Ever heard of Fibonacci’s Golden Ratio? Yeah, me either. But I feel like it’s maybe the one thing I would have appreciated learning about in math class. But that’s what the iPhone is for! There is a new app called “Fit or Fugly” that uses the Golden Ratio, which measures how symmetrical your face is, to tell you just how beautiful or hideous you actually are.

I can’t tell if this is something I really want to know, but I kind of think I do.

But not about myself, of course; my mom tells me I’m pretty/I may cry if my cell phone tells me I’m ugly.  But this app could come in handy in so many other instances. For example, my sister always boasts that she is the beauty of the family. Oh yeah, Kimberly? Fibonacci says differently. In your ugly face, lil’ sis!

Or maybe you’ve donned your not-so-trusty beer goggles for the night and you’re just about ready to take home that stunning piece of man-meat you’ve been eyeing up all night. The “Fit or Fugly” app may just save you from making the worst mistake of your college career. Without it, you might have been waking up next to Alf tomorrow morning. The iPhone saves the day again.

So instead of putting your picture up on “Hot or Not” and letting strangers judge your overall attractiveness, let technology and math give you the empirical evidence you need to know that you (or your unsuspecting victim) are beautiful…. or not.

Want to know what song is playing on the radio? There’s an app for that.
Want to mix some fruity cocktails by the pool? There’s an app for that.
Wanna get your rocks off with the same electronic you use for making phone calls? There’s an app for that.

The iPhone has an application for everything, and getting fat is no exception. Because Americans weren’t doing a good enough job of porking up on their own, tons of companies are developing programs making it even easier to access the fat. Ironic, considering all the obese people complaining that their pudgy fingers were too big for the keyboard.

You looking to pack on some poundage? Looks like you need an iFat iPhone. Read More »

While some colleges have a quick one-day orientation or even a simple online registration, other colleges have week-long activities ranging from seminars and lectures to outdoor orienteering adventures. The goal of orientation is to make sure students feel at home on campus or, at least, well versed on where to go, whom to talk to, and what the school offers. Orientation is a way to make nervous first-years feel connected to their academic community of students.

I will never forget moving into my dorm during my first year orientation week being completely scared out of my mind. However, at Hollins, meeting people came easy. In fact, we were put into groups of six or seven students with a student advisor, who was a grade or two older than us, to spend the week with. We played ice-breaker games, talked about high school, and spent the days getting to know each other in the August heat. My student advisor, known as a Student Success Leader (SSL), was a quiet sophomore, English major (just like me). She helped my fellow group members put together our schedules, get to our seminars on time, and learn all about Hollins and its academics.

Although orientation went quickly, I never forgot how amazing my SSL was. She went out of her way to stay in contact with all of us first years, even leaving us goodie bags of finger puppets and Hello Kitty stickers. She always made herself available, and I couldn’t have thanked her more. Read More »

Just when you thought Google couldn’t get any better, it comes out with a feature so mind-blowingly awesome that you don’t know how you lived without it until now.

Last night, my friend and I were GChatting while doing our homework, and she told me about a new feature that Google is adding to Gmail.  Somehow, those folks out in Silicon Valley figured out a way to curb inebriated emailing. The new feature, called Mail Goggles, is an application that can be enabled in your Gmail settings which asks you to perform a few math equations before sending out a message. The equations are simple multiplication, addition, and subtraction problems (never fear, no calculus here) that are just meant to verify if you’re of sound judgment.

When you activate the application, you can set the time of day it will be enabled; for instance, if you know you’re likely to send messages you may later regret after nights out with the girls, you can program Mail Goggles to activate between 1 and 5 am the Friday morning after Thirsty Thursdays.

Is that genius or what?

Our economy is crumbling, and things just got worse for Bachelors degree-hopefuls, especially those in Massachusetts. Last year, the Massachusetts Educational Financing Authority secured over $500 million in educational loans. This year, they’ve announced that they will not be offering loans for the upcoming academic year.

