It got me thinking about what I would do if it happened to me. Could I go all day without being in touch with anyone? Probably not. And I know it’s not just me. Us college kids are bombarded with constant communication so we freak out when we don’t have access to it. Hopefully, there won’t be anymore outages, but just in case I’ve rounded up some ways for you to communicate sans phone:

1. Post-It Notes: You can always leave a post-it on your friend’s car or outside their class to meet you for lunch. Granted, someone else could see it and meet you there too, but you’re without a phone so that’s a risk you’ll have to take.

2. Snail Mail: While it’s not the most efficient form of communication, handwritten letters are pretty awesome. I think you should write letters to people on a regular basis. Think about how excited you are when you get something in the real mail! However, don’t do this if there is a dire issue.

3. Smoke Signals: This can be dangerous since it involves fire, so be careful. Typically smoke signals are used to communicate long distance. So if you’re in a long distance relationship or have friends far away, this is perfect for you! Just make a fire and use a wet blanket to place over it which will create smoke. You can make different kinds of smoke puffs and everything!

4. Morse Code: First you’ll need to learn how to do morse code, and then you’ll have to teach all of your friends. You’ll also need a way to transmit the message like an electrical telegraph system. Or a flashlight, but that’s for nighttime communication. You can even do morse code by tapping with a pen on your desk for in class messaging.

5. Carrier Pigeons: You’ll obviously need to find a pigeon and then train it to become a carrier pigeon. They typically fly one way so your friend would keep your pigeon at their house and vice versa. If you think about it, this is kind of like Twitter because there are birds involved. And they can carry about 2.5 oz, so small packages could be transported too!

Communication is awesome, and we definitely need it in today’s society. The Blackberry outage can teach us something, though. Maybe we don’t need to be sleeping with our phones, taking them to the bathroom with us, or having them in our hands at all times. An email can wait a little while for a response. Text messages don’t need a reply at that very second. You need relationships with people, not your phone.

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.

I’ve owned a Blackberry before, and I loved that it had a notification light when I got a text, missed call, Facebook update or email (I know, I’m simple). So I was overjoyed when I learned that this phone has a notification light too. You can set your notifications to have different color lights (my texts are purple, and emails are blue).

My favorite thing about this phone is that it syncs all of your Facebook friends, G-mail contacts, and people you follow on Twitter to your contacts list. I’m a social media junkie, so this feature is AMAZING.

But the phone isn’t all sunshine and amazingness…

One thing I didn’t like was the screen. The screen is great indoors or when it’s dark out, but when I’m outside I can barely see the screen. If I want to see what someone texted me, I have to walk indoors or into a shaded area to see the screen.Also, in the area of themes, this phone disappointed me. I’m the kind of person who likes to use the backgrounds/themes my phone gives me, I just don’t see the point in having a background that is a picture of me at my drunkest. There are only a few themes on this phone, and none of them appealed to me.

Complaints aside, this is a great phone if you are looking for a phone that does it all. You’ll be able to get tons of apps, keep up with your Twitter followers, and text more than talk (which most of us do anyway).

Check out the camera’s mad skills. I took all these awesome UF photos on my Sidekick.

initiating the gallery...

Editor note: Samsung was kind enough to provide Jessica with a Sidekick to review. Thanks Samsung. And thanks Jessica for keeping the review honest and real.

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:

1. John Cinco de Mayo

Ah, yes, you remember the Cinco de Mayo story. What a glorious and drunken event. He’s still in my phone, identified by when I met him. This can also occur with cities and venues as well (see below)…

2. Ben Skeeps?

I didn’t even have this guy’s number until he texted me about four days later, reminding me that he was Ben, and we met (apparently) at a regular haunt of mine in undergrad. The question mark implies that I really didn’t remember him… read it as “I guess?”

3. Danger

I have never called this number. All I know is it’s from my hometown, may involve a mistyping or T-9 error on my part, but I want to say it’s not a good endorsement.

4. Tim Don’t Pick Up

No joke, my friend has this guy in her phone because he has a tendency to call. Often. Persistence will not be paying him profits anytime soon, but it’s a warning to not lead him on or he won’t go away.

5. D5zkn3 (or something equivalent)

No. Idea. We may or may not have made out at the bar (a sure sign of classiness), but I wouldn’t even be able to tell you which bar because, at the time, I was too much of a mess to READ LETTERS. Contacts like this happen when blackout sets in…. very bad.

