The HackCollege Christmas List

The holiday shopping season is upon us, and the HackCollege writers are salivating at the thought of some of the latest gadgets, toys, and apps out there.  We've rounded up a few of our favorites after the break for you to sample, and feel free to leave your own recommendations in the comments.  

All Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning we get a little cash to support the site if you buy something you clicked to from this post, so send this post along to your parents! :)

Click through to see the complete list

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Keep Your Body From Falling Apart During Finals

These people followed our advice and are flu- and rickets-free. Image courtesy of Flickr user MC Quinn. Licensed under CC 2.0

Finals are approaching, and for many students that means hours of studying supported only by coffee and occasional sugar-filled study breaks. Not surprisingly, this wrecks your health, lowers your concentration, and makes you a dead person by the end of finals. Laura's already done a great job covering environmental hacks for finals--now we're focusing on how to keep your body from falling apart during study time. Here are a few ways to avoid that inevitable crash-and-burn cycle so you can finish up testing and head home for important winter break activities, like chugging egg nog until your arteries cry.

Get a flu shot - As soon as you can (preferably before you start taking your exams), get a flu shot if you haven't already. Your student health center probably provides them for free or cheap. You may normally have the immune system of a horse, but long periods of study punctuated by lack of sleep and bad food can reduce your immunity--and you don't want to be vomiting any more than you have to on your Computer Science final.

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Facebook Launches New Profile

Ch-ch-ch-changes. Facebook, in an attempt to stay current and hip (haven't you seen The Social Network?), has just launched a new profile for their users. Screenshots are from Facebook's blog and are being displayed through fair use. As much as I love the readers of HackCollege, and would love to provide a more personal experience, I won't be displaying my personal profile for the sake of my friends' privacy (and maybe my own, too).

Some notable changes:

 

• The profile "snapshot". Underneath a user's name, the elevator speech of their life is listed. For me, work information comes first, followed by education, current city and hometown, relationship status (if in a relationship), and birthday. This is followed by a row of recently-tagged photos, which the user does have the discretion of choosing - in an attempt to show what the user's recently been up to.
• The profile "tabs" have disappeared, and now appear in a list off to the side, under one's profile picture.

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Coordinate Your Holiday Travel with Gtrot

Book and share your excursions from campus, and find out if your friends are going to be in the same place.

With Christmas Break fast approaching, and Spring Break travel planning about to get into full swing, The college-exclusive Gtrot is here to coordinate and share your travel plans with friends.  

There's no signup required, save for connecting your Facebook account, so you can immediately use their online booking interface, powered by the incomparable Kayak, to find the best deals on hotels, flights, and cabs.  Once you book your trip, you can share as much or as little information as you want about your itinerary with your Facebook friends, and even see which met-them-twice Facebook acquaintances will be at your destination at the same time.  Gtrot's cleverest feature though is the ride matcher, which facilitates cab-sharing with your buddies to and from the airport, or around town.

Obviously, this is the kind of service that is only useful when a lot of your friends are utilizing it, so spread the word!

Survive Your Finals Hell Weeks

Finals suck. Period. Photo courtesy of eflont. Licensed under CC BY-2.0.The week after Thanksgiving break can always be pretty overwhelming. As I pointed out a few weeks ago, if you haven't started preparing for your final projects, papers, or exams yet, you might be feeling if you're drowning. And sometimes, even if you have gotten a good head start on your assignments, the fast approaching deadlines can be terrifying.

However, fear not. Even if you feel like the horrificness of your hell week(s) will swallow you alive, don't panic. There are several steps you can take in order to ensure you get all of your work done on time. Stay calm and read through these tips that will help you survive college hell.

Schedule

I'm sure I've said this several times on HackCollege, but I can't stress enough the importance of scheduling out blocks of times to work on certain assignments. There are several huge benefits to doing this. First of all, it allows you to take one assignment at a time. Even though you may have three papers and four exams, there is no way you can finish any one of them if you are stressed about all of those things at once. Take some time with your scheduler and block out large chunks of time to work on certain assignments. I usually block out a two to four afternoons and evenings to work on papers, though you may need more depending on the size of the paper. Do the same things for your tests and projects.

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Google Cloud Connect Brings Microsoft Office Online

Google Cloud Connect integrates with Microsoft Office (Windows only) to automatically back up and sync your documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. Image courtesy of Google.

Google Docs has continued its full-frontal assault on your preferred office suite with the introduction of Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office, which basically turns Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint into powerful Google Docs editors.  

Unfortunately, it's Windows-only for now (though Apple fanboys were graced with mobile editing last week), but it seems like a no-brainer for even the staunchest Office advocate.  Even if you have no intention of actually using Google Docs, the plugin can just hum away in the background, backing up your documents to Google's servers automatically, protecting you in the event of an unfortunate hard drive meltdown.  

[Google Cloud Connect for Microsoft Office via Gizmodo]

Happy Thanksgiving from HackCollege!

And now, we feast. Image courtesy of Flickr user JacobEnos and licensed under CC by SA 2.0

Happy Turkey Day everyone!  Today we're thankful for all you readers, and this great list of 50 free apps to be thankful for.  Now go eat some food and shotgun some beer!

Rounding Up Thanksgiving

Mmm. Bring on the turkey. Photo courtesy of Pink Sherbet. Licensed under CC BY-2.0. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, y'all! I hope that all of you are able to spend the holidays with your friends and family this year. Today, I'm going to give you all a roundup of some Thanksgiving articles that you can enjoy and share with your family and friends. So from my home here in Texas, happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Plan, Delegate, and De-Stress Your Way to a Relaxing Holiday Get Together

The title of this article says it all. If the holidays are stressful for you and your family, check out this article.

Get Ready for Thanksgiving This Weekend

With tips from turkey cooking to starting off the holiday with a run, this article gives some great advice about the Thanksgiving season.

Top 10 Holiday Travel Tips and Tricks

Traveling this week? Check this article out for tips on how to make your journey as smooth as possible.

What Free Apps Are You Thankful For?

The readers of Lifehacker chime on on their favorite free apps. Be thankful for these suggestions!

Your Last Minute Guide to Thawing Turkey

Perhaps you're cooking your first Thanksgiving turkey and need some on advice on how exactly to go about it. If so, this article should give you some pointers.

Minimize Family Tensions by Inviting Someone Less Fortunate to Thanksgiving

A great idea to help make everyone's Thanksgiving a memorable one.

It's a Little Weird When Your Family Gets Geeky

This article just made me giggle. Gotta love families, right?

Apps for the Thanksgiving Host for the Most

Whether you're hosting your first or fiftieth Thanksgiving, these apps will help you make the day just a bit more geeky.

The Perfect Turkey Timer

This thing is just adorable. I want it for no other reason than that.