moving tale, as the tagline describes, of a boy who became a man by becoming a bear.

If you have a preteen in your life, you probably have been hit with a lot of chatter about a movie called High School Musical. Even if you do not know a preteen, you cannot have escaped the amazing popularity of this film. Seldom has a made-for-television movie been such a hit, but Disney knew it had an enormous hit on its hands from the day of its premier, January 20, 2006.

High School Musical has exhibited unprecedented success. The movie’s soundtrack was the most popular album of 2006. The show launched books, an ice show, a video game, and a stage musical. Naturally, a sequel was produced and aired in 2007. High School Musical is so sensational that it has the distinction of becoming the first made-for-television movie with a theatrically released sequel: High School Musical 3: Senior Year will premier in October, 2008.

What is the fascination? The story follows much of the classic fundamental structure familiar in Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. Two high school juniors from varying cliques “click” with one another as they secretly audition for their school’s musical. Their backgrounds as basketball star and math whiz certainly do not lend themselves to performing in a musical. Their relationship and their auditioning prove to be disruptive elements within the school, and all sorts of devious behavior ensues.

The characters in this movie allure the preteen set largely because they are going through many of the same frustrations in finding themselves and then having the daring to actually be themselves. The movie’s message, to have the guts to buck the status quo, is appealing to young people. And, of course, the music rocks!

The release of a High School Musical remix on DVD includes some new bonus features. There are two music videos: “We’re All in This Together” and the never-before seen “I Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You.” There is also a featurette giving instructions for copying the moves and a behind-the-scenes look at High School Musical. For children in that hard preteen phase, this is a super DVD!

The field of Conservation affects a wide supply of food needs, crop management and soil. Students concerned with earning degrees in Conservation and Ecology must appreciate such particular fields as water conservation, forests, wildlife extinction, wildlife management, pesticides, waste management and more. Useful courses should include in-depth environmental case studies that challenge prospective students to examine how ecological concepts apply in the field.

Vocations in Conservation and Ecology often engage spending a good deal of time in the wild. Observing and protecting the purity of natural reserves and wildlife refuges and endangered wetlands could well be part of a potential student’s career. Some graduates may even work in the corporate sphere, working to acquire the funds and the awareness of various environmental organizations.

A wide range of careers that manage, conserve and protect natural resources contain such employment opportunities as park ranger assistant, visitor center specialist, biologist wildlife assistant, wildlife handler, nature park specialist, conservation educator, marine life aquarium worker, forestry technician, horticulture aide, environmental lobbyist, grass roots organizer, adventure tour guide, zoological society specialist, museum specialist, and more. The forests and parks of the United States are lush resources, providing tremendous beauty and incredible peace. A key element of conservation is the successful managing of the resources contained in the forests and harvested woodlands. Graduates of the Conservation and Ecology curriculum are trusted to develop, maintain, and protect the forests of the nation. The logging industry cultivates thousands of acres of forests each year, supplying the apparently insatiable hunger for paper, and it is the conservationist who must safeguard the rest of the forests.

Those who may be employed by state and local administrations, or who may be contracted by such governments to clear away underbrush and garbage from park trails, roadsides, and designated camping areas. Some conservation consultants and ecologists may be contracted to maintain various facilities and campgrounds. Other forest and conservation consultants work in forest nurseries, sorting out tree seedlings and discarding those that don’t meet the standards of root formation, stem development, and condition of foliage.

A few conservation and ecology students may find employment on tree farms, where they plant, cultivate, and harvest various kinds of foliage. The duties of students vary with these types of farms. Those who work on specialty farms, such as farms growing Christmas or ornamental trees for nurseries, are accountable for shearing treetops and limbs to shape the growth of the trees under their care, to increase the density of branches, and to recover the shape and health of the trees.

No doubt, this is a field of academics that brings a vast number of people into contact with Nature and the joys of the great outdoors.

