For us folks in California, an extended weekend is coming up (Cesar Chavez Day is tomorrow). That means no class. No class means less time spent studying and more time mingling.
If you're in the market and a player, you might just be taking a special someone on a date. Check out this list of inexpensive dating ideas from zen habits:
At one point or another during the year, we're probably going to have to fly somewhere. Being the students and capitalists that we are, we deserve to pay as little as possible for a service because we, surprise, poor.
While perusing the Internet I found this comprehensive post over at Money for the Rest of Us. Enjoy:
Special thanks to my friend Chris Lesinski for sending me this one:
If your campus doesn't have free copies of the New York Times on campus already, you still have an alternative.
If you've got a .edu email address (which you should with your enrollment at any respectable college), you can sign up for the NYTimes "Times Select" for free. Not all of the NYTimes articles are freely available online (unfortunately). One quick registration can change that, though. You'll get access to much more--but not all--of their content.
Get Your Free Times Select Membership with a .edu Email Address
I swear I don't usually read dating websites. As a little treat for a Monday back from the weekend, here's one for HackCollege's primary demographic:
Ten Ways Being a Geek Makes You More Attractive
I love articles that validate my own lifestyle.
Before coming to school, I moved all of my money from a local bank account to a Bank of America accounts. LMU's got a Bank of America ATM on campus. I wasn't about to pay $2.00 every time I needed to give a friend some cash.
Unfortunately for me, Bank of America has a pathetic interest rate on their savings account. We're talking about a half a percent. As some might say, "That's hella lame, yo."
(This is beginning to sound like a bad commercial.) Then a friend pointed me towards ING Direct, a branch-less bank. Because the company doesn't have to pay for building that you walk into, it offers astounding interest rates: 4.5%. If I've got $1000 in my account for a year, that's a cool $45 in my pocket. I'll take it.
I've been meaning to write an article about these web banks (which are FDIC insured) when someone else--probably more qualified than me--wrote a post over at Get Rich Slowly with each bank and their respective rates. The article, titled "Which Online High-Yield Savings Account is Best?", made the front page of digg.
So if you've got money just sitting around in a low-yield account. Get off your ass and move it into something with a higher return rate. It's money in the bank. (Zing.)
The picture in this article is from the flickr user emdot. Check her out.
I don't know why I haven't posted about this before, but Project Gutenberg allows anyone to download free e-books from them. Just about every classic can be downloaded from the site, from Great Expectations to The Declaration of Independence.
Facebook has quietly added two new photo features over the past week:
The two are straight-forward, so stop wasting your time and go read their descriptions at the Facebook Blog.
Three things:
The RIAA is at it again. They recently filed 400 more lawsuits for "file-sharing," this time mostly against students. In an attempt to strike fear in the hearts of students and coerce people into never trading music again, the RIAA once again shows its ugly teeth. Did I mention they also convinced the Copyright Royalty Board to up the fees for Internet Radio? Kiss your streams goodbye (especially Pandora and Last.fm). The RIAA is attempting to put pressure on all fronts possible. It's almost as if they don't want people to listen to their music.
Recently the RIAA has been doing what big-business does best: strong-arming people with less money, i.e. almost any given American.
Exclusively of the RIAA, Arcade Fire just released their new album "Neon Bible." Currently it holds the #2 spot on Billboard's Top 200 Albums, second to only the Greatest Hits of Notorious B.I.G. That means people are actually buying their album. I would say that's probably because it's one of the best albums of the year. Oh, did I mention Merge Records, Arcade Fire's label, is not an RIAA shop? Do you mean to tell me that good music actually sells (granted, "Neon Bible" has one of the most popular music torrents right now as well)?
While the quality of Arcade Fire's music is fundamentally disputable (as with all music), the band is definitely forging ahead and setting precedents for bands to come. The fact that they play exclusive shows for their former high school is pretty humble and remarkable.
The band used to be much more lax with a few of their singles on their fan-run sister site, Us Kids Know, but you can still find a few early releases sprinkled throughout the Net.
The RIAA guards its own music only to its own detriment. To my eyes, it seems like any company under the RIAA has found the "formula" for music. Almost any band under the RIAA could also be considered "crap." (Try entering any of the Top 200 albums into RIAARadar. Disgusting.)
Most of the more adventurous (dare I say better) musical tastes in music are not under the RIAA's umbrella. While this is not true across the board, I would argue it's true for the most part. A few of my favorite bands: Arcade Fire, Swan Lake, Wolf Parade, and even Gnarls Barkley have avoided the RIAA. Mysteriously, similar bands (even one with a few of the same members) such as Sunset Rubdown are associated with the RIAA. Confusing, I know.
All in all, it appears that the RIAA, through its ridiculous lawsuits is simply securing its own demise. Taking to heart a Wired article from last July, pop music is dying/dead. So it's just a matter of time before the RIAA disappears and once again music will be thought of as an art, not a process.
There are so many stones left to be turned over. Currently in the U.S., several things are reaching a second, more fruitful generation: the Web, hybrid cars, and lawsuits. The last being the most frightening.
You see, if your business is going down, you don't actually have to successfully sue any one, you just threaten them. With the high prices of attorneys, many people (especially college students) can't defend themselves against a large, multi-national corporation. It's gotten to the point where the RIAA would like to facilitate the settlement with their site: P2PLawsuits. Now you can settle your p2p crimes outside court from the comfort of your home computer!
The whole issue surrounding the RIAA has become more than simply purchasing music vs. downloading music. Let's face it: downloading music is illegal. But because of the (relatively) minor crimes of a few does not justify the unethical practices of strong-arming innocent and guilty parties alike.
I've never been so moved to rebel against any symbol of authority more than I have the RIAA. I can only hope that you feel the same way too. So support your bands that decide to not climb into bed with these criminals. Buy good music.
Here's a toolkit to help you avoid the RIAA:
Sorry about my anger, did I miss anything?
Thursday, March 29, 2007