Kitten Cannon...

This is terrible. You didn't get it here.

Wikistudying...

A website I read had an article on a site that lets you listen to Wikipedia articles on your iPod. The site is called Pediaphon. You just type in the name of the article and it makes an mp3 file of your topic. Then, when you're walking to class, you can listen to your iPod and get some last-minute studying done.

Just a head's up, the voice that synthesizes the words isn't really the best, (basically, it's like have a professor with a funny accent.)

Cochrane Review...

For those of you in my NURS622 class, here is the link to the Cochrane system review.

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Now playing: Poe - Fly Away
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Cheap Valentine's Stuff...

Personally, I hate St. Valentine's day. It's a cool concept like Christmas, but it got hijacked by a lot of people and now has a life of its own.

My personal beef comes from two sources. First, I've pretty much always been single on Valentine's day. My first real girlfriend and I broke up the day before Valentine's day. My sophomore year of college, a friend of mine said she'd be my girlfriend for just Valentine's day and that actually worked very well. I called her in the morning, we went out to dinner, we made out, then we had a big fight at about 11:15 at night and broke up.

My other beef is that it gives people an excuse to be lazy with their relationships. e.g., I've heard more than one girl tell me, "My psycho abusive boyfriend whom I haven't seen in five days even though he lives next door sent me an e-card."

I like to think of myself as a romantic. I used to send my wife flowers to work every few weeks and I'm a fan of watching whatever movie my significant other is into. (I also read poetry, (but painfully slowly,) and can cook.) I do other stuff, but I'm thinking about the homework I'm procrastinating on. I didn't do these things because it was a specific day, I did them because I thought she'd like to be a part of them.

As a student though, you're probably not wealthy enough to create amazing romantic overtures like having a four-piece string quartet wake your important other.

So, here's something cheap and fun you can do for Valentine's day on a budget and with little time.

1. Go to your local supermarket.
2. Buy a box of those Valentine's day cards you used to get in second grade. (This year I'm going with Power Rangers as that's all they had left.)
3. Write something nice in each of them.
4. Leave them somewhere where s/he'll find them. (If you can get into their house/room, that's great. If not, try putting one in each of his/her coat pockets and in different parts of her/his backpack.


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Now playing: Skepticality - Skepticality #028 - Interview: Professor Lawrence Krauss
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Note Taking 112

The Get It Done Guy has a post/podcast about taking notes. It's only half scholastic, but it's good information anyway.

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Now playing: Nina Simone - Jelly Roll
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Cardiac tamponade...

A guy I used to work with told me about a trick people would play on each other when he was in college where they'd walk up to someone else's drink and drop in a tampon. (This was best accomplished when done while the person was holding the drink.)

The tampon would swell to the sides of the cup almost instantly and when the person next went to take a drink, they'd have a tampon in a cup.

If you took the cup and turned it upside down, the tampon would stay lodged in the cup as it had swelled to both sides.

If fluid accumulates in the pericardial sack, (more than 50 ml,) it's possible that it will have so much pressure that the heart can't move. This is called cardiac tamponade.

If you're studying for the 704 mid-term, this may have been useful to you.

I cannot verify any part of the above story, but it made sense when my friend told me. Then again, I'm very gullible.
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Now playing: The Ataris - The Boys Of Summer
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Instant sleep...

As a graduate student, I'm often up well past midnight. If you do that enough, or get stressed enough, you may find yourself having trouble sleeping.

I saw a thing somewhere recently that said the average college student sleeps less than six hours a night. That's true for me but not always. Sometimes I don't have something due the next day I forgot about until 10:30 the night before. How do I tell my body it's okay to sleep when I've been awake until four a.m. for the last six days?

Simple, I exhaust it.

How does that work? Well, it's a lot like exercise, but without the work.

Start with your toes, and flex every muscle going up your legs, for about ten seconds.

This does two things:
1. It's physical effort and wears you out.
2. It draws blood away from your brain.

The combination of these two things will put you to sleep pretty quickly. I can drink coffee and do this trick, and I'll be out in about ten minutes.

Also, I've heard something about repeating the word, "the," over and over. I'm not sure why, but this has some adherents.
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Now playing: The Cranberries - Saving Grace
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Krebs Cycle...

In case you're interested in the Krebs Cycle.



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Now playing: The Onion - U.S. Department Of Over-Analysis Issues Rambling, Inconclusive Report
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