The only sure thing in the current world of computers and computer applications is that adaptability and versatility are critical. Think about a toolbox. Sure, everyone wants some specialized tools and gizmos, but simple solutions always work the best. And now that computing and telecommunications are so fully connected, the more dependable, easy to use and versatile computer components need to be. All these positive descriptions aptly describe the Advanced Mezzanine Card, or AdvancedMC.

AdvancedMC, or AMC, is a small daughter board. A daughter board is an undersized circuit board that is attached to the main board or “mother board.” At three inches high, it can attach onto an Advanced TCA card or be plugged directly into a cabinet. What makes AdvancedMC dissimilar from other expansion cards is the presence of pins, sockets, plugs or other connectors, something that ordinary expansion boards don’t have. However, the AdvancedMC cards are only created to connect internally to a computer or other electronic device.

Because it is made specifically to fit on its side or parallel to the mainboard, AdvancedMC does not take up as much room. This space saving ability is sometimes referred to as a “slim form factor.” In fact, “Mezzanine” is engaged in the name in reference to theatre mezzanines, which can be stacked one on top of the other.

Another useful aspect of AMC is the fact that they are “hot swappable.” This means that an AMC can be removed without having to shut down the system. This is certainly suitable since there is no delay for shutting down and rebooting the system. In more important cases, when the equipment or service must always be available, using AdvancedMC is a requirement.

Several different kinds of products are already available in AdvancedMC, including processor cards, memory cards and graphic adapter cards to name a few, and since the AMC allows you to update and reconfigure at will, these adaptable components will be around for the long term.

When Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom premiered in 1971, it featured a great audio-animatronic show called The Country Bear Jamboree. As the name suggests, the show featured bears performing country music. The show was such a hit that capacity was expanded, Disneyland got its own Jamboree, and a second theatre was built to accommodate the crowds.

Originally, The Country Bear Jamboree was not created for Disney’s theme park. In the 1960s, the company had been planning to open a Mineral King Ski Resort and the musical attraction was being considered to entertain guests there. The ski resort never came into being, but the bears so captivated Walt Disney’s fancy before his death that they were added to the parks.

The show boasted roughly twenty characters, almost all bears. Some rose from the floor, others hung from the ceiling, others were revealed by the opening of a curtain when their moment to take the spotlight arrived. The master of ceremonies was named Henry. Joining him were Liver Lips McGrowl, Ernest, Teddi Barra, Trixie, the Sun Bonnet Trio, The Five Bear Rugs, and others. The show entertained visitors to the parks for over two decades.

In 2002, Disney produced a movie loosely based on the Country Bear Jamboree. Set in a world where humans and talking bears lived alongside one another, the story stars Haley Joel Osment as “Beary,” a young bear raised by humans. The plot centers on his meeting a has-been country band of bears reminiscent of The Eagles. Because of Beary’s interest, the band members decide to get back together. He inspires them to perform one last concert to save their old theatre, Country Bear Hall, from destruction be Thimble, played by perennial “villain” Christopher Walken. The movie also features Queen Latifah, Brian Setzer, and a cameo by Elton John.

While only loosely based on the much loved Disney attraction, The Country Bears will bring back happy memories for anyone who ever saw the original. With good country music and likeable characters, the movie is a nice chance to spend a night on the couch with your kids.

There is an old quip that ignorance is bliss. No. Ignorance is stupid and reckless. It may feel freeing. You may feel relieved of the need to worry about things you do not fathom, but how blissful is it when your carelessness leads you to becoming a crime statistic?

Cyber crime is a reality of the modern world. Corporate, financial, and medical IT systems have been breached and personal information and sensitive business files stolen. National security has been threatened by ineffective prevention efforts. Personal identities have been taken by thieves who robbed their victims of everything. Digital security, therefore, is something with which people should familiarize themselves.

Included in this is mobile security. With the ability to carry laptops, cell phones, and other handheld devices come many potential security risks, and every user should be aware of them. There is another old saying-far more accurate than the aforementioned saying-that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Nothing could be smarter! How many thousands of victims are out there are feeling guilty for allowing themselves to be so vulnerable when the crime against could have been averted?

