TechCrunch » back to school 2009

Back-to-School: Social Improvement Tips from Neil Strauss

John Biggs — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 18:30:32 +0000

As you settle back into the dorms and sift through syllabi while searching for drink specials from the local pub, you also should put in some time improving your social life. The fall is a great time to lay a solid foundation of dating success on campus. To provide some tips on turbocharging your dating life, we turned to Neil Strauss, author of the international bestseller The Game: Penetrating the Secret Society of Pickup Artists and founder of the Stylelife Academy.

Be Adventurous
The first thing you need to realize about improving your dating life is that some techniques may seem unusual or even a bit uncomfortable at first.

“Your goal is to understand attraction and social dynamics,” Strauss says. “Often the things we’ve been taught by our parents, teachers, and friends fail us here. And logic and attraction, unfortunately, have nothing to do with each other. Attraction is often counterintuitive. When I was learning the game, I did some embarrassing things that seemed ridiculous to me, but they actually worked.”

The key is being willing to step out of your comfort zone and try new things. If you spend all your time in the computer lab, try going to the hippest club in town. If you’re the stereotype of the frat boy party animal, take a chance on a poetry reading. And make sure you talk to people as soon as you arrive, instead of standing alone in the corner. Don’t let a few uncomfortable moments stop you from trying something new. It’s the only way you’ll learn and grow.

Be the Social Center
The second thing is that you should understand that you can improve your dating success. Many of the factors that influence your skill with women are under your control.

“Guys need to understand that looks are not as important as we think they are,” Strauss says. “Women are more attracted to status than looks. And that status is not about money or fame. It’s about a set of behaviors. For starters, it’s about being perceived as the social center of the room. And making sure you don’t come across as needy or supplicating or reaction-seeking around a woman you’re attracted to.”

Be sure to understand that being the social center of the room can have many interpretations, depending on your group of friends and the nature of the room. It doesn’t mean you have to be the drunkard dancing on the bar wearing a pitcher of beer as a hat. If it’s a quiet dinner party, then you should make sure everyone has a good time. If it’s a debate team happy hour, then you should influence the conversation and ensure there are no lulls. In short, being the social center means you strive to make sure everyone, male or female, has a good time in your presence, whatever the setting.

Be Exceptional
The third thing you should do to improve your social life is strive to be the exception. Always be interesting. If everyone other male in the bar is blabbering about fantasy football and how drunk they got last night, then you should talk to women about astrology, whether magic spells are real or psychological, or even the latest fashion displayed on Gossip Girl. Just remember to be different.

“Make yourself more interesting by learning things like handwriting analysis. You can look at her notes in class and say, ‘Oh God, you’re trouble.’ When she asks why, explain it’s because of the large loops in her letters. When she asks for more, tell her, with a smile, you’d like to tell her more, but you don’t trust large-loop people. This is just a random example, but the idea is to learn a skill, and then use that skill as a way to teach someone about themselves and, in the process, display your charming personality.”

Another key way of being the exception is probably the most counterintuitive thing you can do. Conventional wisdom instructs men to plant seeds about how well-matched they are with a woman. “You like sushi?” guys will exclaim. “So do I! That’s awesome. We should totally get sushi sometime.”

The problem with this is that every man does it. So to be the exception, you must go in the opposite direction. Instead of telling her why you would be great together, you should tell her teasingly why it would never work.

“You’re really cool, and normally I would be totally into a girl like you,” you can say. “Too bad I don’t date English majors.” Say this with a bit of a smile, so you don’t come across as rude or dismissive. Or, you could say, “My mother told me to stay away from girls like you.” The key here is that you’re the one guy in the joint who hasn’t approached her on bended knee with visions of your great life together. That makes you the exception. That makes you interesting.

Miscellaneous Tips

Finally, here are a few random tips.

More Back-to-School coverage here

Back-to-School: Advice I'd give myself if I were going to college right now

John Biggs — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:07:10 +0000

I’ve been sitting out this Back-to-School season mostly because I’m so far removed from college and my son is only three so I don’t feel sufficiently informed enough to offer any helpful advice to you all when it comes to gear you need in the dorm. However, some of us are old enough to give you general advice. This is assuming that you are a fairly tech savvy nerd – like we were, to varying degrees – and that you might be a little nervous heading school. Ahem.

