The Cheap Student

Discounts and directions...

2010-02-06T22:32:00.001-05:00

First, if you go to Kohl's, they have Dr. Seuss books on sale for $5
and the money goes to a charity. They've got The Foot Book and The
Lorax. These are the big versions. The next size down costs $8.99 at
Barnes & Noble.

That's for those of you looking to read to a new generation of cheap
students.

Next, I'm no longer affiliated with a school so it's not like I take
notes for people to copy any more. I need a way to keep the site
relevant. So, I may start writing reviews of iPhone apps. I may review
other technology too. I'm a dork that way.

Look for more posts on that or leave a comment with ideas of what I
should talk about.

Michael A. Tighe

Sent from my iPhone

I'm not dead! -or- Podcasts!

2010-02-05T00:22:00.000-05:00

Contrary to certain rumors, I'm not dead. I'm just very unmotivated. That said, here's a follow up to a comment I made in class sometime Autumn of 2007. For those of you whom weren't in Tim Landers' class, let me fill you in on the situation.

Esteemed Professor Tim Landers: There are approximately 10,000,000,000,000 cells in the human body. Can anyone guess who many bacteria are in the human body?

Me: It's one more zero than that.

EPTL: Okay, so there are 100,000,000,000,000 cells in the human body, how many bacteria are there.

Me: No, the number of bacteria is the number of human cells plus one zero.

EPTL: How'd you know that?

Me: There was a podcast I listened to over the summer that talked about it.

Back then, I couldn't link to the podcast anywhere because they used to disappear after they were on iTunes for a week. Now, they're around forever because the BBC redid its In Our Time Website.

Here is that specific one.

I really recommend you subscribe to this one and further, you should look up A History of the World in 100 Objects.

Want an iPad?

2010-01-28T22:06:00.000-05:00

Everyone else in the tech world is chiming in, so I thought I'd throw my geeky hat into the ring. First, let me get two disclosures out of the way:

1. I'm an unabashed Mac fanboy. I have a MacBook, an iPhone 3GS, a wireless keyboard, a Mighty Mouse, and two Airport Expresses.
2. I haven't actually touched this new Apple tablet.

Meh.

For those of you who want more than that, here's a deeper explanation:

Cons:
1. It's very expensive.
2. Typing looks to be a pain.
3. You can get the same functionality from an iPhone.
4. It doesn't look like it'd replace any of the devices I carry around on me.

Pros:
1. OH GOD! IT'S FROM APPLE! SHINY! SHINY! PRECIOUS!
2. It's an excellent computer for your non-techie parents or possibly kids.

Other:
1. If I was a freshman college student, and could get textbooks on this with color, it'd be interesting. Still not sure if it's worth $500-800. You'd have to factor in the cost of textbooks, (if the prices were in the $15 range, it'd be crazy worth it.)

I still like my homemade-ish netbook with a keyboard. At least until I can video conference on an iPad with my other lottery winning buddies.

Because everyone else is doing it...

2010-01-07T17:19:00.000-05:00

It's time for one of those year end lists celebrating neat things from 2009. I don't really specifically review movies, books, or music for a living so I can't really give you a good run down. However, here is the list of stuff I paid money for in 2009 I think you should at least look at.

Best CD:
Among the Oak and Ash
Among the Oak and Ash

I've mentioned in the past my love of all music Josh Joplin. He's kind of a folksy singer with an interesting view of American life. Him and Garrison Starr formed a band to sing actual folk songs. It's surprisingly good. Also, on the CD, there's a cover of Bigmouth Strikes Again by The Smiths.

Best Book:
Aside from text books, I think I've read about five books this year. As such, I have two shelves, (28 books,) to catch up on. Come to think of it, five may be a bit much to claim.
The Baby Owner's Manual by Louis Borgenicht and Joe Borgenicht is great if you're expecting and a guy. I can't say for sure it's written specifically for men, but it's nothing like the books my wife read for pregnancy and I think the information is much better presented and indexed.
I also read the intro to Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman. That was really good.

Best movie:
I saw Paranormal Activity. It was wicked scary.

My toy of the year would be my iPhone 3GS. It's spiffy. Also, I got a mini fridge for my birthday. That's nice too.

Passive learning in your car...

