In light of the recent Blackberry outages, which just so happened to coincide with the day before the iPhone 4S was released (conspiracy alert!), it’s come to our attention that we are obsessed with our phones. We can’t go five minutes without checking our phones to see if we have texts, emails, tweets, or Facebook messages. It’s getting ridiculous. During Blackberry-gate, my friends who couldn’t use their BBM service were going berserk. Thankfully, I have an iPhone so I wasn’t affected (it sounds like some kind of plague doesn’t it?).

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We all remember seeing pictures of Paris Hilton at a club texting on her pink, bedazzled T-Mobile Sidekick phone. Well just as Paris Hilton has changed (her hair is longer), so has the T-Mobile Sidekick.

I got my hands on a T-Mobile Sidekick 4G, and I must say, it’s a pretty cool phone. It’s a texter’s dream. The sliding screen slides up to reveal a full keyboard, which is so much easier than texting on a touch screen (although you have that option as well). It also has Google Speak, so if you hate texting, you can just say what you want to text, and the phone will do the rest for you. It probably won’t pick up on your group of friends’ slang (“omg he’s sooooo adorbs”), but it will pick up on normal words (“I’m so drunk”).

The phone is an Android phone, so you have access to all Android apps. I’ve been playing Fruit Ninja Free in all of my classes to pass time. There’s basically an app for anything you want. You can get radio, Google Maps, Skype and a lot more.

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Ever look at your phone and wonder, “How are they gonna make it any better than this?”

I know I do. Just about every day I’m cradling my iPhone in amazement. How did technology get so good and how…how…are the geniuses-that-be going to outdo themselves next time?

I’m constantly amazed that there are people in this world that create stuff. Okay, it sounds naive and uninformed, but hear me out. Right now, in some dark and cramped office space, there are men and women laying out the blueprints for electronic toys set to hit stores three or four years from now.

I can’t even pick out my clothes for work the night before, yet people are already planning for the technology of the future. How the hell do they do it?

On the verge of the iPhone 5 release, the Droid Bionic launch and the creation of 55, 65 and 72-inch flat screen Blue-Ray HD television sets, it’s time to travel back in time to a world that believed desk-tops, Palm pilots and disc-men were the cream of the crop. Read More »

Our generation has been called a lot of things over the years, and not all of them have been particularly flattering. But I think we can all agree that we are the generation that thrives on technology. They call us the “thumb generation” because we’re always texting or typing, and that’s not really something we can argue with. We are the age of the internet, the cell phone, and the iPad. We are the age of all things digital.

Just think of all the technological developments that there have been since our parents were college seniors. For one thing, if you were a college girl when you mom was a college girl you wouldn’t be reading a blog. You wouldn’t even know what a blog is. You wouldn’t even have cordless phones, never mind a cell phone, AND you’d be using a typewriter to write your final papers. And none of it would have seemed the least bit weird to you. But it seems weird to us. But you know what, all the stuff that we do now may eventually seem outdated to our children some day.

Like what, you say? Why I’m so glad you asked…

Who the hell is "Mikey Hot Pants"?

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in college, it’s that half of the contacts in my phone are people I don’t know. I may have known them for the length of a drink or a line outside my favorite bar, but memory fades with last call.

In any case, what makes the randoms in my phone stand out is how they’re entered as a contact… affectionately re-named, if you will.

We all do it, and I really do lament my memory slipping, but as I was going through my contacts list the other day, I couldn’t help but crack up at some of the best names I found in my phone. After which I was reminded of some of the better names and numbers taken down by some of my friends.

With no further ado, the best contacts I completely forgot about, and you likely have in your phone too: Read More »

Technology is amazing, we can all attest to that (especially if you’re reading this online on the best website ever. I <3 the Internet.) But technology,  has also made things, like the way in which we communicate, a lot less personal.

With the Internet, texting, cell phones, and every other quick mode of communication, we speak to each other differently than how we used to.

What we’ve gained in convenience, we’ve lost in finesse and beauty. Instead of beautiful, handwritten letters, we send and receive quick and short emails filled with LOLs and emoticons. I can’t tell you the last time I actually wrote something down and the last letters I received were from Bank of America and a summons for jury duty. Lame.

So with graduation coming up (5 MORE DAYS… AHHHHH!), I wanted to find a cheap and chic way to send letters to my friends once we’ve all gone our separate ways. But custom stationary and envelopes can be expensive, so I created a way to get the custom envelope look without breaking the bank!

What You’ll Need:
4×6 or 5×7 envelopes, any color: These can be really cheap, basic envelopes. You can buy these in packs at stationary stores or most convenience stores!
A magazine or two: You’ll use magazine pages and fun advertisements for the outside of your envelope.
Glue stick
Scissors
Plain white labels – Optional. This will be where you’ll write the destination address. You can pick these up at any office supply store. Read More »

Another week has passed and I’m one week closer to graduation. In ten short days I will stand up, toss my cap in the air, and graduate in front of family, friends, professors…and a bunch of random people I don’t know.

