Pimp My iPod

School is starting up again, are you prepared? More importantly, is your iPod prepared? Gone are the days of lounging around in front of the TV, and here are the days of trekking back and forth across campus with singing headphones in your ears. Here are some things you can do to maximize the mobile rock box to its full potential:

1. Blow out your MP3 collection: Spring clean those 90's boy bands from your music library and stack up on songs from artists you discovered this summer. Forgot an awesome band's name? Try searching for them and other bands you might like with Hype Machine or Pandora. Burn songs from your own new albums onto your computer, or download them straight from MP3 stores like eMusic or iTunes.

2. Protect you iPod in style: iPods and other MP3 players can take a brutal beating if not protected. Since they are about to come back into heavy use, make sure you have a sturdy enough case to protect its longevity. You can get protective cases designed specifically for your iPod model, whether it's a Nano, Video iPod, or other. Different cases are also practical for different uses. For example, if you are going to work out with your iPod in tow, you might want a sports sleeve to keep it strapped to your arm as you flex and sprint.

3. Accessorize for grades: Believe it or not, but accessorizing your iPod can aid you while in class and help you study better. Record your professor's lectures for review and easy note-taking with this iPod voice recorder. Add music or sound to class presentations and group projects with an attached iPod speaker system or boombox to amplify music to more than your own ears.

3. Accessorize for fun: Maximize your down time between classes on campus with video. Record your favorite TV shows, documentaries, or music videos and transfer them directly to your video iPod with a DVD video capture device.

And finally, drag your butt out of bed after all those all-nighters with a hip new iPod alarm clock. Your roommate will thank you.

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Social Bookmarking: Saving Sites of Interest

You've seen this button on CampusTech:   

But what the heck does it mean? If you click it, you'll be asked to select a social bookmarking service with which to save, or bookmark, the website you are currently visiting. The concept of website bookmarking (also called "favorites" on some browsers) has been around for a long time, but social bookmarking is a whole new spin on storing and sharing your favorite web destinations.

Social bookmarking is a way of saving interesting online articles, videos, and other web pages in a personal account online. This means that you can access them from any computer connected to the internet at any time. On top of that, social bookmarking sites like Del.icio.us, Digg, Reddit, StumbleUpon, and Technorati allow you to register a personal or shared account, save bookmarks, organize and tag them however you want, and share them with others on the web.

Here are some other cool things you can do with social bookmarking:

• Find and rate new online favorites by visiting sites that other people have bookmarked.


• Suggest sites to your friends by tagging a link with your friend's username.


• Doing a research paper or group project on monkeys? Bookmark resources online and tag them with "monkeys" or "research" and share the links with your whole team.


• If you are particularly interested in a certain subject, there are social bookmarking sites geared around specific topics of interest too! For example, if you're a tech junkie, you can get your fix of popular technology articles, blogs, and sites on Technorati.


• For most social bookmarking services, you can download a bookmarking button for your web browser, allowing you to bookmark sites with just one click.

Podcast Your Personality

Whether you're an aspiring radio personality, talk show host, spoken word poet, music student, or just enjoy talking a whole lot, creating a podcast to broadcast your own radio show to hundreds of iPod users a day is as simple as 1-2-3.

But wait - what is a podcast?
A podcast is an electronic audio file (like an mp3) or collection of audio files in a series that can be downloaded to a portable media player (like an iPod) or personal computer by a third party. Today, hundreds of podcasts are available on a wide range of topics including business, news, story telling, music, art and movie reviews, and "expert" commentary on just about any topic from self improvement to natural science to salad. For example, radio stations like National Public Radio often offer podcast versions of their radio shows for internet download.

The number of people using podcasts was up to 27 million in January 2006 and that number is growing every day - which makes podcasting a great way to reach wide audiences and make a name for yourself. (Stats provided by Arbitron/ Edison Media.)

Here's what you need to get started:
1. A Microphone: To broadcast your voice or music clearly, you'll want a microphone sensitive enough to pick up soft sounds while eliminating static or feedback. For interviews and debates, you might want to pick up a multi-user mic set so everyone talking has their own personal microphone. You can also choose between home-studio mics with stands, to wireless clip-on microphones, depending on how much flexibility you require.

If you own an iPod, you might want to get an iPod voice recorder that essentially makes your iPod a recorder for meetings, lectures, thoughts, ideas, conversations, or whatever you want. You can also connect any standard microphone to your Apple computer using an iMic audio interface adapter. For a really basic, hassle-free microphone, you might want to start out with a USB desktop microphone for your Apple or PC.

2. Audio Software: Once you have your recorded audio, you'll need software like Adobe Soundbooth CS3 to edit, mix, and polish it. Free software for audio editing is also available but can be limiting. You might also want to create your own music on your computer to put on your podcast instead of using pre-recorded music. For that, you might want to invest in a good package for digital music production like SONAR 6 Producer by Cakewalk.

3. A Place To Publish Your Podcast: Once you've got your podcast ready to whip out to your adoring fans, you'll need a place to submit it. The best place to submit your podcast is the iTunes podcast directory, which is a pretty comprehensive directory of podcasts available that iTunes users can easily subscribe to and download automatically. Apple iTunes provides a detailed write-up on how to submit your podcast to the directory here. Other places to upload your podcast includes the new Yahoo! Podcast Directory and many other independent podcast directory sites.

So what will you podcast about?

All Eyes On Me

Participating in social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace are great ways to network with fellow students, teachers, and family, and maintain bonds with people you've met in college and beyond. They make it easier to keep track of what music, movies, and books your friends are into, what schools they are attending, and much more. In getting to know each other's interests and news, you must also always keep in mind how your own information is displayed - not just among friends - but, to the world.

Internet pages are stored and archived, and may be accessed long after the site itself has been taken down. (Want proof? Check out the handy Internet Archive WayBack Machine and look at sites as they were displayed years ago!) Additionally, publishing an image online allows others to download and republish the same image anywhere they choose. For this reason, you can never be too sure who has access to your photos online and who can use them to incriminate you - including professors and potential employers. (Check out this video of an Oxford University student who was busted for posting photos of herself engaging in reckless behavior on a private social networking site.)

That said, there's no denying that social networking sites allow us to embrace the modern internet age like never before. They allow for spontaneous classmate reunions, new conversations, and study buddy match-ups. They provide an open field for displaying your musical prowess, artistic skills, writing abilities, and other talents with your friends and the world.

According to Wikipedia, here are the top 10 most user-populated social networking sites on the web right now:

1) MySpace
2) Windows Live Spaces
3) Google's orkut
4) hi5
5) Friendster
6) Xanga
7) Classmates.com
8) Bebo
9) Facebook
10) Reunion.com

How many are you on?