6. Cute Kevin

Oh, him I remember. He was cute. And his name was Kevin. Duhhh.

I’ve cleaned out my contacts, what about you? What are some of the best names in your phone?

[This story was originally posted by K - NYU]

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.

What You’ll Do:
1. Carefully take apart the envelope by opening it completely. Be very careful so you do not rip the envelope base. Just carefully pull apart the bottom flap of the envelope from the sides.

2. Pick a bright, fun magazine advertisement. Pick anything you want! Make sure to slowly rip out the magazine page.

3. Using your glue stick, cover the outside of your opened envelope with glue.

4. Glue the opened envelope onto the back side of the magazine advertisement or page you’ve chosen. Press down and smooth.

5. Now cut the glued magazine page to the envelope’s size, trimming away any extra magazine page. This will leave you with a covered opened envelope.

6. Reassemble your envelope with the glue stick. Fold in the side flaps. Fold up the bottom flap of the envelope and glue to the side flaps. Now you should have a glamorous magazine ad covered envelope!

7. Use a plain white label sticker to write the destination address and place it on the front of the envelope. Or you can use gel pens, a dark Sharpie, or any other color to write your address on your new envelope (depending on the color of your advertisement).

8. Write a letter, thank you card, or note and send them away in style in your new, one-of-a-kind envelopes. Your friends will love receiving letters from you!

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.

I’ve met people and created friendships that I never thought I’d make during college. I realize it’s a cliché to stay that “college is the best four years of your life”, but because of the people I’ve met here, I actually believe in it. And now I am afraid of losing all the people and friendships I’ve become so close to.

I know, I know – thanks to the world of social networking I’ll probably know what my friends are doing (in great detail) on a day to day basis. Technology certainly has made life easier for us. Unlike our parents’ generation, we won’t have to deal with separation as much. We won’t have to write letters or track each other down in phone books anymore if we lose touch. We can just Google each other.

But computers and the internet can’t substitute friends. Some critics say that social networking can improve friendships as people feel more connected and involved in other people’s lives. They know each other’s whereabouts and recent activities. But others say social networking is too superficial to create lasting bonds and actually leads to fewer deep friendships. People don’t feel the need to reach out as much and actually continue a friendship with someone because they feel that they already are connected.

And here I am, listening to depressing John Mayer music and sifting through my thousands of college pictures wondering if emails and texts and Facebook updates are going to be enough. I’m nervous and scared and sad about my friendships I made during college and how they will be once it’s over.

Once the geography changes… will the friendships change too?

Are you worried about keeping in touch with friends after college?

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.

3. Give yourself a budget.

Say, “I’m going to spend X dollars a day,” or, “I have this much to spend all week. I should plan to spend 20% on food, 10% on travel, 30% on shopping and excursions, and 20% on nightlife.” Note that these percentages don’t make up 100%. You’ll want some emergency cash in case of a day of indulgence, or to make sure you have enough left to get home at the end of the week. Even if you don’t stick to your budget, you’ll be a lot closer than if you just went on a free-spirited spending spree.

4. Don’t rely on cell phones.

You don’t know where you’ll hit a dead zone, or a high-frequency area that won’t let your calls through. Plus, chances are, once you leave for the day, you’re gone. So what happens if your phone dies? Or if you thought your phone would work overseas, and it suddenly doesn’t. If you and your friends are splitting up into groups, establish a set time and meeting spot, just to make sure you don’t miss each other. Meet up a couple times a day to reevaluate the plan, or say you’ll all get dinner at six and then decide the night’s course of action.

5. Lather up!

Okay, I’m going to backtrack all the way to high school, even though we’re all in college now. It was my senior class trip to Florida, a week before prom. I’m so white I could be considered “Clear” before “Caucasian,” so I reapplied the sunblock like my life depended on it. When we got back to school, I remember one girl’s legs were so burned that they were fire engine red and swollen like tree trunks. And I was the only girl without ridiculous tan lines at the prom.  Shiseido makes a great sunscreen that leaves your skin feeling smooth, not leathery.

6. Stay. In. Groups.

Seriously, not to be your mom or anything, and we’re all grown up enough to know the buddy system is safer than the… stumbling through the streets alone system. Besides, isn’t the point on a high-priced vacation to spend some QT with your faves?

7. Have fun!

Don’t stress about your daily itinerary down to the minute. Don’t freak out if a stranger says “Hello.” Don’t argue with your friends about whether to hit the beach or lounge by the hotel pool. Come one, it’s only seven short days. Enjoy it. You deserve it!

