Livescribe Connect Sends Your Notes to the Cloud

Yes. Yes, yes, yes. We had the chance to play with the Livescribe SmartPen at CES in January (video above), and came away impressed by the paper-based apps they were starting to roll out. The new Livescribe Connect integration though wipes the floor with everything else we've seen.

Want to email a note to a classmate? Just underline the word "email," and then write your friend's email address. Want to send a note or drawing to Evernote, Google Docs, or Facebook? Just underline your desired service on with your Smartpen. Simple and brilliant. Though I never take notes with a pen and paper anymore, I know it's necessary for certain subjects, and some people still prefer it over a keyboard anyway. I've always been a proponent of scanning your notes into a computer after class, but I think Livescribe has matured to the point where it's a student's best option. There is simply no better way to reconcile your in-class luddism with your after-class tech addiction. 

The 2GB Echo Smartpen is reasonably priced at $100, and you can probably get something cheaper secondhand. If you still have a few semesters left in school and you love taking notes by hand, it may be time to seriously consider taking the plunge. As this CrunchGear article points out though, forward-thinkers may want to wait for a wireless version of the pen, as you currently have to connect via USB to sync all of your notes. 

How To Handle Giant Eff-Ups at Work

It's 2011. Why hasn't someone invented an eraser that works on life? Photo courtesy of theilr. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.Two weeks ago, I started my summer internship at a TV station here in Texas. I've had fairly mediocre summer jobs before (some much worse than others), but this has been by far the best job I've ever had. Even doing relatively boring tasks seem not-so-awful because, hey, I'm working at a TV station. This is kinda what I want to do after college, so I'm pretty much stoked to be doing anything.

Last Thursday, I needed to go to a local printer and pick up a poster that the station had made for an event that weekend. To anyone else in the office this would be a drag to have to take an hour out of their day to drive to go get it, but not for me. I am super intern, ready to spend my gas money for a job that isn't paying me. So I drive out half an hour to get the poster through horrible Austin traffic, and then drive the half hour back again through horrible Austin traffic. I get back to the office and hand my boss the poster, feeling very pleased that I was entrusted with this significant job. I open my wallet to hand her back the department credit card.

Ho. Ly. Shit.

It is not in my wallet. The credit card is not in my wallet. WHERE IS THE CREDIT CARD.

Panic thus ensued as I excused myself to go look for the credit card in my car. Having now dealt with this situation, I've come up with a few tips for how to handle yourself when something goes seriously wrong at work.

Click to read on!

Click to read more ...

Guest Post: In Trouble with the Administration? Be Prepared.

Found yourself afoul of campus police? Stay calm and be prepared for your appeal. Image courtesy of Flickr user Mskogley and licensed under CC by 2.0

Today's guest post comes from Stephanie Buscema, a recent graduate of Wagner College who will be attending NYU in the Fall to pursue a Master's in publishing. At Wagner, she was a part of the Community Standards Review Board, where she heard cases from fellow students who found themselves on the wrong side of school policy.

College is the environment where students are trying to find themselves, as well as trying to fit in with their new peers.  However, oftentimes students don’t know their limits and find themselves in trouble with administration.  While no longer living under their parents’ roofs, students have the freedom to explore all possibilities, even it means disregarding school policy. 

After attending college for four years, I have seen many of my peers fall in and out of trouble.  While serving on a disciplinary board, I have seen and heard many cases involving drug and alcohol abuse and violations of school conduct codes.  However, what I have noticed, is that without the guidance of a parent or mentor, some students fall through the cracks and find themselves not knowing what to do and how to prepare to deal with the consequences of their actions.

Students should have the opportunity to review helpful tips in preparation of an appeal.  The question that arises is, “How can I prepare?”  To be honest, it’s quite simple.  Here are some helpful tips to prepare for your appeal.

Click to read more ...

Win a Free Copy of Adobe Creative Suite 5.5

Adobe has provided us with a full box set of the Creative Suite 5.5 Master Collection to give away to one of you! The suite includes Photoshop (now with really awesome iPad integration), Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Premiere, and approximately 4,000 other programs befitting a creative professional.