My advice:

Join groups with people from all backgrounds. If you’re in CS, don’t stick in with the nerd groups like SCA or the Computer Club. Do they even HAVE computer clubs anymore? Try the school newspaper or the drama club. They always need guys who can make stuff and there are girls in these groups.

You don’t have to study computer science. Once you get to a cool, great school, you can swap majors. If you don’t like writing linked lists and, eventually, OS kernels you may want to try Information Systems or Business. I know it sounds like a cop out but it’s not
Don’t be one of those guys/girls who is against everything fun including drinking and/or smoking. Yeah, yeah, it’s all bad for you but the prissy, Victorian attitude you cultivated in high school will not serve you well here.
Try on plenty of hats but don’t be insufferable. I thought I was a Taoist in college. My buddy, who now consults for HP, was a Marxist. All the creative writing majors I went to college with are now working in insurance. Try everything but don’t define yourself too early.
Be the guy who helps pick up the keg for the party.
Live off campus ASAP.
Seriously, stop with the WoW already.

Dave’s advice (Dave never went to college):

Don’t blow off college. HR people go to college, and hence like to hire people that have gone to college and when there are layoffs, you’ll be the first to go.

Doug’s advice:

Just because Kool-aid is cheap and easy to make doesn’t mean you should mix it with Whiskey. Spring for some decent mixers.
Buy the second cheapest beer you can find. It’ll result in slightly less heartburn.

Jeremy’s advice:

The more boxers you own, the less laundry you won’t ever do.

That about covers it. Good luck.

Back-to-school: 10 Things You Should Know About Going To The Bar

Greg Kumparak — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 01:38:55 +0000

College is a time to try new things – especially that second or third year, when everyone’s turning 21. Suddenly, a whole new world has opened up – a world of intoxicated semi-public bliss, previously off limits to your nascent self: the world of bars.

Bars can be a stupidly intimidating place when you’ve just turned 21. It’s like going to some crazy country where they play music too loud, everyone talks with a slur, and everything you touch is mysteriously sticky.

We’re here to help. Everyone should have realized by now that the CrunchGear team is really just a bunch of alcoholics who happen to have computers; with that, we present as part of our back-to-school series: 10 Things You Should Know About Going To Bars.

The tastier the drink, the more people will make fun of you.

1. How to order a drink:

It seems simple, but it’s not exactly like ordering at McDonald’s. There is (usually) no menu, and depending on the bar, the bartender doesn’t give a crap about giving you free smiles. Here’s what you do:

Know what you want before you get to the bar: If you don’t want a beer, learn a handful of traditional cocktail names. White Russian, Jack and Coke, Cranberry/Vodka, Whiskey sour, Vodka/Tonic, Redbull/Vodka, Screw Driver – all of these are staples that most every bar should have. Don’t go and study a huge list of cocktails or bust out your “1001 Cocktails” iPhone App; rattling off the name of some cocktail that some dude put on the internet doesn’t impress anyone, especially not the bartender – especially if they ask you what’s in it, and you have no idea. If all else fails, order what your friends order.
Walk up to the bar. Stand there. Be patient. On slower nights, it’s first come, first serve. When it gets busy, that gets hard to track – so most bartenders will either go left-to-right or vice versa. Don’t worry too much about it at first, but if you pay attention, you might get your drinks faster next time. If the line to the bar is two people deep all the way around, you’re wasting your time at this bar.
Make eye contact. Once made, smile. You might not get served immediately, but you’ll get served a whole lot faster than if you look at the bar. DO NOT wave your money/credit cards at them, whistle, or snap. Bartenders work pretty damn hard to satisfy a lot of people; the last thing they want is to be treated like your dog.
If you want to pay for one drink at a time, pay with cash. If you want to pay with a credit card, bars will usually ask if you want to (or you can request to) open a tab. This just means that they hold on to your credit card while you booze, and you pay at the end of the night. Don’t forget your credit card.
Tip $1-$2 bucks per drink. A buck for beers, two bucks for simple cocktails. If you want some crazy drink, tip a bit more. Yeah, it gets expensive, but its the law of the lands. Tips are the reason why bartenders do what they do, and deal with drunk idiots until 2AM each night. Suck it up, or drink at home. Bartenders DO remember faces.

