This Week's Best Questions on Discuss Campus - Nov. 19, 2009

What's your question? Photo by flickr user Margaret Anne Clarke

It's been a busy week for the HackCollege crew. We all met up on Tuesday in New York City for the live taping of the Diggnation. It was the first time that either I or @lesinski had met Mike Bertolino, our writer from West Chester University, in the flesh. We had a blast!

Needless to say, Discuss Campus hasn't even begun to slow down. Here are this week's hottest questions:

What are some Must-Have programs for your computer during college?

What are some really useful programs and/or unique program uses you would recommend for a college student to have on his desktop/laptop to perform better in college?

Is it a good idea to enroll into a once-a-week, 3 hour class?

The advantage of enrolling into a once-a-week course is having one long and efficient class session. However, what are the disadvantages?

How can I catch up and get at the same level of intoxication as my friends when arriving late at a party?

I often show up at parties when I finish work. This means everyone else is way more drunk than me and it's difficult to catch up to their level! What is the best way to get drunk quick (thats quite safe?)

Find Your College on Twitter

It seems these days that everyone’s jumping with both feet onto the Twitter bandwagon – and that includes colleges. Employees, departments, school teams, and even college presidents are getting onto Twitter, and engaging with students and the public in cool new ways.

One of the best ways to see how colleges are using Twitter is GlobalQuad, a site tracking the tweets and twitters of some of the best colleges around the United States. A lot of schools now have Twitter accounts for things like alerts and news, as well as reporting sports scores and the like.

But some schools are using Twitter in even more awesome ways. For instance, the University of Virginia (where I’m a senior) has accounts for announcing various things happening around campus, tracking our sports teams, giving career advice, and even an account for the school newspaper.

GlobalQuad tracks them all, and puts them into a single feed that acts as a University-wide news feed, that you can either follow on GlobalQuad or Twitter. And UVA’s not the only school – there are a rapidly-growing number of universities and colleges that are using Twitter (and you can even add your own, if it’s not already on GlobalQuad).

Twitter’s undoubtedly the fastest way to get news and information that matters to YOU, and when we’re in college, knowing what’s going on, what there is to do, and when your team wins a soccer game is pretty awesome.

What else are colleges doing on Twitter? What do you wish yours would do?

Friday Fun - Revision3's New Show: INST MSG

We're pals with Revision3, and they just launched a new show called INST MSG. It does funny internet things IRL. How cool is that? 

The first episode decodes Craigslist personal ads and even reenacts one in-depth. Craigslist might be your thing, but we prefer to pick up our sweethearts with drinking game prowess. Or by just being our geeky selves. 

And once we land the date, we like to keep it cheap. 

This Week's Best Questions on Discuss Campus - Nov. 12, 2009

Got a question? Head on over to Discuss Campus and ask it! Photo by flickr user Marco Bellucci

Just a week after its launch, Discuss Campus is alive and very healthy. There are a bunch of great questions being asked and answered on the site. Thanks everyone for participating!

Here are this week's best questions:

How can I avoid getting my party rolled by the police?

What are some good, innovative ways (other than just keeping the noise down) to prevent my party from getting rolled by the police?

Is Verizon's Droid a good phone for a student?

The new Verizon Droid dropped last week.

Does it have any functionality that works really well for the student lifestyle? Does your university have Google Apps?

How can I handle a heavy reading load?

As a history and politics major, I often find myself completely overwhelmed with the amount of reading that I have to do each week. What are some ways that you all handle heavy reading loads?

What is the best blogging platform for students?

There are so many to choose from. What offers the best range of options for a new student blogger?

Guest Post: Avoiding Parking Headaches on Campus

Noooooooooo. Photo from flickr user alicegop

Today's guest post comes from Jake Holmes, a senior at the University of Michigan where he's studying French. If you would like to write a guest post, shoot an email to dear@hackcollege.com.

Having a car while in college can provide some serious mobility—the ability to shop off-campus, visit friends at other schools, and to cruise around American Graffiti style. But at some point you have to stop driving and start parking, which is where the problems begin. Parking tickets are annoying and can cut into your beer fund, having your car towed is ridiculously costly, and car thieves can make your life miserable. Here are our top tips to help you avoid these college parking headaches.

Do you need to drive?
Consider first whether it's even advantageous to drive. On many campuses, navigating stop-and-go traffic and finding a parking space can mean driving takes just as long as walking. Not only are walking or cycling often as quick as driving, but they also serve as great sources of exercise.

Most college campuses offer bus services that are free for students. While you won't get the health benefits of walking, taking free public transport saves time and money (because you're not burning gas or paying to park.) It's also a great idea during colder months, especially for those of us studying in the northern states.

If having a car is a necessity, it needn’t always be your own. For many students who drive just a few miles per month, Zipcar can be an effective solution. The car-sharing service is now available on over 120 campuses nationwide. While there is a monthly membership fee and hourly rate to rent vehicles, Zipcars have their own assigned parking spaces and come with free gas, solving two of the biggest car-related headaches.

Check the small print
Always be sure to double-check the rules when you park because college campuses are notorious for imposing strict parking rules. Often streets that offer free or metered parking during the day prohibit overnight parking by towing in the wee hours of the morning. We have a friend whose car was towed overnight: he parked legally in the evening, but left the car overnight in an area that prohibited parking between 3 a.m. and 6 a.m.

