The following is a guest post by our (nerdy yet totally helpful) friends at Hack College. Check ‘em out for all your techy needs. They’re like the nerdy boyfriend you never had but always needed.

It’s a well established fact that iPhones and iPod Touches now outnumber male students on most college campuses. If you have one of these devices, be sure to keep these apps in your regular rotation to make college more pleasant. You’ll notice that most of these apps are pretty popular, and savvy iPhone users have probably heard of all of them. The reason for this is simple: most popular apps are popular because they’re good (or because they have pictures of women in their underwear, but I digress). Probably 90% of the apps in the store suck, including most of the ones supposedly geared towards college students. Presented here are some of the gems of the App Store, all of which I keep in my regular rotation, and have found indispensable throughout college.

All links open the iTunes App Store.

• Quickoffice – Our parents typed their papers on typewriters… typewriters! The very fact that we can write and edit out papers on a phone is remarkable enough, the fact that this app is actually good enough to write a few pages on is what gets it on this list. Stuck in a waiting room? Laptop broken and the computer lab is all the way across campus? Have a bad dream about that one awkward sentence (don’t laugh, it’s happened to me), and need to fix it on the go? This app can maximize your productivity, and is even—dare I say it—fun to use.

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"DE-FENSE!"

For millions of Americans, the holiday season isn’t only a magical time because of the standard stocking stuffers and gingerbread houses, but also because it means college football bowl season is here (!!!!).

Unless you’re a die-hard football fan or your team is playing in one of these games, you probably won’t have the time to tune into some of the smaller bowl games such as the Beef ‘O’ Bradys’ St. Petersburg Bowl (yup, this is an actual name of a bowl game). But for everyone else (and yes, I mean everyone – from the dedicated college football fan to the dedicated Saturday tailgater), the big bowl games are fun and exciting to watch.

Here is a quick guide to the biggest bowl games this season, and the deets you need to know while watching each. So grab a couple friends and a couple beers (optional) and park yourself on the couch. It’s time to go “bowling”!

Be honest, what else do you have to do over winter break?

Rose Bowl (January 1, 5:00 ET on ESPN)
Who: TCU Horned Frogs (3) v. Wisconsin Badgers (5)
What to know: The third-ranked Horned Frogs (intimidating right?) will take on the fifth-ranked Badgers in the Rose Bowl, the historical New Years day game held in Pasadena. TCU offense is led by quarterback Andy Dalton who is coming off a successful senior season, and their much-hyped defense is number one in the nation for holding their opponents to the fewest points. TCU will be playing with a lot of emotion; they finished the season undefeated and feel as though they should be playing for the national championship.

Wisconsin offense is led by quarterback Scott Tolzien and three standout running backs. Badger linemen Gabe Carimi and John Moffitt were just named all-American first team and will provide a note-worthy match up with the TCU defensive line.
Fun Facts: The Rosebowl is known as the ‘Granddaddy of Them All’ because it is the oldest and formerly most prestigious game… Wisconsin has scored over 70 points in three of its wins this season… This is the first ever Rosebowl for TCU. Read More »

[There are over 100 million sites on the Internet. 100 million! You might think you know about all the important ones (CollegeCandy, Gmail, Google, Facebook…), but there are thousands of other sweet sites out there (like GoFobo, Sparked and Spreezio) and more showing up every day! We get it – it’s not easy or fun sifting through the crap and porn to find those gems, so we’re gonna bring the gems to you. Just sit back, kick up those feet and allow us to introduce you to the diamonds in the internet rough.]

Going home for the holidays is always great…at first. Then your mom warms up to your presence and seizes the opportunity to ask you every technological question she’s ever had. “How do I use the DVR,” and “Can you show me how to crop Dad out of my Facebook photo,” and “Nanny wants all the new landscaping photos, is it possible to get them off of my phone and into an e-mail?” It’s tiresome and it’s frustrating and it usually ends with you and/or your mom crying.

So Google has come up with another genius invention (as if Gchat wasn’t enough) called Teach Parents Tech. They’ve created several easy-to-understand videos for parents on the most basic web concepts. They have everything covered from “copy and paste” to “uploading photos.” Seriously, it’s like someone transcribed the cell phone convos I have with my mom (that usually end with me throwing my phone at the wall in frustration – I mean, how many times have I showed this to you!?). Read More »

Back in the day when I was a wee freshman just starting the rush process, I was scared. Scared of talking to all those older girls, scared of rowdy fraternity boys throwing water balloons at me as I walked from house to house (wet, frizzy hair? OH THE HORROR), scared of not even getting into a house….

