Making the Case for Twitter

This past New Year, the Official Facebook blog proclaimed they had surpassed 150 million useImage Courtesy: igatgetlifers. Twitter keeps quiet about how many users it has. There have been projections that put their user base at around four million people. At first glance, the idea of Twitter seems the same as the Facebook status feature. A diligent Twitter user would know, there is so much more in the nooks and crannies of this microblogging application than can be found just typing a status up in Facebook.

Companies all over the world are getting involved with Twitter. They hire people to promote their products and, provide product support through tweets and replies. Now this might seem like Twitter is putting ads up but it just posts unobtrusive messages from the companies you like. For instance, I'm following Brushfire Records. So whenever there is a new release off that label I'll know.

A more newsworthy feature of Twitter is being able to respond to the news as it happens. Rick Sanchez, an anchor for CNN, posts the response to his tweets up on the weekend show he hosts. This is a great way to get your voice heard.

Using Twitter on your phone is an awesome way to keep connected. There are many applications in the iPhone/iPod Touch realm. For regular phones though, text your tweet in and follow only the tweets of the friends you want. This is the clincher. Who you follow via your phone can be different from the web. So, if a company posts a reply to some random person, you won't be charged for the text.

Also, you shouldn't have to have a Twitter and update your Facebook status. This is where the Twitter application comes in. There is an option to update your status by way of Twitter. You don't even have to leave the site if you have the app because it shows the timeline.

Why do/don't you use Twitter? Comment below, email me at mike@hackcollege.com or follow me @mikeybertolino

Your Second Brain Brought to you by Evernote

The BasImage Courtesy: Maleroics

Winner of the 2008 Open Web Blogger’s and People’s Choice Awards, Evernote definitely deserves all the hype it’s been getting. The application is innovative and is helpful for more than taking notes in class.

Evernote gives you photographic and searchable memory. As long as you have a camera, iPhone or a phone with Windows Mobile, you can take a picture of that bar sign and tag it. Even if you don’t remember what the name of that place was in the morning. You can search for its tags and the picture will be there for you when you want to go there again.

Web clips help out also. All it does is take the important stuff from a webpage (e.g. a link to buy something, an address or other important information regarding an event). Photo recognition allows you to find stuff you saved to buy. Highlight the item and everything around it. Copy it and paste the info In to Evernote. When you want to buy the item, anything that was on the page and it will be right there for you.

Quality Integrations

The note-taking application integrates with Tarpipe, a Webapp that creates work flows with all of the other Web 2.0 applications you use, such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr just to name a few. This can allow your public notes to be displayed as your next tweet or Facebook status. This is extremely efficient because you could post a webclip instead of a whole webpage, to show your friends exactly what you want.

Let’s say you take a lot of pictures everyday because you want to remember everything. That would also require you to take time at the end of the day, if you are using your camera, sync you computer with your pictures. Now, that isn’t a problem, as long as there is an Eye-Fi SD memory card in your camera and a wireless network.

If you have an iPhone then you can download the application from the App Store. The streamlined interface allows you to create notes and upload them to the cloud just like you would on a computer. When you are offline, you can still create notes and have them uploaded as soon as you get connected.

The Catch

There is one downside to Evernote. The size of the upload capacity the application gives to store larger notes that include pictures is limited. There is an upgrade option. You can go premium for five dollars a month allow “nearly unlimited storage”. The amount of storage you really get is 500 MB uploadage a month and you can upload any file.

When you have the free account, you can only upload images, audio, ink and PDF files. With the Premium you can save Office Docs or any other obscure program you might be working in.

Despite the fact there are many more features on the premium version of Evernote, the free version can help college students a lot, regardless of what platform you download it for or what hardware you have.

How To Hack a Hangover

Credit to Flickr user aerodesign.plPartying is a fun, and in my mind, important aspect of college life. However, waking up with a hangover should not tarnish the wonderful memories you have of the night before. Here are some tips to cure that hangover and get on with your day.

Drink water between drinks.

Although you may want to keep pounding back beers, a glass of water between each drink will prolong your night and spare you great misery in the morning. 

Avoid caffeinated beverages. 

