Computer Cords: Wrap Them with Twisty Ties!

I've got a desktop computer. With 2 speakers and 1 sub woofer. A microphone. A webcam. The keyboard. The mouse. The monitor. An external battery. A printer. An external hard drive. My Zen. The Internet cables. And the USB cable to connect to my digital camera. That all comes with... a big mess. I mean, that's a lot of wires. I've even got a desk lamp, too.

Big suggestion: Keep the twisty ties. Don't toss them out when you buy new electronics. Also, you can keep the ones you get from buying bread. You can also, uh, borrow a few from the dining hall? I don't know. In any case, do not throw them away. Use them.

Get behind your computer with a flashlight (if needed) and a handful of twisty ties. Find the cords and go at it. Leave a little wiggle room and tie the rest into a bundle. How I do it, I wrap the extra cord around my hand and then twisty tie the bunch together.

Furthermore, I've found this process much easier if you turn your computer off. This way, you can unplug and plug back in, if need be.

Now go tackle those tangles!

Save Money: Shave Your Head?

Haircuts cost a lot. If you're a guy, you have it easy. Girls, you might want to look to Britney for advice? Because...

Yes, she shaved her head. Read all about it over at:

• PerezHilton.com, Hollywood's most-hated web site (and where the image is from)


• The insanely addictive PopSugar.com

But, Britney, don't you worry. I've still got hope for us. If I told you you were beautiful, would you date me on the regular?

Weekend Away and an Awesome Pun

My parents are in town this weekend, so I won't have time to assemble a meaningful post. But I do have an excellent pun I came up with yesterday (although I'm sure someone else has thought of it before). Enjoy:

Q: What do you call Jesus on an airplane?

A: A blessing in da skies!

Top 10 Web Tools for College Students

While I'm slowly recovering from a day of intense sickness yesterday (actual sickness, not love-sickness), I can once again surf the web. As I was browsing the likes of digg, I came across this little nugget: Top Web Tools for College Students.

Many of the programs or websites listed made our HackCollege Pack, a list of essential tools for the student. There are a few new ones, though.

Check them out: Top Web Tools for College Students

For Valentine's Day

Britney showed the world her box, but my box is just for you. Thanks for reading.

Killer Colds and Flus! (And How to Avoid Them)

While Rosario is nice and chipper about taking notes, I'm a little under the weather. The flu seems to be making its rounds down at LMU.

Although I feel like I'm getting sick, I don't feel too bad. Mostly because I take a few precautionary steps right when I get that "Oh God, I'm going to wake up sick tomorrow." That feeling is not to be confused with "Oh God, I'm going to wake up puking and smelling of beer tomorrow."

Since I've taught myself to be more aware of sickly feelings, my longest sick period has been easily less than 24 hours. Here's what I do:

• Take an Airborne and a vitamin. Most of my friends and I agree, Airborne is probably little more than a placebo. But hey, the extra vitamin C couldn't hurt.


• Drink Gatorade (or something similar). When they say drink plenty of fluid, they mean drink plenty of fluid, preferably something with electrolytes. Lemon-lime Gatorade is my sick beverage of choice: very hydrating when just enough sugar. Have a peeing contest with your friends.


• Sleep and nap like it's your job. It's amazing what a good night's rest will give you. Above all other steps to follow, this one is most key. I try to get at least 8 hours of sleep, preferably 9 or 10. Also, forget the mantra "a nap longer than a half hour will mess up your sleep pattern." I don't care if I mess up my sleep schedule if it means I'm healthy.


• Take it easy (if possible). You might be getting sick during the week of midterms or finals, in which case it might be pretty tough to relieve the stress. Even if you're not incapacitated and just feel a little under the weather, don't try to run a marathon.


• Use medication sparingly. Remember those days when you only needed to drink a beer or two to start feeling the juice's effects? Over-the-counter medicine works the same way. Don't take them unless the pain is unbearable or you have some work that can't wait.

Those are probably the top 5 ways I can think of of how to squash a sickness before it starts. I'll cross my fingers and hope they work this time. If not, I might be writing tomorrow on how to comfort yourself while you're deathly ill.

Feel free to list your tricks or superstitions about colds in a comment.

Social Note-Taking Bundle

You missed a lecture, and you need the notes. Or you hate synchronizing the notes from your laptop to your desktop all the time. Or you and your friend share notes, and you're tired of opening email attachments all the time. Or you've experienced a virus before finals already once and want to ensure your notes are forever safe. What are your options? Well, let's take notes online from now on. Let's share them with others, too.

There are a couple of options I've already heard of:

• Stu.dicio.us lets you take, share, and download your notes. It also allows you to connect with your Facebook friends. You can even keep track of your grades. Also, I love its layout.


• NoteMesh asks its users to collaborate to graduate. Its wiki-style system is a great idea. Instead of searching through everyone's notes, NoteMesh asks its users to collaborate and produce/edit one set of notes for a class.


• mynoteIT has so many more features than all the others. Not only can you upload .doc and .html notes, but you can also scan in images and even audio files from lectures. Wow.


• NoteCentric is a new one. What I like best about it are the RSS feeds and the discussion boards for each course. This chatroom idea, I haven't seen elsewhere.


• UniversityNotes takes it one step further and asks its users to share tests as well. Right now, it's only open to select schools, so you'll have to check and see if your university or college is available first.

All in all, each service has its good qualities.

If you're looking for a spot to store your notes and have some on your computer, some in a notebook, some on a recorder, I clearly recommend mynoteIT, as it has the most options. However, the big deal is that you need to find the one that most of your college is on, so that you can really take advantage of the actual intent of social note taking. For that, Stu.dicio.us is probably the best one, as it links well with Facebook.

But, please let us know in the comments if you use any of these services and which university/college you attend. Any Yalies out there?

Correction on the iTunes Quick Tip Last Week

It appears Apple has patched this "flaw" in the five user limit, thus invalidating last week's "QuickTip: Let More Than 5 People Listen to Your Music (on iTunes) and Give the RIAA the Middle Finger". My apologies on the shoddy reporting and false information. Passwording your library is not a work-around for the iTunes five user sharing limit.

I am now more enraged than ever at music sharing laws. Ugh.