2009-12-30T00:01:00.065-05:00

Do you own an iPod? How about a generic MP3 player? If you said yes to one of the above questions, you should start listening to podcasts when you're in your car. There are a ton of free, educational, and fun podcasts you can listen to whenever.

First of all, here's how to get a podcast if you don't own an iPod.

If you've got an iPod, open iTunes and click on iTunes Store. Then click on Podcasts. You can browse and check out tons of free stuff. Think of it as public radio, but pre-recorded.

Here are a few educational ones I listen to:

Get-It-Done Guy: This is a podcast from the Quick and Dirty Tips family. At one time I've listened to all of them, but he's the only one I've consistently listened to. (Grammar Girl is great, but I have an English Minor and a Journalism specialty. Her voice was pleasant, but I didn't learn anything new.) Anyway, this guy is great at teaching about efficiency in life. Be it with computers or co-workers. It's great and the guy has a good sense of humor.

The History of Rome: This is a phenomenal podcast about Rome. It starts with the founding and will end at the fall, (the last time it fell.) He may or may not do the Byzantine side, but if you want that, there's a podcast for that too. In case you're wondering, they're up to about 100 A.D.

In Our Time with Melvyn Bragg: Super production values and an interesting topic every week. Also, everyone on the show is British so you'll feel smarter for listening. One word of warning for this podcast, they don't keep old shows up for longer than a week. So if you miss one, you can't just go back. Luckily, it's a new topic every week so you can miss one and not miss part of the story.

60-Second Science: This is Scientific American's podcast. It usually runs about 1:15 so it's a misnomer. Still, it's short and you'll feel smarter and have a fun topic of conversation which will ultimately alienate you from your friends.

A few others I listen to that aren't necessarily educational, but very enjoyable are:

Quick Hitts: I didn't know what a libertarian was until I listened to this podcast. (My past experience with Libertarians was the party of legal pot. They are that, but it's actually a very small part of what they care about. They're really more of the party of I don't care what you do as long as I don't have to pay for it.) This podcast isn't always about that, but mostly it is. The guy who runs it, (Dave Hitt,) just calls bullshit on a lot of people and is very entertaining. Also, I'm mentioned in the last podcast.

Hatecast: This podcast comes from The Onion's A.V. Club. (Their serious side.) If you happen to know someone personally whose TV watching is 90% E!, this is the podcast for you. I've just come to the conclusion that most of my favorite podcasts are based on calling bullshit on people.

That's enough. If you're feeling like doing extra credit, look up Dilbert Animated Cartoons, The Geekdads, Onion News Network (Video), The Onion Radio News, and Norman Centuries. (I subscribe to them, but don't feel like doing the effort of linking.

New mission statement and some links...

2009-12-27T22:43:00.000-05:00

So I'm not a student any more. Actually, that's not true. I'd like to think I'd always think of myself as a student. I'm not currently a university student.

I am still interested in learning. I'm also now a father, to someone whom will be a student in about five years. So, I'm going to keep posting stuff about student lives, and stuff that'll help students. I'll also probably do some book reviews, (because I love to read,) but I'm mainly spending my time goofing off and being a father.

So, this site is going to become something like a cross between GeekDad and Life Hacker. There won't be study tips or anything like that, but there will be some stuff on how to continue learning stuff or get other people involved in learning stuff. Oh, there'll be some Free Range Kids too.

I encourage you all to leave comments or stuff to give me ideas for things to post about. Also, click an ad. (Please.)

A free alternative to Netflix...

2009-12-16T15:40:00.000-05:00

First of all, this is my 301st post. Go me.

Second, I've recently begun taking advantage of my public library's DVD section. They let you take out 10 DVDs at a time. It's great, and it's free. Here's a quick table list of pros and cons:

Pros:

Free. As in beer.

If you live in a large metropolitan area, you can get DVDs from nearby libraries sent to your library.

You don't need to wait for them to deliver. (Unless it's the case above where you had to have one delivered.)

Cons:

Less selection than Netflix. (I'm not 100% sure of this, but it feels like they have less. However, since I graduated, I've taken about 50 movies off my Netflix queue.

If you do need to order something it takes longer than Netflix's customary two day turn around.

