Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, everybody.

Ok, maybe it’s not, but college pranks don’t just happen in April!

I was recently at The Game this past weekend over at Harvard. Yale came out with the victory 34-13 this year. Two years ago, I recall, no one remembered the score, but everyone remembered the prank Yale had pulled on Harvard.

This year, MIT decided to show its name. Two streakers ran out onto the field; one got through. This video, I took. You can (barely) see me at the end next to my friend Barbara Barreno (Harvard ‘07). Though not seen in the video, the boy had “MIT” written on his back.

So, pranks are all around. Large or small.

Let me introduce you all to how technology fits into all of this. Specifically, how it fits into prank (”crank”) calls. Let’s check out IP-Relay.com and Valleywag’s tips for Google Maps.

Using IP-Relay.com, you can make a telephone call from your computer to any landline/cell phone in the United States for free. The catch (and possibly the coolest part) is that you talk through an operator –what many in the Deaf culture use. I’ve used this while in class to talk to others who don’t get texting. But I’ll let your imagination go with this one.

Using Valleywag’s tips for Google Maps, he lists:

1. go to http://maps.google.com
2. search for, say, “sex addicts”
3. choose a listing
4. hit the call button
5. when prompted for a number, enter the hated one’s digits
6. perfect evil snicker

But, as always, keep in mind that IP-Relay.com and Google take fraud and spamming very seriously.

Why go to class? Professors aren’t necessarily anything to look at; it’s only their words that you’re paying for.

The Productive Strategies blog recently published an extensive list of free academic podcasts of lectures from around the world. So if you really want to listen to professors blather on even more, take a look at the site.

Granted, there are a few interesting topics.

Stop going to class: Productive Strategies: Free Academic Podcasts

While many professors seem to be soulless human beings, they apparently have feelings too.

Here’s a quick weekend read about a professor’s pet peeve: student excuses.

Read on: Top Ten No Sympathy Lines

Web 2.0 is pretty flippin’ sweet, but so is beer. What’s the best of both worlds? Coastr!

Coastr is a slick Web 2.0 site about beer. Users submit beers they have tasted with a rating and a review. The site automagically compiles all the information into all sorts of lists, which you probably won’t be able to read later tonight (wink).

You can sort their beer database by popularity, most recently tasted, style, origin, user tag, or brewery.

So the next time you’re feeling like something less-urine tasting than Bud Light, check out Coastr.

Have a good Friday night: Coastr

I present Google SMS (Beta).

Google SMS (Beta) offers great features. Helpful features. Features absolutely perfect for Student 2.0. With a simple “translate apartment in german” sent to 46645 (or GOOGL), Google SMS (Beta) will hit you back with:

“Google Translation:
‘apartment’ in English means ‘Wohnung’ in German.”

After spending a semester in Berlin, Germany, studying at the Freie Universitaet, I concur. How sweet is that! Not just limited to translation, though, Google SMS (Beta) also offers a glossary, a calculator, currency conversion, and even your local movie listings.

Check out all the options.

Now that you know your laptop won’t die on you in class, the next thing that’s probably got you distracted from achieving your full potential in college is Freecell. Don’t lie! I’ve seen so many of you playing it!

If you really want that screen at the end, that illustrious victory, that subtle edge over the kid setting next to you, let me give you a few shortcuts, in response to the questions I know you’re asking me.

1. Emo Kid: “I just want to read ‘Congratulations!’ –like I did when getting in to college! What ever happened to those letters?!”

Well, Emo Kid, try this:
Hold down Shift and Ctrl. Then hit F10. You’ll be prompted with a choice, but don’t worry. Just hit Abort. …Oh, sweet victory!

2. Independent: “I don’t need your help, you know. I can do it myself. Just, maybe uh, get me started, would you?”

Well, Independent, try these:
From Game, go to Select Game. You’ll have to go against the grain here, but i know you’ve got it in you. Try putting in a “-1″. The cards will be in ascending order!
Or try putting in a “-2″. The cards will be in descending order (depending on how you look at it). You are also on your way to great things.

I hope this helps, guys! But, really. Playing games in class, you’re only cheating yourself.

While it’s kind of irrelevant to HackCollege.com, this story hits a little close to home, mostly because UCLA is right up the street from LMU.

On Tuesday night, a student was tased in the library by the UCPD, UCLA’s on-campus police. The craziest part is that another student captured everything on video and YouTube’d it.

Decide for yourself what to make of all of this.

Link:
Daily Bruin Article

I’m not sure how many of our readers remember, but…
It’s still only $19.87 at Target. Kelly, this deal is for you!

I’ve got a cell phone. So does my brother at Harvard. So does my mother in Indiana. My father, well, he’s holding out.

We’re all with T-mobile, but it’s not a family plan. In my case, I like T-mobile because I get free T-mobile-to-T-mobile minutes, and I also get unlimited texting. I pay $30 a month, but I’ve only got 150 minutes during the weekdays and 500 minutes during the weekends each month. But, hey, it works. I don’t like to talk on the phone that much.

But many do.

So MyRatePlan.com looks to accomplish what, as my title suggests, Geico.com offers with auto insurance. You can compare lots of cell phone plans; you can also find out which plan supports that particular Nokia mobile phone that you’ve been dying to have (or maybe that’s just me).

As a college student, you’re almost on your way to total independence. Why not start now and pay your own cell phone bill? But be informed about it!

(Oh, and I’ve also heard about MobileBurn.com)