First Impressions of Google+

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past few days, you likely heard something about Google's latest and greatest stab at social networking, Google+. I've been using the service for a few days now, and thought I'd share some of my early impressions.

1. The interface is stunning, but baffling at times

The site looks like what you'd want Facebook to look like. The two sidebars are utilitarian and sparse, the top consists of only a searchbar and four small buttons, and the main feed looks like the lovechild of Facebook and Tumblr, with its emphasis on showcasing large photo thumbnails. You'll also notice a black bar spanning across the top of every Google property that alerts you to new notifications, and even grants you the ability to create a status update on the fly. Adding friends to circles is a pleasurable experience, and the smooth animations feel like you're using a desktop application, rather than a website. The only thing that really stands out as a flaw is the confusing comment threads below posts. Rather than uniformly showing the first few comments, or the most recent few, Google+ will often present you with a handful of comments from the middle of a long thread, with options to see the comments that came before it on top, and an option to see more recent comments at the bottom. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to the algorithm here, and I hope they get it cleaned up.  

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Guest Post: 8 Mobile Apps To Help You Save Money Anywhere

Feeling broke? Ironically, your expensive smartphone can help! Image courtesy of Flickr userDanielMoyle and licensed under CC by 2.0

Today's guest post is from our old friend, Lior Levin, a student from Tel-Aviv University, and employee in their MA in Political Science and MBA Abroad Programs. You may remember his previous guest post detailing five social sites that every student should try. Take it away, Lior.

Who doesn’t love saving money? Whether it’s due to the economy, budgeting, job loss or just wanting to save up, everyone is trying to cut costs somewhere. One of the best things about technology and smartphones in particular, are the thousands of apps out there available; there are apps for just about everything including apps to help you save money. The 8 mobile apps listed here will show you how to save money everywhere on things like gas, telephone calls, text messages, music, TV, movies and more.

Groupon 

If you’re not familiar with Groupon, it’s a great site that posts daily local deals. Each deal is only available for a certain amount of time. The catch is that in order to get the deal, that is a minimum number of people (group) that need to buy in order to get the coupon (hence the name Groupon - group coupons). You can often find savings of up to 95% and save money shopping, eating, events, entertainment and much more.

With the mobile app you can browse, purchase, and redeem Groupons right from your device. The app will search for deals in your local area (via GPS). You can also keep track of deals that you’ve purchased in the past and keep an eye on when they’ll expire.

Availability: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Mobile Website

GasBuddy

With gas prices rising by the day, it’s definitely something we could all afford to save money on. GasBuddy helps you find the cheapest gas at stations near your current location. They have over 200 websites that are used to help find the lowest gas prices around. If you find a lower price, you can report it to them and earn points toward a grand prize giveaway.

Availability: iPhone, Android, Blackberry, Windows Mobile, Mobile Website

Read on for the other six!

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IntelliVocab App Helps Prepare You for GRE

I cannot express how much I am not looking forward to doing this. Photo courtesy of d3b...*. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.Those of us who are approaching our final semesters of college might be thinking of taking our education even further after our wonderful undergraduate years. This seems to be the path that my professors have been recommending me, and since I'll be a senior next year, I should probably start thinking about graduate school. And as we all know, graduate school means another standardized test-- the GRE.

I hate standardized tests more than about anything in the entire world. I just suck at them. I over-analyze, I get anxious, and I just generally don't do well on them. I thought the SAT was bad, so you can imagine my complete excitement of preparing myself for the GRE.

However, I stumbled upon a Lifehacker article about an iPhone/iPad app called IntelliVocab that helps you study vocabulary that is most commonly seen on standardized tests. I downloaded it and have played around with it a bit, and I'm liking the look of it so far. Best of all, it's free until the end of June so even if you're not convinced it will be helpful, go ahead and grab it while it's free.

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iPad Impresses in Oklahoma State Trial

iPads proved to be a valuable learning instrument when uniformly adopted at OSU. Photo courtesy of Flickr user Mikecogh and licensed under CC By-SA 

Anyone who has followed the site knows that I love my iPad, and consider it to be a fantastic aid to learning. Yes, I spend most of my time with it playing games, browsing the web, or watching Netflix, but it has proven to be far better than my computer for class readings, and even filled in for a week during finals when my MacBook Pro was out of commission. So far though, students with iPads, and tablets in general, have been on their own to make the device fit within existing pedagogy.

Most schools at this point have adapted to idea that students have their own computers. Though many believe that tablets will one day supplant laptops as the personal computer de jour, we're definitely not at that point yet. Oklahoma State University recently gave us a potential glimpse at the future by issuing matching iPads to five sections of two different courses, and fully wove the device's capabilities into the lesson plan. 