The small print can also be to your benefit. Most parking meters are only enforced between certain times on certain days—typically 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. If you're parking outside of these times, save your quarters and enjoy the free parking. We frequently see people wasting money for parking meters late at night, so check out exactly when they’re enforced.

Some helpful tips
Once you've gotten parallel parking down to a fine art, be smart about parking. First, always take a few seconds to remember where your car is. Your cameraphone is great for this: in a parking structure, snap a picture of the sign indicating which floor and section you parked on. When parking on streets, try to take a picture of the street signs at the nearest intersection. If you can't take a photo, at least write down the cross streets. This will let you ask directions from locals should you forget where you parked.

Finally, don't be a victim to crime. It goes without saying that you should always take your keys and lock your car. But it's also important to remove any incentive for break-ins. This means you should avoid leaving valuables on show: hide your iPod, cellphone, and GPS in the glovebox or take them with you. Also remember to remove the tell-tale windshield suction mount from your GPS device. You should also avoid leaving backpacks or other bags on display as thieves may assume they contain laptops, textbooks, or other valuables.

We can’t promise you’ll always find a spot across the street from your classroom, but our tips certainly provide a good starting point for anyone planning to bring their car to a college campus.

Reminder: Book That Christmas Flight Home Late

If you haven't already, check on flights home for Christmas break. No matter how much you hate your family, your college will probably close the dorm on you if you don't go home. 

You might already be too late for a good deal, but flights are also a strange exception to the prevailing notion of booking early. In this case, procrastination can pay. 

Everyone plans ahead for Christmas flights and airlines know that. They hike up prices a month or more away from the flight to take advantage of the all the responsible people. Slackers like you and me get the better prices in early December. 

Not all flights follow that rule, but you can be sure by checking your flight at Bing Travel. Microsoft bought a start-up called Farecast which provides Bing with technology that predicts when your flight will land at the lowest price. You can set up a simple email alert that will check the flights for you on a daily basis and notify you when it's best to buy. 

Bing is still telling me to wait it out on my flight from L.A. to Chicago and expects about a $90 price difference. So, I'm nervously anticipating the day I have to book it. What's the worst that could happen if my flight gamble doesn't work out? Road trip to Vegas for Christmas. 

[image via Kossy@FINEDAYS]

How to Get Ready In an Instant

It happens to me almost every morning: I wake up, say a NSFW version of “oh gosh golly!” because I have 4 minutes to get to class, and start getting ready. And, ready for this? I make it to class. Almost on time.

I’m not going to tell you this is the best way to get out of bed in the morning and start your day, but I’ve figured out how to maximize my sleep, and avoid constantly being more than a few minutes late for class. Here’s a few tips:

Shower at night

You have to shower. So, do it before you go to bed. You won’t have wet hair in the morning, or have to wait for your roommate to get out of the bathroom. Personally, I like showering at night, but it’s not everyone’s favorite. If sleep is your favorite, however, consider switching your shower times.

Wake Up to Coffee

Waking up is not only easier, but more pleasant, when there’s coffee waiting for you. So get a coffee machine with a timer, and set it to start right before you need to wake up. You’ll have hot, delicious-smelling wake up juice ready for your run out the door, without having to wait. Because I know I need coffee.

Know Your Wardrobe

Right before I go to bed, I do two things: check the forecast for the next day, and figure out what I’m going to wear. That way, I can get appropriately ready in about three seconds. Also, I keep an umbrella right near the door, just in case there’s a freak rainstorm the weather didn’t predict. I learned that one the hard way…

Pack Light

Most days, the only thing that I take to class is my computer. That means, in a time-crunch, I can just grab it and run out the door. I know this isn’t feasible for everyone, but if you can bring down the number of things in your bag, you both reduce your packing time, and the weight on your back as you sprint to class.

Have a Landing Strip

This one goes with the “pack light” bit, and is part of any good organization system. When you walk into your apartment/house/dorm room/refrigerator box, where do you put the few things you always have with you? For me, it’s my keys, my iPod, my cell phone, and my wallet. Make sure you’ve got  a place for all those things, and you’ll be amazed how many “crap, I’m late, but I can’t find my keys!” moments you’ll spare. And you won’t miss them.

There are lots of ways to streamline getting ready in the morning – the teeth-brushing, deodorant-applying, hair-fixing simultaneous trifecta is one I’m particularly proud of. But if you can figure out how to get your time from in bed to out the door down as far as possible, you’ll be both sleep-filled and on time.

That’s the dream.

Microsoft Student Rally = Shwag and Scholarships

This could be you. Image via Maximum PCLast week Microsoft started Microsoft Student Rally which is a competition among students around. The goal? It's to see who can get a tweet, with the hash tag of #Windows7 and why the new OS works well for them, to get retweeted the most out of any one.

The prizes are pretty sweet. You could win an Xbox 360 or a Netbook touting Windows 7 and Office 2007 to help you get your student on. Besides the sweet gadgets Microsoft's giving away, by entering you are automatically put in the running for one of ten scholarships that are given out annually by the company.

The good thing about this competition is that it doesn't end after the Tweet-Retweet competition. Each month there will be a new competition. So keep an eye out for new challenges as they arise and maybe you can score yourself some sweet gear... FO FREE.