Last Week in Life Hacking

The Joy of Electronic Books (via Sealed Abstract)

Drew Crawford of Sealed Abstract explains how to digitize your book collection for easy reading and portability on your computer or mobile device. I love the idea, however it does look like a pretty time consuming process. With the introduction of the Kindle DX, I assume we're only 6 months away from the majority of publishers releasing digital versions of their books. Oh, how I love progress.

Heineken Jacuzzi (via College Drinker)

Epic. That is all.

To Improve Fitness, Try Sleep (via NYT)

I've been advocating this for a long time, sleep deprivation is one of the most detrimental things you can subject your body to, especially in performance based work. Although this article explains the effects of increased sleep and athletic performance, there is certainly a similar correlation with matheletes. Try loading up on sleep a week before an exam, this could be a game changer. 

HackCollege Party in LA on 6/27!

The flyer for the party

So I'm super-excited to put up this post. HackCollege is throwing a part in Los Angeles next Saturday on 6/27. Free drinks with student ID, DJ, the whole nine. We're also giving everyone a chance to try their hand at doing some live video mixing.

If you're in LA, come out on out! And be ready to shotgun beers.

And RSVP to the Facebook event: The HackCollege Summer Jam Session

Or RSVP to the Upcoming.org event.

And you can always let Twitter know you're going to the party.

This Week in College News

Facebook Gets Vanity URLs (via Facebook Blog)

At 12:01 am EST on June 13, Facebook opened the floodgates for it's "vanity URLs." Vanity URLs allow users to get their own specific address in relation to the Facebook domain name. I snagged facebook.com/kellysutton pretty quickly. Facebook reports that over 200,000 people grabbed their vanity URLs within the first 3 minutes. While not earth-shattering, I see this as a move on some of the other professional networks like LinkedIn and Xing.

University of Illinois Under Investigation for Questionable Acceptances (via NY Times)

I didn't know that Illinois was considered a pretty corrupt state until my dad pointed it out one day. Apparently such corruption dips its hands into university admissions as well. U of IChampaign-Urbana will undergo an investigation for some questionable admissions practices. Sorry dad, your alma mater is now "shady."

Will WolframAlpha Make Calc I and II Obsolete? (via the Chronicle)

With the recent release of WolframAlpha, calculus teachers and professors around the world have seen mysterious performance increases among their students. The culprit? The new answer engine WolframAlpha. Because WA (that's what the cool kids call it) can solve complex calculus in the blink of its robosentient eye, many students have started using it with mixed results from professors. Will Calculus II no longer be cool? Besides, we all know everything after calc II is just made up.

This Week in Facebook

The State Department Is Using Facebook To Discuss Important Issues (via Federal Computer Week)

People around the world are conversing about important issues on the United States' State Department Facebook Page. There are streams of important events like President Obama's speech in Cairo, Egypt and important guests to chat with like the creator of Wikipedia, Jimmy Wales. The most interesting thing about this page is that of the top ten countries people are subscribing from, none of them are the United States. The CO.NX page has chats every Tuesday.

Facebook Chat Surpasses 1 Billion Messages Sent Per Day (via Inside Facebook)

A lot of people are using Facebook Chat, enough that one billion messages are being sent. Now that Facebook has a large user base of people using Chat, it'll be interesting to see where they go with this feature. Let's cross our fingers for video.

Facebook, Twitter Come To Xbox Live (via CNET Gaming and Culture)

Though the connectivity between Facebook and Xbox will start out small, there is plenty of room for these two platforms to grow together. Users are going to be able to see the photos and streams of their friends while broadcasting their own accomplishments to their streams. There are also plans to integrate the credit system used on Facebook to Xbox Live.

Featured Facebook Connect Site: Howcast

Howcast is an Instructables-esque site that has a ton of videos that tell you how to do things. Facebook Connect allows any user sign in with their Facebook account and become a user within minutes. 

What the iPhone 3G S Means for Students

Image courtesy of Johan LarssonThis Friday, you'll be able to buy the brand new iPhone 3G S -- the talk of all techies for the past two weeks. The new phone is quite an improvement on the old one, but for the average student, that doesn't mean much. The major features: speed and an enhanced camera.

Class

Multimedia capture

The new camera is the most impressive part of the revamped device. A 3-megapixel sensor and macro lens will make taking pictures of ordinary things much more effective. Snapping pictures of handouts and notes up-close will be clearer and easier to read in detail. And there's plenty more you can do with a fancy cell phone camera.

The video capabilities will let you capture visual in-class demonstrations -- but let's be honest -- that's largely worthless. The voice-recorder will make lectures easy to record audio-wise, but we still have no clues on how the battery life will fare in this mode and some applications in the old model allowed this anyway. It's still a very welcome integration for students, though.

Speed

A nicer processor and support for 7.2 mbps 3G will make all things on the phone faster. That'll encourage more application development at universities. It'll also make your uni's clunky homepage load faster, which is definitely a plus. Considering that most campuses are blanketed in Wifi, the new 3G upgrade is superfluous.

Social

Cost

The new iPhone bumps the old one (without the "S") into a $99 price slot for those signing a new contract. This is definitely getting into the student price range, so expect the unit to be even more ubiquitous, but the monthly bills between $70 and $100 a month will still make it ridiculous for anyone on a budget. The "S" goes for $199 and $299 (for more space) with a new contract and an upgrade for those still in-contract is prohibitively expensive, even for people with real jobs. Here's the whole iPhone price breakdown. 

Communication

Speed improvements will make social communication like Twitter and even messaging faster -- launching an SMS message is supposedly twice as fast.