DVDs aren't the same quality as you'd get from Netflix. I'm not sure if it's higher turn around, or the people that use the DVDs, but the library DVDs tend to be a lot more scratched than Netflix ones.

Summary: Free. As in beer.

Free stuff...

2009-12-10T21:32:00.000-05:00

I'm still here. I'm not a student, (I'm taking about a year off from that,) but I'm still cheap. To that end, I'm here to advertise something awesome. Every Tuesday, you can get free music on Tuesday. (You can actually go any day, but Tuesday is when they update it with new stuff.) For the month of December, they do Christmas music. Right now, you can get a whole CDs worth of music for free.

To get it, go to the iTunes store, and scroll down to the bottom of the screen. There's a, "Free on iTunes", section. All that stuff is free for a week.

I'm Oprah famous!

2009-12-05T20:04:00.000-05:00

Or not. I'm mentioned on a podcast, as is my soon to be heir. I'm not sure, but I think I've mentioned Quick Hitts before, but if not, it's really worth a listen. Also, if you're on the fence, there's an excellent explanation for why babies are cute.

Done...

2009-12-01T15:24:00.000-05:00

I'm sitting at home looking at my Mail program and seeing that I have 671 unanswered e-mails. I stopped checking my e-mail the last week of the quarter as I really had to pull in and study for the final.

Well, I aced the final and now I'm looking at 671 unread e-mails.

If I don't respond to you quickly, (if you're one of the eminent 671,) I'm sorry, I'm no longer busy, but I'm not putting effort into anything other than sitting on my couch watching movies and talking to my wife.

For those of you whom were my classmates, thank you for all of your help. I know a lot of you depended on my notes, (and most of you used them,) but I really needed the emotional support I got from you.

Unless you were the guy who always left his cell phone ringer on.

Thanks again and lets do to the HESI what we did to the final,
Michael

What the jackets look like...

2009-11-22T09:57:00.000-05:00

A number of you have asked what the jackets look like. Here is a picture of the scanned logo.

Advice...

2009-11-17T17:35:00.000-05:00

Someone asked me for advice today and I'll share what I said with them to you, I thought I'd throw some advice of what I've learned in my many years of school on.

This first piece of advice is to students who live in dorms and go to four year colleges: Only sleep in your dorm, and do that only sparingly.

It's not a good place to study, it's a bad place to sleep usually, and your roommate is as often as not, a dick.

That said, you should be in every class you or your parents paid for. If you pay to hear someone lecture, you should experience it, even if it is to bitch about how lousy they are at it. Spend time at school functions and coffee shops and bars and clubs and the library. Don't spend too much time in your room.

My other advice, and the advice I gave today: Drink lots of Monster. Also, go to Hot Topic and buy Mana. They're energy drinks. Monster, (or your personal favorite energy in a huge can drink,) is good for sipping while you study/write papers/whatever. Mana is good for that sudden shock to get your going for hours if you're going out.

Yeah, I haven't posted in forever, and my next two weeks will be focused on memorizing stuff and hating so feel free to give me a call.

Quick thing on netbook computing...

2009-10-19T00:44:00.000-04:00

Would you pick Hydrox or Oreos? My mom bought a lot of Hydrox growing up. Her reasoning is they were, "just as good", as Oreos.

They're not.

There's a lot of stuff in the tech world where people will tell you stuff is, "just as good", and be lying through their teeth. Buy an MP3 player from Big Lots and tell me what you think if you're used to an iPod.

Anyway, a few people have asked me questions about buying netbooks and I always tell them to get ones that run on Ubuntu and not Windows. When I do this, I suddenly feel like I'm arguing for Hydrox. Let me frame this a little further.

What if you ate Oreos and they gave you a stomach ailment at an important social event? What if Oreos destroyed your stuff and burnt down your house? (I'm not sure Windows or Hyrdox could do this, but I like hyperbole).

Windows is the dominant operating system in the world. Because they, it really has compatibility on its side. That said, it's kind of a lumbering giant. It's not really the best for use on the internet, (whole 'nother post), and it has lots of issues wih viruses and malware.

So here's my more than, "good enough" argument for getting a notebook with Ubuntu:

1. Ubuntu is free. (Or your netbook will be about $50 cheaper with it installed.)
2. Ubuntu doesn't really have viruses.
3. Ubuntu usually just works.
4. Ubuntu can run MS Office through special software or for free you can just get Open Office for free.

