No show this week

Unfortunately, Sutton got really bad "food poisoning" so we won't be able to crank out a HackCollege show by tomorrow.

We're also taking our Thanksgiving break early, so there won't be a podcast on Monday the 10th either. A new show will greet you back to school after the break, though. In the mean time, we think you should watch our election show, which breaks down the policies of Obama and McCain, just in time for the elections on Tuesday.

Expect some written posts in lieu of the missing episode.

Thanks for being patient. I would shoot the podcast by myself, but...

The couch is taken.

HP Freshman 15 Contest Winners

Big thanks to everyone that participated in the contest. We received a ton of submissions, coming from as far as Pakistan and Sri Lanka. Drum roll please...

Runners Up

Each runner up will receive a super-click HP laptop bag. These things have enough room for you old craptops and more padding than a helmet.

• Brandon Young
• William Cleveland
• Ryan Parker

Grand Prize Winner

Anthony Pittman

If you won, keep an eye on your email inbox. We'll be getting in touch with you.

We'll discuss the winners and the runners up in next week's podcast! Be on the lookout!

HP Laptop Winners Announced Later Today

Emails have been pouring in over the last week for our HP laptop giveaway. We received hundreds of contest entries and are currently sifting through all of them.

We will be announcing a winner later today, so stay tuned!

HackCollege Season 2 Episode 5 - Obama/McCain on College

A special election episode featuring the issues that students care about. Also -- do students understand RSS?

Topics this week:

Presidential candidates, Barack Obama and John McCain weigh in on the issues students care about:

• Student loans: In light of recent scandals, what will the fed do?


• Science and Technology: with the U.S. behind the curve, both parties have plans.


• College costs: As tuition constantly rises, how will McCain and Obama keep things sane?


• Federal Funding: Earmarks direct Congressional spending towards universities, but the schools might be better without them.


• The Drinking Age: The Amethyst Initiative has made this something worth talking about. And both of the candidates have weighed in.

Plus, we asked 101 students: What is RSS? Their answers might surprise you.

Sponsors this week:

• Radar.net, the cameraphone picture-sharing service


• Squarespace

HackCollege is Now on Alltop!

Big news! Your favorite college blog and podcast has been accepted into Alltop, Guy Kawasaki's latest project. We're pumped about the news! Alltop touts itself as the"magazine rack" for the Web.

Head on over to college.alltop.com and start reading some of the other college blogs!

We're Giving Away a Brand New HP Laptop!

Alright, it's taken us quite a little while. We apologize for that. To make it up to you, we'll be give away a free laptop, how does that sound? Go to hackcollege.com/hp to figure out how to win and all of the rules and such.

Good luck to everyone!

HackCollege Season 2 Episode 4: Bottle Poppin'

Chris shows off every possible way to open a beer in this week's HackCollege.

Topics this week:

• Verizon to start charging businesses like Twitter for SMSing.


• Is terminal computing coming back?.


• Textbook Torrents has closed its doors for good.


• Chris shows off 15+ different ways to open a beer bottle.


• The HP Freshman 15 Laptop giveaway begins!

Sponsors this week:

• Radar.net, the cameraphone picture-sharing service


• Squarespace

CollegeScholarships.org Announces Blogging $10,000 Scholarship

It's awesome when someone comes along and offers to give you money in exchange for something that you already do. CollegeScholarships.org is doing just that with its annual blogging scholarship.

So head on over and submit your blog! No matter how big or small, everyone has a chance at winning. And don't forget to submit any of your friends' blogs as well!