Forget the tweezers or the soldering and get the software. Follow this link to Engadget.

If you’re the type who frequently checks HackCollege, then you might enjoy a moment of satire. But, guess what? You’re the butt of the joke.

Check out my article in The Los Angeles Loyolan, which was referenced in the second episode of the HackCollege Podcast:

The Guide to Becoming a More Productive Student

It includes four of my favorite hacks — which I’ve kept secret until now…

If you’re ever in Europe with a cell phone, you’ll probably notice right away that you only pay for outgoing text messages and outgoing calls. And next you’ll notice how much cheaper it is to send a text message than to make a call and talk for a minute. So you decide to just send text messages.

Then how great would it be if you could send text messages for free? Welcome to the future. Check out Free-SMS.de –wo alles auf deutsch ist.

Yes, it’s all in German, so let me translate the necessities for you.

Note: This site relies on advertising banners to send your text messages for free, so if you’re using Adblock (Plus), be sure to disable it while visiting the site. Otherwise, you won’t be able to send anything for free. Click Tools > Adblock Plus > Options > and click Enable Adblock Plus to actually disable it and remove the checkmark.

Read on to your heart’s content »

Now you can search HackCollege directly from within your Firefox browser –just like you do with Google! Install the HackCollege SearchEngine Plugin for Firefox.

If the above link fails, simply download HackCollege.xml and place it into your C:\Program Files\Mozilla Firefox\searchplugins folder and restart your Firefox.

To go along with Jason’s link to the ultimate steal from Microsoft, JourneyEd is a great shopping site for other cheap software.

A quick search on the site, and I found Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended for $300, when it regularly costs $700.

However, to purchase any of the products listed, you will have to prove your status as a student –so be prepared to give your SSN. But the site is definitely worth the look if you’re in need of some specific, and often too expensive, software for a college art or programming class. Thanks, Katie, for the tip! Any others?

I recently found and tested the convenience of CampusFood, so I thought I’d share my positive results.

After selecting my “campus”, CampusFood listed several of the local restaurants available for take-out or delivery in my area. I was craving some Mexican food with a Chinese twist, so I clicked this Chinese-run “Fresh Taco” restaurant I really like to see their full menu online. I was craving a burrito and some chicken and rice soup. Yum.

I selected to pay with a credit card (since I never have cash on me), waited a minute for the confirmation email to arrive (letting me know my order went through), and then… Ding, Dong! In 30 minutes, they were at my door. I had already tipped the delivery boy online with my credit card, so all I had to do was run downstairs, say, “Thank You!”, run back up, and start eating.

I was floored with how effective this was!

The service also allows pre-ordering and even ordering by text message. I will never save another menu or restaurant phone number again!

September 12th through April 30th Microsoft will be offering the Office 2007 Ultimate edition for just $59.95 for college students. Currently this offer is only good for students in the U.S., Canada, and the U.K. (sorry Kelly and Chris). Microsoft also requires you to have a valid .edu address and to be actively enrolled and taking at least a .5 course load. Be sure to have your student ID available also because if Microsoft requests to see it and you can’t cough it up - you will be required to pay the full price for the license (about $679) ouch.

You can check out “The Ultimate Steal” from Microsoft here.

 Episode 2: Amsterdam:

 

 Episode 2: Amsterdam: Play Now | Popup

Everything is better the second time around. We shot in Amsterdam this past weekend. Our production value has (at least) doubled. We’re really warming up to our podcast; we hope you are too.

Keep your eyes focused on the small video until the end. We cut together some nonsense of Scott, Chris, and I tooling around Amsterdam.

This episode covers:

• Reflections about Amsterdam
• Pickpocketing
• The RED One camera
• IBC
• Existential reflections on lifehacking
• New iPods
• Getting Things Done by David Allen

Read on to your heart’s content »

One reader writes: “Hey, I have this book [...], and I was wondering if you knew where I could get notes for it. PLEASE HELP!”

Here at HackCollege, we would love to help you study.

• Sparknotes is probably the best known. Not limited to just literature, its online study guides cover philosophy, psychology, and more.
• PinkMonkey is not as user friendly, but it covers a lot of literature as well.
• FreeBookNotes is yet another.
• SchoolBytes has literature guides and other suggestions.
• JiffyNotes has a few.
• Awerty has literature notes.
• Yahoo’s Education Section has a list of several Cliffsnotes.
• GradeSaver has literature notes and other samples.
• Someone organized a list of popular high-school reading notes over at Tripod.
• LitSum argues that it has more literature study guides than any other website.
• BookWolf has a small selection.
• CliffsNotes has study guides for literature and other subjects.
• Shvoong has literature guides and other samples.
• NovelGuide features several guides to classic literature.
• Homework-Online has a few literature guides, too.
• TheBestNotes is user generated and is always adding new notes.

If any of those sites fail, always try a Google search: "Book Title", "Author", summary or "Book Title", "Author", analysis or "Book Title", "Author", notes or whatever else. You get the idea.

Please add to this list in the comments! And always feel free to ask us for help.

Last week I wrote a post about looking like an American in Europe and the usually negative consequences. Asia, on the other hand, has a few different rules to play by. The information contained within this article is based upon my own personal experience in Korea and anecdotes from friends who have visited China, Japan, and Taiwan.

Unlike your typical Europeans, the average Korean person was very interested in American culture. The same seems to be true for China and Taiwan, and a little less so for Japan. Perhaps I can make the generalization that the information to follow is true for most of Asia. I haven’t been to every place in Asia though, so I don’t know for sure.

Because you (may) want to look American, you need to dress and act the part. Rather than talk about how to look like an American for the rest of this post, I’ll talk about the benefits of being an American in Asia.

Read on to your heart’s content »