The contest is simple. Go to the comments of this post, tell us what school you go to, and how you would use CS 5.5. Make sure you give us a good way to get in touch with you as well. Here's a hint: you're allowed to link out to videos and whatnot, and creativity counts, so get cracking. Contest ends May 31.

We wish we could give all of you a copy, but if you don't win, you should definitely take advantage of Adobe's student discount program before you graduate. You can buy the whole suite or an a la carte program for up to 80% off, just because you're in school and broke off your ass. Not a bad deal. Good luck everyone!

How to Make Packing and Moving A Little Less Painful

Oh packing. What a pain in the ass you are. Photo courtesy of bfhoyt. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.

Whether you’re moving somewhere new this summer or you’re slowly preparing yourself to move somewhere new next semester, you’ll know that moving is just a pain in the ass and can be completely overwhelming. Thankfully, Lifehacker has a fantastic comprehensive packing list that should give you some great tips whenever your moving day comes around. You can check out the whole list here, but I’ve listed some of the tips I found the most helpful here.

Use the Opportunity to Declutter

As I was packing up after the semester had ended, I realized how much shit I had accumulated. Seriously, where did this stuff come from? It’s like it just spontaneously grew up from the floor of my dorm. So as I was packing up, I really took packing up as an opportunity to get rid of a lot of unnecessary and excess stuff that I never used. I threw away old notebooks, decorative stuff I never used, and clothes I didn’t use anymore. Not only did this make it a lot easier to pack everything since there was less to pack, but it just felt good to declutter my life and get rid of unnecessary stuff.

Click here to continue reading!

Click to read more ...

Create Instant Flashcards with StudyBlue and Evernote

We all know that Evernote is a great, free application for organizing your college life. We've also talked highly of StudyBlue, an online flashcard-creation service with some cool sharing features and great mobile apps. Recently, StudyBlue made it easy to integrate with your Evernote account, and easily generate flashcards from new or existing Evernote notes. Not too many college students I know are still using flash cards, but this could be a great time saver if you do.

You can find out all the details of the integration at the Evernote Blog, but basically StudyBlue will create a notebook stack in Evernote that will be viewable in their online dashboard. Any notes you add to the stack can be easily transformed into interactive flashcards. Both services are freemium, but their free versions are more than adequate for the average college student, so go check it out!

[Evernote and StudyBlue via Evernote Noteworthy Blog]

Liven Up Your Summer Party with FratMusic Radio

Partying, partying, yeah. Photo used via fair use doctrine and courtesy of FratMusic.comI know what you're thinking. The Greek (not ethnically) on the HackCollege staff is at it again, trying to pollute our minds with Natty cans, empty tins of chewable tobacco, and loud, bumping hit music. And you're thinking right - at least on that last one.

As the chief frat star on the HackCollege staff - one area of college is definitely my expertise - partying. Now I haven't gotten down like Kelly, Shep, Emily, Laura or Luke at those SXSW parties - though my sources tell me they're nuts - but I do know a thing or two about how to entertain guests at a college party and next to interesting people and enough alcohol, it's good music.

Since my experiment with the guitar ended in high school and playing the first few bars of Linkin Park's "In The End" only draws praise from my mother, I need to have someone else playing the music. And in the spirit of productivity and automation, why not have someone else compile the playlist? In that vein, FratMusic Radio was born.*

Click to read more ...

Tappped Offers Student Discounts By Email

Tappped (note the triple "p") offers exclusive student discounts via email. It was even founded by a rising college freshman!Friend of the site Jeff Bajayo recently took some time between studying for his senior year AP tests to start Tappped, an email-based student deal site. You simply visit the site, sign up with your .edu or .ac.uk email address, and you'll be signed up to receive weekly emails with the latest student discounts. The cool thing is that the emails both aggregate the best on the web, and also offer some exclusive deals just for Tappped subscribers.

It remains to be seen how many deals Tappped can negotiate; a lot depends on how many students sign up. With that in mind, do us all a favor and go subscribe. It's a really convenient way to stay passively informed of some exclusive deals.