Caffeine dehydrates your body. Alcohol dehydrates your body. Mix the two together and you get… very dehydrated.  If you manage to avoid a heart attack after consuming a Jägerbomb or two, don’t be surprised when you wake up with throbbing headache. I suggest you avoid these drinks at all costs.

Drink Gatorade.

Gatorade, the drink of gods. Not only does it taste great, it also restores your body’s fluids and electrolytes. When you get home from that epic beer pong tournament, slam back 500mL of delicious Cool Blue. Have several other bottles on hand for the next morning. If you’re a true-life hacker you will use Gatorade as chase or mixer.

Eat McDonalds.

Hangover McDonalds is the best kind of McDonalds (a close second is drunk McDonalds, but if you’re reading this you probably already know that). Do your absolute best to wake up before they stop serving those delicious breakfast sandwiches. Ignore your queasy stomach; what it really wants is the greasiest-most-carbtastic meal on the menu. Just trust me on this one, it really does work. 

Take you vitamins. 

After poisoning your body, it’s important to replenish your body’s nutrient stores. Vitamin B12 deficiency leads grogginess and exhaustion the following morning. Although a dedicated B12 vitamin is best, don’t hesitate to take a Flinstones multivitamin if it’s all you have on hand.

Eat burnt toast.

Disclaimer: None of the following tips have been scientifically proven. However, they are based on common sense.

Free Alternatives to Office and iWork

Image Courtesy: CNET News BlogThe Web 2.0 era has changed the internet so much. The browser has become some many different things. Some of the things they can do now, is create documents, spreadsheets and even presentations all on the web. Where could one do such a thing? Well, as long as you have a Google account, you are free to use the Documents application.

Google Docs doesn't require a download. No worries though, with Google Gears you can edit project just like a desktop application when you don't have a connection.

One of the reasons I like free online productivity suites like Google Docs is it allows students to collaborate remotely. Apple is trying to do this with "iWork.com" but they plan on charging for it eventually. Also, because of Google's popularity, it'll be easy for you to find people that have Google accounts.

Some people could make the argument that giving Google permission to handle your documents and other infomation might be giving away too much. If you feel that way, another free online productivity suite is Zoho. If you don't want to give your info to a big corporation like Google, then Zoho is a perfect alternative. It still gives you the collaboration abilities Docs, but you might be hardpressed to find people with Zoho accounts because the site is not widely know in the college community.

I do have a disclamer though. While Docs and Zoho are quality web applications, it does lack a little bit of the sophistication that gets put into applications like Office and iWork. Going along those lines, if you do want a program you can download, I suggest going to Open Office or Lotus Symphony to get productivity on the freeness.  Beware, this will take up a substantial amount of space on your hard drive. Open Office is 167 MB Lotus (which was developed by IBM) is 195 MB.

In closing, the best part about Google Docs is IT'S FREE. So, for prospective college students, I implore you to not buy Office or iWork when purchasing a computer for school. If you are skeptical, try Docs out for your next paper. I'm sure you'll be pleased. For college students, again, it's a great way to collaborate or if you are out of luck as far as program access codes go, give this a shot.

Questions or comments about this article? Email me at mike@hackcollege.com or comment below.

Season 3 Arrives February 2!

Subscribe to our iTunes feed!

Mark your calendars! The 3rd installment of the HackCollege Show will be returning on February 2, 2009. In the meantime, subscribe to our iTunes feeds (below) and stock up on some shotgun beers.

See you in February!

5 Mistakes I Made in My First Semester of College

Photo credit: Flickr user Pragmagraphr1. I didn’t learn something new.

They say you will learn more during your time in college than you will at any other time in your life. Besides memorizing bones in the human hand and learning that the addition of juice concentrate to beer, vodka and whisky makes the most delicious drink in the world, I do not feel any more knowledgeable than I did four months ago. The reason why? I didn’t learn anything new about myself. Living away from home, thousands of people, alcohol at my disposal. It’s the perfect recipe to have a good time, but more importantly, to discover yourself. Make it a goal to learn something new each semester. Learn how to program, learn how to rock climb, learn how to dance. At the end of your college days, you will have a wealth of skills and talents and perhaps you will learn a thing or two about yourself along the way.

