Some motorcycle enthusiasts may be better off watching from the sidelines. Ouch! That’s gonna definitely leave a mark!
Of course, “Full Contact Extreme Limbo” is another questionable activity causing people to find themselves in need of medical attention. 
Any way you look at it, the world is full of people with poor judgment, ensuring the medical industry will remain the powerful job creator it continues to be. Sign up today to become a certified Medical Assistant!
Those readers who are taking online medical billing classes as they begin their adult career lives grew up in the internet age and have little to no memory of the dark ages before the information superhighway. For those readers who are taking online medical billing classes as part of a mid-life career change, prepare to feel old. One of the foundational sites in the history of the internet – Yahoo! – turns twenty today!
It may be hard to think of another site more closely associated with so many things internet related. Yahoo! was the early search leader (before Google grew into the juggernaut it is). Yahoo! was also one of the first sites to aggregate content – news, weather, finance, entertainment, etc. It is still the chosen homepage of millions of users worldwide.
At around the same time Yahoo! hit the scene, the newfangled internet was delivering another very important innovation to the world. That is, the ability to cut the moorings of the educational process with the advancement of online study. The internet brought learning from the “dirt world” campus/classroom paradigm into the study from home era. What many of our students take as an article of faith today – that they can study medical billing and coding at exceptionally flexible times and places as dictated by their otherwise busy lives – was not an option before the birth of the modern internet as we now know and love it.
So as we take this opportunity to wish Yahoo! a happy 20th Birthday, we should give thanks for the role the internet plays in our ability to study medical billing and coding from the comforts of our living rooms, favorite coffee shops or anywhere we so choose. 
OK, so as heavy users of online resources (being online students and overall Internet junkies), we’ve grown pretty savvy regarding the scams used by scammers to scam us out of our hard earned money. For a while, we were susceptible to these “too good to be true” appeals to our greed. “Nigerian banker fleeing oppressive regime needs compassionate foreigners to help him move his family business and significant cash holdings out of the country. Let me deposit $4,000,000 into your account and when I transfer out the balance upon arriving in the US, I will leave $50,000 in your account as payment.” I’m sure you’ve seen that one. What about, “You’ve been selected to receive a $500 gift card from Walmart”?
OK, so we have grown to recognize these as scams. But scammers in Nigeria and elsewhere never sleep it would seem. Latching on to the fact that we’ve grown hip to their schemes, they have gone the other way in an attempt to confuse us. The new scams prey on the “too BAD to be true” response.
For example, you receive a very official looking email from your bank. It has all the colors and logos from your bank. It may even come from an email address with your bank’s name somehow included. It says something like, “Your account has been overdrawn by a debit in the amount of $7500.00. The large dollar amount has alerted our fraud detection department. Please log in immediately to verify the debit or to log a fraud claim.” Provided is a link to a mocked up website that again “borrows” your bank’s website appearance. In a panic, and wishing to quickly straighten out your account, you enter in your username and password and voila! The scammer has access to your accounts. Pizza and beer for all the scammer’s friends is on him tonight.
There are lots of new Phishing scams popping up every day. Click here for more information on the latest scams and how to detect them before you get taken for a ride. Share any scams you have uncovered in the comments below. 
Writing a resumé can be a task that is quite difficult to begin. Especially if you don’t have a point of reference from which to begin . Do you ever wish you could take a peek at what other people have done with their resumés so that you could at least get an idea of how to structure/format your own?
There’s no shame in cribbing from the work of others when it comes to writing resumés. In fact, there are lots of resumé sample sites out there (here, here and here) where you can review the CV’s of people in the exact same field as you.
Or, click “read more” to see a particularly good example of a medical billing CV I found online. Continue reading… 
We all have days when we feel like life’s challenges are just more than we can overcome. If you’re feeling stretched thin, perhaps as you’re trying to train for a job in a new career field. Or maybe you simply struggle to keep studies, work and family responsibilities from falling by the wayside. Whatever your personal struggles, remember that the secret to success is to never give up. Never give in. PERSEVERE!
Consider the story of Brandon Mulnix of Michigan. Mulnix’s jaw was wired shut after injuries he sustained in a car wreck. Yet he was scheduled to run a marathon. A person with less perseverance might have opted to skip the 26 mile run. But not Brandon. He stuck to the task, no matter how large the obstacle in his path and completed the run in spite of his inability to consume solid foods for nutrition and energy.
Kind of puts your struggles into perspective no? Excelsior! 
Getting your certification is a wonderful thing, but now it is time to turn your attention and efforts to finding a new position with your newly minted qualifications. With the economy in turmoil and the effects of this volatility on the labor market, the rules of job hunting are changing day to day. What may have been conventional wisdom about how to write a resume, how to handle interviews or how to negotiate compensation is potentially no longer relevant. In many cases, what used to be a strategy for success has become a recipe for failure.
The best way to know what is working (and what is not) in real time is to read the shared experiences of other job seekers who are also currently out there dealing with resumes, human resources, hiring managers, etc. The best job hunting blogs have shared experiences posted daily and that fresh input can be of immense value to the job hunter. I recommend Jobhuntingblogs.org which is a wonderful compilation of the best job hunting blogs out there.
I also like guerrillajobhunting Get a fresh look at what is working for others and you can get ahead in the hunt! Also, share your experiences in the comments below to help fellow Allen School Online students in their search. 
Many of our students live in the coastal areas in the path of Hurricane Irene. From all five boroughs to New Jersey’s coastline and all along the Eastern seaboard, its gonna be a wild weekend. Please be careful and take care of one another during this dangerous storm.
-Allen School Online Blog 
Browser Slower Than a Traffic Jam?
Hey, it’s hard to be a full time online student. Especially if you’re also working full time and/or raising a family at the same time as you study to enter this exciting new field. There frequently isn’t much do re mi left after you finish paying for all the essentials. Lucky for you the fabulous folks at Kiplinger’s compiled this awesome list of freebies. From meals, to books, to outings and more, there is lots to do, eat, drink, watch, listen to, read and enjoy for less than one thin dime. Click here for the article chock full of fee-free goodness. And if there’s nothing there that appeals to you, have a look at www.totallyfreestuff.com for even more gratis goodies. If you’re still not satisfied, I will refund to you the full purchase price you paid for this blog.