Security can be achieved, both on a corporate and personal level, by a combination of three things: education, policy, and the latest security tools. Learn all you can about digital crime and about the most reliable technologies to prevent it. These tools include software packages, exterior devices, incredible SIM cards, one-time passwords, and electronic passports which can be used to defend information and transactions. Make sure you are adequately protected by the highest quality security devices. Using your newfound knowledge about cyber crime, devise policies for usage, and do not be lax about them.

Ignorance is not bliss, it is the gateway to a world of trouble. Do not set yourself up for disaster. Educate yourself on mobile security and you may boldly reap the benefits of modern technology.

How many times has this happened to you? You call an airline representative to check on your flight and they cannot tell anything you because the computers are down. You go to the bank to deposit money but you cannot get your balance at the moment because there are technical difficulties. You have to wait forever for a car title at the DMV because no one understands the new computer system.

When all is going right, computers are the most terrific thing since sliced bread. When there is a problem, however, nothing is more frustrating for the average person to handle. What good is a computer if it can go down and disable an entire business for long periods of time?

With an increase in computer use in all types of businesses, there is an additional need for trained computer technicians to keep things in good running order. That includes people who can provide phone help, provide preventive maintenance, troubleshoot, and replace subsystems such as hard drives and network cards (usually less expensive to replace than to repair).

Computer technician training prepares you for a career in this needy field. You will learn the specifics of computer anatomy, how to diagnose a problem using equipment such as voltmeters, circuit analyzers, signal generators, and oscilloscopes, how to perform manual repairs, and how to install plug-ins, as well as how to listen to the computer user’s verbal description of the problem for clues. All the tools you need to achieve a good score on the A+ Certification Exam, the industry-wide test for certifying computer technicians, are taught, including safety and security issues.

As long as there are frustrated, clueless people staring pathetically at their disabled computer screens, there will be a serious need for computer technicians to come to the rescue. You could be that hero! If you want a career in a field you can be assured will only grow, computer technology and repair is your answer.

In the time-honored tale of Chicken Little, the protagonist was a small barnyard hen who was hit on the head by a falling acorn. Rather than stopping and thinking about what happened logically, she became convinced that the sky was falling and that the king of the land needed to be warned.

As she ran to the castle, she was met by a number of other animals of the field and barnyard, including Goosey Loosey, Drakey Lakey, Turkey Lurkey and Ducky Lucky. Each of these friends is convinced by Chicken Little that the sky is falling and soon join her on her quest to tell the king.

When finally they run into Foxy Loxy, a fox who offers to take all of them to the king in his comfortable sack, the story takes a dark turn. Of course the fox has no intention of ever taking them to the king and has many plans to simply devour the credulous fowl.

In the Disney film of the same name, Chicken Little is rewritten as a young male rooster who at a young age alarmed his town by declaring that the sky was falling. He is met with ridicule from the town and shame from his father, forcing him to become something of an outcast. He finds companionship by hanging out with other children who were often bullied by Foxy Loxy and Goosey Loosey. Chicken Little’s friends include Abby Mallard, who is referred to as the Ugly Ducking, Runt of the Litter, and Fish out of Water, who wears a glass bowl full of water around his head.

Chicken Little manages to shine during a memorable baseball game, but during his celebration, manages to be hit by another piece of the sky. Before he loses his senses, he sees that this piece of the sky is actually a part of an invisible alien spacecraft. The aliens leave, but not before one of them has been left behind. Chicken Little, who has once again rung the bell to warn his town, is once again ridiculed.

The real action starts when the aliens return for their lost child and start vaporizing the townspeople, including among them, Foxy Loxy and the mayor. When the small alien is reclaimed by his parents, the people who were zapped are revealed to have been taken aboard the ship and are returned unharmed. Everything returns to normal and the movie ends with Hollywood arriving to make a summer blockbuster smash out of the recent events.

