I have a great post coming tomorrow (Thursday) for how to get your drink on, but, for tonight, some of you who aren’t doing homework might take the time out to relax and watch a movie.

At Yale, “Do you wanna come over and watch a movie?” is a classic pick-up line.

But, moving on. If you don’t have Netflix (tsk, tsk) or don’t want to spend money over at Blockbuster, there are lots of options available on the Internet. I’ve previously posted on this, but I’ll do a quick re-cap:

• dailymotionmovievids used to be great.
• Simplistic’s Movie Links is great.

If you’ve got a nice, large desktop area, then it might be fine watching a movie from your computer screen. Click on the movie to make it fullscreen. But, if watching movies on your computer isn’t your style, let me teach you all how to download them and then burn them to playable DVDs (should you have a DVD burner and, obviously, a DVD player) in just 5 steps.

Read on to your heart’s content »

Catchphrases usually don’t annoy me that much, but the “freshman fifteen” seems to have been beaten to death. Sure, some people do gain a few pounds the first term of the freshman year. Big deal; you can gain a pound or two over the weekend from too much beer. From what I have witnessed and experienced, the freshman fifteen is not specific to only freshman year. The undesirable weight gain always has to do with a lack of self-control. Sounds harsh, but it’s true. And I definitely did eat ice cream every night freshman year. But this post isn’t about weight loss.

It’s also a common myth that exercise equals weight loss. No matter which diet you’re on or not, it all comes down to a simple equation of how many calories you ate and expended throughout the day. That’s enough of a rant on the general obsession I see with weight loss.

So let’s talk about exercise: how often, how long, where, what, when, etc. I’ll draw mostly upon my personal experience, with a few sources elsewhere. Read on to your heart’s content »

So my friend Lindsay sent me a link to Matt B Thompson’s “Light or [Lighter-Weight Apps] to Replace Memory Hogs in Windows XP”, asking me, “There are a lot of programs listed. Which, if any, does HackCollege recommend?”

Alright, I’m not sure I did the “[ ]” right, but, either way, Matt’s got a great list of software that won’t slow down your computer. And that’s definitely one of the things that annoy me with Windows XP! I mean, with all the programs I’ll have running at once, it slows down –which does make sense but nonetheless still pinches my productivity.

Read on to your heart’s content »

Man oh boy, have we been busy. Some happenings:

• The HackCollege look. Rosario’s been busy, and so have I. It’s Rosario’s last year as an undergrad, so she’s got more than enough going on. I bought a road bike and been having plenty of fun with that while trying to brainstorm and iron out the new look (I swear).
• Musical goodness. On my long bike rides, I’ve got plenty to think about. I mostly think about how to improve the site and if time travel is possible. One aspect of college life we’ve been missing out on has definitely been the drug-induced, questionably melodic “college” music. So we’re going to start writing about good music, not necessarily the “indie” music you will hear on the latest episode of “The O.C.” (Blegh.) Keep your eyes and ears peeled.
• T-Shirts. Who doesn’t like sweet t-shirts? Once I get my next paycheck, I’ll be buying a few. In fact, if you’re a reader and would like to represent your HackCollege love, I will buy you a t-shirt. Unfortunately, I am poor and cannot buy the whole world a t-shirt. I’ll do my best. I figure everyone wins that way: you get a shirt, and other people learn about the site. And who doesn’t want a free t-shirt? Shoot me an email if you’re interested.

We’re still working on the layout of the site. Kelly is a very busy man.

A new semester is starting for all of us. What’s our common enemy? Procrastination.

But what is the demon I speak of? Well, industrial psychologist Piers Steel of the University of Calgary thinks he has procrastination all figured out:

Steel developed the equation U = E x V / I x D, where U is the desire to complete the task; E, the expectation of success; V, the value of completion; I, the immediacy of task; and D, the personal sensitivity to delay, as a way of mathematically mapping a given individual’s procrastination response.

Yeah, alright… But how do we destroy it? Well, I’ve got two tips for you all:

1. Learn a new equation: (10+2)*5. This method requires a timer, a to-do list, and an hour. The equation will help you remember the steps:

* 10 - Work for ten minutes with single-minded focus on moving toward completion on a single task. Ten minutes, and that’s all you’re allowed to do is work, work, work. No cheating, because (DING!) you actually get a break when you’re done…
* 2 - After ten minutes of sweaty, dedicated work you get a 2-minute break to do whatever you want—drink coffee, read 5ives, call your bookie, whatever. When the two minutes are up, it’s back to work on the next task on your list. This is important.
* *5 - You’re going to iterate this four more times for a total of one hour’s working/breaking

And it’s a requirement to take the 2-minute break! You can’t skip it! Also, the focus is not actually to complete anything in 10 minutes –just to inch your way toward the finish line.

2. Download the Chindogu Clock (available for all platforms). If you’ve got a 3-page paper that will take you 3 hours to write, but you always seem to procrastinate just enough to always be late in turning it in, this is your solution:

It’s guaranteed to be up to 15 minutes fast. However, it also speeds up and slows down in an unpredictable manner so you can’t be sure how fast it really is. Furthermore, the clock is guaranteed to not be slow.

Many of us have used this method before, but with this clock, you’ll never know how “fast” it really is, so you can’t cheat. Oh, I love it.

And… This was my 2-minute break. Back to reading Kundera.

While doing the typical college guy thing and trying to learn how to play the guitar better, I stumbled upon a fantastic website, Daytrotter. Admittedly, the site caters more towards the indie/emo/what-the-fuck-is-this-music genres. But we all know evident drug use and good music go hand in hand.

Daytrotter is actually the name given to sessions played by traveling bands. Since any successful band tours around the country, they are bound to drive through Rock Island, IL. If a band so chooses to stop in to Futureappletree Studio One, they are invited to share with the world some of their musical talents. To quote Daytrotter’s about page:

They use borrowed instruments, play with their touring mates, utilize a often unkempt toilet, eat some food and then cram back into their vans for the last half of the drive. What they leave behind is a pile of ashes, sometimes a forgotten stocking hat and four absolutely collectible songs that often impart on whomever listens to them the true intensity that these musicians put into their art, sometimes with more clarity than they do when they have months to tinker with overdubs and experiments.

When I first stumbled upon Daytrotter, my face nearly melted off when I listened to “Shut Up I am Dreaming of Places Where Lovers Have Wings” (warning: link plays music) by Sunset Rubdown. You’re lucky I am here writing today. Maybe that could explain the sudden lapse in postings.

Anyway, check out Daytrotter for some of your favorite bands and see if they have any songs. All of the songs are pretty good quality and of the utmost rockery.

Melt Your Face: Daytrotter

This might be redundant for a lot of readers. (We assume that most people that read HackCollege also read Lifehacker.) Anyway, Lifehacker published a slick little note taking roundup today.

Check it out.

While hundreds of articles related to the new Nintendo Wii and its scarcity proliferate the Internet, there doesn’t seem to be an article relating to the machine’s robust ability to entertain in any situation.

Read on to your heart’s content »

If you pay for unlimited long-distance calls, this is amazing. One call to Iowa, and you can then call 50 countries (and growing!) for free with futurephone.com! Is this legit? Yes. Does it work? Often. Do you have to sign up, and will they spam you? No!

Try it. You’ll be pleased.

Oh, and even if you don’t have unlimited long-distance calls, with this service you can call, say, Germany for the price of a call to Iowa. Aka, it’s still cheaper.