2. Thursdays are the new Friday

When you first get to town, you might be thinking, “Hey! I planned my class schedule so that I don’t have classes on Friday, giving me a three day weekend! I can go out on Thursdays, and the bars wont be slammed!”

Sorry, Charlie. Everyone loves three day weekends, and everyone had the same idea as you with their schedules. As a result, Thursday nights in a college town are almost always just as insane as Fridays.

3. Do not buy the bartender a drink. If you do, don’t be offended if they say no.

So, the bartender is cute. If you buy her a drink, she’ll think you’re a classy fellow, right?

No. We asked a bunch of bartenders about this – and they all hate it. Not because they don’t think you’re a wonderful fellow who they’d love to drink with, but because they legally can’t accept.

Depending on the state, most bartenders aren’t legally allowed to drink on the job. Even if it’s not illegal, most liquor license commissions will throw a fit if they find out. A few bartenders might accept; others might accept only to pour the drink out when you’re not looking.

A whole lot cheaper at home

4. Pre-Funk:

When you really break it down, no one is going to the bar to give the bar money. People go to bars to be drunk in a big loud place with other drunk people. Giving the bar money is just a means of getting to and maintaining that drunken state.

With that in mind, you might as well save yourself some cash and drink up before you go in – after you pick the designated driver, of course. (Seriously – do not drink and drive. No, you are not a better driver than everyone else.)

Now, don’t get hammered – if you’re visibly drunk, most bars are legally obligated to not serve you. If they’re not going to be able to serve you, most bouncers wont bother letting you in just to take up space. Waiting in line for 20 minutes just to wind up standing outside in the cold is a great way to kill the night.

5. Fist Fights – Don’t do it:

Fights don’t happen as often as the movies might make you think, but they happen from time to time. People say stupid stuff when they’re drunk, and other people do stupid stuff when they’re drunk.

Not You.

Here’s the thing about fights: they suck. A lot. In movies, the entire bar breaks into a fight, beer bottles are used as knives, and pool cues are smashed over people’s heads – yet everyone involved walks away with little more than a bloody nose and a sore back.

In real life, people get really, really messed up. As in dead. Have you ever seen Million Dollar Baby? You know the scene where (OMG SPOILER ALERT) the main girl busts her neck on the stool during the boxing match? Think about how many stools are in bars. Think about how many other hard surfaces are in bars. It might not hurt so bad to get punched when you’re drunk – but that nearby table will gladly finish the job by cracking your skull open.

Not to mention, it’s a great way to get thrown in jail. Good job, you defended your honor (which no one cares about, as this isn’t 13th century Feudal Japan). Enjoy jail.

OMG!!!

6. How to buy a girl/guy a drink:

(This works just fine for either sex. For the sake of not having to write girl/guy everytime like an idiot, I’m just using “girl”)

Buying a girl a drink isn’t a surefire way to anything. While a lot of girls will at least come over and say thanks (thus presenting your shy ass with a way to start up conversation), just as many will shoot you a nod, down the drink, and go off with their friends. Don’t get too hurt, and don’t be a weirdo and follow her or anything. Your $3 drink isn’t some magical key to her pants.

That said, it’s still a fairly classy way to potentially spark up a conversation or two. Here’s how to do it right:

Wait a few minutes. If the girl just got there, Murphy’s Law promises that her boyfriend will show up right when your drink gets delivered. Godwin’s Law promises that her boyfriend is Hitler.
If the girl isn’t sitting at the bar, find a cocktail waitress to order from. The bartender isn’t looking to leap over the bar to play FedEx Man for your booze delivery.
Have the cocktail waitress deliver it. Do not deliver it yourself, or you’ll look like a big scary weirdo trying to deliver a big bucket of roofies. Be clear who you want the drink to go to. Be clearer than you might think you need to be, even. “The blonde girl in the red shirt sitting at the table over there” works far better than saying “That girl.”
Look when it’s delivered. Don’t try to pretend you’re in a deep conversation and not paying attention 30 seconds after you just ordered the drink. If you’re staring at your buddies when the waitress points out who it came from, you’ve probably just made it tough as hell to explain who it came from. If she looks over, smile and give a small wave. She might think its creepy – but if that’s the case, she was going to think you’re creepy anyway. Next time, try it without the dog collar necklace and the eye liner.