Any other tips? Share them below!

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.

Check out the goods: A long-distance relationship does not give you an excuse to cheat on your significant other, and if you do, you’ll probably be sorry (yes, s/he will find out). But it does give you a pretty good excuse to eye up other hotties without feeling totally guilty about it. There’s not really any harm in an extended gaze of that guy’s six-pack at the beach, so stare away!

DISADVANTAGES

No booty calls: Unless you’ve figured out the nuances of time and space travel, you’re probably going to end up pleasing yourself most of the time when you feel like getting some. Don’t get me wrong—that can be great—but it’s not exactly the same great as having a warm, loving body next to you.

Tenuous relationship: Let’s be honest—even regular, same-city or same-living-space relationships are hard enough to hold together. It gets a lot harder when you’re living dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of miles apart. You might start on a firm foundation and then watch that crumble when you realize you don’t have quite enough interest or quite enough enthusiasm to expend the effort of trying to make it work.

Cell-phone ear: I was in a long-distance relationship for the better part of three years, and I don’t think I’ll ever look at a cell phone the same way again. Sure, it’s a great tool, but it’s also a great annoyance. There are few worse things than having a phone plastered to your ear for hours on end. Plus, face-to-face time doesn’t send those wonky tower waves through your brain.

Are you in an LDR? What’s the best part of it? The worst?

[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.

- Ahh… Bluetooth. Useful for driving, useful when your hands are full, but not so useful for anything else. For goodness sakes, take it off your ear when you’re not on the phone. The thing is silly-looking and it’s completely unnerving to try and hold a conversation with someone who could be on the phone with someone else. Plus the blinking light is extremely distracting. Take it off.

- Loudspeakers are completely unnecessary (not to mention, obnoxious) in public. There’s no reason why anyone should have to listen to both ends of your conversation. Common decency, people.

- Yes, I know the Crackberrys, the iPhones, and the G1s are super addictive, but that doesn’t mean they should be permanently glued to your hand – or your ear! When you’re with someone, be with them. It’s rude to constantly text in the company of others (“Stop trying to be sneaky, I know what you’re up to. This isn’t high school, I can see you texting behind that menu.”) and even if you’re not texting, just fiddling with your phone makes the person talking to you think that you’d rather be somewhere else.

Maybe I’m selfish but when I’m with someone, I want them to focus on me. Not their email, not the playoff scores, not their online shopping. ME. Put the phone away (not on the dinner table next to the rolls, oh dear.) And if you absolutely MUST keep your phone on because you’re waiting on an important phone call, warn me first. I don’t want to be halfway through my pasta only to be interrupted by Daddy Yankee‘s “Gasolina.”

What about you? Is it just me or do cell-phone divas annoy you? Any other obnoxious things that people do with their phones that gets under your skin? Share!

Where do you think your old phones go? There’s no magical cell phone farm where they go to live out their last days in a texting spree. It’s more like a industrial landfill where they sit until the end of time.

And well that’s just not great for the Earth. The amount of tech junk that’s hanging out would make Captain Planet cry.

So what can you do to help with that? Well, you could buy less stuff, but that’s not too realistic. Especially with all the cool shiz that comes out monthly (thank you, Apple!) and the short life many of our gadgets have.

So what can you do? Why recycle, of course!

While you can’t just toss your old Razr or MacBook in the recycling bin with your cardboard boxes and empty bottles, there are many recycling centers to send your used electronics to when they break down or become obsolete. Check here for a list of places local to you! Or see if your city offers the USPS recycling program.

And when it comes to many other electronics, you have many options to save Mother Earth that are simple and will probably save you money in the end.

* Instead of buying new printer cartridges just refill the ones you have.

* Print on both sides of your computer paper. Maybe not for your actual turn-in products but for your notes. Also check with your profs to see if you can turn in things electronically. Every little bit counts.

* Turn your stuff off. Game consoles burn up an obscene amount of energy. I understand wanting to leave them running but it’s better for everyone if you just turn them off and replay that level later.

* Unplug! Don’t leave everything you own plugged in at all times. Not only does it cost you extra money, but it sucks a ton of energy! When you aren’t drying your hair, unplug the dryer. When you aren’t making coffee, unplug the coffee maker. You get the idea…

You don’t have to do grand things to help make the Earth a better place. Just do a little somethin’ somethin’ with those electronics and we’ll make this planet a better (and toxin free) place.