The results were impressive. You can read the full report here, or a brief executive summary, but to sum it up, 75% of students agreed or strongly agreed with the statement "I think the iPad enhanced the learning experience of this course." Students weren't alone in the praise, as faculty appreciated knowing that all students were on an equal playing field in terms of hardware and software capabilities. Though the iPad wasn't for everyone, the trial certainly went better than similar pilot programs featuring the Kindle.

I know this isn't the only "give them all iPads" program out there, so we'd love to hear from you. Do you have an iPad or has your school given you one? How do you think it benefits (or hinders) your education? Let us know in the comments. 

[Via Fraser Speirs]

Beat the Heat During Your Summer Commute

She figured out the backpack thing. Image courtesy of Flickr user Lin Pernille Photography. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

As I've mentioned before, I'm spending the summer doing a partly-pedestrian commute. Though it's a great way to get exercise and reduce my carbon footprint, I have to struggle with the Atlanta heat. Walking to school, even early in the morning, is sort of like swimming through a soup made of car exhaust and UV radiation. It's sweaty and humid. I'm not a fan.

So, in order to avoid being known as the "freaky sweaty chick" in my morning chem session, I've come up with a few ways to either reduce sweating during my commute or make it less obvious once I'm there. Though the morning commute is still pretty hot, I can at least look normal once I arrive at my destination.

Use a side-strap bag: I used to commute with my beloved Timbuk2 laptop backpack. I had to quit, however, because that backpack has the same flaw as any other: it traps heat (and thus sweat, and my shirt) against my back. By switching to a side-strap bag (I use this one, but any messenger bag or tote with a short strap would do), I allow heat and my shirt to flow away from my body. This means that--at least from the outside--I don't look as hot as I am. Anything that moves heat away from your body is a good thing.

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Become a Collegiate Stereotype with the Duct Tape Hammock

I hope to see this on the front lawn of every frat house next semester. Photo from the Duct Tape Hammock Instructables tutorial.

It's cheap. It's made of duct tape. It reeks of laziness. Yes, the DIY duct tape hammock seems perfectly suited for a college campus.

Though it should be able to hold the average person plus a freshman fifteen, I was surprised to see that construction will only require three rolls of duct tape. The tutorial claims that stickiness is a problem as you weave the layers together, so a friend with a steady hand would be a big help. Instructables recommends 1" diameter dowell rods, but based on the photo above you may want to get something closer to 1.5" to avoid a potentially painful accident. 

If you live off campus or are lucky enough to have a balcony in your dorm, this should be a no brainer. If not, then it should be portable enough that you could hang it up in your room if you're expecting company. I hope to put one of these together myself in the near future, and I'll be sure to post a video walkthrough if I do. Until then, let us know if you attempt it yourself!

[Instructables via Lifehacker]

How to Share Your Internship With Your Intern Alter Ego

Sharing beer is not nearly as much fun as sharing your internship. Photo courtesy of Adrıen. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.Last Wednesday I came into the office of my internship after my week-long vacation. I was pumped, ready to get back to work at my awesome job after a week off. I had a list of things that I knew I needed to get done that day and I was excited to jump right in. However, when I turned the corner I stopped when I saw my desk. A strange purse and a stack of papers that I know I didn't leave on my desk before I left the week before. Another girl walked by and sat down in my chair. 

It wasn't then until I realized that the other intern had started work while I was gone. My boss had mentioned that they had hired a second intern to work the half of the week that I wasn't there. But until now, I had had my desk and intern job all to myself. I knew exactly what projects I was working on, exactly what needed to be done, and exactly where everything was on my desk. And now... well, someone else was sitting in my chair.

Working with another intern in your space can bring up some difficulties. Things may get tight with physical space or even highly competitive. Here are a few tips to help you deal with working with your intern alter ego.

Be Extra Neat and Organized

Because you're sharing your space with another person, it is even more important to keep your work area organized for two reasons. Firstly, you need to make sure that you know where all of your stuff is. Whether it's papers, lists, or your favorite pen, keep all of your stuff in one part of the desk, especially in a drawer. If you don't keep your stuff in a specific place, there's more of a chance that the other intern might accidently misplace it. Secondly, being neat is important because it's courteous to the other intern. Nothing is more annoying to me than getting to my desk in the morning and having papers that aren't mine strewn everywhere on the desk. Keep your shit in its place so you and your alter ego can work in the same space with more ease.

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Repurpose a rubber band ball for cheap massage

Just light a couple candles and it's basically a spa. Image courtesy of Flickr user Mykl Roventine. Licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Despite summer's de-tensing properties, I've found myself pretty physically beat up recently due to making intelligent decisions like dancing until 5 in the morning. The dancing is fun, but the muscle soreness and weird tensiony shoulders the next day are less so. Unfortunately, I'm unable to afford a massage to get the muscle kinks out. However, I have found a way to bring a little bit of the massage therapist's magic to me without the cost: a rubber band ball.

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