7. Pick a bartender:

This one’s easy. If you’re at a bar or club with multiple bars/bartenders, pick a bartender and stick with them. Tip them well right off the bat. It’s usually pretty tough to buy a bartender’s love and attention through tips – but if you want to have any chance at all, you’ll want to pick one and stick with’em.

8. Picking the right bar:

When you’re 21, everyone tends to think that the busier the bar, the better it will be. Would you go to a certain grocery store just because the parking lot is packed? Nope. Same idea here. It’s a bell curve, with the best bar times generally being had at the places right in the middle: not too many people, but no where near empty. There should be just enough people to fill every seat in the house, plus a few people standing.

Too many more than that, and it’ll take too long to get your drink. If you’re a single guy or gal, there’s really no chance of striking up a conversation when everyone is fighting to make it through a sea of people.

9. Know what type of bar it is:

If they do not have bottles of hard alcohol on the wall behind the bar, it’s probably a beer bar/pub. Don’t try to order a cocktail here. It’s like trying to order a bowl of chow mein at a Mexican restaurant.

10. Don’t open a tab – and if you do, keep an eye on it:

Back up in step 1, we explained what a “Tab” is. It’s where you leave your credit card with the bar, and they just run up your drinks throughout the night.

Don’t do it. If you have to (for example, if you didn’t bring cash and the bar has a minimum charge for cards), really keep an eye on it. If you forget it overnight, most bars will tack on a 10-20 percent “service charge”. Even if you don’t forget it, you might get ripped off.

See, people don’t like to pay for booze. Your friends will say “Oh, just put it on _____’s tab”, thinking that you still owe them for that one time which you actually paid them back for months ago. Shady people who happen to over hear your name will do the same, because, well, they’re shady people. Yeah, it happens – and at the end of the night, there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.

Even if you’re the only one using your tab, you’ll probably end up spending more money than you intended. Bars don’t usually tell you how much drinks cost until the end or unless you ask, and the simplicity of not having to take anything out of your wallet makes ordering 10 drinks seem like ordering three.

Cash makes everything easier. It just works out for everyone. The bar doesn’t get charged fees, and you don’t forget your card or buy drinks for others unknowingly. Plus, starting out with a certain amount of cash is an easy way to keep yourself from accidentally spending way too much.

Enjoy and, most importantly, Drink responsibly!

Back to School: Wide World of Ramen

Devin Coldewey — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 00:13:40 +0000

So you’re moving away from the dorms and their plentiful buffet-style meals. It’s a big step, I know, and you’ll have to do some adjusting. Cooking for yourself can be a rewarding experience, and you may discover that you have a knack for it, or enjoy the process as much as the results. But the first steps can be daunting, so focus on the basics. It’s not exactly gadget news, but since it’s Back to School time, we thought this was important.

Most importantly, as a growing human being, you must remember the four basic food groups: chicken ramen, beef ramen, spicy ramen, and other.

Okay, I kid a bit. But let’s not deceive ourselves here. You’re going to be eating a lot of noodles over the next year and if you don’t do it right, you’ll die of a sodium buildup. It didn’t happen to me, so I must have been doing something right. Now, let’s get some fundamentals out of the way:

You need a good pot. Not too big, not too small; something that holds about a quart is just right for ramen operations. Two cups of water should be enough for the noodles to be completely submerged in. Go to Ikea or a kitchen store and get one that costs $20-30. Alternatively, you can do coffee pot ramen, which uses a drip coffee maker’s water heater to cook the noodles (good for dorm rooms).
Buy in bulk. Depending on where you go and what you buy, you can get as many as 10 packages for a dollar. That’s an insane value, but remember to eat other things as well or you’ll shrivel up.
Go to your area’s International District/Chinatown. In Seattle we have Uwajimaya in the ID, where there are, I kid you not, a hundred different kinds of ramen to choose from. They’re usually a bit more expensive, but also far higher quality.
Accessorize and mix it up. One cannot live on ramen alone, no matter how tempting that is — but you may be eating it a lot and for your own sanity, make each meal different if you can. I’ll mention a few ways to do this.