Also, here's the article which made me think of this post.

Blog Action Day!

2009-10-15T00:01:00.001-04:00

It's October 15 and I'm here to talk about climate change and how it affects students.

I'm going to being by telling you what I'm not going to tell you. (Meta-introduction.)
I'm not going to argue for or against climate change. I personally believe it's real and people have a good amount of credit for it happening. I don't think it's 100% human caused, but I believe humans are speeding up the process.

I could quote articles at you, but you could probably quote them back. Then I'd start swearing at you because I'm in a bad mood and really don't feel like arguing and this pleasant conversation would devolve into something where I e-mail you a virus that literally melts your hard drive.

However, because doing that would lead to further climate change, (spinning a hard drive enough to melt it uses a lot of electricity, and creates heat,) I'm just going to talk at you.

As a cheap student, there's some stuff you can do that'd greatly benefit you that'd help with the climate change thing. One thing is get a bike. I've mentioned my bike a few times and it's awesome riding a bike to class. It's free exercise and it's free transportation. If you want a bike, you can go all hoity toity like I did and get it from a store, or you could go to Craig's List. I think my next bike will come from Craig's list.

Granted, by the time this post shows up on my site, (I'm writing this September 24,) it'll be a little colder, that should really be more incentive to bike to school. You won't be sweaty when you get there.

Now, there's the other reason I bike to school. It's way cheaper than gas. Like 100% cheaper.

Anyway, if you do your homework, most, "Earth happy", things are actually cheaper to do than not. Some things, (think solar panels), take a while to be worth the investment, but on a long enough time line, they all are.

So enjoy. Hug a tree or something,
Michael

New quarter tomorrow...

2009-09-27T23:27:00.000-04:00

Who is excited for this? According to the little thing that pops up when I hit F12, there are 74 days until pinning. (Take that Tanya!) That's roughly ten weeks. Who else is freaked out?

I thought I'd offer some quick musings on what I did over my summer vacation before I start making serious posts again about saving money, scoring free coffee, and how to use Google docs instead of MS Office.

First of all, congratulations to everyone who has made it this far. You're all champs. Balancing life, clinical, the occasional class, and work is really hard. You've done it so far.

For those of you that passed their 7th Quarter HESI, I hate you. I'd like to congratulate you, but I've still got six points of jealousy to work out of my system. For those of you in my boat, we've got to meet up sometime before HESI II, (and maybe HESI III, or even HESI IV.)

Anyway, keep stopping by for random tips on cheapness and studying. I'll keep doing the notes.

Keep in touch,
Michael

P.S. If you ordered a pin, I'm putting the pink receipt slips into your mailboxes tomorrow, (Monday.)

I just flunked the HESI...

2009-09-24T17:41:00.000-04:00

I got an 844. That's one question. I've drowned my sorrows in a pint of Phish Food and now am looking forward to becoming fatter.

However, come Monday, I think I'm going to go back to eating health. I feel crappy carrying around an extra 30 lbs. of gut clutter.

Anyway, the real reason I started this post, it if you'll look to the right, you'll see a picture called Blog Action Day. It's a thing I did a few years ago and I'm doing again where on a specific day, (October 15,) all the blogs that sign up will post an article on a specific subject.

It's purely an awareness thing. I don't make extra money, and I don't think they make any money off it either.

However, it generates, "buzz", around a specific subject.

Also, in case you were wondering, the people running it aren't just a bunch of tree hugging hippies. The topic is voted on by the people writing. That said, at least a plurality of contributors are a bunch of tree hugging hippies.

Take care,
Michael

Stanislav Petrov...

2009-09-24T06:20:00.000-04:00

September 26 is Stanislav Petrov day. You've probably never heard of him, but he saved your life. Or, if you were born after 1983, he saved your parents' lives. (Note, if you or your parents were in America on September 26, 1983, he didn't really do anything for you.)

I hope everyone does well on the HESI.

Some information on diseases...

2009-09-19T12:01:00.000-04:00

So, who else is into nerdcore rap? Who is into diseases? Okay, who just likes to read my site because I take good enough notes?

Well, here is a link to a song about medieval disease. It probably won't help you study for the HESI exam, but, well... yeah, there's not really a good reason for me to post this except we're on break from class and I have lots of free time to post stuff.

