Finals week...

Just a quick head's up: I've got a huge paper due tomorrow I'm working on, (a big post coming on that next week,) and then I've got finals all next week. Also, I've got mycoplasma.

Anyway, the gist of it is, I'm not going to post until Wednesday of next week at the earliest.

However, I've got about 100 ideas for posts to improve your study habits, time organization and general cheapness to help you out. However, in the mean time, I need to work on the curve so I don't want to share any of my life hacks with you until final grades are tabulated.

Anyway, wish me luck, (along with everyone else who goes to OSU,) and we'll be with you soon.

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Now playing: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - Old City Bar
via FoxyTunes

Bibme.org

A long time ago, I linked to BibMe. It's really handy if you're writing a research paper, (like one on caffeine,) and you need to do a long bibliography in a style you're probably not used to. (APA, MLA, Chicago.) If you need to write a bibliography, I'd recommend checking it out.

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Now playing: Remy Zero - Someday At Christmas
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Not student-related at all...

I'm procrastinating about writing a paper on caffeine and I just want to mention a fun blog to read when you're procrastinating on something. It's called Quick Hitts, (two Ts.) It's a mostly political blog that deals with libertarian issues in a non-crazy way.

By non-crazy, I need to point out my undergrad experience with libertarians was a bunch of stoners whose sole goal in life was to legalize pot. Once I found out libertarians had other issues, (i.e., legalize everything that doesn't take away someone else's freedom; pot was just the issue for the guys across the hall freshman year,) I began to see their point of view.

Anyway, I just got a link from them so I thought I'd link back.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I'm going to a Turkey Trot, then I'm going to spend some quality time with my family. Not that is is going to be a surprise to anyone, but the whole staff is spending time with family or loved ones and there probably won't be any posts for a few days. (I think I'm going to post maybe once in the next 12 days.)

Keep coming back for the news ticker. I promise that will nearly always be different. Also, in 12 days, lots of new posts.

Happy Thanksgiving to all the other cheap students out there.

For those of you with GMail...

You now have five gigabytes of space. That's a lot.

Free stuff & food for OSU students...

Hey, students in Columbus, free stuff and free food abound in the next few weeks:

Friday November 16th, 11:30-3:30- Happy Sex Fair with V-Day.
Location: RPAC at OSU.
Many different student organizations will be there with information and goodies to
encourage safe sex.

Monday, November 19, 7:00-9:30 PM. Kinsey Movie Screening.
Location: Hale Center, Room 120.
Free pizza and drinks will be provided. A look at the life of Alfred Kinsey, a pioneer in the area of human sexuality research, whose 1948 publication "Sexual Behavior in the Human Male" was one of the first recorded works that saw science address sexual behavior.

Thursday, November 29, 6:00 pm. OSU Graduate/Professional Student Holiday Happy Hour.
Location: Eddie George's Grille - 27
In the party room at Eddie George's Grill - drink specials and FREE FOOD and prizes. Free with BuckID and a canned food item or a non-wrapped toy for our holiday drive.

(edited for links and cleanliness)

Gosh I'm tired...

As you can see my brain is full and it's about to burst out of my head.

I thought I'd just update you on my life a little. I'm down to 21 days until my last final. That said, I've got the busiest three weeks in history ever coming up. 25% of my grade from one class is still up for grabs, (another class has 45% and my other one has about 60%.) That's a lot of education I need to prove in a very short period of time.

So, that said, you might not see too many updates from me for approximately 21 days. (Probably 22 as I'm expecting a great hangover.) However, feel free to browse the archives, (also on the right in a sidebar,) and also to check out my class notes. (Still updating.)

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Now playing: The Caesars - We Got To Leave
via FoxyTunes

To all the medical-type students...

Here's a great site for medical terms. It doesn't have abbreviations, but it's got a lot of stuff you might find handy.

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Now playing: O.A.R. - Ladanday
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For those of you in my clinical...

You might find this useful for the questions due today.

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Now playing: Avril Lavigne - I'm With You
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Mosio...

I mentioned a long time ago about a website called Jott. I still use Jott a fair amount, but I found a new free cell phone application that is about as cool. It’s called Mosio. It’s a free service that answers whatever question you may ask.

What you do is send a text message from your phone, and you receive a up to five answers in the next 30 minutes.

Who answers your questions? Bored and helpful people. It’s a lot like Wikipedia. Your question is actually IMed to people who are sitting around. They look up, (or just know,) the answer and send it to you. It’s a pretty neat idea that I can imagine being useful in the right situation.

Also, just as a sort-of bonus, here’s an example of the tests I’ve done with my friends:

Q: What are you wearing?

A: too much for such a sunny day.. stupid work.
A: Strangely, I just took my shirt off. Are you psychic? I'm going to put it back on now, I'm scared. :)
A: Absolutely nothing. I'm a nudist. It's against my religion to wear anything. Also I'm hairless. Completely.

Q: How long has kix cereal been on the market?

A: Kix, the first "puffed" cereal, was introduced in 1937 by the General Mills cereal company of Golden Valley, Minnesota.


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Now playing: BBC Radio 4 - IOT: Avicenna
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Illness 101

It may happen on occasion that you are sick during the school quarter. Whether it's related to you smoking enough to develop an upper-respiratory infection due the metaplasia of ciliated cells of your espohagus or just the common cold, it's something that happens to everyone at least once a quarter. Missing class tends to fall into one of three categories.

1. Mild illness. You wake up at 5:00 a.m. and notice you're just not feeling that great. Maybe you've got a fever. You're not dying, but you're not wonderful.

What to do: Assess the classes you have that day. Is it another day, (say monday, wednesday or friday,) with that professor in the class of 500 that just reads power point slides? It's okay to skip. You should have a friend in that class to text/e-mail/call and ask for any notes that you might have missed.

Is that class an exam, critical lecture or some kind of laboratory? You should go to class. Suck it up. Feel free to ask to see other people's notes, but you should be there for the content. Imainge if you paid top dollar for Ohio State/Michigan tickets. Would you go if you had a runny nose? Classes at most universities cost more.

2. Not-so mild illness: You've got the flu, (should've had the shot,) a sudden stomach bug, or an upper respiratory infection secondary to metaplasia of ciliated tracheal epithelial cells.

What to do: Think about your classes. Is any part of your grade to be determined by going to class? If you think it's possible to sit in one spot and be miserable, but still show your face, it's probably worth going. That said, there's a good chance, you probably shouldn't go.

In that case, e-mail your professor. Explain you've got a friend taking notes for you, but you're sorry you can't make class. If you've got a class of 20 people, you've just explained you absence. If you're in a class of 200, you've just made the professor that much more aware of who you are and that you're someone who cares about their grade. Also, when you get your friend's notes and can't read/don't understand something, it's that much easier to go talk to your professor about whatever you missed.

Finally, what do you do if you have malaria, mono, SARS or something similar. If you're truly dying, you can't go to class.

What to do: E-mail your professor. Tell them whatever you have. Don't give details, (i.e., "I threw up something that looks like Cheerios, but I haven't eaten Cheeriors for years," is bad. "I have a terrible stomach bug," is okay.) Also, make sure they know you're going to miss some class.

Make sure you've got friends going to class who will take notes and give you them. Also, see what work you can still do from wherever you live. (Laptops are handy because they travel well to the bathroom.)

You might also want to get a doctor's note saying you're dying or something similar to show off to your professors.

Also, you might want to look into extensions for any long-term projects you have. If you're truly dying, you might want to do this first.