Varieties
At Safeway or Von’s or whatever your local megastore is, you’ll likely find Maruchan and Top Ramen. These are the rank-and-file ramen, and are cheap but pretty plain. If possible, get the “fancy” versions that they sell, like “Picante” beef instead of beef, or “Creamy” chicken instead of chicken. It’s not much of a difference, but they are better.

More flavor, more variety. But if you manage to go somewhere with exotic ramens on display, my advice is to buy five or six different kinds, test them out, and then pick a couple to stay with and buy in bulk. I’ve settled on these three, for instance:

Nong Shim Shin Ramyun

Very spicy, comes with a packet of little herbs and veggies that you put into the mix.

Nissin Ya-san Shoyu

A full-flavored pork ramen that comes with a packet of lard. Don’t be squeamish, it’s in all your creamy soups and stews. It makes the ramen richer. I like to add a little spice to this.

Nissin Yakisoba noodles

Good to have a backup for non-brothy noodles. You can do regular ramen “dry” but it’s not really meant to be that way. For something different or for certain recipes, a dry noodle is the way to go.

Extras
Now, as for cooking, there are as many ways of cooking ramen as there are people in this world. Personally, I add the packet at the beginning and don’t drain the noodles. There are many options. But if you just boil some noodles and add sodium, it’ll be both boring and bad for you. So what can you add?

Meat! One thing I’ve been doing recently is adding Trader Joes’ barbecued pork to the ramen right before it’s finished. A bunch of small slices in there and you’re getting a little protein as well as an enhanced meal. Chicken is good to add if you have compatible ramen (i.e. not beef or pork flavored), but it’s very absorbent so it’s best to drain the noodles. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can put a little thinly-sliced beef in there and it’ll cook in the hot water.

Egg! In many places, egg in your ramen is standard. At home, you can just crack the egg right into the pot when it’s boiling; experiment to see how you like it (beat it or let it poach). I find it less messy to have a couple hard- or soft-boiled eggs around and just add one in, cut in half. It absorbs the flavor and is easy to parcel out into little bites. Some people (and I do not recommend this) actually dip their noodles or meat in raw egg white. Whatever works for you.

Veggies! I actually don’t do this much because I prefer raw vegetables on the side (some snap peas are an excellent accompaniment), but there are plenty of veggies that’ll work well. If you’re doing Yakisoba noodles, put a few snap peas in there, mushrooms, or broccoli, but beware, as broccoli likes to absorb broth — best to put it in late. Bamboo shoots are a common, and tasty, east Asian add-in, so you might keep a can of those around as well.

Be creative and find something you like

Ramen has a bad rap because people tend to just get a pallet of the cheapest stuff and eat it unmodified. But with a little extra work, you can make a real meal out of it. There are tons of recipes out there just for people like you and me. Instant noodles are a great base for a lot of different dishes, and if you just try a few different things, toss a few ingredients in there, and be creative with what you’ve got around the dorm or apartment, you’ll surprise yourself.

Any veteran ramen-eaters out there want to share your secrets?

Back-to-School: Who are our new college freshman?

Nicholas Deleon — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 22:30:22 +0000

We’re running a Back to School extravaganza right now, but one thing that I don’t know if we really addressed is: Who exactly is going back to school? Or, more accurately, who is going to college for the first time in a few weeks? (That’s who these Back to School things are usually for, freshman. If you’re going back odds are you know exactly what you need and what to expect.) What have today’s 18-year-olds experienced in the world, what are they about, and what do they expect from technology?

Beloit College puts together these little lists of “college mindsets,” and it answers many of the questions we just raised.