Also, stop by Stauf's if you feel like studying with me. I'm going to be there most of the days until class starts.

If you want the front page of that rapper's site, here it is. You may recognize him as the guy from those G4 commercials and he is the rapper laureate of Penny Arcade.

Facebook for minimalists...

2009-09-12T23:48:00.000-04:00

Does Facebook give you a headache? Are you tired of your friends requesting you take a quiz to find out which salad dressing you most resemble?

There's now a solution. It's called Facebook Lite. It's made by the same people that made Facebook, but it has all of the applications turned off. So, if you want to post pictures of that party you went to, but don't want to find out which Smurf you're most likely to wake up next to after a drunken raucous, it's there for you.

Because it's really Facebook, you use your regular Facebook sign in. You have the same profile, and all of your friends are already there. However, all the stuff which makes Facebook look busy are gone.

So, enjoy Facebook Lite.

Probably the last pinning thing...

2009-09-09T09:22:00.000-04:00

If I have your pin stuff, it's on this list. Make sure your name is on there. This whole paragraph is a link. Click it and make sure your first name is on the list. If not, e-mail me at michaelatighe@gmail.com.

Last chance for pin stuff!

2009-09-08T13:11:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow I won't be at the HESI review for the whole day. I'm checking out day cares. Before I leave I'm going to check my mailbox one last time. I don't know when I'm going to do that though. If you can't make it to the HESI review tomorrow, bring it to my mailbox TONIGHT.

I can't guarantee I'll have extra forms tomorrow. It seems about 1/4 of the class lost their forms and had to get new ones. There really aren't any extra forms left.

When you see me tomorrow, give me your form right away. I have 44 forms. There are 67 of you. If you miss me, I can't help you.

Sorry. Get your shit to me sooner.

Also, this lady isn't fun. Kudos to everyone voting for E. I don't have a remote, but my hat is off to you.

[Update] I'm going to Stauf's tomorrow at nine, so I'll only be at school until about eight. Yes, that means I'm not going to the review. The Texan lady isn't exactly conducive to my learning style.

Give me your pin stuff!

2009-09-01T10:05:00.000-04:00

You've got a week. It's being sent Tuesday the eighth.

Here is a spreadsheet of who has given me money or a form for a pin. If you have given me money, but don't see your name on the form, e-mail me. I'm michaelatighe@gmail.com and I check my mail frequently.

Audio of the lectures...

2009-08-30T20:42:00.003-04:00

I'm not sure how much you're all following this, (actually, I sort of am. My traffic has crazy spiked in the last few days,) but a few days ago I put up an audio file of a lecture you couldn't download from Blackboard. There's another lecture you can't download, (I forget which one,) and there's also a bunch of lectures you need a fancy stereo with really big speakers to hear.

I've fixed all that. If you click on this link, you'll get a zip file. It's all the lectures for the whole quarter, plus the bonus pharmacology lecture. It'll open in iTunes (or whatever you use for MP3s,) and there's even album art.

Also, I'm at Stauf's now. It's in Grandview on Grandview Ave. I'll be here until closing tonight and I'll be here all day tomorrow. (Like from six or seven until like eleven or so or whenever closing is.) I may go across the street to the Grandview Cafe depending on how I'm feeling around lunch time. Come visit me.

*****

Update: I added the link. (Whoops.)

Update 2: I fixed the link. (Whoops X 2)

Update 3: This is a huge file, please click an ad while you wait. I'm awfully poor and it helps pay for site maintenance. (Or some of it.) Thank you.

Studying at Stauf's...

2009-08-30T14:19:00.000-04:00

I'll be at Stauf's tonight (Sunday,) and tomorrow, (Monday,) if you're up for visiting me.

You can find Stauf's here, and this is their website.

If you go on Monday and I'm not there, I may be at the Grandview Cafe eating lunch/drinking my troubles away.

Pediatric Neuro Lecture...

2009-08-26T20:59:00.000-04:00

Whom do you love? I think it should be me.

Remember how you can't download the peds neuro lecture? I just figured out how to do it.

The link to download the lecture is here.

It may take a few minutes to download, (it's a 20 MB file,) so click an ad on the site.