Most fans agree that The Emperor’s New Groove lived up to its tagline: “nuttier than a holiday fruitcake!” It was a critically lauded, if not ultimately successful, animated feature, and the first Disney animated film to ever feature a pregnant woman. Released in December 2000, The Emperor’s New Groove mixes a careful balance of comedy designed to appeal both to adults and children. It marked the 39th film in Disney’s canon and was initially slated to be a traditional musical along the lines of The Lion King. Though the title plays upon the Danish fairytale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, by Hans Christen Andersen, the original story was based on Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper. The initial incarnation of the project was titled Kingdom of the Sun, with the creative team behind The Lion King, director Roger Allers and producer Randy Fullmer, at the helm. So prestigious was the production that Allers and Fullmer contracted Sting to write the music for the film.

Kingdom of the Sun centered on the emperor Manco, voiced by David Spade, switching places with a humble peasant, Pacha, voiced by Own Wilson. The evil witch, Yzma, voiced by Eartha Kitt, turns Manco into a llama and forces the naive Pacha to do her bidding, which involved a gruesome ritual that would block out the sun forever, thereby saving her from ever aging. Manco, now a llama, learns humility, while Pancha falls in love with the emperor’s betrothed, Nina, voiced by Carla Gugino. This initial incarnation tested so poorly that Disney suspended any further production. Feedback indicated the film suffered from a lack of direction and the tried-and-true Prince and the Pauper formula proved too stale.

Disney quickly hired Mark Dindal, the director of Cats Don’t Dance, to create a more original take on the production. Unfortunately, this new comedic take was in direct opposition to Allers’s dramatic vision. The uneven storyline was met with disdain, especially from then-chief, Michael Eisner. By the summer of 1998, it was apparent to all parties involved that Kingdom of the Sun was not going to make its Summer 2000 deadline. Failure to make the deadline would have jeopardized lucrative promotional deals with the likes of McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. Allers was denied a six month extension, Prompting him to quit the production and subsequently opening the door to Dindal’s off-beat comedic conception. The Emperor’s New Groove was born.

The changes were fast and furious. Owen Wilson’s character was done away with while David Spade’s character was renamed Kuzco, and given the lead role. The Prince and Pauper angle was shelved, and Pacha was recast with the voice of John Goodman. Yzma and her henchman Kronk were tweaked while the emperor-as-llama idea was used to great comedic effect. The end result is perhaps one of the most original Disney movies to date. Indeed, it’s been lauded as one of the funniest.

Though not a tremendous blockbuster, it did recover its estimated $100 million budget, and did enjoy a nomination for Best Song for Sting’s “My Funny Friend and Me.” The Emperor’s New Groove did prove successful enough to warrant a sequel, Kronk’s New Groove, though it was a direct-to-video release. In 2006, the premise was reconceived as a television series, entitled The Emperor’s New School.

You can tell when you have made it to the top when you receive a reference on The Simpsons. Miley Cyrus, aka Hannah Montana, broke that popularity pinnacle in December, 2007 when Bart had to write on the blackboard “The capital of Montana is not Hannah.” In the same month, Wheel of Fortune featured the celebrity in one of its puzzles.

A remarkable list of movies and television shows aimed at audiences of varying ages and interests have paid homage to the ubiquitous character. The madly popular Disney show is seen in countries all over the world, in Asia, Australia, South America, Africa, and Europe as well as its native United States.

The lead character is Miley Cyrus, daughter of country star Billy Ray Cyrus, who also stars in the show. Hannah Montana debuted in 2006 and was an immediate triumph. Nominated for an Emmy Award, the series is now in its third season. It has spawned video games, sold out concerts and controversy over ticket scalping prices which in cases have reached thousands. Of course, there have been DVD releases of the series entitled Living the Rock Star Life, Pop Star Profile, One in a Million, Life’s What You Make It, and Behind the Spotlight

While all the shows revolve around the antics of a teenage girl living a double life-student by day, music star by night-Life’s What You Make It focuses predominantly on coming of age and finding oneself. Centered on the trials of first love, these episodes follow Miley/Hannah through her star struck relationship with television heartthrob Jake Ryan, who may or may not be what he appears to be. They place value on individuality and remaining true to your identity.