Some tech-related ones that stand out:

• They have never used a card catalog to find a book.

• They have been preparing for the arrival of HDTV all their lives.

• Cable television systems have always offered telephone service and vice versa.

• There has always been a Cartoon Network.

• They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen. (Note: Not if the Authors Guild has it their way, JKJK!)

• Amateur radio operators have never needed to know Morse code.

• There have always been flat screen televisions.

• CDs have never been sold in cardboard packaging.

• Migration of once independent media like radio, TV, videos and compact discs to the computer has never amazed them.

And by far the most fascinating thing:

• Salsa has always outsold ketchup.

Thankfully, this has already been addressed.

Back to School: Buying cheap tech stuff

John Biggs — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 21:58:13 +0000

Back when I was in college – nigh on fifteen years ago – I remember reading a book by John Seabrook about his experience on the Internet. Now I was pretty plugged in back then and I got everything he was talking about. But there was one paragraph where Seabrook went down to the store and just bought a 9600 baud modem. Man alive! He paid for it just like that. I was so unaccustomed to having money that I couldn’t understand how someone could just buy a 9600 baud modem, about $200 or so back then.

With that in mind, I’ll talk a little bit about how to get cool gadgets for cheap. You probably already know all this if you read CG, but maybe you can send this to your ~~dumb~~ less tech-savvy friends.

DOs
Buy refurbished – I buy all my Apple gear refurbished from the Apple Store. You can also find refurbished items on major websites including Amazon. You get most of the warranty benefits and you definitely don’t pay full price.

Buy from Craigslist – If you live in a fairly major city you can usually find good deals on older laptops on Craigslist. I know this may not apply to everyone, but I’d go to Craigslist before eBay (see below). The key here is that you can actually see the gear before you buy it. Take a tech savvy friend along to check it out with you if you’re not sure you can appraise the item yourself.

Look for weird sales sites – There are plenty of weird tech sites out there. Check out Monoprice for cheap cables and B&H Photo for cameras. For laptops try Tiger Direct. These sites offer comprehensive item listing and are usually nice and cheap. Newegg is the gold standard for most basic electronics like external hard drives, monitors, and so on — go to the category you’re looking at (“1TB external drives” for instance) and check for well-reviewed stuff that’s on sale. And don’t worry about getting the absolute latest gear.

DONTs
Don’t buy at the big box stores – Seriously. There’s no reason to head down to Best Buy or Radio Shack. They don’t have much in the first place and what they do have is probably overpriced.

Don’t buy from eBay – eBay is a den of fiends. I’ve had nothing but trouble with eBay recently and it’s basically the fastest way to get scammed. Just avoid it.

Don’t wander down to the computer store unless it’s a really good deal – Usually the college book/computer store has a few specific offers – Microsoft Office for Teachers and Students and some deals on hardware but most of the stuff they carry is usually not worth picking up.

Back-To-School: Crap you wont need in college

Greg Kumparak — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:35:57 +0000

Right around this time of year, every store bigger than a breadbox is trying to cash in on college kids by pointing out everything they’ll need for the days ahead. Bed-risers! Over-the-door shoe holders! Thing is, packing for college isn’t like packing for camping. Stuff that seems oh-so-functional when you’re standing in the dorm room aisle with full reign over Dad’s credit card becomes nothing but added weight once you’re on your own. They’ll be great for measuring how much dust can gather on one thing over a few months, but that’s about it.

Now, we’re not saying you shouldn’t buy anything. Make your space yours, express yourself, all that junk. That said, there are a handful of items we see college kid after college kid dump money on – now you can’t say we didn’t warn you.

1. Scarface posters, Animal House posters, or that one poster of the two chicks kissing

Scarface! You’ve seen that movie! That guys a bad ass! Oh, and hey! John Belushi in Animal House! That’s college, right there! Oh, man. Are those girls kissing? That’s hot. These posters are awesome!

If you think these posters are awesome now, wait until you’ve seen them in 50 other dorm rooms. Seriously. There’s a reason why generally proper retail stores are willing to sell a poster from a movie about drugs, bombs, and shooting people in the face.