Most of all though, I was scared of what being in a sorority would do to the rest of my life. I had watched many older friends go through the whole sorority process and I knew about all the activities, meetings, date parties, social events, etc. that come with it. Would I be able to handle it all? Would my GPA?

I think a lot of people (like my parents) have the same concern: is it possible to juggle everything successfully? The answer: YES. It may not be easy, but it doesn’t take long to figure out a way to balance out friends and exams, roommates and papers, tailgates and gym dates, and this week our panel of sorority sisters is going to share their secrets for making it all happen. (Here’s a hint: it starts with “plan” and ends with “ner.”) Read More »

It’s an old fashion rule that you can’t wear white after labor day — but I say, “says who?” I think white’s perfectly fine for winter… it’s the color of snow, after all!

The difference from summer whites is that winter whites are richer, warmer shades of white, like ivory, cream, and ecru. These colors look especially lush paired with other winter colors. Here are some great winter white pieces for less than $20! Read More »

2010 is officially coming to a close and what a year it’s been in music! This year presented us with an awesome array of new artists, re-introduced us to some ones we may have forgotten about, and of course, left some songs in our heads we wish we would never have to hear again.

So let’s take a look back and rock out to the 20 biggest songs of 2010. (It’s like my own little Grammy’s!!)

Some of the biggest names to enter the pop scene in 2010 include B.o.B, Bruno Mars, Mike Posner and Taio Cruz. All of them were hot able to make big names for themselves by earning multiple slots on the Billboard charts with huge hits like “Cooler Than Me.” It was a nice, refreshing change to the usual women of music (Ke$ha, Lady Gaga, Rihanna, and Katy Perry) who seemed to constantly and incessantly rule the airwaves (and YouTube – I’m lookin’ at you, Bad Romance!). And while everyone was going goo goo for Gaga, I’d say Katy Perry was the real queen of pop this year, immediately releasing three megahits off her new album, Teenage Dream.

The music scene was also shaken up by the comebacks of huge artists like Eminem, Usher, and Train who all reminded the world that they’re still alive of who they are and what their music is all about in a big, overplayed way. In addition, we got to hear all different assortments of collaborations from the relatively-unknown-artists-at-the-time, B.o.B and Bruno Mars with “Nothin’ On You,” to the massively famous, all-star duo of Eminem and Rihanna on “Love The Way You Lie.” What probably startled the pop scene the most this year, however, was Lady Antebellum’s, “Need You Now.” I’m not sure I can think of any other recent country song (other than all of Taylor Swift’s, of course) that’s received that much airtime on pop radio stations. Read More »

[Sarabeth here with a new feature that, quite frankly, I'm stoked about. Each week I'll be bringing you an album that I feel is particularly awesome in the hopes of building iTunes libraries everywhere! It could be something new, old, hugely popular or fairly unknown, so keep checking back for our suggestions to awesome-ify your music collection.]

The non-stop Elf marathons last week made me realize just how much I love Zooey Deschanel movies. She’s just so…cute! She also happens to be multi-talented. Yup, some of you might not know that she’s also a very gifted singer and musician.  So in honor of her, I bring you: She & Him’s Volume 1. It’s a peppy album with a retro feel that makes me fall even harder for dear Zooey. As if that’s even possible.

About the Band:

She & Him, formed in 2006, consists of Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward. Ward met Deschanel, and while he knew she had a good singing voice from seeing Elf, he was surprised to know that she had a catalog of songs she’d written and didn’t know what to do with. According to Deschanel, once she met Ward, everything just fell into place. Read More »

Ask Tuffy Luv. TuffyLuv@collegecandy.com

Dear Tuffy Luv,

So to start, this is humiliating, but last Friday night I peed my bed. I’m a 24-year-old grad student and live in the dorms at my school. I have no idea what happened, and this was a completely random event. Anyways, my roommate found out (it was pretty easy, she was awake when I woke up soaked…), which was even more embarrassing. I got up, took my wet pajamas off and went to take a shower. When I got back to the room, I stripped my sheets and took everything to wash. When I got back, I sprayed my mattress with Lysol…I think I handled the situation very responsibly.