2. I didn’t join a club.

The true advantage of a college campus is the high density of students who potentially share similar interests. However, the chances of discovering that the girl sitting next to you is a tea aficionado or that the guy with the green eyes has dreams of volunteering in Peru are pretty slim. Unless of course, you join a club. Clubs allow you to meet and connect with many people who share the same interests as you. They allow you to learn and have fun, and in some instances contribute to society. Also, they can look great on resumes and help you network with amazing people.

3. I didn’t take care of myself.

We’ve all heard about the freshman 15, but unfortunately the degree to which many college students neglect their body is much greater than a few extra pounds. Lack of sleep, poor eating habits, lack of exercise, stress and excessive stimulant (i.e. caffeine) consumption are habits and behaviors that plague college students. It’s no secret that all of these factors can lead to decreased academic and social performance, not to mention have various adverse side effects on the human body. Living a healthy and balanced life in college will pay dividends immediately and in the future.

4. I didn’t change my work habits.

College is all about adapting, and unless you adapt to new teaching styles and develop new study habits, don’t be surprised when you no longer have a 4.0 GPA. Study habit evolution and time management are the most important changes that must be made during your transition to college life. Tip: Review after each class and stay on top of your work, it really does help.

5. I didn’t meet girls.

It’s every freshman’s dream, thousands of beautiful people, no parents, your very own dorm room… Unfortunately, for far too many students this dream never becomes a reality. Luckily, you have the power to change this. The people you meet in college will be the most open and interesting people you will ever meet. Everyone on campus is looking for a new friend, a new person to call his or her own. Take advantage of this fact, make an effort to talk to the opposite sex, make new friends and don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. You’ll be pleasantly rewarded. If you do get rejected, brush it off and think nothing of it, there are plenty of other fish in the sea.

Getting the Most out of iTunes

Photo Courtesy: MCExtender

RockBox
For readers who are struggling to hold on to that old iPod, there’s hope. Rockbox has come to the rescue. This open-source firmware allows user’s to edit the interface of their music player’s UI. This allows listeners to not only add something new, but also create something unique. Besides making music players look sexy, Rockbox brings other, more technical features to the table as well. One of the most useful features is the advanced playlist editing. No more will there be five different “On the go” playlists unnamed leaving listeners to guess what music is where. Other quality features include, high-resolution volume control, gapless playback and an unplayed music section.

Having editable playlists is nice, but there is another feature that blows the latter out of the water. With RockBox, listeners can load applications and plug-ins to there iPods. This puts games and other utilities putting the date you’ll need to buy an iPod Touch or iPhone back a few more years.

Mojo
Mojo gives people the ability to share music socially in a simple and familiar way. Setup in a buddy list style window, all a person’s friends are listed like they would be in AIM or Skype. The person can click on a buddy, then on the music note at the bottom of the page. Instantly an iTunes-esque window appears. From there the listener clicks what they want and then hits download. This isn’t limited to music either. Anything friends have in their library is game to download.

Socially there is a lot features. Mojo has basic chat for starters. People can subscribe to their friends playlists. Whenever they add something, it gets downloaded to your iTunes library.

iRemote and Sizzling Keys
Having a bunch of windows open is a common occurrence on any college students monitor. Let’s say your about to leave and go eat. It takes too much time to sift through all your window and find iTunes. What if you could just press three keys, pause it and be on your way?

Two applications iRemote (Windows) and Sizzling Keys (OSX) give users that ability. Other functions like volume control and skipping songs effortlessly. Both of these applications come with a heads up display that will show the next song playing. If there is album art then it shows that too.

Have any other ways to get the most out of iTunes? Email me at mike@hackcollege.com or comment below. 

Introducing the New HackCollege Writers

Over the past month or so, we have been hard at work to recruit more writers. We received over 50 submissions and carefully narrowed them down to these two young gents you read before you today. Since Rosario, Chris and I are getting old in our college careers, having new blood is a very important thing. It's with great excitement that we bring on board Mike Bertolino and Luke Turcotte.

About Mike

Mike is currently a sophomore at West Chester University in the cozy state of Pennsylvania. He's got an eye for gadgets and can be reached at mike [at] hackcollege [dot] com.

About Luke

Luke is currently a first-year student at the University of Waterloo up in Ontario, Canada where he's studying health and minoring in computer science. He can be reached at luke [at] hackcollege [dot] com.