None. Zero. Zip. Zilch. Nada. They didn’t cut their $500 million budget to, say, $250 million. They exed the loans altogether.

MEFA secures loans for 40,000 students who live in Massachusetts, or who attend school there. Unfortunately, this year, the financing authority could not secure the money. Executive director Tom Graff blames “disruptions in capital markets.” So, just like that, 40,000 students are sh*t out of luck.

MEFA is the first to make headlines, but any financing authority could also be treading on thin ice. Which means that students across the country could be forced to drop out of college, or sell their souls to finance a degree that can cost upwards of FORTY GRAND per year at top-notch schools like Carnegie Mellon, Tufts, NYU, and Notre Dame.

When I was in college, I played my cards right, and managed to get through my degree with almost no debt, and decided to pursue a Master’s, rather than join the work force right away. With our declining economy, I am currently paying dearly for that decision. Read More »

Last week, I warned you that the grad school application process is quite a time consuming effort. Well guess what folks? You’re going to need to put ample time into choosing your prospective grad schools too! Sure, this might seem a bit obvious, but this columnist doesn’t always think things through.

For me, grad school was a roll of the dice, and six possible schools came up for me: Georgetown, Rutgers, Ohio State, North Carolina State, San Francisco State, and the school I eventually chose, hereafter refered to as X University.I chose these schools on a whim. Georgetown was my “reach,” and the closest I could get to Ivy League while maintaining a glimmer of hope for acceptance. Rutgers was relatively close to my hometown (by close I mean a 5 hour drive); Ohio State is a party school notorious for it’s tailgating parties (I swear, that’s why I applied- don’t judge); North Carolina State was an hour from my only other friend attending grad school; and San Francisco just seemed like a cool city to live in, as did the location of X University.

Rule number one in choosing grad school? Don’t be superficial when planning your future! Read More »

Sometimes I indulge in this fantasy where I drop every responsibility I have (damn you, student loans!) and run away to a foreign land.

Then my dreams are dashed when I realize that I do, in fact, have responsibilities that need to be attended to…and even if I didn’t, I don’t have thousands to throw away on a trip around the world. So, what is this 20-something to do? Well, realistically…I go on Facebook and check out the pictures my friends took back in 2005 when they went abroad.

Then I stumbled on an application that looked a bit curious…Trip Up CouchSwap!

It’s perfect! It merges reality and fantasy and wraps them up into one attainable goal for us travel-loving college kids. Poor college kids sleeping on other poor college kid’s couches…for cheap (or free)? Sounds like a typical Saturday! What more could we need?

I’ll tell you: CouchSurfing.com

Here the idea branches out even further into it’s own little social network where people around the world document and rate the travel accommodation they’ve received by traveling backpacker-style.

Now, I’m the first to admit to a little too much trust in my fellow man (or woman, whatever) and the idea of getting murdered while taking a nap on some person’s futon doesn’t really cross my mind…while you may be thinking there’s no way you’ll ever allow some random to take you in. Well, I’m officially calling you out. Read More »

The week before you ship off to college is notoriously known for extended shopping excursions.

As you push your cart up and down the aisles of Wal-Mart and Target stocking up on the necessities, your bank account is slowly draining (unless your parents plan on footing the entire bill-in which case you can stop reading now).

The money you’ve saved up at your menial summer job may be non-existent by the time you hit the mall to pick up some new kicks and a few back to school outfits.

So what happens when you land on campus broke as a joke in need of food and fun? You begin the job hunt.

As a seasoned veteran of the work study program, I would not recommend this line of work. My freshman year was spent slaving away between classes in an office with no windows. Fetching sandwiches for a hostile man whose job it was to make photocopies for 7 dollars an hour wasn’t my idea of a worthwhile part-time job.

When I ventured out to find legitimate employment during my sophomore year, I applied to every store, restaurant, and office within a 20 block radius of my school.

To be blunt, I went crazy, spreading my resume like wildfire to anyone who would take it. You would think my phone would have been ringing off the hook. Read More »