Many of you have already taken this step. You’ve cried sentimental tears or jumped for joy as you packed up boxes and drove away from your home for the past few years. But if you have the pleasure of a quarter or trimester system you, like me, are lucky enough to have a smidgen of time left.

A lot of people have been worrying about the typical things that soon to be grads and recent grads worry about: getting a job, finding an apartment, moving, paying bills, insurance, liver recovery, taxes. I am stressed and concerned about all of these things. But I’m also stressed about some basic issues I haven’t considered until recently, like friendships.

For many grads, we’ll be moving away from the network of friends we’ve created over the past four years. For me, I will be moving clear across the country and my insecurities are rising. All my friendships are about to change and come June 14, I will be in a Long Distance (Best Friend Forever) Relationship. Read More »

On a typical weekend, if you’re at a bad party, you can call it a night, call Safe-rides, and make it back to your dorm in one piece. Then again, if you’re at a good party, you can live it up, sleep until noon the next day, and then relax your hangover away until it’s time to get back to the daily grind.

On Spring Break, however, once you get off the plane at your final destination, you’re in it for the long haul. Though you anticipate your vacay being the highlight of the semester, it can be grueling to go all day, every day, and, being far from home, there’s a lot that can go wrong. Nothing is suckier than getting sick in a foreign place, fighting with your tripmates, or getting into a sticky situation in an unfamiliar place. Make sure you make it back to school in one piece this spring, by taking a few simple precautions.

1. Do your research.

Get some maps, or travel guides with tips, before you leave. Ask people you trust if they can recommend a good hotel. Try to brush up on the local rules or laws of the place you’re headed. The last thing you want to do is get lost, check into a lodging that is reminiscent of hostel, or get in trouble for something you didn’t even think was wrong.

2. Pack wisely.

Flip flops might be a necessity, but what about when you take a day trip that requires walking around all day to take in the sights? Pack a comfortable pair of shoes just in case that long night of clubbing wore out your feet. And even if you think you’re going somewhere tropical and plan to be in a bathing suit all day, it can’t hurt to throw a sweater in your suitcase for when the temperature drops after dark. Read More »

Ah, the LDR . . . it’s one of the most talked-about relationship types ever, and for good reason—there’s just so much to say about it. Should you do it? Shouldn’t you? For some people, it’s not so bad, and for others, it’s absolutely never going to work. But if you find the right person and it just happens to be the wrong time in your life to physically be in the same place, is an LDR worthwhile? Here’s a breakdown of the pros and cons:

ADVANTAGES

Be a total pig: If you’re not exactly Mr. Clean, your significant other never needs to know unless he or she comes to visit, in which case you can do a total sweep of the house in time for the arrival. In fact, it’s easy to cover up a lot of bad habits if you’re in a long-distance relationship. As long as you can hold off pounding down the Cheetos or compulsively biting your nails for the short times when you do actually see the person you’re dating, you can otherwise freely indulge in your vices.

Time for yourself: This is a biggie. If you still like to hit up the bar with your friends or spend all your spare time watching college football games, there’s no boyfriend or girlfriend to stop you in an LDR. In a way, it’s the best of both worlds—you get to date a great person while still enjoying one of the biggest benefits of being single: time. Read More »

[I’ll be the first to admit that I’m not the epitome of prim and proper- heck, who really is nowadays? But looking around at the misguided youths of today *ahem drinking buddies*, I’m starting to think that Miss Manners might have been onto something.

While you may never need to know how to greet a duke or how to tell which fork is REALLY the oyster fork, knowing how to deal with people whom owe you money, how much to tip, and how to address the ever annoying licorice-in-teeth conundrum without being rude might actually come in handy in the real world. I'm not trying to be your mother - oh goodness, no - I'm just here to help you out of those little etiquette dilemmas. So here goes: a quick lesson in etiquette. The sh*t you might actually need to know.]

These days, it seems like the etiquette rules of the past just can’t keep up with the changing face of communication. Now, I like my cell phone as much as the next person, but there are some things you just shouldn’t do with a phone…

- Having a cell phone lets you talk whenever, whereever, but that doesn’t mean you should. It’s rude to talk on the phone in restaurants, movie theaters, libraries, lecture halls, opera houses (does anyone actually go to those?), etc. Keep your phone on silent. Duh.

- What’s more, it’s rude to talk loudly. I don’t mean the “slightly-above-normal-speaking-level” loud. I mean the “STRAIGHT-UP-SCREAMIING-INTO-YOUR-PHONE-LIKE-IT’S-A-MEGA-PHONE“ loud. If you have to scream, take it somewhere private. Otherwise, realize that the other person will hear you whether you’re screaming or whispering (preferably, talking normally). Plus it makes you look super crazy if you’re walking down the street screaming into a hidden Bluetooth. Read More »