Hannah Montana is a delightful series that any adult can feel comfortable about letting their children watch. The character’s allure and the plot involving the secrecy of her hidden identity draws both boys and girls-and, in one extraordinary instance, the governor of Illinois! Everyone is attracted to Hannah Montana.

In today’s business environment, companies have to remain dramatically more competitive in a global market. As more and more companies and individuals from the Pacific Rim do business with each other, organizations struggle to find an edge, to separate themselves from the pack. Organizations that recognize the international nature of life will succeed, while others fail.

One way to ensure your company’s highest chance of success is to use an ethnically appropriate image, like an Asian stock photo, to connect audiences to ideas, products, and other audiences. Words can be jumbled, translations might be twisted, but strong, enduring, familiar images always speak volumes. Everyday faces, clothing, and situations all work together to put a client, consumer, or audience at ease.

To choose the best image, you want to be very careful to pick one that is relevant to the way people really live. Do not fall into the trap of cultural references and imagery originating from departed eras. Rather, find an image that is oriented to the future, one that identifies with your customers’ imagination of what they want to become. By finding the most apt image, your company is that much closer to capturing the heart of a lifestyle or ethnic group.

Perhaps the most interesting value of using an Asian stock photo is that the heavy lifting has already been done for you. You may know what style of photo or image you need, but actually getting it can present many problems. If you use a stock photo, there is no need to locate a model and photographer, hire a lawyer to draft release forms, set up a photo shoot, process the photo, and then examine hundreds of photos of the same model, all the while trying to determine which one is the absolute best. The selection process has been done for you, offering up only the prime images from which to choose.

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then the right picture can be priceless.

Beauty and the Beast is the 30th animated movie produced by Walt Disney Studio. Based on the classic French fairytale made popular by Madame Beaumont’s story published in 1756, the film premiered at Disney’s El Capitan Theater in Los Angeles in 1991. Beauty and the Beast is still one of the best known and beloved films in the Disney canon.

It is the first, and to this date only, full-length animated movie to be nominated by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences for Best Picture. Considered the quintessence of the “Disney Renaissance” (1998-1994) Beauty and the Beast would come to influence all following films in terms of blending traditional and computer-generated animation. The launching of this renaissance was the release of The Little Mermaid and ended, by and large, with The Lion King.

The American Film Institute ranked Beauty and the Beast as the 22nd best musical of all time and the 34th best romantic movie of all time. Additionally, the United States national Film Registry deemed the film “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” With regards to the greatest songs in movies, the AFI ranked the theme song from the film at number 62.

In various interviews, Disney executives responsible for the production of Beauty and the Beast felt the climate of the culture in 1990 and 1991 was top-heavy with shallow depictions of women as objects. Moreover, they were happy to produce a feature that fought the culturally tendency for young men to be pressured into marrying or dating the “prettier girl.” They maintained the moral of the film, that looks aren’t everything, spoke to the majority of viewers, accounting for its exceptional box-office success. Indeed, Beauty and the Beast grossed $171 million domestically and over $403 million worldwide. It was the third-most successful movie of 1991, overshadowed only by Terminator 2 and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. It was the first animated movie in history to exceed the $100 million mark.

Critical response was generally positive, indeed Beauty and the Beast was one of the best reviewed animated movies ever made. It was lauded as a return to the classic filmmaking Disney had become synonymous with. Roger Ebert praised the film, “Beauty and the Beast reaches back to an older and healthier Hollywood tradition in which the best writers, musicians and filmmakers are gathered for a project on the assumption that a family audience deserves great entertainment, too.”