Also: you are not a beautiful or unique snowflake. Neither is a Fight Club poster.

Note: It should be noted that they also make that two-girls-kissing poster into a mattress cover. This is not any better – in fact, it’s much worse. On your wall, a girl might laugh at it. On your bed, it’s just creepy as hell.

The Alternative: Buy stuff that you like because you think it looks good or represents you, not because it’s convenient. Hit up craigslist, movie theaters, flea markets, and D.I.Y fairs for awesome art on a budget.

2. Laptop Locks

I have seen dozens and dozens of laptop locks on college campuses. In closets, unopened. Every parent on the planet seems to think that everyone in the library will be willing to sit down, unpack, and latch on. They aren’t.

Moving past the “uncool” factor of them (because, really, the only person paying attention to what you’re doing in the library is you), the damned things just don’t work. It seems reasonable up front: It’s $40 dollars, but it protects your purchase which cost anywhere between $500 and $2,000. But they don’t. That $50 dollar lock can be picked in a matter of seconds with a pair of wire cutters, a screw driver, or a friggin’ penny.

The Alternative: Your laptop probably cost you a stupid amount of money. Act like it. Take it with you when you leave. If you’re only leaving for a minute, have a trusted friend watch it.

3. The iPhone

Wait, what? A gadget site telling people not to buy the iPhone? BLASPHEMY!

Thing is, the iPhone is absurdly expensive. It may not seem so bad when the hardware only sets you back between $99-$299 – but man oh man, that bill. The monthly bill for the iPhone is one of the most expensive in the industry. If you want unlimited texts (you will) and a data plan (it’s mandatory), $100 bucks a month will only get you 400 minutes. That’s $1200 bucks a year, friend – before taxes. Unless your parents are footing the bill, you’re going to be eating up a huge chunk of your savings with what is essentially a vanity item when you might as well be carrying..

The Alternative: An iPod Touch. If you’re on a college campus, the chances are pretty good that you’re no more than 100 feet from a WiFi hotspot. You’ll pay more up front ($399 as opposed to $299 for a 32GB, for example), but you’ll save hundreds to thousands in the long haul. You get nearly all of the same apps (save the GPS and camera stuff, though the latter point may not be true for much longer), but pay a fraction for the hardware. Use Skype or get a cheapo pre-paid phone for the voice stuff. Trust us – you’re probably going to lose your phone anyway.

4. Boxed drinking games:

Here’s what you need to play drinking games at college: Booze, and friends. That last one is optional.

But really, you don’t need these stupid kits. We’ve seen these things get whipped out a handful of times, only to be quickly stowed. The games are terrible, generally far too complex for any drunkard to handle or enjoy.

The Alternative: Make your own kit. Buy ping pong balls and red cups for beer pong, an ice tray for moose, and a deck of cards for King’s Cup and F#*$ The Dealer. All in all, that should cost you around 5 bucks.

Better yet, save the 5 bucks and play “Race to the end of the bottle”.

There are plenty more – but we’ll save those for another day. Got some to mention in the mean time? Drop’em in the comments.

CrunchGear's going Back-To-School

Greg Kumparak — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 21:43:25 +0000

At college parties, everyone gives each other high fives

It’s that time again, folks. Cars are being loaded, parents are being kissed goodbye, and summer is coming to its unavoidable end. It’s time to go back to college – or for many, to go to college for the first time.

Fortunately for you, the CrunchGear team has been there and done that. We’ve dealt with the confusing schedules, lived with crappy room mates, and have made valiant efforts at shoving all of our crap into half of a 10′x12′ space. We’ve puked all over peoples couches, and drunkenly thrown our phones into pools just to see what happened. We want you to learn from our mistakes – or at least know what’s coming.

With that, we begin our back-to-school (“school” as in “college”. If you’re going back to junior high or high school, go buy some binders, dig up some pens, then go do something better with your youth than read some silly blog) coverage. We’ll teach you what stuff you don’t need, regardless of how useful Bed Bath & Beyond makes it look. We’ll teach you ways to eat like a (very poor and possibly malnutritioned) king for pennies a day. Also, we’ll probably talk about booze a lot.