Do you HackCollege?

Of course you do! Show your pride and join the I HackCollege.com Facebook Group!

I'm so jealous I'm not in Germany with the boys right now... Nevertheless, the first 15 minutes of the last podcast have been uploaded to the group's videos. It's a little skewed at first, but that's Mark's fault. Not ours.

But for those of you visiting the site at work or school and without the ability to download the full video podcast right away, go on over to our Facebook Group to satisfy your thirst. Prost!

HackCollege Podcast Episode 1: Back to School/Study Abroad

The podcast features Chris Lesinski and myself (Kelly Sutton) chatting on a couch, very much like diggnation. The podcast is produced by a newcomer to the HackCollege team, Scott Rowan. He turns the dials and holds the boom mic.

It feels dirty to copy the most successful podcast but we've got our reasons: we're college students, we are poor, and we like beer. Just think of it as an homage to diggnation for the time being. Expect to see some cooler scenery in the future.

In this episode, you'll find:

• The Pros and Cons of studying abroad


• Back to school stuff


• Some Facebook updates and reflections

Sites we mention in the podcast:

• Miro


• Cal Newport


• peterzahlt


• Eurail

Music:

• "Lex" by Ratatat
• 
  
• "Genesis" by Justice

Oh, and make sure you subscribe to our feed.

Let us know what you think by dropping us a line at hackcollege@gmail.com

Nag Your Roommates over Email with ChoreBuster!

Do you have a roommate? Do you have two? Maybe 5 or more? And would you like to keep your dorm room clean without having to nag everyone else to help out? Check out ChoreBuster. It does just that. Yay!

ChoreBuster allows you to set up a list of chores and arrange them by order of nastiness or difficulty (aka, which chores aren't so bad and which chores absolutely suck). It then asks you for the names of the people involved (aka, all your roommates) and their email addresses.

It will then sort everything out into a nice schedule that you can print out and display each week. Like who has to clean the toilet, clean the sink, empty the trash, vacuum, get the beer that week, whatever.

And you can set it up to nag your rommmate(s) daily or weekly over email --in my opinion, the best feature.

Thank you so much, ChoreBuster, for keeping us distal proximity players in mind. Face-to-face communication is just too risky.

Student 2.0 - School Supplies

School has started again. Do you have all your school supplies? But are they Web 2.0 compliant? Be sure to check out:

• The HackCollege Pack


• Read/Write Web's Web 2.0 Backpack: Web Apps for Students


• Mashable's No Download Required: 30+ Apps That Are Killing Microsoft

We also recommend:

• MapMyRun


• Skype


• StudyStickies


• Social Note-Taking


• Quizlet


• PocketMod


• And our Student 2.0 Category

Breaking News: The iPhone Has Been Unlocked

George Hotz, a freshman at the Rochester Institute of Technology, spent his summer unlocking the iPhone. His success has landed him international press coverage, a consulting job, and a car [Indy Star].

Hotz has detailed his 10 steps in unlocking the iPhone over at his blog.

But, note: An unlocked iPhone will only work with GSM-enabled carriers --such as T-mobile. And attempting to unlock your own iPhone is... probably still a bit too risky.

Speaking of Sexual Predators...

Speaking of sexual predators, whether they be on MySpace or not...

If you're going away to college this year, in a new city or state, you might want to check out Vision 20/20's Offender Locator.

You can input the address of your dorm and find the location, information, and picture of all registered sexual offenders within 1 mile, 2 miles, 5, 10, or 20 miles away from you.

I searched my address, and I found 60 within 1 mile. Scary, but I'm glad I know.

How To: Not Look Like an American While Abroad in Europe

Chris, our friend Scott, and I arrived in Germany the last week. Sorry for the lack of posts. We've been acquainting ourselves with the local beer--but not the local women quite yet, unfortunately. While it's a tad pessimistic and unpatriotic, not looking like an American has its advantages. You are less of an obvious target for pick-pocketers, for one. Although looking like an American every day does lend itself to spontaneous conversation.

A quick apology for our international readers; hopefully you can derive some humor out of this post and help out if we're missing anything. Here's a few things I've learned while in Dusseldorf, Germany:

1. Dress the part. Let's face it, most people in Europe dress better. Avoiding hooded sweatshirts, flip-flops/sandals/slippers, athletic shoes, non-New York Yankees baseball caps will help you blend in a little bit more. Collared shirts, a nice jacket, and "European" shoes will have locals asking you for directions.


2. Don't have your travel guide/translator/language dictionary in your hand at all times. Duh.


3. Don't take pictures of every single new thing. Shit looks different outside of the U.S. Get over it.


4. Try to learn everyday language. As my friend puts it best, "It's the effort that counts."


5. Make a conscious effort to keep your voice down. For reasons unbeknownst the world, Americans tend to talk louder. Much louder. You'll get that feeling like you're the only one talking in a public place quite a bit.


6. Get a messenger bag. Backpacks are dead giveaways. Just because the phrase is "backpacking around Europe" doesn't mean you have to use a backpack.

Did we miss anything?

Stay tuned for "How To: Look Like an American in Asia (and Why This is a Good Thing)."

Firefox Campus Edition Now Available

The previously mentioned Firefox Campus Edition is now available for download! The new edition comes with three extensions pre-installed:

FoxyTunes - allows you to control your media player from within Firefox. FoxyTunes can also find lyrics, covers, bios, videos, and more.

StumbleUpon - helps you find different websites, videos, and photos based on your interests from within Firefox.

Zotero - a research tool that collects, manages, and cites your sources from within Firefox.

If you are already using Firefox (and if your reading HackCollege you probably are) you can just download the extensions individually from here: FoxyTunes, StumbleUpon, and Zotero.

Firefox Campus Edition is still absolutely free to use and can be download here.