But Monday, I got an email from my RA, requesting a meeting with me, my roommate, and her boss, who runs the whole dorm. Come to find out, my roommate had taken pictures of my wet bed and clothes. In the meeting, they expressed their concern that a girl my age was “still wetting the bed,” which is apparently how my roommate explained the situation. My RA’s boss said I had to pay for a new mattress and am required to have a waterproof mattress cover on the new one. Having the mattress cover isn’t a big deal, but paying for the new mattress caused my account to be billed and now my parents are aware of the incident. My roommate also told EVERYBODY in our hall about my accident, a rumor that has circulated to many more people on campus and made me the target of many snide remarks. Up until now, we had a great relationship. But I have no idea what to do! This has been the most humiliating few days of my life. I really don’t want to live with her anymore-should I request a room transfer or what? I cannot believe this has become such a big deal!

If you could offer advice, I’d really appreciate it,
Thank you,
BW

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Dear Everyone Involved in Glee,

You should probably just give me a job as a writer on your show because even though I have zero experience in TV, musicals or anything besides waking up 8 minutes before class and making it there on time, I have a feeling I could do a better job with this show than you’ve been doing lately. Yeah, harsh but true.  I mean, the first season was pretty flawless.  Sure, I could have done without that one episode about jumping on mattresses, but other than that, you guys were on point.  This season, though?  Not so much.

Don’t get me wrong; I still watched every episode at least three times.  But the magic was gone – the intimacy between characters and audience, the plot developments, the authenticity – those were the things that were lacking in Glee’s sophomore year. And as a major Gleek, it pains me to tune in and be disappointed week after musical week.

So, I have some ideas. Nothing major; just a few tips from an outsider (who happens to have every single Glee song on her iPod…just sayin’) to get Glee’s former glory back. Oh, and I’m an unemployed recent grad so if you like what you see, I’d be more than happy to join the team and move out of my parents’ house.

1.  No more guest stars: I mean, I guess you’re allowed one absolutely stellar celeb in the next season, but other than that, MAKE IT STOP.  Jonathan Groff, I could take.  Idina Menzel’s character added an interesting dimension to Rachel’s character.  Jonathan Stamos was nice to look at, so I guess I’ll give you that one.  But April Freakin’ Rhodes?  Holly Effing Holiday? Kristin Chenoweth and Gwyneth Paltrow are awesome, but they really just take away from the focus on the core cast.  Their storylines really don’t do anything for the progression of the show, and adding them to the lineup just makes it seem like every episode is a very short musical movie – not part of a whole show.

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This month, as I purchased my Maxim magazine and saw a photo spread of tall and awkward Whitney port looking SO EFFING HOT, I decided something.

I want to be in Maxim.

Actually, I need to be in Maxim.  Sure, this isn’t the loftiest goal for a college girl, but the chicks in the magazine look so damn fly, I just have to conquer the world somehow and showing up in a small spread with winged eye-liner, dark eye shadow, and a frilly polka dot swimsuit, rolling around in mud, seems like the best way to do it.

Hey Maxim photographers out there, I photograph pretty well (especially when I’m intoxicated). Call me!

Anyway, let’s get to the issue shall we?  Katy Perry was on the cover (again), debuting her seemingly weightless titties.  Yum. Happy Kwanzaa everyone.  Another article exposed some pretty freaky sexy-time toys, including a Lady Gaga blow-up doll that loves when you ‘poke-her-face’ and a girly sex toy called the Edward Cullen.  Let’s just say it sparkles.  When is the werewolf edition coming out??

Since Maxim is always a helpful source for man’s utmost problems, a special article instructed men on ‘Secret Sexting.’ On the next page, Maxim included an article about how to treat an open fracture…on a mountain.  I’m dying to know, what if you fractured your leg on a mountain because you were sexting?  Man problems….

Also featured in the Maxim, was ‘The Big List.’ Did you know the biggest fake boobs recorded this year are 36MMMs.  Or that someone could die while motor-boating?  Also interesting: the world’s biggest bunny is 4’3″. Move out the way, Snookster! Read More »