Pictures

The new camera has some finer adjustments in the white-balance, focus and exposure departments. This will make low-light pictures at parties easier to take, but honestly, the sensor isn't going to be as good as one in your legitimate digital camera as far as color detail and resolution, so it won't completely replace your party camera.

And with video support, there's no excuse not to send us a video of you shotgunning a beer.

Navigation

A built-in compass will make navigation easier. It shows you which direction you're actually facing relative to the map. This is pretty nice, even for those without vehicles since walking in open spaces (lost freshman in a quad) is confusing without orientation.

Finger-print Resistance

A less-talked-about feature is the supposedly finger-print resistant coating on the glass. Eat pizza and text at the same time! (Probably not.)

Any other thoughts on how the new iPhone could enhance your university experience? Comment below.

The Impromptu Home Alarm System -- Dad Tip

Your dad emailed me this note. I'm just passing it along (I didn't know he could type?). I hope he doesn't do this every Tuesday morning though I get the feeling he will...

Hiya kid-o. You know your mother and I are always concerned with your safety ever since aunt Ellen lost you at the beach when you were four. (My sisters would never be so irresponsible.) Now that you're living in your own place for the summer, I'm sure a security system is out of the budget. You have to be prepared for burglars, regardless.

Keep your car keys on the night stand, right by your bed at night. If you hear a stir at the front door and someone is trying to break in, hit the panic button. Though your neighbors are likely jaded by false-car-alarms, an intruder won't stick around for long with so much attention in their direction.

Keep those hedges trimmed low to eliminate hiding places near your windows. You might also think about investing in a phony decal for a real security system -- or just use your fancy computer to whip-up some signage online. And be sure to lock up every night.

This Week in Life Hacking

Make Your Brown Bag Lunch More Appealing (via @lifehacker.com)

A great way to save money is to pack your own lunch instead of buying from expensive on campus eateries and restaurants. Lifehacker details some ways to spice up your lunch.

Improve Your Lifestyle With Self Experimentation (via @zencollegelife.com)

If you read HackCollege on a regular basis, there's a good chance you've already committed yourself to relentless improvement. Ibrahim Husain  over at Zen College Life introduces the interesting idea of committing yourself to trying something new for 30 days, after which you evaluate its impact on your life. From there, you can decide to maintain or ditch your new habit.

Feng Shui On Steroids: Design Your Space to Achieve Your Goals (via @zenhabits.com)

My biggest gripe with dorm rooms is the merging of a work space and your rest space. Planning a trip to Ikea to outfit your room for next year? Head over to Zen Habits where they provide some Feng Shui tips to amp up your productivity. 

Sleep Better This Summer (via @askmen.com)

Stuck in residence with no air conditioning this summer? Check out Ask Men's article on ways to cool off so that you can get some rest. 

Come across any interesting life hacking articles this week? Post them in the comments section. Thanks!

Guest Post: Top 5 Ways to Crash a Festival

So this year at SXSW, I had the pleasure--nay, the honor--of meeting a guy named Zack Teilbloom. He's a recent graduate who has started a blog called Festival Crashers, a blog on hacking festivals and concerts. Given Tickermaster "convenience" charges and a penchant for mischief, his part autobiographical, part how-to posts are always great. I asked him to do a guest post, and here it is. ~Kelly 

Welcome to the lifestyle of the Festival Crashers. Your days of paying for concerts are over. The first thing you need to know is even if you don't have tickets and the show is sold out, go to the venue. Just go. Hang around the entrance long enough and you'll find your way in.

Here's 5 tips that'll get you in:

5. Pretend you're a roadie.

If you see an opening band's van pull up in the alley beside the venue, say hello to your opening. Offer to carry an amp or guitar. The band will be happy for the help, the door guy assumes you're with the band he's not going to make you set down the amp and guitar to show your ID. Once you've put down the last of their equipment, disperse into the rest of the crowd. This only works for bar gigs and smaller clubs. Don't try waltzing up to Madison Square Garden, say you're Green Day's roadie.

Pretending to be a roadie to get into Passion Pit

4. Replicate the pass or stamp

It helps to know if the venue you're going to gives out wristbands or if they mark your hand with a sharpie or stamp before you get there. When I went to crash Animal Collective at Stubb's this weekend, I had five different color Stubb's wristbands in my pocket. Sometimes it's incredibly easy to replicate what they're looking for at the door. At a sold-out Girl Talk concert in Chicago, a smiley face written on your hand in black sharpie was all you needed to get into VIP. It can be that simple. Keep a couple different color sharpies and old wristbands in your car. If you can get ahold of a stamp and ink, all the better.

Using a Pita Pit stamper to crash a Les Savy Fav show at a church.

3. Walk Hard

Dewey Cox knew what he was singing about. Most of my crashes are from literally just walking past the security guards. The key is to wait for a swell in the crowd, hold something that looks like a ticket and don't make eye contact with any guards. Walk confidently and purposefully. Keep your head down or pretend you're on the phone.

Walking Hard into Jazz Fest in New Orleans

2. Talk a good game

Sometimes you just need to commit to a good lie. Or even a bad lie. The important part is that you commit. At a local Reggae Festival, I told volunteer services I was part of the recycling team and we needed more bins. The woman with the clipboard asked who sent me there for more bins. Brian did. Was there a Brian? Of course not. Don't back down on your lie, only ask questions that you know will support your theory, and when it starts to feel like you might fail, make your move.

The Recycling team at Reggae Fest

1. Get a pass back

Some people are lame enough to leave a show after the opening band. When you're staking out the entrance, look for nicely dressed people with wristbands on their way out. It's probably a couple on their way to dinner. If you get someone to agree to give you their wristband, have them take it off from

TV on the Radio on the Wrist

Good luck with your crashing. Follow Zack on Twitter @ZackTeibloom and bookmark www.festivalcrashers.com.